typical Boulder 10am

bike to work

5.5 miles this morning, 50 minutes.  Then jumped on the bike and rode to work.  In the triathlon world this is known as a brick.  Not sure my 45 minute transition time is any good, though.

Good luck to everyone running this weekend.  Collegiate Peaks.  Cheyenne Mountain.  Leona Divide.  Big Sur.  Grand Canyon.  Get after it!

In Denver tonight for the Todd Snider show.  Probably trolling Colfax for a while before the show.



If I can finish in time, I'll be hitting up this free show in Denver the day after Nick's race.  Also trolling Colfax for a while pre-Salmon.

yet another run to work day

No time lately, so doing the best I can and running to work yet again this week.  7.2 miles this morning (bonus loop around Prospect Lake), 70 minutes.

Daniel Tosh was fantastic last night.  Hardest I've ever laughed at a comedy show.  I'll include this quote from the show for all the Indy fans out there: "The Colts are the only team who would trade a QB who looks like he has Down Syndrome for a QB that definitely has it."  Tosh really ripped to some the issues facing our village, and it was just as funny to see some of the folks in the crowd squirm.

Mark your calendars.  Think I'm going to do a b-day run weekend on August 4-5.  A 25 mile traverse across RMNP, followed by an assault on the Aspen 4 Pass/4 Beer loop.  Could be a good last long weekend for you Pikes/Leadville peeps.

commute #18

Easy six to work, one hour.

NYC marathon lottery is today.  We have quite a few of the local bunch signed up.  $100, Ryan K, Amy P, BLOS, Solarweasel.  Hope we get some more peeps into the race.

Saw a gear presentation by Andy Skurka last night at the new local GoLite store.  I don't really get a huge boner over gear like a lot of other runners, but it's something I'll have to get into sooner or later as I have some fastpacking plans on the horizon.  Will look to do the Kokopelli trail next year, with bigger trips on the JMT and Colorado trail a few years down the line...

Phish!

Got tix, and a camping pass, for all three nights in Denver!  No more feeling sorry for myself for never having seen one of my favorite bands!

back at it...

Mon - Section 16 with the dog.  Untimed, 5.5 miles.  Still pretty sore.

Tues AM - Easy 4.5 miles in Red Rock Canyon with the dog, 45 minutes.  Starting to feel a lot better.

Was hoping for another 350 miles on the month, but it looks like life will get in the way.  Skurka tonight, Daniel Tosh tomorrow, $100's parents arrive on Thursday, and Todd Snider on Friday in Denver.

Hope to get up to Boulder for a few miles before the Distance Classic on Saturday.  My first trip back to Boulder Res since GZ rocked his hundred.

CRUD shirts

Rick H is putting together the annual CRUD shirt order.  You need to get him a blank t-shirt and $3 by May 7th.  If you're from out of town and still want a shirt to impress the ladies, get in touch with me and we can work something out.  That last option will involve a beer tax though.

100K

Very happy with the run.  Got exactly what I wanted - a nice, hard long run without killing myself.  Laps were 3:24, 3:47, 4:34.  About 15 minutes of that last lap was me goofing off at the final two aid stations, including drinking a PBR at the final aid station.  The rest of the slowness was just me being lazy and enjoying the day.  11:45:06, a 45 minute PR.

Awesome event, the race was about 98% technical singletrack.  Not what I was expecting from Kansas (my  15th state marathon, FYI).  Have always heard good things about the Trail Nerds, and they put on a fantastic event.  Outstanding course marking and the volunteers were tons of fun.

Panorama Point

My 12th state highpoint.

Free State

Prairie Dog Town

Place is abandoned, but I bet it was awesome back in the day. Near Oakley, KS.

highest point in Kansas

dog jog

AM - Easy dog jog through OCC.  3.9 miles, 40 minutes.  Dog was being a pain in the ass this morning.

commute #17

AM - Easy 5.1 miles to work, 47 minutes.

PM - Easy 10K home from work, 60 minutes.  Wanted to go longer but had to pack for the upcoming roadtrip.

log

Bit of catching up:

Monday - hungover, so no AM run.  7.5 miles on the Garden trails after work, untimed.

Tues AM - easy dog jog.  Six miles in Red Rock Canyon, 60 minutes.
Tues PM - went over to the Manitou track for some speed, but there was a meet going on.  Easy 10.5 on the Garden roads, 89 minutes.

