the beer fairy was very good to me today...

5 x 1000m

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Collegiate Peaks

Seems like it's filling pretty quickly, so if you're on the fence you might wanna sign up soon. I'm considering dropping down to the 25 miler if the PF keeps giving me fits. Gives me a four hour head start at Eddyline over those ultra guys.

Wed

Easy hour in the Garden with the dog. 6.1 miles.

Signed up for the Platte River Half this morning. Not sure I'm still in PR shape but I think I can pull 1:27:xx if I'm not too hungover.

vote or die

Finally got to vote in our local election today. Supposed to be a mail in ballot, which meant I had to blow my lunch hour going to both the county clerk's office and the city clerk's office. All to update my address, which should have been done automatically when I updated my drivers license after moving to Old Colorado City. But I got it done, and rewarded my patriotism by scarfing down four trailer park dogs from Dick's.

Tues

Easy run this morning. 6.6 miles, one hour. Legs are still feeling it from Saturday, so I bailed on the usual mile repeats. Good day to skip, as there was snow on the CC track so I bet Darrold was down there waiting to yell at me.

Still on the fence for Platte River. It's still relatively cheap this late in the game so I'll probably run it. It's the day after the epic Tortoise & Hare 5K here in the Springs, so I'll have a good excuse if I tank.

Newsletter stuffing tomorrow night. The PPRR rag was recently named the top big club newsletter in the country by the RRCA. Even GZ had a hand in that one, as one of the issues submitted had his Pikes Peak article in it.

Panic!

Just announced, Panic will be playing a gig down in Taos before heading up for a three night run at Red Rocks. Not sure I have the vacation days but I'll see what I can do. The Red Rocks shows are the same time as the Taos Solar Music Festival, depending on who plays there maybe I'll do the super hippie thing and catch all those Panic concerts...

Recovery, part II

recovery

Cockeyed Cooper from Uintah Brewing and Kickin Chicken from Santa Fe Brewing.  After finishing all the beer I brought back from Crazy Mountain...

Moab: FAIL!

42 miles in nine hours. The PF did not like running on that slickrock one bit. Knew I should have dropped down to the 12 hour run. When I signed up for the 24 hour race, it was with the assumption that I'd be building up for Hardrock. When I wasn't selected for that race, my motivation to suffer for long periods of time evaporated.

Still, enjoyed the nine hours out there, and I feel much better about the upcoming Grand Canyon run in a few weeks.

I highly suggest not going to Moab during spring break. 45 minute wait just to get in to the brewery. Yuk.

Some good smack on three hour marathons over at letsrun. Including this quote of the day:

"I pulled a 3 hour marathon with your mom and bragged for a week."

Crazy Mountain Brewery, Edwards, CO

Leadville!

Anyone know where Brandon hides the spare key?

over/under

Decided to set the over/under for Moab at 62 miles. Guess right and I owe you a beer. Guess wrong, and I'll come collect my brew. 62 is a bit of a haul for me to run given my current fitness, but 24 hours is a long time...

pic dump

Hafta dump all the pics off the camera for the trip to Moab. Manitou Mardi Gras, the John Popper show, and Salida...

quarters

Two mile warm up, 12 x 400m with 200m RBI, 1.5 mile cool down. Took it real easy, hitting the quarters between 95 and 96.

Rest day tomorrow, next run up is the 24 hours of Moab! Jurek was nice enough to save me an "I ran with Scott Jurek" t-shirt from New Orleans, so I'll be a nice guy and not crush his recent 24 hour world record...

Another fantastic post by Evan. Not surprisingly, he's the only one who has ever endorsed my pick of getting my high performance ultra socks at Costco.

Dick's Dogs & Diner

Trailer Park Trash Dog - a wonder bread roll filled with a beef hot dog and topped with yellow mustard, kraft American cheese, and lays potato chips...

Sec 16/5.8

Section 16 this morning with the dog and Yeti. 69 minutes.

