The people that I have met are not foolish; they are aware of how tired and cold and hungry and frightened and hurting and discouraged and disoriented and how possibly injured they will become. They know they will face great physical, mental, emotional, and possibly spiritual challenges as they make their way to the finish. This is what they are racing against. This is their challenge. This is what I admire.

- Carolyn Erdman

Now that the snows have abated, a nasty sprain is working its way out, and the vitamin D deficit-fueled funk is no more, the 2010 calendar is coming into focus. So far, I’ve got an 8hr circlefest, a smattering of 50k +s, some other unofficial muckages, and some crewing to do, all of which will culminate – should all go as planned – in a trip to Cassoday, KS in October for the Heartland 100 Spirit of the Prairie, and then – should all again go as planned – a finish in under 30 hrs.

Every morning for the last month, I’ve woken to enormous gratitude for Global Warming, since I simply can’t imagine what life would be like without it right now. This morning 40-60 mph winds, a foot of snow, all on top of the nearly 30 inches we had earlier in the week. To celebrate today’s little bit of joy, I present a poorly-edited short highlighting the ‘best of’ this morning’s jaunt.

Running in the Snowy Bosom of the Free World, or a Running Fun Snowy Short from Peter Shoemaker on Vimeo.