Been planning the route for the roadtrip this weekend.  Should be pretty epic.  While mapping the route I could only think of this song:

Platte River

Not my finest race.  Hit the halfway point in 43:15 and I was already cooked.  Really, really struggled to hold anything together over the second half.  I fought hard, trying to rally every time someone passed me (which was a lot - results have me 62nd overall but I'm sure at least 500 runners passed me after mile seven) but I just couldn't get anything going.  Barely went sub 90 (chip time was 1:29:55).

But I'm glad I got out there and suffered.  I don't do enough efforts like that, and while it was a shitty race it was a great tempo run.  I'll have to do A LOT more of this kind of work if I want any chance to PR at NYC.

$100 grabbed a PR, finishing in 2:03:32.  Trying to get her to sign up for the Jersey half marathon while we're there to finally get that sub two, but the price is a bit too high this late in the game.  I would give up one of my arms for a PR, especially one as symmetric as going sub two hours, but she doesn't care quite as much as I do about the whole running thing.

Visited Kircher country post-race, checking out some dives up in Evergreen.  Good times!

Double Side Down!

ugh

Friday

This blog is currently awesome now that you're required to listen to Phish when you come here.  I'm in the ticket lottery for the labor day weekend show, wish me luck.

Tortoise & Hare 5K on Saturday.  Shooting for an easy 18:59, but it's difficult to pace yourself in that format.  I'll be weighing in the runners, so if you see me with a black eye it's because I made some snarky comment about a chick's weight.

Platte River on Sunday.  Originally hoping for a PR there, then all the snow melted a month early and instead of running low six minute miles on the roads I've been up in the mountains banging out 20 minute miles.  Still think I'll go sub 90.  Anything can happen here, though.  A few years ago, I PR'd on this course while drunk.

Recently finished this book.  Suelo seems like an interesting guy, but the book was a little too heavy on religion/philosophy crap to really hold my interest.

Currently reading Meb's book, "Run To Overcome," which I got for free due to the Amazon Prime.  As a wise man once said, "Reading is pretty all-right."

Rest day today.  Hit the gym before work.  I'll visit the rock gym over lunch and again after work.  An hour of hot yoga after that.  GZ's recent posts are making me think about my schedule and wondering if there's a better way...

Thursday

Easy dog jog this morning, three miles, thirty minutes.

First big thunderstorm of the year last night, lots of rain.

Dungeons & Dragons for ultrarunner nerds.

.

commute #16

AM - Seven miles to work, 66 minutes.  Was going to run a hard mile on the CC track along the way, but the track is currently closed.  Really closed, not like when it's closed and Andy and I run there anyways.  Lots of heavy equipment and fences on the top turn.  I imagine the damage will be significant from all the construction, so maybe they'll get a new track?

PM - 12.5 miles home, two hours.  Last two miles were with the dog.

Thanks to mailman John for this baseball nugget.  Love the comments!  GO PIRATES!  The Buccos are still playing .500 ball, so it's already been a good year.

denied!

Phish

   

Been wanting to see these guys for a long time.  Chances came and went and I never pulled the trigger.  Time to change that.  I'm in the ticket lottery for all three days in Denver.  Wish me luck...

Dirty Side Down

Just read about a joint in Evergreen that serves Widespread Panic themed burgers.  Check out the Dirty Side Down, a bacon cheeseburger that uses grilled cheese sandwiches as a bun!  It's pretty hard to come up with anything more awesome than that.

Needless to say, the only thing in life I care about anymore is getting up to Evergreen to taste the goodness.  Hopefully this Sunday...

dog jog

$100 has decided that she wants to do the PPRR Garden runs on Tuesday and Thursday, so I'm now in charge of the dog on those mornings.  Dog hates the track so we went to Red Rock Canyon instead.  40 minutes easy, four miles.

Barr Camp/Incline

AM - Took the dog up to Barr Camp this morning.  Her first trip up there.  And, at 12.5 miles, her longest run ever.  Took us just over three hours for the round trip (not counting the 20 minutes spent BSing with Neal), with lots of goofing off on the way down.

PM - Incline loop.  Untimed, so I'll give me a 19 flat on the up and another 25 minutes to come down.  5.2 miles.

Manitou traffic jam

22+ miles on the Intemann trail.

