Survived the final HAMS weekend. It got town to 6F overnight, definitely the coldest I've ever slept outside in. Continue to have issues with crevasse rescue but nothing I can't figure out before the Rainier trip.
We have added a new addition to the family. Meet Mookie.
Great trip down to the San Luis Valley. Hit all the favorite stops along the way - Florence Brewing, Oil Well Flats, The Owl, Tunnel Drive, Sand Dunes, Three Barrel Brewing. Super cold all weekend, but warm in the van. Found two new places to park for a night - The Colorado Farm Brewery and the Poncha Springs visitor center.
Came back on Monday and I got in a two hour run over in Red Rock Canyon, and then the cold weather moved in. Snow and single digit temps, and it's not going to warm up until the weekend. Oof. We can always use more snow but hopefully this is the last of the crushing low temps for the winter. Nothing but short run commutes to the office this week.
Off to the HAMS winter campout this weekend, somewhere near Mt. Sherman. Last scheduled HAMS activity until Rainier.
Potential big announcement on Monday...
Tues - bike commute ten, both ways on the COVID loop.
Wed - run commute eleven, five miles each way.
Thurs - run commute twelve, five there and four back. Damn near got a 5.10 route at CityRock for lunch.
Fri - run commute 13, four there and back.
Taking the van down to the San Luis Valley this weekend. The low for Saturday night in Alamosa is 5F. Yay.
Glad to bolt on Friday a bit early for the San Juans as the Springs got a good storm that blew through. I avoided it and had a pleasant drive. First stop was Gunnison for an old favorite.
Off numbers for the week due to the ice climbing trip.
run - 26 miles, 4.5 hours
ride - 60 miles, six hours
hike - 22.5 miles, nine hours
Mon - good 10K run in the morning, 90 minute ride on the Santa Fe trail in the PM.
Tues - bike commute eight.
Wed - run commute nine. Foot is improving though still uncomfortable.
Thurs - run commute ten. Guitar lesson in the evening followed by Fossil.
Fri - bike commute nine.
Plus some good sessions at CityRock this week.
Off to Lake City with the HAMS group for some ice climbing this weekend, should be fun if I don't shit my pants from the fear.
Rough week as we had some arctic weather blow in, dropping a foot of snow and bringing some way-below-freezing temps for a stretch of three days. Still dealing with my foot issue but it's at least becoming manageable. Took a fall on the ice during my Sunday run, so now I'm also dealing with a sore butt and thumb. Getting old sucks.
run - 35 miles, 7.5 hours
ride - 68 miles, seven hours
hike - 16 miles, six hours
My alcohol (almost 100% beer) use has been trending upwards ever since this COVID thing started and got significantly higher over the holidays recently. So I thought it might be a good idea to try a booze free January.
I didn't make it. I did go the first 15 days without any alcohol, finally caving in to drink a horrific IPA from the Colfax Ale Cellar in Raton, NM. In fact, there were six days during the month when I had some beers. Two of those six were fairly heavy drinking nights. But still, 25 sober days was an outstanding achievement for me, by far the highest monthly number since 2004 when the whole Iraq thing really put a kebash on my drinking.
Honestly I don't feel any different. I was worried that after a long dry period I'd feel 500% better both physically and mentally, and I'd be forced to think about a future with less beer, but that just wasn't the case.
Anywho, that's over now, just in time for stout month!
The numbers for January:
run - 19 runs, 105 miles, 18.5 hours, five run commutes
ride - 25 rides, 304 miles, 30.5 hours, six bike commutes
hike - 37 hikes, 120 miles, 49 hours
Eleven trips to CityRock, one good long run (18 miles), one winter 14er summit, a van trip to New Mexico, a 50 mile ride, and a chunk of HAMS completed. Not a bad month considering I put a piece of wood through my foot.
