Thursday, April 30, 2009
earth day 5K results
Results of the most competitive 5K in the history of running can be seen here. Please note my complete domination of a very deep field...
KBCO contest
Just faxed back all the info for my free Mile High tix. Had the standard KBCO winner's sheet to fill out, as well as a copy of my license, and even a W-9 since the prize was worth over a hundred bones. KBCO said the value of the tickets was $325, though that's closer to $400 if you hafta buy 'em with service fees.
They said they won't mail the tickets until three weeks before the show. By then the festival should be sold out, so it'll be extra special to tell Nacheaux and Happy Sock that I gave the tickets to someone else who offered to pay more!
Unfortunately, I can't win anything else on KBCO for 90 days.
They said they won't mail the tickets until three weeks before the show. By then the festival should be sold out, so it'll be extra special to tell Nacheaux and Happy Sock that I gave the tickets to someone else who offered to pay more!
Unfortunately, I can't win anything else on KBCO for 90 days.
Barr Trail Mountain Race
Rego for one of the best kept secrets of running, the Barr Trail Mountain Race, opens on May 4th at 2AM. If you rego between 2AM and 4AM the race is only $15. The BTMR is probably the only race out there that donates 100% of race entry fees to good causes (El Paso County Search & Rescue, Friends of the Peak, and several local high school cross country teams).
Once again I will be out of town for this race, but I've done it before and it's a great time, more than worth it even if you oversleep and hafta pay the full $30 entry fee.
The race is on July 12, 2009.
Once again I will be out of town for this race, but I've done it before and it's a great time, more than worth it even if you oversleep and hafta pay the full $30 entry fee.
The race is on July 12, 2009.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
swine flu!
Entering day two of flu like symptoms. Sore throat, runny nose, general feeling of shittiness. I know this ain't due to a hangover. Plus, Katie was in Texas over the weekend...
Monday, April 27, 2009
to BB or not to BB?
Still on the fence on whether or not to run the Bolder Boulder 10K. It's one of the more famous road races out there, so part of me thinks I should run it while I live nearby.
On the other hand, the cheapest rego is $42 (rego can go up to $88!). All that loot to run a race that will be way too crowded to run fast (I believe this is the second largest road race in the country with over 50,000 runners) and I won't be able to wear the t-shirt, since every poser jogger from Quinn's will have this shirt in their wardrobe.
Truth be told, I could have a lot more fun by going to Boulder, doing a long run on the sweet trails up there, and blowing the $42 at one of the local pubs.
We'll see. Maybe I can get into the elite race after my win from this past weekend...
On the other hand, the cheapest rego is $42 (rego can go up to $88!). All that loot to run a race that will be way too crowded to run fast (I believe this is the second largest road race in the country with over 50,000 runners) and I won't be able to wear the t-shirt, since every poser jogger from Quinn's will have this shirt in their wardrobe.
Truth be told, I could have a lot more fun by going to Boulder, doing a long run on the sweet trails up there, and blowing the $42 at one of the local pubs.
We'll see. Maybe I can get into the elite race after my win from this past weekend...
swine flu?
I sure picked a helluva day to have a runny nose! I think I'm gonna get to bail out of here early. I believe the correct treatment for swine flu involves a few hours on the trails of Palmer Park (which should be good and muddy after all the rain/snow we've had lately) and then I'll go infect all the wankers at the first DIM hash of the season!
The DIM will be my third hash in three days, having hit the Kimchi hash on Saturday and the Denver hash yesterday. Wednesday I'll probably hang with Denver again at their Wash Park Wed run. Good times! Hopefully my liver won't be needed to defend my body against the upcoming pandemic...
The DIM will be my third hash in three days, having hit the Kimchi hash on Saturday and the Denver hash yesterday. Wednesday I'll probably hang with Denver again at their Wash Park Wed run. Good times! Hopefully my liver won't be needed to defend my body against the upcoming pandemic...
schwag
Just got a moment to check out the packet they gave me for winning the Earth Day 5K. Besides getting a pair of stars and stripes sunglasses that obviously make me a better American than you when I'm wearing them, I got one free session for an adult agility class from Aerials on 8th Street (I will give this away if anyne wants it), a $50 gift certificate to Atayne Performance (running gear made from recycled plastic bottles and coconuts), and one year of free coffee from BuyWell Coffee! And on that last deal I can opt for coffee beans so I don't hafta spend any more time on the east side than I have to.
snow
It's currently snowing like crazy here. Not laying, but the snowflakes are HUGE, making Manitou look like one of those souvenir snow cubes. Though I'm more than ready for warm weather, getting all this recent moisture is good for the area, hope it brings down the fire danger. Can't wait 'till we finally get some sunshine, everything around here is gonna be so green!
sick
Think I caught whatever crud is going around. I didn't notice it as much yesterday since my hangover masked the pain, but I'm still under the weather today. I'm hoping it's the swine flu. I'd love to see some crazy disease come along and take about 1/3 of the world population.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
the champion!
I was first overall at this morning's Earth Day 5K in a blazing time of 19:12. Ran with a pack of two for the first half mile and then, just like I was at a CRUD run, threw the hammer down and dropped the field.
TexMex pics!
OK, little late on these, but here are the photos from the TexMex roadtrip back in January. They include Guadalupe Peak, Hueco Tanks, and the Sandia Peak tram as well.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Pine Creek Shitkickers
The PCS will be playing the Mariner on Saturday night. It's a side project from a couple of the boys of Creating a Newsence, should be some good stuff.
water safety day!
Oh yeah, I'm sure everyone will be there for this shindig! I only post this because it's the first official business e-mail I got from PARAB. We gave $500 to help this happen. The hot tub safety class should be a hoot. Always remember brownie's first rule of hot tubs - no fat chicks!
for Wiley...
Love this ad! It's not the most politically correct thing to do, but I make no effort to hide my disrespect towards joggers. Team in training types, jack quinn's running club types, oprah winfrey "don't worry about the effort, we're all winners just for finishing" types, the "I spent 30 minutes doing my hair and putting on makeup for my 20 minute run" types, do everyone a favor and get a treadmill for your living room.
Several days after watching Boston I'm still inspired by Kara Goucher's collapse over the final two miles. When she started to fall apart I noticed her head flop down. She's a world class runner, has a world class coach (Alberto Salazar), has world class form, but that head thing was the same exact thing I do when I start to come unglued. It's like she studied film of me so she could let the world know that everything was going to shit. I knew exactly how bad she was feeling because I had been there many times before. I almost took off from work to go run when I saw it happen!
It's one of my favorite things about running. I realize I will never win another race (believe it or not, I used to win quite often back in high school and college). But I can always give a great effort, and I can honestly say that I've suffered just as much, if not more, than the guys up front. It's a great feeling that joggers will never experience. Guys like Kyle, Tony, Matt, Paul D, Fast Eddy*, they may finish many, many hours (even days in some cases) ahead of me, but it's not because I didn't give the same hard effort as they did. Tony said to me after Leadville once "I don't see how you guys do it, I could never be out there suffering for that long." Not sure if he meant that as an insult or a compliment, but I took pride in it.
So why is this post for Wiley? The ad made me think of him because he's going to be participating in the Stockholm marathon soon. I've been following his marathon quest, first to qualify for Boston and then to break three hours. We're roughly the same ability (though you wouldn't know that from the ass whuppin' I laid on him in his backyard at Austin!) so I know how hard he's been working. He gave a heroic effort at Boston in his run for a sub three, but fell painfully short (see his blog for a great race report). That happens when you set aggressive goals, I've told him quite often that if you meet your goals all the time you're setting them way too low.
And yet, he's thinking of losing his HFC status by jogging Stockholm! Despite being in sub three shape, despite knowing what little he has to do to get that magical 2:59, despite the fact that his parents will be watching, he's open to the possibility of sandbagging a marathon he travelled thousands of miles to get to!
Say it ain't so Wiley!
Several days after watching Boston I'm still inspired by Kara Goucher's collapse over the final two miles. When she started to fall apart I noticed her head flop down. She's a world class runner, has a world class coach (Alberto Salazar), has world class form, but that head thing was the same exact thing I do when I start to come unglued. It's like she studied film of me so she could let the world know that everything was going to shit. I knew exactly how bad she was feeling because I had been there many times before. I almost took off from work to go run when I saw it happen!
It's one of my favorite things about running. I realize I will never win another race (believe it or not, I used to win quite often back in high school and college). But I can always give a great effort, and I can honestly say that I've suffered just as much, if not more, than the guys up front. It's a great feeling that joggers will never experience. Guys like Kyle, Tony, Matt, Paul D, Fast Eddy*, they may finish many, many hours (even days in some cases) ahead of me, but it's not because I didn't give the same hard effort as they did. Tony said to me after Leadville once "I don't see how you guys do it, I could never be out there suffering for that long." Not sure if he meant that as an insult or a compliment, but I took pride in it.
So why is this post for Wiley? The ad made me think of him because he's going to be participating in the Stockholm marathon soon. I've been following his marathon quest, first to qualify for Boston and then to break three hours. We're roughly the same ability (though you wouldn't know that from the ass whuppin' I laid on him in his backyard at Austin!) so I know how hard he's been working. He gave a heroic effort at Boston in his run for a sub three, but fell painfully short (see his blog for a great race report). That happens when you set aggressive goals, I've told him quite often that if you meet your goals all the time you're setting them way too low.
And yet, he's thinking of losing his HFC status by jogging Stockholm! Despite being in sub three shape, despite knowing what little he has to do to get that magical 2:59, despite the fact that his parents will be watching, he's open to the possibility of sandbagging a marathon he travelled thousands of miles to get to!
Say it ain't so Wiley!
*I'm not convinced that SJ's quick race times are due to his hard training and race day efforts and have a hunch that he cuts the course when he can. I have informed the HR race crew to be on the lookout for this.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
it's back!
Great book, finally been reprinted. Sometimes I pretend I'm Quentin Cassidy when I run...catching up...
