Ryan Hall

Dude blew right through the beer check.

If you look closely, you can see Brandon's mom going apeshit as Ryan passed. I think she has a pretty big crush on the guy.

weekend

Salida Marathon - 3:34. Tried for the win, led from mile one through mile 19, but mentally and physically I was fried after 13 miles. All that racing is catching up to me, which was all part of the San Juan plan. Still, lots of fun down at this new race, I'm sure I'll be there again next year.

Bolder Boulder - lots of fun and a faster than expected 46:19. I believe I was the first person of the entire race to drink, taking in a keg stand just after mile two. There weren't as many party stops this year, though that may have been due to starting so early. Ended up with three beer stops and a doughnut stop (didn't see the bacon stop this year, WTF???). I was the first runner to drink at all the stops except for the beer/doughnut stop, and I'm pretty sure this is the guy who beat me there...

Mile 1 - 6:57

Mile 2 - 6:50

Mile 3 - 7:38 (keg stand)

Mile 4 - 8:30 (beer and doughnut stop)

Mile 5 - 6:51

Mile 6 - 8:03 (hash beer check)

Yes, I was soundly defeated by this bum.

Salida over/under

Gonna go with 3:14:59 as the over/under on Salida. Only because it's the new BQ time. Very easy effort with the 3:24 at Colfax, so I should have a pretty good shot. Then again, I've been racing out of my mind lately, so I'm due for a letdown sooner or later. Guess right and I'll buy you a beer. Guess wrong and I'll come collectin' some booze.

And just for kicks: I get a 30 second head start on Brandon at Bolder Boulder on Monday (I'm in the super elite A wave, he's in the mediocre-at-best AA wave). Will I hold him off? I'll have to kick twice to do it - once heading into the hash beer check at mile 6.1 (so I have time to chug a beer) and then once again on the CU track.

No run today, but the dog and I did four hours of volunteer work at the Incline. The new Friends of the Incline have good intentions, but christ almighty they're really, really, really into having lots of new rules and regulations in place when the Incline "legally" opens in October. Boulder South is coming to Manitou!

six hours of the incline - July 23

I'll be doing six hours of the Incline on July 23rd. Will park my truck near the bottom for an aid station. I know it's tough getting folks out during the summer months, but all are welcome to join me. I'll try to get Grimes out as an honorary starter. Official course will not use the shortcut trail.

Award ceremony at Kinfolk's following the run. Free bottle of PBR to the winner. I will also lobby heavily to have the winner included in the elite division at the Cheyenne Mountain 50K next year.

The dog and I will be doing some kind of survery on the Incline on Saturday. Be there from 2PM to 6PM. Say hello if you're on the trail.

quote of the day

Just heard the lead singer of the Disco Biscuits describe playing at Red Rocks Amphitheater this way:

"It's magical. It's like a unicorn fucking a manatee."

San Juan vs Jemez

Which one is harder? Your thoughts...

And the super bonus question! What CR is more impressive, Matt C's 7:59 at San Juan or Nick's 8:07 at Jemez?

Section 16

Easy 5.5 miles with the dog. Legs are still hurtin'. Really had to work to get up the hill, as I've had to do every time I've run the thing for the past three months. Probably why I was so strong on the hills at Jemez.

PPRR newsletter stuffing tonight. I have a growler of Eske's Doobie Bock I'll be sharing.

One of my favorite non-Colorado brews is the Alien Amber Ale by the guys at Sierra Blanca Brewing in New Mexico. As far as I know you can't get the stuff in Colorado, so I drink a ton of it whenever I go to NM. I promised quite a few people I'd bring some back, but if you don't come get it soon the supply will be gone...

babefest!

They just posted this stat on the Chaffee County Running Club site about the upcoming marathon:

*Entrants are 64% women and 36% men

Awesome, though I'm really gonna have to work hard not to get chicked...

back at it

Mon PM - Three miles of easy laps around Woodmore Park with the dog. 31 minutes.

