I bet you felt 15 years older.

8 miles @ 9:08/mi.  Legs still stiff and tired from Sunday's trail run.

Holy Crap, Bryan!! 14,000 feet! I bet you're glad you didn't fall. I bet I would have. The look of relief on your face is clear. Good job on that beast! Now you have to come up here and run the Equinox. Isn't it funny how I can always get that plug in there? Seriously, way to go and a huge congratulations on this accomplishment. There are not many who finish that race.

Paul, that was probably a good idea.

Lou, the key now is to get back out there on a trail like that again. The next time will be easier, I promise.

I'm heading up the Equinox hill (Ester Dome) today after work. Starting at just past the 8 mile mark where there's a pullout/parking area, then up to the top and down the out-and-back section. At mile 17 where the course turns down "The Chute," I'll head back the way I came. The trip down is quite a bit of fun. I'll be doing really well to stay on my feet. We had some rain last night so the trail could be a little slick. Should be about 13 miles total, I think, but the hilly stuff is the key workout tonight.

Excellent planning, Paul.

How'd your run up/down the Equinox go, Erika?

My 3 mile recovery run this morning was harder than normal (9:36/mi 143AHR).  For the first time in a long time, I donated blood yesterday.  I guess it'll take a little time to get my breath back -- it's an interesting experiment in any case.

1 year pictures taken this past weekend..here's a couple.

How is the Equinox training going Erika?  You've been running great this Summer.

Murph she is adorable!

Running has been good this week.  I started feeling over the fatigue yesterday afternoon.  This morning was able to hit the last two miles sub marathon pace.  The 50 degree temps help alot too. 

Proof photos are up for Pikes Peak.  They show some of the Barr Trail terrain and just how "good" I was feeling at the time in spots. 

http://www.marathonfoto.com/order_my_photos.cfm?RaceOID=20952010M2&LastName=NORTON&BibNumber=640&Language=en&spMAILINGID=35700937&spUserID=NTkwMTE5NDczMgS2&spJOBID=80266413&spREPORTID=ODAyNjY0MTMS1&BFI=t00hrfif23&Frames=true&Flash=true&FlashVersion=8&Height=900&Width=1440&Index2Home=true

438 shows just how shot I was coming into the finish if you enlarge it. 

Great pictures, Murph. She's beautiful! Bryan, your pics were nice, too. If I'd have been there, they would have gotten pictures of me laying down. Did 6 miles this morning. Walked outside the hotel to really cool weather, ran 1 mile on dark, foggy and unfamiliar roads and then decided to finish inside on the treadmill. Figures the first cool weekend and I'm on a treadmill! It's supposed to be 59F at home in the morning and I won't even be there!

Great pictures, Murphy! What a great idea to get kids to LIKE photo sessions: let them eat cake! Very cute little girl.

I'll take a look at the Pike's Peak pictures in a minute. What kind of medal do they give for that?

Equinox training is going ok, I guess. My run on Wednesday night was pretty good. I divide that run into thirds:

• the trip up to the top of the chute, starting at about the 8 mile mark and ending at about 12.4 or 12.5
• the "out-and-back" starting at that 12.5 mile mark, down the other side, lots of steep scrambling type hilly trails, back to the top of the chute (17.1 mile mark)
• then back the way I came, down to the parking area near the 8 mile marker.

I did the trip up the hill in 48 minutes, the out-and-back in about 45 minutes, and the trip back down in 34 minutes (controlling the all-out tumble down some of that trail). These splits are pretty close to where I was after working at it quite a bit last year, and this was my first time doing it this year. I'm behind in that respect; I should've been doing this in late July/early August, but never got around to doing it.

I plan on repeating this run next Saturday or Sunday so we'll see if I improve at all. I did stop a few times on Wednesday to take some side trips looking for berries. There are some, but not as many as in past years. Strange for such a peak berry year...