Goodbye Off Season, Hello Holidays
An update on training, plus a gift guide that's more meaningful than materialistic
Until yesterday’s snow storm, a mix of brown and white outside my window illustrated the last days of an in-between November time known either as the shoulder season or off season. The landscape of mud and patchy snow looked drained of color because the meadow grass turned to straw and the aspen groves became bare silvery wisps, appearing like the stubble of gray beard on the mountains’ slopes.
Here are a couple of shots of November near our house, right before the snow:
Although slightly less scenic (but still beautiful in its own way), I loved November’s quiet. Finding parking in town was no problem because several boutiques and restaurants closed for weeks. Locals collectively caught their breath and chilled out, or departed to travel, during this respite between the summer festivals, the fall leaf-peeping and weddings, and the winter ski season. The region won’t get another break like that until April through mid-May, also known as the mud season.
Now, suddenly, the holiday and ski season are here, and yesterday’s storm blanketed all the brown with snow. The gondola is running again and the ski resort opened last weekend (just barely; I’m waiting until more lifts open to get out my skis). Putting up our Christmas tree and draping white lights on three big pine trees in front of our house are on my to-do list this week.
Personally, I’m ready for my off season from training to be over, too. Next week, a new training block starts!
My running log shows extra-low volume since mid-October due to travel, covid, then more screwed-up travel and sadness. When I ran around Telluride’s Valley Floor and up a 500-foot climb on a dirt road a couple of days ago, my legs felt pleasantly fresh, but I couldn’t believe how winded I was on uphills, as if my trips to New York and California combined with too much eating out erased fitness and altitude adaptation.
I’m ready to start working with a new coach this coming week, who will guide me at least through summer. And I’m excited that a big gift to myself, a Nordic Track x32i incline treadmill, arrives next week to help me log higher volume in spite of the wintery conditions.
A big reason for an off season from training is precisely this: to generate excitement about restarting.
I’m cautiously optimistic that uphill training on the incline treadmill, without the corresponding downhill impact, will help manage my left knee’s ache from degenerating cartilage. A recent MRI revealed what I suspected: “mild to moderate patellar chondromalacia” i.e. cartilage breakdown under part of my kneecap, a precursor to osteoarthritis that makes me a likely candidate for a knee replacement in later years.
Knowing that my knee has a shelf life, I hope more than ever that one of my 64 tickets will get pulled in the December 3 Hardrock 100 lottery, though the odds are still very slim (explanation of lottery odds here and the lottery process here). I’ll find another mountainous 100 for summer or fall if lottery luck fails. Meanwhile, I’m motivated to train over winter for two Arizona desert ultras early in the season: the Black Canyon 60K in February and Antelope Canyon 50M in March.
If you have any races on calendar or training goals for the first part of 2023, please share them in the comment section below.
Gifts with meaning and purpose
I used to prepare an annual gift guide on my old blog, but I stopped because it felt materialistic and self-serving (the links went to Amazon, which paid me a small commission for click-throughs). Plus, it put me on countless PR lists for merchants who spammed with pitches to include their product in the guide. Ugh!
The list below is different. I chose a handful of products because I admire their independent creators, and I am receiving no commission for mentioning them. On this newsletter’s separate chat thread, you’ll find a conversation about gift-giving in which you all can share your favorite gifts to give and receive, so we can crowdsource recommendations. (You can also comment below on any ideas for gifts “with meaning and purpose.”)
Anything by Brendan Leonard: I’ve long been a fan of Brendan Leonard’s writing and graphics. You can buy mugs, shirts, posters, and books through his site’s store but you have to order by December 9. New this season: A silly, clever “cookbook for busy people” that spotlights 15-second recipes; e.g. a handful of cereal. I love how Brendan makes stuff because he feels creatively compelled to do so, and if his publisher tells him it’s not commercially viable, then he publishes and sells it on his own anyway.
The Weekday Vegetarians Cookbook: I got out of the habit of using cookbooks since I use the New York Times Cooking app and search the web for recipes. Then I started reading the newsletter
by and purchased her Weekday Vegetarians book. I'm an omnivore but try to eat less meat (locally sourced). I love the layout, thoughtfulness, and especially the recipes in her book. I'm working my way through it and have tried many of the recipes for main courses, sauces, and salad dressings. A book gives context and inspiration the way a single recipe from an app just can't.Year of Yoga by Kassandra: I got hooked on Kassandra Reinhardt’s YouTube channel for at-home yoga during the pandemic. Her yoga feels manageable as well as beneficial, because the workouts are in short chunks (10 to 30 minutes, though a few stretch to an hour), so it’s much less of a time suck than going to classes at a studio in town. Her Year of Yoga book is a great introduction to poses and affirmations, and it includes QR codes that when scanned will bring up a video to guide through the workout described in the book. I heartily recommend her style of yoga for mobility and mental health.
The Gift of Experiences: Perhaps the best gifts are experiences, not objects. I was heartened that my son’s first answer to “what would you like for Christmas?” was major-league game tickets, showing that he wants to go to an event rather than accumulate a thing. One of the best gifts I ever gave my husband (and myself) was a guided ice-climbing experience. Tomorrow, passes go on sale for MountainFilm, which would make a great (though pricey) experience and a reason to visit Telluride.
A Greeting Card + Carbon Removal: My brilliant and beautiful niece Siobhan Montoya Lavender co-founded Thanks a Ton, a company that delivers e-cards for thank-you’s, birthdays, and now holidays along with the gift of removing carbon. What a perfect gift and way to help save the planet! The cards’ graphic designs are super hip and cute too. Here is a screenshot from the site showing how it works:
Give to a nonprofit in someone’s name: We all probably feel some “Giving Tuesday” solicitation fatigue, but now’s the season to give as well as receive. Please check out two nonprofits I care a lot about: Free to Run and Conservation Lands Foundation. Also use the Coloradogives.org site to find worthwhile Colorado nonprofits to support.
Give a Substack newsletter subscription: This platform has breathed new life into blogging and independent journalism, and I have discovered so many great newsletters on it. Most I subscribe to for free, but several I support with an annual subscription. You can give a paid subscription as a gift by clicking on the newsletter’s “subscribe” button, which brings up options (free/monthly/annual), and you’ll find a link to “other subscription options,” which leads to the gift option. In case you’d like to gift this newsletter, here’s a handy shortcut button!
Finally, with apologies for more shameless self-promotion, I hope you’ll check out my book if you haven’t already. Now five years old, The Trail Runner’s Companion: A Step-by-Step Guide to Trail Running and Racing, from 5Ks to Ultras, is still running strong and long (like its subtitle, LOL)!
As always, thanks for reading and for your support!
Related post: How the Christmas Spirit Gets Me
thank you for introducing me to Kassandra's yoga! Been loving them <3
The mountains are looking beautiful now. I would love to visit Colorado in the winter again.