What The People Want

a post right? well i've got a lot going on right now, sorry for the lack of posts.

what i'm drinking as i type this...

i discovered clif recovery hot chocolate during the transrockies - soo good


i'm hurt. the neuroma treatment hasn't been working as planned. so i have to do the mature thing and take some time off. i'm doing an ultrarunning presentation at the new mountain hardwear store in seattle on dec 13th. after the chat i'm leading a run. that will be my only run in december. the next real running week i'll have will be early january when i coach a running camp in tucson.

i'm back in my seattle condo. the last tenant moved out nov 15th and it hasn't rented. so i had to come back and deal with it. i simply can't afford to pay for rent in two cities. i'm completely undecided as to what i'm doing from here. try hard to rent the condo and head back to salt lake? the thought of moving again is unbearable. maybe i head south in the van somewhere warm to train? mexico? i am actually leaning more towards some serious backcountry skiing this winter. so it's salt lake, tetons or seattle... or maybe a combination of all three? i need to get back to studying snow pack and getting out into the backcountry daily. if anyone has any advice for keeping my toes warm for hours and hours in the backcountry i'm all ears. i've had a real problem ever since it got frostbite. as ridiculous as it seems i'm at the point where i'm seriously considering the hotronic m4.

---

reinhold messner - first to solo everest... without oxygen - here is a great movie about him.
"a deed widely regarded as the greatest mountaineering feet of all time."

Win A Free Pair of Montrails - Climb The Guru List Contest

WANNA WIN A FREE PAIR OF MONTRAIL SHOES?!?

well here is your chance. enter the "climb the guru list" contest.

backcountry.com has a rating system for all it's users. if you've ever bought anything there then you have a user account. the more products you review on the website, the more questions you answer and the more your reviews get helpful thumbs up, the higher you climb on the leaderboard of gurus.

so the contest is simple. in 1 week, 7 whole days who can climb the highest on the leaderboard. the easiest way to do this is review your favorite shoes, backpacks, jackets, skis, etc. the winner gets a certificate that you simple mail in for any pair of montrail shoes!

some rules:

• you must post a comment here with your entire backcountry.com profile url
  mine is - http://www.backcountry.com/store/profile/2463838/Matt-Hart.html
  
  ** this is my indication you are in!
  ** the deadline is friday nov 21st at midnight (tomorrow night at midnight)
  
  
• you must be a new user - this contest is from scratch (next weeks will be for current users, which everyone who entered and did not win this week will be for eligible for (and you'll have a head start too).
  

Running Camps in the Galapagos Islands - The Rest

here are the rest of the galapagos island running camp photos.

Mountain Hardwear - Weather the Weather

win gear. get out.

one of my sponsors mountain hardwear is giving it away for free! check out the new contest, and take note of the hot model in the oversized shirt... wait am i going bald?!

Galapagos Running Camp Review - Day 1 Isabela Island

i'm writing this from guayaquil ecuador. camp is over but lisa and i are here until monday when we fly out on our flights from hell (overnight in the cancun airport!).

camp was awesome! we had an amazing group of 12 runners brave the rediculous chore of getting to isabela island. i know for a fact each of them would say it was well worth the effort. it's a hard place to get to but well worth it. this was truly a once in a lifetime experience... and the price was soo cheap. we had a lot of local help to make this affordable and possible. i think i can say without hesitation that the food was the best i've ever had. we'd eat fish that was just caught hours before and fruit grown often right there on the island. and without further delay... the photos.

flight from guyaquil to baltra, bus from north baltra to south baltra, boat from south baltra to santa cruz, bus from north santa cruz to south santa cruz, boat to isabela - no easy chore

the bus couldn't make it down this coridor so we walked
the girls on the boat; becky, marianne, and christine
cute lil' dood with cheetos
the boat ride to the island was pretty awesome - we saw the three brothers
my first iguana sighting
our whole group before our first workout - a beach walk at sunset
wow
dan and marianne chose to run back doug, becky, marianne, lisa and dan
after our first hike/run i took the class through our first yoga session - they all left addicted to yoga
gusto, the former 800 meter national champ of ecuador. es muy rapido!
the amazing staff of the wooden house
seriously

---

my neuroma loves this shoe

Galapagos Bound

some things before i leave for ecuador and the beautiful galapagos islands to coach a running camp.

---

nolan's 14:
you ever heard of nolan's 14? neither had i. that is until jared revealed his affinity for the redonculous...

60 Hours
100 Miles on Foot
14 Summits over 14,000 Feet
90,000 Vertical Feet

the question: how many of colorado's 14,000+ foot peaks could be combined in a 100 mile race?

jim nolan's answer: 14. he calls it the "death race" - read more history.

---

backcountry.com gear guru #20!:
marit and i are both pretty competitive. if you've ever been to her blog then you already know who the superior writer is. so i find comfort in our latest contest, which i am currently winning. who can climb highest on the backcountry.com gear guru rankings. backcountry.com has the best products (with the exception of rudy project glasses) and most relevant reviews online. this is why they are the biggest online outdoor retailer. well i'm knee deep in reviews and i love watching my profile climb the ranks. if you feel passionate about a product you love then go do your fellow outdoorzy doods a solid and write about it.

---

my update:
my neuroma is "manageable". i've been training for the last three weeks with mild pain and bi-weekly shots. i've changed the focus of my training from miles to vertical gain for this upcoming season. last week was the third of my meso-cycle and thus the largest week before this week of recovery. i was able to run 22,000 feet of uphill this week. i feel good about that for now, but i have a lot of work to do. i'll rest this week before the craziness of coaching a running camp. i leave tomorrow morning and arrive tomorrow night in guayaquil, ecuador. i am now officially excited!

what's coming with me from the kitchen
it's dumping up high in the wasatch right now. when i get back - i'm going to ski! however i'm leaving town with the first 25 miles of the wasatch 100 course un-run. hopefully this section is low enough to be runnable when i return. if not i have kahtoola running cramponsto get the job done with.

---

lisa's dear friend marshal ulrich just ran across the country! go check it out. i think he was like 4th fastest ever. impressive.

---

now go vote!

Pocatello 50 Pre Run - Idaho Baby!

yesterday i got in a good 26 miles on the new for 2009 pocatello 50 miler.. the brain child of la sportiva runner jared campbell (4th at the hardrock 100 this year). joining us were luke nelson fresh off his win at ty draney's el vaquero loco 50km and his buddy evan honeyfield - both fast and talented guys. having just run 10,000 ft of rugged wasatch two days before meant i was the slow guy on the climbs, honestly with this crew i was probably the slow guy anyway.


it was an overcast day but the video jared put together does a good job of showing the amazing and fun terrain the race will cover.