Rainier or bust!

Mon - Easy 7.4 miles on the Garden trails in the morning, 15 mile gravel ride at lunch, easy 4.7 miler in the evening.  Still sore from the Garden ten miler.

Tues - bike commute 41.  Ten there, 15 back.  Went over 1500 bike miles on the year, halfway towards my goal.

Wed - run commute 40.  Five there.  CityRock 70 at lunch.  5.3 miles back home.  Hollydog is now 13.5 years old and is slowing down, but we have started walking one mile around the 'hood each evening.  Not taking the time I get to spend with her for granted.

Thurs - run commute 41.  4.7 there, 3.5 home.  Mookie is crushing dog school and is slowly turning into a good pup.

Fri - bike commute 42.  Straight there and back.  King's Chef for lunch.

Fly to Seattle tomorrow afternoon.  Start hiking up Sunday afternoon.

Earlier this week I had accepted that there would be no summit.  It was snowing heavily and avalanche conditions were terrible.  None of the paid expeditions were getting to the top.  

But that has recently changed, and things look to be improving.  Will they improve in time for me?  Not sure, but I feel a lot better than I did a few days ago.

I've only used my inReach for texting $100 to let her know I was safe, but I'm gonna try the tracking feature.  This link may or may not work as I'm not the most technologically gifted guy.

After the climb we're taking some time to explore the Olympic peninsula and then slowly heading back home on a route not fully decided yet.

Garden/Elevation/13

I received a nice ass kicking at the Garden ten miler on Saturday.  Solid race for me, I just had nothing in the tank over the last two miles.  Officially finished in 1:16:00.  I got what I deserved - I'm in good shape to hike uphill with a heavy pack on, but not really ready to run a good road race.  But it was fun, I pushed as hard as I could, saw a ton of friends, and it was all basically in my backyard.

After that I headed down to help Elevation Brewing celebrate their ten year anniversary.  I have drank quite a bit of First Cast IPA over the past decade for sure.  

Slept in the van at the Poncha visitor center, then up early to tag Shavano.  13 straight months.  

The weather is looking crazy for Rainier as they've had a ton of snow.  Very few of the guided trips have had successful summits so far this year.  Hope that changes soon.

For the week:

run - 44 miles, eleven hours (counted Shavano, which admittedly was more of a hike than a run)

ride - 57 miles, six hours

hike - 18 miles, seven hours

canon

Mon - 5.8 mile run in Red Rock Canyon.

Tues - bike commute 39.  Ten miles there, 18 back up and over Cheyenne Canon to High Drive, down Cap't Jacks.  Need more of this in my life.  So glad that road is open again.

Wed - run commute 39.  5.5 miles through Sonderman there, 4.8 miles back home.  Guitar practice in the evening.

Thurs - took Mookie over to Red Rock Canyon for a 5.8 mile run.  He loved it.  Took him to Red Leg Brewing in the evening for Garden packet pick up and he loved that too.

Fri - bike commute 40.  CityRock 68 at lunch.

Garden ten miler on Saturday, I expect to run 73-ish.  Then down to Elevation for their 10th anniversary.  Shavano on Sunday, making sure the 14er streak continues just in case Rainier is a bust.

The Tour Divide started today.  I hope to be starting my ride from Antelope Wells to Banff in exactly one year.

Hoosier Pass

Tues - bike commute 35.  Ten there, eleven back.  Four mile run with Mookie over in the Garden after work.

Wed - run commute 37.  5.5 there, four back home.  Guitar in the evening.  Working on the Wish You Were Here solo stuff.

Thurs - run commute 38.  Five there, 3.5 back.

Fri - CityRock 65 at lunch.  Drove the van to work and took off for Hoosier Pass to sleep up high.  Enjoyed some Broken Compass beers up there.

Sat - final HAMS training on the ski slopes in Breck.  Only thing left is the mountain herself.

Sun - big ride.  Slogged up Rampart Range road to Mt. Herman road, down to Pikes Peak Brewing, then back to Fossil.  67 miles in seven hours.

For the week:

run - 29 miles, 4.5 hours

ride - 101 miles, ten hours

hike - 22 miles, ten hours

Shavano

Kircher and I met up down in Chaffee County on Saturday and successfully hiked Mt. Shavano.  My 12th consecutive month of a 14er.  Lots of fresh snow but nothing too heinous.

Mookie, though not quite ready for a 14er, had a blast and loves both the vanlife and Chaffee County.

Had to bolt home after a nice dog hike early Sunday morning, got to dogsit Moose and Millie and drink approximately 1000 local beers with Bob.  Warning: there are middle fingers in the pic below, please look away if you are easily offended.

And yes I do realize Hamm's is not a local beer.  I had 1000 local beers and one Wisconsin beer.  And one can of Rainier.

On Monday early AM Bob and I got up and took Moose and Mookie over to the Bear Creek dog park for 90 minutes.  After that we headed over to Red Leg for the memorial day 5k, probably the second biggest race within 90 minutes of me that day.  Yet again I scored a cheap victory, running 20:50.  Was on sub 20 pace for 2+ miles, but coming back up and over Gas Station hill crushed me.  Obviously a small field, I won by over 90 seconds, but the $75 gift card to Red Leg that I got was the biggest running payday I've ever received.

Not the best workout month numbers wise.  Lots of visits from friends, lots of travel, lots of time with the new dog, lots of time with the old dog, lots of time training with the HAMS crew.  Definitely not complaining.

For the month:

run - 25 runs, 115 miles, 20 hours

ride - 25 rides, 225 miles, 22 hours

hike - 37 hikes, 142 miles, 58.5 hours