hahaha!

Stolen from the Out There blog:

Spotted...At Stratton Open Space Saturday morning - a pickup truck with mountain biking decals down the side, and across the tail gate in large, easy-to-read letters:"If my wife let me ride her as much as I ride my bike, I'd be home right now."

advantage - hippies!

Went back down to Benny's on Saturday night to check out the pride of Manitou, Creating a Newsense. Always a weird crowd when Newsense plays there, as Benny's attracts a pretty rough group, and Newsense brings out all the local hippies.

About four songs into the set, a fight breaks out. Some Mexican dude who looks straight out of a Tupac video is going at it with a Jerry Garcia lookalike. It was like the twilight zone. They fell to the ground and at one point actually rolled into my leg. My Pabst was never in danger so I felt no need to regulate.

After a few minutes the bartender finally threw the guys out and within seconds popo was there to arrest both of 'em. I'm pretty sure they found marijuana on the hippie.

Hard to declare a winner, but if you're walking around town dressed like a Mexican gangster, fighting to a draw with a hippie can't be good for your street cred.

Manitou MOPP

$100 and I scouted trail for the upcoming MOPP hash (April 25-ish) last night. Trail is gonna rock! Can't believe how scenic Manitou can be if you know where to look. This is gonna be one not-to-miss trail! Start time and location will be posted later, but to give everyone a hint it'll start somewhat near Waldo Canyon...

72.9

Hit 70 miles this week, first time on a LONG time I've done that much, and possibly my highest ever week which didn't include Leadville or a 50 miler.

Had some quality runs too. My mid-week 14 miler and the 1200s were good. Saturday I had an epic run - 14 miles up (and up and up) Rampart Range Road, then bombing down to Waldo Canyon, then up (and up and up and up) Long's Ranch Road and returning to Manitou via the Barr Trail. A very rough 25 miler.

Ankle was still killing me Sunday morning, so I had to cut the IC run short. Still, it was the first time this year I've been able to run the entire Ute Pass trail, so that was good. Added some of the Intemann trail to get an easy nine miles in.

Sure gonna enjoy my rest day tomorrow.

Big week ahead, as the Incline Club hill workouts start on Thursday! Woohoo! Also looking to get Melissa down here for the Falcon Loop on Saturday, and on Sunday it's up to Denver for the Platte River half marathon.

168

Went out and bought me a fancy scale (it weighs me and can figure out my body fat %). Got on it this morning and I was down to 169.4 pounds. Only .4 pounds away from my goal weight. But wait...went and took a huge dump, stepped back on the scale, and I was down to 168.0 pounds! Woohoo! Pretty good pile 'o turds at 1.4 pounds, glad I got that out before the Incline Club.

In other news, I jacked up my ankle again at yesterday's Kimchi hash. Hurts like a bitch this morning. We'll see how it responds at the IC run. Had to sacrifice my body to be FRB.

13-2

Just wanted to let everyone know that I WHOOPED katie in one-on-one hoops tonight.

everywhere is worth checking out...

Inspired by the music at the rock gym (John Butler Trio) I nailed a new bouldering route today. The black route. Only a V1, but tough due to the angle you hang off the wall. Pretty high off the ground too.

As I was leaving, I asked a local climber if he had ever been to the Needle up in South Dakota. I'm thinking about climbing there during Nash Hash.

Me: "You ever been to the Needle?"
Him: "No, but I've heard about it."
Me: "Is it worth checking out?"
Him: "EVERYWHERE is worth checking out..."

bored (and hungover) at work...

Hit the CRUD hill climb yesterday, made it up Rampart Range Road in 26:15. 45 seconds faster than last week. Had two good runs up Rampart the last two weeks, should be ready to hammer the Incline Club hill workouts, which start on Thursday.

