Wow, been so busy can even find time to write. Sept and Oct are my busy months. Things are finally slowing down.

So just a real quick update. Then hoping I can keep up on my blog. I have some great pics and recipes to show you guys soon.

I ran in my first 100 miler in August but unfortunately I did not finish. Stomach flu hit me. My daughter had it the week before and I shared a watermelon with her. Dumb idea. That night it hit her. I was like oh crap. To make a long story short, the day of the race I woke up thinking, man I don't have an appetite. Hmmm must be race nerves. Well I never did get my appetite that day and you need one when you run 100 miles. So I stopped at mile 53. With in a half hour, black goo was coming out ofboth ends, sorry TMI. Then fever, chills hit. It was short lived. This is the second sickness I have had in 6 years. The other one was a stomach flu too. I avoid flus and colds but can't seem to avoid the stomach flu.

I am going to try for two 100 milers next year. That gives me two chances to finish.

Oh and let me tell you, when I wear my Forks Over Knives t-shirts, I can't tell you how many people say they saw that movie. It is crazy. People love it. I don't know if it makes the go plant based but I think it makes them think they need to start changing their bad habits.

bye for now.

 One of my favorite fruit meals is bananas and blueberries. Great pre-run combo!

 On top of the peak. I busted out of the cloud layer and found sun.

Another great combo too!

Been MIA for awhile. Summer has been so warm. Been enjoying every minute of it.

Running is going great. I am now tapering for my first 100 miler. It is in 1 1/2 weeks. So looking forward to it.  This week is short hill climbs. I don't want to waste my legs. Now is the time for rest and repair.

My meals are now fruit for breakfast, starch or guinoa with a veggie burger for lunch and another fruit meal for dinner.  Once race day approaches I will do only fruit for 3-4 days prior. This keeps me very hydrated. You will not see me eating spaghetti the night before the race. All that grain and salty, garlicky spaghetti sauce only makes me super hydrated for race morning. Not only that I can't stand that stuff. I wake up with foul breath. I prefer to make my on sauce and put it on cucumber noodles.

I will post of few more times before next weekend to let you guys know how I prepare for endurances races. Stay tuned!

Isn't this a colorful dish? For lunch I cooked up an acorn squash, cut up some heirloom tomatoes and a 1/2 of an avocado. The flavor combo was really good.

I have about 8 weeks until my 100 miler. Crossing my fingers I don't get any injuries prior to that.  Right now my mileage has increased and so has my appetite.

I think everyone goes through phases in their life with diets and trying to figure out what the best way to eat is. I know I am one. I never been on a diet to loose weight since I have never been overweight but my problem is that for about 10 years I have suffered some sort of GI tract discomfort. Since going vegan, but especially dropping dairy and wheat, has helped soooo much. But I have notice the days when I need a lot of calories I tend to be bloated more. ?!?!?! I mean geez, my diet is really clean. What is going on. So this past week I have been grain free. I think the grains have been fermenting and causing a lot of gas. A lot of people probably don't have problems with grains, but I seem to do. And I am talking not just wheat, but oatmeal, rice etc. 
To give you an example. Last week I was planning an all night run with a group of runners. We were starting at  7 pm and running until day break. That day I had to eat and get my calories in. My breakfast was a huge bowl of oatmeal with fruit and maple syrup, second meal same thing and the last meal just a huge bowl of yams. Simple. That night I looked like I was 9 months pregnant. And had uncomfortable gas pains on my run. So that got me thinking to do no grains for 30 days to see. And so far so good.
Now what do I do for fueling? I have a back to back long run this weekend, 20/40 miler. Well I went online to search for recipes, and came across some banana chocolate chip muffins.  The muffins are grain free. For flour I used almond and garbanzo bean four. And added a little bit of coconut flour. They turned out perfect. So I froze them and will carry them with me on my runs. I can also use this recipe, minus the bananas, for pancakes too.

Here is a list of foods I will probably be using for my long training runs and my 100 miler. The key is a lot of calories and a lot of fat.
-Lara bars: only one I like is peanut butter cookie
-trail mix that  I make: dried fruit with some chocolate chips and a few walnuts
-fruit: grapes, strawberries
-potatoes
-Justin candy bars
-kettle chips (these always hit he spot after a long run and I don't eat very much. I am not a big chip person either.)
-fruit leather made by Cliff bar

I will be adding to the list but as of now this is what I have been practicng with.

