3650.9

Easy 4.5 with the dog last night, followed by a ton of Spotted Cow. And Wisconsin Bock. And a Fat Squirrel or two. Rewarded myself by taking today off.

Widespread Panic tonight. First time seeing them in a non-festival setting. Hoping to hit Elk Mountain and Wynkoop on the way there, but mother nature might make that tough. Someone let me know how the weather in Denver is...

Good heads up from Footfeathers on some of the cool beer happenings over the past year. Definitely gotta get me some of this in January:

San Juan

Just a reminder for anyone who wants to run the San Juan Solstice and the upcoming Pikes Peak Fat Ass. Rego for Lake City is on the same day as the fat ass, opening at 7AM. I'll have the computer on at the house, but the line forms after me...

Wed

Nice 6.4 around the Garden this morning. 1:16. An easy four tonight at the CRC happy hour gets me over 3650 on the year. 10+ miles a day. If any of you northerners would like to buy me a brew for this accomplishment, I'll be hanging out at Wynkoop Brewing tomorrow afternoon.

Thinking of signing up for the Yeti Chase 10K. Price doesn't go up until January 9th, so I have until then to decide, but I'll more than likely be there.

AJW is asking for ultrarunning nominations over here. Maybe Karl will nominate Brooks for female ultrarunner of the year.

preparing for the 2011 monster-off

Banff

Saw an ad for it this morning, can spring be far away!!! I think this will be my 5th time seeing the film festival. The first year was awesome, but each year since has been lamer and lamer, with the absolute worst moment being last years hour long film about a family canoe trip down some lame river. Felt like I was watching some else's grandfather put on a slide show of people I didn't know. Hopefully that's the low point and things will get better. Hell, if it's anything like last year, the only reason to go is to see a lot of good people and to kick off the unofficial start of spring.

Thinking about heading up to Denver to check out the radical reels tour which doesn't come to the Springs.

Anywho, this year's CS show is on March 5th. The other CO dates are here.

track

Not sure what happened today. In my defense, I couldn't find my trusty timex so I had to go with the garmin 305. That watch is so sensitive to the touch that it's pretty lousy for track workout. 2 mile warm up, 4 x 1 mile, 800m RBI, 1.5 mile cool down. 9 miles total, 3540 on the year.

6:06
6:05
5:59
5:55

Ugh. Thank god they were slow because of the watch and not all the beer I drank last night while watching Pitt kick the crap out of UConn.

3631

Easy 6.4 miles in the Garden this morning, just over an hour.

Hope to go over 3650 at the CRC happy hour run on Wednesday.

124 guys broke 2:10 in the marathon over the past year. I wasn't one of 'em. Neither was Mr. Top American. Hell, I was pissed when TA said he couldn't get me a discount on my Denver Post subscription, but I guess he's upset about his employer's new favorite marathoner.

Pitt/UConn

Get to catch some great hoops tonight, as the Pitt/UConn game is televised. Not surprisingly, GZ has not been returning my messages about a possible beer bet on the game.

In fact, he really hasn't talked college hoops with me since this happened a few years ago:

PPFA

Google earth view of the final 9ish miles of the upcoming Pikes Peak Fat Ass, courtesy of Wes. The loop shown over by the track was us trying to find a different route and won't be run during the fat ass. And the first mile or so of this was us running down Manitou/Ruxton to connect to the Intemann.

kill the keg!

Trinity Brewing on Christmas Eve. They brew two kegs of Cherry Awaken Stout and see how fast they can kick 'em. New record this year, 35 minutes.

3624

Two good runs over the holiday weekend. Saturday evening I headed out for a nice stroll through the Garden and the Santa Fe trail, 20 miles in just over three hours. This morning, Rick, Steve, Wes, and I did the final ten or so miles of the Pikes Peak Fat Ass along the Intemann Trail. Rick and I ran from my house, so we got 14 in on the day.

Up to 3624 miles on the year, should hit my goal on Thursday. Nothing like waiting until the last minute...

change of plans?

It's always tentative when you post your 2011 race calendar, and already I have a possible change.

Received an e-mail yesterday from the Mt. Lemmon Marathon. Turns out the Blue Ridge Marathon in Virginia also bills itself as the world's toughest road marathon. And to settle the debate, the BRM is offering free rego to anyone who finished Lemmon.

Unfortunately, the race is the same weekend I was hoping to go back to the Grand Canyon.

