new hash blogger!!!

Been a while since there's been a new hash blogger, but Free Bus(c)h of the Fart Collins H3 is now throwing her hat into the ring!

sunday Sunday SUNDAY!!!

Planned hike for this Sunday summits Mount Shavano (14,229 feet) and Tabeguache (pronounced tab-uh-wash) Peak (14,155 feet). Leaving my house at 4AM. So far myself and three others are going, but I have a feeling they'll all bail on me.

Stats for that hike can be seen here.

Probably stop in Salida on the way home and try out Moonlight Pizza. Their pizza has superpower!

great shirt

Saw a shirt in Manitou today, had a bunch of people standing in the middle of the woods and it said, "bring a compass...because eating your friends is awkward."

Pikes Peak #10

Was successful in my Pikes climb today, it was the 10th time I've hit the summit on my own power. Was also my 25th climb of a 14er (13 different 14ers, 10 summits of Pikes, and double summits of Grays and Torreys).

Pics are over on my Pikes blog.

Pikes Peak or bust!

Off for my first summit attempt of the season! Think of me around 11AM Colorado time, I should be up at the summit house at 14,110 feet drinking coffee and slurping down some doughnuts!

the wall

Another great day at the climbing gym over lunch.

Been on a new kick of doing at least 500 push-ups and 500 crunches every week, as I want to keep the highest PT score in my Air Force squadron. Most of these I accomplish at the wall, where I've been doing at least 100 of each, plus as many pull-ups as I can do (not very many), plus at least 25 minutes on the actual rock climbing wall.

Today, after doing a hard section of the wall and my first set of push-ups/crunches/pull-ups, I started the second half and was able to complete the entire thing without falling off or having to take a break! At this rate, within a few weeks I should be able to nail the entire wall on one try.

That workout was on top of a short (35 minutes) fartlek workout I did at 5:15AM. And I still have the regular Thursday Barr Trail workout coming up! Woohoo!

happy birthday!

The Austin Duathletes monthly pub run turns two years old today! Hopefully some of yunz Austinites quit whining about how hot or rainy or whatever the weather happens to be today and get off your ass to go for a little run.

I've been running hard and drinking hard since I was about 13, and I'd put the AD pub run right up there with the DIM hash in terms of combining the two. Most hashes don't run enough, most running clubs don't drink enough, Quinn's does neither, but the DIM and the ADers have figured out how to combine the two pretty well.

So I'll be there in spirit tonight, drinking heavily after my time trial up the Barr Trail. Somebody kick Lulu's ass for me tonight and I'll buy them a pint of brew next time I'm in A-town. Peace and love - the best duathlon of them all!

I'm OK

Reacting quickly to reports of a tornado in my front yard, I left work early and hurried home only after stopping by the Colorado Running Club for happy hour (and the Pikes Peak Road Runners newsletter stuffing) and hitting Old Chicago's to start working on my summer short tour. Everything is OK. Even the secret stench that has been razing my apartment recently is still here.

You can read about the freak storm here. That article mentions the intersection of Bijou and Union, which is about 3/4 of a mile from my apartment.

touchdown!

News reports say a twister touched down at Platte and Circle. Hopefully I still have an apartment.

not in Kansas anymore...

As I write this, there is a tornado tearing up Woodland Park. The Springs is under a tornado watch. The skies over the mountains look pretty dangerous. Of course, that won't stop me from running tonight!

FYI, to those who enjoyed the lightening show during the DIM circle on Monday, the news reported that over 1,000 bolts of lightening hit the ground between 9PM and 10PM.

race pics

Couple 'o race pics from the Slacker. If any of you females are interested, the picture company can get you these shots on a mouse pad, coffee mug, or even a Wheaties box. Personalized autographs will cost extra...

red rocks

If seeing your favorite band at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado isn't on your list of things to do, you're not much of a live music fan. Generally regarded as one of the best venues for live music in the world, the place is definitely all it's cracked up to be.

