HPb - January

My long run today pushed me over the magical 250 mark, which is where I feel I start to get into real good shape.  Finished with 254.2 miles.  Pretty good considering I missed a bunch of days at TexMex.  Didn't hit 250 until March of last year so I'm doing pretty well so far.

Wish me luck, the Hardrock lottery is tomorrow...

HPb 65 - long run

Real good long run this morning.  My normal 20 mile loop but I passed up the Sante Fe trail for the concrete of Cascade Blvd to get my body ready for the pounding at Austin.  Stupid wind killed me on Garden Road but other than that the weather was awesome.  Also did an extra loop around Manitou to get to 21 miles, since 21 is a lucky number for the city of Pittsburgh.  Free beer at the Townhouse Lounge for the first person to tell me why.  The luck started working immediately, as I got back in time to watch my Pitt Panthers kick the crap out of Notre Dame.

Listened to Spearhead and John Butler Trio the entire way.  A lot of those two bands' best music is about criticizing 'ol George W.  Hope they can continue to crank out the great tunes now that Obama is in office.

Start time - 7AM

Distance - 21 miles

Time - 3:04:59

Pace - 8:49 per mile

Weather - awesome!  50F and sunny!

Weight - 171 lbs

HPb 64 - Red Rock Canyon

Easy run through Red Rock with Yeti.  Felt good.  Wanted to go further but had to get to Bastard Night at Trinity.

Start time - 6PM

Distance - 5.6 miles

Time - 1:03:13

Pace - 11:18 per mile

Weather - 30F, partly cloudy

Weight - 170 lbs

25

This is the latest time waster on facebook, thought I'd post my list here since it's a slow blog day.


1. I started running in August of 1989, a few days before I began high school. My parents refused to buy me new running shoes because they thought it was a fad I would soon grow bored with.

2. I have a fear of heights. It did not stop me from breezing through airborne school. It does affect my bouldering, even when I'm only four or five feet off the ground.

3. I spent a summer in Philadelphia working as a bike messenger. It was my favorite job ever. Hardest I've ever worked for minimum wage.

4. I took dead last in the district IV cross-country race my freshman year in high school. I would win the race as a senior.

5. I've seen Blues Traveler over 15 times.

6. I moved to Manitou Springs because I used to vacation there and loved the place. I only planned on being in Colorado until I bagged all the 14ers here. Love affairs with Hardrock and Leadville may keep me here a bit longer though.

7. Someday I will live in Pittsburgh again. South Oakland is still my favorite place in the world.

8. My fantasy job is to be a journalist. I feed that monster by keeping a blog and writing for the Pikes Peak Road Runners newsletter.

9. I started a hash at Guantanamo Bay in 2003 and it has been running and drinking every week since.

10. My jeep doesn't have a heater.

11. Two things I have no urge to ever do: cook or ski.

12. I hate the fact that the highest honor I'll ever receive, the CIB, was earned in a war that I don't (and never did) believe in.

13. I ran my first marathon, Chambersburg (PA), at the age of 16. Finished in 3:20.

14. I haven't seen my parents since 2004. I still talk to them at least weekly and e-mail my mom almost daily.

15. I tried out for the Pitt cross-country team. The coach said they'd take the top three finishers out of 20+ hopefuls. I finished second. The coach took one guy.

16. I once swam across Town Lake (Austin, TX) so drunk that I got lost.

17. I spent a year in podiatry school. I learned a lot more about the bars in Philadelphia than I did about feet.

18. I once outran a cop while streaking and waving a Terrible Towel.

19. I've taken a piss on the wheel of the Madden Cruiser. Sure wish I woulda had to take a dump then...

20. I can’t stand the hypocracy of church. I believed Jessie Ventura when he said organized religion is a crutch for the weak (that’s about the only time I’ve ever actually read Playboy too…).

21. When I was in high school I began to equate marriage and having kids to boredom. I have too much of an adventurous spirit to ever settle down.

22. I would much rather go outside and play than watch a sporting event on TV. Unless it’s Pitt basketball.

23. I have a part time job washing dishes for minimum wage because for some reason it reminds me of my high school/college days. The free beer doesn’t hurt either.

24. I have pissed off a lot of people throughout the years, most of them women. It really doesn’t bother me.

25. It boggles my mind that the law allows us to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol but not use marijuana. Like Peter Tosh said, “legalize it!” Free pint at the Townhouse Lounge who can identify the artist and song where that line is from…

HPb 63 - 12 x 400m

Despite the 18F degree morning I still hit the CC track for a decent workout. The track was actually in decent shape, best I've seen it in a while. Hit my first 3 quarters in 90 flat, then ran between 87 and 89 seconds for the rest. 200 meter jog in between. 1.5 mile warm up and one mile cool down. The sub-six minute pace felt good.

