armed and ready...

...for the commuter challenge!

Big bonus for scoring the student discount on the bus pass!

TR3 leader

This is about five years old but I had to wait for Yeti to post it. Justin R drank half a michelob ultra and passed out, so I took his TransRockies leader shirt.

5

Five tickets for the Hardrock lottery this weekend...

run to work

5.2 miles to work, 51:53. End the month with 286.9 miles. Sitting at 2889.6 miles on the year, will easily hit my goal of 3000 even with the two weeks I'm taking off after Vegas.

Drank my 100th Green Monster yesterday. Need a break from fruits and veggies, will not eat a single one during the month of December.

Jeremy and I will be renewing our commuter rivalry for December. He has some work to do, as I crushed him last year. The bet is the same, loser b

uys one growler from the brewery of choice of the winner. He'll be able to jump out to a quick lead, as I'm on vacation Monday and Tuesday and hence can't commute to work.

167.5 pounds this morning. Somehow lost five pounds over the past 24 hours.

New race on the horizon. Fundraiser for the Pikes Peak Road Runners. We're trying to buy an actual "clubhouse" for the group, hence the hefty price tag for the race. More info over here.

Wed

Five miles. Easy warm up mile, then three miles around 6:30 pace, easy mile cool down.

Vegas celebrities

Looks like Kate Gosselin will be running the Vegas marathon. Had to ask who she was at first. Be sure to guess her time at the RunColo prediction contest. I scored with the DNF guess, so I'll probably win. But some props should go out to Ms. Gosselin for attempting Vegas, with it's pretty harsh 4:30 cutoff time. Much, much more gutsy than most celebrity marathoners blasting through a five or six hour embarrassment.

Still, she's not that hot, so here's a pic of the other celebrity who will be hanging out (not running) at Vegas.

In totally unrelated news, Geoff, who actually runs some significant mileage every now and then, may have hinted that sometimes it's good to wear shoes. Crazy talk! But that post was either a dream, or he pulled it. Big congrats to Geoff's alma mater Syracuse, who have moved up to #2 on the most disgusting child rape rankings.

Badwater

While wasting time at work I checked on the price for Badwater. $995 just to sign up. Ouch.

I'm still gonna do it.

dog jog

Easy 40 minutes with the dog this morning, 4.5 miles.

172.0 pounds this morning. This is definitely not a weight loss blog. Look to hit the marathon around 167 pounds.

Incline Club run #1

Incline Club first run of the new season. You can see Matt C in front, talking to the crowd, telling everyone that Pikes Peak training is like being pregnant - and today we were beginning the first trimester phase, aka, base building.

Thanks to Tim of Pikes Peak Sports for the pic.

Ute Pass for me. Seven miles, giving me 49 on the week.

iceman

Guess I should quit whining about my cold weather running.

Wine & Cheese!

Chilly Water!

turkey trot

Another shot near the finish, courtesy of Tim at Pikes Peak Sports. I was really hanging by a thread by this point.

Think the course was the correct 3.1 miles, but the mile markers were probably off. Hit mile one at 5:50 (thought I was faster) and mile two at 11:10 (thought I was slower, and my second mile definitely wasn't 5:20). Not a good race for me, didn't get to warm up and really struggled to hang on the entire race.

First place 35-39 age group. 20th overall (2900+ finishers). First chick was 18 flat, so I crushed her, though two women were beating me at the first mile marker.

Wish there were more 5k's in my future, pretty sure I could go sub 17:30 on a flatter course.

McMillan says that 5K time converts to a 2:52:53 marathon.

for the triathlete weirdo folks...

17:44

My fastest time in Colorado, despite what I thought was a lousy race for me. Time to go punish the liver!

Wed

Post work 10.5 miler, 90 minutes. Garden roads.

Watched Pearl Jam Twenty yesterday (it's on netflix streaming). Great stuff!

Salida Marathon is March 10th this year. Poster says #6 but according to my training log it's actually #7.

Sat night

As you can see, we're training hard already. South CRUD is gonna be unstoppable this season!

3 x 1600

1.5 mile warm up, 3 x 1600m with 400m RBI, 1.5 mile cool down. 5:56, :54, :53. Nice weather, very easy effort.

The Occupy Colorado Springs folks are gone. Only thing going on at the corner of Bijou and Tejon this morning was the anti-graffiti guys, cleaning all the chalk off the sidewalk. Reports had the cops very efficient in clearing everything out. Wish they could be 1% as efficient at keeping crime out of Acacia Park.

Waldo

Mon AM - Waldo Canyon with the dog and Yeti. 7.5 miles easy, untimed. Waldo is currently 100% snow free. Hopefully that lasts through to the Fat Ass.

Sunday

Two hours, 14 miles. Ended with 69 miles on the week.