The Widespread Panic show was awesome! Can't wait to get a copy of it.

On July 4, I'll be seeing Blues Traveler. It's a tradition for BT to play the Rocks on July 4th, and I've wanted to go to that show for well over a decade now. Can't friggin' wait!

Dani took a ton of pics over the weekend. Include a Thursday hike through Stanley Canyon (on the AF Academy grounds), the Panic show, and the Denver Red Dress hash. They can be seen here.

out to lunch

Went to the Shamrock Brewing Company in Pueblo for lunch today and had a peanut butter and bacon cheeseburger! Yummy!

more slacker

Took a few pics of the Slacker and the drive up Mt. Evans road, they can be seen here.

Maybe someday Nappy will finally post her pics, she has some good ones of the Panic show and the Denver Red Dress hash.

slacker results

I've gotten a lot of comments and e-mail over my recent musings about switching to the shorter distances. Most folks tell me to stick with the ultra distances, but take a look at these stats from the Slacker, which I didn't even run at a race effort:

Time: 1:27:57 (6:43 per mile)
Overall finish: 12th (out of 587 finishers); 10th male out of 252 finishers
Age group 30-39: 3rd (out of 76 finishers)

Also beat all eight of the half marathon relay teams.

Overall it was a great event. Scenic downhill course, aid stations every two miles, Widespread Panic playing at the start, good food (including popsicles and Tommyknocker beer) at the end. Gonna try to get a better hash presence next year, including some relay teams.

mountains

Nappy, myself, Tits, and Bungholio on our way up Mt. Evans on Saturday. We're above 13,000 feet in this pic. Nappy and I would turn around here to get to the Panic concert on time, but Tits and Bung did make it to the top.

Looks like I'll be making an attempt on Mt. Princeton this Sunday if anyone wants to join me.

woohoo!

1:27:56 for the Slacker half marathon! Third place in my age group!

Columbia

Bagged my 13th 14er today, Mt. Columbia (14,073ft) with Knees Up of the Denver hash. Write up will follow, but now I've got to get to Denver for the following:
1. Slacker half marathon
2. Quandry Peak
3. Widespread Panic @ Red Rocks!!!!!!!!!!
4. Denver Red Dress

Wow, what a weekend! Until then, pics of the climb can be seen here.

collegiate peaks

Knees Up and I are off to attempt our first 14ers of the season on Friday, Harvard and Columbia. Have fun at work!

sjs pics

Few pics from the San Juan Solstice. To see more pics and get an idea of what the course is like, go here.

another brick in the wall

I've been going to the nearby indoor rock climbing wall over my lunch hour the past couple of weeks. I'm super lucky to be able to do this, by going four or five times a week I've been able to improve very quickly. Today I reached a milestone by finally nailing the one section I hadn't been able to do along the horizonal bouldering wall, which I do because I don't have a partner over lunch to rope in with. Next up I'll be working on being able to do the entire horizontal section without falling or stopping for a break. Might take me a while on that one.

On top of all the climbing, which is a killer workout in itself, I do at least 100 push ups and 100 sit ups while I'm there, as well as a bunch of different kinds of pull ups. In fact, today I was able to do my first three fingered pull up, where you grab a rock with only three fingers of each hand. My goal is to be able to grip the door frame in my office and knock out some pull ups someday.

new addition to the backyard

Came home last night to an awfully funky smell - turns out some mold had survived in my mattress from the flood, and the recent hot weather has caused it to grow. Dani had been warning me of a stench over the last few days or so but I didn't think it was too bad and chalked it up to laundry that hasn't been done in weeks. Nope, it was the bed, and now the bed is ruined. Too busy this weekend to get it out to the dump, so guess where it ended up? Yup, my backyard! So now, to go along with the DIM toilet and the wal-mart shopping cart, there's a mattress in my backyard. White trash galore!

run #116 - CRC happy hour

Feeling a lot better after San Juan, so I headed down to the Colorado Running Company for an easy run. Went out and back along the Monument Creek trail, taking it easy and enjoying the awesome summer weather. Taking it easy this week until the Slacker half marathon on Saturday, gonna try for sub 90 minutes there.