Start time - 6 AM
Distance - 7 miles
Time - 55:00
Pace - 7:52 per mile
Weather - 18F
Weight - 170

HPb 62 - CRC happy hour

Easy run from the CRC to Goose Gossage and back.  Wanted to go longer but I had to help stuff the PPRR newsletter.  Nice to see the sun finally staying up 'till 6PM!

Start time - 5:30 PM

Distance - 5.8 miles

Time - 52:06

Pace - 8:59 per mile

Weather - 30F

Weight - 170 (weighed after eating a ton of pizza and drinking a ton of beer at the CRC)

to defeat your enemy, you must know your enemy

Good times on the horizon, as I'm about to head downtown for a drug and alcohol conference. Topics over the next few days include: "Alcohol Dependence and Alcohol Use Disorders: Etiology, Differential Diagnosis and Treatments," "Twelve Step Programs: 101," and the one I'm most looking forward to, "Sleep and Alcoholism: The Role of Sleep in the Development, Maintenance, and Relapse of Alcohol Use Disorders."

Hopefully they end early the next few days, as I have happy hours to hit tonight and tomorrow, as well as my scheduled shift at the brewery on Friday.

Hueco Tanks

Couple 'o pics from my recent trip to Hueco Tanks.

Didn't think Katie would do too well here as it was only the second time she's ever climbed outdoors, but she killed her first two problems, both just shimmying straignt up a flat rock:

I battled this next rock real hard, but just couldn't get up and over to the top. Great problem though, had a blast taking it on:

One of the reasons they restrict usage of Hueco Tanks is due to all the rock art left by people zillions of years ago. Here's a good example. There's stuff like this all over the rocks.

Finally, Katie and I with our guide for the day, Yuri. Awesome guy, really taught me a lot about climbing in the eight or so hours we were in the park. After the park closed we got to visit the spaceship where Yuri lives. He smoked a ton of weed, I drank a few Arctic brews, and Katie did a couple lines of cocaine. Good times!

Already looking forward to next year. Think I'm just gonna go climb for two or three days, especially now that I've finally crossed Guadalupe Peak off my list.

The Jack Trades

Awesome show at Trinity last night, and now they're being played on KRCC! Local music rocks!

Jesus is calling...

...and asking all you religious peeps to send more money to New Life Church. They're gonna need a lot more loot to cover all their hush funds, er, I mean, "compassionate assistance" funds.

Good stuff on all the hypocracy over here.

TexMex pics...someday

Slowly getting my TexMex pics in order.  Not sure if it was the recent change in Kodak gallery or my switch to google chrome, but for whatever reason I now have to put pics online one at a time instead of doing them all at once.  Which I don't have the patience for.  Anywho, here's me drinking in New Mexico and Texas at the same time.  Those are the Guadalupe Mountains in the background.

HPb 61 - heatwave

It was a blistering 28F at 5AM here in Manitou.  So for my run I went shirtless and carried my surfboard.  Seriously, after my last few runs being around or below zero, this morning actually felt nice.  Took a very easy loop around the Garden, felt good though I was real slow on the hills.  Also still icy in spots, so that slowed things down.

Start time - 5:30AM

Distance - 8 miles

Time - 1:11:30

Pace - 8:54 per mile

Weather - 28F, clear skies

Weight - 167 lbs

take that you fucking bird!

This weeks parrott predictor rings in at 3:28:41. My second fastest since I started keeping track nine weeks ago. Shows you the unpredictability of my training, going from 5:57:04 to 3:28 in just one week.

Guadalupe Peak

Here's me on top of Guadalupe Peak, state high point of Texas. GP was the 45th different named peak I've hiked since I moved to Colorado three years ago.

HPb 60 - Plaza of the Rockies

Just to give you an idea of how cold it was this morning, when I left my house at 5:40AM my phone was fully charged. When I arrived in downtown Colorado Springs about twelve minutes later, it was dead. Today was probably the second coldest day I've ever run in Colorado.

Decided to join a group of PPRR guys at the Plaza of the Rockies (Tejon and Colorado) this morning. It's a bunch of roadies who are a lot faster than me, which I figured would make me run that much harder to keep up. Despite sub zero temps there was a good group who showed, about ten brave souls. We warmed up to Shooks Run and then did a 25 minute tempo run north to the train tracks and back south on the Sante Fe trail, followed by a 15 minute cool down. Real good effort, though the pace seemed slow due to not being able to see the trail because of all the fresh snow. Still, much better an effort than I would have done alone and infinitely better than resetting the alarm and going back to sleep like I wanted to do.

Even had time afterwards to hit the Y to throw around some weights and work on my jump shot.

