Gerald

His shirt says All Time Best!

Benny's!

track

Made my way up to Lewis-Palmer HS in Monument last night for the all-comers track meet.  First time I've raced on the track since my freshman year at Pitt.  GZ does a good recap of what it's like to run a 1500 over here, and I faced a lot of the same pre-race jitters.  Didn't have a time goal for the metric mile, I definitely knew GZ had thrown down a 4:55 the other day but I didn't think I could match that.  I was hoping I'd have enough speed to sneak in under 5, but wasn't sure that was even in the cards.

Big field, probably 15 or so.  Two guys were head and shoulders above everyone else, and they took off.  I settled into the back of the next pack, with some high school kid and the most electrifying runner on the planet.  First lap in 74, then 2:32 for the half.  Faster than I've run in a LONG time.

I was in the hole pretty deep, but with 600m to go I made a strong move on the other two.  The pain and suffering at 1200m was ridiculous.  I tried to hold off the other guys, but they passed me with about 10 meters to go and I had nothing left.  The three of us all ran 4:48, but I ended up in 5th.  Think that converts to a 5:08 or so mile, but had I needed to cover another 100 meters I probably couldn't have broke 5:30.  Running the mile sucks.

Came back for a double in the 3000m.  Was hoping to get another crack at Romero, but he scratched.  Ended up jaking the race to save myself for the Garden, running 10:59 off a 5:48 first mile.

Lots of suffering, but a real fun night at the track.  Two trials qualifiers in the 200m showed up, and that was awesome to watch.  They threw down low 21s for the half lap, pretty awesome in the windy conditions.  Rumor has it there will be three more of these meets during the summer, and I'll try to be at every one.

I would have taken him down if not for those fancy shoes!

In the 3K, I paced off this chick for the first mile, then crushed her over the next two laps.  Unfortunately, there was another lap to go after all that.

Less than three miles total, and my race report is longer than the last four ultras I've run combined.

dog's first race

Thurs

Easy dog jog in Red Rock Canyon this morning, 3.1 miles in 31 minutes.  Life is forcing me to slow things down, probably end up with 50 miles this week.  Then another three weeks of gettin' at it, then it's taper time!

shoes

Thanks to Wiley for the heads up.

that other blog

New post on the Pikes Peak Sports blog, see it here.

quote of the day

"My drink is vodka.  Straight, because I've always said that ice is for injuries."
  -Charlie Sheen

commute #24

Easy run to work this morning, 5 miles, 47 minutes.

In case you haven't noticed, my Pirates are surging.  8-2 in their last ten games.  Not one, but TWO games over .500 and only two games out of first place in the NL Central.  This is our year, baby!  Definitely the high point of the last two decades of Bucco baseball.

Wild Asses

Visited Cripple Creek over the weekend.  We had heard they have roaming donkeys, so on Sunday morning we set out to find them.  Didn't take long, they were chillin' in some guy's yard.  We get deer in our yard, and even had a bear once, but never burros.

Harvard

The dog and I bagged Mt. Harvard yesterday.  My 31st Colorado 14er.  Still struggling up high, something I've never had to deal with before.

Tons of downed trees on the trail made for a long day.  5.5 hours, plus 30 minutes smoking and drinking on the peak.

volunteer of the year!

Forgot to mention this in my super detailed Dirty Thirty race report.  NMP, even though he is afraid of the interweb, was working the HAM radio like a champ all day at the finish line!

weekend

Not sure why the Dirty Thirty doesn't get more cred among local runners, those are some gnarly trails out there.  Wanted to run an easy 5:59, went a bit too easy on the technical downhills and crossed in 6:07.  A 12 minute PR on that course.  Real happy on the day, lots of fun on some great trails.

Kind of nice to have the next few weekends where I'm not facing some retardedly long run.  Although, it looks like I'm racing three times this week - a track 5K on Friday, the two mile Ruff Life dog jog world championship throwdown on Saturday, and of course the Garden on Sunday.

big money!

