It's Mud Season after the Snowiest March in Grand County

Winnie on our trail in HSS

-->

It’s probably about time to write a blog post. It's been a while

Well, it’s mud season in Grand County. I didn’t write about the end of winter. It was a cold, snowy March.

 Winnie and Daisy loved running the trails behind my rental house. It was good hiking for me, too. 

Now that Winnie doesn't chew everything in sight we now have a dog bed again. 

View from Devil's Thumb Nordic trails.

In March, Patrice came to visit and we skied at Devil's Thumb. That was a great training day. 

Other training consists of running up County Road 20 in HSS. This is one of the roads that was buried under snow. Amazing views up there and tough running conditions, as I was breaking through the snow. 

Elk Mountain HSS

I felt like I was in the middle of nowhere running just three miles from my rental house. 

Cooling off near Cottonwood Pass

Another place I run and take the dogs to hike is the road off Cottonwood Pass. Only saw one car, a logger. It got so warm in the sun that Daisy had to cool off in the snow. 

But both roads/trails have lately been starting out looking like this:

The mud before the snow on County Road 20 HSS

A muddy-mess. 

But thanks to a load of late-season wood, I'll be nice a warm while the end of winter shows itself. 

The bridge over the Colorado River in Pioneer Park, HSS

It's been a treat living so close to the water again. After three years in the desert, it is thrilling to see running water. 
Just yesterday I took the dogs down to the river and it's flowing nicely. Not too fast, yet. I keep introducing Winnie to water but she still doesn't know what to do. I throw sticks in and she just watches them. But then, I finally got her to stand in the water and she see's something and starts running into the water. I thought she was going to be swept away. I'm not sure she knows how to swim yet. Miraculously, she came back since the water wasn't rushing too fast and she could still stand up. 
We may need to try swimming in a pond instead of the Colorado River.

Training Update

Life is good at 8,000 feet. Yesterday was my third bike ride outside - a ride to Grand Lake. And today, Saturday, a long run outside and the winter training spin at Mountain Life Fitness.

it is now 4 weeks until Ironman St. George 70.3. I'm not sure how ready I'll be but the next 4 weeks will be a harder training block. 

Updated Race Schedule:

May 7 – Ironman 70.3 St George

May 21 - McKee Classic Bike Tour in Loveland

June 5 - Casper, Wyoming marathon

July 24 – Ironman Lake Placid

August 14 – Leadville 10K

September 24 - ECS Park City, Utah Marathon

November 13 – Ironman Arizona

It's going to be a great summer and fall!