HPb 141 - Grand Canyon R2R2R - 43 miles, 12:44:00
HPb 142 - Rim Trail at GC, 10.4 miles, 1:47:04
HPb 143 - ran home from work, 10 miles, 1:29:50
HPb 144 - Nirobarra Nausea hill repeats, 5.3 miles, 1:00:21
HPb 145 - Fruita 50 miler, 10:33:00
HPb 146 - Fruita 5 miler, 1:14:00
HPb 147 - Old Colorado City, 3.4 miles, 30:14
HPb 148 - ran home from work, 10 miles, 1:31:00
After nailing 25 days in a row, I've taken five rest days in the past two weeks!
HPb 142 - Rim Trail at GC, 10.4 miles, 1:47:04
HPb 143 - ran home from work, 10 miles, 1:29:50
HPb 144 - Nirobarra Nausea hill repeats, 5.3 miles, 1:00:21
HPb 145 - Fruita 50 miler, 10:33:00
HPb 146 - Fruita 5 miler, 1:14:00
HPb 147 - Old Colorado City, 3.4 miles, 30:14
HPb 148 - ran home from work, 10 miles, 1:31:00
After nailing 25 days in a row, I've taken five rest days in the past two weeks!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
PARAB
Last night I continued on the family political dynasty (my dad is on the zoning board for Sunbury, PA, and my sister was in Bill Clinton's little black book) when I was named to the Manitou Springs Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. It was a rough campaign, but miracles can happen when they need to fill two positions and only one person applies.
PARAB advises Manitou city council on issues that deal with local parks and trails. For example, for the Manitou drum circle, council would have asked PARAB what damage, if any, those damn dirty hippies could cause to Memorial Park. PARAB would make a recommendation, and city council would take that into account when they voted on whether to waive the noise ordinance for the drum circle. At last night's meeting, someone applied to have a vintage car show at Memorial Park. So it looks like the first thing I'll help work on is deciding whether or not parking cars on the grass at Memorial Park would cause any damage.
Pretty stoked, it'll be nice to help out with the parks and trails I spend so much time on. I'm also glad I'll have a bigger voice on what I think will be a battle for the Incline once it's opened to the public. I'm afraid a bunch of posers are gonna want to turn it into a glorified staircase. Not on my watch, beotches!
But my first order of business: finding out how to use eminent domain to fuck with John O! I think that area of town could use a new dog park...
PARAB advises Manitou city council on issues that deal with local parks and trails. For example, for the Manitou drum circle, council would have asked PARAB what damage, if any, those damn dirty hippies could cause to Memorial Park. PARAB would make a recommendation, and city council would take that into account when they voted on whether to waive the noise ordinance for the drum circle. At last night's meeting, someone applied to have a vintage car show at Memorial Park. So it looks like the first thing I'll help work on is deciding whether or not parking cars on the grass at Memorial Park would cause any damage.
Pretty stoked, it'll be nice to help out with the parks and trails I spend so much time on. I'm also glad I'll have a bigger voice on what I think will be a battle for the Incline once it's opened to the public. I'm afraid a bunch of posers are gonna want to turn it into a glorified staircase. Not on my watch, beotches!
But my first order of business: finding out how to use eminent domain to fuck with John O! I think that area of town could use a new dog park...
Manitou drum circle
Oh yeah, forgot to mention that city council approved a noise waver for the Manitou drum circle. Every Thursday night starting May 14th at Memorial Park!
Manitou city council meeting
Last night's Manitou city council meeting clocked in at just over 3.5 hours. Ugh. But there were some classic moments. The big issue on the docket was dealing with the expansion of the Wheeler House. Seems that project is pissing off the neighbors.
There was a debate between the neighborhood association and the business folks in charge of the expansion, all overheard by city council, which would rule on whether or not the Manitou historic preservation committee correctly followed procedures in granting approval to expand a historic building. That run on sentence actually makes the 1.5 hours of the mess sound more exciting than it really was.
But after the initial arguments were over, this old Manitoid stands up and starts complaining about garbage pick up. "Are we gonna be hearing the garbage truck at 4:30AM like we do now!?!" the guy yelled.
The mayor responded to guy by saying the garbage issue was for another meeting.
The old guy then says, "Oh, I see, you just won't let us talk about it!" He sounded really pissed off. He then yells, "I'm outta here!" and proceeded to storm out of the meeting.
The hilarious thing was that the guy musta been at least in his mid 70s and used a cane. And moved VERY slowly. So when he "stormed out" it literally took him at least 90 seconds to go from his seat over to the exit, about 15 feet away. There was this real awkward silence from everyone, and I was trying not to piss my pants laughing.
Gotta love the locals!
There was a debate between the neighborhood association and the business folks in charge of the expansion, all overheard by city council, which would rule on whether or not the Manitou historic preservation committee correctly followed procedures in granting approval to expand a historic building. That run on sentence actually makes the 1.5 hours of the mess sound more exciting than it really was.
But after the initial arguments were over, this old Manitoid stands up and starts complaining about garbage pick up. "Are we gonna be hearing the garbage truck at 4:30AM like we do now!?!" the guy yelled.
The mayor responded to guy by saying the garbage issue was for another meeting.
The old guy then says, "Oh, I see, you just won't let us talk about it!" He sounded really pissed off. He then yells, "I'm outta here!" and proceeded to storm out of the meeting.
The hilarious thing was that the guy musta been at least in his mid 70s and used a cane. And moved VERY slowly. So when he "stormed out" it literally took him at least 90 seconds to go from his seat over to the exit, about 15 feet away. There was this real awkward silence from everyone, and I was trying not to piss my pants laughing.
Gotta love the locals!
Desert RATS pics
Here are the race photos from the 50 miler. Can't get around the copyright thing so you'll hafta click the links.
Pics of me:
pic 1 (yeah, I look pretty rough at the 1.5 mile mark)
pic 2
pic 3
pic 4
pic 5 (approaching 37 miles)
pic 6 (from the five miler on Sunday; yes, I look slow, and you can make fun of me after you put on your Hardrock finisher's shirt)
Pics of Katie:
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pics of Magnum P.I., aka The Best Dressed Man in Ultrarunning:
pic 1
pic 2
Pic of Tony. For the record, I evened up my head-to-head record against Tony at 2-2. He's nipped me twice at Leadville (though once I was so close all he had time to do after finishing was get a full nights sleep and go for a five mile recovery run and then grab breakfast before coming back to see me finish), I crossed the finish line before him at Greenland 2007 and Fruita '09.
Pics of me:
pic 1 (yeah, I look pretty rough at the 1.5 mile mark)
pic 2
pic 3
pic 4
pic 5 (approaching 37 miles)
pic 6 (from the five miler on Sunday; yes, I look slow, and you can make fun of me after you put on your Hardrock finisher's shirt)
Pics of Katie:
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pics of Magnum P.I., aka The Best Dressed Man in Ultrarunning:
pic 1
pic 2
Pic of Tony. For the record, I evened up my head-to-head record against Tony at 2-2. He's nipped me twice at Leadville (though once I was so close all he had time to do after finishing was get a full nights sleep and go for a five mile recovery run and then grab breakfast before coming back to see me finish), I crossed the finish line before him at Greenland 2007 and Fruita '09.
free rides!
And I'm not talking about your mom!
In celebration of Earth Day, Mountain Metro (that's the poor attempt at public transportation here in the Pikes Peak region) is free today! Woohoo, with the money I save I can buy some extra crack at the downtown station!
Happy Earth Day, everyone!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
hell yeah!
Just won two weekend passes to the Mile High Music Festival from KBCO! That's almost $400! Woohoo! Plus, I got my name mentioned on the coolest radio station in Colorado!
I was almost insulted that the trivia question I had to answer was so easy.
"Which member of the Rock and Roll hall of fame joined Tom Petty on stage at last year's Mile High Music Festival?"
I had tried to win earlier in the day but was stumped by the question. "Name five bands beginning with the letter G who are playing this year's festival." I didn't have the internet handy and could only remember Galactic, G Love, and Gov't Mule. I could have used Buddy Guy, Guster, Gomez, the Greyboy Allstars, and/or Gogol Bordello.
Monday, April 20, 2009
correction
Earlier I said there were no Colorado hashers running Boston. I worried that we were getting fat and lazy like Texas hashers. But I was sorely mistaken, as Knees Up and Chinwacker both finished.
Earth Day 5K
Looks like this is gonna be a great weekend for running and drinking! Gonna start with the Earth Day 5K down at CC. Yeah, it might seem like racing doesn't really jive with the whole "recovery" thing I talked about in the last post, but I've lost so much leg speed over the years that I can't really do any damage in such a short race. We'll see if I can break 20 minutes.
Pleanty of time to do this race and then head over to the Royal Tavern for the Three Peaks fat ass. I may be the only one to show up for that, but regardless I plan on having a good time. Hiking the entire thing and carrying along one can of Pabst for each mountain!
Pleanty of time to do this race and then head over to the Royal Tavern for the Three Peaks fat ass. I may be the only one to show up for that, but regardless I plan on having a good time. Hiking the entire thing and carrying along one can of Pabst for each mountain!
weekend update
Once Katie and I finally arrived in Grand Junction (I've done the drive in under five hours before; on Friday it took over eight) the weekend was a blast.
We stayed at the Hotel Melrose in GJ, a hostel located in downtown less than a block away from the Rockslide brewpub. Most people would consider it sketchy (the first thing the lady at the front desk told us as we were checking in was "no drug use in the hostel") but I didn't mind the place. Especially since it was only 55 bones a night, compared to the "runner's special" rate of $179 (PER NIGHT!!!) at the La Quinta in Fruita. The Melrose was only about a 15 minute drive to Fruita.
We hit the three breweries (Kannah Creek, Breck Ale House, and Rockslide) in Grand Junction on Friday night, then called it quits. Saturday morning we were on the road at 5:15AM to head out to the Mack trailhead just on the west side of Fruita.
Race started at 6:30AM. I had known all week not to expect much, as I was nowhere near being recovered from my Grand Canyon run a week prior. I just figured I'd plug along and get in some great training for Hardrock, as well as discover some sweet new trails.