Start time: 6PM
Distance: 4.0 miles
Time: 32:25
Pace: 8:03 minutes per mile
Weather: mid 70s! Sunny.

the new face of college athletics...

The University of Pittsburgh has changed their logo to the ferocious feline pictured above. I sure wish they'd go back to the old cursive PITT script worn by such legends as Ditka, Dorsett, Green, and Marino.

San Juan Solstice

San Juan Solstice 2007 - Lake City, CO

The first two or so miles went pretty well. That's about the only good thing I have to say about my race.

Approaching the first stream crossing just after turning off the dirt road onto the Alpine Gulch trail, I suddenly puke. Not a good thing less than three miles into my day. I'm kind of shocked, I've never thrown up during a race before. I continue on, and the first creek crossing really wakes me up. Damn, that water was COLD. Plus, it's flowing real quick. I have to grab wet logs to make sure I don't get swept away, which means not only are my feet freezing, but now my hands are too.

From one miserable experience to another, the stream crossings soon give way to a quad busting climb. From the 4-ish mile mark until about ten miles, the course takes runners from 9,000 feet to above 13,000 feet, with no relief along the way. My stomach is in knots here, I get nauseous if I try to sip water out of my camelbak, I can't feel my feet or hands because they're too cold, and I'm breathing way harder than I should be. I realize it's going to be a long day.

Get a bit of a break heading into the first aid station. My CRUD buddy Jonathan V catches up to me and our conversation, including possible plans of an Austin roadtrip to see Widespread Panic at the Backyard, takes my mind off of how crappy I'm feeling. We stop by the fire at the aid station to try to warm up. I try to down some cytomax, but just the smell of that makes my gut wrench. I settle for a cup of flat Coke as it's the only thing I'm able to keep down.

Continuing to climb out of the aid station, I keep up with Jonathan for a while but he soon leaves me behind. About the ten mile mark we're above 13,000 feet and it's finally time to descend. It was a rough climb, but I realize it took a lot more out of me than it should have. I also realize that during the first ten miles of the race all I've taken in was a glass of pop. I force down some clif blocks but those make me feel sick too. Nothing seems to be going right today.

On a different note, on a short flat section here I noticed a runner coming towards me. Kind of weird, other than this race this ain't the most travelled part of Colorado. As the other runner and I get closer, he jumps off the trail and starts cheering for me. As I pass him, I do a double take and say, "holy shit, you're Scott Jurek!" He seemed kind of embarrassed, but it was him. Seems he was out getting in some altitude training for the upcoming Hardrock 100 miler. Not that there hasn't been enough nice things said about the guy, but the way one of the world's top ultrarunners was out there cheering for us slow folks was pretty cool.

This meeting must inspire me, as I'm able to haul ass on the first big downhill, passing a ton of people. Unfortunately, I lose most of that time when I have to jump into the woodline to see a man about a horse. Now I'm feeling that if I could throw up again, I'd feel better. Soon I'm heading into the Williams Creek aid station, and it's straight off to the port-o-shitter for the old high school cheerleader impression. Finger way down the throat, and out comes what seems like 100 gallons of the nastiest stuff to ever leave my body (and believe me, there's been some nasty stuff over the years...). I come out of the shitter and there are two runners waiting in line, looking at me like they think I should be dead after what I just went through.

A very sad moment here at Williams Creek. I had been wearing my Montrail Hardrocks for the first 15 miles of the race. I've owned them for over 2.5 years. Been through a lot of good times with 'em. But as I'm changing into dry shoes and socks, I notice that I've completely broke the sole of one shoe in half. The other shoe ain't in much better shape. I realize it's time to say goodbye to an old friend, but I can't bring myself to throw the shoes in the trash, so I leave them sitting on a rock at the aid station.