Happy Easter!

quote of the day

From the letsrun message boards, ripping on Alan Webb for a recent 3:54 1500m.

"I can run 3:54 barefoot uphill on sand while masturbating and playing the trumpet."

OCC FTW!

Purple Castle!

1002.1

Easy five miles on the Garden roads this morning.  Took me over the 1000 mile mark on the year.  Today is the 97th day of 2012, and I'm pretty sure I'll maintain the 10+ mile per day average through NYC in November.  Really enjoying this down week, think I needed it.

Between NYC and the start of the next Incline Club season, my goal will be to put on one pound per day.

www.tourdegrub.com

Just to remind everyone that I don't really hate bikers, we're currently putting up two guys riding from South Carolina to San Fran...

One of the first things they said to me was, "For a guy who hates bikes, you sure have a lot of bikes."

bikers are idiots!

This video is making it's way around the interweb.  Exhibit A on why I hate bikers.

Not to glorify hit-and-run, but why was the cyclist ignoring those two pedestrian lanes?  And why was he riding on the far left side of the vehicle lane?  Cyclists use the saying "share the road" all the time, but they're not really interested in sharing.

In other news, there will be a party at my house on Friday, August 24th, for Stage Five of the Pro Cycling Challenge.  The party will actually start on Thursday at Incline Happy Hour, then continue on a pub crawl down to Benny's to watch the race.

Thurs

Life (i.e,. laziness) is seeing to it that I take a down week.  Forgot to bring a flashlight to Barr Trail this morning, so the run was a wash.  40 minutes, 2.5 miles.  Ugh.  I'm more pissed about wasting an on-time arrival at the Cog than I am about the shitty run.

Inclinathon has been moved to April 14th.

Commute #15

Easy 5.2 miles to work, 46 minutes.

Incline probably got another 2-3 inches last night.  It will all be gone by this evening as temps are expected to be in the mid-60s over the next few days.

Holy shit, baseball starts tomorrow (I know there was that series played overseas)!  GO PIRATES!

Incline

Short Incline loop with the dog.  About an inch of snow up top, should be long gone by Saturday.

Tuesday

Overslept, so bailed on the track for a quick hour on the Garden roads.  Some kind of rain/snow/sleet/hail/grapple mix was falling.  Not going to end the upcoming summer fire dangers, but anything is better than nothing.  The foothills look a bit white, but that should be gone by the weekend.  Haven't been able to see the Peak since Sunday evening, so I'm not sure what's going on up high.

Neal was telling me some horror stories about the year they shut down Pike National Forest due to the Hayman fire.  The bulk of my summer running is done there, not sure what I'd do if they closed that.  So now I'm actually rooting for some wet weather.

Our village has a new logo:

Reminds me of a minor league baseball team.  Which is very fitting for a minor league town.  Just don't confuse it with this logo:

The "Live It Up!" tag line, which seemed to piss off everyone with a blog and/or facebook page last time, remains.

bike to work

Out a bit late last night due to the Larry & His Flask show, so I took a rest day to sleep in.  Rode the bike to work.  Need to get her in for a tune up, no brakes and the think kept shifting every time I'd hit a bump.

May jump into the market for a more commuter friendly bike.  Bought a rack for the Klein but it won't fit.  Any suggestions would be appreciated, but it will probably come down to whatever I can dig up on craigslist.

Speaking of biking, these guys will be crashing at my place for a few days this week.  Chris is a friend of my sister, who I met back during my San Fran trip.  He hiked Whitney with the crew.

Knob Hill

Barr Camp

First trip of the year up to Barr Camp.  Ran the whole way, save for a long break near No Name to catch up with Dan V. Catch up as in, I haven't seen him in awhile so we stopped on the trail to chat.  Not like I was running at a faster pace than him and caught him.  No watch, but I think I broke two hours to Barr Camp from Memorial Park.

74 miles on the week.

27/350

27 miles, six hours this afternoon.  Garden/Rampart Range Road/Williams/Incline/Barr/Intemann/Red Rock Canyon.  Overall pace was skewed because I ran with Brooks for about 100 meters before I hit the Incline and he went off up to Barr Camp.  Really wilted under the heat while on the Intemann trail, with about seven miles to go.  Could have called $100 to come pick me up, but really, what kind of pussy would make such a call of shame?

