VFF, my next race, great XC story and our vacation

A couple things to comment on.

For my birthday, my wife got me a pair of Vibram Five Fingers. I have wanted pair but could never rationalize them in my mind. Thank you, Karyn. I ran in them tonight and even held back by only going 1 mile and then stretching out afterward. I plan to use them to build up the foot strength and to help motivate me on a day when I need it. She got me a pair of TrekSports from REI.

Second thing, I just signed up for Surf the Murph 50k.

I had been debating whether to do the 25k or 50k and I decided I just had to do a longer race this year. Having been injured all year and missing all of the events, it seemed like the right thing to do. Although, I probably should have checked the number of weeks to the race, just 5 so I will be ramping up my long run from 10 miles to at least 20+ miles over the next few weeks. I have committed to myself to run this race slowly, I mean very slowly and to enjoy myself, the volunteers and the course. I will not race it and injure myself, let me repeat that I will not be stupid but will make good decisions and soak it all in.

A really neat story from a local cross country meet. Our daughter had run her race ahead of this one and hadn't heard about it.

or you can read the story from the St. Paul Pioneer Press newspaper

Last thing, my wife and I just returned from a vacation out in Lake Tahoe. We stayed in Squaw Valley and really enjoyed ourselves. We hiked, biked, boated and just really had a good time. The weather was great and the views were unbelievable. I won't bore you with all of the details or pictures (at least in this post :-) but here are a few pictures that will give you a flavor of what we experienced.

 Pacific Crest Trail heading from Donner Pass towards Anderson Peak

 Looking down towards Emerald Bay

Another look into Emerald Bay 

Shirley Lake Trail coming down from High Camp at Squaw