Woohoo!

Less than two hours 'till total wastardedness!

txih pics

Since I lost my camera very early into the weekend, there aren't too many pics. Here's what I have.

txih pics

I'm just really happy to have my camera back!

I'm too lazy to post my trash, you'll hafta read other peoples. I did piss on Ass Gagger, and got credit for pissing on BATT, so that was definitely a highlight.

hash article

I'm completely drained from the weekend and will post some TXIH stories once I recover, which might take a few days.

Until then, go get your fill of hash trash here.

fourteener plan

Hopefully the weather will start warming up fairly soon, and with that in mind I figured out my upcoming fourteener plan.

Hope to hit all six of the front range 14ers:

Longs Peak 14,255
Grays Peak 14,270
Torreys Peak 14,267
Mount Evans 14,264
Mount Bierstadt 14,060
Pikes Peak 14,110

And of course I'm still planning on doing the peak baggers delight, four summits in one day:

Mount Lincoln 14,286
Mount Cameron 14,238
Mount Bross 14,172
Mount Democrat 14,148

These, along with my trail race and hash schedules, should keep me pretty busy this summer, as well as slowly getting me some mountaineering experience so I can attempt some of the more technical peaks soon.

Having evil thoughts for the super ballbuster at CoTex South Park. Several 14ers are close to that area...

CoTex VIII - South Park!

I bitch slapped Meat around a bit and told her how it's gonna be - we're gonna bid South Park for the next CoTex. I will be in charge of trails and will head up the complaint department, as well as have the authority to deny anyone a rego. Meat will do gimmies and give everyone who regos early a blow job.

The area seems pretty sweet for a hash. Located at 10,000 feet and right smack in the middle of the San Juan mountain range, near such trail races as the Leadville 100 miler and the San Juan Solstice 50 miler and close to tons of mountain bike courses. So trails are gonna rock! Plus there are lots of hot springs in the area, which should be fun on a hash weekend.

We still have to actually win the bid, at this year's CoTex in Ruidoso. But I'm not sure of anyone else running. Still, all my loyal readers should sign up so they can come vote for our bid!

CoTex IX - Roswell or South Park?

MeatGazer and I have been talking about possibly running a future CoTex. Our original intention was to have it in Roswell, NM, which would of course have an alien theme. Now we've been thinking it would be cool to do it in South Park, Colorado.

Your thoughts?

By the way, nice to see all the Austinites rego'd for CoTex. Wankers! Someone from A-town has gotta represent, since the Founder is Pumper Up The Butt! So go here and sign up! Fly into El Paso and rent a car, or catch a ride with the EPH3ers who will be making the trip.

Jungle Pussy

Everyone welcome JP to the world of hash blogging! Hell, most of the Austin hash bloggers probably don't even know who this hasher is, but I was sad to see her leave San Antonio.

Jungle Pussy

Let it snow!

Colorado Springs got about four inches of snow overnight. Not a lot, but it made for shitty conditions outside on the roads. Most schools were closed and a lot of folks stayed home today. Police aren't even responding to accidents unless someone is killed, since there are so many.

Not supposed to snow much more this week, but it will remain cold. Checking the extended forecast, the high for Colorado Springs during the TXIH journey is gonna be 55. That's probably what the low temps will be at TXIH!

A run through time

This weekend's adventures took Rebekah and I to the tiny ski town of Salida. Some of you readers who pretend to ski may have heard of Monarch, Salida sits very close to there. Also sits close to Leadville and Buena Vista, home to some very tough upcomming trail runs for me.

Anyways, it was one of the most beautiful drives I've ever done. About two hours from the Springs, driving directly into the Rocky Mountains. On the way there we stopped by the Royal Gorge, a ginormous canyon and suspension bridge. I was standing behind a very secure fence but still scared shitless at how deep this canyon was. Great stuff though, and I can't wait to return to take a train ride through it.

We drove into Salida hoping to find a cheap hotel for Fri night, and we stumbled onto some sweet rental cabins, less than $40 a night! Great mountain views, plus it had a liquor store on the property. Went into town for some grub at Amicas Pizza & Microbrewery, yum yum. Try the Porter, it rocked!