Start time - 6:00 AM
Distance - 6.7 miles
Time - 55:47
Pace - 8:20 per mile
Weather - 3F, snow
Weight - 171 lbs

HPb 59 - fucking colder

Planned on running in Denver with Ryan, but with the roads turning shitty I bolted home and ran around Manitou.  Even colder than this morning, but once I got about a mile into the run things seemed to improve, as they tend to do when I'm listening to Spearhead.  Went over 200 miles on the year with this run.  Bonus cross training as I got to shovel my sidewalk before and after the run.

Start time - 6:30 PM

Distance - 6.1 miles

Time - 50:08

Pace - 8:14 per mile

Weather - 7F, "feels like" -7F, snow

Weight - 170 lbs

HPb 58 - fucking cold

Had to bolt to Denver early on today, so I didn't have much time.  Not that I was complaining, since it was cold as balls out.  Just went on an easy out and back through Old Colorado City from Katie's house.  Should have ran longer - despite leaving early for D-town the drive still took friggin' two hours.

Start time - 5:30AM

Distance - 3.7 miles

Time - 30:21

Pace - 8:15 per mile

Weather - sub 0F, snow

Weight - 172 lbs

winter series pic

Someone snapped this shot of me at the Winter Series.  I actually look fast, and my form doesn't look like the usual "how not to run" posture I usually sport.  Of course, Coach Bell would kick my ass for spending so much time in the floating phase.

HPb week eight

Not quite what I was hoping for, but not a total loss either.  Managed 50+ miles despite losing Monday to travel and Tuesday to recovery from TexMex.  Still had a good climb on the Incline and a real good race on Saturday, fastest I've run in a while.  Should hit 250 miles this month, which I didn't do until March of '08.

Weekly distance - 53 miles

Weekly time - 8:51:28

Average pace - 10:01 per mile

2009 distance - 190.2 miles

2009 time - 36:42:05

2009 pace - 11:34 per mile

Average 2009 run - 7.6 miles

HPb 57 - my vagina hurts

Not sure what it was about today, maybe it was staring out my window at the shitty weather for an hour before I left the house, but I just didn't feel like running.  The recent warm weather spoiled me, I guess, and when we had a typical January Colorado day I just couldn't get into it.  Managed eight miles in the Garden, well short of the 20 I had planned.  Once again I stopped to take a dump in the Garden, I think I shit more there than I do at my house.

Start time - 8AM

Distance - 8.0 miles

Time - 1:11:45

Pace - 8:56 per mile

Weather - 13F, snow

Weight - 174 lbs

HPb 56 - winter series #2

Needed a good effort to boost my struggling Boston qualification dreams here, and I got it.  Eight miles out and back on the Sante Fe trail, out in 27 minutes and back in 26 minutes.  53 flat officially, though I think Dave was snoozing a bit and didn't see my olympic sprinter-ish lean at the tape as I thought the clock read 52:59.  Finished 16th overall (198 finishers) and even got second in my age group.  A tactical error cost me at least nine minutes and I wasn't able to challenge Justin after that, but I was not the last CRUD finisher as I whooped Harry pretty good.  I have to mention that because it's pretty rare that I finish anywhere near Harry, let alone in front of him.

Took my 6:38 per mile pace, plugged that 41:07 10K split into the RW calculator, and it adds up to a 3:09:07 marathon!  As Hoover Daaamn would say, "Boston in oh-ten, baby!"

Start time - 10AM

Distance - 8.0 miles

Time - 53 flat

Pace - 6:38 per mile

Weather - chilly, low to mid 20s

Weight - 174 lbs

HPb 55 - ain't life grand!

Late start at work today, so I was able to get some decent miles in.  From Manitou down to America the Beautiful, and back through Red Rock Canyon and Intemann.  Yet another day with great, warm weather!  Was running very well until Red Rock Canyon, when I slowed down greatly to save something in the legs for the Winter Series tomorrow.

Start time - 6AM

Distance - 14 miles

Time - 2:14:08

Pace - 9:35 per mile

Weather - 43F

Weight - 174lbs

HPb 54 - Incline happy hour

Been a full two weeks since I'd done the Incline, which seemed like an eternity.  That, coupled with the awesome weather, made me pretty psyched for the workout tonight.  Felt good, and was treated to the best view of Colorado Springs I've ever seen at the top.  Ended the night with trips to Kinfolk's, the Royal Tavern, and the Townhouse.

Start time - 6:30 PM

Distance - 5.5 miles

Time - 1:33:15

Pace - 16:58 per mile

Weather - mid 40s!

Weight - 173lbs

chickenshit bingo

Just found out that Ginny's Little Longhorn will be having chickenshit bingo on Sunday evening after the Austin marathon! It's been a wet dream of mine to win the shit pot and then buy everyone in the bar a can of Schlitz. Which would be awesome because I could say I did it, and half the peeps in there wouldn't touch the stuff so I'd get super drunk drinking all the leftovers. Gotta accomplish that dream soon, because if things keep going the way they are in Austin, Ginny's will soon be bought out by TGIF or some crappy chain bar.