340

5.5 miles on the Incline last night to get over 340 miles on the month.  Two 50 milers, two marathons, and a summit of Pikes.  Solid month, though I've been running on tired legs since the 100K in April.

Compares very well with May of 2009 (the year of my Hardrock PR, 36:37, which is faster than Footfeathers has ever run there).  Had 313 miles that month, including Collegiate Peaks and Jemez.  In June of 2009 I ran 300 miles, with one long run of 30 miles and nothing else over 15 miles. 

So, in theory, with the Dirty Thirty and San Juan this month, as well as a few 14ers thrown in for good measure, I should arrive in Silverton in better shape than I was back then.

Thursday

Easy 45 minutes with the dog this morning in Red Rock Canyon.  She ate something disgusting in the parking lot.  Wasn't sure if it was a decaying leg of some small animal or some bad taco bell a mountain biker barfed up.  It was so gross that after the dog ate it, she threw it back up.  And then tried to eat it again!  Dogs.

Awesome article over here on charity.  I've long been turned off by any attempt to raise money (or "awareness," as it's called nowadays) for a cause through running.  It started long ago back in Austin, where it seems nobody just goes and does stuff outside because it's fun, but they always have to hit you up for money for [insert cause here], and it continues to get worse.  I was told this weekend that if I wanted to run Badwater, my "chances of getting in would be helped a lot by raising money for something, especially anything Vet related."  I just want to try to run/walk, slowly, from Badwater to Whitney, to see if I can do it.  Tough enough challenge, but now I'm expected to attempt to save the world on top of that.

commute #23

Easy six to work, one hour.  Pretty sore after Pikes yesterday.  Went over 1600 miles today, averaging 10.6 miles a day.

New Triple Crown blog post over here.

Pikes

First trip up the mountain this year.  From Iron Springs (probably seven or so minutes from the race start) I ran to Barr Camp then hiked to the top.  3:47 up.  Back down in just under 2.5 hours for a 6:15 round trip, not counting the half hour I spent goofing off on top.  Really felt it above 13000 feet, need to start getting up high as much as possible.

HAIL TO PITT!

We won the national title in ultimate frisbee!

Seriously.  Read about it here.

Telluride Brewing

If you look closely, you can see Footfeathers curled up in the fetal position near the house. This is where he fell apart last year.

The Vic

yuk

give me tapers!

Benson's

Moonlight FTW!

Elevation Brewing

Sat

Easy 10K on the Garden roads this morning, one hour.

Working today.  If you drink a beer before 5PM I hate you.  I'll catch up though, off to Salida as soon as I leave the office.

We'll do an over/under since I'm bored.  3:29:59.  Guess right, I'll buy you a beer.  Guess wrong and I'll come collectin'.  Easy course on dirt roads, but I don't get the altitude benefit I had in Jersey.

commute #22

Easy six to work this morning, one hour.

Couple 'o pics from the Triple Crown team.  Not sure why the bottom one is larger than life.

Lounge!

Thunderbird tribute to Slow Aaron

The airplanes, not the fine malt liquor.

quote of the day

"Maybe, with enough money and media coverage, ultrarunning can become something really special like climbing Mt. Everest."


From the comments section of the recent Wash Post article on ultrarunning.


Six miles with the dog in Red Rock Canyon this morning, one hour.  And somehow we're still unable to make a living in this sport.

Wed

Took the dog up the Incline.  Pretty dead over there at 4PM on a hump day.  5.5 miles, untimed.  Raining pretty good, I'm not sure what the new Incline Friends policy on inclement weather is but I'm sure they'll have a sign posted soon enough.

AF Graduation

Hard to tell from the above pic, but President Obama is giving the commencement address.  Text of the speech is over here.

Here's a link to the hat toss.  Have a couple other videos of the Thunderbirds, I'll try to post them later.

Tuesday

AM - Half hour with the dog, three miles.

PM - Easy 10K on the trails at Pueblo Res.  It was 91F at 6PM.

First blog post up at Pikes Peak Sports.  Kid friendly.  Writing about running is pretty boring when you can't mention booze or drop the F-bomb.