Those being my only two goals, the weekend was a huge success. Within the first few miles of the race, my legs were already heavy. The course was awesome, and a lot harder than I expected. I can see why Fruita is such a mecca for mountain bikers, that technical singletrack out there is awesome! I ran along at a decent pace, catching up with some of my ultra friends, enjoying the scenery.
My first lap was decent, finishing just under 4:40. Saw the Colorado river for the second weekend in a row. Saw tons of lizards. Also saw something I've never seen before - Tony not winning. He ended up dropping out around 30 miles, though I talked to him later and it doesn't look like anything serious.
Second lap was more of the same. My legs were dead but without the pressure of trying to run a certain time I was still enjoying myself. Saw Katie on the way in to a 25 mile finish, she had a softball sized lump and tons of bloody scrapes on her leg. She took a bad fall before the first aid station (at five miles) but had continued on and finished right around six hours. I had a real low stretch from 30 miles through 37 miles. That's the longest stretch between aid stations, and I ran out of water about halfway through. That's also the time the sun decided to come out and bake the course. Ouch. But it wasn't too bad, I've certainly suffered a lot more in races. Hiked a lot of that section, then managed to do the airborne shuffle for most of the final half marathon. I was happy to be able to run, though I wasn't moving very fast with each step I told myself "this will pay off in Silverton...." And by "pay off," I mean with a decent Hardrock time as well as a keg of beer from SJ.
Ended up finishing in 10:33. Not too shabby for what was essentially a well supported training run. A 12+ and a 10+ hour training run within the span of a week, good stuff!
Shortly after finishing Katie and I were off to the Hot Tomato for some beers and pizza. Eat hot pie! Lots of Fat Tire and almost an entire Meaty Boy by myself. Mmmm...
After a shower and a few more beers, we dropped by Jackalope liquors for a bottle of sweet tea vodka and some lemonade before heading over to the awards ceremony at La Quinta. We got to hear a short presentation by Andy Skurka, who has hiked so many trails it's almost unbelievable. He doesn't consider himself a runner but won the 50 miler in a course record 7:30-something.
After that we went back to the hostel and walked down to the block to the Snowflake. Pretty rough local pub, but nobody bothered Katie and I as we sat at the bar and pounded our PBR.
Sunday morning was not pretty. I had entered the 10 miler but decided early on to stick with the five. My legs were hurtin'! The Fruita course was a lot easier than the GC, but all that pounding on the rocks had definitely taken it's toll. I knew that any running on Sunday was not going to be good for my body, but I had already paid so I walked/jogged the fun run. Think I finished in 1:14, barely beating the top guy in the ten mile race. In my defense, there weren't too many 50 mile finishers out there on Sunday.
The drive home was much more uneventful. Up and over Hoosier pass with no problems at all. Did end up stopping in Frisco at the Backcountry Brewery, another one to cross off my list.
All in all another terriffic weekend. My Hardrock training had been going very well, and this was a huge boost to my confidence. Decided that I'm gonna use my Nathan Elite 2V for Hardrock. The weight savings over my trusty camelbak should make a significant difference. It doesn't carry enough water for the amount of time I'll be in between aid stations, but I can just fill up in the several million stream crossings out there. Giardia won't set in until after the race, and I should be able to get rid of it before Leadville.
This ends three solid weeks of training for me. 80, 80, and 70 miles, with two runs of 42+ miles. I'm going to cut back significantly this week, forcing myself to only run 90 miles between now and the end of the month (so I can reach 300 for April). There's a fine line between running strong and being injured, and I want to make sure I don't cross it.
We stayed at the Hotel Melrose in GJ, a hostel located in downtown less than a block away from the Rockslide brewpub. Most people would consider it sketchy (the first thing the lady at the front desk told us as we were checking in was "no drug use in the hostel") but I didn't mind the place. Especially since it was only 55 bones a night, compared to the "runner's special" rate of $179 (PER NIGHT!!!) at the La Quinta in Fruita. The Melrose was only about a 15 minute drive to Fruita.
We hit the three breweries (Kannah Creek, Breck Ale House, and Rockslide) in Grand Junction on Friday night, then called it quits. Saturday morning we were on the road at 5:15AM to head out to the Mack trailhead just on the west side of Fruita.
Race started at 6:30AM. I had known all week not to expect much, as I was nowhere near being recovered from my Grand Canyon run a week prior. I just figured I'd plug along and get in some great training for Hardrock, as well as discover some sweet new trails.
Those being my only two goals, the weekend was a huge success. Within the first few miles of the race, my legs were already heavy. The course was awesome, and a lot harder than I expected. I can see why Fruita is such a mecca for mountain bikers, that technical singletrack out there is awesome! I ran along at a decent pace, catching up with some of my ultra friends, enjoying the scenery.
My first lap was decent, finishing just under 4:40. Saw the Colorado river for the second weekend in a row. Saw tons of lizards. Also saw something I've never seen before - Tony not winning. He ended up dropping out around 30 miles, though I talked to him later and it doesn't look like anything serious.
Second lap was more of the same. My legs were dead but without the pressure of trying to run a certain time I was still enjoying myself. Saw Katie on the way in to a 25 mile finish, she had a softball sized lump and tons of bloody scrapes on her leg. She took a bad fall before the first aid station (at five miles) but had continued on and finished right around six hours. I had a real low stretch from 30 miles through 37 miles. That's the longest stretch between aid stations, and I ran out of water about halfway through. That's also the time the sun decided to come out and bake the course. Ouch. But it wasn't too bad, I've certainly suffered a lot more in races. Hiked a lot of that section, then managed to do the airborne shuffle for most of the final half marathon. I was happy to be able to run, though I wasn't moving very fast with each step I told myself "this will pay off in Silverton...." And by "pay off," I mean with a decent Hardrock time as well as a keg of beer from SJ.
Ended up finishing in 10:33. Not too shabby for what was essentially a well supported training run. A 12+ and a 10+ hour training run within the span of a week, good stuff!
Shortly after finishing Katie and I were off to the Hot Tomato for some beers and pizza. Eat hot pie! Lots of Fat Tire and almost an entire Meaty Boy by myself. Mmmm...
After a shower and a few more beers, we dropped by Jackalope liquors for a bottle of sweet tea vodka and some lemonade before heading over to the awards ceremony at La Quinta. We got to hear a short presentation by Andy Skurka, who has hiked so many trails it's almost unbelievable. He doesn't consider himself a runner but won the 50 miler in a course record 7:30-something.
After that we went back to the hostel and walked down to the block to the Snowflake. Pretty rough local pub, but nobody bothered Katie and I as we sat at the bar and pounded our PBR.
Sunday morning was not pretty. I had entered the 10 miler but decided early on to stick with the five. My legs were hurtin'! The Fruita course was a lot easier than the GC, but all that pounding on the rocks had definitely taken it's toll. I knew that any running on Sunday was not going to be good for my body, but I had already paid so I walked/jogged the fun run. Think I finished in 1:14, barely beating the top guy in the ten mile race. In my defense, there weren't too many 50 mile finishers out there on Sunday.
The drive home was much more uneventful. Up and over Hoosier pass with no problems at all. Did end up stopping in Frisco at the Backcountry Brewery, another one to cross off my list.
All in all another terriffic weekend. My Hardrock training had been going very well, and this was a huge boost to my confidence. Decided that I'm gonna use my Nathan Elite 2V for Hardrock. The weight savings over my trusty camelbak should make a significant difference. It doesn't carry enough water for the amount of time I'll be in between aid stations, but I can just fill up in the several million stream crossings out there. Giardia won't set in until after the race, and I should be able to get rid of it before Leadville.
This ends three solid weeks of training for me. 80, 80, and 70 miles, with two runs of 42+ miles. I'm going to cut back significantly this week, forcing myself to only run 90 miles between now and the end of the month (so I can reach 300 for April). There's a fine line between running strong and being injured, and I want to make sure I don't cross it.
Arrrgh! So close!
Damn! Kara Goucher finished in third place, in one of the closest Boston marathons ever. She ran a helluva race, it was awesome to watch. I saw her head dropping over the last two miles, I could feel her pain as that's what I do when I have nothing left in the tank but still have a few miles to go.
Ryan Hall finished in third as well.
Great year for the top American runners!
Wiley was still on sub three pace at the halfway mark...
For all the "true Americans" out there, that pic is not some sort of liberal protest with the backwards flag. She just couldn't think straight after hammering a 10K on the track.
Ryan Hall finished in third as well.
Great year for the top American runners!
Wiley was still on sub three pace at the halfway mark...
For all the "true Americans" out there, that pic is not some sort of liberal protest with the backwards flag. She just couldn't think straight after hammering a 10K on the track.
Go Wiley! Go Keller! Go Kara! Go Hall!
My buddy Wiley is currently on pace at Boston to join the exclusive sub-three club! He passed the 10K mark in 42:08, on pace for a 2:58:09 finish. I told him I thought he'd run 2:57, so he better not puss out at Heartbreak Hill!
John Keller of Manitou is also out there. He's on sub 3:20 pace!
The leaders are over ten miles into it, and Ryan Hall is hanging tough. Go USA!
Kara Goucher is also lurking. Hopefully she wins and Sports Illustrated does a commerative swimsuit issue. Go USA!
No Colorado hashers running this year, WTF?!?! We'll make up for it next year...
John Keller of Manitou is also out there. He's on sub 3:20 pace!
The leaders are over ten miles into it, and Ryan Hall is hanging tough. Go USA!
Kara Goucher is also lurking. Hopefully she wins and Sports Illustrated does a commerative swimsuit issue. Go USA!
No Colorado hashers running this year, WTF?!?! We'll make up for it next year...
Sunday, April 19, 2009
spring in Colorado...
Somehow, I got Katie's rice burner up and over Ute Pass, Wilkerson Pass, and Freemont Pass on Friday during the storm. We should both be dead right now.
Fruita 50
Finally back from The RATS festival. Probably shouldn't have attempted a 50 miler so soon after the Grand Canyon. But while I was about two hours behind were I thought I would finish (my time was 10:33), it was some awesome training for Hardrock. I was still sore from the R2R2R, and the course was a lot harder than I expected. Had a great weekend though, and now I understand why mountain bikers all get huge boners whenever someone mentions Fruita - those are some awesome trails out there!More to come, I blog a lot better when I'm at work...
