woofer

The wilderness first responder course I've been taking has been great but I'll be glad when it's done.  30 hours of online stuff, eight hour days of classroom stuff Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and another Fri/Sat/Sun coming up.  Oof.  Plus my boy Mookie has started another class, it's time for him to learn some dog tricks.  

For the week:

run - 24 miles, 4.5 hours

ride - 40 miles, four hours

hike - 16 miles, six hours

Given the heavy snowpack along the route, and the fact that DeadPhish Orchestra is playing near my house on June 9, I'm thinking of pushing my start date for the Divide bike ride back a week.

Salida

Wasn't expecting to run well in Salida but that's exactly what happened.  Kept things very easy up until the mile 14 aid station.  It was snowing almost the entire time, but with warm temps it was a lot of fun.  I had a beer at the aid station and that PBR fired me up and I had a terrific second half.

Also had a brew at the mile 21 aid station.  Shad was too busy running hard to stop for a drink and he ended up missing a turn on the course.  I think there's a lesson to be learned here.  Ran really hard that second half all the way to the finish, and I'm paying for it now as my legs are toast.  Had a blast the remaining time in Salida, visiting all the usual hangouts and trying to drink all the beer in Chaffee County.

For the week:

run - 50 miles, 9.5 hours

ride - 90 miles, ten hours

hike - 30 miles, 11.5 hours

I'm taking a wilderness first responder class and my next two weekends will be spent doing that, so the rest of March will be a wash mileage wise.  In April biking will take priority as I start to prepare for the Divide.  Running is more or less done for me until August.

free solo

Solid week.  Including a local show by the Lil' Smokies and a trip up to Leadville for skijorning.

For the week:

run - 21 miles, 4.5 hours

ride - 105 miles, ten hours

hike - 25 miles, 9.5 hours

I made the fuck up of all fuck ups on Tuesday at CityRock.  Warming up, I picked an easy route, climbed to the top, and started to down climb.  About halfway back down I noticed I had failed to clip in to the auto belay.  Luckily I was able to get down OK.  I think the wall I climbed was 43 feet high.  Gym staff was not very happy with me.

February

Decent month considering some really cold and crappy weather, some track meets, some dog sitting, and the trip to Arizona. 

For the month:

run - 29 runs, 125 miles, 25 hours

ride - 23 rides, 286 miles, 27.5 hours

hike - 36 hikes, 88 miles, 34.5 hours

Was worried about the upcoming Salida marathon, which as usual I'm unprepared for.  I thought the cutoff was six hours, and if the course was a mess I could challenge that with my current ability to do a long run.  But I double checked and the cutoff is 7.5 hours!  Much greater chance of me beating that cutoff.  Hope to finish in 5.5 hours but I could definitely see me closer to six if I have a bad day.

innings

Incredible time out in Tempe for the Innings Festival.  We might be back, as it's super easy to get to from our house and a near guaranteed warm weekend in late February.  Highlights were the Offspring, Weezer, the Black Crowes, Umphrey's, and of course Eddie Vedder. 

For the week:

run - 28 miles, five hours

ride - 48 miles, 4.5 hours

hike - 25 miles, nine hours

track

We ran into some shitty weather with snow and super cold temps, so it was an up and down week.

run - 32 miles, six hours

ride - 37 miles, 3.5 hours

hike - 21 miles, nine hours

Sunday was a track meet up at UCCS.  I was a bit hungover from Manitou Mardi Gras on Saturday, but I still ran fairly well.  11:15.22 for the 3000m and then I doubled back to go 5:17.81 in the 1500m.  Did not finish last in either event, and in fact I won the slow heat of my 1500m.  Track is now over for a while.

Barr Camp

Decent weekend on the mileage front.  On Saturday I got out for a 45 mile ride.  Was hoping for a bit more but the Santa Fe trail kept getting soggier and soggier the more north I went.   Had the Wings of Blue doing some training overhead while I was on the Academy. 

Ran up to Barr Camp on Sunday.  Lots of snow and ice which made things slow, but it was good to get out for four hours.

For the week - 

run - 34 miles, eight hours

ride - 110 miles, 10.5 hours

hike - 22 miles, eight hours

Good Monday as I got in a 7.5 mile Garden road run in the AM, then a 24 mile ride in the evening.  On Tuesday I woke up with some form of crud, so I only got in the minimum Toby miles with a four miler with Mook.  Supposed to get a ton of snow tonight so Wednesday might be limited as well.

passport

Mon - four mile Garden trail run with the Mook, 14 mile COVID loop on the bike.

