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Mt. Mitchell Challenge

The Mt. Mitchell Challenge has been my winter motivation for the last 3 years. This race is at the end of February and goes up Mt. Mitchell, the tallest mountain east of the Mississippi. Given the mountain and the fact that the race is during the winter, its considered one of the hardest races in the east. The last 2 years I did the marathon which doesn't go all the way to the top of the mountain. That race starts in Black Mountain, NC and goes up 13 miles before turning around and heading back down. This year I did the full challenge, 40 miles, which goes all the way to the summit at 6600ft or something. You have to 'qualify' for this race and its still a lottery, luckily I won (lost?!?!) this year, so it was on. My training went great all winter so we went down to NC for the race. We rented a house like last year that is right near the town and the start and finish of the race.

Making our way to the start bright and early on race morning.

Camilo was more interested in the fire hydrant than the upcoming race.
And we're off. It was nice at the start, a bit cool, probably around freezing. At the summit it was around 0 and the wind was gusting to 50mph.... so a wind chill of -30 or something. It was brutal!
While I was running, the kids took Lisa to a coffee shop where the highlight was hot cocoa with whipped cream and chocolate chips!
Camilo found a cookie too.
Coming into the finish. Probably my best race ever. I felt great the whole way with no cramps or crashes. I did destroy a toe nail, but thats it.
Going through the finish.
Time to sit down...
Man down! and girl up!
Camilo was happy to relieve me of my water bottle. And Amalia wanted to chow me some toys she got.
I ended up 13th out of ~135 finishers and 200 starters. DONE!

racing!

Well for the first time in 2012 we had a race! This was the Blacksburg Classic, the biggest running event of the year in town. This year they had almost 700 racers, the most ever! The profits all go to the high school cross country team, so a good cause. There are three races, a 1 mile fun run, a 5k, and a 10mile. Amalia and Lisa did the 1 mile. Camilo was unhappy because he wanted to ride his bike but it was just too crowded. I did the 5k. Most years I do the 10mile but next week I have the Mt. Mitchell race so I settled on the 5k this year. All races went well and SpeedMoore racing did great!

Amalia getting ready to race.

Both Amalia and Lisa ran the whole way together. This was probably Amalia's longest run ever! She stated afterwards that she wanted to train for a 5k with the big kids!
Closing in on the finish.
Sprinting for home!
Even Camilo got a metal and got to enjoy some trail mix with nuts, raisins and M&Ms. Guess what part was his favorite?
Amalia thought the M&Ms were the best too!
Camilo was unhappy that he couldn't race on his bike but he still got to ride around on it and lots of people commented on how good he was at it. He's a champ!
Still, it would have been better to race...
Here I am coming into the finish.
Sprinting for home.
Third place overall with a time of 17:29... so not too bad.

last of Argentina

Here are the last pics from our trip to Argentina. These are all from Cordoba, actually Carlos Paz which is a small town right out of time. It is a beautiful place and we had lots of family who made the trip for Christmas.

These first two pics are of the whole family. We are in front of the Inn and you can see the lake behind us. We were a lot of people with the whole extended family but since we stayed at the Inn it was great and we had lots of space and great food.

I took a few candid pics during christmas dinner. Here is cousin Billy. Not sure this is the most flattering pic but with an Argentine family, dinner is an active affair!
Ana's brother Enrique contemplating his dinner.
Tom listening intently to Anacelia.
Trying to get the kids to eat.
Desert!

more from Cordoba

Here are some more pics from Cordoba. The kids had a great time playing in the yard in front of the Inn. It was like a small yard where the kids could run around and play with their toys. Beyond the wall was a highway which was loud but the kids stayed away. Also, the swimming pool was very popular during the heat of the day.

Camilo with Viviana and Kris. He brought his backpack with his trucks which he played with both in the dirt and on the paved area. He was always looking for someone to play with.

Here he was trying to get Viviana to play with him.
I guess she relented.
Tried to get a family portrait for Gabe and Kris. Here were some examples:

One of Gabe's favorite (read sarcasm) parts of the whole trip was taking the kids to a little amusement park. As you can see from this pic, Ana was very excited too! In truth, the kids loved it! Here they are watching some sea world type show with sea lions.
Camilo is amazed.
The kids loved it.

They did get to drive bumper cars too. I'm sure Gabe really loved it and I'm equally sure his knees felt great being folded into that car and then being repeatedly smashed!

on to Cordoba

After Patagonia we flew back to BsAs and then onto Cordoba, in the center of Argentina. Of course it wasn't that easy. There was a huge storm in BsAs so our flight was cancelled and we spent the night in the airport because it was already late and our flight left early in the morning. Cousin Billy came and visited us (I was asleep) in the airport, which was nice. The kids actually slept quite well, the rest of us... not so much. From Cordoba we drove about 30min to Carlos Paz, a small tourist town based around a beautiful lake. This is where Ana's cousin lives and runs a small inn. Lots of the family joined us there for Christmas. We must have been near a dozen in total.

One day we went up into the Sierra just out of town. There is a nature reserve that is famous for condors, maybe the only population not in the Andes themselves. Here are some pics from that day, in no particular order.

We did see a couple of condors, here is one!

For me this is a more spectacular bird, the elusive rufous-collared sparrow!
Amalia and Camilo sitting on a rock.
He must see something.
Amalia found a condor... but not flying.
Lots of thistles, and this one was being visited by a big bee.
Nice pic by Lisa.
Camilo decided that Kris didn't have enough work carrying Viviana so she should hold his hand too.
Who is taller?
Trying to pose for a pic, the moms with offspring.
Trying again, this one was alright.
Lisa and the thistles.
There was a little picnic area that was full of birds, and they were super tame. They would even eat from your hands!
Camilo decided a pastry as in order.
Amalia feeding a sparrow.
Again. I have literally caught thousands of these in my career and never seen anything like this. I was amazed!
This is how we usually walked, all spread out along the trail.
There were leaf cutter ants and the kids loved playing with them. They are some of my favorite beasts.
a little bit closer.
Another family portrait.
Ana walks like its a race and someone just said 'go!'. The girls followed her.
Here is where we were.