After my tearful farewell, I refill my camelbak with water and chug down a cup of cytomax. I immediately want to hurl again, my body just ain't diggin' the cytomax today. So I take another cup of coke in hopes of calming things down and head out for the next climb.

Coming out of Williams Creek there's a relatively flat stretch of about 2.5 miles along a dirt road. Last year I was able to make up some ground on this stretch, and I expected to do the same this year. But it just wasn't happening. Less than 1/3 into the race, and I was already physically wasted. I knew another killer climb lay just ahead, and I began to wonder if I were headed for another DNF.

Around the 18 mile mark the course takes you up the second major climb. Over the next five miles you go from about 9,200 feet to the high point of the course at 13,334 feet on top of Coney Peak. The climb is on a rugged jeep road, the sun was beating down on me, and I felt finished. As much as I had cursed the earlier creek crossings for making me so cold, I stop by another fast flowing mountain stream and submerge my head to cool off. It provides a brief break from my general feeling of shittiness, but the relentless climb soon reminds me of my misery.

At 22 miles there's an aid station near the ghost town of Carson. My stomach is still awful so I take a mouthful of salt and some pringles and wash it down with water. A volunteer asks me if she can refill my camelbak and I realize that I hadn't drank anything since the last aid station. I'm not a veteran ultrarunner by any means, but that's a big time rookie mistake I had made.

While I'm at the aid station another CRUD buddy, Gordon, comes in. One of my heros for finishing last year's race and, without stopping at the finish line, heading directly to the ambulance, it's good to see him. We'd spend the next few hours pushing each other. Actually, it was more him pulling me.

Leaving Carson, the climb continues for another two miles or so. As we bag the summit of Coney Peak, I can see dark clouds forming. I tell Gordon, "damn, those don't look good" to which he replies, "I'm trying not to think about it."

After Coney Peak the course flattens out, but you're along the Continental Divide, well above 12,000 feet, for the next seven miles or so. Breathtaking is the right word for it. Despite the brewing storm, the only thing I can see up here are the high peaks of the San Juan Mountains. There are five 14ers nearby. Red Mountain is just a few miles away. One of the most scenic places in all of Colorado, and despite the bad day I'm having I feel very thankful that I'm able to take in this view, it's one not a whole bunch of people will ever get to see.

So I continue on, mindful of the incoming storm. I try to outrun it, but I realize it's soon gonna catch up to me. Lots of postholing through snow here, so my warm and dry shoes and socks are now cold and wet. One treacherous 200 foot drop required the use of a climbing rope to rappel down. It was at this point where I told Gordon, "Hey Gordo, next year I think I'm gonna do the Sailin' Shoes 5K instead...."

After the rappel and some more postholing, Gordon sped away and the storm caught up with me. Large hail began to pelt me, which would have really been painful had the nearby lightening not been my bigger problem. There was a runner not far behind me who had been using aluminum trekking poles, and later he would tell me that he had to leave them on the mountain because he felt them starting to build up static and they started making a buzzing sound.

So I ran as fast as my severely dehydrated body could take me, and soon got back to the relative safety of treeline. Lots of mud here, the day just kept getting more and more agonazing. Through a steady rain I kept plodding along and finally came to the next aid station, Divide.

Again, I noticed here that I had hardly taken in any liquids or calories since the last aid station. In fact, I had not significantly taken in anything all day, despite crapping and barfing all over the forest. And just looking at cytomax at the aid station made me nauseous. So I took a cup of water and a bowl of ramen into the yurt to warm up. I contemplated dropping out here due to my exhaustion, and I was afraid if I went on I was gonna do some severe damage due to my dehydration. But just then the rain stopped and the sun came out. I took it as a sign and decided that if I didn't finish the race, it wasn't gonna be my call. I would continue on, and if the medical experts pulled me or I missed a cutoff than so be it, but I wouldn't quit.