Tues - bike commute 14.  Went over 500 bike miles on the year.  Applied for my passport, which I'll need to get into Canada this July.  Guy beside me was getting his passport to begin the Seven Summits.  Four mile trail run with Mook in the evening.  Then watched Pitt destroy Louisville to move into a tie for first place in the ACC. 

Wed - bike commute 15, 25 miles on the day.  Good guitar session in the evening.  Lithium by Nirvana.  I still suck at barer chords.

Thurs - woke up to snow, so I got to do some shoveling.  Then ran to work.  CityRock 15 at lunch.

Fri - five friggin' degrees this morning.  Very chilly bike commute 16.  

Supposed to warm up a bit this weekend, hoping for a long ride on Saturday and a run up to Barr Camp on Sunday.

5:37

We hosted the CRUD fat ass on Saturday.  Solid turnout, saw some folks I haven't seen in a while.  I ran two hours, some went as far as 30 miles.  

On Sunday I ran a mile at the UCCS indoor track.  Officially 5:37.13.  Went much better than the 1500m a few weeks ago.  I have one more indoor meet on the schedule, I think I'm gonna try for a sub 5:30.  Nine fellow old farts in my heat, and it was nice to not finish last for once (I was 7th).

Neil here won the race in 4:33.  Last week at a meet in Boulder he ran a CO masters record 4:29.  I told him I'm getting faster and he's getting slower so it won't be long until I crush him.

For the week:

run - 35 miles, 6.5 hours

ride - 65 miles, 6.5 hours

hike - 18.5 miles, 7.5 hours

more cold

Mon - very cold, but I got out for a five miler on the Garden trails.

Tues - very cold, but I got in bike commute 11 and a four mile run with Mookie on the Garden trails.

Wed - very cold, but I got in run commute five.  Guitar lesson in the evening.

Thurs - finally a break in the weather.  It was still cold, but not so much that I was worried about frostbite.  Bike commute 12, four mile run with Mookie in the evening.

Fri - it hit 50 today!  Global warming FTW!  Bike commute 13.

Busy weekend.  We're watching two other dogs, hosting the Fat Ass, track meet/Mook school/Fossil happy hour on Sunday. 

Pitt hoops looking more and more like a lock for the Big Dance!

January recap

Pretty good month given two trips and some really sub par weather. 

run - 137 miles, 27.5 hours

ride - 421 miles, 44 hours

hike - 108 miles, 43 hours

Plus ten trips to the climbing gym.

None of the bike miles were spectacular.  Just grinding away on slippery trails, trying to keep my fingers and toes from going numb.  But it was a lot of time in the saddle for me, and it sets me up nicely to start getting my ass ready for the Divide.

Dry January went alright for me.  I knew the trips to the Fort and Wisconsin wouldn't be beer free.  And the shitty winter weather broke me the final weekend of the month, when I visited Fossil on Saturday and Sunday.  But I did go 23 days of the month without any alcohol.  I don't feel any better or worse.  Even when I ran off twelve straight booze free days to start the year, I didn't feel any different.  As a bonus, drinking this past Sunday allowed me to meet a wolf.

the week

Not a bad week with the travel and Wisco recovery and shitty weather.

run - 31 miles, six hours

ride - 72 miles, 7.5 hours

hike - 27 miles, ten hours

About over this recent cold snap.  A bunch of days with snow and temps below 0F.  Monday evening it was 5F after work when I headed out for five miles in the Garden.  This has been a much colder winter than usual for us here in the Springs.

Mad City

Incredible time out in Madison.  Fried cheese, Paradise Lounge, the Rigby, the Old Fashioned, dive bars, tons of new breweries.  The beer and cheese fest was fantastic.  So was the Nirvana cover band.

Went on a decent hike along the lake each frigid morning, but that was it for any activity.  

For the week:

run - 26 miles, five hours

ride - 89 miles, 8.5 hours

hike - 28 miles, 10.5 hours

Having a decent week so far.

Mon - 6.2 mile hike around the Univ of Wisco campus

Tues - run commute four.  Four miles there and back.

Wed - bike commute eight, nine there and eleven back.  Four mile run with Mook over in the Garden in the evening.

Thurs - bike commute nine.  Six there and 13 back.  Four more Mook miles in the evening.

Fri - bike commute ten and CityRock ten.

No signs of warming weather, but I've started to notice on my super early dog hikes that at the end the sun is starting to try to make an appearance.  Been about two months since I saw the sun on a dog walk.

These came today.  Really looking forward to the show but hopefully it's the last time I have to deal with airports for a while.