Back to the hotel for some college hoops, good and bad to see Bradley upset Kansas. Good, 'cuz Pitt will have an easy time with them. Bad, 'cuz I'd have loved to see them whoop Kansas.

Up and at 'em early the next morning. Rebekah was running her first half marathon, and I was in the marathon, and both started at 9AM. Races were started by a direct descendent of Zebulon Pike, which was pretty cool.

I went into this race thinking it was gonna be pretty easy. Dirt roads, only 26 miles, how bad could it be? Damn, was I in for a surprise.

The first quarter of the race was a steady climb that gained about 2000 feet. The race started around 7500 feet, so oxygen was already pretty scarce. Still, I started slow and was feeling pretty well as the 6.5 mile aid station came and went.

The course continued on the dirt road, but as the altitude got higher the conditions got worse. Lots of snow and ice. I'm sure it would have been a spectacular view of the Rocky Mountains, but they were invisible due to all the storm clouds enveloping them. But that was off in the distance, and here in Salida the sun had came out and warmed everything up. So the ice began to melt, which would make the second half miserable.

Anyways, the run went out to the ghost town of Turrett. Only one road in, very far from civilization. No electricity or running water. No cable TV. Needless to say, nobody lives here in the winter. There was a small aid station at the turnaround, hosted by the local cycling club. Had some homemade chocholate chip and rasin cookies, good stuff!

During the first 13 miles I had been constantly out of breath, been hot, been freezing, slipped on ice, and got my shoes soaked when that ice melted. So yeah, I was having a good time. And I was also keeping a decent pace, hitting the halfway point in about two hours. Thought I'd easily break four hours, as I figured since the first half was all uphill, the second half would be all down hill.

Even kept up a killer pace through the 17 mile aid station. Not only was I sure I was gonna go under four hours, but I thought I might even catch Rebekah. Then the aid station worker told me that the course was a little different, and pointed me off on a rugged jeep road.

That's where the fun really began. The sun had beaten down on this trail all day, and it was muddy as hell. The kind of mud that your shoes would get sucked down a few inches with each step. And the entire stretch was tough, rolling hills. And then, after a few miles on the trail, as if conditions hadn't been weird enough, it started snowing. My pace was suffering, as I had added about five minutes per mile through the shiggy, and I was sucking due to the hard effort and lack of oxygen, but I was having a blast.

With about five miles to go I started worrying about the five hour mark, and how I better get going so as to not have a slower time then High Beams (who ran 4:55 at Austin). Yes, she looks for the most pansy, easy, lame-o, downhill marathons out there and I look for the most difficult mountain runs I can find, but on principle I had to make sure I beat her time. And I was worried for a bit, as the drop from the altitude back to Salida-level was a very technical and long downhill, reminded me a lot of the Hill of Life, but about three miles long. I suck at running that kind of stuff, but I soldiered on. And the last mile was back on a dirt road, so I was able to pick up the pace and finish with a blistering 4:47, nearly a full two hours off my PR, and still well ahead of HB.

So a great run, in shitty conditions, half of it between nine and ten thousand feet. Good times! And Rebekah also kicked ass, finishing her first half marathon in 3:20. About 40 minutes faster than I thought she'd finish. The farthest she's ever run, and it didn't come under easy conditions.

On the drive home we stopped in Canon City to check out the prison museum. Great stuff! Saw the gas chamber, lots of contraband, learned about the high security Super Max prison in CO that houses Tim McVeigh and the Unibomber and a bunch of other questionable folks.

Can't get stupid Blogger to upload photos, so you'll just hafta go here and see 'em for yourself. I'm off to bed, need my rest for tomorrow's tomfoolery with the Denver hash!

See Rebekah's race photos here.

View brownie's race pics here.

Pikes Peak's TXIH schedule...

This is tentative and subject to change, so don't yell at me.

Wednesday
5:00 PM - Pub crawl along Platte Road; convince MeatGazer not to go home with the guy at Knob Hill Lounge who hasn't showered in three days; convinve brownie not to go home with the Asian bartender at Irish House IV

Thursday
11:00 AM - Beers at the Thirsty Turtle (SA hash bar)

2:00 PM - Burgers and beers at the Crown & Wanker.

