Where should I go for grad school/ running?

Join the Peace Corps or teach English abroad and learn a new language. You'll enjoy yourself and then you'll be ready to do the school thing.

Bear Stearns, eh?????

I'm not employed in the finance industry, but I have to say that since you "want to...get the hell away from the east coast and focus on [your] running and outdoors interests" that you should consider something besides grad school, especially given the current state, and more importantly the uncertain future state, of our economy. I don't know if it necessitates moving to another country as the first respondent suggested, but you should definitely consider doing something non-academic and non-"professional." Maybe AmeriCorps or some similar type of volunteer program? Most of those programs offer scholarships and defer student loan payments, including interest, and offer amazing outdoors opportunities. Of course, you could also just head west and try to find a job in Flagstaff or Boulder. Either way, consider something else for a while. I'm 2 years out of college now, in graduate school (PhD program), and while I enjoy it, I do wish that at some point I had taken some time to just explore the world on my own.

Thanks for the responses. I didn't work for bear, I was at a hedge fund that ended up closing because some key people left.

I think I am definitely looking to do grad school rather than going in a total different direction. I would see the two years in grad school as more of a break than anything. Plus the connections you make are usually more important than the degree. I do want to get back into finance after graduation.

As an MBA myself, first of all, I commend you for your decision to return to grad school. I found it to be one of the more challanging and rewarding decisions of my life.

Allow me to give you one piece of advice (which you can feel free to take or leave)...

If you're going to go back to school (which it sounds like you are) and are going to go into a full-time program (which it sounds like you would), then I would encourage you to seriously consider top-tier programs only. The value of a MBA from schools like Northwestern (Kellog), NYU (Stern), or Penn (Wharton) will do SIGNIFICANTLY more for your future finance career than one from Colorado or Northern Arizona.

The unfortunate reality for someone trying to get away from the East Coast is that the overwhelming majority of top MBA programs are East Coast-based. Your best non-East Coast options are:

California-Berkely (Haas)

University of Chicago

Northwestern (Kellog)

Stanford

UCLA (Anderson)

As you said, your undergrad GPA is good (not great) and you haven't taken the GMAT yet. Not knowing your work experience, here are 3 other strong programs (although not top-10) that I would STRONGLY recommend based on your desired geography:

Arizona State (Carey) - West

While the training isn't nearly the same in Tempe as Flagstaff, Arizona State has quietly put together one of the top business schools in the country. The cost, compared to other programs with similar ranking is about $10,000 less/year. Tough in the summer, but you could easily run year-round in Tempe.

BYU (Marriott) - Rocky Mountain

Not quite as eye-popping of a program (#29 US News & World Report) as some others, but compared to a Rocky Mountain program like Colorado, you're getting a significantly better degree here and still in Provo - good for training. Also, a total bargain as I believe full-time tuition is under $10,000/year.

Indiana (Kelley) - MidWest

For a MidWest school, Kelley does pretty well in finance, placing over 1/3 of their graduates in Accounting/Finance. Bloomington might be a tough adjustment for an East Coaster, but this is a very good program.

Another option I would urge you to consider would be going international. If you really are going to look at your MBA program as more of a "vacation", then go to a 2nd tier international program. Because it's abroad, it will stand-out back in the US like a 1st tier domestic program.