Just over 350 miles for the month of March.  Think it's the second highest total ever for me.  Wasn't planning on such a high month, but the weather had me out a lot more than I was planning.  Five runs of 21+ miles on the month.  That's about four more non-race long runs than I've ever done in a Hardrock buildup.

Congrats to Pitt hoops, 2012 champions!

the latest crossfit t-shirt

Thurs

Way over on the mileage for the month, so I'm dropping the two-a-days until April.  Skipped this morning, but hit the Incline after work.  6.2 miles, 90 minutes.  Really starting to get after it on the Incline.

Speaking of the Incline, crash space available here in OCC for anyone doing the Inclinathon on April 7th.  I'll be starting significantly later than the new official start time of 3AM though.

bike

Came across a pretty awesome statistic today, pulled from this article.

One mile on a bike is a $.42 economic gain to society, one mile driving is a $.20 loss.

Could help explain why Fort Collins is so much cooler than Colorado Springs, even though our trails are better and our ultrarunners perform at a much higher level (or it could also be the fact that Colo State is infinitely cooler than UCCS or Colorado College).

Anywho, it inspired me to add a bike-to-work day starting next week.  Debating either Monday or Friday.  And only during the warm weather, as if there's one thing I hate more than biking it's biking in the cold.

Not that I'm a treehugger by any means.  Last night $100 and I revamped our plans to drive 1600+ miles roundtrip so we could see a waterfall.

commute #14

Easy six to work this morning, 57 minutes.  Post-work run will be two blocks over to the Knob Hill Lounge to get drunk enough to deal with cyclists, as I'll be checking out the local viewing of Bicycle Dreams tonight.

food

Think some of the CRUD guys might be whining to letsrun about binge eating.

Maybe our new slogan will be, "There is no such thing as over training, just under eating!"

Dog Jog

Still a bit sore from the weekend, so I bailed on the track and took the dog on a tour of Old Colorado City.  Better safe than sorry.  Four miles, 40 minutes.

No Name Creek

AM - Easy run up to No Name Creek with the dog.  Was planning on going all the way up to Barr Camp, but the legs were pretty shot today.  Bonus mileage on the Intemann Trail to get two hours in.  7.2 miles.

Saw Tommy M out there getting after it.  Dude seems to be in pretty good shape.

PM - Three miles very easy with the dog in Red Rock Canyon.  Had planned on going further but I'm still pretty sore from the weekend.

Dog did twelve miles with $100 yesterday, then ten today with some good climbing.  Working her into 14er shape...

91.5

Another solid week, capped off with back-to-back long trail runs in Pueblo (22.5) and Denver (30+).  I rarely do back-to-backs and never run over 30 miles in training, so this weekend is a huge confidence booster for me.

Very happy with the way March is shaping up.  Already at 290 miles.  Last year, while struggling with PF, I had 270 for the entire month.  In March of '09, when I ran my Hardrock PR (36:35), I had 305 miles.  In March '10, getting big miles in for the Rocky Mountain Slam, I hit 373.  In none of those previous months was I taking one rest day a week, and my long runs over the past 30 days have been much better.

Just need to keep this up for one more month, then let the 46 races I'm running in May/June do their thing, and I'll be ready to go come July!

Bingo Burger!

Refueling after 22.5 miles around Pueblo Res.

dog jog

Four miles very easy with the dog this morning, 40 minutes.  Think she was sore from two big workouts yesterday, AM Barr Trail and PM Incline.

First back-to-back long runs coming up this weekend.  Pueblo and the CO Trail.  We'll see how it goes.  Need to get my ass in gear one of these days, I have a 100K coming up in less than a month.

Watched the free Sender Films shorts on Outside last night.  Alex Honnold is my new hero.

Barr

Barr Trail tempo run.  Tied my PR by matching the wood fence above the Top of the W's in 30 minutes.  Top of the W's in 28:30.  Think a 2:59:59 pace is getting there around 25 minutes (starting from the Cog, where BTMR starts, maybe someone can correct this pace?).  Without the dog I think I could hit 25 right now, she gets real skittish when we see other runners/hikers and I have to slow down to keep her in sight.  New level of excuse making for me, blaming the dog.