5:45 PM - Hit the beginning of the pub run at Runtex (not a hash event, just a good excuse to drink beer)

6:00 PM - Lovejoy's. May or may not do the entire pub crawl, since Fish is behind it and he'll try to be creative and it'll turn out gay. Will definitely hit LJ's and Mugshot's and maybe some of the Red River dives, then find out where the trail ends.

Friday
9:30 AM - 60 minute run on the Barton Creek Greenbelt trails.
Noonish - Head down to Llano. Stops at roadside pubs as needed.

Saturday
All day - SPLORK! entire Austin hash at least twice; dominate 3Man; run the ballbuster in less than 45 minutes; draw on Ass Gagger with sharpies; tell everyone in a very loud voice that this is the worst TXIH ever; convince Tuck It to play Late Night Drive Thru in our skit entitled, "here's how LNDT broke her arm"; mooch jager off of everyone; throw up on Chlamydia; call Firetunnel every 15 minutes to tell her she's a wanker for bailing on TXIH;

Sunday
2:00 PM - Chickenshit bingo? Lala's?

Monday
Noonish - Lunch at Rebekah's ranch; return to Colorado

Been pretty busy this week, here's the update you've all been waiting for.

Two Austin buddies, Pete and Melissa, came in for a visit. It was great seeing them. Got in quite a few good workouts. On Monday morning we got lost out at Waldo Canyon, ended up running around for over two hours. Great way to start the week! Showed those two a bunch of the trails up here and a bunch of the dive bars.

Found out that MeatGazer will not come to Platte Road to drink. Called her from the Knob Hill Lounge on Wed night, and she said, "oh, I don't drink in that part of town." Which was good that night, since she was with some of her Air Force friends who I don't necessairly think too highly of. And I think it was more of the AF people who wouldn't come to Platte Road. Which is just one of the many reasons I like that part of town! No chain bars either, so all yunz Hooters fans will hafta make the long drive up north if you come to visit.

Pete and Melissa had to bolt last night, so I'm by myself for the Salida Marathon tomorrow. I'm now to the point where running 26.2 miles isn't anything of a big deal anymore, just a quick training run. Of course tomorrow might be a quick training run where I throw up some green beer, but oh well. Rebekah will be trying her first half marathon tomorrow, everyone wish her luck.

Been getting bombarded with all the bracketology bitching about Air Force making the tourney, since the school is about ten miles from my house. As I've said before, I have yet to be impressed with any of the Air Force folks I've met up here, so I hope the Falcons lose big. I'm really, really glad that in case our country needed defended, the Army, Marines, Navy, and Coast Guard would be called before the USAF.

Hmmm...what else. Got Nickel Creek tix, they're coming to Colorado Springs next month. Also off to see the Keller Williams show in less than a month, woohoo! I must say the music scene in the Springs ain't much, but the scene in Denver seems pretty cool.

Time to get some work done before I head out to Salida. Happy St. Pat's day, everyone! Remember, you don't have to be Irish to throw up on St. Patrick's Day!

upset special...

Big upset of the first round is gonna be Penn over Texas! You heard it here first.

Congrats to the Big East for getting an NCAA record eight teams in the tourney! Pitt as a 5 seed sucks, but I still think they have a few easy games off the bat, could be a good run for the Panthers. Kansas in the second round, woohoo!

Ute Pass/Waldo/Long's Ranch Road

Dog bites aside, had a great run today. From Memorial Park, we went out Ruxton Ave to the Ute Pass. Over to Waldo Canyon. Back up Long's Ranch Road. Long's Ranch was a killer, like walking up steps for three or four miles. I basically had to hike the entire thing. Tough run, and I'm hurting like hell now. But a great five hours, the longest I've gone since Bandera.

Looking forward to this week, as two trail running buddies of mine, Melissa and Pete, are coming in for some altitude training. Week will cap off with the Salida marathon! Woohoo!

Off to see game three of the Colorado College hockey game tonight. Playoffs, so this game is win or go home.

