happy new year!

not soon enough...

more manitoids...

My new apartment has an upstairs (where I live), a downstairs, and two huts out back. I already told you that one guy (Dave) in the huts is in a classic rock cover band and drinks malt liquor like there's no tomorrow. Turns out the guy in the other shack, who I had to help push his truck out of our neighbors lawn last night after it slid off the driveway, is in a Greatful Dead cover band called Shakedown Street. Check out their myspace page here. See the picture of the lead singer? We live at the same mailing address!

Other manitoids I've met since moving in:

-the crazy fisherman
-hawaiian shirt and shorts guy
-Jason the alcoholic air drummer/bartender
-the bearded hippie (Fun Tina actually went home with this guy!)
-Lloyd (some of yunz know him from Arctic)

So many stories of crazy personalities! Maybe when I finally get internet at my place I'll post all the stories...

p2h4

I killed Robert Plant!

One of the many gifts C-4 and Net gave me for x-mas was a nice plant. Looked too nice, I told them I wasn't ready for that amount of responsibility and committment but C-4 said it's not a hard plant to keep alive. So I named him Robert and put him on my kitchen table. This was only about a week ago. And I think he's dead now! I left this morning and all his leaves were brown. I watered him every two or three days, made sure the soil was moist, and gave him enough sunlight. What the hell did I do wrong?

my virgin dyno!

Woohoo! I nailed my first dyno at the rock gym today at lunch! It was a move that any skilled climber could have completed without jumping, but I suck. And yet I still took the leap of faith and instead of falling flat on my back I nailed the hold! Of course, on my next move, I fell...

good quote

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

-Howard Thurman

CRUD hill climb

Bittersweet run up Cheyenne Canyon this morning. While I was able to take two full minutes off last week's time, running 46:48 to the top of the 4.2 mile hill, I was sneak attacked by Stinky Fingers about 50 meters from the top and ended up finishing second. Bah humbug.

ruxton run

Had to bail on the CRC happy hour run because I forgot to bring my teners. By the time I got back to Manitou it was so friggin' cold my motivation to run was sapped. Still forced myself out the door and went up Ruxton to the gate that leads to Barr Trail, about the same first 1.5 miles of the Pikes Peak races. Only a 5K in 33:19, but there's some serious elevation gain there.

rock out with your cock out!

Despite the fact that I discovered I'm a natural at guitar hero over the weekend, I just made an offer on this:

If I end up with the set my new year's resolution will be to play at the acid jazz jam at the mariner!

good times!

thanks!

Been a long time since I gave a crap about Christmas, but I'm very thankful for all the friends who have sent me crap or gave me a call this season. Hope everyone is having a happy holiday season!

x-mas run

Got my white christmas fill in this morning with a good run up Rampart Range Road. Up for 30 minutes and back down again. Figured this run would smoke me, and it did, but I was able to keep a pretty decent pace so I was happy. Total time for the run was 56:10, would've been a lot faster coming down but there was lots of ice. Ran about 6.2 miles.

Garden long run

From my house around the outer perimeter of the Garden of the Gods and back is about 8.5 miles, sure makes for a scenic long run. Ran the hilly course in 70:20 yesterday, bringing me over thirty miles for the week.

CRUD long run

Somehow I was able to drag my ass out of a warm bed this morning to meet the CRUD guys for their Saturday long run. Not sure of the temp, but there's no way it was over 15F when we started at 7AM. Went north on the Sante Fe trail, through the Air Force Academy, for half an hour, then I turned around. My first hour run in a long time. Figure I went around 7.2 miles or so.

No rest for the weary, time to go lay trail for today's Kimchi hash!

race schedule

Been working on my race schedule for the upcoming year. Training will center around either Hardrock (if I get in, which is doubtful) or the Bighorn 100. Since those races are early in the summer, I could spend the rest of the season hiking the remaining 14ers on my list. Would also like to hit a sub three hour Ascent and go under eight hours for the double. And for something different, I'm trying to get a group together to train hard for the Tucson marathon in December. Josh came up with the idea, then immediately became a couch potato. So if anyone wants to try to qualify for Boston with me, or just take a nice trip to a warm place to escape the Colorado winter, let me know.

Jan 1 - Rescue Run 10K
Mar 15 - Salida Marathon
Apr 6 - Platte River Half Marathon
June - Slacker Half Marathon
June 20 - Bighorn
June 21 - San Juan Solstice
July 12 - Hardrock
Aug 16 - Pikes Peak Ascent
Aug 17 - Pikes Peak Marathon
Dec 6 - Tucson Marathon

holidays

Not a whole lot planned for the holidays. I never do much, haven't been back home for christmas in probably over a decade, so while I enjoy the time off from work the whole x-mas thing isn't a big deal to me anymore. Bah humbug.