Been working out pretty hard lately. Rock gym four or five times a week. Weights at the Y at least twice a week. Yoga three times a week. Some basketball thrown in every now and then. As the weather improves I'll try to squeeze in some bouldering. Really upped the intensity on all my runs, and it's paying off. I kind of got into a rut of real slow running once I started trail running back in Austin. Love the HCTR to death, but jeeze louise some of their group long runs were tortoiselike. I'd do super long runs, but the pace would be so slow and the breaks so long it amounted to a walk. Starting to get away from that, as besides finishing Hardrock and Leadville I also have the goal of qualifying for Boston later this year. I figure running a difficult but faster paced 20 miles does more for my fitness than a 30 miler at snail pace does. That being said, I hope to do a 30 miler with CRUD tomorrow before the hash, then try to hammer the Ute Pass/Waldo loop with the Incline Club on Sunday (hafta do this faster so I can get up to Red Rocks for the Denver hash). And the Incline tonight. Pretty good weekend. Should hit 70+ miles this week (not counting the hashing miles), huge for me.

But fear not, the usual brownie was in rare form last night. Got shitty drunk on cheap Pabst last night at Benny's, then topped it off with a pitcher of Icehouse at the Townhouse. Good times! Shame on all of yunz who blew off Benny's, that place is one of the Springs' best bars.

PPRR full moon run

The next one is on April 20th.

i'm better now...

Did 14.5 miles from CRC north on the Sante Fe trail and back. First shirtless run of the year! Try not to be jealous of my super tan! Good times though, nice to finally get some nice weather.

spring fever

I'm sick. Cough, cough. And I think the only cure is to leave work early and head out for a long run...

1200s

Wow, yesterday's track workout really sucked. 1200s are friggin' hard. Did four of 'em yesterday, with 600 meters of rest in between. Wanted to average 4:40 for all of 'em, about my pace for Widefield. Ended up hitting 4:27, 4:21, 4:19, and 4:21. The last two were after the dickhead CC lacrosse players put out the track gates, forcing me to run in lane four. Though that is kinda a blessing, it pisses me off (causing me to run faster) and it keeps the local team-in-training group on the Sante Fe trail instead of the track. Team in training is the only group I'd put ahead of Jack Quinn's on the list of poser running clubs, FYI.

runner down!

Last night a runner was shot in a drive by shooting here in Colorado Springs. Read about it here. Maybe someday when I run for president I can talk about my runs here constantly being under sniper fire! Which would be a lot funnier had I actually not been shot at once while running down Williams Canyon...

wankers invade Australia

TAF just sent this to me, he and She Wanker Bitch somewhere in the Aussie outback.

roadtrip!

Check out this schedule for Sunsation weekend:

Saturday - Head up to Copper Mountain to check out George Clinton. After the show, bolt to Vail to catch Ben Harper. Then drive to Leadville, grab a room at the hostel, and get shitty drunk at the Silver Dollar Saloon.

Sunday - Get up for a nice long run at altitude. Grab lunch at Rosie's, America's highest brewery. Then back to Copper for Matisyahu.

Returning to Manitou in time for Acid Jazz!

Woohooo!

Manitou MOPP hash!

The next MOPP hash is on April 25th! Unless someone decides to do one before then. Fellow hash founder (Lehigh Valley H3, Allentown, PA) Beggin' For It will be in town. More details to follow. Be there or be square.

62.3

Another good week. Highlight was the Widefield 5 miler, never thought I could run that fast. The Pikes Peak Road Runners full moon run was a good time too, love the trails over there in Red Rock Canyon. Great run on Sunday too, just exploring the sights of Manitou.

Next few weeks will involve some good long runs, next race is Platte River where I hope to break 90 minutes.

Twisted my ankle at the Peyton hash and again on Sunday's run. It's pretty sore today. Shouldn't hold me back too much, but I should probably be more careful on it. I've accepted the fact that the swelling will never completely go away and I'll have one cankle for the rest of my life.

red mountain

Summitted Red Mountain on my run today. Awesome views of Manitou and the surrounding mountains. Guess where someone is gonna be laying a DIM trail soon!