Tues AM - Four miles easy on the Garden trails.

Quads are still sore as hell from Jemez. Might take another day or two to feel better.

The new end of the world is scheduled for October 21, 2011. Seriously. That Harold Camping dude sounds swell, with this nugget on CNN:

"I don't have any responsibility. I'm only teaching the Bible. I'm telling ... this is what the Bible says. I don't have spiritual rule over anybody ... except my wife as the head of the household."

Jemez

Awesome run at Jemez. Going in I thought I could be just under 12 hours. So to go 10:44 was a nice surprise. Don't think I'm in any better shape than years past, but for some reason I've found myself really getting after things in the second half. My old 50 mile plan was to start slow and then hike the final 30 miles. My past few races have, for some unknown reason, actually had me in a hurry to get to the finish line.

Still down with the slow start, however. Had to take a dump about 3.5 miles into the race, allowing tons of folks to pass. Not worth the effort to get by them on the singletrack, so I strolled into the first aid station at five miles in almost one hour.

Didn't start passing people until the climb up Caballo Mountain. Ran a lot of that and hiked hard the rest of it. Reached the top in 31st place and started down in 34th place. Had to spend some time taking in the view up there. A bunch of folks flew past me on the way down, was probably in 40th place at Caballo Base, mile 14.

Very steady over to Pipeline (mile 17) and Valle Grande (mile 21). Probably about 30th place at VG, but as I looked out over the huge open field I could see runners lined up. Hammered the next section, the big climb up and over to Parajito Canyon (mile 28.7). Passed at least a dozen runners, including the top female. Ran that downhill section as hard as I've ever raced in a 50 miler. Finally dropped the top chick for good about a mile before the PC aid station.

Decided to keep it going after Parajito. Ran the entire way from Parajito to the Townsite Lift, most of which I had walked two years ago when I ran this race in 13:37.

I had been climbing strong all day, so I really wanted to hammer the final big climb of the day up the ski hill. Hiked as hard as I could, getting a huge boost when I passed Rick H. The decent down to the ski lodge wasn't pretty, I'm horrible at steep downhills, but I didn't let it ruin my day.

Left the ski lodge, mile 36, 8:15 into the race. Nick was on his first beer by this point. As was I, since $100 was at the ski lodge with PBR, but Nick could enjoy it a lot more since he was finished with the race. Started having thoughts about a sub 11 here, but I had given a lot to get up and over the ski hill and was hurting pretty bad at that point.

Ben Woodbeck, who recently wrote an article on pacing Diana Finkel at Hardrock for TrailRunner magazine, was right on my tail shortly after leaving the lodge. Normally I'm not in this guy's league but today I decided to drop him. Ran hard all the way over to Pipeline (mile 39). He was still there. Really hammered over to Guaje Ridge (mile 43). He was still there.

Ran out of my mind, as hard as I could possibly go, down to Rendija Canyon. Several times I told myself, "sprint for the next 10 minutes and get rid of this guy." I would do that, and at the ten minute mark would think to myself that there was no way he was still there, then peak back to see him still there. Ugh.

Finally broke him at the Rendija Canyon aid station, mile 48.1. I chugged a Fat Tire and started to head out, and he didn't answer the bell. Can't believe how hard he pushed me from the ski lodge over to this point, taking me from wondering if I could be close to eleven hours to allowing me to slack the final two miles and finish way under that mark.

Passed one last 50 miler over the final 1.9 miles to finish in 10:44:36, good for 12th place overall.

Now begins the taper for the Arkansas River Bluegrass Marathon...

Team CRUD knows how to finish a race!

The real way to finish strong is to make sure you cross the line drinking beer.

Caballo

Channeling my inner Usain Bolt on top of Caballo Peak. Not very Bolt-like coming back down the mountain as some 500 people passed me on the technical downhill.

