Mojo Rising

What a year 2011 has been. Two weeks from now wraps up most of the outdoor program season, and I must say that I am looking quite forward to having work-free weekends for the next 3 months.

Since my last post (in August, really?), an unshakable funk somewhat overcame me. Things are getting back to business now that the idiot Floridian drivers are returning to their homeland, the uncertainty at work has become tolerably stable, the leaves are falling, and the air is filled with the crispness of autumn.

Ecuador was great, of course.

Inclement weather deterred us from climbing much, so the trip evolved into more of a cultural journey with excellent acclimatization. On Cotopaxi, sustained winds of 50-60mph with gusts up to 90 mph literally blew us away. Note below the lenticular cloud forming over Cotopaxi.

Onto beautiful Banos we then proceeded.

I started running again a few weeks ago. The Art Loeb and North Slope, nonetheless, have been so, so glorious, as was mid-week Shining Rock in peak leaf season. Thad managed to come off the [running] couch on Sunday to whoop me on a modified Hickory Mountain loop. I set a very solid pace on Buck Forest and Jim Branch, but he turned on the heat on Ridgeline. He is a freaking machine, even untrained. One final -and unbelievable- running note: I won a 5K. My finish time ended up being 2 minutes slower than my usual 5K pace (although I did stop and run off the road and into the woods for a bathroom break). A win is a win, though!