Rainier or bust!

Mon - Easy 7.4 miles on the Garden trails in the morning, 15 mile gravel ride at lunch, easy 4.7 miler in the evening.  Still sore from the Garden ten miler.

Tues - bike commute 41.  Ten there, 15 back.  Went over 1500 bike miles on the year, halfway towards my goal.

Wed - run commute 40.  Five there.  CityRock 70 at lunch.  5.3 miles back home.  Hollydog is now 13.5 years old and is slowing down, but we have started walking one mile around the 'hood each evening.  Not taking the time I get to spend with her for granted.

Thurs - run commute 41.  4.7 there, 3.5 home.  Mookie is crushing dog school and is slowly turning into a good pup.

Fri - bike commute 42.  Straight there and back.  King's Chef for lunch.

Fly to Seattle tomorrow afternoon.  Start hiking up Sunday afternoon.

Earlier this week I had accepted that there would be no summit.  It was snowing heavily and avalanche conditions were terrible.  None of the paid expeditions were getting to the top.  

But that has recently changed, and things look to be improving.  Will they improve in time for me?  Not sure, but I feel a lot better than I did a few days ago.

I've only used my inReach for texting $100 to let her know I was safe, but I'm gonna try the tracking feature.  This link may or may not work as I'm not the most technologically gifted guy.

After the climb we're taking some time to explore the Olympic peninsula and then slowly heading back home on a route not fully decided yet.

Garden/Elevation/13

I received a nice ass kicking at the Garden ten miler on Saturday.  Solid race for me, I just had nothing in the tank over the last two miles.  Officially finished in 1:16:00.  I got what I deserved - I'm in good shape to hike uphill with a heavy pack on, but not really ready to run a good road race.  But it was fun, I pushed as hard as I could, saw a ton of friends, and it was all basically in my backyard.

After that I headed down to help Elevation Brewing celebrate their ten year anniversary.  I have drank quite a bit of First Cast IPA over the past decade for sure.  

Slept in the van at the Poncha visitor center, then up early to tag Shavano.  13 straight months.  

The weather is looking crazy for Rainier as they've had a ton of snow.  Very few of the guided trips have had successful summits so far this year.  Hope that changes soon.

For the week:

run - 44 miles, eleven hours (counted Shavano, which admittedly was more of a hike than a run)

ride - 57 miles, six hours

hike - 18 miles, seven hours

canon

Mon - 5.8 mile run in Red Rock Canyon.

Tues - bike commute 39.  Ten miles there, 18 back up and over Cheyenne Canon to High Drive, down Cap't Jacks.  Need more of this in my life.  So glad that road is open again.

Wed - run commute 39.  5.5 miles through Sonderman there, 4.8 miles back home.  Guitar practice in the evening.

Thurs - took Mookie over to Red Rock Canyon for a 5.8 mile run.  He loved it.  Took him to Red Leg Brewing in the evening for Garden packet pick up and he loved that too.

Fri - bike commute 40.  CityRock 68 at lunch.

Garden ten miler on Saturday, I expect to run 73-ish.  Then down to Elevation for their 10th anniversary.  Shavano on Sunday, making sure the 14er streak continues just in case Rainier is a bust.

The Tour Divide started today.  I hope to be starting my ride from Antelope Wells to Banff in exactly one year.

Hoosier Pass

Tues - bike commute 35.  Ten there, eleven back.  Four mile run with Mookie over in the Garden after work.

Wed - run commute 37.  5.5 there, four back home.  Guitar in the evening.  Working on the Wish You Were Here solo stuff.

Thurs - run commute 38.  Five there, 3.5 back.

Fri - CityRock 65 at lunch.  Drove the van to work and took off for Hoosier Pass to sleep up high.  Enjoyed some Broken Compass beers up there.

Sat - final HAMS training on the ski slopes in Breck.  Only thing left is the mountain herself.

Sun - big ride.  Slogged up Rampart Range road to Mt. Herman road, down to Pikes Peak Brewing, then back to Fossil.  67 miles in seven hours.

For the week:

run - 29 miles, 4.5 hours

ride - 101 miles, ten hours

hike - 22 miles, ten hours

Shavano

Kircher and I met up down in Chaffee County on Saturday and successfully hiked Mt. Shavano.  My 12th consecutive month of a 14er.  Lots of fresh snow but nothing too heinous.

Mookie, though not quite ready for a 14er, had a blast and loves both the vanlife and Chaffee County.

Had to bolt home after a nice dog hike early Sunday morning, got to dogsit Moose and Millie and drink approximately 1000 local beers with Bob.  Warning: there are middle fingers in the pic below, please look away if you are easily offended.

And yes I do realize Hamm's is not a local beer.  I had 1000 local beers and one Wisconsin beer.  And one can of Rainier.