Tim Reynolds

Anyone wanna go catch Tim Reynolds? He's playing Armstrong Hall on January 31st! Woohoo!

speed demon!

Latest parrott predictor rings in at 5:57:04! Not even good enough to qualify for the Pikes Peak marathon.

HPb 53 - CRC happy hour

Got stuck at work and arrived late, but still had a decent run.  From the CRC up to Goose and back.  Super dark, shoulda brought a flashlight.  Had a PBR and a Mickey's afterwards courtesy of Ted.

Start time - 6:05 PM

Distance - 5.8 miles

Time  - 53:32

Pace - 9:14 per mile

Weather - 40F

Weight - 173 lbs

Austin or bust!

Woohoo! Just got my plane tix to Austin! Arriving at 3:40PM on February 14th and not leaving 'till Tuesday!

on-on to the Austin marathon and ten years of hashing!

and you think your job sucks...

Deal with a lot of day labor peeps down here. And I've been hearing the same story for a while now - "I get there at 4:30AM and at 9AM when they open they just tell us they have nothing for the day."

Ouch!

HPb week 7

Pretty awful week due to traveling to El Paso, spending an entire day at Hueco, then drinking too much to run for several days straight. It was nice to finally knock off Guadalupe Peak since I've been talking about doing it for about five years now.

Weekly distance - 36 miles
Weekly time - 9:24:44
Average pace - 15:41 per mile

2009 distance - 148.9 miles
2009 time - 29:56:26
2009 pace - 12:03 per mile

HPb 52 - Garden

Early morning run through the Garden from Katie's house. Almost fully recovered.

Start time - 5:30AM
Distance - 6.2 miles
Time - 61:00
Pace - 9:51 per mile
Weather - 35F
Weight - 176 lbs

HPb 51 - Red Rock Canyon

Took advantage of the great weather and hit the trails of Red Rock Canyon for a night run. Still running off the hangover from TexMex, but starting to feel a bit normal once again.

Start time - 6PM
Distance - 5.5 miles
Time - 64:49
Pace - 11:48 per mile
Weather - 45F
Weight - 176 lbs

HPb 50 - asshole trail

Again, more on this one later. The annual asshole trail is the one hash per year I count as a workout. This one was eleven miles from the Mesa Inn, through UTEP, little traverse on the Franklin Mountains, then over to New Mexico to the U-Haul. A pack of about five of us got to the U-Haul and was told there was a bonus beer check on top of Mount Cristo Rey, so we headed up there, adding an extra five miles. Well worth it, as drinking with Jesus on top of Cristo Rey is awesome. Not a hard trail, but made very difficult by the fact that I was drunk and had been drunk for the previous four days before starting this. Pretty impressive pace, since that includes the three times on trail I stopped for a beer.

Start time - 12:30 PM
Distance - 16.0 miles
Time - 4:06:00
Pace - 15:23 per mile
Weather - mid 60s, clear skies!

HPb 49 - Guadalupe Peak

I'll do a better write up of this when I get the pics uploaded. Katie and I hiked up Guadalupe Peak, the state highpoint of Texas, last Wednesday. Beautiful hike, very easy 8.5 mile round trip. Seems like there are tons of trails in that area, may hafta join the Hill Country Trail Runners for their annual tour one of these years. Took us about two hours to get up and 1.5 hours to get back down. I could run this in under two hours easily, there's no portion of the hike that's anywhere near as steep as the W's.

Start Time - 11AM
Distance - 8.5 miles
Time - 3:30:00
Pace - 24:43 per mile
Weather - mid 60s, clear skies!

pep talk

ouch!

First day back at the climbing gym in a week, and what garbage it was. Still sore as fuck from Hueco, which was on last Thursday! Eight hard hours of climbing sure tears you up.

New president, but I'm still bored at work and can't climb for shit. Where's all this promised change? I knew I shoulda listened to Net!

Finally!

Jesus Christ, it sure has been a rough eight years...

mark your calendars!

March 11th, 2009, is the date to sign up for the Pikes Peak races. To rego for the Triple Crown it's only 125 bones, not too shabby since you get the Garden 10 miler, Summer Round Up, and Pikes Peak Marathon. The registration qualifications can be seen here.

woohoo!

Just checked my mail, and it was like a wet dream for a runner.  I got:

1.  A new book on the history of the Run for the Diamonds (the second oldest race in the country behind the Boston marathon).  Thanks mom!  I used to do this race every turkey day when I lived in Pennsylvania.

2.  My entry confirmation for Leadville.  Not that those guys would ever turn away anyone who can front the entry fee, but it's still a rush when the notice arrives.