Results are up over here. Ended up 12th overall in 10:44:36. More bragging rights as I somehow managed to take down the Giant Killer. I told Nick after the race that with all the big names I've been beating this year, he better watch his back. He didn't seem too worried.

pics

You can tell I ran a nice time at Jemez due to how fast I look in these pics. The top one is at the ski lift aid station, the bottom one at the ski resort at mile 36ish.

Beer of choice for the aid station workers? Fat Tire!

The other Salida brewery...

Jemez

Two Buck Chuck!

Jesus is coming! Look busy!

Been so busy lately I have completely forgot about judgment day coming up this Saturday. Noticed in the bible that the rapture will begin at 6PM in whatever your time zone you're in (New Zealand gets it first!). Gives me 13 hours to finish Jemez, because in AJW's book the end of the world is no excuse for a DNF. My best out there is 13:37, so I'll need to step it up.

I think all sub 13 guys should get a t-shirt that says "I beat the rapture at Jemez!" and all the guys over 13 hours get a shirt that reads, "I didn't beat this rapture at Jemez, but I'll be back in 2012 to beat that rapture!"

more running!

Tues PM - Manitou track. One mile warm up, 2 x 1 mile (6:07, 5:58) with 400m RBI, 400m cool down. All I had time for as I had to get over to Trinity to watch a movie. The movie was average at best, wish I woulda ran a few more mile repeats.

Wed AM - Four miles easy with the dog on the Garden trails, 42 minutes. Pretty sore from two decent workouts yesterday.

Salida/quote of the day

Exclusive race photos of the Salida Sprial Drive four miler. You can see how close I was to pulling out the victory in the bottom pic.

We got a nice gimmie bag which included a toothbrush and toothpaste from a local dentist. At the start of the race, the RD said, "please be sure to use those, we don't want Salida to start looking like Leadville."

people (and beer) are strange...

Finally got to visit Strange Brewing Company over the weekend. Good beer up there!

Tuesday

Sometimes tragedy springs opportunity. I realized this morning that with the horrific passing of Wanjiru, my chances of winning the gold medal in the 2012 games are a little better.

AM - 10 miles, 1:39 with the Sunrise Striders. Including 2 x 8 minutes hard up Rampart Range Road.

Hoping to hit the track after work and still make it over to Trinity for the showing of 23 Feet.

weekend results

Salida Sprial Drive - 27:01, second place overall. Third to the top of the hill. Managed to close the gap a bit on the way down, but just couldn't get the job done. Raced real hard, and I blame that :01 on Evan, who told me to race without a watch...

Colfax Marathon - 3:25:12. Pretty happy with the lack of effort it took to go sub 3:30, very easy out there. Wanted to run the first ten miles at eight minutes a mile. With no watch and no clocks on the course until that point, I ran 1:19:57. My finishers medal is now enshrined at Sancho's Broken Arrow, free PBR to anyone who can find it.

RIP Sammy Wanjiru

Lost a great one. I still get goosebumps when I watch this.

I heart Salida!

Ten cent pints of PBR all day!

jes

My sister has been blogging again. Click here if you're bored.

Western States

Just booked my flight to pace John C at Western States! Looking forward to seeing what the big deal about that race is. Should be in Squaw Valley early afternoon on that Friday. Anyone know any good bars there?

44

Sportin' numero 44 at the Colfax Marathon. Think you can follow along on the official race website, but it won't be very exciting as I'm going to run 3:29:59. Hopefully you can find something better to do on a beautiful Colorado Sunday morning.

Hash beer check just before mile 26, FYI.

back at it

Tues PM - Section 16 the reverse way (long climb, as opposed to steep climb). 5.5 miles, 63 minutes. The dog got to chase a turkey.

Wed AM - Felt sore today, 4 miles around the bowl in the Garden, 45 minutes. Lots of rain down low, but from about the false summit on the Incline and up it's all snow.

mountains

Stole this off Woody's blog. On this part of the CP course you can see five of Colorado's 14ers. The only 15er in Colorado, Mt. Pitt, is hidden behind Mt. Princeton...

