run commute 50

On my last workday of the year I got in run commute 50.  

A few pics of the recent high points, and one of Mook enjoying a rainy hike on the beach.

Dunes

Had a long holiday weekend so we packed up the van and headed down to the San Luis Valley.  Canon City on Thursday after work, arrived at night but we got in a good hike on Friday morning.

After the hike we headed west, dropping by Elevation Brewing (they're opening a tasting room in downtown Salida, FYI) before heading over Poncha Pass to the valley.  Had some time on our hands so we dropped by Spare Keg Brewing (used to be Square Peg Brewing but that name apparently upset some lawyers) and the Colorado Farm Brewery.  Then it was off to Del Norte.  Hadn't been to Three Barrel in a while, forgot how good the pizza and beer are.

On Saturday we made the sketchy drive over to the Sand Dunes.  Highway 160 was pretty icy but the van did well.  The Dunes were foggy as hell, reducing visibility so bad we didn't even see any dunes while we were there.  Mookie loved his hike though.

We stayed at the Sand Dunes Hot Springs on Saturday evening, enjoying more Three Barrel from the Steel Box Bar, then headed back up and over Poncha to spend Christmas Eve in Salida.  Mookie got to spend some quality off leash time with his boy Fritz, and Moonlight, Benson's, and Tres Litros were all open.  

Despite highway 50 being an ice skating rink on Monday we survived the drive and got home in time to enjoy our Christmas day at Fossil.

Mookie was a tired pup from all the hiking and breweries and van life, but we did get up Iron Mountain this morning.

bike commute 100

Mon - easy seven miler on the Garden roads in the AM.  Incline in the PM.  Bah humbug.

Tues - bike commute 99.  Ten there, eleven home.

Wed - run commute 48.  5.3 there, 3.6 back.

Thurs - good amount of snow overnight.  Got up early to shovel, then took two dogs (we're dogsitting) over to the dog park before run commute 49.

Fri - bike commute 100.  Straight there and back as there was still some ice on the roads and bike paths.  

Helping out with the SAR dogs on Saturday, not much else planned this weekend.  Kind of laying low these next few days until the days start getting longer again.

Florida

We had a clear weather day as we rolled out of COS on Wednesday.  Easy though long drive down to Oklahoma City on day one.  The morning of day two it started raining, and it wouldn't stop until we were almost back home.

Still a fun trip.  Got three more state high points - Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida.  And my 25th state marathon.  And a few decent breweries and lots of Yuengling.  The 'thon did not go well as the entire day was very windy and pouring rain and I fell apart after mile 18.  Finished in 3:51.  I used to be able to run a decent marathon but I guess those days are long gone.

We did not have laundry in our Panama City Beach condo so everything was wet and sandy the entire time.  Even had some very minor trench foot coming on by the time we left.  Did get some good hikes along the beach in with the dog, other than a few hardcore surfers the beaches were completely empty.

On Wednesday morning, back on my home turf in the Garden with the pup, I took a fall and jacked up my right hip pretty good.  Nothing long term but it's real sore and stiff.  The 5k on Saturday is up in the air as of now.  Getting old sucks.

the week

Very hungover from the annual wine & cheese shindig but I got in a five miler on the Garden trails on Saturday and an easy two hour jog over near Pulpit Rock on Sunday.

For the week:

run - 50 miles, ten hours

ride - nine miles, 55 minutes

hike - 25 miles, 10.5 hours

We are leaving for Florida on Wednesday.  Taking three days for the drive, have a few breweries to camp at and hope to hit four state high points on the trip - Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida, and Missouri.  Shooting for a sub 3:30 'thon but it's been a long time since I had a decent race at that distance so we'll see.

20:18

Ran as hard as I could at the local Turkey Trot today but fell well short of my sub 20 goal.  Decent weather, solid effort, I have no excuses other than I'm getting old.  6:49, 6:44, 5:57 (course is out and back, uphill first 1.5 miles).  My long term goal of breaking 20 at the age of 50 is definitely in doubt.

Shout out to the GOAT, who passed away one year ago today.

the week

Race pic of me at the recent Bridge Burner run:

Another decent week as we head into the holidays.

run - 51 miles, 10.5 hours

ride - 30 miles, three hours

hike - 31 miles, 14 hours

Might be able to squeeze in one more decent long run before we leave for Panama City Beach.  Hoping to go sub 3:30 there.