On Monday early AM Bob and I got up and took Moose and Mookie over to the Bear Creek dog park for 90 minutes.  After that we headed over to Red Leg for the memorial day 5k, probably the second biggest race within 90 minutes of me that day.  Yet again I scored a cheap victory, running 20:50.  Was on sub 20 pace for 2+ miles, but coming back up and over Gas Station hill crushed me.  Obviously a small field, I won by over 90 seconds, but the $75 gift card to Red Leg that I got was the biggest running payday I've ever received.

Not the best workout month numbers wise.  Lots of visits from friends, lots of travel, lots of time with the new dog, lots of time with the old dog, lots of time training with the HAMS crew.  Definitely not complaining.

For the month:

run - 25 runs, 115 miles, 20 hours

ride - 25 rides, 225 miles, 22 hours

hike - 37 hikes, 142 miles, 58.5 hours

butterbar

First off, congrats to Ryan for somehow making it through the Academy.  She will do a one year assignment as a recruiter and then she's off to flight school.

Low mileage week as my old Pitt roommate (who is Ryan's uncle) came into town, and then I spent all day Wednesday doing the graduation stuff.  

Mon - nine mile run over in the Garden.

Tues - bike commute 33.  Ten there, four back.  After work beers at the house, then Murphy's, then the Triple Nickel, then Fossil.  Oof.

Wed - Mookie's first motorless morning in the Garden.  We hiked a 10K before heading up to Falcon Stadium.

Thurs - bike commute 34.  Ten there, four back.  Had a HAMS meeting up in Palmer Lake after work.

Fri - run commute 36.  Five miles in 42 minutes.

Taking the van down to Chaffee County after work, gonna attempt Shavano tomorrow and hike the shit out of the dogs.  Back on Sunday for Bob's annual visit.

the week

Travel, weather, injury, Academy graduation - May sure has gotten away from me.

The Sunday I was in San Fran I somehow tweaked my lower back.  Not a crushing injury like I've had there before, but I had to take things easier to make sure it didn't get worse.  Then on Thursday, the temp hit 88F.  And on Friday we got a good foot of snow at the house.  So the week wasn't much to write home about.  The back is better, and the big hiking week included a trek with a 40+ pound pack and heavy mountaineering boots through a ton of snow up to Barr Camp with the HAMS group on Sunday.

run - 17 miles, three hours

ride - 30 miles, three hours

hike - 42 miles, 18.5 hours

So much snow here.  Which is great, but my monthly 14er streak is definitely in jeopardy.  Going to try for Shavano on Saturday, but they got good snow down there as well.  And Kircher is tagging along, so not only is there a good chance of not getting to the summit, but hospitalization and loss of a limb or two are probably in play as well.

Bay to Breakers

Well holy shit that was fun!

Quick trip to San Fran, flying out on Saturday morning and returning Monday evening.  Tons of pubs in between, including during the 12k race.  Took $100 and I 3.5 hours to meander the course, and I ran up Hayes hill with a gin & tonic in hand.

fire

Mon - easy lunch ride, 15 miles in 90 minutes, and a post-work 7.5 mile Garden trail run.

Tues - bike commute 29.  Ten there, 18 back home.

Wed - run commute 32.  5.7 there, 4.2 home.  Guitar practice in the evening, followed by a quick ride to check out a possible sighting of Amanda's stolen bike.  Still haven't found it.

Thurs - run commute 33.  5.2 there.  5.5 back.  Took Mookie over to PubDog in the evening, I drank beer and he ran approximately 400 miles in circles around their small dog park.

Fri - bike commute 30.  Eleven there.  

We had so many fires Thursday in COS it was hard to keep up.  I have a bad feeling this is going to be a rough summer.

Off to San Francisco for the Bay to Breakers 12k this weekend.  Won't be winning any awards unless there's one for most booze consumed during the race.

update

Busy lately.  Lots of good stuff going on.

The Atlanta trip was incredible.  So much good music.  Big Something, Doom Flamingo, Oysterhead, Too Many Zooz, Sexbruise?, and Taz Niederauer were some of the highlights for me.  Was excited for Umphrey's but their lead guitarist had to take some time off, and I thought the band was missing something.  Hit up the Clermont, Elliot's, Sister Louisa's, and a slew of other bars.  So much fun.  Possible return trip next year.

Had a good seven mile run around the MLK national historical site and the Freedom trail.  Also did a 5k on festival Saturday and did pretty well, winning the masters division in 19:59.  Goose was doing their soundcheck at the finish line and ended up playing three songs for the runners.