Tonight I will continue my one tradition, which is watching "A Christmas Story" and "Christmas Vacation." Might even grab something from Papa Murphy's and see if my stove works.

Christmas morning I'm planning a huge feast at the Pancake House, a weird triangular shaped breakfast place down the street from me. All you can eat from 7AM to 2PM, woohoo! Probably head down to the Townhouse later that day to take advangage of my new Ascent 54 glass (they fill it for three bucks).

Not sure what I'm doing on New Year's Eve. Thought about going up to Barr Camp and spending the night, but I'd hafta get up super early to make it back down in time for the Rescue Run. Haven't heard of anything big going on, so I may hang out at the Mariner until 10:30 or so and then head up to Rocky Mountain (via the Incline, of course!) with a bottle of wine to watch the AdAMan fireworks.

New Year's morning is the Rescue Run 10K, which was a blast last year despite the shitty weather. You can rego up 'till race morning if anyone is still interested in doing it. They even have a 5K. Back when I did the Combat Medic 10K I thought I might have a shot to win this race, but since the injury I'd be happy just to finish in the top 20.

bored (and hungover) at work...

They're playing Kansas on the radio. Carry on my wayward son. I once paid $5 to see Kansas at the Pittsburgh wing and beer festival. They opened up for Donnie Iris.

HAIL TO PITT

Woohoo!

great quote!

I haven't seen "No Country For Old Men," but I'm going to after I heard about this quote:

Llewellyn Moss (main character), when asked by the homocidal, maniacal killer Anton Chigurh what happened to the 2 Million dollars: "It's gone. I spent a million and a half on women and booze. I guess I just wasted the rest."

CRC/CRUD hill climb

Wed evening it was down to the Colorado Running Company for the happy hour run. Ran about five miles out and back on the Sante Fe trail, finishing in 43:55. After a few beers and a few glasses of wine I helped the Pikes Peak Road Runners put together their monthly newsletter.




The big workout came this morning, however. Up at 4:45AM to make it over to the Starsmore Discovery Center for the CRUD hill climb. 4.2 miles to the top, over 3,000 feet gained from bottom to top. It was a workout I didn't think I was ready for, but Keith promised an early x-mas present to all those who made it to the top, so I had to go.

CRUD has a lot of runners much faster than me, but they use a handicapped start to make things interesting. I wanted to start 15 minutes early, but I arrived a little late and started at ten 'till along with Keith. I figured Keith would beat me up the hill since I hadn't been running, but after only a quarter mile or so he referred to his true form and fell way behind.

I kept chugging along, determined to run the entire hill without walking. I hit Helen Hunt falls in 29 minutes, which wouldn't have been to bad for me last season when I was getting ready for Leadville. I was huffing like a pack-a-day smoker, and my legs were burning, but nobody had passed me yet and my first thoughts of winning the coveted purple pineapple crossed my mind.

Shortly after the falls trail goes off road. Here the snow was uneven, and I should have taken it easy due to my weak ankle. But screw that, I could hear the horses coming up fast behind me, so I dug in.

Hit the top in 48:49, definitely not a PR but way faster than I thought I'd do today. And yes, I held on for the pineapple.

After waiting around for a LONG time for Keith to get to the top, he gave us each a $20 gift card to Chili's. Not bad, that's about four pints of beer! Then the pack hammered back down the hill. I didn't re-start my watch, but we made it back down pretty quick. Total 8.2 miles, my longest run since I've been back!

Quinn's

Good run at Quinn's last night. Ditched the given route to run from Bristol down to the Sante Fe trail and back. Went about five miles, had to take it real slow because of ice but it was a nice run nonetheless. 44:25, first time over forty minutes in a long time. The price for a pint of Lab was actually $2, still a pretty good deal. And they had the runners back in the rear of the brewery, where the beer tanks are. I think it's a much better venue than actually going to Jack Quinn's.

woohooo!

Tonight's Quinn's run is starting at Bristol Brewery, and I heard they're having dollar pints of laughing lab! Plus, it's cold outside, so a lot of the posers in that club won't show up, meaning shorter lines at the bar!

FSM

So who left all the pastafarian stuff at my place after the party? Hopefully you weren't making fun of me and my beliefs, He doesn't like it when you mock Him.

morning run

Got up at 4:45AM this morning for a quick pre-work run. For those not in the know, it's damn cold in Manitou at that hour. Did an easy 3.2 miles in just under 27 minutes. Not blazing, but for all the ice on the road it's not too shabby. You can see a map of my route here.

I've been using the training log at runnersworld.com, so I'll soon be able to post stuff like graphs and charts about my training. Try not to cream your pants.

damn hippies!

happy birthday!

