The basic numbers from week 9 aren't that much different from week 3.

• 7:44 running time
• 44 miles
• 3819 feet D+

The difference is that I had 3 outings at a steady pace or faster instead of 2, my steady pace is significantly faster now, and one of these outings was an uphill tempo pyramid with intervals (2-4-6-4-2 minutes of effort) twice as long as my first pyramid workout in week 3, on a 10% grade above Pineridge Natural Area. There was more intensity in my sessions this week. The next two weeks will be even more intense as I get into bigger hill workouts.

I started week 9 sore and tired from two days of telemark skiing at Steamboat (hundreds of lunges per hour) and the soreness lingered. I'm not sure how to mix skiing with my training. Two days of teleing made my rest week less restful, for sure. We have another 4 days of family skiing planned for this winter, so I'll have more chances to figure it out.

Horsetooth Mountain from Coyote Ridge on Saturday's long run

This was a rest week and I ran just 3 days. I did one bike ride, my usual strength and conditioning session, a yoga session and did two half days of telemark skiing at Steamboat. No hiking, but plenty of bumps, so I got a pretty solid workout. Though I didn't run today, I did run yesterday evening after skiing. Steamboat Springs has a trail system that is plowed mostly clear in the winter. I always lose the trail before Emerald Park whether I'm coming from the north or the south, but that's not the city's fault.

The numbers:

• 3 hours running
• 17.8 miles
• 404 feet D+

I spent more time cross-training than running, which is fine.

A big highlight of the week was helping Bea discover some new skiing terrain. She was super excited to be going through these black diamond gates for the first time.

In The Case for Impeaching Donald Trump, Jason Kottke writes:

Meanwhile, the US government and a populace bewitched by breaking news is stuck in traffic, gawking at this continually unfolding accident. And we somehow can’t or won’t act to remove him from the most powerful job in the world, this person that not even his supporters would trust to borrow their cars or water their plants while on vacation.

It's time. To not impeach is irresponsible. It's cowardice.

Read the whole Atlantic article here.

I ran outdoors six days this week and did two speed workouts. I had a strength and conditioning workout on Monday, my only day off running, and yoga sessions Tuesday and Friday, so 1-2 activities a day. It was a pretty big week. I'm feeling tired but good.

• 9:37 running time
• 45.6 miles
• 5217 feet D+

I ran one more hour this week than last and covered 3 fewer miles. This is because Saturday's long run was an epic slog with longtime FOSS4G compatriot and actual ultrarunner David Bitner through snow over the fifth and second climbs of the Quad Rock 50 course. I'd intended it to be the first and second climbs, but missed a turn. I missed three turns in all, and one of them took us up to Horsetooth Rock.

Wondering how I ever got a job in mapping

It snowed the night before our run and we had to do a bit of trail breaking. Otherwise, the conditions were great for running, no ice to speak of and good traction. This will drastically change this week.

It was great to catch up with David and absorb his sage advice about ultrarunning. Best outing of the year, for sure.

I took a few days off work at the start of the year. I did a little open source software support and issue gardening this weekend to warm up and will be back at work making the geospatial doughnuts full time tomorrow.

Here are a couple photos I took on the flight home from Boise, sitting on the North side of the plane for once. The reflection in the engine cowling chrome really makes the first one for me.

Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park

The Rawah and Never Summer Ranges and Cameron Pass

The numbers:

• 8:30 running time
• 48.5 miles distance
• 4268 feet D+

I bought new shoes last week and used them on all my trail runs this week. I still like the Speedgoat 3. Some reviewers have written that the max cushioning removes all trail feeel, but I must be a bit bigger than these reviewers because I still feel the trail. I feel it more gently, though, which suits me perfectly.

My Mom's hometown, Boise, ID has an extensive system of nicely planned trails. I ran 13 miles on dirt trails starting from the Cottonwood Creek trailhead above the VA hospital. Although steep in some sections, the trails were so smooth that I beat my Lory State Park pace by 2 minutes per mile. These trails were made for fast cruising.

Heading up on a packed snow trail

Beginning of the descent back to Boise

We spent Christmas at home in Fort Collins and saved our travel for the New Year. Yesterday we flew from Denver to Boise to visit my Mom and stepfather. The views on this route can be spectacular when the sky is clear, and it was. Waypoints on the flight: Berthoud Pass; Dinosaur National Monument; Evanston, Wyoming; Cache Valley and Logan, UT; Twin Falls, ID; and finally, Boise.

Peaks of the Colorado Front Range

The Green River and Canyon of Lodore

The Wasatch and Wellsville Ranges and Logan, Utah

There is almost no snow on the ground in Boise, but it's cold. Not too cold to run, however, and I had a good one along the river today. Tomorrow I'm going to do a longer run up in the hills above downtown.

I ran 195 times in 2018, including 3 local races: April's Horsetooth half marathon, May's Quad Rock 25 mile, and September's Black Squirrel. I accumulated some good numbers.

• 198 hours and 18 minutes
• 1,111.1 miles
• 84,770 feet D+

I've never run more miles in a year since I started keeping track in 2015. I ran 934 miles in 2016 and 903 in 2017.

December was my biggest month of running since August 2017 when I was training for the Blue Sky trail marathon, and my second biggest ever. If everything goes according to plan, I'm going to go far into new training territory in January, February, and March of 2019. My body feels fine so far, though I did feel a bit pounded after my last 14 mile run along the ridge east of Horsetooth Reservoir. To try to keep my legs fresh I went to Altitude Running and added a new pair of Hoka One One Speedgoat 3 shoes to my collection.

I took them for a spin around Pineridge and Maxwell on New Year's eve. It's a much different ride than my old favorite Nikes, but I like it. They're bouncy.

Hi, my name is Sean Gillies, and this is my blog. I've been writing here since 2005 and more often in the past year as I've weaned myself off Twitter. I'm going to write even more in 2019. What about? Generally: life and work. You can subscribe to either or both of those feeds if you like, in case running or standards wonkery bores. More specifically, I write about running, cooking and eating, travel, family, programming, Python, API design, geographic data formats and protocols, open source, and internet standards. Mostly running and local geography. I live mostly in Fort Collins, Colorado, and sometimes in Montpellier, France. I work at a startup called Mapbox, building location data services and products.

I hope you'll subscribe or continue to subscribe. I love to get comments on my posts via email. You can find my address in the "about" page linked at the top of this page.