Looks like it would run about 800 bones once airfare/hotel/rental car/booze is factored in to run Blue Ridge. Less than half of that for the Grand Canyon trip.

Might come down to the Hardrock lottery. If I'm headed to Silverton in July, I'll need the longer run. If not, maybe I'll go cross Virginia off my 50 states list...

Sunrise Striders

Group pic at the CC track after our annual 12 laps of Christmas workout.

Green Monster-Off

Resolution #1 is now on paper, to kick off on January 1. I thought $100 invented the green monster to get me to consume more veggies, but there's a whole website devoted to the drink over here. The gal ain't too shabby lookin', but she lives in Canada, and I'm not one to mess around with Digger's women. Of course, if she ever wants to try my super special green monster, complete with vodka and roofies, she is welcome to visit CO.

More info on the challenge is over on Wiley's blog. We both google image searched green monster, and while he went with something lame, I'll go with this:

My goal for 2011 is 100 pints. It will be, by far, the most vegetables I've consumed in a year.

the 12 laps of Christmas

Nice workout this morning with the Sunrise Striders. 1.5 mile warm up, 12 x 400m, 1.5 mile cool down. Was supposed to take 90 seconds RBI, but I wasn't running very fast so I cut that down to 60 seconds after four laps. Averaged between 82 and 88 per lap, most at 85.

3579 miles on the year, with a few more up and down the Incline tonight. Slowly reeling in 3650.

This Sunday some of us are gonna run the final portion of the Pikes Peak Fat Ass. Meet at Memorial Park at 8AM if you're interested. Intemann Trail to Red Rock Canyon to my house.

joke of the day

Courtesy of my personal physician.

The first thing that is required for this joke to work is that you realise I have a massive cock…

Okay? Then we are ready to begin:

Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Who cares? I’ve got a huge cock.

track Tuesday

Nice workout at CC this morning. 2.5 mile warm up, 4 x 1600m with 800m RBI (only 600m before the last mile), followed by a 2 mile cool down. 5:57, 5:50, 5:47, 5:46, all from lane four since the blockers were out.

Ten miles total, bringing 2010 to 3557 miles. 93 to go...

Thanks to Nick and the FoCo peeps for the awesome fat ass on Saturday. I wussed out and did the marathon route. My longest run since the Bear had been 90 minutes, and after taking 3.5 hours to climb up to Arthur Rock, I just didn't feel like I wanted to run for another four hours. Awesome trails out there though, had a great time exploring some new singletrack and seeing old and new friends out there.

Salida update

Moonlight Pizza, the most awesome pizza joint on the planet, now has a website.

And since the town went out and got itself a new marathon, the Arkansas River Bluegrass Marathon, they had to add a new bar to accommodate all those extra miles. But for the life of me I can't remember the name of it. It's dog themed, pretty cool place, and I think it starts with an "L." It's right next to the Victoria, even closer to the hostel. Free beer to the person who is able to figure out what the name is...

Friday

Another run to work this morning. 8.4 miles total.

Didn't get as much running in down in Durango due to work and drinking. Still had fun exploring a new section of town, up above it all at Wasted State.

Sitting at 3503 for the year after a rest day yesterday.

post-chub refreshment

From left to right:

-Steamworks Steam Engine Lager

-Durango Brewing Purgatory Ale

-Carver Brewing CO Trail Nut Brown Ale

I'm set, I just wonder what everyone else is gonna drink...

HAIL TO PITT

Looks like my alma mater has a new coach. Read about it here.

Unknown black dude. Kinda scary. But my other favorite hometown football team did the same once, and it worked out fairly well.

And where the hell is Miami of Ohio? No idea, but that same other favorite hometown football team recently got a QB from there, and he has done pretty well in my two favorite categories - super bowl championships and number of hot sorority girls boned in dive bar shitters...

Carver Brewing Co.

Colorado Trail Nut Brown Ale. Drinking this in honor of my friend Fast Eddy.

Who ran the entire Colorado trail this summer.

And who likes nuts.

And who is brown.

Salida Marathon!

2011

Here's what I got lined up so far for '11.