Tony's turns eight years old today! It's already a super cheap pub, but all day they're going back to 1999 prices. I hafta go to the Y after work, and since Tony's in on the way home, I just may stop in for a Schlitz. And a Pabst. And a High Life. And a Hamm's.... Hell, maybe I'll go really crazy and have some cheese curds.

Pitt/Duke

This Thursday my beloved Pitt hoops team will take on Duke. The game is at Madison Square Garden, which has sort of been a home away from home for the Panthers in recent years. The game is on ESPN at 5PM. Probably go to the Townhouse Lounge to watch the game if anyone wants to join me.

the weekend...

Turned out to be a pretty good weekend. Did my first Colorado hash in quite some time, hitting up No Girth's P2H4 hash. Lousy turnout by the Kimchi hashers, I was the only one who showed up. NASCOCK was there too, but he doesn't admit to being a CKH3er in front of that crowd.

The apartment party was a blast. Good turnout, lots of booze, and later in the evening we headed down to the Ancient Mariner for some reggae. A bunch of beers at my place, jello shots on the walk to the Mariner, and then gin at the bar, turned out to be a fun, though fuzzy, night!

Sunday morning, besides getting up to grab a burger at Mo's Diner, I laid in bed until past 2PM! Sheesh, that's a record for me. Finally got up and had to clean for a few hours, the apartment was pretty trashed. And it still smells from Boob's nasty ass farting all night long.

Sunday evening I went back down to the Ancient Mariner for their acid jazz jam. Wasn't sure what to expect, but the show rocked! I'm not even sure what acid jazz exactly is, but the band, New Mind Order, sounded like a mix between Phish and String Cheese. Plus, they let the locals get up on stage and jam out, and Manitou isn't lacking for talented musicians, so it was a great time. Definitely be spending a lot of Sunday nights there.

Anywho, somewhere out there are pics from the weekend, I'm sure others will post 'em soon.

rock gym

Went back to the rock gym for the first time since I left for SA. Forgot what a hellishly difficult workout that is. It's hurting my forearms to type this.

Lost about all of my rock climbing skills over the past four months. But I'm able to sneak over to the gym four or five times a week during lunch, so those'll come back fairly quick. Just wish the swelling in my ankle would finally go down, I could barely fit my kankle into my climbing shoe.

If the weather ever warms up again I'm gonna start bouldering over in the Garden of the Gods every Friday.

I hate cold weather!

Cold weather sucks. It probably won't get above freezing, or even close to it, at all this weekend. Fuck Al Gore, we all need to start driving cars that get five gallons to the mile. Global warming isn't happening fast enough for me.

honorable discharge

Finally got my honorable discharge from the Army in the mail yesterday! Remember, the best way to say thanks to your country's veterans is to buy them a beer this weekend!

no wonder we suck!

No current Pittsburgh Pirates were named on the recently released steroid list.

feelin' old...

They just played Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on KKFM, which is the classic rock station here in thte Springs. I was in high school when that song was big! And now it's classic rock?!?!? Gawd, I feel old...

CRC happy hour

Nice, easy half hour run last night. Ankle still holding up very well. Gonna start heading to the rock gym tomorrow, that should be a good test of how the ankle is gonna hold up.

Distance - 3.5 miles
Time - 31:50
Conditions - chilly (below 30F), trails and roads were slick with ice

salida

Rego info now out for the Run Through Time marathon and half marathon down in Salida. I've done this race every year it's been held and hope to continue that streak this year. A fun, low key event that gives me a great excuse to head down to a cool little mountain town to hang out.

Rego info is here.

bad doggie

Instead of making that special someone swallow your load, pull out at the moment of climax and bust it all over the floor. Then beat them on top of the head with a rolled up newspaper as you rub their face in the mess they made on the floor.

No truth to the rumor that SAH3 harriettes let visiting hashers do this to them!

the long road back

Ran last night for the first time in a while. Did the Jack Quinn's run, which started up north at the Boulder Running Company. Went about 3.5 miles on ice covered roads. My recent inactivity and the altitude really kicked my butt, but no major issues with my ankle. Gonna ease back into things this month, no more than five miles (maybe an hour on Sundays with the Incline Club) until the Rescue Run on Jan 1. Also gonna try the Pikes Peak Road Runners winter series, I've volunteered there before but never run it.

Good times after the run at Old Chicago's, stayed there well past 11PM. Good to see some old friends again.

Distance - 3.5 miles
Time - 32:55
Conditions - freezing cold (below 30 degrees) and ice the entire way

Pikes Peak blog

Finally started updating my Pikes Peak blog now that I'm back in town. Once I get my computer back up and running I'll get some pics up. Especially the shot of Pikes that I can now take from my living room window!

the apocalypse is coming...

