Michael Franti and Spearhead

Holy fucking crap, that was one helluva Spearhead show last night!

HPb 2 - Incline Club #1

First run of the Incline Club season!  After plowing up Rampart Range yesterday and not getting to bed 'till well past 3AM last night I was just happy to show up.  Had an uninspiring effort around the Garden 10 mile course.  My fitness is definitely lagging well behind my motivation for the Hardrock/Leadville adventure, hopefully that'll change soon.

Start time - 8AM

Distance - 10 miles

Time - 1:32:55

Pace - 9:18 per mile

Weather - wet and slippery, start temp of 27

Weight - 175 pounds

HPb 1 - Rampart Range Road/Quarry Trail

Met up with Rick and Harsha at Memorial Park for the weekly CRUD run.  Checked weather.com right before I left and they reported the temp as "19F, feels like 9F".  But it turned out to be a good run.  Never takes long to warm up going up to Balanced Rock and then Rampart Range.  Rick said he knew a cool trail to take instead of the usual Williams Canyon.  Of course, whenever Rick says this it usually involves jumping a fence with multiple "No Trespassing" signs, and this was no different.  Awesome trail though, lots of snow covered singletrack and a traverse around an old rock quarry.

Start time - 7AM

Distance - 9.0 miles

Time - 1:50:13

Pace - 12:15 per mile

Weather - chilly, 19F; fresh snow

Weight - 175 pounds

HAIL TO PITT!

Incline happy hour!

Good times for the turkey day edition of the Incline happy hour!  My first time ever puking on the Incline, the first snow angel of the season, and lots of turkey, mac & cheese, gin & tonic, and jager at the Royal Tavern!  We also FINALLY nailed the synchronized drinking photo, only took us seven weeks of practice...

the jack trades

The Jack Trades at Trinity, photo courtesy of Randi.

good luck turkey trotters!

Lots of friends out there doing their annual tradition of running the local Turkey Trot. I started running every turkey day at the Run for the Diamonds, the nation's second oldest race behind the Boston marathon, way back around 1991. It was one of the only things that could get me to travel back to visit the family when I was at Pitt. I've also done turkey trots in Philadelphia and Austin. I've never actually run the Briargate YMCA Turkey Trot 5K here in Colorado, though I have volunteered there at both Thanksgiving days I've been here (counting tomorrow - where I'll be helping run the finish line).

Some of you are trying for PR's and some of you only run one day each year, but good luck to everyone. Tried to google a good pic of a turkey running, but I couldn't find any decent ones. So instead, here's a pic of Jessica Alba:

as much as I hate kids...

...welcome to the world Devin Quin Pelton-Moore, born at 12:30PM Austin time. Now Twin Peaks has no lame excuse not to come out drinking when I visit in February!

woohooo!

Every Wednesday KRCC has "All Sounds Considered," a recorded live show they play over the airwaves.

For the next 90 minutes or so, I'll be listening to The Black Keys live from the 930 Club in DC!

Woohooo!

hell yeah!

I now stand corrected for saying that Colorado Springs has no good bands.

The Jack Trades friggin' rock!

Reminded me a lot of the Black Keys, but a little dirtier.

Unfortunately they'll never be a big draw in CSCO, since bands there are judged on whether or not they're an 80s cover band. But that's fine with me, gives 'em more open dates to come to Manitou (and they have future gigs at Kinfolk's!).

more good news for Pitt fans!

Besides having a bye week coming up (WVU), Shady McCoy, the best running back in the country, said today he will not be leaving for the NFL draft after this season! Heisman trophy next year, baby!

here we go again...

The last four weeks have seen me average almost 50 miles per, though very few of those miles are anything to brag about (only the CRUD hill climbs, the Incline, and Rim Rock were worth mentioning). It's been rough holding back, especially due to some of my friends still hard at it with races.

But, that all changes this weekend!

Saturday is the CRUD long run and Sunday is the first Incline Club run of the season, and I plan to be at both of 'em. I'd like to bump the mileage up over the next few weeks and stay between 80 and 90 per week until the Colorado winter starts to leave, hopefully mid-March or so. I'll have a few races in there to keep me motivated through the crappy weather, though this time of year will be devoted to building a good base for the fun stuff in the summer.

I'll also start trying to watch my diet somewhat, though this always seems to be a losing battle for me (note: this does not start 'till Saturday, so 'till then the mozzarella cheetos are fair game!). I've ballooned up to about 177 pounds. I'd like to drop down to about 170 for the winter and then 160 for the planned HR/Pb double.