Today's menu
breakfast 1/2 cantaloupe plus banana muffin
run: quick run up the hill 4 miles 1200'
lunch: pic above
dinner: will be some fruit and veggies with humus.

I have been so insanely busy. Been trying to write a quick post. Just been running and doing the mom things. Never a dull moment.

My strength has increased tremendously from last year. I was out last weekend with other ultra runners on a training run. We ran a 20 mile 5600 feet vertical run. I pretty much PR'd this out and back we ran. And I was just at cruising pace. Didn't realize my time when  I got done. Definitely a confidence booster.
I have another 50 miler soon, it is tough. Lots of vertical in hot sun. Can't wait.

I have been enjoying summer fruits. We bought a case of donut peaches and nectarines. I was in pure sugar bliss. And the strawberries and been fab too. They go great in oatmeal.

I might pick up a 50k here in two weeks. This is a great run. I know the trail very well. That helps a lot.

I had a beautiful amazing run in the mountains last weekend. Full of wild flowers. The smell was incredible. This is why I run. To explore. It is endless.

No race day morning is complete without a huge bowl of oatmeal.

Crossed the finish line on Sunday for my 50 miler. It was a good race. I have had better races. I think the rain and cold got to me a bit.

Two days prior to my race I nutritonally focused on fruits, oatmeal and potatoes. No beans or veggies. Just the easier digesting foods. I did not overeat to carb up before a race. If I stuff myself silly with food I feel blah. And honestly, if you meet your calories everyday, there is not need to overeat.

Race morning I started out with a bowl of oatmeal, 1 cup cooked oats, lots of strawberries, raisins and lots of maple syrup. Toed the line at 6 am. Overcast, calling for rain.

About every 5-6 miles there were aid stations. But since I am gluten free I tend to stay away from most of the food there. (If I ingest any gluten during a race, I would be doubled over.) Though they always have potatoes but that wasn't going to be on my race menu. I have a waist pouch that surprising carries a lot of food. My goal was to eat 100 calories every 1/2 and I started that eating one hour into the race. I found a gel made of all fruit. I despise GU gel and all that other gels. There are quite a few companies coming out with fruit based gels so that is nice. On top of that I also brought some cliff blocks. These work great too. This was my fuel for the first 30 miles. I was right on target with eating even though I didn't always feel like eating. Everything went perfect. I arrived at mile 30 on the trail where my family was at about 1/2 hour earlier than what I thought I would be arriving. Cool. Feeling good. At this point on in the race, I was going to eat grapes for the rest of the time. I switched to my hydration pack because the hand held bottle I was carrying was making my arms tired. I stuffed bags of grapes in my pack, grabbed my friend who paced me and off to finish the last 20. 

The last 20 didn't go as planned. By about 35 miles, I was wet and cold.  We had an incline up to the turn around. The rain was coming down and all I could think about was my warm house. I didn't have rain gear, but I am tough and some how I plugged along. I do know that this course is a flatter course than I am used too. I knew going into this race I needed to train more flats. I really should have put in 3-4  25-30 mile long runs on the flats. All my long runs had been hill work and I power walk the hills.But none the less, I think I ran 47 miles out 50. You definately use different muscles. This is the only flat race I will be running in this year, the rest of  them are hills. That is what  I love.
I ran through the finish line, happy and tired. Came home and ate strawberries and oranges. And then later ate potoatoes with salsa.

Today, other than sore quads I have no issues. All is good. Just been eating and drinking lots of water. I may go for a light jog on Wednesday and Thursday Then this weekend pick back up my training for my next 50 miler.

I will be doing a write up for Forks Over Knives on my race. It will be a shorter version with pics. Just waiting on some pics to come in. So look for that. They sponsored me in this race! Thanks guys!

Spring is here and we are getting our garden ready.  We live in the foothills so we have to be careful planting too early. Next week I will put in peas and greens. We will start with that. Then May 1st, corn, pumpkins, squash and cukes will go in. I had a great crop last year.  That soil is our own compost. Majority is from organic scraps. This soil is so soft and rich. Happy place to be if you are a seed!

I'm patiently waiting for my case of tomatoes to ripen.  I'm going to make stuffed tomatoes. I usually stuff two cases but have only one.  When they are done I put them in a big container and we have dinner for the next few nights. I have an idea what will go into them. Something new I want to try. Last year I did mango, clinatro, pineapple, lime, and avocado. It was delish! We have no mangoes so will have to come up with something different.