Nailed a 5.8 on my first try last night at the rock gym. Celebrated at Bristol Brewing afterwards.

21/quote of the day

19:47 on my 21 workout over lunch. When I was hitting this workout regularly I thought I might break 15 minutes. Guess I have some work to do.

"How is running really living? It is stupid. I actually did it this morning and hated it. Sure I will do it again in a few hours but that is because I need to get a life."

-Evan

track

Holmes middle school track. Dirt track, which makes things interesting when it's been raining for a few hours.

20 minute warm up, 4 x 1600m, 400m RBI, 20 minute cool down. 6:09, 6:06, 6:09, 6:11. Slow times were due to the track and weather, not the effort. Picked up mud with each stride, adding to the joy. I was effing smoked on those last two.

Think I'm gonna try the 21 workout at lunch, first time this year. Won't be pretty as I can't remember the last time I did a sit up.

Drinking Green Monster #31 as I type this...

AM - Easy loop on Section 16 with the dog, 1:19, 5.5 miles

PM - Garden Trail loop. 7.5 miles, 1:09. I keep meaning to bring a camera with me on one of these runs, but I couldn't do the Garden any justice. So go here to see some sweet pics of the same trails I run.

This is my 4000th post to this blog.

61

61 miles on the week. Will probably stay between 60 and 70 miles for the forseeable future, got a lot of other stuff going on right now. Spending six hours a week in the rock gym is definitely taking away some good trail time.

McRunner threw down a 2:36:13 over the weekend. There is hope for me and my crappy diet yet! But I did put down Green Monster #30 this morning...

Looking forward to Moab this weekend. Think I'm gonna get in 40 miles before I start taking extended breaks. Just trying to make sure I get in a good long run before the Grand Canyon next month.

Also gonna knock off the last of the I-70 breweries I haven't been to yet. Pretty much been to every brewery in the state other than the ones in Boulder and Denver. It's possible I could knock off the entire list of CO breweries by the end of the summer, though new ones keep opening up all the time. Good problem to have if you like beer.

sweet ride!

Bolder Boulder schwag

Bolder Boulder designs are out. I still wear the crocs I got from two years ago (and people make fun of me for them - JEALOUS!) so maybe I'll get a new pair.

Pre-BB happy hour Sunday night at the Black Horse, FYI. I will need to carb up since I'll have run the Arkansas River Bluegrass Marathon that morning. As of today I am predicting a top five finish for that race. As long as nobody else signs up (six are rego'd so far).

Traveler @ Red Rocks!

Despite the snow on my front lawn this morning, summer is officially here for me as the annual Blues Traveler July 4th Red Rocks show was announced. Speaking of the fourth of July, rumors have the next round of the Brandon/brownie feud taking place at the Firecracker 5K in Leadville...

The Gin Blossoms and Quiet Riot are headlining Copper Sunsation. Intrigued by Quiet Riot but I doubt I'll make the drive up there this year.

Been a while since anyone has mentioned burger wars, but here is the CS Indy's take on Springs area burgers. I've had every burger on the list save for the one at the Famous, and that's because I don't own any clothes nice enough to be allowed in there. My list of best burgers:

1. King's Chef

2. Bingo Burger

3. Cy's

It's a big drop from #2 to #3, and a humongous leap to get to #4.

5.7

My first 5.7 tonight at the rock gym. Was on my last set of five, doing 5.6. On #5 I said screw it, I'm gonna try this 5.7. And I nailed it! Elite mountaineering sponsorships should start rolling in any day now...

Thurs

Think I'm gonna change Sat's planned long run to the CRUD run. Been wanting to get back up to the Falcon Trail for a while. CRUD has a lot of rifraff that the good folks of the Air Force don't want on their campus, so we sneak in the side way. Still on for Barr Camp on Sunday if anyone wants to join me. I'll be hungover so it'll be slow.

Old Dominion lost at the buzzer. I called $100 to make fun of her. She told me she got out of work early and was taking the dog to the Incline. She wins again.