Pueblo adventure race

Just found out about this, seems like a good time. It's the day after Greenland, but I think I'm gonna try it anyways. Only 20 bones, a far cry from the hundreds of dollars some of these races cost.

I keep it simple so the Texans can keep up...

Movie Reviews

ouch!

If anyone sees Granny, tell him I'm never talking to him again. Or at least until Pitt whoops WVU again in football.

31:57!

Hell yeah! Busted the 32 minute barrier at this mornings Widefield 5 miler. Race report will follow shortly...

In other news, I busted C-4's purple castle cherry today!

just another reason Obama rocks...

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has climbed aboard the Pitt bandwagon. Obama picked Pitt, North Carolina, Kansas and UCLA to reach the Final Four.

170

Weighed in at 170 pounds this morning! I've lost 14 pounds since the beginning of February, mostly because I've been running a lot more. Have until July to lose one more pound, though I think I'm gonna go into Hardrock at 165 instead of 169. Four pounds may not sound like a lot but it'll pay off over 100 miles of mountains.

I'm now ten pounds less then when I went into Leadville. It makes a big difference, I feel a lot more healthier now than I did last August. And it's a HUGE difference from my time in Texas. Won't say what I weighed there, but it's well known that Texas is the fattest state in the country and I didn't hurt that ranking any.

HAIL TO PITT!

Pitt just whooped the shit out of Oral Roberts. First of many wins this tourney!

What do you call two gay guys named Bob? Oral Roberts!

woohoo!

new problem

Unfortunately, the rock gym took down the problem I had been working on since January. Fortunately, they put up another great one in it's place! Looks like it'll take nine moves to get to the top. I got through four of 'em at lunch today.

Tues night...

Actually had a good time at Quinn's last night. Showed up early and got about eleven miles in, finally starting to have nice weather here in Colorado. Hit the bar for a few beers with Boobs and Chucky, then I ran into Yeti and talked outdoors crap the rest of the night. Yeti, let me know if you can get to the Garden on Friday for some bouldering.

Good times continue tonight with the CRC run and Grass It Up at Front Range BBQ. Band starts at 7:30PM if anyone wants to join me.

happy anniversary!

The Iraq war turns 5 years old today!

Oscar's

Any fans of Oscar's out there? Might wanna take one last visit, looks like they're gonna lose their liquor license. Read about it here. There's a dollar bill on the roof I put there that says CKH3, maybe C-4 and I will go retrieve it Saturday after we eat at purple castle.

Salida

Taken at about the 24 mile mark, barreling down into the finish line in Salida. Beautiful collectors edition shirts like the one I'm wearing can be ordered by contacting Nuthin' Butt Net.

final four pics

My final four for the office pool: North Carolina, Georgetown, Duke, and PITT! I have Pitt defeating North Carolina 60-54 in the final. Also have Pitt beating Texas along the way!

Took Coppin State in tonight's game, FYI.

proper marathon recovery technique

so i'm in the pisser at the Victoria Bar in Salida...

what is and what should never be...

The boulder route I had blogged about before was taken down today. I never made it without cheating. Bummer. Oh well, in it's place are even more sweet routes I can get my ass kicked on!

running and drinking

Woohoo! Gonna be a helluva week. From an e-mail I sent out earlier:


Busy week of running and drinking, with lots of live music thrown in for good measure, if anyone wants to join me.

Tues - Gonna take a week off from the track and visit Quinn's. Probably run a few extra miles so some of the posers will leave the bar before I'm finished. I'll hit the bar around 7PM.

Wed - CRC happy hour run. Nice, easy run along the Sante Fe trail followed by a few beers. Stopping on the way home at Front Range BBQ to hear Grass It Up. Grass comes on at 7:30PM.

Fri - PPRRC full moon run at Red Rock Canyon Open Space. Run starts at 7PM. It's a go-at-your-own-pace jog through the canyon trails. Bring a flashlight and a koozie for your beer. Afterwards hit the Ancient Mariner for Tommy Gallagher.