Time to taper!

No rest for the liver though. Thursday is the big Incline turkey day. Nobody won a bird at the PPRR Turkey Trot Predict, so it looks like we'll either go hungry or throw a few bucks in the hat for some grub. Will probably just stay drunk through the Wine & Cheese party on Friday. All are welcome for these events, crash space available.

Sunday is also the first run of the year for the Incline Club. Any out of towners wanna come down, then hit King's Chef post-run? Think the first run is usually Ute Pass/Waldo.

Saturday

Easy 7.5 miles on the Garden trails this morning. Very dark the first half and I didn't have a flashlight, so it wasn't much more than a fast hike. Wanted to go further but I gots to work today. Sucks, but makes for a sweet two day week coming up.

168.5 pounds this morning. Either gonna have to step up the weight loss, or go back and edit all my blog posts to reflect my goal of getting below 170 for Vegas.

fridge

Just restocked the fridge, Wisconsin style. Now serving your choice of:

PBR

Boxer Lager

New Glarus Wisconsin Bock

New Glarus Two Women Lager

New Glarus Totally Naked

New Glarus Spotted Cow

Capital Brewing Supper Club

And I'm sure I'll pick up some Hamm's tomorrow.

Friday

AM - Run to work. 5.5 miles (much longer than JP), 53 minutes.

PM - Run home. 5.5 miles, 54 minutes.

Just to show that not everyone from Pennsylvania lacks morals: yesterday I picked up two tix to the Western States 100 movie at Mountain Chalet. As I was walking out the door, I noticed the guy at the counter actually gave me three tickets, even though I had only paid for two. Could have walked with a free ticket. But I took the extra ticket back and returned it. The clerk thanked me, and I told him that had it been store merchandise I definitely would have bolted, but I would have felt bad for taking money from a local trail group.

Looking forward to the movie. Need to come up with some really off the wall, non-running related questions to ask Tony at the Q and A thing they're doing.

Will hit 2800 miles on the way home today. By this time last year I was at 3300 miles and had recently finished my fourth hundred miler of the summer. Despite the fame and glory and wealth I got from finishing the Rocky Mountain Slam, I'll take the lower mileage and lack of PF issues anyday.

more PSU jokes

South Park Cracks on Penn State - Funny bloopers R us

Best rumor of the day? That missing DA isn't dead - he's been in the witness protection program and will be at the Sandusky trial...

more miles

Wed PM - From work to CRC, with 6 x 400m, 200m RBI thrown in. Quarters were untimed, but easy and I'm guessing I averaged 89 or so.

Thurs AM - Dog duty. A balmy 10F to start. The dog was tough to control today, she wasn't really thrilled about being outside for the first 10 or so minutes. 30 minutes, 2.7 miles around the local park.

Brooke Burke

This chick is gonna be hanging out at the Vegas marathon. Seems cool, but I seem to remember her being in Playboy (I read it for the articles) back when I was in high school. And that was, uh, like a good two or three years ago. Hope she's aged gracefully.

No 2:50 pace group in Vegas. Quickest group is 3:00.

Jemez

Looks like the Jemez races are a go. May 19th. Anyone up for a Fort Collins/Jemez double?

Best part of Jemez is the Taos/Arroyo Seco pub crawl immediately following the run. I'll call and reserve a teepee soon...

Wed

Easy run to work. 5.5 miles, 48 minutes. Gonna hit the CRC run tonight, probably run some quarters down at CC.

The village just shelled out $110,000 to come up with this logo/slogan:

For some reason it makes me think I forgot to pay the utility bill.

Was wondering this morning why anyone who doesn't spend 90% of their free time on the trails would want to live here. Colorado Springs, population-wise, is much bigger than Pittsburgh. But I remember all the stuff there was to do in Pittsburgh, and it makes the Springs look like a backwater town.

Oh yeah, just when it looks like something cool for the few non-family, non-church-going folks might happen here, the mayor steps in. Can't think of a company who has done more for the community than Bristol, hopefully the mayor realizes this and shuts his yapper.

track

One mile warm up, 4 x 1600m with 400m RBI, one mile cool down. 5:54, 5:44, 5:44, 5:43. Pretty solid effort. Probably the last full effort on the track before Vegas.

Still at 170 pounds. Since I've started the diet, I've gained five pounds.

Currently enjoying Green Monster number 96 on the year.

Check out this photograph:

I didn't take it, some dude named Andreas Gursky did. It's called Rhein II. And it sold last week for a cool 4.3 million, making it the most expensive photo ever sold. Looks like a pretty lame pic to me, but I guess I don't have an eye for art.

22+

Nice, last long run before Vegas. 15 miles, mostly on the Santa Fe trail, then ended with the final race of the Fall Series in Palmer Park. 3:15.

