Don't Bust the Crust

This year was the first time I did not go home to be with the family for Christmas.  With flights being pricey and not having many days off I decided I would stay in Az for the holidays and get in some running, skiing, and relaxing.  Christmas Eve and Christmas morning were spent down in Sedona.  Christmas Eve I got in a 17.7 mile and was pretty sure that some sort of wildlife was stalking me.  Then I followed it up with a 9 mile trail run Christmas morning with my friend Gail.  The sign to the left can be seen at a lot of trailheads in Sedona, also in Moab.




On getting back to Flagstaff we headed into the mountains to see if there was enough snow to do some back country skiing. We tried but the conclusion was not enough in the chutes and looks like there will be even less after the past few days where we have reached highs in the 50's.  We headed back down in the trees but there wasn't enough cover to make it fun as the downed tress and rocks were not fully covered yet.  But it was a great reminder of the benefits of living in Flagstaff, that even in the winter there are snowless trails only 30 miles away.



Allison Clay Chute



Lately I've been on runs with amazing views and the camera on my phone just doesn't cut it but I could never justify hauling around my old camera as it just didn't fit nicely in any of the little pockets of my running belts or bags and it didn't take very good photos. So after xmas I headed to best buy to see if there were any after xmas deals and picked up a digital camera that had been returned for about $90. It's the Sony cyber-shot DSC-W70 and is 16.1 MP and about half the size and weight of my old camera,so far it's a big upgrade. It takes much better pictures and is easier to carry along on runs with me, so expect more photos this next year and probably race reports as I no longer need to rely on the photos of others.


My first digital camera was in the Cannon Elph series. I received it as a graduation gift a few weeks before I graduated from college in the spring of 2004.  When I recieved it, it was a top of the line ~$400 5MP digital camera now it just shows how much cheaper and better the technology has become.
Below are some pictures of my trail run in Sedona yesterday that were taken from the Airport Loop. No matter the trail in Sedona there are always great views to be had.