Another Jemez pic, this one from pretty early in the race:

Bingo Burger!

more Jemez

Kudos to BT for the pic.

Williams

Easy five miles out and back in Williams Canyon with the dog this afternoon.  Felt good.  Looking at two hours down in Pueblo at the state park tomorrow afternoon, then just chilling out until the marathon on Saturday.

DIM hash tonight.  Running is much more fun when drinking is involved.  Or is it drinking that is more fun when running is involved?

Jemez

11:43:37.  Spent the whole day with my buddy Josh, who was running his first ultra.  Had a blast.  Hardrock training is coming along and I'm right where I want to be.  Still have some stuff to work on but I'll be feeling pretty good come mid-July.

I really liked the new course.  I'd say it's about 75 minutes faster than the old course for a MOP guy like me, but I enjoyed the new loop around the Caldera.  The new second climb, from the floor of the Caldera the top of the ski hill, was a sick joke and you could definitely tell who has the Incline in their backyard and who doesn't.  In fact, the hill was so steep that once I got back to the bottom I had to take a break:

Great to add a new debate to the ultra world: who is the biggest panzee Jemez champ, Rick H or PG?

Awesome time the entire weekend.  Stumbled into the Colfax Tavern near Cimmarron, NM.  I highly recommend taking HWY 64 to Taos next time you're headed that way.  Good article on the joint over here.

Of course, we hit the usual Taos establishments, and some new ones, as well.  Eske's (twice).  Taos Ale House.  Old Blinking Light (I hear there is an OBL in Highlands Ranch as well?).  The Snowmansion.  Williams Lake.  Sabroso.  Good times!

Eske's

Colfax Tavern

Summit Donut 50K

Going to make a run up Pikes from my house on June 16th, starting at 5:30AM.  That route adds about five flat road miles onto the Pikes Peak Marathon.  Post run burgers and beer on the patio.  Anyone is welcome to join me.

Friday

Easy dog jog on the Garden trails.  4.5 miles, 45 minutes.  Taking it very easy during the week due to all these long runs.

outlaws

Dog and I did the Incline this evening, 'cuz that's how we roll.  Untimed.  Think my legs are almost recovered so I can trash 'em again this weekend.

Quad Rock

Awesome day on the trails of Fort Collins.  Thanks to the fantastic FoCo trail running community for the event. This is a perfect way to get ready for Hardrock.  I spent the day goofing off and getting some time on my feet (actually, the time was so slow due to a tactical race between Brandon and I), and my time of 11:31 put me towards the back of the pack.  Had I hammered the course, I could have run around 9:45 and not walked again for a week or two.  I think that time would be about equal to my 8:07 at Collegiate Peaks, so that might tell you something about how rough the QR course is.

Thanks to Rob for the pics!

commute #21

Easy run to work.  5.3 miles, 52 minutes.

Tuesday

AM - Easy 3.5 miles around Old Colorado City, 33 minutes.  Quads are still pretty beat up, but they'll be fine by this weekend.

PM - Quarters.  1.5 mile warm up, 8 x 400m with 200m RBI, 1.5 mile cool down.  Averaged about 90 per quarter.  Nothing awesome, but it felt good to get the legs spinning again.

Pikes Peak Sports Triple Crown Running Team

AM - 30 minutes easy with the dog, three miles.

Will do a report on the aptly named Quad Rock soon.  Very easy effort, finished in 11:31.  As would be expected, Nick and the FoCo group put on a fantastic event.  Still a lot of work to do before Hardrock, but I'm starting to feel good about where I'm at right now.

I'm now a paid, professional blogger.  I have quit my job and will be living out of my truck for the time being.  Next few weeks in a parking lot in the Garden, then over to the Section 16 trailhead, then some quality time up high on Pikes somewhere.  OK, maybe not, but I do get a hundred bones as well as a comped entry into the Triple Crown.

And since I'm big time now, I need a new profile pic:

Mayor of Old Town

Had a 40 of OE to celebrate my Quad Rock finish.

Salmon!