3.  My new favorite coffee mug, which lists all the finishers of the 2008 Hardrock.  If you're nice I may let you look at it, though you most certainly will not take a drink from it.

home again

Friggin' fantastic weekend!  Crashed in Roswell, bagged Guadalupe Peak, did some awesome climbing at Hueco, stayed wasted for four entire days, smoked the 16 mile asshole trail (including the hump up Mount Cristo Rey for the bonus beer check), watched the Steelers beat the tar out of the Baltimorons, and even had a beer on top of Sandia Peak on the way home.  Reports to follow later, I gotta get some sleep sometime.

on-on...

...to Texas! Guadalupe peak, Hueco Tanks, and TexMex Interhash! Woohooo!

50

Registration opens (and closes a few hours later) this weekend for the San Juan Solstice. I feel like I'm betraying an old friend but I won't be signing up this year. 50 miles has become my favorite distance, I really get to push my limits but I don't approach the horrible suffering I go through during the night portions of 100s. And no 50 miler is more awesome than San Juan. I've run very well there (last year when I finally joined the Cannibal Club) and, to be nice, I'll just say not so well there (2007 - I beat the cutoff by a scant 13 minutes and only beat two other runners), but all three of my trips to Lake City were great adventures.

I have to go to a wedding on race weekend this year. I usually hate weddings and think they're a farce since most people will go through more than one in their lifetime despite going into a church and swearing that this is it. But the wedding is for a great friend and it's being held on Pikes Peak, with the night before in Barr Camp, so I've made an exception.

Not a total loss, however. Instead of San Juan I'll be checking out something new, the Jemez Mountain 50 miler. Heard some cool things about that race, so it'll be nice to finally get down there.

Still, come mid-June, I'll sure be missing San Juan.

Next year...

HPb 48 - easy Garden

Slept in this morning due to a long drive tonight, but still got a few miles in. The Garden was still icy as all hell so the pace was slow, and the recent cold front hadn't left yet, so it was pretty much a miserable run.

Tomorrow I'll get about eight miles in on Guadalupe Peak (at 8749 feet it's the highest point in Texas). Rest day on Thursday so I can spend the entire day at Hueco. I'll try to get up early on Friday for a few miles around the UTEP campus, but we'll see how hungover I am. Sunday is the only day of the year I count the hash as a workout - the Asshole Trail. But you just can't get away from whiney hashers anymore and after last year's 20+ mile trail the EPH3 shitcanned the usual hares, so I won't be surprised if this year's trail is short. Still, it'll be nice to spend a few days with some warm sunshine and extra oxygen.

Start time - 6AM
Distance - 5.0 miles
Time - 48:43
Pace - 9:45 per mile
Weather - friggin' cold, probably around 25F
Weight - 174 lbs

V2

Great day at the gym today as not only did I finally grab a V2, but I did it just before I left and I was tired as fuck, plus I had an audience! I perform better under pressure I guess. Also did two new V1 routes today, one of them on my second try. Good stuff heading into Hueco!

squawk!

My latest parrott predictor says I'll run Austin in...

...drumroll please...

4:10:03! My fastest time yet besides the week I did the Pueblo half marathon (3:25:51). Within an hour of Boston qualifing pace!

HPb 47 - snow

Was super hard getting out of bed this morning, and my blazing 12:14 first mile was pretty rough, but once I got by that things got a lot better. Just ran around Manitou trying to stay away from hills, which is pretty hard to do in this town. Got to run in a blizzard over the final 45 minutes, even got some cross training afterwards by shoveling my sidewalks.

Start time - 5:45 AM
Distance - 6.5 miles
Time - 60:01
Pace - 9:14 per mile
Weather - 35F
Weight - 174 lbs

woohoo!

Congrats to Melissa, who smoked the Bandera 100K over the weekend, going sub twelve on a fairly rough course.  Big kudos to Wiley and Nacheaux too, the ultra world has two new members!

HPb week 6

Ended up with 71 miles this week, a pretty big jump from what I've been doing but I felt good and even took a rest day so I'm not worried.  Probably end up with a super low number this week due to the El Paso road trip.  It's my third consecutive week with a twenty miler, pretty stoked since my first twenty miler of 2008 didn't come until February 23 (when I did the Black Forest winter series race course twice).  

Weekly distance - 71.0 miles

Weekly time - 11:21:37

Average pace - 9:36 per mile

2009 distance - 101.2 miles

2009 time - 18:25:53

2009 pace - 10:55 per mile

HPb 46 - PPRR full moon run

Got a few bonus miles in tonight at the monthly Pikes Peak Road Runners full moon run.  Always a good, low key, nice run at these events, if you haven't tried one you really should.  Next month is the one year anniversary!  Usually end up doing an easy five miles around Kissing Camels, which is what happened tonight.