By now everyone has heard about the recent shooting at New Life Church. Basically everyone but me at work goes to church at New Life, so whenever something big happens up there (oh, like maybe the head pastor having a meth crazed homosexual affair) it's definitely felt here in the office.

Anywho, turns out that the female security guard who shot the gunman was an ex-parole officer who I used to work with. She got canned here, basically for incompetence, shortly before I left for San Antonio. I saw her in USA Today this morning, and she actually thanked god for helping her hit the guy! I'm certainly not saying her actions weren't justified, but it just blows my mind that someone would thank god after that.

"Oh please, dear baby jesus, bless me with a firm hand and steady trigger squeeze, so that I may put this bullet in that dude's head. After all, you were just kidding about that whole 6th commandment thing, right?"

Religious people freak me out more and more every day. Except for C-4, of course!

new address

The new apartment rocks! Thanks to all those who helped me find a sweet apartment while I was in SA. My new address is:

120 Deer Path
Apt B
Mantiou Springs, CO
80829

Send me lots of cool stuff!

For those who know Manitou, I'm about 100 meters from the start of the Pikes Peak marathon! Woohoo!

good quote

Overheard at Kinfolk's last night: "As a single mountain women, the odds are good. And the good are odd."

adios, Texas!

on-on to the SAH3 12 down-downs of Christmas and Manitou Springs!

finally...

Finally finished with AF cop school. Distinguished graduate (top 10%), pretty impressive considering the bender I've been on the last couple 'o months. And in typical cop fashion I've gained almost 15 pounds since my ankle injury forced me off the trails.

Anywho, now leaning towards driving back on Sunday. Would take a slightly longer route, up to Wichita, KS, and then over to Pueblo. Give me a chance to see a new part of this great country we live in. So I may be home late Sunday. Anyone up for the Incline on Monday?

This is very much unauthorized by myself, but some of yunz will like it. I'm sure Fish will still beat me for the award.

GOTA

i'm here to help...

Ladies, just want yunz all to know that I'll do whatever it takes to reduce breast cancer in this country.

Click here to read about the greatest news ever.

HAIL TO PITT!!!

Four touchdown underdogs my ass!

green light!

Got the go-ahead from the doc to start running again! Woohoo! Still gonna take it easy, my next physical effort will come next weekend when I attempt to bag Guadalupe Peak. Even when I get back to Colorado I probably won't begin serious training until next year.

FYI, starting to lean towards bailing here on Friday and getting back to Colorado on Sunday. Really want to get back to Manitou!

woohoo!

good news?

I have an appointment with my ortho guy tomorrow morning about my ankle. I have a feeling I'm gonna get some good news. Might be back in action before too long.

huge upset on the way...

My Pitt Panthers are 28.5 point underdogs against wvu this Saturday.

beer mile

Had a blast at the South Austin beer mile. A lot more than I'm used to with the Kimchi, as this one had race numbers, a race t-shirt, professional timing, and 103 runners. It sure was a lot of fun though. I ran 18:09, which of course included a penalty lap. And I hate to say this, but my time would have been a lot faster had I not been injured - yes, the thing that held me back here wasn't my drinking but my running. The website wouldn't let me steal any pics, so you can see me here.

GO SPURS GO!

Scored some great seats, courtesy of Batguano Man (founder of the SAH3), for the Spurs/Wizards game tonight. Woohoo!

hardrock

The rego for the 2008 running of the Hardrock 100 is up. You can see it here. I have it all ready to mail...

physical therapy

Went to see the physical therapist today, and I finally got some good news. Told the PT guy about what I'd been doing on my ankle (like finishing Camp Bullis, Warda, the beer mile, and hashing) and he said that all that activity was a good sign, and recovery seemed not only likely, but soon. He told me that the two ligaments that I tore would never heal, so I needed to work on strengthening the muscles in my ankle, since they will take over the brunt of the stability work now the ligaments are gone. The old guys at the YMCA will be glad to hear that my side to side movement will be shaky for a long time, so no more domination of the hoops league, but running will be fine. So he gave me a few exercises to do, and agreed with my plan of not running anymore this year. So of course I came right home and rego'd for the Rescue Run 10K on new year's day!

dangerously drunk

Colorado and Texas dominated the top ten of the "most dangerously drunk" cities. See the article here.

The top 10 “most dangerously drunk” cities, according to Men’s Health magazine:
1. Denver
2. Anchorage, Alaska
3. Colorado Springs
4. Omaha, Neb.
5. Fargo, N.D.
6. San Antonio
7. Austin, Texas
8. Fresno, Calif.
9. Lubbock, Texas
10. Milwaukee

The top 10 “least dangerously drunk” cities:
1. Durham, N.C.
2. Miami
3. Buffalo, N.Y.
4. Jackson, Miss.
5. Yonkers, N.Y.
6. Salt Lake City
7. Little Rock, Ark.
8. New York
9. Richmond, Va.
10. Jersey City, N.J.