Pitt only up five at the half. I see a huge second half run coming up. Or else I may have to shut down this blog and change my e-mail and phone number real quick.

Update: Pitt won by 635. Or whatever. Math was never my thing. Survive and advance, baby!

Happy St Pat's!

Free beer to the first person to guess where I'm drinking...

Cheyenne Canon

50 degrees in Cheyenne Canon at 5:45. About 25 degrees higher than I'm used to. All for naught though, as I forgot my flashlight. I was comically slow until the point where the Columbine trail meets High Drive, when the sun finally lit up the canyon. Up in 59:20. 6.7 miles total, 1:20. Using the brand spankin' new Saucony Peregrine.

CRC happy hour

Easy 6.2 miles out to Goose Gossage and back with Brooks. 55-ish minutes. Much faster on the way back.

PPA

Stuck in a meeting over lunch, but still managed to sneak out to sign up for the Ascent. Predicted 2:59:59, but hope to avoid being mocked by Matt C by running a bit faster. Actually looking forward to a summer of running up and down Pikes Peak.

Article on ultrarunning in Psychology Today. I'm going to make fun of ultrarunners a lot more now that, just like GZ, I'm not an ultrarunner.

Denise is streaking, all year long. She mentions running with JT quite a bit, but it's obviously not me as she couldn't keep up.

Section 16

Section 16 with the dog this morning. Right off the bat there's a crazy 1.7 mile killer hill, nice way to start the day. Took me 29:40 to get to the top. 1:13 for the 5.5 mile round trip. There are usually about two mountain lion attacks on dogs in the Sec 16/Red Rock Canyon every spring, so I gotta be careful out there.

Obama has secured my vote for the next election, picking Pitt for the final four.

rock gym

Another two hours of gettin' after it at the rock gym. I'm at that really cool point now where the improvements are fast and furious, like when Brandon took his 5K PR from 38 to 33 to the current 27 in just a few months. Slowly getting over the fear of heights, learning to trust the equipment. Bouldering is improving as well.

But more importantly, I found a great post-climb happy hour to hang out at. Hooray Bristol! I don't think there's a cool cause that that brewery isn't involved in.

And check out this awesome fundraiser Bristol and King's Chef are doing this weekend!

quote of the day

"I just split up with my girlfriend, but like the Japanese say, 'They'll be another one floating by any minute now.'"

-Gilbert Gottfried

Needless to say, Gilbert is no longer the voice of the Aflac duck...

Update! Gilbert's tweet about the firing:

"Japan called me. They said 'maybe those jokes are a hit in the U.S., but over here, they're all sinking.'"

3 x 1600

Hit the snooze button one too many times this morning, so I only had time to do 3 x 1600 instead of the usual four. 1.5 mile warm up to the CC track, then hit 6:01, 5:49, and then - BAM! - 5:38. Can't remember the last time I ran below 5:40, but it's probably been at least five years. Solid mile too, as it was back to back 2:49. Only 400m rest between the miles. 1.5 mile cool down. Seven miles on the morning.

Mon

AM - Easy five miles around Old Colorado City. 50 minutes.

PM - Incline with the dog. Didn't wear a watch, but judging from the effort we got up pretty quick. First time in a while that I didn't need a flashlight.

Just booked a site at the Mather Campground for this year's Grand Canyon trip. Thinking of repeating last year's S. Kaibab/North Rim/Bright Angel route, with the short add on out to Ribbon Falls.

final four

My picks for the final four: Pitt, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Bucknell.

OK, maybe Duke instead of Bucknell.

Pitt/Duke in the final. The Hardrock RD is a die-hard Dookie, so it'll be nice to see the Panthers cause him a little heartbreak after shutting out the front rangers in his race.