Start time - 7PM

Distance - 5.2 miles

Time - 45:38

Pace - 8:47 per mile

Weather - 40F

Weight - 175 lbs

HPb 45 - Incline Club

Legs were a bit sore from yesterday so I did an easy ten miles around the Garden trails.  Slow pace, plus I stopped quite a bit to check out the views in the Garden.  Felt much better towards the end of the run than when I started.

Get some bonus miles tonight at the Pikes Peak Road Runners full moon run!

Start time: 8AM

Distance - 10.3 miles

Time - 2:01:30

Pace - 11:48 per mile

Weather - 40F

Weight - 175 lbs

HPb 44 - long run

Was supposed to do the Winter Series 10K this morning.  Even stayed somewhat sober at Trinity last night, since I figure if I wanna run 3:10 at Austin I should probably do some running below ten minutes a mile one of these days.  But stupid weather caused the cancellation of the run.  Bummer, but instead I went on a pretty decent long run.  Despite being way over dressed (I started and it was 21 degrees, but very quickly shot up to the mid 40s), I managed to run the loop 17 minutes faster than I did two weeks ago.  Now, it's time to go hash!

Start time - 9:30 AM

Distance - 20 miles

Time - 2:56:55

Pace - 8:51 per mile

Weather - started cold, but warmed up; beautiful Colorado winter day

Weight - 174 lbs

'09 races

Pretty much have my race schedule planned out for 2009. Gonna be a great year! And July and August sure are gonna be epic!

Unfortunately, I'll probably bail on the Greenland 50K, so John if you're reading this you can probably catch me drunk and get me to volunteer. Also gonna pass on Imogene since it's the weekend before Telluride Blues & Brews. I love roadtrips, but that drive on consecutive weekends was a drag. Instead, I'll head out for the Ouray mountain run and celebrate Octoberfest at the Ourayle House brewery!

Also stoked that I get to do Manitou's big two races, Pikes Peak and BTMR. I'll just goof off for BTMR since it's right before HR (maybe I'll go for the first prime!). For Pikes Peak, I'd really like to bring my climb down below three hours (my best is 3:07:31) and get my overall PR for that race under five (from 5:17:30). And don't laugh at that PR, I did it the day after finishing the Ascent!

I have given no thought to what will happen if I don't get into Hardrock because that's not gonna happen.

Feb 15 - Austin marathon
March 14 - Salida marathon
May 2 - Collegiate Peaks 50
May 16 - Jemez Mountain 50
June TBA - CRUD Tour de Pain
July 11 - Leadville heavy half marathon
July 12 - Barr Trail Mountain Race
July 18 - Hardrock!
Aug 16 - Pikes Peak marathon
Aug 22 - Leadville!
Oct 18 - Denver marathon
Oct TBA - Ouray Mountain Trail Run

HPb 43 - Incline happy hour

Besides getting super wasted last night I also got a decent workout in. Did the Incline in under 40 minutes, not too shabby since for some reason it took me forever to get my yak-trax on.

Start time - 6:15 PM
Distance - 5.5 miles
Time - 1:18:41
Pace - 14:19 per mile
Weather - 40F
Weight - 175 lbs

Incline happy hour

Some shots from last night's incline happy hour. Yes, the Royal Tavern now serves us gin & tonic in a pitcher!

just another night in Manitou...

Hardrock snow report

Here's the latest water year graph for Mineral Creek Snotel. For those not as smart as me (I took a science class in colledge once), you may have trouble figuring out what the graph means. It obviously shows that the San Juans got dumped on in December. Snow down there is deeper than it was at this time last year. However, due to a "mild La Nina" forming in the Pacific, the spring is forecast to be warmer and slightly dryer than average for our area. So, get your Hardrock applications in.

V1 first time go!

More new routes are up at the gym, and I sent a V1 on my first try! I remember it taking me several days to do a V0 not too long ago, so it's nice to see improvement. I'm also working on three different V2 problems right now, hopefully I can nail them by the time I head to Hueco next week.

HPb 42 - CRC happy hour

Easy run out and back along the Sante Fe trail. Not feeling very good, so I didn't go as far as planned. Beautiful night except for the wind.

I challenged Beth to a rematch this Saturday at the Winter Series 10K, but she pussed out. She gave up a ton of lame excuses, but everyone knows she wouldn't stand a chance against me on the trails.

Start time - 5:45 PM
Distance - 7.3 miles
Time - 1:04:09
Pace - 8:48 per mile
Weather - 39F, strong winds
Weight - 175 lbs

HELL! MUTHAFUCKIN'! YEAH!

Guess who gets to run both the Pikes Peak Marathon and Leadville this year!

dying resolutions

Seven days into the new year and the rock gym is finally getting back to the normal lunch crowd. The past few days have been packed with newbies, who were of course going to make 2009 different from all the rest and finally get into shape. I wish more people would make new year's resolutions like Jizz Mopper, who shows that renewing your gym membership does not mean you actually have to go to the gym!

