weekend

Worked aid station #1 at the Cheyenne Mountain 25/50K on Saturday.  Always nice to sit around and watch others run.  But shit, I was pretty tired when I got home.  Instead of heading out for a planned 15 miler, I took a nap and hit Manitou Brewing instead.

Ran Tonia's Run 5K this morning.  Nice 30 minute warm up followed by the race.  Not a great race for me, but I'm OK with the time.  Slightly less than a world class field, I caught the leader shortly after the mile marker (5:57 first mile for me).  I didn't want things to come down to a kick, so at the halfway point of the race I made a decisive move and put a good gap between me and second place.  Was going well until a very short but very steep climb put me in the hole.  Second mile in 5:59.  The last mile I was running scared and just waiting to get passed, but I guess the dude behind me was in pretty rough shape as well.  Official time was 18:27.  Only six of the 88 finishers broke 20 minutes, again not exactly an Olympic final, but it's always fun to be in the mix up front.  Happy with the time but still feel I have a lot more in me at this distance.

More important than the win was crushing Brooks.  He ended up third.

Thanks to RD Tonia Smith for the pics.

After the race it was off to the annual Taste of Old Colorado City.  And man did it rain this year.  At least it kept the crowds down.  Sampled brews from Red Leg, Bristol, Ska, Big Choice, High Hops, Odell, and Oskar Blues.  Had some food too, mostly different variations of mac & cheese.  Good times other than the cold and rain.

Found this pic on the FB feed the other day, brought back some memories.  Back in the first few months of Iraq, I slept on the ground.  Moving on up, I eventually got my own cot in this shithole of a burnt out, abandoned building, in the town of Bayji.  About half an hour from Tikrit.  The Bayji refinery has been in the news lately, with various groups of folks trying to blow up everything.