It's mostly downhill from the Divide aid station, but I'm so shot it's taking everything I have just to keep moving forward. I slip and fall in the mud a few times, which adds to my misery. I know I'm very close to the cutoff time, but I don't care. In fact, part of me starts hoping I won't make it, I know the final climb is a doozy and I'm not sure if I can do it.

Finally trudge into the last main aid station, Slumgullion. I ask about the cutoff time, and I'm told I made it by 25 minutes. Last year at this time I was finishing the race, this year I still had ten miles to go. I force down some fig newtons and a cup of water, my stomach still giving me problems. Without wasting much time I head out for the final battle of the day.

Shortly after Slumgullion I feel like I'm on a hash as I have to cross another stream and then crawl over some downed trees. Then the climbing starts. The final uphill of the day makes you climb 1,700 feet, back over 11,000 feet, in less than four miles. I felt like I was doing the incline with a 100 pound pack on. I didn't worry about pace or cutoff times, just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. After what seemed like an eternity the effort finally paid off, as I crested the hill, mucked my way through some swampy fields, and soon came into the small aid station run by the Vickers family.

Blew right through the aid station. My time had just passed 15 hours, and I had four miles, mostly steep downhill on a cool path through Aspen trees, to go. Normally this would be gravy for me, but today I was taking nothing for granted. I soldiered on, the adrenaline and excitement of a finish allowing me to find the strength to run most of the final few miles.

Finally leaving nature behind for the thriving metropolis of Lake City, I ran through a few intersections and suddenly found myself on the homestretch. I was so drained I couldn't even show any sign of emotion, but it was great seeing all of CRUD still out there, even though some had finished six hours earlier. I crossed the finish line and just before I collapsed someone shoved a cold beer into my hand. I took a lusty pull, the most liquid I had taken in all day.

While I'm very happy with my finish, it was a very humbling experience for me. I finished in 15:47:31, 118th out of 121 finishers. For a long time I thought I was in last place. My very first race ever, as a 13 year old freshman high school harrier, I took last place, but ever since then I had generally been, while nowhere near world class, at least in the upper quarter of the field. So during the bad parts of this jaunt, like, oh, the last 48 miles or so, I really started to wonder if I shouldn't stick to the shorter stuff, the 10Ks and half-marathons, an occassional marathon, maybe just concentrate the Pikes Peak races. While I'm still wildly comitted to Leadville (a non-refundable $225 entry fee has that effect on me), I'm gonna take some time after that race and decide which direction I feel I should go.

I'd like to thank Dani for being such a good sport all weekend. I know after the race I wasn't the most fun person to be around. And again, seeing all the CRUD guys still cheering after all that time was awesome, glad all those guys had a good race. Also, I can't say enough kind words about the volunteers who put on the race. Ultrarunning is a sport filled with wonderful people who help out at races, but the folks of Lake City are among the best I've come across.

I have an announcement to make...

Number of times I've farted this afternoon: 3
Number of times I've had to change pants: 0

Looks like I might be getting better!

congrats!

I wasn't the only one running this weekend. Congrats to all the Austinites who went up and did the Bighorn races. I've run tons of miles with everyone in the above picture, glad to see 'em all run well.

ugh

Tuesday morning and I'm still having trouble keeping any food or liquid down. Should probably go to the hospital but my sister would make fun of me, so instead I'll be at the climbing gym over lunch today.

crud

Race report should be up tomorrow. Two and a half days since the race ended and I'm still sick as a dog.

ouch

I survived. Barely.

I am not afraid...

"Every good soldier should be able to cover fifty miles, on foot, in one day."
-JFK

Off to Lake City for another weekend adventure. Wish me luck.

I bet I could beat Lance...

...if he were drunk, and the race was inside a bar.

aim high!