My beer drinking habits, of course, will remain unchanged.

tonight!

Woohoo! Live music at Trinity tonight! I'll be running the Sinton loop (about 4.5 miles) starting at 5:30PM if anyone wants to get a workout in before the show.

HAIL TO PITT!

Pitt is currently ranked #4 in the AP college hoops poll. Three of the top four teams in the poll are from the Big East.

Since I'm on the topic of my Panthers, my prediction for the Backyard Brawl:

Pitt - 49
wvu - 14

Banff

The Banff Mountain Film Festival returns to Colorado Springs on February 28, 2009!

on-on

The few, the proud, the ones who actually stop to drink beer while hashing!

today's HFC award...

...goes to this lady. While she's no John DeWalt, it's always nice to see examples like this to show me that you don't have to become lame once you get old.

the invasion gets stronger...

Gordo is in for the Austin marathon!

people watching

I used to think Acacia Park was the best place to people watch in Colorado Springs, but I'm starting to think the downtown bus station would be just as good. The big problem there is the security, it'd be a lot harder to drink a bag of bum wine without being noticed by The Man.

tonight!

I'll be at Tony's around 5:30PM to warm up for the K2 shindig if anyone wants to join me. It'll be pretty busy there as the fudge packers are on MNF tonight.

cactus jack

Meet the newest member of my family, Cactus Jack!  It didn't take me long to kill my last cactus (overwatering), let's all hope Jack doesn't meet the same fate.

capt jacks

Had a long road run planned for today, but once again I decided to take advantage of the great weather to go play on the trails.  Believe it or not, before this afternoon I had never run one of the area's more popular trails, Captain Jacks.  Did the loop today, taking lots of rest breaks for pictures.  Have a ton more, but my computer is acting funny and not allowing ofoto tonight.  Nice trail, though it sure ain't Section 16 or Red Rock Canyon.  Already planning on an epic long run from my house, along Intemann to Section 16, to High Drive, then CPT Jacks, then back the same way.

palmer park

From the fall series #4 at Palmer Park.  Coach Bell would not be happy with me for spending so much time in the floating phase.

kudos...

...to BLOS and Katie for their performances at the Turkey Trot prediction run yesterday.  BLOS predicted he'd run 23 flat and finished in 22:55.293, and his difference of 4.707 was good enough for sixth place and a coveted turkey.  Katie said she'd run 32:23 and finished in 29:54.915, her first time under half an hour for that distance.  The winner of the race predicted she'd run 27:02 and finished in 27:01.306, a difference of 0.694 seconds.

silverton

Stole this of SJ's blog. Great shot of Silverton, the start of Hardrock. Hardest thing I've ever done, and the net distance traveled is zero.

Incline happy hour #6

The crew from the latest Incline happy hour. It sure would be nice to get more women out, but I guess most chicks in this area are afraid of the climb. Same time next Thursday (turkey day) but we will be ending at the Royal Tavern for some Thanksgiving gin and tonics. The bartender there is smokin' hot too (although I was pretty drunk last night when I saw her).

Collegiate Peaks

Rego for the Collegiate Peaks 25/50 miler is now up. Check out the fancy new website here. Good times out in Buena Vista! I've finished the 50 miler twice and set my PR there last year. Plus, Eddyline Brewing Company is scheduled to be open in time for the race...

woohoo!

Local favorites Creating a Newsense are getting some air time on KRCC!

Trinity review

Trinity Brewing was reviewed in the Gazette today. Read it here. You will hear the "Obama is in office. Empower yourself" line from me again. And again, and again, and again...

So far my Trinity paycheck has paid my rego for the Rock Canyon half marathon, the Rescue Run, the Leadville showshoe 20 miler, and the Austin Marathon. My next paycheck will cover the Greenland 50K and Salida marathon. Hope to pick up a few more hours over the holidays to pay for Leadville and my triple century attempt. Not too shabby.

Bongo Love plays tonight at Trinity. The Jack Trades are there on Tuesday. Be there or be square.

hooray!

My sister is moving to Manitou!

thank you sir may I have another...

Midnite Stroker is now in for the Austin marathon!

Who will be next...

21

Picked a great day to forget my climbing gear, for as I pulled into the parking lot I noticed the big yellow school bus, which meant the place was going to be crawling with kids.

