“Are you back running yet?”

I was asked that the other day by a friend I haven’t seen for a year or so while we were catching up. For a second I had no idea what she meant—I’ve been running plenty—I think she may have been referring to my ongoing absence of my former race-every-weekend approach. And I realized, it has been a while, so fair question. And while I hardly believe that anyone in their right mind is wondering what my race schedule looks like (or they shouldn’t anyway, I’m neither that important nor that relevant nor that exciting), it did dawn on me that it is in fact November, and there is a glaring absence of super dooper nerdily exciting race reports and results on my side of things. Progress has been anything but linear with a load of hiccups thrown in for good measure--I think it’s apparently very easy to forget how hard you worked and how long you worked when you think back on good seasons you’ve had in the past--but there have nonetheless been no shortage of adventures this summer and fall.

Since I am presently essentially a paid vagrant for my day-job, I’ve gotten to bounce all around Colorado, New Mexico, and the U.S. for the last several months. So, while logging miles and gradually building back to the target(s) that I have my sights set on in 2017, here are a few of the aforementioned adventures that have been sprinkled throughout the last half a year:

My first Vertical Kilometer. Easily the hardest 2.6 miles I have ever, er, “run.” Took me 52 minutes actually. And it burned. No one mentioned to me ahead of time that one does not simply “run” a VK. Give me Pikes Peak any day. I have a new respect for power-hiking.

A run I went on in the hidden gem of Gould, Colorado.

Another run finishing at the top of Loveland Pass.

One of many runs I hit up in Aspen. “No Trespassing” is more like a guideline really.

Trails all up in Hartmann Rocks in Gunnison.

View from halfway up Black Canyon. Since I didn’t get to race the Black Canyon Ascent last spring, I Elliptigoed up it last month.

Found this critter on a run in Crested Butte.

Cottonwood Pass: if you run up it from the Crested Butte side, it’s like an even more isolated, even more beautiful version of our own Goldcamp Road.

Finishing a run along the Colorado River in Grand Junction.

So, that is what I have been up to. I apologize for the uncharacteristically unimaginative nature of this post, and I know it reads more like a travel brochure, but  I just needed to point out that damn, we live and run in a great state! In any case, the pile of miles is getting a tiny bit bigger every week, and while I wouldn’t exactly say there have been any epic running feats to write home about, I am building wall to make running great again!*

*NOT subliminal messaging intended as a political endorsement.