Three weeks until my 50 miler. Looking forward to my first race of the year. I feel great, no injuries. Only a tweeked ankle. Nothing big though.  I tweeked it many months ago. Ankles are such a pain. Once you tweek them, they are sensitive and so easy to re-tweek. I think I have re-tweeked my ankle 3x last month. It does heal over night and I am good to go the next day. I have to be so careful on the trail. It is so rocky where I live.

On my run today, I was thinking how much I have been enjoying running the last 3 years, more so than the other 20 years I have been running. Biggest reason is never taking my running watch with me. I used to be so into what pace I was running etc and if I could beat my old time on a running loop. I don't know, but it just got old. Didn't make if fun. I know so many runners who are so into their running data, time, pace, miles, vertical.  I could care less about time and pace. I just go out and run the trails. I do though keep track of my miles. Only the last two years and really out of curiosity on how many miles I get in a year. Most of the trails I run, I know the distance it is from point A to B so I do not bring a GPS with me. So yeah, it is very freeing not being tied to a watch and just enjoying every moment on the trail.

Today's menu and miles
breakfast - oatmeal, raisin, and maple syrup also some almond yogurt
run - 11 miles 2400' vertical
lunch - quinoa, veggie bruger, broccoli, kale, tomatoes
dinner - gigantic fresh juice of carrots, granny smith apples and fuji apples

Yes, still doing my 100 squats a day.

Check out my new shirt!!! This is what I will be racing in this season. I figure I might as well spread  the word about how a plant based rocks! And if you haven't seen the movie go see it. Give it as a gift for friends and family. I know it has changed so many lives.
The warm weather is upon us this weekend. This just after a last blast of snow last week. So happy to see sun. Makes me want to run even more miles. And eat summer fruit!

Had a great run yesterday with my friend. She knows all the trails on this one mountain that I haven't been to.  Lots of fun rolling hills and some great climbs. We did about 12 miles then I went home and ran another 13.

training and food log;
breakfast - big huge bowl of oatmeal with the fixin's
run - 25 miles 5000'vertical, fueled with lara bars and dried fruit
lunch - burritos (non-gmo corn tortillas, tomatos, salsa, beans, with red potatos)
dinner - apples and granola cereal

I just signed up for another 50 miler in May. This  race I will have to travel to. But it will be worth it. The wild flowers will be in full bloom there. Haven't raced in this area before so a new adventure. And will be going with friends. Gonna be fun.

We got the best deal on organic navel oranges, $22 a box of 72.  I bought two cases. These were the best ever! I typically don't eat oranges, I juice them. In order for me to eat them they need to be super sweet and juicy, I'm picky about that.  So these were great! Just like candy, unreal. And we got a box of fujis that were sooo sweet too.

And the romas were not too bad either.  Had to wait for them to come ripe, took about a week. So I also ordered a case of grape tomatoes to eat first then when they are gone, the romas will be ready.

Simple, easy salad. One head of red leaf, tomatoes and squirt a fresh orange on it. My favorite. I do not like complicated salad dressing. I can't stand, oily, vinegary, garlic dressing. Yuck! I wake up with foul breath, ewww!

Went on a run with a friend I haven't seen in awhile. She's an awesome ultra runner. It was last minute thing and had I known I was running with her I would not have done a 17 miler with hills the day before along with my squats. I didn't have the freshest legs so I had to dig deep. We did three summits that were quad burners. The pic is of our last summit. Windy and chilly but an amazing view.

Today's menu
breakfast - huge stack of pancakes, with peanut butter and lots of maple syrup. (about two hours before my run).  This is just the best pre-run, stick to your ribs, breakie for a long, hill run.

run - 15 miles, 3700 vertical, brought dried fruit for fuel and a few potatoes

lunch - quinoa, steamed veggies, kale, tomatoes, veggie burger, garbanzo beans.  A huge bowl of food and I ate every bite.

dinner - 5 navel oranges

I am still doing my 100 squats every day. Some days are way harder, especially after running hills. I know they really helping me with my running. I ran 24 miles on Sunday and felt great! The squats are getting legs muscles that running doesn't not get very much, like the inner thighs.  After my long run, next three days I spent it on hill work. My legs are very tired right now. Today I will do hill work then rest for two days.  I also  do my best for back to back rest days. This I think is so important.  If I rest,eat and sleep well, my recover time is fast. And my muscles get some to mend and get stronger.