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
HA!
Type 1 fun - fun to do, fun to talk about later
Type 2 fun - NOT fun to do, but fun to talk about later
which way?
Ha, two weeks of shitty, wintery weather in Manitou, and two weeks that I'm not around to suffer through it!
Off to Grand Junction in a few hours. Trying to figure out how to get there since some roads are significantly worse than others right now.
The original route, up through Breckenridge, is out.
Could go through Leadville, but Ute Pass is looking pretty crappy.
Right now I'm thinking of heading down to Canon City and going out on 50. This would force me to stop at Moonlight Pizza for lunch, plus I could hit the Gunnison Brewery and Smuggler's Pub, which I had to miss last week.
The weather for Fruita is looking good, sunny skies and temps in the mid-60s. Looking forward to my first visit to the Kokopelli trail. 50 miles on Saturday and another 10 on Sunday. Recovery grub provided by the Hot Tomato. Headless chicken hunting and a visit to Grrrreta. Get to meet super hiker Andy Skurka on Sat night. Might check Sound Tribe Sector 9 at Sunsation on the way back, or maybe just return to Manitou in time to see Grant Sabin at the Mariner.
Life is good.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Grand Canyon - the final draft
Not my best work but I had a deadline to meet. Had quite a few PBR's tonight, so there are probably more spelling and grammar errors now.
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Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim
April 11, 2009
First off, I am trying to do the impossible here. Even the most eloquent writer, and I am nowhere near that, would be unable to describe the beauty of the Grand Canyon. My goal was to do one of the “classic” trail runs, the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim, 42+ miles from the South Kaibab trailhead at the South Rim of the GC, down to Phantom Ranch at the Colorado River, and up the North Kaibab trail to the North Rim. Then all the way back again.
There is no parking at the trailhead, so I took the shuttle from my weekend home at the Mather campground. I stepped off the bus at 7:15AM and began my adventure. Lots of fog provided limited visibility. “Great,” I thought to myself, “I’m not gonna be able to see a thing out there.”
The South Kaibab trail immediately begins dropping you down towards the Colorado River. Lots of switchbacks. Lots of erosion bars. Lots of mule poop. After a few minutes I drop below the fog and am stunned at what I see. The Grand Canyon in all its glory. I had seen thousands of pictures of the GC before, but not even the most professional ones did the Canyon any justice. Different shades of reds and oranges and greens and browns just jumped right out at me. I felt like I was in a Dr. Seuss book, I had never seen such a combination of colors and shapes before. The twelve hour drive from Manitou was worth it just for that single moment. All this time I had just assumed that because the Canyon was in Arizona, it was all desert. It was incredible to see now many different plants decorated the place and how many different colors a rock could take on.
It was just as amazing to see how deep the Canyon is. About four miles down the trail I had to pull over to let a mule train pass (yes, there are lots of mules on the trails and yes, they poop all over the place). I took a look over a cliff and caught my first view of the Colorado River. It was flowing at a level even deeper than I thought I had to drop to. I knew that from the South Rim to the river was almost a 5,000 foot drop in less than eight miles, it was just hard to picture that much of a descent.
Soon enough I was crossing the suspension bridge 100 feet over the Colorado River. Another half mile or so and I was at Phantom Ranch, the lowest point of the run at 2,400 feet, just before 9AM. The ranch was quiet, as most people were either out hiking or riding their mules back up to the South Rim. I discovered that a can of Tecate costs $4.25 here. Not too bad considering how much work had to be done to get the beer to the Ranch.
I filled up on water at Phantom Ranch and found the North Kaibab trail, which would be my home for the next 28 miles. The park rangers (bless their souls!) really, really, really discourage people from hiking into the Canyon at all, let alone give blessing to people attempting the double crossing. Signs at the top of the Canyon warn of death to people who try to hike to the river and back in a single day. As I left Phantom Ranch a ranger asked me where I was going. “The North Rim,” I said. She looked at me like I had just walked on water. “That’s 14 uphill miles away, you shouldn’t do that” she replied. I said thanks and took off running. To be fair, the day after finishing this run I asked a park ranger why they discouraged any serious hiking or running. He replied, “We do more than 300 rescues a year. Do you know how friggin’ hard it is to carry a person from the Phantom Ranch to the South Rim?”
I thought that going rim to rim would have you running in the main canyon, but I was wrong. After leaving Phantom Ranch you actually follow some sweet singletrack along Bright Angel Creek up through Bright Angel Canyon. For about two miles after the ranch, through Box Canyon, I felt like I was running in the Royal Gorge. Cliffs shooting straight up on both sides of me, with only the fast flowing creek and the trail in between. I had decided early on not to take any pictures of the run (other than the obligatory shot from the North Rim to prove I’d been there) since every step I took provided a new beautiful view. Had I taken all the pics I wanted to, this run would’ve taken several days.
As Bright Angel Canyon began to open up the rain started to fall. A few drops at first, but before long it was a steady drizzle and then a heavy rain. No big deal, it was nice to run in the rain after all the snow I’d been running through back in Colorado lately.
I ran past Ribbon Falls, one of several zillion waterfalls in the Canyon. Continued on past the Cottonwood campground, about seven miles from the ranch. The water was still turned off here, luckily I was carrying a large camelbak and didn’t need to refill. One good thing about the rain and low temps was not having to worry about overheating.
I continued on at a decent pace. The trail is all uphill but this section was not something that a Colorado trail runner would notice. Soon I reached the Roaring Creek pump house. The water here was on, and I refilled my camelback. Also took a break here to wolf down a cliff bar and hope the weather would improve. I was soaked pretty good by this point.
Roaring Creek has a huge waterfall spilling into it, and it’s used to generate electricity. This marks the spot where the real climb to the North Rim begins. Shortly after passing the waterfall it also marked the spot where the rain turned to snow. Things became real rough here. I was hiking the steep parts of the hill, which were most of it, and running the flatter parts. The snow was heavy and the temps were dropping. The trail here was a lot less rocky, and the snow was quickly turning the trail to mud. I climbed for what seemed like forever and eventually come to a bridge, and this was where I had a real bad section. From the bridge, through the Supai tunnel, I felt like I wasn’t moving at all. I was sliding all over the place in the mud, freezing my ass off, and wondering if I should turn around.
Just as all hope seemed lost, I saw a pair of hikers coming towards me. I stopped to chat with them and they said it was only about 1.5 miles to the North Rim. This cheered me up a bit. Shortly after I passed the hikers, the snow got real thick. I had to keep my head down to stop the snowflakes from blinding me. But now I was determined to make it all the way. I saw another pair of hikers and again stopped to chat, though this conversation was a lot shorter. I continued on with my standby mantra of “relentless forward motion,” a fancy ultrarunning phrase that sounds much better than saying you’re moving really slow, and was nearing the top when I saw a group of three runners headed back down. So all in all I saw four hikers and three runners on the North Kaibab trail. R2R2R is somewhat extreme, but it certainly isn't uncommon. About ten minutes after I saw the runners I was finally at the North Kaibab trailhead.
The North Rim, 1,000 feet higher than the South Rim, was completely deserted. There were about five inches of fresh snow covering the parking lot. The water was either turned off or had frozen. It was weird how alone I felt up there. They close the North Rim to traffic each winter due to the harsh conditions, and they aren’t opening the roads until May 15th this year. I took ten minutes to wolf down a ham and cheese sandwhich and then it was time for the second half of my run.
I started the trip back around 1:15PM. I tried to run hard, knowing that better weather awaited me once I got down far enough, but the heavy snow and muddy conditions made for some rough going. There were some hairy moments along the trail, running across some slippery sections where a fall would have taken at least 1,000 feet to stop. Good stuff!
The Supai tunnel, the bridge, and finally the waterfall, before I knew it the snow had once again turned to rain. I made very good time here, suddenly realizing that if I kept screwballing around I would be forced to make the climb back up to the South Rim in the dark. I had a flashlight and running in the dark wouldn’t have been a big deal, but I worried about how much the temps would drop once the sun went down. I’m a huge sissy when it comes to cold weather. And although my PPRR Winter Series jacket had more than paid for itself on this run, I didn't want to push my luck by testing it out in sub zero temperatures.
Before I knew it I was back at Phantom ranch. Total heartbreak – the Ranch was closed from 4PM to 6PM to serve supper to those staying the night. I arrived just before 5PM. No special souvenir t-shirt. No four dollar Tecate. Ouch. But in retrospect, that may have been a good thing, as the skies were already beginning to get a little darker.
I began the final section of my journey around 5:15PM. I passed a ranger on the way out, right at the mule stables. She told me I shouldn’t be leaving so late. I told her I had ran to the North Rim and was on my way back, had plenty of water, and had a flashlight just in case I didn’t make it before sunset. She told me I shouldn’t be leaving so late.
But it really was getting late, and I knew I’d hafta haul ass back up the South Kaibab trail. And haul ass I did! The final climb was a bitch and a half, but I hammered as hard as I could. No stopping for water, no stopping to eat. Just some more relentless forward motion, a bit more relentless than my slog up the North Rim. Running when I could, walking when I couldn’t. It was lonely as hell out there – saw nobody coming up or down, and the runners and hikers I had passed on the North Kaibab trail were probably over two hours behind me now. Nothing to do buy hurry up and finish.
Though I was underdressed and wet, and the temps were dropping and the wind was picking up, I was working so hard to get up that damn hill I never really got cold. Shortly after passing the 3.5 miles to go sign my spirits received a huge boost at there was a section probably a mile long that I was not only able to run, but run fast. At that section my thoughts went from “I might wind up dead out here” to “I need to stop at the grocery store on the way back for some more PBR.” It was a great feeling when I finally knew I was going to be successful with the run.
Another few million switchbacks later (a.k.a., Jacob's ladder), I hit the “do not hike to the river in one day or you will die” sign and shortly thereafter I was back where I had started twelve and a half hours earlier. I had completed the classic R2R2R!