Gagger is the lamest hasher EVER!

woohoo!!!

ain't no party like a scabs party!

active rest

I know I just swore off running for a while, but I forgot about the beer mile. The Austin one is this Saturday. If you want to run it, you need to e-mail the RD so he knows how much beer to bring. His e-mail is on the website, which is here. I plan to continue my dominance in this event, it'll be nice to possibly have some competition for once.

MRI results

Not good. Have two complete ligament tears as well as some other minor stuff. May require surgery. I begin physical therapy on Monday and will have an ortho appointment next week.
As of now I am not medically cleared to leave Lackland once school is over but hopefully that is taken care of these next few weeks. I asked the doc how long 'till I can run again, and he said several months (which I refuse to believe). I hate having a doctor who doesn't run. Anywho, since I'm sure my lovely sister will want to read this, the official MRI results:

1. a complete tear of the anterior talofibular ligament and calcaneofibular ligament;
2. the edema within the sinus tarse, correlate with physical exam findings for sinus tarsi syndrome;
3. tenosynovitis of the peroneal tendons;
4. achilles tendon tendinopathy;
5. ankle effusion

happy b-day!

Boobs turns 65 today!

update

Not much going on right now. Had my MRI today, I'll know the results on Wednesday but I have a bad feeling they're not gonna be what I want to hear. I'm sure I'll get through this AF stuff alright but I'm much more worried about my ability to live the active life I've grown used to over the years, especially since I'll be moving to Manitou. It's not a serious injury and eventually I'll be fine, but even the prospect of a few months of sitting around on the couch makes me want to kill myself.

But during the downtime at least I'll be keeping busy. Getting to hit the Barfly with my old friend Twin Peaks on Wed night, looking forward to that as it's been years since we've been able to tie one on there. Thurs it's the annual Austin H3 turkey feast, followed by The Scabs at Antone's! Woohoo!

And I will return to running on Saturday, as I compete in the Beer Mile. A real beer mile too, that'll be nice.

And then the wine and cheese party on Sat night, the 12th year in a row. Good times! Yes, I bring bum wine to this one...

warda dnf

I am now on a haitus from running. My next run will be the rescue run on Jan 1st.

Warda or bust!

Wish me luck...

the Sheep keeps a-rockin'

Two great shows just added to the Black Sheep lineup!

December 8 - Creating a New Sense
January 17 - New Monsoon

If I'm forced to bag on Sunmart, I might be back in town for the New Sense show!

bum ankle

Unfortunately, my ankle has been very slow in healing and Warda will probably be my last run for some time. Hope to have it all better by the time I get back to Colorado. MRI is scheduled for Monday...

dreaming...

Someday I'm going to dump a girl via singing telegram!

bum wine pics

Pics from the bum wine hash can be seen here. Good times!
And pics from the saturday night kimchi drink-a-thon are here.

looking for a partner...

My buddy Troy has pussed out, so if anyone out there is interested in teaming up for the Dirty Du out at Smithville this weekend, let me know. I'll do the run, I need someone for the twelve mile bike leg.

CKH3 forever!

weird ankle

Sprained my ankle again during land nav today. Twice. After the second time, the pain went away. Still a little swollen but I'm gonna try to get a nice long run in along the greenbelt tomorrow.

post-injury run

Went out with two of my AF buddies for an easy run. Knew it would be a super slow jog, but I was more worried about how my ankle would hold up. Still a little painful, but I think it's getting a lot better. Swelling has gone down a lot, and it finally looks more like an ankle than a kankle. Gonna give it a real test on Saturday morning with a multi-hour run on the Greenbelt, we'll see how that goes...

manitou apartment!

Thanks to my advance scout Dani, I secured an apartment in Manitou Springs today! Woohoo! You can see the craigslist ad here. A map can be seen here. Very excited, I've wanted to live in Manitou for a long time! The apartment is less than a two minute walk from Memorial Park, which is where the Incline Club begins it's runs and where the Pikes Peak races start. It also gives me easy access to the Incline, Barr Trail, Ute Pass/Waldo Canyon, Garden of the Gods, and Red Rocks, not to mention all the bars on Manitou Ave! Woohoo!

