A Famous Chinese Liquor

On my last trip to China my host gave me a bottle of China's very best – moutai. This time he gave me a bottle of the best from a different region of China, I believe it's something like a rice wine Brandy. I haven't tried it yet but I'll let you know ...

QUOTE OF THE WEEK ... anabell corwin

Lucy's friend, helping us move to the Round Lake Cottage, on seeing the 70+ boxes of books packed into liquor boxes remarked: "You either have an alcohol problem or a book problem."

Round Lake Cottage

The morning view from the screened in sleeping porch ... great to be back in the Adirondacks.

Back in the Adirondacks

Massively jet-lagged and lacking sleep, I did a nice 6k run on the biathlon and mountain bike trails.

The gathering of the mountain running clan ... UTMB

Congratulations to Lydia - Ted's daughter - who finished 12th in the CCC. The lead runners are just approaching the finish of the UTMB.

Read this short article, and plan a running trip through the alps ... Lucy and I are eye-balling routes in the Dolomites for next June.

http://team.inov-8.com/utmb-joe-grant-mountain-running-good-life/

The Airport Bivy

After a 14 hour flight from Shanghai to Chicago, and a PR in the O'Hare 5k time trial ... I still missed my connection by a view minutes. I ended up catching the last flight into Newark, where I bivied until I caught a Saturday morning plane to Albany.

Modern day China ... I am not sure Mao ever envisioned this!

Shanghai Museum ... fantastic day

Beijing sightseeing

For over 2000 years the Confucian exams were the passport to a government post and a better life. We visited the old Imperial College in the morning (including the emperor's throne), and in the afternoon we went to a Buddhist temple and a tour of the old residential section of Beijing ... A very long day with the reunion event ending at 10:30.

Beijing sightseeing

We explored the old Imperial College, as well as Confucian and Buddhist temples. We also toured the ancient section of old Beijing.

A long travel day

A very nice room on the 70th floor, a dinner, a full day of sightseeing, and a 40 person reunion tomorrow.

Heading to Beijing

We have had stunning weather this week ... I'll be off the grid for about five days.

Five peaks in a day

Blurring the line between ultra-running and mountaineering in the Swiss Alps. Spectacular footage ...

http://m.epictv.com/brand/adidas-outdoor/media/603210

Beautiful run on the perimeter loop

Thinking of the Jay Peak 50k

I will get home a few hours to late from China for the 50k that Brian Delaney puts on, so I may jump into this race on Labor Day Weekend.

Verbal cues and playable actions

A short, but important article. It is written about coaching runners, however it's equally applicable to skiers and climbers. Check out the link below it's well worth five or 10 minutes ...

http://gotracktownusa.com/inside_track/2015/07/alexi-pappas-my-growth-as-a-runner/

Nice mountain run

A 90 minute jog up and down Mount Van Hoevenberg from the Adirondack Loj Road.

Summer Nordic skiing options

Lucy's high volume weeks

In the next week or two, she hits the highest training volume and load for the off-season. After that she cuts back on distance and puts in more speed work. Last week she had a 30k double-pole workout, followed the next day by this very hilly 25k skate.

What a great run!

A hilly five-miler, on a dirt road, down in Keene by the Barkeater ... the views don't get much better.

Bridger Ridge Run Is On My Bucket List

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qo-La-zkPY&sns=em

2015 Fossil Gathering

Gary's Angry Twin?

Separated at birth? My son - huge movie fanatic - was watching the old classic, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, and noticed the uncanny resemblance between Lee Van Cleef and Gary Miller.

Sky running ... almost mainstream!

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/08/03/sports/racing-to-reach-the-sky.html

Afternoon run to Marcy Dam

The Talkeetnas ... is this a place for the next fossil reunion?

http://adventure-journal.com/2015/08/a-mountain-oasis-in-the-talkeetnas/

Back to trail running in the Adirondacks

After a few days shaking off jet-lag and catching up at work, I went for a 90+ minute run on the Dewey Mountain nordic trails. (I went to Saranac Lake because Lucy wanted to do a 25 mile ride on a road with very little traffic.)

I head to China in two weeks, and return just in time for the Adk 80k. Given that I will cross 13 time zones, and arrive a few hours before the race, I think I need to scuttle my thought of doing the 50k. Instead I will trot the 20k and maybe do the Jay Peak 50k the following week.

Hoping to scratch some anorthosite this week with our SUMMER ROX program.

Quote of the Week ... Hunter S. Thompson

Being on the edge. Getting close to the edge. Not wanting to go over the edge. The cutting edge ... Climbers are always talking about it, some even write about it after their climbs. One of my favorite examples was Dougal Haston writing about "The Final Day On The Eiger Direct." However, the passage below written about driving fast motorcycles, seems to do nicely for alpine sports as well.

"The Edge... There is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over. The others- the living- are those who pushed their luck as far as they felt they could handle it, and then pulled back, or slowed down, or did whatever they had to when it came time to choose between Now and Later. But the edge is still Out there."

Hunter S. Thompson

Another Colorado Trail Run

http://youtu.be/GbZBtcKMmpo

The Fossils Tell Their Stories

The guys share stories about a first lead in Smith Rocks, an ice climb from the seventies, a rainy trip to Rainier, and of course, the Black Orpheus epic. If you want to hear more, you'll have to join us, or wait until Tori's documentary is published.

http://youtu.be/ijRsI2BpZrk

Sky Pond Trail Run

http://youtu.be/o5-fubUfPKc

Back in the 'dacks!

Quick visit to Aspen

To see an NCS alumnus. And I had a short hike near Copper Mountain on the return trip. Flying home today.

Driving Over Independence Pass

On my way to see alumni in Aspen.

Trail Run In Idaho Springs

I spent most of the day catching up on work emails, however I did a nice run on a dirt road – 6 km and 1000 vertical – in just under an hour.