Yesterdays' menu and workout

breakfast - big bowl of steel cut oatmeal with banana, blueberry, handful of granola and maple syrup
run - 8 miles of hillwork
lunch - steamed kale topped with tomatoes, broccoli and garbazno beans with a side of red potatoes
dinner - huge green drink (kale, apple and oranges) and more potatoes

I have a new discovery for my taste buds! It is the Eli Earth Bars.  These are  heavenly candy bars! They are vegan, GF, soy free and non-gmo. And it tastes like a snickers. I mean it doesn't get better than that! I don't partake in these on a daily basis. For one they are a little spendy but for me they make for a great snack on the trail.  These will for sure be in my race bag for my ultra races. I am not one to devour chocolaty sweets of cakes and cookies (even if they are vegan).  I mean I could. But I just don't.  Actually my weakness is watermelon and cantaloupe. I would take the melons over anything anyday.

So I am on a major pankcake eating frenzy lately. I love my recipe that I make.  4-6 for breakfast and I am good to go for a 2-3 hr trail run. Digests super easy.

I am still doing my 100 squats a day.  I am on day 20.  Still going strong. I do them right before bed along with 4 other core exercises.  I tried to do them right after my run but I am usually cold and/or wet from my run.  Right before bed is perfect.

And my run mileage for this week was 52 miles and 10,000' vertical. I have been really consistant in the last 3 months. Which is always a good thing.

So I am on day 9 doing 100 squats a day and 50 pushups. I also do other weights and core exercises but the squats and pushups are everyday.

As the weeks go on I will start seeing more benefits of 100 squats a day. But one improvement I have seen already blows me away.

My right knee has a condition common in athletes. I believed it accumlated over time snow skiing for so many years and having bad form as a snow skier. My knee cap doesn't track straight when I go from the squating position to the standing. It grinds  My knee has gotten SO much better over the years from keeping my quad muscles strong. It has never prevented me from doing anything but I tend to baby it more. I have to be careful when I do leg day at the gym. 

For the first week of  doing 100 squats, I could hear my knee grind.  And by the third day there was a little bit of pain. I am doing the full squats, going all the way down, doing them completely right. So today while doing the squats I couldn't hear my knee grind. I'm like what the heck?!?! Then I went up my stairs (because it always grinds going up), and no grinding either. I'm so stoked! Could it be that I baby-ed my knee for too long. I mean I used to get serious pain there and don't want to go back to that. But maybe 100 squats a day is what it needs.

Yesterday's menu and exercise

-breakfast - none (went to a party the night before, ate a ton of vegan food, was not hungry when I woke up)
run-20 miles 2400 vertical plus my core workout, fuel dried fruits
lunch- taco salad, lots of it and potatoes
dinner - pancakes

I just bought some oat flour for the pancakes, I really like it!

Day 1 of 100 squats a day
Some of my friends are doing a challenge of 100 squats a day for the whole year. And I have decided what the heck, I'm in. Who doesn't want buns of steel? They started Jan 1st, and I started today. Right after my 20 mile run. Oh boy.
I did my squats tonight and as much hills as I run, I will be feeling the squats. No pain no gain! On top of the 100 squats a day I want to do 100 push ups a day. A few years ago I was up to doing 100 push ups but not everyday though and definately not all at once. I would have to take breaks.  But I just did 50 and half were girl push ups.  Haven't done push-ups in awhile. So we will see how long it takes me to get back up to doing 100 non-girl push-ups.

Today's menu
breakfast - pancakes with maple syrup
run 20 miles, dried fruits for fuel
lunch - quinoa, broccoli, veggie burger, apples
dinner - sweet potato, garbanzo beans
snack - bowl of granola cereal with hemo milk

It is the end of the month, low on funds and food. Just been eating what is left.  I am almost out of fruit. I gotta have my fruit. I love eating  fruit meals. I don't like paying high grocery store prices so I wait until we make a run for the wholesaler.  So looking forward to some oranges or anything fruit.