Took a while to recover from that.  I'm old and four straight days of partying left me pretty rough.  Did recover in time to have a good race at the Take 5 in the Garden though.  4.4 miles on the Garden trails in 34 minutes.  Then on Sunday the HAMS peeps and I went up to Loveland Pass to attempt Grizzly Peak.  Crazy windy so we had to bail early, though we did manage to summit 13,117' Cupid Peak.  Might have to go back there to get Grizzly and Torreys.

For the week of the festival:

run - 16 miles, 2.5 hours

ride - 38 miles, four hours

hike - 13.5 miles, five hours

For the previous week:

run - 31 miles, five hours

ride - 70 miles, 7.5 hours

hike - 25 miles, ten hours

bike thieves suck

Sat - big hike up in Palmer Lake with the HAMS crew.  16 miles in eight hours with a heavy pack, followed by a good lunch at O'Malley's.  

Sun - got in 20 miles on the bike, then dropped by the new Trinity Brewing location, which is where the old Red Leg used to be.  Great place.  I never used to lock my bike at the old Red Leg, but for some reason I did today.  Which was good, because while we were drinking, two dudes ran up, jumped on two unlocked bikes, and rode away.  One of the bikes was Amanda's, and while I'm usually happy to watch bad things happen to her, nobody deserves to have a bike stolen.  To add to the shitshow of an afternoon, I wrecked my bike on the way home and messed up my leg pretty bad.

For the week:

run - 37 miles, 13 hours

ride - 79 miles, eight hours

hike - 41 miles, 17.5 hours

Mon - 16 miles on the bike, out searching around local homeless camps for Amanda's bike.  Too sore to run and could barely walk the dog.

Tues - bike commute 26.  Ten there, eleven back.  Leg is improving but still to sore to run.  Did get over for an easy climbing session at lunch, my 50th trip to CityRock this year.

Wed - run commute 29.  Still feels like I have a charley horse and probably should have taken one more rest day, but I'll be traveling tomorrow and won't have time to run.

Off to Atlanta for the Sweetwater 420 music festival.  I was hoping to do well in the 5k but I think the leg injury put the kebash on that.  Still hoping to go sub 20 though.

eleven

Mon - easy four miler on the Garden trails before watching the Boston Marathon.  15 mile ride after work.

Tues - bike commute 24.  Eleven there, 14 back.  

Wed - run commute 28.  Five there, four back.  Guitar lesson in the evening, I'm finally starting to improve on my barre chords.

Thurs - Pikes via Barr Trail.  The upper two miles are a total shitshow of soft snow right now.  Lots of post holing as deep as my waist.  On the way down I found a lost hiker and got him safely down to the timberline shelter, where he said he knew his way back to town.  Eleven hours on the day, a long slog with a fairly heavy pack.  My eleventh straight month of a 14er summit.

smartest dog in the room

Sat - had to take care of some other dogs, so early Sat morning me, $100, Mookie, and Millie headed up Mount Muscoco.  It's now a seven mile hike as the Cheyenne Canon road is closed, but the dogs didn't mind.  Later that day I got in a good 90 minute run in Ute Valley Park.  Took a hard fall there and tweaked my back, but other than that it was a solid run.

Sun - 55 mile ride up to Palmer Lake and back.

For the week:

run - 36 miles in seven hours

ride - 115 miles in eleven hours

hike - 35 miles in 14 hours

Mookie has graduated his first dog training class!

run commute 27

Mon - my pack from Cheyenne Mountain was sitting untouched in the garage, so I took it with on the four mile dog hike in Red Rock Canyon.  Then headed up to the track for 2 x 1 mile.  6:49, 6:39.  Evening was a bike over to the Incline, down Barr Trail, and back home.

Tues - bike commute 22.  Booked my flight to Seattle for the Rainier attempt.  One way ticket, $100 and the dogs are going to drive out to meet me, then we'll take our time returning home.  Route to be determined.

Wed - run commute 26.  Five there, four back.  Guitar practice in the evening.  Moondog Music, the shop where I have my lessons, is moving at the end of May - only half a mile from my house.  Will be awesome but I'll have to work to keep my regular status at Benny's.

Thurs - run commute 27.  Five there, four back.  CityRock 45 at lunch.  Post work trip to Pub Dog with Mookie.  Training has been going well for Mook but he still can't read.

The snow climb of Whale Peak has been cancelled due to avy conditions, so now I'll probably get in some good dog hiking and a long ride or two.

Cheyenne Mountain

Mon - track was sloppy so it was an easy jog on the Garden roads.  7.5 miles in 65 minutes.  In the evening I got in 20 miles on the bike with an incline in the middle.  Some dude just ran a seven minute mile down the incline and I can't even fathom that.

Tues - bike commute 20.  Eleven there, 14.5 back.  

Wed - run commute 24.  Five there, four back.  Guitar lessons have switched to Wednesday night for the summer.

