track

I did dig out the old timex for the track today, but the thing was dead.  Shows you how long it's been since I cared to time my intervals.  They are cheap enough, and I'm interested enough, that I'll pick up another one before next Tuesday.

Shitty weather in Manitou.  Heavy rain and wind, and it was snowing not much higher up.  But it was a much better track than I'm used to, and there were other people there, and it wasn't 5AM.  Twelve quarters, one minute rest.  I was able to eyeball two of them and they were in the low 80s.  I assume the others were low to mid 80s as well.  Overall a good workout, and I think I'll go much faster once the weather improves.

My buddy Nick, also a Pitt Panther, took these pics before the workout started.

Barr Trail

Mon PM - 45 minutes up Barr.  Made it to the "2 Mile" wood post a bit above the top of the W's.

Got through Mule's set from Wanee.  Incredible.  And they played some new stuff which was killer.

No parking at Memorial for a bit.  Think the parking lot near the bus stop is still open though.

Tues AM - 5K hike with the dog in the Garden, followed by a trip to Accolade.

losing my bikepacking virginity...

Shitty weather on Friday made us select a less ambitious route, but Kircher and I still got our bikes out for a big ride over the weekend.

Most of the pics I took have been put up on instagram, so I won't repeat them here.

We didn't leave until Saturday morning, and it was raining/snowing/sleeting pretty good as we headed south on hwy 115.  Wet and miserable, but we made decent time down to Coyote's Coffee Den in Penrose.  We would have just pushed through to Florence Brewing, but it wasn't open yet.

Got to Florence Brewing right at noon when they opened.  44 miles.  A few IPAs later, we were pedaling again.

Leg two went up to Guffey.  115 to hwy 50 in Canon City, over towards the Royal Gorge, then north on hwy 9.  Beautiful scenery, but 40 miles of climbing really put a hurt on me.  We stopped at the Fishwater Saloon for some burgers and beers.  And they had a band there.

We were originally planning on leaving Guffey and heading to Hartsel, though over beers we decided to attempt a shortcut which looked much more fun and may or may not have been paved (Kircher was on a skinny tired road bike).  County road 102, which magically turned into county road 112 at some point, then a left on county road 11, to county road 1, which would get us to the Florissant Fossil Beds.  From there it's a quick spin to the town of Florissant and hwy 24.

We only made it six miles outside of Guffey before the sun went down and it was time to stealth camp.  We found a small field behind the empty Guffey Fire Company, threw down our sleeping bags, and went to sleep.  Over 90 miles on the day with lots of climbing.  I slept well, despite being woke up multiple times by howling coyotes.

We were off at 7:30AM on Sunday.  Nice downhill to start the day, but it was cold, so we hid the bikes and took a short hike to check out Paradise Cove.

22 miles from the Guffey fire station to Florissant.  Grabbed grub and caffeine there and started the final trek home.  Luckily the shortcut also got us around Wilkerson Pass as we were both pretty beat.  The climb up to Divide was no joke, another 1000 feet in eight miles, but luckily Paradox Beer Company was open by the time we got there.  Paradox was the high point of day two, and it was all downhill from there, including a stop at Bierwerks and the end of the trip at Fossil Brewing.

But wait, what is a bike trip without something going wrong?  Everything damn near went perfect, until, with less than three miles to go, Kircher got a flat.

Very tired, but I had a blast the entire trip.  145 miles over two days, with night outside number three on the year.  Learned a lot and I'll definitely be doing some more of this kind of stuff.

incline 19

Solid rain the whole time, with snow up top.  Soaking everything, in a good way.  Still a few peeps heading up and down the Incline as the temps were decent.

Kircher and I are having lunch tomorrow at Moonlight Pizza.  And we're biking there, leaving from my house around 5PM.  The route is 115 to 50, to 24.  Canon City, Salida, Buena Vista, Woodland Park, Colo Springs.  215 miles or so.  Neither of us has put in much time in the saddle so far this year, so hopefully it doesn't become one big shitshow.

Rattler

Good long run on Saturday over in Palmer Park for the Rattler 50K.  The goal was 5:59:59 and I was just looking to spend a few hours preparing for San Juan in June.  Actually had some energy the second lap and ran a bit faster than expected, 5:37:44.

Here's a shot of me at the finish line:

Thanks to Peter for the pics.

Really happy with the run.  But those are some tough trails in Palmer Park, and I'm still tore up two days after the run.  Will take a break this week and spend some time on the bike, then ramp things back up on the running front.

incline 18

Headed over to meet up with the Incline Club for their Thursday workout.  20 minute tempo up Barr.  Went about as well as can be expected, though I have some work to do before August.  I think it was my first time running up Barr since the Pikes Marathon.  Knocked out the IC workout and since I was in the neighborhood I hit the Incline.  Nine miles on the evening.