I thought I still had a three mile hike back to my campsite as the shuttles stop running after sunset, but I was lucky enough to mooch a ride off a local guide. I arrived back at my tent, grabbed a shower ($2 in quarters for eight minutes, FYI), and began to feast on the grub that Katie Throndsen (a fellow PPRR'er who did a cool Bright Angel-Phantom Ranch-South Kaibab 20 mile loop earlier that day) had prepared. I was completely exhausted, but had nothing to do but eat, drink, be merry, enjoy the campfire, and talk about how much people from Wisconsin suck!
rough draft - GC report
I'm gonna submit this for the PPRR newsletter, so please read this very rough draft and post any comments on how to improve it.
Oh yeah, if you're a PPRR lurker on here, write some crap for the newsletter! I'm getting sick of seeing my stuff in there, but when I didn't write anything last month they ended up filling my space with the entire results from the Poser 5K (aka the St. Pats run).
-------------
Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim
April 11, 2009
First off, I am trying to do the impossible here. Even the most eloquent author, and I am nowhere near that, would be unable to describe the beauty of the Grand Canyon. My goal was to do one of the “classic” trail runs, the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim, 42+ miles from the South Kaibab trailhead at the South Rim of the GC, down to Phantom Ranch along the Colorado River, and up the North Kaibab trail to the North Rim. Then all the way back again.
I stepped off the bus at 7:15AM and began my adventure. Lots of fog provided limited visibility. “Great,” I think to myself, “I’m not gonna be able to see a thing out there.”
The South Kaibab trail immediately begins dropping you down towards the Colorado River. Lots of switchbacks. Lots of erosion bars. Lots of mule poop. After a few minutes I drop below the fog and am amazed at what I see. The Grand Canyon in all it’s glory. I had seen thousands of pictures of the GC before, but not even the most professional ones did the Canyon any justice. Different shades of reds and oranges and greens and browns just jumped right out at me. The twelve hour drive from Manitou was worth it just for that single moment. All this time I had just assumed that because the Canyon was in Arizona, it was all desert. It was incredible to see now many different plants decorated the place.
It’s just amazing how deep the Canyon is. About four miles down the trail I have to pull over to let a mule train pass. I take a look over the cliff and catch my first view of the Colorado River. It is flowing at a level even deeper than I thought I had to drop to.
Soon enough I’m crossing the suspension bridge over the Colorado River. Another half mile or so and I’m at Phantom Ranch, just before 9AM. The ranch is quiet, as most people are either out hiking or riding their mules back up to the South Rim. I discover that a can of Tecate costs $4.25 here. Not too bad considering how much work has to be done to get the beer to the Ranch.
I fill up on water at Phantom Ranch and find the North Kaibab trail, which will be my home for the next 28 miles.
The park rangers (bless their souls!) really, really, really discourage people from hiking into the Canyon at all, let alone attempting to do the double crossing. Signs at the top of the Canyon warn of death to people who try to hike to the river and back in a single day. As I’m leaving Phantom Ranch a ranger asks me where I’m going. “The North Rim,” I say. She looks at me like I just walked on water. “That’s 14 uphill miles away, you shouldn’t do that” she replies. I say thanks and take off running. To be fair, the day after finishing this run I asked a park ranger why they discouraged any serious hiking or running. She replied, “We do more than 300 rescues a year. Do you know how friggin’ hard it is to carry a person from the Phantom Ranch to the South Rim?”
I thought that going rim to rim would have you running in the main canyon, but I was wrong. After leaving Phantom Ranch you actually follow some sweet singletrack along Bright Angel Creek up through Bright Angel Canyon. For about two miles after the ranch I felt like I was running in the Royal Gorge. Cliffs shooting straight up on both sides of me. I had decided early not to take any pictures of this run (other than the obligatory shot from the North Rim to prove I’d been there) since every step I took was gorgeous. Had I taken all the pics I wanted to, this run would’ve taken several days.
As Bright Angel Canyon began to open up the rain started to fall. A few drops at first, but before long it was a steady drizzle. No big deal, it was nice to run in the rain after all the snow I’d been running through lately.
I ran past Ribbon Falls, one of several zillion waterfalls in the Canyon. Continued on past the Cottonwood campground, about seven miles from the ranch. The water was still turned off here, luckily I was carrying a lot and didn’t need any. Another good thing about the rain and low temps was not having to worry about overheating
I continued on at a decent pace. The trail is all uphill but this section was not something that a Colorado trail runner would notice. Soon I reached the Roaring Creek ranger station. Water here was on, and I refilled my camelback. Also took a break here to wolf down a cliff bar and hope the weather would improve. I was soaked pretty good by this point.
Roaring Creek has a huge waterfall spilling into it, and it’s used to generate electricity. This marks the spot where the real climb to the North Rim begins. Shortly after passing the waterfall it also marked the spot where the rain turned to snow. Things became real rough here. I was hiking the steep parts of the hill, which were most of it, and running the flatter parts. The snow was heavy and the temps were dropping. The trail here was a lot less rockier, and the snow was quickly turning the trail to mud. You climb forever and eventually come to a bridge, and this was where I had a real bad section. From the bridge, through the Supai tunnel, I felt like I wasn’t moving. I was sliding all over the place in the mud, freezing my ass off, and wondering if I should turn around. Just as all hope seemed lost, I saw a pair of hikers coming towards me. I stopped to chat with them for a bit and they said it was only about to the North Rim. This cheered me up a bit.. Shortly after I passed the group of hikers, the snow got real thick. I had to keep my head down to keep it from blinding me. I saw another pair of hikers and again stopped to chat, though this conversation was a lot shorter. I continued with my standby mantra of “relentless forward motion” and was nearing the top when I saw a group of three runners headed back down. So all in all I would see four hikers and three runners on the North Kaibab trail. About ten minutes after I saw the runners I was finally at the North Rim.
The North Rim was completely deserted. There were about five inches of fresh snow covering the parking lot. The water was either turned off or had frozen. It was weird how alone I felt up there. FYI, they are opening the North Rim on May 15th this year.
I started the trip back around 1:15PM. I tried to run hard, knowing that better weather awaited me once I got down far enough, but the heavy snow and muddy conditions made for some rough going. There are some hairy moments on this trail, running across some slippery sections where a drop would take at least 1000 feet for you to stop. Good stuff!
The Supai tunnel, the bridge, and finally the waterfall, before I knew it the snow had once again turned to rain. I made very good time here, suddenly realizing that if I kept screwballing around I would be forced to make the climb back up to the South Rim in the dark. I had a flashlight and running in the dark wouldn’t have been a big deal, but I was worried about how much the temps would drop once the sun went down and I had to climb back out of the Canyon. I’m a huge sissy when it comes to cold weather.
Ended up passing the three runners shortly before the Cottonwood campground, so I can claim I had the fastest R2R2R crossing of the day.
Before I knew it I was back at Phantom ranch. Total heartbreak – the Ranch is closed from 4PM to 6PM to serve supper to those staying the night. I arrived just before 5PM. No special t-shirt. No four dollar Tecate. Fuck. But in retrospect, that may have been a good thing.
I began the final section of my journey around 5:15PM. I passed a ranger on the way out, right at the mule stables. She told me I shouldn’t be leaving so late. I told her I had ran to the North Rim and was on my way back, had pleanty of water, and had a flashlight just in case I didn’t make it before sunset. She told me I shouldn’t be leaving so late. Seriously, what kind of brainwashing school do they send GC park rangers to?
But it was getting late, and I knew I’d hafta haul ass back up the South Kaibab trail. And haul ass I did! The final climb was a bitch and a half, but I hammered as hard as I could. No stopping for water, no stopping to eat. Just some more relentless forward motion. Running when I could, walking when I couldn’t. It was lonely as hell out there – saw nobody coming up or down, and the runners and hikers I had passed on the North Kaibab trail were probably two hours behind me now.
Though I was underdressed and wet, and the temps were dropping and the wind was picking up, I was working so hard to get up that damn hill I never really got cold. Shortly after passing the 3.5 miles to go sign my spirits received a huge boost at there was a section probably a mile long that I was not only able to run, but run fast. At that section my thoughts went from “I might wind up dead out here” to “I hope Katie got more ice so the beer is cold.”
Another few zillion switchbacks later and I hit the “do not hike to the river in one day or you will die” sign and shortly thereafter I was back where I had started almost 13 hours earlier. I had completed the classic R2R2R!
Was about to call Katie for a ride back to the campsite but instead bummed a ride off a hiking guide that was just leaving.
After getting a shower ($2 in quarters for eight minutes, FYI) I started gourging myself. Hadn’t eaten much all day and it was time to make up for it. Two extra large cans of Pringles, several bottles of Ensure, some PBR soaked brauts that Katie made over the fire, and of course a shitload of PBR.
Oh yeah, if you're a PPRR lurker on here, write some crap for the newsletter! I'm getting sick of seeing my stuff in there, but when I didn't write anything last month they ended up filling my space with the entire results from the Poser 5K (aka the St. Pats run).
-------------
Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim
April 11, 2009
First off, I am trying to do the impossible here. Even the most eloquent author, and I am nowhere near that, would be unable to describe the beauty of the Grand Canyon. My goal was to do one of the “classic” trail runs, the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim, 42+ miles from the South Kaibab trailhead at the South Rim of the GC, down to Phantom Ranch along the Colorado River, and up the North Kaibab trail to the North Rim. Then all the way back again.
I stepped off the bus at 7:15AM and began my adventure. Lots of fog provided limited visibility. “Great,” I think to myself, “I’m not gonna be able to see a thing out there.”
The South Kaibab trail immediately begins dropping you down towards the Colorado River. Lots of switchbacks. Lots of erosion bars. Lots of mule poop. After a few minutes I drop below the fog and am amazed at what I see. The Grand Canyon in all it’s glory. I had seen thousands of pictures of the GC before, but not even the most professional ones did the Canyon any justice. Different shades of reds and oranges and greens and browns just jumped right out at me. The twelve hour drive from Manitou was worth it just for that single moment. All this time I had just assumed that because the Canyon was in Arizona, it was all desert. It was incredible to see now many different plants decorated the place.
