Farther, higher, faster and harder pretty well define my year of running.
I started the year with an advanced marathon training class and found myself running at a Boston-qualifying pace that would have had me finishing about 45 minutes faster than my personal best.
While I didn't run an official marathon last year, I did finish two ultras, a couple of shorter trail races and several long training runs. Among them:
- Hells Canyon run, about 24.5 miles.
- 11 Miles to Paradise out-and-back training run.
- Three-mountain marathon training run.
- Rattlesnake to Midtown 50K training run.
- 11 Miles to Paradise.
- 50-mile Bighorn Mountain Wild and Scenic Trail Run.
- Sheep Mountain marathon training run.
- Marshall Mountain Trail 10K.
- Mosquito Peak 50K training run.
- The Rut 50K.
- Mount Jumbo Elk Ramble 15K.
In all, I logged about 2,423 miles on my GPS in 2014 - with Bighorn at 52 miles and 6,500 feet of gain and The Rut at 32 miles and 11,000 feet topping the list.
Both were enjoyable experiences, and I plan to run them again this year.
Here's a slideshow of photos from this year's runs - and a link to a Rut video in which I briefly appear. (Look for the red hat at the Tram Dock aid station.)
A big thank-you to the friends with who were with me for many of last year's miles and Missoula's supportive running community!