On my way down Barr I saw my first bear of the season.  Just how I like to see them - from a distance.  I was on Barr, Yogi was down near the cog railway tracks.

Traveler!

The (hopefully) final stage of the bathroom remodel has started, so once again I'm forced to drive to work due to dog transport duties.  Definitely a first world problem but I'm not a fan of how much this has messed up my routine.

Monday - early morning dog hike with Holly and Meesha.  Ute Valley Park.  Also hit Accolade.

Tues AM - Track.  6 x 400m.  All I had time for.  My trend of not timing the intervals will come to an end, as next Tuesday I will start working out at the Manitou track with some folks from the Incline Club.

Tues PM - Blues Traveler!  Many, many moons ago this was my favorite band, but it had been a while since I had seen them.  Wasn't sure what kind of show they would put on for a small crowd in Pueblo, but thankfully they brought it and the concert was awesome.  $100 and I were in the second row.

The band posted the following pic to their instagram page, and if you look closely you can see me flashing the peace sign:

Wed - Overslept as we got home from Pueblo pretty late. but I still got in eight miles to and from work for run commute 15.  When I got home, the weather was so awesome that $100 and I jumped on the bikes for an hour in Red Rock Canyon, followed by some brews at Fossil.

Thurs AM - another hour exploring Ute Valley with the dogs.

weekend update

I spent Saturday helping out with the PPRR Tortoise & Hare 5K.  Wasn't expecting much as I couldn't warm up due to my volunteer gig, so I was happy to go sub 20, finishing in 19:33.  The pace varied greatly - at times I was running ten minute miles so I could chat with friends, and at one point I was running 16:30 5K pace, as I jumped ahead of Neil just so Tim Bergsten could get a pic of me beating him.

After the race I hopped on the bike and rode up to Pikes Peak Brewing.  50 mile round trip that ended at Fossil.

Pretty hungover on Sunday AM, so after an hour Garden hike with the dog the wife and I headed over to Kansas (Powers Blvd) to pick up our new tent at Sierra Trading Post.  We went with the Marmot Force three person.  Thing only weighs four pounds.  Hope to try it out very soon.

Just in case I didn't drink enough on Saturday, $100 and I went on a Sunday afternoon bike pub crawl.  20 miles around town, hitting Red Leg, Urban Steam, Bristol, and the new Buffalo Lodge Bike Resort.  Good times!

The bathroom remodel entered the final phase today, so I had to take the dog over to Marc & Amanda's.  Used that as an excuse to take Holly and Meesha over to Ute Valley for an hour.

run commute 14/bike commute 26

Another good work week in the books.  Three bike commutes, one run commute.  One snow day where I did a nice fat bike brewery crawl instead of hanging out with homeless peeps all day.  A few early morning Garden hikes with the dog.  Some gym time, some fake bouldering time.  Keeping busy.

Used my REI discount to pick up the pack that I hope will last me to Durango in July of 2018.  Hoping to keep my load at 30 pounds, $100's around 20.  Freeloading dog gets a pass as she'll be ten years old.  I'm sure the dog will also take up four spots in our three person tent.

quarterly progress

Apparently Monday was the quarter of the year mark.  Here's where I stand on my 2017 goals.

Run - 542 of 2000 miles.  Finally back ahead after falling way behind when I jacked my cankle.  13 out of 50 run commutes.

Bike - 590 out of 3000 miles.  Behind, but let the weather warm up a bit and I'll get to work on this one.  24 out of 50 bike commutes.

Hike - 207 out of 600 miles.  Lowballed this goal, as it was made before $100 and I decided to go for the CO trail next year.

Incline - After a hot start to the year things have quieted down significantly.  16 trips.  Good number, though I need to get back after it as they are going to close it after the Pikes Marathon again this year.

CityRock - 26 trips so far.  Need to get to 54 to bring the cost below $10 per visit.  Definitely paying off as I'm becoming a much better climber.

Accolade - Nine times out of the needed 34.  The gym suffers the most when I have other stuff to do.

Phish - Have listened to every new show posted to the live Phish ap, including a Mike Gordon concert and a couple of solo Trey shows.  Plus a few shows from the archives.

Gov't Mule - Every show this year, some multiple times, once in person, plus a ton of past shows.

Nights outside - Only two nights spent outside, but I have some big plans and don't see any problem getting to 15.