It’s just amazing how deep the Canyon is. About four miles down the trail I have to pull over to let a mule train pass. I take a look over the cliff and catch my first view of the Colorado River. It is flowing at a level even deeper than I thought I had to drop to.
Soon enough I’m crossing the suspension bridge over the Colorado River. Another half mile or so and I’m at Phantom Ranch, just before 9AM. The ranch is quiet, as most people are either out hiking or riding their mules back up to the South Rim. I discover that a can of Tecate costs $4.25 here. Not too bad considering how much work has to be done to get the beer to the Ranch.
I fill up on water at Phantom Ranch and find the North Kaibab trail, which will be my home for the next 28 miles.
The park rangers (bless their souls!) really, really, really discourage people from hiking into the Canyon at all, let alone attempting to do the double crossing. Signs at the top of the Canyon warn of death to people who try to hike to the river and back in a single day. As I’m leaving Phantom Ranch a ranger asks me where I’m going. “The North Rim,” I say. She looks at me like I just walked on water. “That’s 14 uphill miles away, you shouldn’t do that” she replies. I say thanks and take off running. To be fair, the day after finishing this run I asked a park ranger why they discouraged any serious hiking or running. She replied, “We do more than 300 rescues a year. Do you know how friggin’ hard it is to carry a person from the Phantom Ranch to the South Rim?”
I thought that going rim to rim would have you running in the main canyon, but I was wrong. After leaving Phantom Ranch you actually follow some sweet singletrack along Bright Angel Creek up through Bright Angel Canyon. For about two miles after the ranch I felt like I was running in the Royal Gorge. Cliffs shooting straight up on both sides of me. I had decided early not to take any pictures of this run (other than the obligatory shot from the North Rim to prove I’d been there) since every step I took was gorgeous. Had I taken all the pics I wanted to, this run would’ve taken several days.
As Bright Angel Canyon began to open up the rain started to fall. A few drops at first, but before long it was a steady drizzle. No big deal, it was nice to run in the rain after all the snow I’d been running through lately.
I ran past Ribbon Falls, one of several zillion waterfalls in the Canyon. Continued on past the Cottonwood campground, about seven miles from the ranch. The water was still turned off here, luckily I was carrying a lot and didn’t need any. Another good thing about the rain and low temps was not having to worry about overheating
I continued on at a decent pace. The trail is all uphill but this section was not something that a Colorado trail runner would notice. Soon I reached the Roaring Creek ranger station. Water here was on, and I refilled my camelback. Also took a break here to wolf down a cliff bar and hope the weather would improve. I was soaked pretty good by this point.
Roaring Creek has a huge waterfall spilling into it, and it’s used to generate electricity. This marks the spot where the real climb to the North Rim begins. Shortly after passing the waterfall it also marked the spot where the rain turned to snow. Things became real rough here. I was hiking the steep parts of the hill, which were most of it, and running the flatter parts. The snow was heavy and the temps were dropping. The trail here was a lot less rockier, and the snow was quickly turning the trail to mud. You climb forever and eventually come to a bridge, and this was where I had a real bad section. From the bridge, through the Supai tunnel, I felt like I wasn’t moving. I was sliding all over the place in the mud, freezing my ass off, and wondering if I should turn around. Just as all hope seemed lost, I saw a pair of hikers coming towards me. I stopped to chat with them for a bit and they said it was only about to the North Rim. This cheered me up a bit.. Shortly after I passed the group of hikers, the snow got real thick. I had to keep my head down to keep it from blinding me. I saw another pair of hikers and again stopped to chat, though this conversation was a lot shorter. I continued with my standby mantra of “relentless forward motion” and was nearing the top when I saw a group of three runners headed back down. So all in all I would see four hikers and three runners on the North Kaibab trail. About ten minutes after I saw the runners I was finally at the North Rim.
The North Rim was completely deserted. There were about five inches of fresh snow covering the parking lot. The water was either turned off or had frozen. It was weird how alone I felt up there. FYI, they are opening the North Rim on May 15th this year.
I started the trip back around 1:15PM. I tried to run hard, knowing that better weather awaited me once I got down far enough, but the heavy snow and muddy conditions made for some rough going. There are some hairy moments on this trail, running across some slippery sections where a drop would take at least 1000 feet for you to stop. Good stuff!
The Supai tunnel, the bridge, and finally the waterfall, before I knew it the snow had once again turned to rain. I made very good time here, suddenly realizing that if I kept screwballing around I would be forced to make the climb back up to the South Rim in the dark. I had a flashlight and running in the dark wouldn’t have been a big deal, but I was worried about how much the temps would drop once the sun went down and I had to climb back out of the Canyon. I’m a huge sissy when it comes to cold weather.
Ended up passing the three runners shortly before the Cottonwood campground, so I can claim I had the fastest R2R2R crossing of the day.
Before I knew it I was back at Phantom ranch. Total heartbreak – the Ranch is closed from 4PM to 6PM to serve supper to those staying the night. I arrived just before 5PM. No special t-shirt. No four dollar Tecate. Fuck. But in retrospect, that may have been a good thing.
I began the final section of my journey around 5:15PM. I passed a ranger on the way out, right at the mule stables. She told me I shouldn’t be leaving so late. I told her I had ran to the North Rim and was on my way back, had pleanty of water, and had a flashlight just in case I didn’t make it before sunset. She told me I shouldn’t be leaving so late. Seriously, what kind of brainwashing school do they send GC park rangers to?
But it was getting late, and I knew I’d hafta haul ass back up the South Kaibab trail. And haul ass I did! The final climb was a bitch and a half, but I hammered as hard as I could. No stopping for water, no stopping to eat. Just some more relentless forward motion. Running when I could, walking when I couldn’t. It was lonely as hell out there – saw nobody coming up or down, and the runners and hikers I had passed on the North Kaibab trail were probably two hours behind me now.
Though I was underdressed and wet, and the temps were dropping and the wind was picking up, I was working so hard to get up that damn hill I never really got cold. Shortly after passing the 3.5 miles to go sign my spirits received a huge boost at there was a section probably a mile long that I was not only able to run, but run fast. At that section my thoughts went from “I might wind up dead out here” to “I hope Katie got more ice so the beer is cold.”
Another few zillion switchbacks later and I hit the “do not hike to the river in one day or you will die” sign and shortly thereafter I was back where I had started almost 13 hours earlier. I had completed the classic R2R2R!
Was about to call Katie for a ride back to the campsite but instead bummed a ride off a hiking guide that was just leaving.
After getting a shower ($2 in quarters for eight minutes, FYI) I started gourging myself. Hadn’t eaten much all day and it was time to make up for it. Two extra large cans of Pringles, several bottles of Ensure, some PBR soaked brauts that Katie made over the fire, and of course a shitload of PBR.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
whew...
Just had a surprise inspection of our files at work. First time in the 3+ years I've been working here. Mine are nowhere near being up to par, I was sure I would fail.
Nope, passes with flying colors!
Gotta love the civilian life. Had this been anywhere near the difficulty of the inspections I went through when I used to be the unit armorer, I'd be out looking for a job right now.
Nope, passes with flying colors!
Gotta love the civilian life. Had this been anywhere near the difficulty of the inspections I went through when I used to be the unit armorer, I'd be out looking for a job right now.
Grand Canyon pics
Yes, I did complete the R2R2R (in almost 13 hours). No, I did not drink the entire time I was at the Grand Canyon (a good chunk of it, though). Sheesh, I'm workin' on a report, peeps. Give me a break. I'm a lousy writer, and trying to describe the Grand Canyon with my limited vocabulary ain't the easiest thing in the world!
But for those who just can't wait, here are the pics. If you've ever been to the Grand Canyon, you'll know that pictures, no matter how good the photographer, do not do the place justice. It's just something you hafta go see for yourself.
Most of these pics were taken from the various overlooks around the Rim Trail, not during my run. Some were also taken in Four Corners, Durango, Ouray, and Silverton.
But for those who just can't wait, here are the pics. If you've ever been to the Grand Canyon, you'll know that pictures, no matter how good the photographer, do not do the place justice. It's just something you hafta go see for yourself.
Most of these pics were taken from the various overlooks around the Rim Trail, not during my run. Some were also taken in Four Corners, Durango, Ouray, and Silverton.
for Katie...
Forgot about this one until I saw Gagger's pics from my recent Austin trip. Katie went to Reedsburg High (home of the fightin' Beavers!) in Wisconsin and when I called to tell her someone (she doesn't know Squeezin') was wearing a t-shirt of her alma mater at Lovejoy's she didn't believe me.Kudos to Squeezin', who is the only Austin hasher who hasn't sold out his soul by bailing on Lovejoy's for the outback steakhouse, or wherever it is those guys have happy hour nowadays.
Four Corners
Here's a shot of me drinking Pabst in four states at once. Utah police showed up shortly after this pic was taken, apparently they don't allow booze or fun in their state.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Colorado breweries
Despite my reputation for swilling cheap, yellow beer, I do enjoy drinking the fancy stuff from time to time. And when this list came out, I decided to visit every last brewery on the map. Made quite a dent on that list over the weekend, stopping at the following brewpubs on the way to and from the Grand Canyon:
Steamworks Brewing Company (Durango)
J. Fargo's (Cortez)
Carver Brewing Company (Durango)(their CO Trail Nut Brown Ale is my new favorite micro!)
Silverton Brewery
Ourayle House
On top of all that, the Bright Angel Lounge had the Grand Canyon Pilsner on tap, from the Grand Canyon Brewing Company in Williams, AZ. I'm generally not a big fan of pilsners, but this stuff wasn't half bad. Hopefully next year they have the South Rim Oatmeal Stout on tap for when I finish the run.
Back to Colorado - I've been to the Silverton Brewery and Ourayle House before, but it was just too tough to drive by 'em without stopping.