Sat - Widefield 5 miler, followed by Purple Castle. Then the Pikes Peak hash.

Sun - Incline Club, followed by the all you can eat breakfast buffet at the Manitou Pancake and Steak House. Acid Jazz later that night.

**BREAKING NEWS** - I discovered a new flavor of Boone's Farm while down in Salida this weekend. Wild Cherry. Very delicious. I would rank it as my third favorite flavor, behind Sangria and Snow Creek Berrry. No truth to the rumor that this discovery had anything to do with my first ever five plus hour marathon...

on-on
jt

Salida

Wow, what a weekend. Race report will be posted later, but not only did I not break four hours, I didn't break five hours! After getting lost and then having to posthole through about six miles of knee deep snow, crossed the finish line in 5:01:28. Had a blast out there, though I'm still physically drained from the effort.

Katie finished in about 6:40. She really picked a doozy for her first marathon. All the snow really fucked up her eyes and she's still having trouble seeing.

Big East Champs!

Woohoo!

Jesus would be so proud...

"I recommend every church to have armed security in place."

-Brady Boyd, pastor of New Life Church

i'm thirsty...

They were talking about the Beer Drinker's Guide to Colorado beer map, a list of microbreweries across this fine beer drinking state that some of yunz have seen on the wall at Arctic, on the KILO morning show. I now have a new goal - visit every last spankin' one on the list!

I've already been to a bunch of 'em. All the Colorado Springs ones (Arctic, Bristol, Il Vicino, Judge Baldwin's, Phantom Canyon, and Rock Bottom (yes, I haven't been to Rocky Mountain brewing but that's 'cuz it ain't open yet)).

Been to a few in Denver (Breckenridge, Wynkoop).

And my mountain adventures over the past few years have taken me so some great brew pubs. Southern Sun in Boulder. The original Breckenridge brewery in Breck. Rockyard in Castle Rock. The Dam Brewery in Dillon. Ska Brewing down in Durango. Moffat Station during Invihash Winter Park. Amica's, many times, in Salida. Shamrock Brewing in Pueblo. Rosie's (America's Highest Brewery) to carbo load for the Leadville 100. Tommyknocker in Idaho Springs right after several 14ers. Coopersmith's, New Belgium, and Odell with the FCH3.

So I got a good chunk of the list taken care of. Plan to hit McClellan's in Canon City later today. I'm sure I'll hit Amica's at least once this weekend. And maybe even Pitkin Brewing in Pueblo on Sunday. Good times!

Probably take a few days after Hardrock to just travel the western slope in search of good beer. I'll be able to knock a bunch off the list during that road trip.

I now have three beer goals running concurrently:

1. Hit 100 bars in Colorado/Manitou Springs (I'm at 85 - I think on Tuesday I'll grit my teeth and finally visit the Ritz, then I'll never hafta drink in shitty downtown CS again)
2. Hit all the bars in the Liquid History guide ( I have a LONG way to go, though I'll finish Salida this weekend)
3. Visit every microbrewery on the Colorado Beer Drinker's map

Hey, a guy hasta have goals!

Be sure to check out the Beer Drinker's Guide to Colorado web site. Good stuff on there.

fucking snow!

Just when I'm beginning to wonder whether to start with SPF 30 or 15 for my shirtless Colorado trail runs, Manitou gets another friggin' snowstorm. We've probably got at least four or five inches already, and it's still coming down. Shoveled my walks before my run this morning, and when I returned 40 minutes later it's like I hadn't touched them.

It's a super wet snow, though. It would make for one hell of a snowball fight. Sure brought out the deer this morning too, probably saw at least 20 of 'em on the short Garden run. Sure wish I woulda been packing heat, those deers can be kind of dangerous...

i love it when it sucks!

Off to the Run Through Time tomorrow, to hammer the marathon and finish all the Salida bars in my Liquid History book.

