It's like my mind can't bear the notion of relaxing and taking a breath for a minute. Once work slows down the clock starts ticking to it heating up again and I feel like I have to cram as much fun stuff in as possible. I can't just enjoy the downtime and play it by ear. I have to turn into McPlansalot and have some grand adventure set for every waking moment. Which is obviously not possible.
I thought that planning a trip home for February would mitigate some of this, but if anything it put me into overdrive on the trying to come up with plans front. Fortunately, as usual, Amanda snapped me out of it when I realized I was driving her nuts. I took a few deep breaths and told myself to relax. I ended up taking Thursday and Friday off from work to deal with some stuff around the house and get in a couple of local adventure runs to assuage my restlessness.
Okay. I feel much better now. What else is going on?
Territory Run Co.
To kick off the year, I joined Territory Run Co.'s Runners of the Wild team. Well, technically I joined in the late fall but they sent out kits and gear in mid-December and I'm a little behind. There was a cost to it, but I got a jersey and a few other pieces of gear - a sweet hat and buff - so the cost was really just for the gear. I've been following them for awhile now and despite the fact that I'm not an ultra runner, I thought it seemed like a cool group of like-minded people and figured it would be a good place to get some inspiration and possibly meet some other interesting runners.
I've picked up a couple of additional pieces of their gear, which I like, but what I like better is what they are doing to promote the sport of running. They just released an online course on improving your hill running technique - which I might need to check out. Even better than what they are doing to promote the sport is what they are doing to build the community. The trail running community as a whole is incredibly supportive and it's good to see a company that's trying to grow that in different ways.
I Really Want to Go Skiing
I mean, I really want to go skiing. I think that was the thing that made me realize I was driving Amanda crazy the other night. I was talking 100 miles an hour about possibly doing a ski weekend in North Carolina, or whether it was a better idea to wait until we go home and try to take a trip to Loon or Sunday River or somewhere in Vermont. Here I go again. I blame this on the inch and half of snow we got a week or so ago and the fact that the Olympics are coming up. I've spent far too much time watching ski videos on YouTube and playing Steep on PlayStation.
Sadly, iconic ski filmmaker Warren Miller recently passed away, which only made me plunge deeper into the youtube ski video rabbit hole. I actually found a few Warren Miller films on there. I remember being 10 or 12 and sitting in my basement watching his movies when they would come on TV. I can't remember the network, maybe NESN, but they'd always show a few every year and it would get me so amped for the ski season.
I wanted to be a big mountain and freestyle skier so badly when I was a kid. I used to love when my parents would take me to the Boston Ski Show so I could see all the cool new gear. We went skiing at Breckenridge and Whistler, which was awesome. Once I got to my sophomore year I didn't ski as much since I was focused on track, but I reconnected with the sport during my senior year of college thanks to Joe Reynolds and a few other teammates. Amanda and I have tried to get a day trip to the Whites in at least once a year when we are home, but it's definitely one of the things that I miss about New England.
What I'm Watching, Listening to, and Liking
Ski the Whites // I told you. I really need a ski trip in my life. I've been binge watching Andrew Drummond's YouTube channel about backcountry skiing and ski touring in the White Mountains a bunch lately. This was another thing that had me restless. I was googling everything about alpine touring and skinning trying to see if there was a way I could try it when we're home in February. Drummond's YouTube channel is full of cool GoPro videos of him and his dog - Squall - skinning up and skiing down awesome spots in the White Mountains, like the iconic Tuckerman's Ravine. If you are ever in the Jackson, NH area, check out his shop at Black Mountain and give skinning a go. I'll let you know how it goes if I get a chance to try it.
I've also found his channel to be inspirational for my own video making purposes. I'm hoping to do some GoPro videos this year. And in an interesting twist, he was on a Ragnar Relay team with my buddy Josh this past summer.
Salomon TV - Becoming History // The New Canadian Air Force was so sick. I remember watching those guys throw insane tricks and pretending I was doing the same. When I was in ninth grade my family took a trip to Whistler-Blackcomb which was the most amazing place I've ever skied. I remember buying a bunch of skiing magazines for the trip and reading about the NCAF guys on the flight to Vancouver and the drive up to Whistler. I told you, I'm on a big-time ski kick right now.
Outside Podcast // Red Dawn in Lapland - This was a really interesting story that appeared in the December issue of the magazine and they did a nice job with it on the podcast. The story is about how a small group of Finns fought off an invading Red Army because of their ability to maneuver and survive in the frigid conditions north of the arctic circle. Essentially, Stalin wanted to create a buffer between Russia and the expanding Nazi control of Europe. They didn't take the conditions into account and lost massive numbers of men to the cold. The story also touches on how the Finns are still preparing to fight in the Arctic today, just in case.
What's Poppin' On IG
The whole skiing down sand dunes things looks really cool. It's probably really hard, but it looks so cool.
I could definitely relax by the fire in this cabin for a weekend.
Now I want pancakes. A lot of pancakes.
I don't think I could do winter surfing in Maine, but I really liked this shot from Short Sands Beach in York, Maine during the winter. It's a complete ghost town up there during this time of year and I loved seeing this one guy surfing with everything covered in snow.
I might be a little homesick. That might be part of my problem lately. Either way, I want a barn. Not a barn in the traditional sense, but a finished barn that would serve as an office slash gear shed slash hang out spot. Someday. If I win the Powerball or something.
Another Trestle Run in the books. That's two posts in like 10 days...of to a good start.
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