I made a quick trip over to the New Hampshire coast to visit with my two sisters, a cousin, a brother-in-law, and Lucy. A good trip, which cut down my volume on Friday and Saturday. However, I managed 10.5 hours of exercise, which included 105k (80k bike and 25k run), with 3000’ vertical, as well as a stretching session, and a strength workout.
Yesterday in stage 20, the riders passed over the Col du Galibier, just as they did in this 1911 photograph … it looked quite different in 2026!
https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/alpinism/nadir-maguet-narrowly-misses-matterhorn-fkt.html
I hope I will embrace his surgery/attitude adjustment if I get a knee replacement this fall. https://fasterskier.com/2026/07/ben-ogdens-spring-of-silver-and-setbacks/
https://planetski.eu/2026/07/19/federal-approval-for-avalanche-drones-in-usa/
It seems there are a dearth of pictures of the likely senatorial candidate Troy Jackson. This AP photograph - with Lucy tugging her ear - is being used on television, local, and national news coverage.
I logged just over 14 hours, on 141.5k (123k bike, and 18.5k run), with 3900’ vertical gain, and two stretching sessions, as well as two strength workouts. (Starting my transition back to trail running and hiking, while cutting back on biking.)
Back in the day - mid 1980s - I managed to do it in just under 8 hours, including Hedgehog and Roostercomb, starting (and ending) from The Garden. I believe the current FKT is just under four hours.
Klink and I managed to get to the top of Little Whiteface in 1:46 (4k and 2200’); taking many pictures before we took the gondola down.
For my birthday, Selden totally surprised me, with a photograph my dad took in 1957 which she had restored. She got me a large copy, (beautifully framed), and also a plaque that paired it with a smaller - more recent - climbing picture from the alps!
Before the Prouty I was a bit worried I may have been cooked from my previous week’s big volume. However, the Prouty felt good, and I was able to work out on Sunday with no residual soreness or tiredness. Logging a solid 80k ride - just under 21kph - was one of my big goals for year. For the taper week, I logged 11.5 hours, on 162k (154k bike and 8k run), with 4100’ vertical gain. I also logged two stretching sessions and two strength workouts.
Great to see my college buddies; we had perfect weather; and I managed to average just under 21kph for the 81k ride. It played out more like an interval workout, as I often pedaled slowly hanging with one of my slower buddies and then charging hard on the hills. Great food and drink after the race, and then on the drive home, I stopped at the old fashioned Middlebury A&W Drive-In and had a root-beer float.
On my second trip to the Cordillera Blanca with Edward Kenney and Matt Hoffman, we climbed this gem. Although, Edward struggled with the altitude, later in the trip we were not able to get up Tocllaraju. After 4-5 trips to Peru, I am still hoping to go once more before I hang up my spikes.
Two very light sessions this week, but maybe I should have waited until after the Prouty. However, I do have another rest day planned for tomorrow, so I should be all right.
Cutting back on my volume so I can push the uphills on Saturday; since I am such a wimp, I’ll be riding the brakes on the downhills. (A few more pictures from our Trapp Family Lodge visit.)
Today, I helped out with Treetops Expedition: belaying, sharing stories from my time in the 1980s, and practicing placing and removing protection. A beautiful morning on Owls Head, and then an afternoon warmup with Stash and an exercise bike shakeout.
To visit with our grandkids in Vermont. It was my rest day; and looking over my log in the carI had a high volume tuneup week for the Prouty. I logged 16 hours, on 253k (246k bike and 7k run), with 3200’ vertical gain, three stretching sessions, and one strength workout.
Between my exercise bike and my MTB I logged just under 250k. Going to put in two rest days in the coming week, and cut back on the volume. The hot weather has abated, and tomorrow we are heading off to see our grand kids at Trapp Family Lodge.
Despite the extreme heat, I am logging a fair amount of cycling mileage this week. With three days left in the week, I have already hit 132k … hoping to hit 200k.
I will wear it for two weeks, with the aim of diagnosing arrhythmias and evaluating risks of heart issues in the future. Thankfully, technology has made the data collection easy and unobtrusive, with a stick on patch.
Getting over the Broken Arrow Ascent, traveling for 26 hours, adjusting time zones, and putting a persistent cough behind me, were all the key goals for the past week. That said, I logged 11 hours, on 146k (134k bike and 12k run), with 2700’ vertical gain, and three stretching sessions. On a different note, I saw this picture of Jessie Diggins on the Stairway to Heaven at the Broken Arrow … not surprisingly she was a lot faster, and more composed than I was.
In 2002, Lewy, Hock, Callie, and Mark climbed the Dana Couloir.
The lead pack of men went over the pass just 40+ minutes into the race. With unusually cool weather, no snow on the course, and a deep elite field … breaking the course record seems likely!
Planning on ten days of hiking and possibly an alpine snow climb on Pollux. (I will also test my endurance level on the Matterhorn Fitness Trail.)
Well, nobody loves a red-eye, but the older I get, the more brutal it gets. Wonderful to hug Selden, scratch the dogs, sit on the deck, looking out at our pastures, as well as Street and Nye in the distance.
A long travel day! Next up: The Prouty 50 miler, afterwards ten days in Zermatt, followed by knee surgery on August 31st.
Excellent day; stretch, hike with Mark, nice trail run, and a cruise on the bike. GREAT TRIP.
It will be sad to leave the Sierras, but delightful to be back with Selden, our dogs, and the view from the farm! As per last week, I was tapering/recovering for the Broken Arrow, so totals were modest. However, I did log just a bit over nine hours, on 72k (52k bike and 20k run), with just under 5000’ vertical, as well as five stretching sessions.
So, in the recent uphill trail races I have run in the Sierras I am four for four podiums.
I am feeling pretty decent after the Broken Arrow Ascent. I spent most of the day watching the 46k - livestream and at the finish - as well as doing some stretching, biking, and an easy jog.
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