Team CRUD @ Salida

65 miles

First solid week of training since mid January. Not a whole lot of motivation to train hard lately, since my next serious race is the Ascent in August. But I do have some cool stuff coming up soon that I should probably get in shape for. Hope to have a decent week coming up, including a Rampart Range Road/Waldo Canyon/Longs Ranch Road on Saturday and a trip to Barr Camp on Sunday.

Looking ahead to Moab in two weeks. Planning on running hard for the first 30 on my way to a 50 mile day. If things are going really well I might continue on to 100K. Have some other stuff I want to do in Moab so I won't be pushing myself all night long. Really going out there to get in shape for the Grand Canyon trip in April.

Think I may have the PF somewhat under control. Been fairly consistent on stretching and wearing a brace at night. That, combined with the very low mileage over the past six weeks, seems to be doing something. Kind of nice not being brought to tears every morning when you put your foot on the floor.

Pitt has a fairly easy bracket and should make the final four this year. Could play ODU ($100's alma mater) in the second round, which would help restore some balance to the house after the debacle at the Super Bowl. Strong possibility of a match with Wisconsin as well. Perdue loses in the second round to Georgetown, FYI. Upset special: Northern Colorado over San Diego State! Would love to see Bucknell make some noise as well, as I once ran a 4:32 mile on their track, but I don't see them getting by UConn.

Salida

Obviously not my best race. 5:20ish. Got spectacularly wasted on Thursday and Friday night, which never bodes well for a Saturday morning trail marathon. Did have a lot of fun on the weekend, and I am actually happy with the marathon since I got 5+ hours of time on my feet. First real long run since the January fat ass.

Eddyline

16 ounce cans coming in May!

mug #3

Sucks I won't be running Hardrock this year, but at least I have enough of the finisher mugs to get me through a year of heavy coffee drinking.

quote of the day

"We love you Fort Collins! Huh? Where are we? Oh. Fuck Fort Collins!"

-John Popper

Eiger

I figure another week or two of my rock climbing classes and I should be up to this level.

In related news, my new goal for the Pikes Peak Ascent this year is to beat 2:47...

Columbine Trail

Ran up the course of the Canya Canon 6K this morning, then down the road. Great workout, might make this a regular Thursday morning thing for a while. 6.2 miles total. Up in 51:27, round trip in 1:14. Getting fat again, back up to 164 pounds this morning. Wonder what I'll be after an entire weekend of gorging on Moonlight Pizza...

Best college hoops squad on the Front Range? Northern Colorado! Congrats to the Bears on getting to the big dance. Enjoy it while you can, as you have a date with a #1 seed looming.

Pitt/UConn later today!

the dog keeps this up she'll end up at Pitt!

mmmm....

Garden roads

Easy hour on the Garden roads, 6.6 miles. 11:11 for the first mile, then things got a bit better. Weighed in at 162 pounds this morning. Been aggressively working on the PF, and it seems to be improving somewhat.

Let's be careful out there.

The dog has her final tonight in the clicker class. Going to wait a bit before enrolling her in another class, just to give us more time to run up and down mountains during the spring/summer months.

ClimbFit

Started my climbing class at City Rock tonight. We went over some stuff about footwork and then proceeded to climb our asses off. I got to climb on the wall for the first time and didn't kill myself, so that's a plus! Only climbed a 5.6, but I climbed that about 20 times in two hours. More about overcoming my fear of heights and lack of climbing endurance at that level than it is about skill. Needless to say, my arms are pretty useless right now.

Green Monster #28 after the workout.

CC track

Today was supposed to be my triumphant return to the 4 x 1 mile workout that was responsible for getting me a PR at NOLA. But the track nazi was having none of it!

Still not sure who the guy is. Last time this happened, someone commented that they thought it was the CC track/xc coach, but I don't think this is the case. I believe it's a janitor who is on some kind of weird power trip. I saw him as I entered the track, and I said good morning but he didn't say a word. About 200 meters later he started yelling at me to get off the track. As I came back around, I really thought he was going to assault me as he was holding a small broom/shovel thing like a baseball bat and approaching me aggressively and yelling about getting off the track. I suggested he call law enforcement and went on another lap, and you could almost hear his blood pressure shoot through the roof. I ran one more lap and then left, not wanting to escalate this weird situation any further. I said "have a nice day, sir" to him as I was leaving, and he may have had a heart attack at that.