Lulu-esque workout

Ankle still swollen and black & blue, but feeling a lot better today. So I went over to the Lackland gym to test it out. Not my greatest workout ever. Ten minutes on the regular bike, ten minutes on the recumbent bike. Then the big test - ten minutes on the treadmill. First five were at a 15 minute mile, last five were at a ten minute mile. Good news - the ankle held up! Gonna try to do an easy five miles tomorrow...

ankle update

Ankle was feeling a bit better today, and I spent most of the day standing and running around doing Air Force crap. The ankle still looks horrible - still black and blue and very swollen - but it's feeling a lot better so I have some hope. The problem now becomes that due to resting last week for Cactus Rose, and having to rest the ankle this week, I'll begin to lose fitness. Which sucks, since I was hoping to run fast at Warda.

Bandera pic

Taken at one of the aid stations at Cactus Rose.

broken my ass!

X-ray was inconclusive, so I was able to scam a "self-pace" profile for a week, as well as a ton of more motrin. My ankle improved greatly from last night, where even sitting at a concert was uncomfortable. But I've regained a lot of strength, and even though the ankle still looks horrible it is feeling a lot better. I'm gonna try to run on it this Wed. That Warda DNF ain't a foregone conclusion!!!

ankle update

X-ray is finished, I'll get the news around 3:30PM today. The ankle is still swollen and a disgusting shade of purple, but it is feeling significantly better than on Friday and especially than it did on Saturday. Hopefully I get good news today and I'll recover in time for Warda.

cactus rose DNF

I am a fucking pussy.

Melissa is not, however, as she finished her first hundred.

not a great way to taper...

During some basic infantry movement stuff for the Air Force today, I turned my ankle pretty good. The medic wanted to send me back to Lackland for an x-ray, but I got out of it. So I'm on orders for bed rest this weekend. It's swollen pretty bad, but I'm gonna head out to Bandera anyways and see how it feels tomorrow.

For updates, check out Gagger's blog.

cactus rose updates

Cactus Rose ain't the technological wonder that some races have become nowadays, but @ss Gagger, a member of my elite ultra crew, is gonna try to update her blog via iPhone while she's in Bandera. Her blog can be seen here. No promises, as I'm not sure there's any wireless internet in that part of Tejas, but we'll do what we can...

i love dumpsters!

Some of my finer dumpster moments of the past few years...

midnite stroker

Somehow, Midnite Stroker (that's MeatGazer's mom, FYI) and I ended up in the shitter on the San Antonio H3 halloween pub crawl...

25 hours

I'm going to go out on a 25 hour pace at Bandera and see how long I can keep it. Gives me an hour to get to each aid station. Probably a little too high a goal for me to set, but I want to get as many miles in during the day out there. Figure if I can keep that pace up for the entire daylight portion, when the night comes and I hafta slow down I should be in a good position.

a classic...

What do you call the worthless piece of skin that surrounds a pussy?

A woman!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!

bandera weather

Weather report is lookin' pretty sweet for Cactus Rose. High of 78, low of 47, 10% chance of rain.

austin beer mile

Woohoo! Looks like I'll get another crack at the beer mile while I'm down here! Read all about it here.

good times!

What a weekend! Included a hash pub crawl on Friday (Gagger was in rare form!), finally seeing Into the Wild, two halloween parties that were busted by the fuzz, a nice greenbelt run, and the San Antonio hash to end the weekend on a high note. Unfortunately, there wasn't much time to study for test #3 that I hafta go take in a few minutes. Oops. More details to follow...

holy shit!

It just hit me that I have another hundred miler next weekend! Sheesh, that's gonna be a rough one.

hey jes - kit kat says hello!

woohoo!

Guess who I get to drink with on Thursday!

Texas run #29

Despite a retarded day with the Air Force I got out for a decent run. Nothing like some Panic and a 90 minute run to improve your mood. First run since I got to Texas almost two months ago where I didn't carry any water.

Time - 88:42
Distance - 10.8 miles
TX Mileage - 351.0 miles

Manitou Springs

Started apartment hunting today for my return to Colorado sometime in mid-December. Going to move to Manitou Springs, one of my favorite places in Colorado. Will give me immediate access to the Garden of the Gods, Red Rocks Open Space, Ute Pass/Waldo Canyon, the Incline, and, of course, Barr Trail. Plus, the live music scene of that tiny town is about a hundred times greater than the scene in Colorado Springs. Will be nice to be able to stumble home from the pubs on Manitou Ave.

Manitou even made the NY Times the other day. Read about it here.

Texas run #28 - quarters

Holy friggin' shit - I actually ran today without losing 20 pounds of sweat! Used the current Texas ice age weather (it was about 60 degrees) to continue my recent string of speedwork. Two mile warm up, 6 x 400 meters in: 83, 79, 78, 77, 78, and 75, followed by a two mile cooldown. Not too shabby, besides the chilly weather there was a fierce wind blowing across the track which slowed me down a bit. Good workout though.