Friday

Easy hour run on the Garden roads.  Six miles.

commute #20

Hated to run to work on a Thursday, but I had to continue the streak.  Easy 6.3 miles, 54 minutes.

Section 16

Easy loop with the dog tonight, 5.5 miles in just over an hour.  Legs are finally feeling good after the marathon.

marathon pic

Race day shot of me coming down the final stretch.  Deep in the heart of Buttgers country, so I went with the Pitt shirt.

AF graduation

Waited two hours this morning to get tix. Pres Obama is the speaker this year.

Delaware HP

Kane's Tavern

Jersey

Real happy with the race.  Stopped to take a leak at 2.5 miles, and the break allowed the 3:00 pace group to catch up (my wave started 60 seconds ahead).  Kept up with them until the halfway point, then slowly started pulling away, trying to get that minute back.  About mile 19 I tanked, a combination of the lack of speedwork in my training, the headwind along the beach, and a diet consisting of nothing but Tastykakes, Middleswarth chips, and Yuengling all taking a toll. 

At mile 19 the new goal became a BQ (3:15 for old folks like me), so I slowed to eight minute miles.  Around mile 22 I remembered the early entry for every five minute thing, so I picked it up to go sub 3:10.  Around mile 25 I knew if I hammered I could get a sub 3:05.  None of which matters, since Boston won't let me back after my last performance there.

Very happy with the run.  Won't take much to get back into sub three shape for NYC. 

Next up is Quad Rock.  Lots of pressure there, as I have to be considered the favorite since I'm pretty sure I have the fastest marathon time* in the field.





*only counting marathons within the past seven days

Jersey

pre-race

brownie/McCann's/Lake Como, NJ/PBR #47

We're in the VIP Lounge!

NJ marathon taper continues...

yellow beer FTW!

Pat's!

NJ marathon taper

9:30AM!

Thursday

Hour run on the Garden roads.  15 minute warm up, 35 minutes of two minutes hard/two minutes easy, ten minute cool down.  Seven miles.

bacon maple nut booze

Just received the call from Cheers, the bacon beer has arrived!  So much for showing up to Pennsylvania not hungover...

commute #19

AM - Easy run to work.  6.5 miles, one hour.

PM- Two hours home from work through Bear Creek Park and Red Rock Canyon.  11.3 miles.

In two days I'll be hanging out at the Yuengling brewery!

Tuesday

AM - Easy 4.5 miles with the dog, 45 minutes.  Some days she's harder to control than others.

PM - Late start due to an hour of hot yoga after work.  Quick run up to the Holmes middle school track, 4 x 400m untimed, 1.5 mile cool down.  Motivation just wasn't there.  Another 4.5 miles, 42 minutes.

April

Easy ten miles on the Garden roads to close out the month.

313 miles on the month.  Was hoping for a bit higher total, but a lot of stuff kept me off the roads and trails this month.  Still, real happy with the 100K, as well as the suffering at two shorter races.

Entering a fantastic time of year where I pretty much have a race every weekend.  Jersey, Quad Rock, Jemez, Arkansas Bluegrass, Golden Gate, Garden of the Gods, San Juan Solstice.  If I can finish all those, I'll be sitting pretty come mid-July.

track

Just found out the Springs will be having an all-comers track meet.  Don't think I've raced on the track since high school.  More info over here.  I'll be jumping in the 5000 meter run for some good Hardrock training.  If I can get there early enough maybe I'll see what damage I can do in the 100m.

Boulder Distance Classic

Not nearly the epic run just about everyone else had this weekend, but I had fun up at the Boulder Res.  15K, 62:47.  Very windy.  Pleased with the solid effort, ran hard and steady but didn't kill myself.  Was in the beer garden, courtesy of Avery Brewing, by 9:40AM.  Results over here.  Even the minor league races in Boulder get tons of fast folks out.

Shooting for 3:29:59 this weekend in Jersey.  Will probably goof off behind the 3:35 pace group for 20 miles or so and then blast the final 10K.

Really pisses me off when races advertise live race tracking and then fuck it up.  Eugene and Big Sur, fail.  Were you unaware you might have a little more traffic than usual on race day?