Check out the latest course conditions:

"A course condition update. (Barring any further snow/rain) The route should be mostly dry for the first 8 miles. Expect some mud and some slick spots from 8-17.5 miles. Tuesday morning there was significant snow from 17.5-23 miles. 17.5-18.1 miles was recently tracked by a vehicle (rutted snow). The next few miles have 2-16" of snow on the ground, with a few bare spots. It has been tracked by a few humans and deer/elk. Expect very slow going here. The race directors have decided to keep the original course, despite this snow.

Please keep this snowy section in mind. If you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, consider switching to the half marathon before the start. We are not totally equipped to evacuate most of the marathon field on short notice if it can not continue. If you get to the final aid station at 17.5 miles and have doubts, drop out and return to the finish on the plowed route the way you came (dryer but shorter). Saturday morning, you may change from the half marathon to marathon at registration/ number pick up. You can not officially switch races once you start."

Woohoo! Sounds like it's gonna be pretty shitty conditions out there! I'll be fine, as this'll be my 10th marathon and I'm in pretty good shape for it (I've run at least 16 races farther than the marathon distance, FYI). But everyone better be rooting for Katie. She sure picked a doozie for her virgin marathon!

woohoo!

There are very few bars in downtown Colorado Springs that I care for. The Triple Nickel, Red Rocket, the VFW, Tony's, and Benny's are about the only bars worth going to, mostly because the local yuppies stay out of places like those.

And Benny's will celebrate 55 years in business on Thursday, March 27! Congrats to them, but more importantly they will have Pabst pints for only $0.55 all day! I plan on leaving work early, doing the Incline, and then getting shitty drunk!

I wouldn't kick her out of my bed for eating crackers, and I hear she's a very talented young woman, but four grand an hour? Sheesh.

Heard someone talking on the radio today and he brought up a good point. Breaking news about male politicians having affairs happens so often it's not really a big deal, but why is the wife always by the guy's side? Why do women's rights groups bitch and moan if I open a door for a gal, but say nothing about this?

A CNN.com article said this: "With his wife, Silda, at his side, he added, "Our greatest glory consists not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.""

Seriously. The guy uses a hooker at least eight times behind his wife's back, but he quotes from Batman Returns and he's suddenly out of the doghouse? Weak. Women everywhere should be ashamed.

I won't even get into the fact that this guy played the moral card in the past when he brought down two prostitution rings. Sheesh.

Leadville or bust!

Didn't get into the Triple Crown/Marathon the first few times I tried, so I figured someone was trying to tell me something.

My all time athletic wet dream would be to do this, and I figure trying Leadville right after Hardrock would let me know if it's in the realm of possibility for an average joe like me.

Race schedule for the rest of the year is pretty well set.

March 15 - Salida Marathon
April 6 - Platte River Half Marathon
April 19 - Greenland 50K
May 3 - Collegiate Peaks 50 miler
June 21 - San Juan Solstice 50 miler
June 28 - 30 - Leadville Training Camp
July 11 - Hardrock
August 17 - Leadville
Sept 6 - Imogene Pass
Dec 7 - Tucson Marathon

Sheesh, add in hash weekends and concerts and my summer is already booked up.

Those of you doing the Pikes races should also look into doing Imogene.

Sunsation!

Woohoo!

Playing, for free, on April 12 at Sunsation:

George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic

Then off to the Ben Harper show. Back to Sunsation on April 13 for:

Matisyahu

damn hippies!

Pikes Peak vs. Leadville

As much as I'd love to get a sub three hour ascent and a sub five hour marathon, which I believe I could do this year, I'm having second thoughts about registering for Pikes Peak. I'm starting to feel the Leadville call again...

I have 'till tomorrow to decide.

"The long run is what puts the tiger in the cat. "

-Bill Squires

apocalyptica!

Guess who just won two tickets to the April 22 Apocalyptica show, bitches! They're playing up in Denver. TAF, She Wanker Bitch, and I saw these guys a few years ago at the Flamingo Cantina, it was quite the show. Back then they mostly played Metallica covers, but their latest album has a lot of original stuff on it. Should be a killer time!