Time - 60:00
Distance - 7.0 miles
Challenge - 340.2 miles
Distance behind Lulu - 98.6 miles

world peace through beer

Finally made it to a world peace through beer hash with San Antonio. Instead of the usual $5 hash cash, you bring a six pack of a beer, the thought being that hashers will bring beer from all over the world. So, needless to say, it was a little more than the usual SAH3 fare of Lone Star Light. Good trail and a great pack, stayed out way too late with those wankers on a school night. Good times! Think I may hafta bring the Kimchi hash into the WPTB world next October.

the Scabs!

Yup yup, the Scabs are playing at Antone's on Thanksgiving night! Woohoo!

new CRUD website

Keith finally got off his lazy ass and updated the Team CRUD website. See it here.

Texas run #27 - Combat Medic 10K

Switched gears last Saturday for the Combat Medic 10K. Wasn't expecting much as I figured I had long ago lost any leg speed I ever had once I swithed over to trail running. Ran strong throughout the race, pushing hard but keeping an even pace. Still, I was heartbroken when I turned the corner and unleashed a furious sprint, holding off the first female finisher (who would lose the sprint but jump ahead of me in the standings due to her chip time) but seeing the clock ticking towards 45 minutes. Was bummed that despite the great effort on my part I thought I was unable to keep anywhere near a seven minute mile anymore. To my relief, later on at the awards ceremony I fould out the clock was off, and my chip time was 37:57! A much more respectable 6:07 per mile! Ended up in 6th place overall, 5th male finisher, and first in my age group. 150 finishers. Not too shabby. The course isn't the most difficult thing I've ever done, but it's certainly not considered a fast course. Results are here.

Got some good results when I plugged the time into the runner's world predictor. Gives my five mile guess at 30:10. Would sure be nice to sneak under half an hour at the turkey trot, though I'm sure my pre-holiday drinking binge won't allow for that. Also predicts a 2:54:33 marathon, which would be a PR for me, as well as a Boston qualifier...

Time - 37:57.9
Distance - 6.2 miles
Challenge - 333.2 miles
Distance behind Lulu - 95.6 miles

combat medic 10K

37:57!!!

ben harper

I have countered Nappy's JBT tix with scoring tickets to see Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals here in San Antonio. So on Sunday, November 4th, I plan on finishing my second 100 miler in the morning, chilling in Bandera for the afternoon, and seeing Ben Harper in the evening. Not a bad day...

Texas run #26

Another good one today. Ran a decent pace for over 80 minutes, with four hard repeats of five minutes each, with five minutes rest in between, thrown in for good measure. Will rest tomorrow in anticipation of the ass kicking I'm gonna deliver to the Army guys in Saturday's Combat Medic 10K and also to Lulu on our long run on Sunday.

Time - 82:21
Distance - 10.0 miles
Challenge - 327.0 miles
Distance behind Lulu - 79.8 miles

one song...

Got this question in an e-mail from Dani, and I wondered what my faithful readers would answer with. It's a really tough question for me, a very big music fan, and it greatly depends on what mood I would be in when asked the question.

If you would say that one song represents you what is it and who is it by?

I narrowed it down to three. "Climb to Safety" and "Chilly Water" by Widespread Panic, and "Alive" by Pearl Jam. But that could change at any moment...

Texas run #25

Got a nice treat at Air Force PT this afternoon when the instructor just set us free on the track for 30 minutes. Running in lane two, I did twelve laps in just under 20 minutes and finished with 4.5 miles in the alloted 30 mikes. Not too shabby. Workout gives me hope I can stay under seven minute miles at this Saturday's Combat Medic 1oK.


Time - 30:27
Distance - 4.5 miles
Challenge - 317.0 miles
Distance behind Lulu - 84.8 miles

long road home

Less than two months 'till I'll be returning to Colorado, taking up residence in Manitou Springs. But I'll have a few days to kill along the way, so I'm thinking of heading out to West Texas to visit Hueco Tanks and Guadalupe Peak. Hell, might be able to hash with El Paso along the way, maybe warn them of the impending Kimchi invasion.

Texas run #24

Back to the track today! Been wanting to start hitting the track again, it's such a great workout. Went to the local basic training loop for some quarters, one of the staples of my running diet back when I was fast at the short distances. Did six decent quarters - in order, ran 84, 83, 80, 80, 79, and 76. Would liked to have been a bit more consistent, but it's been a while since I've run on the track. And considering my goal was to average somewhere around 90 seconds, I'm not too disappointed. Felt I could've done a few more laps, but didn't want to risk anything. Also did a 1.5 mile warm up and 1.5 mile cool down.

