I was out in Moab, Utah last weekend for the Red Hot 55K. I’d never been to Utah before (well, at least not outside the Salt Lake City airport). On Friday afternoon I took a whirlwind tour of Arches National Park. While it wasn’t the most impressive national park I’ve experienced, it was worth the visit. There’s plenty to see. It probably would have been more impressive if I wasn’t there the day before the race and I had time to do some actual hiking rather than short walks from my car.
January was quite a month, running-wise. Despite actually taking several days off to deal with a strained quadricep, I still ended the month with my highest total running mileage ever (and I’m pretty sure that includes when I was running competitively in college, though I don’t have the records to back that up). Furthermore, the last seven days in January I ran 96 miles, which is by far the most I’ve ever run in a week.
Heading into my first race of the year (Moab Red Hot 55K) on Valentine’s Day, things seemed to be going well. Of course, I was running on borrowed time. The entire month of February I’ve had severe knee pain and I’ve hardly run at all. I’m going to run the race and then I’ll probably have to take some serious time to recover.
| Month | Workouts | Total Dist | Avg Dist | Total Ascent | Avg Ascent |
| January | 27 | 274.15 miles | 10.15 miles | 34486.2 feet | 1277.27 feet |
| Total | 27 | 274.15 miles | 10.15 miles | 34486.2 feet | 1277.27 feet |
I went downhill skiing for the first time in 20 years. Additionally I had a few good cross country ski outings while the snow was here. I bought a pair of skate skis at a used sporting goods store and taught myself how to skate ski (I’ve only ever done classic style previously). I also took a trip to the nordic center at Eldora Ski Area for my first time on groomed trails (including some serious climbing). Good times.