Pitt is in the championship game!  Natalee, closet Pitt fan that she is, was at the game.  Always nice to win a game, especially this year, but DAMN I sure wish that Butler W could have came last year.  The Pirates are 7-10 in the Grapefruit league, and ahead of five other teams, so far.  So at least I have the possibility of a solid .400 season to celebrate after the CBI tourney is over.

commute #13

Commute #13.  Easy five to work, 45 minutes.

Any reason why my garmin now reads 5.0 miles for this, when it used to read 5.5 for the same course?

Geb is now running and racing for the same reason as the rest of us - to keep from getting fat.

Barr

Very easy run up Barr Trail tonight.  40 minutes up, 20 minutes down.

new sport to dominate!

quote of the day

"Running for 4-5 hours is for idiots."

-This guy, who tanked at Chuckanut with a 4:14.  Couldn't even hold on to beat Fast Eddy so we could claim South CRUD dominance.

track

CC track this morning with Andy.  Really jacked up my back over the weekend (and in good St. Pat's form I can't remember how I did it).  Nothing makes you feel like you're getting old like a lower back injury.  Anywho, took it easy just to make sure the back didn't get worse.  One mile warm up, 5 x 1000m with 400m RBI, one mile cool down.  4:10, 3:50, 3:47, 3:47, 3:43.

First day of spring, let's hope the temps keep rising!

Pitt is in the final four!

Can't imagine how much longer the Colorado Springs Gazette will be in business.  Their entire coverage of the Manning thing has been stealing articles from the Denver Post, and reporting comments from their facebook page as news.

Seems this Reebok ad is causing some controversy.  I remember this slogan on a t-shirt back when I ran high school track.  What I can't remember is the last time I saw anyone wearing Reebok.

drunks are nice people!

Very nice of this guy to return the bike.

Of course, the big news here on the front range.  Manning is so good he almost has as many super bowl rings as Big Ben!

73

Another solid week despite alcohol ruining all my weekend runs.  73 miles, including four straight days (Mon through Thurs) with a two hour run.  Today's run wasn't super long (15 miles, three hours) but it was the first time all year I've been able to run the entire Section 16 hill.

Thinking of doing an out and back on Section 1 of the Colorado Trail this Sunday.  Should be just under 34 miles.  Anyone interested in joining me?  I'll leave the Springs at 6AM and hope to step off around 7:15AM.

elite CRUD training

18:59

Blah.

mmm...bacon...and beer...

Just reserved a few bottles of Rogue Voodoo Donut Bacon Maple Ale.  Guess it's pretty hard to get in this area, but Cheers will have ten cases in mid-April.

I really want this beer to taste good, but I'm thinking it will be about as good as the pepto bismol bottle it comes in.

Pleasant Valley resident out for a walk this morning...

weekend

Zack Deputy tonight at the Mariner!  Kiss my ass, SXSWers!

Should be a blast on St. Pat's day.  The schedule, in case anyone wants to join us:

10AM - St. Pat's Day 5K.
10:25AM - Dutch Mill/Benny's.
2PM - Pikes Peak hash.  Starts at my second least favorite bar downtown, Southside Johnny's (Quinn's takes the title of biggest shithole).  But at least they have PBR there.

Thinking of heading up to visit Neal and Teresa on Sunday from the house.  We'll see how hungover I am.

In honor of SXSW, here's a band I once saw at a bar not much larger than my living room.  I don't know the words to describe how awesome the show was.  This is definitely one week I miss living in Austin!

Triple Crown

Barr Trail tempo this morning with the dog, four miles.  Started retardedly early at 5:10AM, and there were still a lot of people on the trail.  Are people stepping off on the Incline at 3:30AM?  Sheesh.

Signed up for the Triple Crown.  Think I have a legit shot at an age group award.  Not because I'm good, but because there's a BIG gap from first place to the next guy now that Gerald is out of the question.  Could even grab a runner up finish if I can finally nail that 2:59 Ascent...

And before O'Day drops his typical "oh, the Ascent, I guess you didn't get into Leadville..." ramble, I'd like to remind everyone that if Hope Pass was steeper, longer, and more technical, it would almost barely be as rough as the easiest climb at Hardrock.

WTF?

Someone cleaned up the sign out front. Sure hope those kids don't just throw up a bunch of brewery stickers again, ruining all that hard work...

PM - two hours home, 10.7 miles. Bear Creek, Section 16, Red Rock Canyon. Loving this weather!

commute #12

Easy 5.3 miles to work this morning, 50 minutes.  First run of the year where I didn't wear gloves.  Looking forward to the run home, finally have some sunlight.