Thurs - run commute 25.  5.5 there and back via Sonderman.  Great Thursday evening as I walked Mookie down to Pub Dog and drank a beer while watching him wrestle with a six month old Great Dane.  Pub Dog might be a weekly event from now on.

Fri - bike commute 21.  Ten there, eleven back.  Just me and the dogs this weekend as $100 took off to Trinidad for a big ride.

Sat - early morning Bear Creek dog park followed by an 18 mile run in 2:46 on the COVID loop.  Later on I climbed 1000 feet up Gold Camp Road on the bike totaling 13 miles.

Sun - Cheyenne Mountain hike with the HAMS group.  40 pound pack.  Good times.  14.6 miles in 5:38.

Another solid week:

run - 47.5 miles, 8.5 hours

ride - 102 miles, 9.5 hours

hike - 41 miles, 16.5 hours

the week

Sat - nice run up to No Name Creek.  No snow until then, but after that it gets pretty sloppy.  9.4 miles in two hours.  After that we took off in the van for Oil Well Flats.  Just a quick trip to see how Mookie would do.  He loved it.

Sun - easy 5.7 mile run in Red Rock Canyon.  Was planning on heading out on the bike but it started raining pretty good, so I went to Front Range to watch some music instead.

For the week:

run - 46 miles, eight hours

ride - 81 miles, 7.5 hours

hike - 32 miles, twelve hours

out like a lamb

Mon - track.  5 x 800m with 400m RBI.  25 mile bike ride on the paved bike paths after work.

Tues - bike commute 18.  Eleven there/eleven back.  Four mile dog jog with Mookie over in the Garden once I got home.

Wed - run commute 22.  5.7 there.  Four straight back home.  Weather improved in the evening so I got in a quick 80 minute ride on the COVID loop.

Thurs - run commute 23.  6.2 miles there, four back. CityRock 38 at lunch.  Mookie got his rattlesnake vaccine today.  Quick five mile ride in RRC before hitting Fossil to pick up my new mug.

Fri - bit hungover but got in bike commute 19.

Pretty decent month for me, especially considering we added a new member to the family.  For the month:

run - 197 miles, 35.5 hours

ride - 312 miles, 30.5 hours

hike - 136 miles in 55 hours

Group pic from the CMC snow class.  We'll be going to climb Whale Peak, a lesser known low 13er, in mid April.

Rainier

 Got our permit.  June 19-23.  Via the Disappointment Cleaver route.

Sherman

Mon - once again trying to get back into a track habit.  6 x 400m, 200m RBI.  The usual lousy weather up on the mesa.

Tues - bike commute 16.  CMC alpine snow movement class in the evening.

Wed - run commute 20.

Thurs - run commute 21.  Plus a bike commute back down to CityRock in the evening.

Fri - bike commute 17.

Sat - Snow movement field day up at Glen Cove, just off the Pikes Peak highway.  Great day but I was pooped afterwards.  Chauncy Crandall and a bunch of beers later that evening at Benny's.

Sun - Mount Sherman.  Ninth straight month of a 14er.  Had to be today or the streak would have ended as we have a storm moving in.  Lots of snow on this one.  And the hike was six miles longer than usual due to snow on the road.  

For the week:

run - 31 miles, five hours

ride - 28 miles, three hours

hike - 34 miles, 14.5 hours

Herman

Mon - five mile hike in Salida before leaving, then the Incline later that evening.  

Tues - bike commute 14.  Ten there, 15 back.  CityRock 31 for lunch.

Wed - run commute 18.  5.5 miles there, five back home.  CityRock 32 for lunch.

Thurs - run commute 19.  Was supposed to wake up to snow, but it ended up only raining.  Fossil in the evening to celebrate St. Pats and I drank way too many beers.  Mookie did well there with the packed house.

Fri - bike commute 15.  Straight there and back.  Too hungover to climb at lunch so Kings Chef it was.

Sat - good dog hike followed by a long ride.  Headed up to Pikes Peak Brewing, but halfway through the Academy the Santa Fe trail turned to sloppy mud.  $100 texted and said she was riding out to FH Beerworks, so I reversed back down to the Cottonwood trail, and explored the Cottonwood trail, which took me right to FH.  Definitely got my fill of east side COS for the next few years.  47 miles total.

Sun - HAMS practice up in Palmer Lake, working on crevasse rescue systems for a few hours before hiking up Mount Herman.  Had been quite a few years since I've hiked that peak.

After that I headed over to Front Range BBQ for some cheap yellow beer and some Chauncy Crandall.

For the week:

run - 32 miles, 6.5 hours

ride - 81 miles, eight hours

hike - 33 miles, 14 hours

Continuing to eye Mt. Sherman for my March 14er, just trying to figure out when I can get out there.