Jan 1 - Rescue Run 10K

Jan 15 - Pikes Peak Fat Ass 50K

Feb 13 - New Orleans Marathon

Mar 12 - Salida Marathon

Mar 26 - 24 Hours of Moab

April 2 - Brew to Brew 44 miler

April 15 - Grand Canyon

May 7 - Collegiate Peaks

May 14 - Mike the Headless Chicken 5K/Lawnmower Race/Chicken Dance Contest

May 21 - Jemez Mountain

May 29 - Arkansas River Bluegrass Marathon

May 30 - Bolder Boulder

June 4 - Golden Gate 50K

June 12 - Garden 10 miler

June 18 - San Juan Solstice

June 25 - Western States (pace/crew/drink)

July 9 - Hardrock

July 31 - San Fran Marathon/Mt. Whitney

Aug 20 - Pikes Peak Ascent

Aug/Sept - Zion Traverse
Sep 16-18 - Telluride Blues & Brews

Oct 16 - Denver Marathon
Oct TBA - Burnet Road Challenge

Quite a bit on the plate, should be another great year. Really looking forward to crewing and pacing, I've relied heavily on friends for those duties in the past but have never returned the favor.

After shooting for a PR in NOLA, everything will be geared towards Hardrock. I want to run 32:55 this year, a ten hour improvement from my first finish there. I refuse to acknowledge the possibility that I might not get selected in the lottery. Hopefully the Silverton Brewery and the great folks at the Montanya Distillery are lobbying Dale once again, reminding him of the economic impact my crew has at those businesses.

I'll also be shooting for a PR in the Ascent. My best is 3:07 and I think I can crush that. If things are going well I'll be gunning for a 2:49. No time to celebrate though, as I'll get off the mountain ASAP and head out to Leadville to crew/pace.

Less long road trips this year, and will be looking to run fewer miles (3000 will be the goal, with at least one rest day per week), so that'll give me more free time to work on some other stuff. Drinking beer, bagging more of the 14ers (I've done 28 of 'em), hopping on the mountain bike, working on my pathetic bouldering skills, visiting all the Colorado breweries, hashing more often.

Here's a shot of my perfect running form, kicking down the final meters of the Stocking Shuffle. Or maybe it's me practicing for the Mike the Headless Chicken Dance Contest, it's hard to tell the difference:

18:30

Stocking Shuffle 5K this morning. 1st mile in 6:05, 12 flat at two miles. 5th overall. Still don't have my body ready for such a short race yet, but I'm getting there. Loved the course, two laps twisting and turning through the CC campus. Felt more like a hash than a race, cutting through parking lots and behind buildings and dodging traffic. The fast guys bitched about it being a slow course with all the turns, but it was fun.

Completely different course than last year's Stocking Shuffle, which ended with this:

Took the dog to the vet after the race to get the secret microchip injected into her in case she gets lost. Here with today's PSA for taking care of your dog is that chick from RW:

Rock Canyon

Just found this over at pikespeaksports.us. Hurtin' pretty bad here, think it was shortly before the 12 mile mark where I tossed the hat and gloves to the ground.

Friday

AM - easy 5.1 miles to work. Need to go back and check on how many times I've commuted to work, but it's gotta be approaching 50.

Planning on doing eight on the way home, which will take me past the 10-per-day average I'm chasing. Next week takes me to Durango, where I'll run a ton of miles between my hotel and the Ska Brewery, as well as the big FoCo Fat Ass 30ish miler on Saturday. So 3650 miles is looking like it'll happen.

Thursday

Awful session at the track this morning. Got there early, so I ran a two mile time trial. Awful eight laps, finishing in 12:48, not too much faster than what I averaged in Pueblo on Saturday. Jogged 800m then joined the Sunrise Striders for their workout, 5 x 1000m, 400m RBI. Last night I thought I'd go sub 3:40 on all of 'em, but I was between 3:41 and 3:44 on each. Not my best day. But you gotta struggle through the bad days if you wanna enjoy the good days.

With warm up and cool down I got to eleven miles total.

No run tonight, I'll be busy drinking beer and talking smack at the CRC holiday party!

Wednesday

AM - Easy 5.4 miles with the dog on the Garden trails, 56 minutes

PM - 9.2 miles on the roads in the Garden. 1:31:15.

342nd day of the year, 3416 miles so far. Averaging 9.988 miles a day.

New runner babe for this blog, that Brie chick from the cover of Runner's World this month.

As you can see, we have similar philosophies on cross-training techniques to improve your running...

RMS Trophy

Hard to tell from this pic, but the stick figure on the trophy is holding a cigar and a beer, and underneath it says, "fueled by bacon cheeseburgers."

exit the 'stache...