65.5

Another good week for me. Not too bad for a guy who was told in December it would be at least six months until I could run again and that I'd never be able to do what I used to do. Air Force docs, the best of the best.

Another week of 60+ miles for me, then I'll cut back to 30 or so to take a break. Have the Widefield 5 miler coming up the weekend after Salida, should be fun to see what I can do in one of those sprint races.

After my rest week I'll start hill climbs with CRUD and the Incline Club, track workouts in Manitou, and 30 milers on Saturday followed by 20 milers on Sunday.

another good long run

Did a nice 20 miler this morning, maybe a little bit more. Had been dreading the trip up Rampart Range road as the last time I did it was right before Leadville, but it wasn't too bad. Went up to the shooting range, then came back down and ran a bunch of trails through the Garden. Believe it or not, the closest I've ever come to being shot was not as an infantryman in Iraq, but near that range when some dickhead was shooting a rifle on the shotgun part of the range.

Ever since I moved to Colorado my first 20+ miler of the year was always at Salida (that's probably why my times down there are always less than stellar). I already have three runs of that distance in right now. I'll get at least another 60 miles in next week, then take a well deserved rest week before really getting serious about Hardrock.

Tonight, however, I'm gonna get shitty drunk on Pabst while watching "Into the Wild," which came out on DVD yesterday.

good quote

"Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?'"

Peter Maher, Irish-Canadian Olympian and sub-2:12 marathoner

171

Weighed in at 171 pounds this morning at the Y. Down 14 pounds since I got into Hardrock. Leaves me 'till July to lose two pounds to get to my goal weight of 169. Might re-evaluate and get down to 165 since the weight loss came so easily. I don't look different but I feel a lot better and my running has greatly improved.

pueblo pics

Myself, $100, and Stinky Fingers on the homestretch of the Pueblo ten miler. To the guy pushing the stroller behind me: I kicked your ass, you punk! Glad your two month old kid could see what a loser you are!

I'm gonna be famous!

Got this e-mail today from Dave Phillips, a reporter for the Colorado Springs Gazette who writes the Out There section and also does the Springs Out There blog linked on the margin of this page.

"I hear you’re doing the Hard Rock. I’d like to do a story for the Colorado Springs Gazette’s Out There section on the race, following you guys through the process and the race. Would you be open to having a reporter tag along?"

Seems like he wants to follow two locals on their journey to (and hopefully through) Hardrock.

Autographed copies will be available. For a price, of course.

breakthrough?

Spent my whole lunch hour trying to solve my current bouldering nemesis. But no dice. Fell a bunch of times, and came just inches away on several attempts, but I couldn't send it.

As I was standing there looking at the problem just before I came back to work, one of the retardedly good climbers who works at the gym came up to me and said, "see that hold right there? That's part of the route, but the tag fell off a while ago."

After a long silence all I could say was, "Fuck me."

Gonna be a lot easier now. Should finally nail the route tomorrow.

my new hero

Belonging to a generation made mostly of lazy fucks and whiners and crybabies, it's refreshing to know that guys like this are out there.

I love how he drinks "tankards of ale" too! That's awesome!

Hardrock snow report

Got this e-mail from Hardrock today:

February saw a lot more snow in Silverton which now has the second most snow at this time of year since the run started. The most snow was in 92-93 when the course was wet but easily passable.

If the climate modelers are correct, the spring will be warm with average precip.

So, DON"T PANIC (yet).

ouch!

Tried to do the Incline this morning, but a snowstorm last night left it a sheet of ice, so I had to turn around at the no-trespassing sign (probably the lowest I've ever had to turn around). Just past the Cog station on the way home, I hit some black ice. Luckily my fat ass took most of the blow from the fall, but I did crack my head pretty good. To make things even more embarassing, I continued to slide until I was able to arrest my skid by grabbing a garbage can at the other end of the station. Probably went a good 30 feet. Glad it was early and nobody was around to see that debacle.

stupid Texas!