Not sure what was going on there. As far as I know, I was doing nothing illegal. I was running in lane eight, obeying the only posted rule on the track that says runners need to stay in the outside lanes. I was not getting in anybody's way, as I was the only person out there. I just can't figure out why this guy would get so mad over something so simple. Am I in the wrong because I am not a CC student and I'm using their track? Tony, you're probably CC's most famous track/xc alum, could you add any insight to this situation?

Anywho, ended up joining up with the Sunrise Striders. 3 x 8 minutes hard on the Santa Fe trail, 4 minutes RBI, then 6 hill repeats up the FAC driveway. 10 miles total, 1:28.

.5 Incline

Took the dog over to the Incline tonight despite the crappy weather. Not really sure how the snow effects her paws, so we only went halfway. As is often the case, crappy weather in town means lots of fun on Barr Trail, such a cool place when you're the only one out there. 2.5 miles easy.

I have a new dream job, and it's described here. Congrats to $100's alma mater Old Dominion (she couldn't get accepted at Pitt) for getting into the big dance. Still hoping Air Force can win a game or two at the MWC and get into the NIT.

5

Easy five on the Garden trails with the dog, 60 minutes. Saw a couple of coyotes out on the trails, licking their chops at my dog. I had to smack a coyote with a rock when he got a bit too close to me last year in the Garden, maybe one of 'em remembered who I was.

Feeling much better, now all I gots to do is get rehydrated. Back up to 164 pounds from the low of 157ish during the week. Yesterday was the first day I was really able to keep anything down, so I ate a ton of junk food.

Green monster #27 this morning.

sick

Haven't done much of anything this week. Caught something horrible last Sunday and I get nervous anytime I'm more than 10 feet away from the toilet. Even had to burn two sick days at work. Running has been pretty much out of the question. I remember the epic Matt C story about having a bucket behind the treadmill, but I guess I'm not quite that dedicated. Even skipped the Pueblo 10 miler this morning.

Considering I took three weeks to taper before NOLA, and haven't done much since then, I'm not expecting much in Salida and am starting to think that Moab will just be a glorified long run. Salida has a new course so it'll be tough to predict an ov

er/under, but unfortunately I think it'll be on the wrong side of four hours and I'm guessing I'm gonna owe Nick some beer once again.

Post race grub at Moonlight Pizza if anyone wants to join us. We'll also be doing our annual Salida pub crawl, starting at the 1st Street Cafe around 7PM.

Congrats to Pitt on their regular season Big East title. Pretty impressive considering the Big East is gonna get something like 36 teams into the tourney. Bring on March Madness!

CIC trophy

This beast currently resides up in Clune Arena. Maybe someday before I die Army will win it again...

5 x 1000

Two mile warm up, 5 x 1000m, 200m RBI, 1.5 mile cool down. That stomach thing I had made one last stand. Ran 4:16, 4:10, 4:08, 4:04, 3:58. That first one isn't even on pace for what I ran in NOLA. But it was still nice to get out and struggle for a bit. Anyone can push things on a good day, I like having to gut it out on the really bad days. Not that I'm trying to die on the CC track or anything.

Finally finished my OC's world beer tour last night. Can't say I'm a hurry to ever go back there again.

Nice game by Air Force last night, beating TCU and giving their NIT hopes a huge boost. TCU is going to have to rebuild their entire team to have any chance of not going winless in the Big East. I imagine that even the BE bottom feeders would beat TCU by at least 15 right now.