BLOS was there today though, first time I've ever seen him climb. First time I've ever seen anyone climb in spandex too. He says it makes him more aerodynamic going up and down the fake, indoor rocks.

new recycling bin

Woohoo! Manitou has a new recycling bin, just like the one that used to be at the Old Colorado City safeway. This one is right down the street at Memorial Park. So all you CRUDers and ICers can bring your empty beer cans over before you run.

HPb 41 - El Paso out and back

Sore from last night's workout, took it super easy this morning.  Crazy strong wind, was probably over one minute per mile slower coming back than I was going out.

This is blog post number 2300!

Start time - 5:45 AM

Distance - 5 miles

Time - 47:20

Pace - 9:28 per mile

Weather - 39F, "feels like" 27F; strong winds

Weight - 175 lbs

HPb 40 - Garden fartleks and domestic violence

Great run tonight.  After forgetting my watch at home I decided to bail on the track and instead do 6 x 4 minute repeats along the Garden ten mile course.  Ran very hard during the repeats, and the cold weather and heavy winds didn't make things easy on me.

After ending at Memorial Park I was walking up the hill to my house when one of my neighbors comes screaming out of his house.  He's on the phone yelling about how he needs the police right now because his dad is drunk and has already beaten him and his mom.  I can hear things breaking inside the house and there is a woman screaming like she's about to be killed.

I run up to the kid and ask if he needs help.  He's crying and can barely say anything, but I still hear the ruckus in the house, and it doesn't sound good.  Not being a real American, I decide against finding a gun and run up the steps to the house, figuring I can at least slow things down 'till the fuzz arrive.

Just as I get to the porch the woman comes running out of the house past me, and the guy isn't far behind.  He sees me and stops, so at least I've now separated everyone.  The kid is balling in the yard, the lady is crying on one side of the porch, and the guy is staring at me, sizing me up.  I can tell he's drunk as I can smell the booze from about five feet away and he's swaying.  People often make fun of me for my running attire, dressing in layers and layers of cotton and sweatshirts instead of the sissy spandex and expensive outdoor gear look, but it made me look a lot bigger than I was tonight and that probably got me out of a fight.  Though had the guy came at me I'm sure I woulda laid an ass whoopin' on him.

Eventually I'm able to talk to everyone and calm the situation.  Kept everyone separated and said I was just a concerned neighbor and was gonna hang out 'till the police came.  After about ten minutes I asked the kid what was up.  The police station is about 200 yards from my house and the 7-11 is only half a mile away, so even the not-so-elite Manitou cops should been here by now.  The kid eventually admitted he never called and was just trying to scare his dad.  So I asked everyone to behave and told them if I ever hear anything from the house again I'd be calling the pigs myself.  Haven't heard a peep since.

Start time - 6:30 PM

Distance - 10 miles

Time - 1:23:26

Pace - 8:21 per mile

Weather - 29F, "feels like" 17F, very windy

Weight - 175

Violent situations avoided by using my head instead of a firearm: 1

oprah-ish

Latest Parrott prediction has me finishing Austin in a blazing 6:36:15!

Go Texas!

Read this article on John O's blog. I've been thumping my chest about Pitt being ranked #1 and the Big East having a record nine teams in the college hoops top 25, but we're nowhere close to the dominance that the great state of Texas shows on the list of the top fattest cities in America. Four of the top five and six of the top ten fattest cities in America hail from the Lone Star state: No. 2 Arlington, No. 3 San Antonio, No. 4 Fort Worth, No. 5 El Paso, No. 6 Dallas, and No. 10 Houston. Like they always say, everything is bigger in Texas (especially the women!).

A Run Through Time

There was some confusion as to the date of the Salida marathon. I talked to Jon the RD this weekend (he once broke his leg during Hardrock and had to crawl to the next aid station - how awesome is that!) and the date is March 14th. Entry forms are here. Be there or be square.

HPb 39 - Sinton loop

Easy run around the Sinton loop. Still a few aches and pains here and there, but I'm pretty much recovered from the snowshoe race. My toes are almost back to normal, though I may lose a toenail. Followed the run with an hour of hot yoga and then a few pints at Trinity. Not too shabby for a Monday.

Start time - 5:30 PM
Distance - 4.2 miles
Time - 33:57
Pace - 8:06 per mile
Weather - 29F; lots of snow
Weight - 173 lbs

mineral belt mayhem

Think I'm finally gonna attempt a mountain bike race. On March 8, they're having the Mineral Belt Mayhem race in Leadville, which goes around the 12 mile mineral belt loop. There will still be a lot of snow there, but it's a race I should be able to finish. Any excuse to go drink in Pb-ville...

