Little Italy/Hero/Y

Spent the long Memorial Day weekend taking the Pikes Peak Alpine School mountaineering class.  I knew I'd learn a lot but didn't know I'd get to cross a few items off my bucket list.

Friday was spent out at Elevenmile Canyon learning how to trad climb.  I struggled here, as I do with all climbing above fifth class, but survived.  And learned a lot about anchors.

Saturday started with some snow review - anchors, self arrest, movement over snow/ice.  Then we went and climbed Little Italy, a couloir on Pikes near Glen Cove on the Pikes Peak Highway.  I had always wanted to climb this but never got around to it.  Straight up and straight back down, had a blast.

On Sunday we did a mixed rock and snow route on the ridge near Little Italy.  Included some easy technical climbing above 12k that crushed me, but I got it done.

Monday was the big final exam.  The Hero Traverse over to the Y Couloir.  Had always wanted to tackle this but didn't want to go it alone the first time, there are some severe consequences for mistakes.  Snow was in good condition the whole way and the climb was fantastic!  Really feel like I've upped my snow game after this weekend.

19:29!

Finally got to do a flat, fast 5k with lots of fast people to help me through, and it paid off!  19:29 at the Colfax 5k in Denver's City Park on Saturday.  Splits were 6:13, 6:08, and 6:14.  The last mile hurt real hard but I held on.  Had a feeling I'd break 20 but didn't think I'd go sub 19:30, so I was over the moon happy with this effort.

Might have had a few beers after that and probably stayed up a bit too late for the Keller Williams show, but such is life.

Marathon the next day was a solid long run.  First ten miles went real well, then I took a short detour to the Lakeview Lounge.  Then two beers during mile 14.  Another ten miles got me to Reverence Brewing, where I saw the four hour pace group pass by.  Didn't chase them, but as I looked at my watch towards the end I saw I could still do it if I unleashed my inner Usain Bolt over the last 200m.  Officially finished in 3:59:42.

Solid group from El Paso County SAR up for the race.

For the week:

run - 61 miles, ten hours, 3300 feet of climbing.

hike - 39 miles, 16 hours, 3300 feet of climbing.

No Doubt

Quick trip to Vegas to see No Doubt.  Only a 90 minute flight from COS to LV, so before long we were at one of our favorite dive bars.

Checked in to our room at the Venetian, then grabbed a PBR from Walgreen's 

for the short walk down to another of our favorite dive bars.

Friday night ended in a cloud of booze.  Still got up early on Saturday for an urban hike out to the famous sign.

Breakfast after the hike was super fancy.

Soon enough it was time to start prepping for the show!  They had a No Doubt museum-ish exhibit set up, and we hung out there for a bit.  Beers were procured from Walgreen's, as they were significantly cheaper there.

Then we headed over to the infamous Sphere.  What a place.  But first, No Doubt absolutely killed the show!  Gwen and the gang still have it.  The Sphere itself was a bit over the top for me, I still go to concerts to see the band, I felt like the big screen was basically watching TV with music on.

And, per tradition, on Sunday we got up at 5AM so we could hit the Double Down Saloon before heading to the airport to fly home.

Not much going on mileage wise during the week.  Hangover recovery and SAR kept me busy.  Did get run commute 50 in on Thursday, including a ten miler home on the COVID loop.

Colfax Marathon weekend coming in hot.  Running the 5k seriously on Saturday, then the usual marathon pub crawl on Sunday.  Plus Keller Williams on Saturday night.

vegas baby!

Mon - easy five on the Garden trails in the AM, incline 15 in the PM.

Tues - taking Tuesdays as a rest day for a bit, which works great since the bus to work is free now.  Still got to CityRock at lunch.

Wed - run commute 49.  Four there, four home.  SAR in the evening, we graduated a new class of proby members, excited to have some new help on the team.

Thurs - run commute 50.  Bus there, 6.5 miles back home.

Fri - Iron 21 in the early morning, then a quick five miles on the Garden trails.

Off to Vegas for the weekend to see No Doubt at the Sphere.  Beyond the moon excited!  Perfect length for a Vegas trip too - I'll be on the ground for just under 48 hours.

beer and hot dogs

Good weekend up in Denver.  Ran well at the Denver Beer Company 50k, moving well between the breweries and finishing in just under six hours.  It got hot, I had a fairly heavy pack on, and the last few miles sucked ass, but overall a great training day.

On Sunday we headed over to Frolic Brewing for their 5k, which I ran in 21:35 despite being fairly sore.   Kudos to $100 and Mookie for running as well.  Mookie even got to see the weinermobile.

Got to hang with GZ, Shad, and Beuke after the run and talk about how good we used to be and how everything sucks now.

Solid week with a good long run and a solid tempo run on Sunday.

run - 67 miles, 12 hours

hike - 22.5 miles, nine hours

April

Decent month considering all the other crap that kept me from getting the miles in.

For April:

run - 182.5 miles, 34.5 hours, 14383 feet of climbing

hike - 126 miles, 53 hours, 14401 feet of climbing

nate

Good weekend up in Larimer County, but damn were they long days.  Attended my first SAR recertification, something EPCSAR will be doing next year.  Good to get the experience.

On Tuesday when made a rare trip to the World Arena to see Nate Bargatze.  Turns out he is next door neighbors in Nashville with my cadet.  He hooked us up with great seats and we got to meet Nate.  First time I ever got to meet a famous person.

Running has been hit or miss lately and I didn't run at all over the weekend.  Back to the grind soon, including the Denver Beer Co 50k on Saturday.

Larimer County

Mon - 7.4 miles on the Garden trails in the AM, incline 14 in the evening.  Perfectly timed SAR mission on Barr Trail for lunch.