SAR

Little busy this week but I still got some miles in.

run - 34 miles, 6.5 hours

ride - 15 miles, 90 minutes

hike - 23 miles, 9.5 hours

Saturday was a trip up to Boulder to run the Colleen De Reuck XC classic.  Typical old man XC race for me, I was absolutely gassed about a quarter mile in but ended up running pretty well.  When I started running back in 1989 there was a running prodigy out of Colorado named Melody Fairchild.  This was pre-interweb days, so I'd have to wait for the monthly issue of Runners World to see what she was up to.  Anywho, we had a good duel from roughly one mile until 2.5 miles.  Actually went ahead of her for a bit, but she crushed me over the final half mile.  I ended up running 20:44, pretty good for me on this course.  The Square State Striders won the masters team title.

I have accepted a volunteer position with El Paso County Search and Rescue and will begin that stuff in early 2024.  Training runs until early May and then I'll start heading out on rescues.  Definitely going to shake up my routine a bit but I'm pretty excited.

Bridge Burner

Busy week, plus we got our first real taste of winter with some snow and cold temps.

Tues - bike commute 90.  Five there, eleven back home.

Wed - run commute 42.  Four there and four back.

Thurs - run commute 43.  Six there, four back.

Fri - bike commute 91.  Eleven there, five back.  Took off to Oil Well Flats to spend Friday night.

Sat - Bridge Burner 50k down in Canon City.  Great course that I've always wanted to do.  From Canon you head out Tunnel Drive, up the big, steep climb to the Gorge, over the bridge, and back via Temple Canon.  Not an easy run but I loved it.  33 miles in 6.5 hours.  Sore as fuck after this was over.

Sun - easy 100 minute recovery hike with the Mook at the dog park.  He started agility classes in the evening.

Pretty decent week mileage wise with the long run.  It feels like I've been running a 50K every other day or so lately but the Burner was the last one for a while.  Panama City Beach will be my last long run of the year.  For the week:

run - 52 miles, 9.5 hours.

ride - 30 miles, three hours

hike - 20 miles, 8.5 hours 

Mon - still sore, easy five miler in Red Rock Canyon.

October

Decent month.  A Pikes summit, some decent long runs, and a 5k.

run - 195 miles, 35 hours

ride - 145 miles, 16 hours

hike - 126 miles, 55.5 hours

Went 27/31 on my sober October attempt.  

Also picked May 30 for the attempt on Hood.  Myself and three other locals going.

November will be a few shorter races and getting ready for the Panama City Beach 'thon on December 2nd.  Mook, $100 and I will be driving, hitting some state highpoints along the way.  Maybe a few breweries as well.

20:53

Creepy Crawl 5k on Saturday.  Was hoping for a sub 20 but winter had other plans.  We were hit by our first real cold front and when I got to Palmer Lake it was 23F and windy AF.  No thanks.  Had a decent first mile at 6:09, but that was with the wind at my back.  The next two miles were right into the wind (the course is a combo out and back with a loop around the "lake," giving you the fantastic opportunity for two miles of headwind) and I cratered, running 6:44 and 7:11.  Oof.  But I suffered the entire time, so it's good to get that kind of effort in as I head into some lesser distance races.

Got a good five inches of snow at the house Saturday night.  Cold all day but I got in a nine miler on the Garden roads in the afternoon.  Supposed to warm up on Wednesday.

run - 51 miles, nine houes

ride - 26 miles, 2.5 hours

hike - 25 miles, eleven hours

Not a good weekend for Pittsburgh football fans.  Pitt was drubbed by Notre Dame with lots of ongoing drama afterwards.  And Kenny Pickett was injured in a Steelers loss.  Thankfully college hoops starts soon.

winter is coming

Mon - sore from the weekend so just an easy five miler on the Garden trails.  Hiked Iron Mountain with Mookie in the evening.

Tues - bike commute 88.  Four mile dog jog when I got back home.

Wed - run commute 41.  Six there, four back.  

Thurs - had the day off so I got some miles in.  Rucked 4.2 miles up and down Mt. Muscoco with the dog, then got out for an 18 mile run on and around the COVID loop.

Fri - bike commute 89.

Hopefully the 5k on Saturday morning goes off before the shitty weather moves into the area.  Cold temps and snow expected this weekend.

Methodist Mountain Ultra

Had a good long run on Saturday on the Methodist Mountain trails.  Somehow I got lost at the very beginning and ran an extra two miles to the first aid station.  Could not figure out where I went astray so I just continued on.  At the finish I told the guy keeping stats to DQ me as I didn't run the correct course, but I'm still in the results.  Finished in 6:50:42 for my 34.3 miles.  Kind of "meh" all around for this first time race, unless the price drops significantly I probably won't be back.

For the week:

run - 59 miles, eleven hours

ride - 41 miles, 4.5 hours

hike - 29 miles, 13 hours

Pretty much done with events for 2023 save for a few local 5k's and a marathon in Florida to knock off another state.  I have a few irons in the fire for '24 and it's going to take some time to see how those shake out.  But I have committed to a late May or early June attempt at Mount Hood in Oregon.

ice

Tues - bike commute 87.  Four there, eleven back home.