Goodbye, Dave. We hardly knew ya. At least they waited 'till Movember was over to can him.

Let me start the rumor mill: the top two on the list to replace him are Troy Calhoun and Josh McDaniels...

Tues

Awesome run this morning. 25 minute warm up down to the CC track, then did 4 x 1 mile with 800m RBI. Hit 5:58, 5:55, and 5:49. Then pulled out my newest training tool, a stick with a picture of Nick drinking the beer he won from me in Salida last year. Chased that to a 5:41. 25 minute cool down. Think this is gonna be a staple workout for me on Tuesday mornings for the time being, maybe cut down on the RBI a bit as the season moves forward.

more on bandits

There were LOTS of bandits down in Pueblo. Including the first female. Also had volunteers apologizing to wannabe race day signups and telling them to run the course but not to cross the finish line. Somehow, the distance running scene here on the front range has survived...

Monday

PM - 11 miles in the Garden, 1:47.

Good article over here on how America is getting too fat to fight. One in four young Americans can't even sign up for the military due to weight issues, and the military does not have tough weight requirements. I always get a kick out of the fitness products that brag about the military using their system, that sort of endorsement should really scare anyone who wants to get in shape away.

But I can't really make fun of fat, lazy people today. Instead of my normal Monday morning run I slept in. Stuck at 3380 miles on the year. Need to run 10.8 a day for the rest of the month to hit 3650. Will be tough this week with the PPRR meeting and the CRC holiday party.

Ricks ran 2:22:43 at CIM over the weekend. BLOS ran 3:30:53 in Vegas, but was obviously slacking so he'd have something in the tank for the Brett Michaels concert at the finish line.

The RW calculator says I'm in shape to run 2:57:09 in NOLA based off Rock Canyon. Still have some work to do, but it's a good start...

quote of the day

"I've spent the past year messin' with my groin."

-Matt C

Perfectly normal thing to say while standing around a bunch of runners...

Rock Canyon

Results are over here. I ended up 15th. I think I was 19th at the 7.5 mile aid station. Lots of good competition down there. Ended up with 3rd in my age group.

The splits I remember:

Mile 1 - 6:42

Mile 2 - 13:00

Mile 3 - 19:25

Mile 5 - 31:50

Mile 10 - 64:xx

Pretty much the same race as last year up to the 10 mile mark. I can't say I rallied over the final 5K, but my race was going south quickly and I was able to hold things together this year. Almost lost everything between miles 8 to 10. All in all it wasn't a great race for me, I was overdressed and wasn't feeling 100% at anytime during the run. But I guess I can't complain about a PR. Hopefully that time goes down again at Platte River.

If I were a big A-hole I'd point out that I crushed Harsha and Dillon. But I'm not one to smack talk.

PR - the cure for vaginitis

lunch is the most important meal of the day!

Friday

AM - 9.3 miles to work, 1:28. First half was a loop through the Garden with the dog.

3351 miles on the year. Hope to be caught up to the 10 a day average on Sunday. Not feeling physically or mentally 100% right now, so I'm doubting I'll get the PR on Saturday that I think I'm in shape for. Especially now that Jesse has fallen to his vicious bout of vaginitis and will not be showing up.

Yeowza, just read that 700 are signed up for the the half marathon, and registration has closed!

The deal-of-the-day over at the Gazette is a $30 certificate from the Colorado Mountain Brewery for $15. Grab it here. For those of you coming down in January for the PP Fat Ass, it could be a good catch since CMB is on your way home. Might help ease the sting of the ass kickin' that South CRUD will be dishing out that day. As far as Springs breweries go, CMB isn't nearly on par with Bristol, Trinity, or Black Fox. But by Boulder/Denver/FoCo micro standards it's pretty good...

more turkey pics

Cool shot of us at the Royal. Looks like some of us were on at least our second drink...

Wed

AM - You know it's early when you've been running for an hour and there's no sign yet of the sun coming up. 10.2 miles in a very sluggish 1:47.

Tony is out for the NF50 this weekend. I think he's just scared that some of us are coming up to run Green Mountain tonight and had to develop some lame injury to avoid getting his ass kicked on his home turf. Chautauqua at 6PM if anyone wants to join us...

I bet Fast Eddy comes up with an even lamer excuse for bailing...

mmmm....bacon cheeseburgers!!!!