When Animals Attack

Less than ten minutes into a five hour run this morning, some little shit dog took a nice chunk out of my leg. My first thought was "OK, time to crush this asshole dog's skull" but I got away from the dog and took a few moments to collect my thoughts. My favorite pair of running pants were ruined, but the injury to my leg wasn't bad. The lady who had the dog, on a leash, was freaking out. Of course, this was the first time her dog had ever done this and blah, blah, blah. Didn't feel like turning around, but I gave her my number and told her that I expect her to replace the pants but that I was gonna live.

I've had several close calls with dogs, as most runners have. Of course, every time I'm bitten it's always the dog's first time ever doing that...whatever. Anyways, if you have a dog, and have that dog around people, keep control of your fucking mutt!

Made for a great quote though. One of my fellow ICers passed by as I was talking to the dog's owner and said, "screw the mountain lions, it's those minature collies you gotta watch out for!"

5K on St. Pat's Day

Saturday morning it was off to Old Colorado City to help out with the St. Pat's 5K. I was volunteering, ended up working the late registration table and then helping round up all the shoe chips at the finish line. Rego was pretty hectic, lots and lots of folks waited 'till the last possible moment to register for this one. Race went off pretty smoothly though, over 1000 finishers. Chip collection was pretty easy, they used the velcro wraps which are much easier to remove than the zip-ties that most races use.

Rebekah ran the race, and did pretty well. Just over 31 minutes, a solid MOP performance. Real good for her just moving up here.

Figure I could run about 19 minutes for a 5K nowadays. Not too shabby, but nowhere near the front. So I'll probably just start volunteering for all the 5K and 10Ks around here, since it just doesn't interest me in the least about running that distance anymore. Good way to give back to the running community, which frees my conscience so I can go run the ultra distances without volunteering at those!

the Asians are coming!

Not sure if you can call her an Austin hasher, since she never hashes. And not really sure if she's new to the blogging world, since she's been lurking for so long. Anyways, Free Meat now keeps a blog.

Ruv you wrong time

LET'S GO PITT!

Woohoo! Everyone catch the Panther's dismantling of Villanova last night? 'Nova came into the game as the #2 ranked team in the country, FYI. Great game, typical Big East game, very physical. How hoops should be played!

Tonight is the Big East Championship game, Pitt vs. Syracuse. We beat up on 'cuse pretty badly earlier this season, hopefully we have a repeat performance tonight.

HAIL TO PITT!

I was pretty worried as Pitt seemed to falter down the stretch of the regular season, but it seems the fire is back. We whooped up on arch-rival West Virginia last night! Tonight it's Villanova who gets their ass handed to 'em. The game is on ESPN and I expect everyone to watch.

Looks like Temple (I went there for a year) could also make the tourney. They're still alive in the Atlantic 10 shindig after a big upset of George Washington. You gotta love coach John Cheney, who once threatened to kill an opposing coach on live TV. Makes it a great year for PA as Bucknell, Villanova, and Penn are also gonna get in. Maybe someday Duquesne will rise again for a big March Madness run. And hopefully Penn State hoops just continues to suck ass.

BATT...

...got drunk and farted on me last night. Her ass friggin' stinks!

Damn YMCA chicks...

So I've volunteered a couple of hours to help out with the St. Pat's 5K this Saturday in Old Colorado City. Yesterday I spent my lunch hour putting together packets for race rego, and on Sat I'm gonna help out with race day rego and at the finish line. The RD gave me a race t-shirt for my efforts.

So last night I was wearing the shirt at the Y. The chick at the front desk sees the shirt and says, "You got your shirt already?"

"Yeah, I helped them get ready for the race so they gave me one" I replied.

She asks, "But you're running on Saturday, right?"

"No, I'm helping with pre-race stuff and doing the finish chute."

"Oh, so you can't run a 5K?"

OUCH! Damn friggin' YMCA bitches!

Bandera 100 miler!

As much as I've wanted to do the Western States 100 miler as my first hundred, there may be a change in plans. Rumor has it that in the fall of '07 there will finally be a Bandera 100 miler. I love it down in Bandera, and wouldn't mind making that my first shot at the century.

