pearl jam and pizza and pups

Saw my favorite band, Pearl Jam, for only the third time and they were fantastic.  Met up with JP before the show, it was his 80th PJ concert.

$100 and I were way up in the cheap seats and could barely see the band, but we could hear them and that's all that counted.

On Sunday some friends and I did a pizza run.  Started at Hell's Kitchen in Manitou, hit Slice 420 in OCC, then downtown to Fat Sully's, ending at Leon Gessi on the east side.  Four slices, a bunch of beers, and a ten mile run.  Good times.

We had a DNA test run on our pups to see what they were made of.  Mookie wasn't much of a surprise coming back as 100% weimaraner.  Holly's results were much more varied.

Pikes

Good weekend over at Pikes.  Ran a little faster than I thought I would on Saturday, hitting the top in 3:35:46.  Got to treeline at 2:31:30 and thought a sub 3:30 might have been possible.  I went hard, but you can only do so much that high up.  Still really happy with the day.  169th overall out of 1481 finishers.

I was pretty sore on Sunday but still had an OK marathon.  I was five minutes slower to Barr Camp, ten minutes slower to A-Frame, and the splits grew worse from there.  Hit the summit in 3:54:36.  Had trouble getting the sore legs to turnover on the downhill, and my split from the top back to A-Frame was atrocious.  I did get things going a bit as the air got thicker, completing the downhill in 2:25:08, about ten minutes slower than I would have liked.  My up placed me 142nd on the day, while my down was 147th, so at least I was consistent.  6:19:44.  Ended up 145th overall out of 684 finishers.  While not my best day I was able to do just enough to keep my double time under my goal of ten hours, totaling 9:55:30 on the weekend.

The mountain gets harder every year for me, but I can't imagine not running.  This was my ninth double.  Overall I have twelve ascent finishes and eleven marathon finishes.  This was also my first "Garden to Peak Challenge" finish.  And my 16th straight month with a 14er summit.

Physically I'm a hot mess.  Every year this weekend beats up my body a little more.  This will be a good week for less miles though, Pearl Jam and the Manitou Beer Fest are on tap.

I'll definitely be back here in '23.  Should be interesting as my training will consist of riding my bike from Mexico to Canada.

waffles

Mon - 6.6 miles on the Garden roads in the AM as the track was a mess from the rain.  13.7 mile COVID loop ride in the evening.  Went to Manitou Brewing Company for dinner and the tourist rush seems to be over, so I may start hitting the incline again on Monday evenings.

Tues - bike commute 63.  Five miles to work, 16 back home via Cheyenne Canon.  Over lunch I picked up a pair of waffle racers for some upcoming short races.  First time I've worn a pair of these since 1993.  

Wed - run commute 58.  Four there.  Ended up meeting $100 for a drink after work and mooched a ride home from her.  Guitar practice in the evening.  I am still grinding away on the guitar even though I don't mention it much.

Thurs - Off work so I got in a good hike with Mookie before a 40 mile ride on the Santa Fe trail.  Saw Buddy Guy that evening, he is fairly better than me at the guitar.

Fri - nada.  Complete rest day before Pikes.  Looking forward to the weekend!  No, I am not wearing the waffle racers for either race.

football

Mon - 15 mile run in 2.5 hours on my COVID loop.  Rode the same loop later that evening.

Tues - bike commute 62.  Ten there, four back.  CityRock 90 at lunch.  Weird Al in the evening and he put on a terrific show.

Wed - run commute 56.  Four there, four back.  Guitar lesson in the evening.

Thurs - run commute 57.  5.4 there, four back.  

Fri - nothing.  Mookie has a new dog class on Friday right after work so I'll be driving the next few weeks.

Saturday was a big day for Air Force football as the CU Buffs made the trip to town.  Not a good game as Colorado has a pretty terrible football team this year.  Poured rain the entire game.  I had more cold weather gear on for the game than I did when I climbed Rainier.

The injury bug hit both my Pittsburgh football teams.  Pitt couldn't quite overcome them, but somehow the Steelers pulled out an ugly win.

On Sunday our new cadet paid a visit to the Sabol memorial guest room.  Seems to be similar to our last cadet as 99% of her time here was spent sleeping and doing laundry.  

For the week:

run - 38 miles, 6.5 hours

ride - 50 miles, 4.5 hours

hike - 33 miles, 12.5 hours

Pikes coming up this weekend.  I'm not in danger of not finishing, but I definitely haven't put in the work required to have a good race.  Hoping I can combine to go sub ten hours for the Double.  

19:28/STP

Saturday was the home opener for Air Force, which they won handily, including four big plays of 60+ yards.  AF is favored to win all of their remaining games.  We got to hang with our cadet and her family.

On Sunday I rode east over to the Labor Day Liftoff 5k.  Not a super fast course as it had a lot of grass, but I still managed a 19:28 which was a little better than I expected.  I was hurting pretty bad the final mile and I could tell I haven't been racing much.

Sunday evening was a trip down to the state fair in Pueblo to catch Stone Temple Pilots.  Once upon a time that band was a big part of the soundtrack of my life and it was great to see them live.  (yes, I realize the original lead singer died a while back).  Fantastic show.

For the week:

run - 35 miles, six hours

ride - 65 miles, six hours

hike - 30 miles, twelve hours

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

Life is keeping me busy but I still had decent numbers for August.

run - 27 runs, 158 miles, 32.5 hours

ride - 27 rides, 346 miles, 32 hours

hike - 45 hikes, 132.5 miles, 53 hours

Mookie crushed his American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen test.  Only two of the six dogs passed without failing anything, and it's no coincidence both those dogs are regulars at Fossil. Mook starts a "walk with me" leash class today, and after that he is going to visit Switzerland to help with some research at the CERN large hadron collider.

The Backyard Brawl is back baby!  And holy shit, what a game it was!  Hail to Pitt!

More college football this weekend as we're going to the Air Force game.  Running a 5k on Sunday over at the balloon festival, then heading down to Pueblo to see Stone Temple Pilots.