Zach Deputy is at the Mariner this Friday night.  $100 and I will be there if anyone wants to join us.  Tix are $12 if you get them early, $20 day of show.  Just what the Mariner needs, more stinkin' hippies.

catching up

Been away from the computer for a bit, I'll try to catch up tomorrow while I'm at work.

Salida went well.  I'm always limited there due to how much beer I drink before the race, but it's one of the most fun weekends of the year.  Great first half, reaching the turnaround cone in two hours flat.  Really feel I could have closed in 1:45 to 1:50, but instead I started drinking beer and had a very easy 2:33 second half.  Will do a better recap on this tomorrow, including posting some of the pics of Saturday night's pub crawl, which turned out to be pretty fabulous.

Another rest day on Sunday due to farting around all day on the drive home.

Monday and Tuesday were solid runs.  Hit the hike-and-bike trails in Aurora on Mon for 12.5 miles.  Awesome run today, Red Rock Canyon/Intemann/Section 16/Garden, 11 miles in two hours.

Here's me, cruising up Tenderfoot Mountain, right behind Andy.  Hope I don't lose my lucrative Inside Trail sponsorship for going with the local pizza joint, but by the time FF finds my name buried in the results he'll be old and senile.

The chick behind me in the above pic hung on my ass for the first 14 miles.  Obviously checking out the view.  Here's a better shot:

Smokin' hot.  But #409 is not listed in the results.  Would have been hard to DNF from where I dropped her.  All I know is that I left her with Slow Aaron in the middle of the woods, and she hasn't been seen since...

Dad & Dude's Breweria

Had the India Brown Ale and the Parietal Porter.

Meh.

Jäger!

Moonlight!

Definite PR tomorrow...

Thursday

Was going to bail at the first snowflake and run to work, but the weather is pretty decent here.  Andy and I made our weekly trek to the CC track.  10 x 400m, untimed and real easy.  Betting they were a lot closer to 90 than 80.  5.5 miles total.  Going to do one more week of quarters to get ready for the 5K on St. Pat's Day and then go back to the longer repeats.

If anyone is up for some pre-Salida lunch, a bunch of us will be meeting at the Purple Castle at 12:30 on Friday.  Weekday, so we'll be at the Costilla Street location.  Desert will be at Oscar's.

It's a long drive to Salida, so we'll be stopping to refuel at Royal Gorge Brewing in Canon City.  Used to be McClellan's, then it was Royal Gorge Brewing even though they didn't brew there.  Now, supposidly, they have their own beer.  Though I've heard that rumor before and it wasn't true.  Will report back after our next visit.

vote GZ!

GZ needs some clown shoes.  Go here and like his photo on FB.  If you can't stand to vote for that guy, pretend you're voting for Pikes Peak.

commute #11

Easy 6.3 miles to work in 56 minutes.  Supposed to get more crappy weather today, but it was nice this morning.  Looks like some nasty clouds rolling over the mountain right now though.

Arrived at Kinfolk's at 8:30 last night after doing the Incline.  Tuesday is micro night at the pub, so at that late hour I was able to get the first PBR of the day.  Free beer!

Think I'm going to blow off Bolder Boulder for the Arkansas River Bluegrass Marathon.  Can I run a 10K the day after running a marathon?  Easily.  Can I drive three hours for a 7AM race right after a bender in Salida?  No way.

Pitt vs. Georgetown at noon.  Let's go Panthers!

Tuesday

Andy and I switched the weekly Barr Trail workout to Tuesday, since the weather is once again going to suck ass on Thursday.  Hit the top of the W's in just under 29.  Four miles total, 54 minutes.

My Austin buddy PT is attempting the Grand Slam and Kona this year.  I'll be pacing him out at Wasatch and then ignoring anything tri related that he does.  He's keeping a blog about the attempt over here.

Also going to pace Rick H out at Steamboat.  I get 20% of the loot if he wins!

Monday

Easy four miles with the dog this morning, 40 minutes.

Not to put any pressure on Nick, but he's going to have to go sub three at Salida to win any beer from me.  Seems like he's been doing a lot of training with this guy, so he can't be in that good of shape.