On another note, fire danger is low today:

15

Was hoping to get 20 in, but that goal was set before the return of winter weather.  Started in the rain, with the goal of just getting something in, and that rain soon turned to snow.  But before I knew it, I had over ten miles in and was feeling good.  Still cut the run off after 15 miles, 3.5 hours, as I was soaked and the temp was starting to drop, but I got in a nice tour of Red Rock Canyon, Section 16, and the Garden.

Phish released a new (old) six CD box set from some of their old St. Louis shows.  I listened to the Aug 16, 1993 show, the entire thing, on this run.  I had graduated high school two months before the show.

incline 16

Friday evening climb up the steps.  Mix of rain/snow, depending on how high I was.  Everything is soaked right now from a few days of wet weather.  Was a ton of fun on the Incline though, and I only saw one other person.

Listened to the new (old) Widespread Panic release, April 27, 1999 at the Moran theater in Jacksonville.  Solid show.

Tuesday track/bike commute 22

8 x 400m.  200m RBI.  One of the only gripes I have about my watch, the Garmin vivoactive hr, is that I can't figure out a good way to time intervals.  In my mind I was crushing these in about 45 seconds each, but in reality they were almost twice that.

Then rode to work.  Bike commute 22.  Might be pedaling back home in the snow.

I've been squirreling some loot away for a more suitable road bike.  Yesterday Salsa dropped the price on the Colossal from 2G to $1300.  Almost pulled the trigger.

Even went to my local bike shop, The Hub, to see if they had any.  Of course they didn't, because in their very small store the fat bikes take up all the space.  So I had to decide if I wanted to drop a lot of money on a road bike I've never seen, let alone sat on, before.  And I decided against that.  Will hold out for a Vaya.  Which REI will be selling soon, so I'll be able to try one out before I buy.  I love REI, but I have mixed feelings about having to go there over the LBS for bike stuff.  But the Hub has kind of forced my hand.

Of course, that Colossal is one good looking bike...

incline 15

On Saturday $100, my sister, and I got on the bikes for a 20 mile pub crawl.  Storybook, Murphy's, Gold Camp, and Fossil.  Almost the whole loop on trails.  Good times!

Of course I wasn't at my physical best on Sunday.  But after a nice Garden hike with the dog I drug my ass up the Incline.

Pretty good week.  40 miles running, 88 miles on the bike, 19 miles of hiking.  Even got in an hour of yoga.

Not sure if I mentioned it on here, but I have informed my boss that next June (2018) I will be taking a sabbatical to hike the Colorado trail with my wife.  The dog is coming along, and she is super psyched.

incline 14

It had been a while since I climbed the steps.  Feb 17th was the last time, when I busted an ankle coming back down and ended up taking two weeks off to recover.  Almost let the weather keep me away, but I knew I needed to get back and I'm glad I went.

Finally getting some moisture here on the Front Range, maybe we'll get to go a few weeks without worrying about the place burning down.  On Thursday $100 and I took the dog over to the Garden just before the weather blew in.  We were in a red flag warning (very high fire danger) and a blizzard warning.  And when we got to the Garden we looked south and saw the smoke from a pretty big fire on Fort Carson.  Shortly after the hike it started snowing.

Ecology Park

On the way home from Salida we took some time to further explore the Royal Gorge region.  The dog was beat but still up for a short hike in Ecology Park.  This place doesn't look like much as you pull into the lot, but after a quarter mile or so things get pretty cool.  Hiked the dog down to Grape Creek and played around there for a bit.  Highly recommended.

Salida

Salida went about as I expected.  I had been slacking on the long runs, and I had been slacking on the hills, and as such I knew I was not going to do well there.  But after my last two marathons (DNF at Pikes and DNS at Pueblo) I was happy to get a finish.  5:20.  Something to build on, as I now have hope that a finish at San Juan and a decent Pikes weekend can be accomplished with some work.

Had the usual fantastic time in Salida, seeing everyone and visiting so many of my favorite pubs and hiking the dogs until near exhaustion.  Love that town, but holy shit have housing prices have gone insane.  Will be interesting to watch what happens over the next few years, with rent at four figures at the minimum and the highest paying job in town at ten bucks an hour.

Biked Cheyenne Canon yesterday on the way home, bike commute number 20 on the year.  Ran to work today for run commute 12.

Supposed to get some moisture Thursday night.  Fingers crossed for a snow day!

bike commute 19

Thurs - Early morning three mile hike in the Garden with $100 and the dog.  44F at 5AM and I was loving it!  6.5 mile ride to work, 7.5 miles home.

Fri - Easy four miler on the roads of Old Colorado City.

