Darkness to Light = Gratitude

The achilles is coming along slowly but surely. I have been so grateful to run mostly pain free this past week; it has given me hope to test its mettle more and more. Training in Gunnison has been better than expected. Initially I was a bit reluctant to see how the body would handle much more cold than I'm accustomed to. Needless to say it hasn't been an issue. I know it's going to be cold and I prepare by wearing more layers than I ever have. It cracks me up when Duncan is so non-chalant when telling me he got some earlobe frostbite on one of our morning runs. Mental note- Gunnison toughens you up without you realizing it.

After a few days on the flat streets I tested the AT on some trail. In the past 5 days I've ran Signal Peak 3 times. This will be a bread and butter run, see: http://www.duncancallahanrunning.com. It has been great to start these runs at dark'O'thirty (6AM) and rise with the sun as we crest the peak. Beautiful alpenglow towards CB lit the sky in a warming pink hue this AM as Duncan, Ben, and I took in the 360 views. Life is good. It has been symbolic running in the early morning darkness and ascending up into the new morning light. It has paralleled the achilles improvement and feels like I'm moving out of my injured winter with a healthy spring on the horizon. My new goal is to be out amongst them at Salida in mid march. This will be a much needed fitness benchmark before the 50 milers begin.

This weekend brings forth Moab's Red Hot 50K+. Check out http://www.irunmountains.blogspot.com for some race predictions. I will be sitting this one out as I continue to heal. However, I will be volunteering at the race; parking cars as everyone arrives. Looking forward to the weekend. I will also be cheerleading as my wife is representing at the 33K race along with a bunch of friends who are doing either race. Good luck to all!