I do everything possible to make my meals and drinks from scratch. There are exception to the rules, but in general that is my style.  It is winter and if you are looking for something warm and sweet to get you through a cold day, give homemade apple cider a try.  Most apple ciders come in a package and in the package......well I am not sure what is in the package. I mean it is a powder with apple flavoring.  Ewww, ( I am sure I made something similar to that in organic chemistry lab in college) but  I like making mine from real apples.  I just juice my apples and lighlty heat it up.  My kids love it! And you can juice more than you need and keep it in a mason jar in the frig. Then it will be ready whenever you would like some.  Typically use it in 2-3 days.  You can also take it with you do work or where-ever.  Add a little bit of hot water to it and you are good to go. 

I have been really consisted with my running. Our winter weather has been great. I think this is the most miles I have ever accumluated in the months of  Dec and Jan. 

My meals have been pretty much the same. I am trying to use all that I have in the house before we have to make our next run to the wholesaler.  Still have a few sweet potatoes left, they should be gone soon. I think I will get a case of red potatoes next. I like rotating different potatoes. We buy in bulk and shop every 2 weeks, so much cheaper. I guess if you like variety everyday this would not be for you. A case of potatoes lasts our family two weeks. Potatoes and quinoa are a huge staple for us right now. Come spring when more fruit is  available, I will make my evening meal just all fruit, like one meal will be 2lbs of grapes plus 2lbs of strawberries. Oh I can't wait for spring when we can get cases of grapes and strawberries!

Today's menu:
breakfast- steel cut oatmeal, with raisins and dried figs, some granola for crunch, 1/4 apple and maple syrup.
run 8 mile 2400' vertical
lunch - white rice, broccoli, veggie burger, onion and tomato
snack - 2 apples
dinner - sweet potato and chickpeas

Yes I am a carb person.  And this week I got 10,000 feet of vertical climbing. To most ultra runners it doesn't seem alot but it is January and there has been a lot of ice and snow and wind. So for me getting this much in, in 4 days, in January is great. I am hoping to consistanly get 10,000 feet weekly in, then I will be ready to double that this spring. I am looking to pick up a 50k in March and a 50 miler in April.

My vegan gluten free pancake recipe that I posted on my previous blog post is great for the kids.  Kids need more fat that us.  So for us big people, you can use only 2 tablespoons of the coconut flour and then add more of the rice and qunioa flour. And of course don't forget to add blueberries!

As usual, I try to take pics of my meals but forgot.

Today was supposed to be a nice hill workout in the mountains. The trail was icy! Forgot my microspikes.  I went up anyways, but that was stupid to do. It took me forever to get down. And I landed  on my ass.  Not a hard fall at all, but slow motion.  Lesson learned. Always bring my spikes when the ground is frozen!

Yesterday though had a great run. Breakfast I ate pancakes followed by some sweet potatoes.  Probably 700 calories. Waited at least two hours and headed out with a friend.  We ran 18 miles. Didn't need any fuel during the run. My breakfast kept me content. Felt great afterwards.  I wanted to keep going but had to get back home.

My lunch is always my biggest meal.  I cooked up a huge sweet potato, I love this stuff. My kids like to add dijon mustard to their potatoes. I also had garbanzo beans, I think this is my fav bean.  And I steamed up italian kale, onions, tomatoes with a veggie burger with cilantro and dill. This was in a huge bowl. I ate everybite.  Later that evening, I had a huge glass of green juice and ate 3 fuji apples.

I love making things from scratch.  Lately I have been trying to perfect the gluten free vegan pancakes for my kids.   I had been buying pre-made in a box. But it is costly and it has so much freakin' sodium!

I do have  picky child. And this recipe got a thumbs up from her. That is huge.

This amount made 6 medium pancakes.  My kids said they were soft and fluffy. That is good, right?

3/4 quinoa flour
1/2 coconut flour
1/2 rice flour
1/2 tb baking soda
1tb of arrow root
2-3 tb of sugar (this you can substitute any sweetner you like, agave, maple syrup) I just used sugar to start with and I will probably eventually try maple syrup. Hope it will pass the taste test from my picky one.
 And don't forget the milk. Not all milk is created equal. Hemp milk is more thicker whereas rice milk is more watered down. I actully use both kinds. I haven't measurd out the exact amount but I usually just pour enough to get a good consistency. And I sometimes mix both milks together.

I am not a bread eater, I don't like the feeling of dough on the bottom of my gut. So I don't ever eat it. When I do my really long, hilly runs I want a big breakfast and limit the amount of fuel I take with me. I actually fuel predomiately with fruit during my runs but fruit is minimal now.  My two hearty fav pre-run breakfast are oatmeal with granola and fruit and yams/apples.  I have been experimenting with the pancakes. I am gluten free so when I finally found a good recipe I thought I would give eating pancakes a shot again. Like I said I have not eaten bread or pancakes in 5 years.

