Mon - 5 miles easy (1,500'). Did a full moon night run with Kyle and Marie Helene from the Fort Collins Trail Running Group. Was going to take the day off, but having never been up Horsetooth after nightfall, I decided to get in on the run. Forgot to bring my light (doh!) and Kyle's died early, so it was a bit of a stumble-fest.

Tues - 6 miles easy (500') on the lower valley trails from Soderburg to Arthur's and back.

Weds - 0 miles. Boy was it cold out. Toyed with the idea of jumping on the TM, but decided a day off would be of more benefit.

Thurs - 5.75 miles (600'). Milner Mtn. 41:50. Cold out again. First two miles of this run were downhill, so had to push harder than planned just to keep from freezing. Feet never warmed up. Pretty much felt like I was running on stumps the whole way round.

Fri - 12 miles (1,000'). To Redstone Canyon, six miles tempo'ish, followed by Milner route at easy pace. Not as cold today, so decided to put in a few miles while the going was good. Redstone miles on mainly packed snow went 7:09, 6:44, 6:47 out (up) & 6:15, 6:29, 6:28 back (down).

Sat - 13.5 miles (1,800'). Out and back on Blue Sky to Indian Summer from home. 2:00. Joined Alex, Kemp and Bard from the Fort Collins Trail Runners half way around on Indian Summer. Snow on the trail, but still very runnable.

Sun - 2 miles setting up T&H course. Had to cut the race from an 8k to a 4k because of the conditions (6-8 inches of fresh powder on the ground easily). Twenty hardy souls showed up and "raced". Enjoyed a great breakfast afterward at Avogadro's Number for the club's holiday brunch.

Board meeting afterward and an interesting discussion on how we can build the club's July 4 5k race. Last year we had 994 runners finish, and based on the huge numbers at the Turkey Trot last weekend, I don't see why we can't double that within a few years. A couple of my suggestions included:

- switching to chip timing, as people seem to be attracted to chip-timed events and the cost per runner is only an extra $0.70 which we could either absorb, cut from the budget elsewhere or tack on to the race fee;
- do away with T-shirts and replace with one-size-fits-all logo hats;
- put up a (serious) cash purse to attract some talent and create a buzz about the race;
- build a bleedin' website;
- make the post-race food memorable (huge over the course of a few years);
- add options other than the kids race to make the race more appealing for the whole family. At the Turkey Trot they let kids under 12 run the full course for free with a paying adult. Great idea.




Total: 44 miles (5,400').

Easier week as planned. Had hoped to put in some bigger miles this week coming, but it looks like the frigid temps and heavy snow on the ground are going to make that a major challenge. I'm already dreading it, but the mill looks like it will be called into action.