Been running very well lately. Between workouts with Team CRUD and the Incline Club, I've been working the hills and altitude really hard. Race season is coming up, should be fun. Next weekend Melissa, Pete, and I are doing the Zebulon Pike marathon. Dirt roads, 3800 feet of elevation gain, run out to the ghost town of Turret and turn around. The climbing doesn't seem too bad but Salida is at 8000 feet so the air should be pretty thin.

Also lookin' forward to the start of fourteener season. Was hoping that this recent warm weather would be melting all the ice and snow from the mountains, but it looks like we're gonna get hit with some shitty weather soon. Still, I'll probably summit Pikes fairly soon. Thinking of making an attempt at Long's Peak early next month. Also, once the weather is warmer, wanna take a weekend to do the Lincoln Group (Mts Lincoln, Cameron, Bross, and Democrat), four fourteeners you can knock out on a single hike.

Beggin' For It alive and well...

Got an e-mail from my sis, she's doing well over in Korea. If any of yunz wants to drop her a line, here's her address. It's not like sending mail to Iraq (which, from what I hear, not many of you are doing anyways), you hafta go to the post office for special stamps. It's her work address, so don't mail her anything too offensive.

Wonderland
c/o Jessica Teisher
5F Kwangyoung B/D, #348-135
Sindang 3 - dong
Jung-gu
Seoul, South Korea

I don't know, hard to believe any school is called "Wonderland" but I'm not asking any questions.

Austin Duathletes

More news from the Austin Duathletes, including info on the next pub run. Show up and make sure this non-drinking kick Panther is on doesn't continue...

-------------

"Kill all the accountants."

I'd like to talk about peace and love and how it somehow relates to duathlon and our club, but I recently cut way back on my drinking and did my taxes. So, I'll save all that shiny happy people crap for next time.

In the meantime, I DO have some announcements:

--The next Pub Run is Thursday, March 23rd. DON'T WORRY! We'll stay away from downtown, this time.

--Club jerseys are coming soon! I know I've been saying this for a while, but I'm way behind, what with not drinking and doing my taxes and all.

--RANDOM PLUG OF THE MONTH: THANKS TO KNEADZ! Carmen, Lisa, and Martin will cure what ails ya and hurt you in a good way! Check them out at www.kneadz.com, or call them at 443-6400.

--Here's my monthly plea to REUP your membership or BECOME a member. It's your duty as an American. Dues are only $15 a year, which is less than 5 Starbuck's grande caramel macchiatos.

--Just a reminder that club board positions will be up again, soon. If you're interested in a board position (preferably President), please let me know, so that we can put you on a ballot. I think we're going to add a Secretary position and a few non-board positions, like Editor of our non-existent newsletter, "DUly Noted." The current issue has a fascinating article on how "electronic mail" is going to revolutionize the way we communicate, and there's a cutting-edge interview with Curt Cobain about Nirvana's latest album.

--Austin Duathletes Club Picture Album: I thought it might be nice to have a board where we put up pictures of ourselves, so that we all know who each other is. So, to get us started, I've attached a picture of myself, just after a recent race. I think this was taken right after Freescale. Please send in pictures of you, too, so that we can put them up on the site!

That's all the news that's fit. See you soon!

Phil Carmical
President
Austin Duathletes

on-on to Texas Interhash!

Got airline tix for TXIH today! Woohoo! Austin has big shoes to fill as last year's TXIH was unbelievable!

Arriving in San Antonio at 9AM on Thurs, March 23. Heading immediately to Austin! Not leaving 'till Monday at 7PM.

Banana Cream Pie still has an apartment on campus. It's empty, but if folks bring sleeping bags they are welcome to crash there.

Barr Camp and beyond...

After a late night last night I got up at 6:30AM to meet up with the Incline Club. Today's run was to be up to Barr Camp and back. I was in somewhat of a hurry as I had an interview for another bartending gig at 2:30PM, so my plan was to run up the hill for two hours and turn around.