Katie and I tried to go to the new Colorado Boy Pub and Brewery in Ridgeway, but it was closed. We had also planned on hitting Smuggler's (I've been to the one in Telluride but not Montrose) and the Gunnison Brewery, but we had to bail to get to Moonlight Pizza in Salida before they closed. I'm headed back out that way at least twice this year (for Hardrock and Telluride Blues & Brews), so I'm sure I'll visit them soon enough.
Good times! And the tour continues this weekend as Katie and I make the drive out I-70 to Fruita. On tap for this weekend:
Breckenridge Brewery
Backcountry Brewery (Frisco)
Dillon Dam Brewery
Pug Ryan's (Dillon)
Glenwood Canyon Brewing Company (Glenwood Springs)
Kannah Creek Brewing (Grand Junction)
Meadery of the Rockies (Palisade)
Palisade Brewery
Rockslide Brewpub (Grand Junction)
Remember kids, don't drink and drive.
I'm thirsty...
Steamworks Brewing Company (Durango)
J. Fargo's (Cortez)
Carver Brewing Company (Durango)(their CO Trail Nut Brown Ale is my new favorite micro!)
Silverton Brewery
Ourayle House
On top of all that, the Bright Angel Lounge had the Grand Canyon Pilsner on tap, from the Grand Canyon Brewing Company in Williams, AZ. I'm generally not a big fan of pilsners, but this stuff wasn't half bad. Hopefully next year they have the South Rim Oatmeal Stout on tap for when I finish the run.
Back to Colorado - I've been to the Silverton Brewery and Ourayle House before, but it was just too tough to drive by 'em without stopping.
Katie and I tried to go to the new Colorado Boy Pub and Brewery in Ridgeway, but it was closed. We had also planned on hitting Smuggler's (I've been to the one in Telluride but not Montrose) and the Gunnison Brewery, but we had to bail to get to Moonlight Pizza in Salida before they closed. I'm headed back out that way at least twice this year (for Hardrock and Telluride Blues & Brews), so I'm sure I'll visit them soon enough.
Good times! And the tour continues this weekend as Katie and I make the drive out I-70 to Fruita. On tap for this weekend:
Breckenridge Brewery
Backcountry Brewery (Frisco)
Dillon Dam Brewery
Pug Ryan's (Dillon)
Glenwood Canyon Brewing Company (Glenwood Springs)
Kannah Creek Brewing (Grand Junction)
Meadery of the Rockies (Palisade)
Palisade Brewery
Rockslide Brewpub (Grand Junction)
Remember kids, don't drink and drive.
I'm thirsty...
Grand Canyon
Had a fantastic time!
Completed the run in 12:44. A good chunk of that was due to me standing around either gawking at the scenery or BSing with hikers/rangers/mule riders. Some of it was due to the climbs, which were a bit harder than I expected. And even more of it was due to the crappy weather (lots of rain down low and snow up high) and muddy conditions.
I will work on a detailed report and get it out ASAP. For those running the Canyon soon, all water after Phantom Ranch except at the Roaring Springs Ranger Station (that may be the incorrect name - it's the house below the huge waterfall just before you start the steep climb up to the North Rim) is currently off, including the North Rim.
Took a ton of pictures, but after seeing the Canyon in person I can say that no picture I've ever seen of the place does it justice. You gotta see it for yourself.
I'll be doing this next year the last weekend of April (to get warmer weather and to make the most of the National Parks Pass I got). South Kaibab, out and back on North Kaibab, then back up Bright Angel ending at the Bright Angel lodge!
Completed the run in 12:44. A good chunk of that was due to me standing around either gawking at the scenery or BSing with hikers/rangers/mule riders. Some of it was due to the climbs, which were a bit harder than I expected. And even more of it was due to the crappy weather (lots of rain down low and snow up high) and muddy conditions.
I will work on a detailed report and get it out ASAP. For those running the Canyon soon, all water after Phantom Ranch except at the Roaring Springs Ranger Station (that may be the incorrect name - it's the house below the huge waterfall just before you start the steep climb up to the North Rim) is currently off, including the North Rim.
Took a ton of pictures, but after seeing the Canyon in person I can say that no picture I've ever seen of the place does it justice. You gotta see it for yourself.
I'll be doing this next year the last weekend of April (to get warmer weather and to make the most of the National Parks Pass I got). South Kaibab, out and back on North Kaibab, then back up Bright Angel ending at the Bright Angel lodge!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Thursday, April 09, 2009
the taxman cometh...
Thanks to Chum for pointing this out.
The fat tax is getting more press! See the NY Times article here. It's a big fight ahead, as those opposed to this awesome idea - fat people and Big Beverege - have the numbers, passion, and money to put up a fight. But I bet this is how the initial anti-smoking crusade started too.
I love how the Times used the word "hefty" to describe the tax!
I pay several hundred dollars a month in health insurance. Because I choose to take care of myself, I very rarely see the inside of a hospital. The few times I have been in one it hasn't been too difficult to notice that the vast majority of people there are there because of poor and unhealthy lifestyle habits I'm sick of paying out the wazoo for fat people because they can't be bothered to drop a few pounds.
While I'm on my rant, I'd love to see 'em tax the fuck out of all the sins. Including alcohol and gas, which would have big consequences on me (alcohol would be a lot worse than gas for me - such is the beauty of my life).
The fat tax is getting more press! See the NY Times article here. It's a big fight ahead, as those opposed to this awesome idea - fat people and Big Beverege - have the numbers, passion, and money to put up a fight. But I bet this is how the initial anti-smoking crusade started too.
I love how the Times used the word "hefty" to describe the tax!
I pay several hundred dollars a month in health insurance. Because I choose to take care of myself, I very rarely see the inside of a hospital. The few times I have been in one it hasn't been too difficult to notice that the vast majority of people there are there because of poor and unhealthy lifestyle habits I'm sick of paying out the wazoo for fat people because they can't be bothered to drop a few pounds.
While I'm on my rant, I'd love to see 'em tax the fuck out of all the sins. Including alcohol and gas, which would have big consequences on me (alcohol would be a lot worse than gas for me - such is the beauty of my life).
Lance
What is Lance Armstrong going to say when it's proven that he doped up? I bet he'll blame someone else. Though I could see him taking a page from ARod and claiming ignorance. I bet the nike PR machines are already working on this...
HPb 140 - 25 in a row!
Easy run through Red Rock Canyon this morning. 25 days of running in a row, my longest streak ever! I was thinking about how I could possibly get a quick run in tomorrow all along the trails, just to keep the streak going, which is why I'm going to force myself to be lazy tomorrow.
My next run will be at the Grand Canyon!
Start time - 6AM
Distance - 5.5 miles
Time - 1:04:31
Pace - 9:06 per mile
Weather - 40F, partly cloudy
Weight - 169 lbs
My next run will be at the Grand Canyon!
Start time - 6AM
Distance - 5.5 miles
Time - 1:04:31
Pace - 9:06 per mile
Weather - 40F, partly cloudy
Weight - 169 lbs
HPb 139 - the run home
Continued my hump day tradition of taking the bus to work and running home. Something I ate for lunch wasn't sitting well with me, so I took a shorter route back. Felt good.
Start time - 6:30 PM
Distance - 7.4 miles
Time - 1:12:04
Pace - 9:45 per mile
Weather - 60F, clear skies
Weight - 169 lbs
Start time - 6:30 PM
Distance - 7.4 miles
Time - 1:12:04
Pace - 9:45 per mile
Weather - 60F, clear skies
Weight - 169 lbs
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
hell yeah!
Just took a peak at my calender, here's how I'm gonna spend my next four Saturdays:
April 11th - Grand Canyon R2R2R
April 18th - Desert RATS 50 miler (Fruita)
April 25th - Three Peaks Fat Ass (Manitou)
May 2nd - Collegiate Peaks 50 miler (Buena Vista)
Then it's a much needed weekend off (maybe I'm getting old?) before heading down to Los Alamos for the Jemez Mountain 50 miler!
Woohooo!
April 11th - Grand Canyon R2R2R
April 18th - Desert RATS 50 miler (Fruita)
April 25th - Three Peaks Fat Ass (Manitou)
May 2nd - Collegiate Peaks 50 miler (Buena Vista)
Then it's a much needed weekend off (maybe I'm getting old?) before heading down to Los Alamos for the Jemez Mountain 50 miler!
Woohooo!
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
holy crap!
Thanks to Wiley for pointing this out.
The Rotterdam and Paris marathons were held on Sunday. 13 different Kenyans broke 2:09 in a single day! Only six Americans have EVER run under 2:09! No, I was not one of them...
The Rotterdam and Paris marathons were held on Sunday. 13 different Kenyans broke 2:09 in a single day! Only six Americans have EVER run under 2:09! No, I was not one of them...
daily haiku - 4/7/09
Easy one today, but you'll hafta go to Paul's blog to see it. It's in the comments section.
Townhouse tonight!
Tonight is the birthday party for Manitou's favorite bartender, Jason (Claire is a close second and sometimes even surpasses Jason on the list, depending on what she's wearing).
Townhouse Lounge tonight, bitches. I should be there around 8PM. Rawbert is playing. I'm sure all the local Manitoid drunkards will be there as well, so come out and have a few.
Townhouse Lounge tonight, bitches. I should be there around 8PM. Rawbert is playing. I'm sure all the local Manitoid drunkards will be there as well, so come out and have a few.
HPb 138 - Garden training run
Up early this morning to hang with the Pikes Peak Road Runners Garden training peeps. Had a fantastic workout. Warmed up along the Palmer trail to Rampart Range Road. Then did 3 x 8 minutes up RRR, with four minutes easy between the repeats. Hit 1.01 miles, .95 miles, and .90 miles on the intervals. Looks easy to you roadies, but running up RRR ain't no joke. Best hill run I've had in a long time.
Streak is now up to 23 days. After this week I'll be taking off every Monday for the DIM hashes (which are usually around seven miles long, but I'm not anal enough to count that as training).
FYI, my current body fat percentage now stands at 12% and my blood pressure is 139/80. Definitely have a lot of work to do.
Start time - 6AM
Distance - 9.9 miles
Time - 1:30:04
Pace - 9:06 per mile
Weather - 50F, clear skies, beautiful morning in the Garden!