Workin' out at Schreiver AFB today. Early on (early is around 8AM for the Air Force) it's pretty obvious there's not much work to be done. So an airman asks me when the last time I rode a four wheeler. I told him I was never on one and his eyes got all big. "You need to have the 4 wheeler class!" he replies. So I spent the bulk of my day riding around on an ATV. Thank you for paying your taxes!

CoTex pics

Fresh off the press...Nappy's CoTex pics are here. For those keeping track at home, that summit I'm on top of is Little Baldy mountain, a real hum dinger at 12,142 feet.

not good...

As if I wasn't gonna have enough problems on Saturday, here's the latest updates from the course:

6/10/07 Three experienced ultrarunners tackled the course from Alpine Gulch to Slum yesterday. Again, they said Alpine Gulch snowfields are larger than usual, and you should be comfortable traversing steep snow slopes. The divide section has major snowfields which the runners postholed through and made for slow progress. We will be sending crews up for trail maintenance this week, but be assured the course will be wet, snowy, and slow. We cannot rule out course changes or alterations until later in the week as we see how much snow melts.

6/9/07 Crews on the Alpine to Williams section this morning note the following: swift water in Alpine Creek, many downed trees to climb over, and lots of snow up high. In particular, the snowfield ascent just above the Alpine Aid Station was difficult crossing, with hard snow and a steep grade. Runners may consider carrying something to assist snow crossing and which can also be used to arrest a slide.

6/8/07 Lots of snow on the course! Be prepared for wet conditions, snowfield crossings, and high water in Alpine Gulch. We will have the one steep, snow covered descent on the divide roped, but there will be other challenging snowfields to be crossed.You should be comfortable ascending and traversing spring snowfields. We're expecting warmer temperatures in the next week, and will update this page with course conditions. We have three runners who will attempt to run the complete course this weekend, and we'll post their findings.

run #114 - CRC happy hour

Back to a good running/drinking place! Colorado Running Company (much, much better than the Boulder Running Company, FYI) has their happy hour runs on Wednesday, but doesn't seek out the publicity of Quinn's. The runs are harder and the beer is cheaper (free Bristol and various cheap wines). OK, the food doesn't match up (tonight we had goldfish and doritos) but you're talking to someone who has never eaten at Quinn's so I don't care. The best thing is the organization, there's nobody in charge. Just show up, run, and drink. No long wait to get a beer, no boring hour long ceremony that nobody listens to. Good times! Still no AD pub run in this town, but this is as close as it gets.

Start time: 6:00PM
Distance: 4.7 miles
Time: 34:57
Pace: 7:26 minutes per mile
Weather: mid 50s; windy

run #113 - Quinn's 1 year anniversary

As has been my usual MO lately, went on a decent run timed to end at Quinn's to take advantage of their cheap Laughing Lab. Quinn's started out as a fun group of people who liked to run and drink, but over the past year it's gotten lamer and lamer as the CO Springs young professionals have used it as a resume builder. It's the same course every week, starting and ending at the same place, having the same beer and food, yet somehow it takes 50+ volunteers to make it work? I think soon they'll start charging cover, but until then I'll continue to end Tuesday runs there to take advantage of the cheap Bristol. On a good note, over the last mile or so I ran Impotent DryHumper into the ground!

Start time: 5:55PM
Distance: 5.7 miles
Time: 45:55
Pace: 8:03 minutes per mile
Weather: mid 40s; windy, steady rain

ID

Got my new super top secret nuclear football ID pass to get onto Schreiver AFB today. Good thing I ran into a tree at the last DIM hash, made for a really great picture on the card.

try again

Try this link to the CoTex pics. Not sure why the last one isn't working, it works on my computer.

black and white

So, after completely drinking myself into the ground these past few days, I'm looking ahead to a weekend with a difficult mountain 50 mile trail run, followed by hiking up two Colorado 14ers.

pics

First of many CoTex pics can be seen by clicking here. These ones were taken by the female version of Follow the Bleeder. Yes, I was able to finish an entire double bacon cheeseburger from the Purple Castle!

quick escapes

This is one of the best outdoor articles ever written, if only for the super-expert advice they got for the piece.

run #112 - Red Rock Canyon

Headed over to Red Rock Canyon open space for a good run this afternoon. Winds were gusting up to 50mph all day today, but it was fairly calm in the canyon. Planned on going for 45 minutes, ended up going for almost twice that. Even did some scouting for a future Kimchi trail.