Details are here.

snowshoe write-up

Yeti posted his snowshoe report, see it here. Be sure to check out the video of the slush we had to deal with while crossing Turquoise Lake!

ouch!

Two of my toes are still hurting from the snowshoe race. Which is an improvement, because up until this morning I couldn't feel them at all. But the pain lets me know that I'm alive, and I sure was feeling that pain while trying to break in new climbing shoes at the gym today. Went half a size smaller with the new pair, and they were beatin' the hell out of my toes. Good times!

HPb 38 - easy stuff

Had to get a short one in this morning due to oversleeping. Legs were still a bit sore, especially my shins and ankles. Slow pace due to all the snow. Just an easy out and back along El Paso.

Start time - 6AM
Distance - 3.5 miles
Time - 30:01
Pace - 8:35 per mile
Weather - fucking cold, easily below 0F; lots of snow
Weight - 174 lbs

it's official!

The ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll was just released, and Pitt is #1! The AP poll gets released in a few hours...

HPb week 5

Not quite the mileage I was hoping for due to two rest days (travel to and from Leadville) but it was still a good week. The Rescue Run and snowshoe race weren't stellar performances, but I was happy with the effort of both. Being hungover doesn't bode well for fast times, but you're still suffering out there, which is what I'm looking for this time of year.

Weekly distance - 44.9 miles
Weekly time - 9:29:14
Average Pace - 12:40 per mile

rescue run pics

we're #1!

The new college hoops rankings will come out later today, and thanks to our demolishion of the Hoyas and Carolina's crappy game last night, Pitt will be ranked #1 for the first time in their 101 year history of college basketball! HAIL TO PITT!

it's in the mail...

Mailed in my rego for the Hardrock lottery on Friday.  From the Leadville post office for good luck.  I'll know on February 1st if I get in...

Leadville MOPP

Pretty stoked to have gotten a 5+ hour effort so early in the season, but just as important was the high altitude drinking.  Saturday's pub crawl hit the following bars: Pasttime, Silver Dollar, Bobbie's Place, the Scarlet, and the Manhattan.  Multiple PBR's at each of the first four bars, then I switched to G&T at the Manhattan (only three bones a pop, and almost as strong as a Royal Tavern glass).  It was a bitch laying trail in chalk, as nobody in Leadville seems to shovel their walks.

Have the Trinity employee party tonight, open bar and the boss is buying the cab home.  My liver should be rounding into tip-top shape just in time for my upcoming trip to TexMex!

HPb 37 - Leadville snowshoe run

Wow, what an adventure that was!  I'll do a much more detailed race report later, in fact I'm hoping to write an article for the PPRR newsletter about it since so many locals were out there.  Pretty miserable experience, great weather but crossing Turquoise Lake sucked ass since there was tons of wind and slush.  I'm typing this over 24 hours after I finished and I still can't feel two of my toes.  Since I wasn't sure what to expect, I started off way too easily (I was in last place for almost two miles) and probably could have done this around five hours had I not jerked around for the first 15 miles.

The snowshoes screwed up my stride just enough to make me pretty sore today.  Won't take long to recover though.

Start time - 10AM

Distance - 20 miles

Time - 5:44:13

Pace - 17:13 per mile

Weather - "nice" for Leadville; highs in the upper teens, but the wind chill made the entire race in the single digits

Weight - 174 lbs

sand dunes!

The annual Sand Dunes hash campout will be held the last weekend of June, the 26th to the 28th.  Always a great weekend - beautiful location, lots of booze, fun trails, fucking off on the dunes.  All for only six bones!

the Mesa Inn!

Wes Mantooth has just made a reservation at the Mesa Inn. Checking in on January 14, 2009. Paying cash, of course. Christian Fourth will be unable to stay there this year, as he trashed his room pretty good last year.

ouch!

As bad as the Rescue Run hurt, I can't imagine how much life is gonna be sucking tomorrow during the snowshoe race.

HPb 36 - easy Manitou

Easy run to shake out the legs tonight, then hit happy hour.  Didn't want to tackle the Incline since I raced earlier and I have that snowshoe thing on Saturday.  

Start time - 6PM

Distance - 4 miles

Time - 34:08

Pace - 8:32 per mile

Weather - nice, 40F

Weight - 174lbs

HPb 35 - Rescue Run 10K

Another year, another effort at the Rescue Run 10K blown to a hangover.  Had nothing to give today and the seemingly endless rolling hills beat me up pretty good.  Finished 34th out of 332 finishers, which sounds good but a good chunk of those people only run once a year.  Kudos to Beth for being first overall female!  And contrary to popular belief, there were not seven chicks in front of me.  Only three.

Start time - 10AM

Distance - 6.2 miles

Time - 45:55

Pace - 7:25 per mile

Weather - beautiful, temps in the 50s

Weight - 173lbs