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