Today's Run - Monday, 1/21

With it being MLK Day, and my employer (University of Denver) being closed, I slept in a little later than usual ('til 6:30am) and, after enjoying some coffee and full-fat yogurt, got on the treadmill. Meanwhile, my son was still asleep. Decided to run about 5 miles and kept the first 4 at a very easy pace of 8:10. For the last mile, I jacked the 'mill up to 15% grade and power hiked at 15 minutes/mile with a few jogging intervals at a higher pace mixed in. That last mile was a grinder and my heart rate got up to over 140, but overall I handled it well. I am clearly out of shape with climbing!

My hope is to put together a solid week, which means 60+ miles. We do have some nasty weather rolling in tonight so tomorrow morning may be another run on the treadmill. I am very grateful to have a nice treadmill that gives me what I need.

I am feeling a bit mal-content of late. Not sure what's going on. At Copper Mountain all weekend, I kept daydreaming about running the Colorado Trail (it runs through Copper). I still feel very pulled to the trails--just not to the Leadville Trail (anymore). That said, every time we take the Copper Mountain/Leadville exit off I-70, I can't help but think back to the many memories I have of my "Race Across the Sky" finishes. It is getting time to settle on a 100-miler in 2019.

This past weekend, I also found myself talking with one of the lift operators at Copper, a nice guy in his mid-20s, I'd say. He stays in the Edge, which houses Copper employees right there in the Center Village, and pays about $340/month. He spends about 36 hours a week on the mountain operating lifts and the rest of the time skis and hangs out. I told him he's "living a dream life." Not a bad existence...…. My one regret in life is living way too responsibly in my 20s. If I had it to do over again, right out of graduate school I would have dirt-bagged for a few years. I told my son he's allowed to dirt bag but only after he gets his college degree and only if he limits it to 2 years (unless dirt-bagging is part of his chosen profession).