So I found a nice empty corner and proceeded to knock out my first ever crossfit workout. Chose a workout called "21" which was the following:

20 push-ups/1 sit-up
19 push-ups/2 sit-ups
18 push-ups/3 sit-ups
17 push-ups/4 sit-ups

...and so on until you did 1 push-up and 20 sit-ups. You end up doing 210 push-ups and 210 sit-ups. I finished in 22:28. Not too shabby, but I hadn't done these kinds of sit-ups since my Army days so they were pretty slow. I don't think it'll take long for me to get under 20 minutes for this workout.

Pushed pretty hard, but it's still not even close to the best workout I've ever got at the rock gym. And it wasn't anywhere near the ballpark of the other two workouts I'll do today, Cheyenne Canyon and the Incline. While doing that many push-ups and sit-ups over lunch sure beats hitting McDonald's, I'm still not sure why people think CF is the end all/be all of hard workouts.

And for the record, I whooped Lulu's ass for this, and she owes me a beer!

woohoo!

KRCC is playing my current favorite song, "handlebars" by the Flobots. I'll be seeing those guys at Colorado College on December 10! Can't friggin' wait!

Ryan Hall to run Boston!

Just heard that Ryan Hall will be lining up at Boston this year, obviously avoiding me since I've let it be known I'm shooting for 2010. But it'll be nice to have an American with a chance to win in the field.

He is coming...

Have you noticed how so much of the current news is about pirates?

I think it's a sign that the Flying Spaghetti Monster is planning to return to earth and reward the believers with a beer volcano and a stripper factory! Woohoo!

FSM is coming...look busy!

rocks

No shit, there I was (fantastic, incredible, tell us about it muthafucker!) down at the rock gym. Minding my own business, thinking I’m a total badass because I’m working my way right up through all the rec routes.

Ex-stalkee girl sneaks up behind me and says, “hey, could you come help me with this problem I’m setting?”

I figure she wants me to tighten a fake rock to the wall or hold a ladder or something, so I follow her. She leads me over to the hard part of the gym, which I only visit if I’m cutting through there to get a drink of water, and says, “climb this and let me know what you think.”

So as I’m getting into the sit down start, which is already above my skill level, she tells me the route is a V5. I’ve completed V0 before, but it hasn’t been very pretty. Being an idiot, instead of letting her know I’m in way over my head, I try the route. I actually made it three moves into the problem in my lame attempt to impress her (by far my best three moves ever), but then on the fourth I fell hard to the real rocks below with a thud.

She looks at me pathetically and says, “Oh…well…it’s an easier route for shorter people.”

5.15b

For you climbing geeks out there, word at the rock gym was that Chris Sharma knocked off a problem, Jumbo Love, that was rated at 5.15b. For reference, that's slightly more difficult than any route I've ever climbed.

pics

Per Mopper's post, here are two of my favorite running pics. More to follow later today. Of course, if you've ever seen me run, you know I'll never be included in a lecutre on proper running biomechanics. Both are pics from my Hardrock adventure. The top one was taken by Christian (the photographer the Gazette sent to follow me) and the bottom was taken by Melissa.

Rim Rock Write-Up

Here's my monthly submission to the Pikes Peak Road Runners newsletter, a quick write-up about the Rim Rock Run. Overall it was a great experience, though I left out my frustration at being unable to find a throwback Jillian Mesa State hoops jersey.



I’ve lived in Colorado for three years now, and the descriptions I’ve heard about Grand Junction being nothing but desert and oil platforms didn’t really inspire me to make the drive out there. After running the Rim Rock Run, however, I stand corrected. Starting at one end of the Colorado National Monument and finishing at the other end (hence the weird 37K distance), the race is like the Garden of the Gods 10 miler on steroids. The beauty of the park is unreal. At no point of the race do you encounter a view that isn’t worthy of a calendar or post card.

This is no easy run through the park, however. There is only one way to describe the initial climb: BRUTAL! You start climbing as soon as the gun goes off, and there’s no break for the next eight miles, which takes you from 4930 feet to the high point of the course at 6640 feet. If you have any breath left, it’s taken away by the scenery. A narrow and winding road takes you past amazing rock formations and even into tunnels dug right through the rock.