Another 80 mile week in the books.

Backcountry half marathon

Blech. Can't run hungover for a shit these days. Horriffic performance at the Backcountry half marathon, 1:56:34. Thought I was gonna run a good 20 minutes faster than that, but last night's gin said otherwise.

Definitely feeling a bit burned out right now. Got to tough it out for one more week before I can start the taper/end-of-year slack off.

good times to NOT be a PSU guy...

Tuesday

Easy two hours, 12.7 miles. 15th consecutive day of running, longest streak of the year. Went over 2700 miles for 2011.

Watching the Penn State scandal unfold. Seems to make all the other college scandals, even Pitt's hiring/firing of Mike Haywood (turns out it wasn't as bad as reported, and now Haywood is a candidate for the Tulane head coaching job), pale by comparison.

Monday

Easy two hours on the Garden roads, 13.3 miles.

168.0 pounds this morning. My lowest weight over the weekend was 165.3 after a night of drinking.

Nice shot of me crushing Marc P at the last Fall Series race:

group shot

Group shot near the finish line. Notice the sweet race bibs - PG was 1A and I was 3B. I also registered for the race under the name Geoffrey Mutai.

weekend at the races

Two races this weekend. 22:46 at the Longmont XC race on Saturday, and 35:50 at the Cheyenne Canyon 6K on Sunday. Both times are PR's for me on those courses, though I really felt stale on both days and don't think I raced very well at either.

Won a $15 gift card to Fleet Feet in Longmont (which I traded for a $10 gift card to the Pumphouse Brewery) yesterday and a $30 gift card to the Stadium Bar & Grille today. PG (who didn't push a baby stroller) really cleaned up today, taking home a $100 gift card to the Fox & Hound.

85 miles on the week. 28 days 'till Vegas.

Pic from the Canyon courtesy of Upadowna.

Zephyr Lounge

Salida marathon

Looks like the Salida Run Through Time will be a week earlier this year. The website is listing the race for March 10th, 2012.

By that time, Moonlight Pizza will be serving their own microbrews!

run to work

AM -Easy 5.3 miles to work. 57 minutes. The Incline really kicked my ass last night.

PM - 5.3 miles home, 52:11. Hike and bike trail is now complete from America The Beautiful Park all the way to 31st Street!

Looks like my Pleasant Valley Pb record will be safe, as while I was out training, I saw the competition scarfing down donuts at the local DD. I'm no expert, but "America Runs On Dunkin" probably isn't a good Leadville mantra.

quote of the day

Picked this up off letsrun:

"I'm confident I can handle pain. I'm confident I can handle the length of time, but my biggest fears come from things like, what happens if I have to, like, go poop? I mean, what do you do? Really. Do you stop or do you just do it?"

-Lauren Fleshman, who will be making her marathon debut in NYC

Uh, Lauren, you friggin' stop and find a shitter. What are you, four months old? Did they not teach you at Stanford that crapping your pants in front of millions of people is a bit embarrassing?

more miles

1.5 mile warm up, 4 x 1600m with 400m RBI, 1.5 mile cool down. 6:34, 6:28, 6:28, 6:15. Obviously I didn't have it today. The only redeeming value was that I actually got up for this workout. Really wanted to go back to bed when I saw the temp of 15F this morning.

Not worried about the poor workout, I have my share of bad days. Two races this weekend will give me the opportunity to bump up my fitness.

10 again

Liking my new Garden 10 mile course (it's actually 10.2 miles from my porch). Gets me all the major hills of the actual Garden 10 miler course. So even when I'm super slow, like the blazing 1:44 I ran tonight, it's still a decent workout.

Good luck to all the peeps running NYC this weekend. I hope to be there next year.

motivation...

This pic is going on my fridge as soon as I get home. Christ, if Keith can run 2:50, I should be able to go 1:45 in Vegas.

10 more

Easy 10.2 miles tonight, 1:41. Nice night, but you can tell something fierce is on it's way.

JMock and I are both running a marathon on December 4th. We've bet a growler from the brand spankin' new Arvada Beer Company on who will lower their PR more. He wants to run 2:27 (roughly 2:30 lower than his current PR) and I want to run 2:49:59 (3:21 lower than my PR). We're both running pretty well right now, could be interesting...

track

Two mile warm up, 4 x 1600m with 400m RBI, two mile cool down. 5:55, :46, :42, :44. Painful, in a good way. Really wanted to go 5:39 on that last one but really struggled over the final two laps.

Only have about three more weeks of hard training before Vegas. If I can push all my races (I have a lot of 'em before then) and get a few more of these mile workouts in, I'll have a decent shot at the marathon.

Still at 168.4 pounds this morning.