Tues - the rare bike to work day.  Had too much crap to haul to work in my running pack.

Wed - run commute 43.  Five there, five back.

Thurs - we are watching Kircher's dog while he is over running the London marathon.  Hit the dog park before run commute 44.

Fri - Iron 18 on the year with Mookie, Ollie, and Hiccup.  Then run commute 45.

I'm off to Larimer County this week for some SAR stuff.  Lots of hiking, probably not much running.

St Louis

Great trip.

Day one was the long slog of a drive to Emporia.  Damn near ten years to the day I finished the Dirty Kanza 200 in front of Mulready's Pub, I took my finishers pint glass into the bar and they filled it.  I took that same pint back and of course they filled it again.

Next day was off to St Louis.  Hotel check in, packet pick up, and a quick tour of some local breweries.  The race was Saturday morning, and it went about as well as I thought it would.  After two long days of driving I did not have the fortitude to push through the final miles and I slowed greatly, running the first half in 1:45 and finishing in 3:44.  Did stop for two cans of beer in the final six miles, which didn't help my time.

Spent the rest of the day in St Louis, visiting a bunch of breweries and bars within walking distance of the hotel.  Next day, which happened to be National Weimaraner Day, included a long dog hike at Gateway Arch, then a short drive south to Taum Sauk mountain.  Not a huge climb, but the trails in the state park we stayed at were awesome and we got a ton of hiking in.

Then it was two long days of driving back home.  Stopped for the night at Happy Basset Brewing in Topeka.  Had to be the most dog friendly brewery I've ever been at.  There was a huge storm while we were there and a nearby tornado, but nobody at the bar was worried so I just kept drinking.  That evening I got to sip my last beer of the trip at the van door watching an incredible lightning storm.  

16 more states to go.  Des Moines in October, probably the last state I'll be able to road trip to.  

Missouri or bust!

Mon - incline 13 in the evening.

Tues - run commute 39.  Five there, 6.4 back home.

Wed - run commute 40.  Five there.  Started to run home when the SAR pager started chirping, so I jumped on a PikeRide to get home quicker.  Then the call got stood down.  Spent the extra time finishing up my wilderness first responder recert, I'm officially a Wilderness EMT now.

Off to St. Louis tomorrow.  Emporia on Thursday night, damn near ten years to the day since I somehow finished the Dirty Kanza.  Then downtown STL for a few days, then back.  Hoping to get state marathon number 34 and state high point number 28.

fine art

Mon - incline 12

Tues - run commute 35.  Took the bus to work, 6.4 miles back home.  The number three bus which runs from downtown COS to Manitou and back is free now!

Wed - run commute 36.  Five there, 3.6 back home.

Thurs - run commute 37.  Bus to work, four miles back home.

Fri - run commute 38.  Five there, five back.

Sat - the 'ol COVID loop with the Nielsen Challenge in the middle.  Timing was a bit off and showed up two minutes late for the Nielsen, but still managed to barely crack 14 for the two mile run.  15 miles on the day.  Late night SAR training was a mock mission up in Fox Run park.

Sun - big plans for a trip to Barr Camp, but instead I got stuck on cadet taxi duty.  Ran around for an hour unsuccessfully searching for some hidden brewery Easter eggs before hanging at Fossil.

We took part in a fundraiser for the Ark Valley Humane Society where they assigned a rando to draw your dog.  Our artist was some kid from Whitewater high school in Wisconsin and it turned out really good.

For the week:

run - 56 miles, 11 hourss

hike - 35 miles, 15 hours

Where's My Mule?

Mon - good 3 x 1 mile workout up at the John Holmes track.

Tues - run commute 31.  Five there and five back.  CityRock 16 at lunch.

Wed - easy day.  Run commute 32, four miles there.  Took a PikeRide home after work.

Thurs - run commute 33.  Five there, four back.

Fri - Iron 13 in the early morning, then an easy four miles to work.  Later in the day $100 picked me up and we headed to Denver for the Gov't Mule concert.  Excellent show!

Sat - Solid day drinking in Denver, hitting the Lakeview Lounge, WestFax, and the Sit n Bull Saloon.  Then lots of Buff Creek hiking.  

Sun - drank a lot of beers on Saturday night but still got in a good two hour hike with the dogs followed by a two hour run on the Colorado trail.  Then headed to Crazy Mountain Brewing to spend the night.  Sunday was a good day!

For the week:

run - 50 miles, 9.5 hours

hike - 37 miles, 14 hours

4900 feet of climbing

I'll just go ahead and throw in March mileage here.  Pretty solid month with the Little Rock and Salida marathons.

run - 237 miles, 44 hours

hike - 131 miles, 51 hours

35,383 feet of climbing

recovery

Mon - nice 3.5 mile hike around Salida, including Duke's memorial, before heading back to COS.  Incline eleven after work.  Always takes a few days to recover after Salida marathon weekend.

Tues - run commute 28.  Five there, 6.4 back.

Wed - run commute 29.  Five there, 3.5 back.  Blizzard training at SAR even though temps will be hitting the 80s soon.

Thurs - five mile ruck with the dog in the AM, 4.3 mile run in the PM.

Fri - Iron 12 in the AM, then run commute 30.  

Sat - AM training with the SAR dogs followed by a six mile run.

On Saturday night we headed over to our old stomping grounds in Knob Hill to see the Dave Matthews Tribute Band.  Had a blast!  Ended the night at the Skybox.

Still managed to get up early enough for some high angle SAR training.  Lots going on above and below that you can't see in this pic.

For the week:

run - 51 miles, ten hours

hike - 32 miles, 12.5 hours