Wed - run commute 39.  5.5 there, four back.  

Thurs - run commute 40.  Four there.  

Set this up out back to try out.  I hate the cold so hopefully this gets some use.

Off to Salida this weekend for some running and biking and pizza and breweries and Benson's.

Staunton

Mon - a bit tired after Pikes, so no AM run.  Biked over to Manitou after work and did the incline.

Tues - bike commute 85.  Nine there and five back.  Nice five mile run on the Garden trails with Mookie in the evening.

Wed - run commute 37.  Seven miles there, with the middle five or so pretty hard.  3.5 miles back home to make guitar on time.  CityRock 85 at lunch.

Thurs - run commute 38.  Easy five there, easy five back.

Fri - four mile hike with a 50 pound ruck followed by bike commute 86.

We spent the weekend out at Staunton State Park.  $100 ran the fish slap division of the Suffer Better 25k.  I had planned to go for a run out there on Saturday, but the fishing was pretty difficult and everyone was out there a lot longer than expected.  Kudos to $100 for grabbing third place female fisher though!  Mook and I did get in several hours of hiking and exploring while she was out running/fishing.

It was 19F on Saturday when we woke up.  Winter is coming.

We stopped in Victor on the way home to see the troll.  You can imagine the jokes going around about this.

Did get a good 15 mile run on the COVID loop when we finally got home.

For the week

run - 43 miles, eight hours

ride - 63 miles, seven hours

hike - 27 miles, eleven hours

I have been alcohol free for October.  No reason for the break, just thought it might do me good.  By far my longest dry spell since 2004.  I don't feel any better physically or mentally, though not having to deal with hangovers has been nice.  That streak will come to a hard stop on Saturday as we'll be down at Ullrfest at Elevation Brewing.

Mon - finally got back to the track.  3 x 1 mile, 600m RBI.  Untimed but probably in the 6:20ish range.  Evening bike to the incline, 20 pound ruck to go up and down.

more Pikes

Pretty standard week though on Sunday Kircher and his dog Ollie came down and joined $100 and I for a hike up Pikes via the Crags.  I wore a 30 pound pack to make things interesting.  My 38th climb of the mountain.

For the week:

run - 41 miles, seven hours

ride - 35 miles, four hours

hike - 37 miles, 17.5 hours

A few pics from the West Line Winder:

Trinidad

Finished my second Trinidad Dirt Fest ride on Saturday, covering the 112 mile gravel course in 9:33:54.  The second to last aid station wasn't open, thanks Lifetime, and I skipped the final aid to try to go sub 9:30, but didn't quite make it.  Original goal was sub ten, so I'm still happy.  I really handicap myself at these type of events by A) being a shitty cyclist and B) riding a heavy bike with thick tires.

May or may not be back.  Not a bad event, but I think I'd enjoy just hanging in Trinidad and riding by myself rather than trying to keep up with all these roadies who have taken over the event.

For the week:

run - 16 miles, 2:44

ride - 145 miles, 13:44

hike -  25 miles, 10.5 hours

Big Richard

Mon - easy four mile hike with the pups in Salida along the Arkansas.  15 mile ride in/around Ute Valley in the eve.

Tues - bike commute 82.  Six miles through Sondermann in the AM, eleven miles via Bear Creek Park in the PM.

Wed - three mile hike with the dog over in Red Rock Canyon.

Thurs - run commute 34.  Five in the AM with the middle three at 3:20 marathon pace.  Easy five back home.  Mookie passed his nose work class at All Breed and he will be taking on a more challenging course soon.  After class $100 and I caught the Big Richard show over at Lulu's.  Fun band.

Fri - easy five mile run over on the Garden trails.

Sawatch 50/50

$100 and Mookie and I took off in the van for Chaffee County this weekend.  She did some hiking and fishing, I took on the Sawatch 50/50.  West Line Winder 50k on Saturday, Sawatch Ascent 50k on Sunday.

I wasn't fully recovered from Pikes, but I got the job done.  Ran 6:15 on Saturday on the nice trails behind Buena Vista.  Loved the Ascent course, but it was rough and I finished in 8:11 for the 33+ mile course.  Was running well on Sunday but there is a long, technical downhill just after halfway that I really struggled with.

Not much else on the schedule before the Panama City Beach marathon, so I'll start gearing towards that.  3:30 or bust.  Will be driving down there, hitting some state high points along the way.

For the week:

run - 71 miles, 16 hours

ride - 32 miles, 3.5 hours

hike - 21 miles, nine hours

recovery

Was a rough start to the week as my legs were trashed from Pikes, 99% of which was the downhill on Sunday.  Should be back to normal by Saturday morning, which is good because I hope to get in some miles this weekend in Chaffee County.