Time - 60:00
Distance - 6.0 miles
Challenge - 312.5 miles
Distance behind Lulu - 84.3 miles

Texas run #23

Just a nice, easy workout to begin breaking in the new shoes. Once again, plugged in the iPod (it was all String Cheese Incident today) and ran around Lackland, watching the new airman get yelled at by their drill sergeants. Making a conscious effort to pick up the pace on my slow runs, think my trailrunning has caused my roadrunning to suffer way too much.

Time - 55:09
Distance - 6.5 miles
Challenge - 306.5 miles
Distance behind Lulu - 90.3 miles

new shoes

Didn't take long to realize that my Asics trailrunners weren't going to be able to handle the rigors of Bandera, so I decided to go back to a brand that has done me very well in the past. After being horribly disappointed with the staff at RunTex, I hit up the downtown REI for a pair of Vasque Blur, which luckily were on sale. The shoes seem to be a lot like the Velocity, so I'm sure I'll have no problem putting the miles onto these.

the next Kimchi challenge?

Never too early to start planning. I thought the Platte Road Challenge was a great time, but there has been talk of having the next Challenge down Fillmore Road, which in true Kimchi fashion wouldn't end on Fillmore Road, but Nevada Ave. What are the thoughts of the pack?

Also gonna continue on the Manitou Challenge, which will be held on July 13th, and consist of the Barr Trail Mountain Race followed by the pub crawl down Manitou Avenue. Finisher awards will again be given out, and there even might be a few more surprises thrown in...

what a weekend...

Jeez-louise, I sure put a pounding on my liver this weekend. From the BRC on Friday, a tour de Austin and the Gourds on Saturday, I may need to take some time off, like at least 'till Monday.

Gagger's BRC pics can be seen here. Her Gourds pics can be seen here.

Good times!

triple century mark...

FYI, the BRC stop at Ginny's Little Longhorn will mark the 300th mile I've run since coming to Texas. So everyone buy me a can of Schlitz to celebrate!

texas run #22

Almost bailed on this run today as it was a LONG day at the firing range, but wanted to get one last run in to loosen up for the BRC. Real easy run, with a couple of sprints up some short hills thrown in for good measure.

Time - 60:24
Distance - 7.0 miles
Challenge - 295 miles
Distance behind Lulu - 87.3 miles

texas run #21

Real good run today. Went pretty hard for the first half hour, much faster than usual. For the second half, I did repeats of three minutes hard, three minutes easy. Ended up doing four repeats, and I gander I was pretty close to half a mile for all of 'em. Need to add one or two quality workouts to my weekday schedule, this was a good start to that. Should also give me some confidence should the BRC come down to a spring finish, I don't see anyone in the field who could hang with me if that circumstance arises. Though, as per my usual drinking strategy, I plan to lead from the front and not let anyone get close to me...

Time - 62:47
Distance - 8.0 miles
Challenge - 288 miles
Distance behind Lulu - 94.3 miles

how's it goin', eisenhower?

Shot 38 out of 40 at the M-4 range today, earning the title of "expert" and, believe it or not, getting my very first ribbon for my Air Force dress blues uniform. It's only the second time I've ever shot expert in 7+ years in the military. I guess I thrive when awards are on the line, as the last time I shot that well was during EIB testing.

new ultra blogs

Two new CRUD blogs to report. While I can honestly say I've ran with both these guys before, it was never for very long. Though I did whoop Paul's ass at Leadville this past year.

Paul D

Tony

smut, are you missing something?

tour de fat

Woohoo! Not only will I get to do a short run at the Combat Medic 10K on October 20, but I'll have pleanty of time to get up to Austin to do the Tour de Fat! And the Asylum Street Spankers are playing there too!

"Yellow Ribbon"

Pitt/Navy on ESPN!

Hell yeah! Sure wish I were back in Colorado to talk some smack, since most of the Kimchi hash is either navy or semen lovers (actually, most are both). Anywho, the game is on ESPN this Wed night. My prediction: Pitt - 69, Navy - 2.

what a weekend!

Sure made the most of my three day Columbus weekend! Friday after work it was off to join the Rogues for their Bandera weekend. Joe obtained the use of a cabin, which I assumed was some tiny shack in the middle of the woods. Turns out the cabin was some multi-million dollar hunting lodge, a great place to crash. Did 30 miles at Bandera on Saturday, then went to the Bandera Saloon to watch UT get beat. While sitting in the bar, some guy came in with a baby buffalo on a leash. Typical Bandera Saturday afternoon, I guess. Ran another ten miles on Sunday morning at Lost Maples, what an awesome trail that was! Wasn't able to get back to Austin in time to hash, but I joined them at the circle and proceeded to get super drunk with them at the Hideout. Even puked in Gagger's underwear drawer, can't wait 'till she finds that mess. Monday it was a nice, easy, super slow trail run with Lulu at Walnut Creek park followed by lunch at the Crown. Good times!