Seriously, first yunz guys give us George Bush, and now this? Do you guys just not like our country or something?

arrrgh!

I've been working this problem at the rock gym since they put it up at the comp back in January. It's taken me about a week to figure out how to get each new move up the face. Today I took a leap for the top and got about two inches short of the top before falling. It's getting maddening, trying so hard to top it and not quite getting it. And to make things worse, the gym guys are starting to change up all the problems, which means this route probably won't be up too much longer.

PBR art

There's an art contest sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon where you can submit photographs of Pabst and win a year's supply of beer. Which pic should I enter? The top one is on Greys Peak, the bottom one taken on Mt. Shivano.

Telluride Blues and Brews!

Woohoooo! Guess who got tix to Telluride Blues and Brews!!!! An entire weekend devoted to nothing but music and beer that takes place in one of the most beautiful parts of Colorado! Woohooo!

1:06:53

The only thing better than starting your day with a sunrise run through the Garden of the Gods is setting a PR while on that run. Took over 2.5 minutes off my former PR this morning. My Tuesday runs are easy to recover from the weekend, so the faster times aren't really coming from harder efforts but are dropping more and more as I slowly get into better shape.

63.3

Yet another great week of running for me, topping out over 60 miles once again. Highlights were a killer track workout on Tuesday, a 22 mile long run around the Air Force Academy on Saturday, and yesterday's 10 mile race. I've averaged over 58 miles per week for the last month, probably the best month of training for me since I was back in college, last year's Leadville run-up included. Been doing a ton of cross-training and working on my diet as well, really starting to feel like I'm in shape. Will continue to hit 55-60 mile weeks through Salida, then it'll be time to chill out and recover for a week.

what heaven is like...

Pueblo Spring Runoff

Everyone who reads this blog is aware of my upcomming Hardrock attempt. And while that is certainly #1 on my mind and I've been working like an animal to prepare for it, I've also caught the Boston bug recently. The plan was to do Hardrock and then drop down in distance to qualify for Beantown at this December's Tucson Marathon. However, due to my recent switch to trail running (and, more specifically, ultrarunning), the days of me easily running a 3:10 marathon have long since passed me by (I do have a PR of 2:55, FYI).

So even though I'm getting in my share of the long stuff for HRock, during the week when I do normal mileage I've been trying to pick up the pace. Not easy to do when a lot of your runs are up places like Barr Trail, but I have been getting a little speedier lately.

So my goal at this morning's Pueblo Spring Runoff 10 miler was to see how far I could keep 7:15 miles. Despite setting a record high of 73F and getting a sunburn on yesterday's 22 miler around the Air Force Academy, down in Pueblo this morning it was cold, snowing, and howling with a nasty wind. I figured 7:30 miles would be more realistic and would have been satisfied for sub-80, the weather was that bad.

Hit the first mile in 7:20. I thought I was going to be around 8:30, so it wasn't too bad. Decided to pick things up and see what I could do. Fellow CRUD runner Rick (Stinky Fingers) and I ran together for the next few miles, and they flew by. At the five mile mark, even though we were holding a good conversation, our split was just under 34 minutes!

Despite running into a retarded headwind from miles six to eight, I was able to hold well under seven minute miles the rest of the way, finishing the race in 1:08:28. 6:51 per mile, even after that super slow first mile. I need to keep 7:15 pace to qualify for Boston, so I was super happy with my performance. On top of it all, I won my age group!

Congrats to Katie, who finished in 1:41. Just a few weeks ago she ran her first ten mile race, the longest she had ever run at the time and on an easier course with better weather, in over two hours. She has her first marathon in less than two weeks, and I think she'll be able to finish it.

Good times at the Shamrock Brewery after the race, where I had a peanut butter and bacon cheeseburger, washed down with a few Irish Red Ales.

Oh yeah - plugging my ten mile time into the Runner's World performance calculator, I should be able to run a 3:09:58 marathon right now...