I had 4 medium pancakes with peanut butter and maple syrup the morning of my long, hilly run.  This stayed with me and gave me plenty of energy. I was out for 4 hours and it wasn't until the 3rd hour when I had a handful of dried figs. I didn't feel weighted down it digested just fine. So if I am out of yams and oatmeal at least I know I can eat pancakes. But again, not a fan of bread. The pancakes are really delicious though!

I know a lot of you like it when I write down my meals and exercise. So I will try to post more often
Sunday
breakfast - 4 pancakes
run 4 hours with 3600' vertical
lunch - huge bowl of salsa (black bean, toms, corn, green peppers, lime, cilantro, olives) with veggies on the side
dinner - fruit meal of grapes and apples

Monday
breakfast - no breakfast
quick 7 mile run.  Too windy, trees were creakin'
lunch - yams, green beans, garbanzo beans, broccoli, tomatoes
dinner - 5 grapefruits. Found some great grapefruits

Finally we are able to make a run to our organic wholesaler so here is what our next load will be:

1 box of red apples (I will dehydrate  most of these for running fuel)
1 box of fuji apples
15lb carrots for juicing
3 boxes of oranges (for oj nd eating, oj is great for drinking while running)
40lb sweet potatoes (I alternate with yams)
8lb spinach for juicing
13lb roma tomatoes
12 heads of parsley for juicing
1/2 case of broccoli

Looking forward to when melon season is here. I love cantaloupes. I love sitting down and eating 2 huge cantaloupes after a run.

I don't follow the normal crowd of drinking and partying all night on New Year's Eve. I mean I use too.  It was fun and all but hangovers suck the next morning and I swear I age 10 years after a long night of drinking, lol!  Those days are long gone. Instead I spent my NYE running 20 miles with 5000 feet of vertical. 

I woke up that morning and ate a bowl of oatmeal with dried apples, raisin, pecans and maple syrup.  Headed out and ran 12 miles with hills.  Then on the last minute my friend called and said they are doing "Across the Years Run" where you start running before midnight and run through midnight.
Well I had a good morning run and pushed the hills a little and could feel my tired quads and thought "man I just ran this morning" but I am adventurous and of course I was going to run with them! 

I had to plan my meals right for the evening run, and I didn't have much to choose from at the house.  Lunch was yams and apples and dinner was gluten free pancakes and later followed by potatoes.  I had to eat more that I felt comfortable with in my stomach. I had just ran 12 miles with hills so I needed to re-fuel and then to fuel up for my evening run. Actually if I could snap my fingers and could have any meal I wanted I would have preferred a dinner of fruit, like a huge bowl of mangoes and pineapples. But it is winter and produce is minimal. I can get great fruit, but sometimes I have an abundance of ripe fruit and sometimes I don't. None the less what I ate fueled me perfectly.

Our goal was to start at one side of the mountain and go up and over, 10 miles with 3000 vertical. We started at 10pm at the trail head. The moon was 80% full and we had a clear night, about 28F. I was so bundled.  We started the climb, up to the peak.  I love this trail and it was the first time I ran it at night. It was sooo cool! The trail had snow on it and it was packed down. Footing was just fine. We arrived at the top of the peak 5 mintues before midnight. My friends busted out the bubbly and we cheered.  I don't drink but I did have a sip.  Then we continued our trek to the other side of the mountain.  We didn't get very far. We were sinking in knee deep. The trail was not packed down at this point. And with all the downed trees it made it difficult to find the trail. We decided to turn around. Good choice. So we headed back to where we started. The downhill was so fun. The trail was packed down so no roots or rocks to trip over. And the moon and stars lit up the snowy trail and the snow sparkled. We did have headlamps of course.

Even though we didn't get to the other side, we still got 8 miles in with lots of climbing, a three hour trip.  Alot of the time was spent pulling ourselves out of the snow on top and taking pics and drinking bubbly.  I got home at 1:30am and didn't even feel the need to eat.  I had eaten all day so I was good.  My head hit the pillow and I don't remember closing my eyes.  I would love to do this again next year. Gotta get some snow shoes though. We did have perfect weather but I just don't think we will get so lucky with the weather next year.