Guessing I will be somewhere in the five hour area at Salida this weekend.  Don't feel out of shape, but I sure haven't put in the long runs required for the race.  Will probably be very pleasant for the first three hours, then things will go south and I'll walk a lot.

bike commute 18

Back to the track this morning.  Nothing special, 4 x 400m, 4 x 200m, untimed.  Need to start getting back to the oval a bit more.

Then eight miles on the Mariachi before work.  Even snuck to CityRock (#21) over lunch.

Home via Cheyenne Canon, including Cap't Jacks.

Red Mountain/Run Commute 11

Monday after work (bike commute 17) I took the dog up Red Mountain.  3.5 miles.  Going to start hiking that every Monday at 6PM if anyone wants to join.  Hike, not run, as the dog likes hiking much better, and I like doing as little physical activity as possible on Monday.

Tuesday was run commute 11.  Six miles to work.  Four miles home.  Then I took advantage of the later sunset and warm temps to get ten miles of singletrack on the fat bike over in Red Rock Canyon.

night outside #2

Not a good run on Saturday due to a late Friday at Fossil.  Got in a two hour slog at Cheyenne Mountain State Park, so at least I was able to start earning my merit badges.

As soon as I got home I supported the local economy by throwing just over $800 to the Pikes Peak Marathon.  $100 is registered for the Triple Crown with the Ascent, and I'm down for the Triple Crown, the Double, and BTMR.

Then it was off to Canon City.  Arrived at Oil Well Flats, set up camp, and took the dog out for a hike.  Dinner was down at Florence Brewing for the annual FAR adventure guide release.  Then back to the fire pit for more brews.

Got in a good two hour ride at Oil Well Flats on Sunday morning, followed by another dog hike.  Weather was perfect.

Continuing to dig our exploration of Fremont County.  My buddy Lance wrote an article about some new trails down there, you can see that over here.

Did some more riding back in the Springs as $100 and I biked over to the Red Leg brewers' cup happy hour.  We are not on the team this year but we still plan on crashing anything that looks like fun.

run commute 10

Short but awesome trip down to Phoenix and I will get up a post about that soon.  Got to say that one of the highlights was going on a morning walk to get coffee at 7AM and only needing to wear a t-shirt.

Tues - the bathroom remodel is getting very old as what was supposed to take two or three weeks is now doubling that with work still to do.  So I couldn't bike to work as I had to get the dog over to Amanda's.  Hit CityRock though for trip number 20 on the year.

Wed - Hour walk with the dog in the Garden this morning, followed by a six mile run to work. 

February

Not a good month on the running and biking front.  Cold weather kept me off the bike for much of the month, and the minor ankle injury cost me a week of running.  115 miles running, 105 miles on the bike.  Meh.

However, I didn't use all that extra time sitting around watching TV (that doesn't happen until the NCAA tourney starts).  The dog loved my predicament as we had over 70 miles hiking on the short month.  Whenever I bust up an ankle, which seems to happen quite often nowadays, I can return to hiking much quicker than running.  So I hike, and the dog gets to come along, and she LOVES it.  In fact, she questions why I don't make hiking my full time gig, giving up running and biking and climbing and work to make more time to stroll about.

Also spent some time in the gym, whether Accolade or CityRock.  I'm definitely seeing big gains in the rock gym, which I'm pretty psyched about.  Starting to have real success on V3 problems, and I've even gotten a move or two or three on V4 stuff, something that seemed impossible just a few months ago.

The resolution numbers, through March 3rd:

Bike Commutes - 14 (trying for 50)
Run Commutes - 9 (trying for 50)
CityRock - 19 (currently $28.21 per visit to the gym, trying to get that below $10)
Accolade - 9 (trying for 34, which would make each visit less than $10)
Run Miles - 336 (trying for 2000)
Bike Miles - 307 (trying for 3000)
Hike Miles - 143 (trying for 500)

Beaver Creek

I've been getting in lots of quality time with my other dog Meesha lately.  Despite the bum ankle keeping me from running, hiking doesn't bother it nearly as much.  So I decided to take the dogs to explore a new (to me) area, Beaver Creek SWA down near Canon City.  We did a pretty awesome seven mile loop, which turned out to be a bit more after I got lost the last two or so miles.  Definitely worth the trip and yet another place we hope to explore more in the near future.

Pearl

Tim has a good write up of the Pearl saga in the latest CS Independent.  Check it out here.

Phish @ Colorado College

Been listening to this nugget lately.  Once every few decades something cool happens at CC.  I was a sophomore in high school and just starting to take running somewhat seriously back in '90.