Somehow I ended up second in my age group in Pueblo.  Gerald must have just turned 40.  Need to start padding the trophy case while everyone else is in a different age group.  It would help if I actually showed up at the awards presentation instead of bolting post-race for the nearest bar.

week in review

Another solid week.  Just over 80 miles, with some solid track work, some good climbs, a long run, and a decent tempo run (Pueblo).  Another big week coming up, so if I suck at Salida it's because of all the work I've been doing.

The Run Through Time is sold out.  But the Arkansas River Bluegrass Marathon is coming back!

Pueblo

High tech posting of the Pueblo results, courtesy of Pikes Peak Sports.

I ran miles three to five just in front of #758.  I'm sure she was checking out my sweet ass.  But I must have really broke the wind for her, she put 60 seconds on me over the final five miles.

Pueblo Spring Runoff

66:59 for the ten miler.  Meh.  Was hoping to go closer to 65 but miles three to five beat me down pretty good with the wind.  Hit three miles in 19:40, then didn't get to the halfway point until just over 34 minutes.  Really slacked off the second half.  The negative split isn't impressive as the second half of the course was much faster.  Passed by three people over the final five miles, only got one of 'em back.

Still, happy with the run.  Hard week, including a long run yesterday, so I can't complain.  Really nice to be out in just shorts and a t-shirt again.

Can't find results posted yet, but Cheseret (Go Army!) supposidly dropped a 4:50 last mile to run away with the win in just over 50 minutes.

I think this was the 43rd "Colorado State Championship" race so far in 2012.

big winner!

Won one of these at Banff last night.  Should make all those naps I take at Hardrock much more comfortable!

El Dorado Lounge

long run

Solid long run this morning.  With Ryan K, and a special guest appearance by Brandon and Charlie Brown for a few miles.  Same long run as last week - Rampart Range, Williams Canyon, Intemann, Red Rock Canyon.  But this week was over an hour faster.  21 miles, four hours flat.

Now, off to the 666th Pikes Peak hash.  Then Banff.  Guessing there might be some beer drinking thrown in.

Todd Snider

Gonna have to live off ramen for a few weeks after all these race entry fees and concert tix.  Just got Todd Snider tix, he's playing some joint called the L2 Arts & Culture center in Denver.  It's near Colfax, so I'll just go there to get my culture fix.  But I'm already a fan of the place, as there were no extra service charges added to the price of a ticket.  A $23 ticket was actually $23.

commute #10

It was 13F at 5AM.  So I hit the snooze button.  A couple of times.

Easy 6.2 miles to work, 56 minutes.

Incline last night was awesome.  Saw two folks coming down at the very bottom, then $100, the dog, and I didn't see another soul the entire time.

teaching the dog to be a barfly

Daniel Tosh

Just got tix to see Daniel Tosh at the Pikes Peak Center.  Awesome comedian, but holy crap $134 for two tickets!  But one has to take advantage of the very few entertainment options here in the village.  Thankfully the closest bar to the PPC, Oscar's, is dirt cheap.

Moonlight Pizza

Really been jonesin' for some Moonlight.  Not only the beloved Caveman, but also to finally try some of their brewed stuff.  They have the following beers on tap, and I'm wondering what I'll have Nick buy me after he only beats me by 44 minutes next Saturday:

MoonLite (Cream Ale)
IPA
American Wheat
Porter
Amber
Irish Red Ale

I'm leaning towards the Amber.  But maybe I'll have him spring for the American Wheat, as a reminder of how much better the USA is than that third world hellhole he's from.

No more PBR at Moonlight, but that fine beverage is never lacking in Salida.  The Vic.  Benson's.  Hattie's.  The Boat House.  The Tenderfoot.  And, of course, kicking the pub crawl off with Duck Farts at the 1st Street Cafe.  Good times!

The latest Moonlight e-mail has a coupon for a free liter of MoonLite with the purchase of a pizza.  If you're going to be joining us after the marathon and you want the coupon, let me know and I'll forward the e-mail.

Rumor has it that Amanda will be a DNS at Salida.  Worst smack talker of all time.

Barr Trail

With the usual suspects, Andy and the dog.  Good run this morning, top of the W's in 28:30.  Finally had some good weather here.  For the GPS geeks, the totals were 4.11 miles in 54:36.97.  Sure wish I knew how to hook the fancy watch up to the computer to get an elevation graph...

Ended February with 300.4 miles.