After reaching the high point, runners cover a short section of rolling hills before hitting the final downhill. All that elevation gained over the first climb is given back over the final half-marathon. Sounds like a great time, but the long descent is quite the quad thrasher. Once again, the pain is made a little easier to ignore by checking out the surroundings. The Coke Ovens, Independence Monument, Balanced Rock, lots of cool canyons and mesas, not to mention the awesome views of Fruita and Grand Junction.. There’s a spectacular view just past the visitor’s center where you can see the finish line – and see that the final four miles of the race drop you over 1000 feet with lots of sharp switchbacks. At this point your legs, which have endured the initial monster climb and the rough downhill miles that followed, aren’t very happy with your brain.

The aid station volunteers also make the suffering a little more bearable. There was an aid station challenge, just like the ones they have at the Barr Trail Mountain Race. Runners get to vote for their favorite aid station, which are located about every 2.5 miles. This really adds to the spirit of each station and that energy is passed onto the runners. Although I voted for the local Lions club, the best aid station moment for me came at the final one, when a Grand Junction REI employee informed me that I had less than two miles to go until the finish.

The post race shindig was a blast. You pick up a shuttle to take you the half mile from the finish line to the parking lot of a local adventure guide, where endless amounts of pizza and beer await. So I got to wait my turn at the massage tent eating and drinking and telling everyone who would listen my excuses for not running as fast as I had planned, since I thought it would be a flat course.

Overall, the Rim Rock Run is definitely worth the trip. It’s scheduled during the offseason for many local runners, including myself, but having it out there should keep me from getting too fat and lazy before the Incline Club starts up again. Definitely a road trip to check out to fill up an otherwise boring mid-November weekend.

Leadville Snowshoe 20 miler

Quite a few locals heading out to try our luck (and more than likely fail miserably) at this one. Details about the race can be seen here. Race entry forms can be printed here. Might wanna call soon and get a bunk at the hostel. Remember, there will be a MOPP hash that Saturday night!

home gym

Ever since I moved to Manitou I've found it harder and harder to get to the YMCA to hit the weights. I'm usually pretty good on Tuesday nights after a track workout at CC, but one night a week just doesn't cut it. Every week I say I'm going to stop for an extra workout after the Wednesday CRC happy hour run, but I drink too much beer there and usually end up at the Red Rock Lounge, which is a great place but doesn't do much for my health and fitness. So I splurged on the pile below, should be more than enough to get in some bonus workouts now that it's time to get my fat ass back into shape.

actually, it's because I don't like kids...

Great pic, taken by Pete, of a sign taken at the Ourayle House out in Ouray. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people take kids into a bar.

hooray for global warming!

It's currently 70 degrees in the Springs!

woohoo!

Got the first Incline newsletter of the season! Time to start training hard again! It's actually been rough keeping things under 50 miles a week. First run is November 3oth, Ute Pass/Waldo. With a post-run breakfast at King's Chef, of course.

for BLOS and Josh

more deer

Must be something about my yard today, these guys were chillin' out when I got back from the fall series.

BLOS

Kudos to BLOS for finishing his first marathon! 3:41 and change. Recover quick, Tuscon is just three weeks away...

Boston or bust!

Josh just qualified for Boston with a 3:08:08!

CU/OSU

Pics from the latest Kimchi debacle can be seen here. We were all kicked out before halftime for being too drunk, a new low!

hell yeah!

Barring a late race collapse, looks like Josh is gonna qualify for Boston! Not sure what the hell BLOS is doing, bad day or what, he's averaging just under eight per mile. Thought he'd be in front of Josh. I'm sure he'll make up for it at Tuscon.

good morning!

Manitou Landscaping Company hard at work on my yard around 7AM.

it's official...

Just signed up for the Austin marathon! Should be a great trip - get to see a lot of friends, get to hang in a super cool town, get to qualify for Boston, and get to celebrate my 10 year hashiversary with my mother hash! I do expect a beer check around mile 25!

Katie thinks she won the argument because I told her I'd sign her up for the half marathon...

austin marathon

Seriously considering signing up for this one, as it falls at a good time of the training schedule and after Rim Rock I don't think I'm very far away from popping a fast one. I told $100 I'd rego her for the race as a valentine's day present, and now she's not talking to me...

incline happy hour #5

Good times at the Incline happy hour last night! Took me damn near 37 minutes to get to the top, super slow for me, but I like to think I was taking my time to enjoy the great weather...

Fall Series - Ute Valley

Bunch of action shots of hashers taken off the Pikes Peak Road Runners website. Final race in the fall series is this Sunday. It's the grandaddy of 'em all, the Palmer Park run. Woohoo!