Life Lately

Maybe you’ve noticed and maybe you haven’t, but it’s been a bit more quiet around these parts. I won’t apologize but I will tell you that things should get back to normal soon. I have so many stories to share from our travels along with a zillion other fun things to write about.

{Did I mention we skied an abandoned ski resort this weekend?!}

Adventures aside, me thinks it’s time for a life update!

Life Lately

…..Our family company opened its doors in March for our 22nd year of business. My parents get closer and closer to retirement every year so I continue to gather the reigns to this small business we all founded over two decades ago. So many people aspire to start a business these days and I definitely don’t pretend to have the key to the magic small business kingdom, but I will tell you this: It’s a lot of hard-freaking-work and pressure. Every day, man!

My dry suit/hockey player photo in Zion. Lesson learned: no head shots when I’m standing in 38 degree water.

…..I’m noticing an unsettling trend on social media where people are discouraging beginners from giving the outdoors a try. It’s cropped up in a few places over the past couple of weeks and I think I’ve wrapped my head around it enough to write an entire post on the topic, so I won’t go into detail now. Needless to say, I don’t like it. Not one bit!

…..The R2R2R is on hold and I will not be running the big ditch in two short weekends. Le sigh. There are a myriad of reasons that went into this conclusion. First of all, my friend Heidi is struggling with running. Or rather, her body is and I know how incredibly frustrating that is. Her feet are causing her serious pain and she had to pull herself from our adventure. I’m in it for the experience so I had no problem encouraging her to take care of her health while we push the adventure to this fall or even next spring. The Grand Canyon will always be there and I would much rather experience it with my running friend!

All Photo Credit: Will Rochfort

But to be clear, let’s not pretend that Heidi’s foot issues are the only reason we aren’t running in April. In a nutshell, I was not even close to prepared! When we set these plans in the fall, I had no idea that Will would be taking me on our February road trip. And while I originally thought I could easily train during our travels, I quickly learned otherwise. Will and I were five days into the trip and I found myself weighing my long run against our hiking excursion in Zion National Park. I internalized my options for a bit and arrived at one conclusion: this month-long road trip was an incredible experience for Will and me, and I didn’t want to spend the entire trip fretting about whether I was getting my miles in. So instead, we skied and we hiked and skied some more. In the end, I didn’t run once the entire month of February and I’m okay with that.

…..The Backpacker magazine spring gear guide is on newsstands now! I took over a new section this year so if you’re in the market for tents, go check it out. I worked with a fantastic team of testers all over the globe, and these guys put my tents through the ringer! I appreciated all of their blood, sweat and tears {yes, tears. You would cry too if a tent failed on you in the middle of a rainstorm!} and we were able to compile a solid list of kick-ass shelters.

…..Even though we aren’t running R2R2R in April, I still have the Bryce Canyon 50k on my schedule for June! After almost six weeks of outdoor adventures with zero running and CrossFit, I’m looking at getting back on track this week. I recently received a pair of Hoka’s new Clayton road shoes, so I’m looking forward to testing those snazzy kicks out.

…..Did you enter the giveaway for free meals from Sun Basket?!

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