Weight - 170 lbs
Streak is now up to 23 days. After this week I'll be taking off every Monday for the DIM hashes (which are usually around seven miles long, but I'm not anal enough to count that as training).
FYI, my current body fat percentage now stands at 12% and my blood pressure is 139/80. Definitely have a lot of work to do.
Start time - 6AM
Distance - 9.9 miles
Time - 1:30:04
Pace - 9:06 per mile
Weather - 50F, clear skies, beautiful morning in the Garden!
Weight - 170 lbs
HPb 137 - easy 5
Would have taken a rest day today, was feeling pretty sore, but such is the life of a streaker. Easy five miles to Old Colorado City and back. Hopefully this is the last day of cold weather until next December.
Start time - 5:30 AM
Distance - 5 miles
Time - 45:08
Pace - 9:02 per mile
Weather - 20F, partly cloudy
Weight - 170 lbs
Start time - 5:30 AM
Distance - 5 miles
Time - 45:08
Pace - 9:02 per mile
Weather - 20F, partly cloudy
Weight - 170 lbs
Monday, April 06, 2009
daily haiku - 4/6/2009
Happy opening day everybody! For those who haven't figured it out yet, I'm a huge fan of all things Pittsburgh, and that includes my beloved Pirates. The Bucs have had 16 straight losing seasons and if they finish below .500 this year it will be the all-time record for consecutive losing seasons by in a team in any of the major sports. But as far as I'm concerned, this is our year to win it all!
It's opening day
Even Pirates fans have hope
Go get 'em Buccos!
It's opening day
Even Pirates fans have hope
Go get 'em Buccos!
HPb week 16
Another week of 80+ miles. Three of my past five weeks have been at that mileage, and the next two consecutive weeks should be right up there too, with the Grand Canyon and Desert RATS festival looming. Might just be rounding into the best shape I've been in since at least college, definitely well ahead of where I was at this point last year.
Also did 5 hours of yoga, that seems to be helping a lot as I don't wake up with so many aches and pains anymore.
Weekly distance - 80.3 miles
Weekly time - 13:51:03
Average pace - 10:20 per mile
2009 distance - 865.6 miles
2009 time - 156:44:09 (6 days, 12 hours)
2009 pace - 10:51 per mile
average 2009 daily mileage - 9.0 miles (2009 totals through April 6)
Also did 5 hours of yoga, that seems to be helping a lot as I don't wake up with so many aches and pains anymore.
Weekly distance - 80.3 miles
Weekly time - 13:51:03
Average pace - 10:20 per mile
2009 distance - 865.6 miles
2009 time - 156:44:09 (6 days, 12 hours)
2009 pace - 10:51 per mile
average 2009 daily mileage - 9.0 miles (2009 totals through April 6)
Sunday, April 05, 2009
still streaking!
21 straight days today. It'll all end Friday though, taking a full day to drive to the Grand Canyon.
HPb 136 - No Name Creek
Ran up Barr Trail to No Name Creek. Nice climb, felt good. Did a few extra miles around town to put me over 80 miles for the week. Sure wish mother nature would realize it's spring. Ended this run at the new Colorado Custard Company. Great chocolate milkshakes!
Start time - 12 PM
Distance - 10.5
Time - 1:56:08
Pace - 11:04 per mile
Weather - 40F, partly cloudy
Weight - 172 lbs
HPb 135 - CRC first saturday
Sore as hell from Friday's long run, so I just ran from Katie's house to the CRC for their first saturday. 4.5 miles there, had three cups of joe and picked up some new shorts just in case it ever warms up, and 4.5 miles back.
Start time - 9:00 AM
Distance - 9 miles
Time - 1:24:05
Pace - 9:21 per mile
Weather - 40F
Weight - 169 lbs
HPb 134 - long run
Had Friday off, took advantage of that for a good long run. Manitou to Old Colorado City, over through Bear Creek Park, Santa Fe trail north to Garden of the Gods Road (with a pit stop at the Colorado Running Company) and back home through the Garden. Was running real well until I hit GOTG road, then the wind just destroyed me. Beat my body up pretty good with all that road pounding, now it's time to back off a bit before the Grand Canyon.
Start time - 9:30 AM
Distance - 22 miles
Time - 3:44:13
Pace - 10:12 minutes per mile
Weather - 50F, windy
Weight - 169 lbs
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Friday, April 03, 2009
daily haiku - 4/3/09
Needless to say, I don't think very highly of the horse people who invade Garden of the Gods.
Clean up your horse poop
That shit is fucking nasty
A-hole rich people!
HPb 133 - Incline happy hour
Good day on the Incline yesterday. Didn't think I was moving very fast but I made it from my house to the green gate in just over 12 minutes (usually takes 14) and then made it up the Incline in 30:25, my fastest time in a while. Had to take it easy on the way down Barr Trail since I forgot my light. Many beers and G&T's were waiting to aid in recovery.
Start time - 7PM
Distance - 5.5 miles
Time - 1:26:59
Pace - 15:49 per mile
Weather - 45F, partly cloudy
Weight - 169 lbs
Thursday, April 02, 2009
April 11, 2009.
Mark the date. Besides being the 7.69 year anniversary of 9-11, it's also the day the rock gym is opening up the new bouldering wall! Hooray! So, if you're not either at A) the rock gym; or B) the Grand Canyon, you are obviously an un-patriotic American who sympathizes with terrorists.
daily haiku - 4/2/09
Had a hard time coming up with this one, but here goes. Guess what I was supposed to be doing while I was writing this...
conference call bullshit
could we waste any more time?
thank gawd for bloggers!
conference call bullshit
could we waste any more time?
thank gawd for bloggers!
HPb 132 - Red Rock Canyon
Wanted to run the last of the downtown PPRR group speed sessions, but I hit the snooze button a few times too many. Was rewarded for my laziness with a beautiful run through a freshly snow covered Red Rock Canyon. Sometimes, sleeping in pays off!
Start time - 6:00 AM
Distance - 5.5 miles
Time - 1:04:23
Pace - 11:43 per mile
Weather - 25F, windy, fresh snow
Weight - 170 lbs
Start time - 6:00 AM
Distance - 5.5 miles
Time - 1:04:23
Pace - 11:43 per mile
Weather - 25F, windy, fresh snow
Weight - 170 lbs
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
HPb - March
Pretty good month. Ended up with 305.7 miles (almost 61 hours on my feet), probably only my second month of 300+ miles ever. Last March I only had 280.
Hardrock/Leadville training is going real well. Leading into July last year I only had four months of 250+ miles. This year I already have three months of that much mileage in and still have three good months of training left before my showdown.
Last year my goal went down in flames at Halfmoon, 170 miles out of the needed 200. So far I'm feeling pretty good about picking up those extra 30...
Oh yeah, I also passed 800 miles on March 31. Putting me well ahead of schedule for my new year's resolution of 3,000 miles this year.
Hardrock/Leadville training is going real well. Leading into July last year I only had four months of 250+ miles. This year I already have three months of that much mileage in and still have three good months of training left before my showdown.
Last year my goal went down in flames at Halfmoon, 170 miles out of the needed 200. So far I'm feeling pretty good about picking up those extra 30...
Oh yeah, I also passed 800 miles on March 31. Putting me well ahead of schedule for my new year's resolution of 3,000 miles this year.
Grand Canyon
I know there are a lot of lurkers out there who have run the Grand Canyon. Any advice for my first trip? I'm planning on going South Kaibob-North Kaibob and back, approx 42 miles, on April 11th. I think I could cover this in ten hours, though that all depends on how many times I stop to take pictures and how many beers I drink at Phantom Ranch.
Should I include Bright Angel?
What are the best parts of the run?
Any advice for shorter runs, as I'll also be running Sunday. Katie is also interested in a good route up to 20 miles long.
Any good local dive bars I need to visit?
I'm really behind on gathering the needed beta for this trip, so thanks for any help!
Should I include Bright Angel?
What are the best parts of the run?
Any advice for shorter runs, as I'll also be running Sunday. Katie is also interested in a good route up to 20 miles long.
Any good local dive bars I need to visit?
I'm really behind on gathering the needed beta for this trip, so thanks for any help!
daily haiku - 4/1/09
Brought to you by Mountain Metro #14 - Chestnut/Garden of the Gods Road.
I am on the bus
The guy in front of me stinks
He should take a bath
I am on the bus
The guy in front of me stinks
He should take a bath
HPb 131 - Yasso 800s
Had to waste some time between work and yoga, so I decided to head down to the CC track for some faster than usual running. Yasso 800s have always been a good workout for me, making me speed things up a little faster than usual but not wrecking my body. It was a crazy day on the track as there was a CC/Air Force women's rugby game going on, men's rugby practice on one end of the track, some kids having a snowball fight on one of the backstretches, lots of wind, and a huge team-in-training workout going on (I'll hold of on my rant of TIT for now, though yesterday's behavior by all of them didn't do anything to improve my lousy perception of that group; am I the only one who sees what a scam that whole cult is?).
Anywho, ended up doing 5 x 800m with 400m rest in between. Hit 3:06, 3:01, 3:04, 3:05, and 3:04. You're supposed to do 10 repeats on this workout but I grew tired of the madness on the track. Felt pretty good, and if I did this workout a bit more serious I think I could hit ten repeats all under three minutes. A 1.5 mile warm-up and cool down added to a nice run.
Start time - 6:30 PM
Distance - 6.5 miles
Time - 57:00
Pace - 8:47 per mile
Weather - 35F, windy
Weight - 171 lbs
Anywho, ended up doing 5 x 800m with 400m rest in between. Hit 3:06, 3:01, 3:04, 3:05, and 3:04. You're supposed to do 10 repeats on this workout but I grew tired of the madness on the track. Felt pretty good, and if I did this workout a bit more serious I think I could hit ten repeats all under three minutes. A 1.5 mile warm-up and cool down added to a nice run.
Start time - 6:30 PM
Distance - 6.5 miles
Time - 57:00
Pace - 8:47 per mile
Weather - 35F, windy
Weight - 171 lbs
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