Few more pics.  Top one from Peter, about mile 25 just before you leave Barr Trail.  Bottom one from a hasher friend up at the summit on Sunday.

No pics from Ascent day as I wore a Pitt shirt, and we won't be discussing Pitt here very much until hoops season rolls around.

Pikes

Solid weekend on the mountain.  Had a good day for both races and my body is a wreck today, don't think I could have run any harder.

Was steady on Saturday.  41:32 to the W's, 61:43 to No Name, 2:36 to A Frame, and 3:43:54 at the top.

Sunday was 42:28 to the W's, 62:58 to No Name, and topped out at 3:47:12.  I started the downhill feeling sluggish and awkward, but things got better farther down and I ran really well after Barr Camp.  Descent was 2:08:42, pretty solid for me.  5:55:55 overall.  Accomplished the goal of a sub ten double.  Now sitting at 13 Ascents, eleven Marathons, and nine Doubles.

Always great seeing so many friends out there on the mountain.  Let's do it again next year!

the week so far

Mon - yet another big ruck.  Mookie and I and my 50 pound ruck headed over to Red Leg and back.  6.3 miles total.

Tues - bike commute 80, then four miles with the dog on the Garden trails.

Wed - run commute 31, five there and five back.  Guitar in the evening, then hit Red Leg (again) to catch up with an old San Antonio hasher buddy.

Thurs - not much.  Brother got to town for a visit, plus I had to make a rare drive to work so I could get my race packet for the weekend.

Fri - run commute 32, straight there and straight back.

Very easy week as I get ready for Pikes.  Excited as usual for the weekend but not expecting much.  I'm guessing I'll be close to four for the Ascent and around 6.5 hours for the 'thon.  Getting older and slower but at least I'm still getting out there.

ruck

Took the liver a bit to recover from the Minnesota trip.  Good times.

Mon - easy ten miler on the Garden roads.

Tues - bike commute 78.  Bob was in town so I met him at Goat Patch after work, then we headed to Fossil.  

Wed - early morning Red Rock Canyon hike with Bob and Mookie.

Thurs - run commute 30.  Six there, 5.3 back home.  CityRock 75 at lunch.

Fri - bike commute 79, ten there and eleven back.  Easy four mile run after all that.

Sat - 2.5 hour run over in Red Rock Canyon.  Hot.  Possibly the last day of summer.

Sun - Travis Manion 5k up in Denver.  I wore a 50 pound pack and went 27:22.  That shit was hard.  I can't even fathom how some dude ran in his EOD suit.  Hit So Many Roads on the way home, I'm guessing they go the way of Sancho's soon.

For the week:

run - 41 miles, 7.5 hours

ride - 35 miles, three hours

hike - 25 miles, ten hours

Fall weather has arrived.  Haven't had many chances to see the Peak due to cloud cover, but yesterday morning on my dog hike I got a glimpse.  Race weekend could be interesting.

pearl jam

Incredible time up in Saint Paul.  Got in some good hikes and runs along the Mississippi, visited lots of great dive bars and breweries, and Pearl Jam put on two fantastic shows.

Gonna take a few days to recover from this trip.

For August:

run - 137 miles, 28 hours

ride - 235 miles, 25 hours

hike - 98 miles, 41 hours

alpine 50

Mon - Rocky Mountain in the evening.  2.5 hours.

Tues - bike commute 76.  Ten there, eleven back.

Wed - run commute 27.  Seven there, four back.

Thurs - run commute 28.  Five there, four back.  Jumped in the van after work and headed down to Canon City for the evening.  

Fri - nice hour run at Oil Well Flats with Mookie before heading out to Lake City for the annual Alpine 50 bike ride.  Been quite a while since I've been to the Lake City Brewing Company.

The ride went well.  I finished a little slower than I wanted in 6:39, most of the extra time being blown by trying to descend on a rigid bike.  But I had a good time and it wasn't quite as hard as I was expecting.  I'm not a big fan of bike races, but this is one I'll most likely return to.

On Sunday morning the dog and I got in a nice early hike in Lake City before heading up to Crested Butte.  Always tough to find a van spot there, but we were headed in when everyone else was leaving.  Got a great spot out on Gothic Road.  Even got to see some mooses.

And, of course, some eats at Secret Stash.

For the week:

run - 38 miles, eight hours

ride - 71 miles, 8.5 hours

hike - 20 miles, 8.5 hours

Finally rolled back into town on Monday afternoon.  Unpack, recover, and get as much shit done in the next two days before it's off to Minnesota for the Pearl Jam shows.