All time great performance in the Fulmer Cup by Pitt's Fernando Diaz. From the website:

The public drunkenness, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, underage drinking and obstruction of a highway charges (yes, obstruction of a highway, a charge an offensive lineman is really only capable of earning) are five points, and with the bonus point for getting tased FOUR TIMES Pitt receives a total of six points in the Fulmer Cup.

quote of the day

Stolen from letsrun. Currently the heavy favorite for quote of the year.

Quote Of The Day

"Every time I run it's with the mindset that if I die at this race it's OK."

- LRC legend Yuki Kawauchi, the 13:59, 29:02 amateur runner who ran a stunning 2:08:37 marathon in Tokyo this past weekend and then fainted at the finish. Although it is a cultural tradition in Japan to fall to the ground at the end of a race, like Ritz in high school, Kawauchi has run six marathons and ended up in the medical area after 5 of them

HAIL TO PITT!

Way too good to remain in the comments section. See this article to prove what I've said all along, that Pitt football is the baddest in the land!

And it looks like we'll be tough to catch, as this event shows. I bet those pussies at Penn State would give up after only being tasered twice.

Especially loved this nugget (Chatham is the all-women's school next door, FYI):

Finally on Sept. 22, police responded to a 911 call reporting that a man was choking a woman at Chatham University in Pittsburgh. Officers found Donna Turner bent over on a porch, crying and vomiting. She identified her attacker as Jeffrey Knox, a freshman defensive back at Pitt.

"Knox ... open handed slapped Turner in the head with such force that she was thrown to the ground," the police report states. "Knox then jumped on her, grabbed her by the throat, picked her up by her throat and slammed her head into the wall. He held her against the wall, continuing to choke her."

When two female witnesses tried pulling Knox off Turner, he allegedly threw punches at them and knocked them down. He then left the scene before authorities arrived. A day later, Knox was dismissed from the team after being charged with assault and reckless endangerment.

Bent over a porch, crying, and vomiting. Ahhh, the good 'ol University of Pittsburgh, the place I learned how to treat women!

I really think it's time for AD Pederson to leave now...

25

Green Monster count through the end of February stands at 25. Overall it's a good number, though I really slacked off during the short month.

Wed

Brandon seems to finally be growing back some hair on his sack after Leadville, talking some smack yesterday. So I guess it's time to leave my pity party and start training again. 7.5 miles on the Garden trails early this morning, 90 minutes.

Would run again tonight but $100 and I are going to the Air Force hoops game vs. TCU (which is Pitt coach Jamie Dixon's alma mater, FYI). I didn't think the Falcons would win two games this year (especially after losing to Div III Colorado College) but they're still in the hunt for an NIT birth.

Signed up for a class at the rock gym. Maybe I'll actually improve on my current V0 ability. Here's the description:

ClimbFit 10 Week Climbing Workout

Increase your climbing performance by a whole number grade for the summer!

-4 weeks technique and endurance

-3 weeks power and grip specific exercises

-3 weeks power/endurance (bouldering or route climbing)

-1 week of rest, then crank harder

We will also be covering other topics to include: injury prevention, nutrition, climbing recovery, on-sighting, falling, climbing tactics for red pointing, stretching, taping, cross training, leading, and projecting.

It's Tuesday and Thursday nights, so unfortunately I'll be missing Incline happy hour for a while. Think I'm gonna start doing that hill Monday and Wednesday evenings if anyone wants to join me.

sick

After finally recovering from a raging hangover on Sunday, looks like I caught some crazy virus. Haven't been able to run since Saturday's painful 19 miler. I'm not too worried about Salida, where I'm only going down to get my 6th finish of that race, but I'm guessing I may not be able to run as far as I originally wanted to at Moab. Right now I have bigger problems though, like wondering where I'm going to live once $100 realizes the damage I've done to the bathroom since Sunday evening...

first concert tix of the season...

Three day festival pass? Check!

Four day camping permit? Check!

Why choose between all your loves - great friends, mountains, booze, and live music - when you can get all at once!

Woohoo Telluride Blues & Brews!!!!!

In case that's too positive a post, I'll bring it down with this bad news about Mile High.