Start time: 6:30PM
Distance: 10 miles
Time: 1:20:24
Pace: 8:02 minutes per mile
Weather: mid 50s; windy

run #111

Easy morning run around the neighborhood. Felt tired at the start, but was able to pick up the pace towards the end.

Start time: 6AM
Distance: 6.0 miles
Time: 46:32
Pace: 7:45 minutes per mile
Weather: mid 40s

this city is going to the dogs!

Men's Health magazine has named Colorado Springs the most dog friendly city in the USA! Denver was #6. Austin was #7. Pittsburgh was #19 (but we still have the #1 NFL team).

good times!

I got retardedly drunk with Davey Crotchit last night! Quinns, to Tony's, to Sam's, to Quinn's, and back to Tony's! Woohoo!

quote of the day

"If you always achieve all your goals, you're setting you're goals too low."
-Matt Carpenter

A very close second place goes to my buddy Paul, who was giving me some Leadville tips while running down Barr Trail the other day (yeah, CRUD likes to talk a lot of shit!):

"Remember, it's not only how good you do, it's how poorly your friends do."
-Paul S.

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

How do you stop a clown from smiling?


Hit him in the head with an axe!

john butler trio

Good lord, if you're any kind of fan of decent music at all, rush out to your local independent record store and pick up JBT's new album. Might be their best album yet, and that's saying something since all their albums have achieved "ROWYCO" status on the brownie ranking scale. I could burn copies, but it'll take two CD's, and very few of my loyal readers have ever sent me enough tunes to justify that, so the most I could do is a "best of" and you'd be missing out on whatever I hafta cut off.

Air Force weekend

Push ups: 57 (needed 51)
Sit ups: 57 (needed 51)
1.5 Mile Run: 8:48 (needed sub-9:48)
Waist measurement: 32 inches

Total it up and I got a 100% for my first AF PT test. Highest score in the squadron, and one of only two people to get a 100 (the other was a chick, and we all know how the military relaxes standards so females can take part). I asked when we take the exercise bike portion of the test, and I think I offended some people. AF folks thought I was from another planet for the run time, which I thought was mediocre. Might try to break the eight minute mark for the next test.

Also got to do some infantry-type stuff yesterday. Movement to contact, react to ambusy, land nav, stuff like that. Good times!

Sugarloaf mountain

Bagged another named peak on the Wyoming road trip. Medicine Bow Peak was too snow covered for an attempt, but as a nice consolation prize Dani and I were able to scramble up Sugarloaf Mountain. Celebratory PBRs and stogies on top, followed by more celebratory beers back in the tiny town of Centennial, WY (population: 100; number of bars: 4).

Dani's pics of the trip can be seen here.

the loop

Good luck to all the Austinites running the Rogue trail series loop tomorrow!

bolder boulder

Great shot of the cheering section for Bolder Boulder this past weekend. Dani's pics from the epic roadtrip can be seen here.

love the new hobby!

run #110 - No Name Creek PR

Another Thurs tempo run up Barr trail, pushed it pretty hard and ended up setting all-time PRs to the top of the W's and to No Name Creek. Finished the W's in 23:50 and got to No Name in 38:40, my first time breaking the 40 minute barrier. I'm now doing my workouts on Barr Trail significantly faster than I did the Barr Trail Mountain Race last year, and I ran pretty good there last year.

Start time: 6PM
Distance: 6 miles
Time: 1:13:43
Pace: 12:17 minutes per mile
Weather: mid 50s