Last time I ran to Barr Camp, two hours wouldn't have gotten me there. It took me about 2:05 or so, and it was painful. I must be getting used to the altitude however, as I was able to hit the Camp at 1:45 today! And in fact, I didn't stop. I contunued on another mile up the trail, to the Bottomless Pitt. Trail got very icy above 10,000 feet, and the lack of oxygen was making me dizzy. Hence, I was hurtin' pretty bad. I even took a five minute break at the Pit, trying to catch my breath, but in the low O2 I felt like I was slowly drowning. I went back down to Barr Camp for some water and some home made cookies, and then contunued back to Manitou.

Even with the five minute break at the Pit, and a ten minute break at Barr Camp, I still made it down in 1:45, a pretty good negative split for me as I'm a shitty downhill runner.

I did gain a new respect for all the Austinites who do the Ascent/Marathon/Double. This was a great workout, a combined long run with a near-race effort, much of it up hill in the altitude. The kind of workout that'll get me up Pikes quickly on race day. And the kind of workout you just can't do in Austin. So kudos to all the Austinites who had the balls to sign up!

Saturday...

Blew off my Saturday long run to go and help out the Pikes Peak Road Runners with their monthly clean up of a local trail. Figured it was about time I help put something back into the trails I usually tear up. Eight of us showed, and in two hours we had gathered a dozen full trash bags. No, the Springs ain't that dirty, but this section of the trail collects a lot of trash blown off of I-25.


My good deed for the year accomplished, it was off to the Cheyanne Canyon Zoo! Pretty cool place! Got to pet some giraffes, saw a Pitt Panther, some tigers, some big snakes. The zoo recently had a gorilla give birth, and the mother had rejected the baby. So a human zookeeper stays with the baby gorilla constantly, 24/7. Pretty weird.


















Another highlight was the hippo cage. We arrived just as a zookeeper was gonna brush their teeth. Hippos are like a lot of women I've slept with, enormously fat with bad oral hygiene!

After the zoo, it was off to Cheyanne Canyon for a quick hike up Helen Hunt falls. Great trail system at this park. This is where I do my Thurs hill workouts with CRUD, and there are still tons of trails I haven't explored. Helen Hunt wasn't too bad a hike, but it was some beautiful scenery. And no, these trails aren't named for that Helen Hunt.

So after a dinner at a local pizza joint, Rebekah and I decide to try to catch the mountain film festival over in Manitou Springs. Call MeatGazer, but of course she's too lame to do anything. We hurry over to Manitou only to find out the festival is sold out. Bummer. Oh well, off to Kinfolk's for some beers and singer/songwriter Tiffany Kimble. A little mellow for me, but a pretty talented chick.

After that, it was one last stop, at the Triple Nickel! $5.55 pitchers of PBR, yummy!

Anyways, a great, great, great way to spend a Saturday! Yunz can view the zoo/hike pics here.

PBR night joke

Don't remember much from last night's debacle, but this was pretty funny:

What do you get when you stick a fork in a fetus?




An erection!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Ass Gagger...

...has moved into my top ten psycho chicks list. And it takes a lot to make my top ten, that's for sure. She's either PMSing, or has syphillis (the disease that makes you go crazy, not the hasher), or probably both.

Pikes rego stats

Congrats to the city of Austin, with 74 rego'd for Pikes weekend. This puts the city third overall in total numbers, behind only Denver (92 regos) and my new town, Colorado Springs (909 regos). Austin even has 14 people doing the double, more than Denver (5).

And, of course, 5 Austin hashers and 2 AH3 alumni!

all the cool people are doing it!

I'm rego'd for the double! Woohoo! The following Austin wankers are also in:

Nicole (Ascent)
Rebekah (Ascent)
Tiffany (Ascent)
Emily (Marathon!)
Evan (Ascent)
Abe (Double!)
Steph (Ascent)
Lovebite (Ascent)

Anyone else? TJ? Brandon? Raf?

There's only three things you need to know about training for this race in Austin:

1. Hill of Life repeats
2. Hill of Life repeats
3. Hill of Life repeats

Everything else is just Sisson trying to make you think you got a deal for signing up for his training group!