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!