18-17

I can't remember the last time the Pirates had a winning record! It was probably back when Barry Bonds was still skinny.

resluts

CP results are over here. Some big names right behind me. But damn, there were some big names within striking distance in front of me as well!

Zion

Tentatively plugged in October 15th for the Zion Traverse. See some cool pics of the place over here.

That's the final event I'm putting on my calendar for the year. Any other free time I can find will be filled with drinking.

pic of the week

Zagbag halfway through his recent R2R2R. Heard that after drinking one beer he threw up on himself and passed out, but got up a few hours later and finished the run...

Monday

91.9 miles on the week. A whopping two miles with the dog on Sunday. Wanted to go another 1.3 miles to top this guy, but I'm not sure I could have made it.

Another blazing 2.5 miles on the grass this morning. 30 minutes. BOOM!

Remember, recovery is for sissies. I'm actually tapering for my two races this weekend...

Go Buccos!

The Pirates won tonight, bringing their record to .500. It's the first time they've not had a losing record on Mother's Day in like 600 years...

Collegiate Peaks

1st lap - 3:50

2nd lap - 4:16

Awesome race. Right up there with Leadville 2010 as far as actually trying to get to the finish line quickly as opposed to the meandering around I usually do during ultras. Really gave everything I had to go sub eight. Eight hours came and went as I was about half a mile from the finish line, pretty heartbroken at working so hard and coming up just short. Took a seat on a rock for a few minutes then jogged the rest. Can't complain too much, as it took almost 30 minutes off my former PR, set on this course in 2008.

Great to see everyone out there! The post run happy hour at Eddyline was one of the best parts of the race!

PR!

A wave!

Made it. I'll be wearing A295 for Bolder Boulder. Hell, if I can get my ass over to the BRC tonight, maybe I'll be wearing that bib for Collegiate Peaks tomorrow...

Slowly leaning towards training like this guy. One long run per week, one track work per week, and one tempo/race per week. Also plan on going "Mahoney Style" for Leadville someday. No drop bags, no pacers. Make it even harder than it has to be, so when I crush Brandon again I'll own him for good.

still here...

Back from Denver. Awesome trip.

Speedy ten miler with PG and JMock on Wed. About killed me, and was even slow enough to make the Top American sore the next day. Guess those 2:29 guys aren't so tough when you force 'em to run 8:30 miles.

Two more breweries to cross off the list. One, Rock Bottom, I only went to since it was across from the hotel (it's on the beer map so I still get to pad my stats). The other, Uptown Brothers, doesn't brew beer there yet (though it's well worth the trip if you're a fan of Colorado micros). Wasn't all yuppie pubs though, currently nursing a vicious hangover obtained from pounding Colt 45 at the Satellite Bar!

lunch

Hooray!

local boy does good...

Justin R made the letsrun.com main page for his 2:22 at Eugene. Here's the article if the page changes. Hopefully some of the trolls on the message board start making fun of him soon.

April

276.6 miles, 54 and a half hours of running. I need to get a life. Usain Bolt would be proud as that's well under a 12 minute per mile average.

Should go well over 300 miles in June since I'm doing 36 races.

Tedeschi Trucks Band

Just heard that the Tedeschi Trucks Band will be coming to Colorado Springs on May 17th! We're not gonna be mistaken for Austin anytime soon, but this little village is starting to get some decent acts. I'll keep dreaming about the time they're not all on school nights...

3

Easy half hour on the Garden trails with the dog, three miles. Overslept and nursing a hangover from the celebration last night.

Went over 1000 miles on the year on Saturday. Right on pace for 3000 on the year.

adios, dickhead!

Been waiting for this day for a LONG time...

stupid weather

Snow on May 1st.  Up yours, Mother Nature!

Kohl Elementary 5K

As you can see, I was totally focused on racing and was definitely not checking out the ass of the chick in front of me...

18:38 at the Kohl Elementary 5K. 6:05 at the first mile, 12:20 at mile two. Slow time due to the crappy conditions, but I was happy with the race. Passed lots of folks the entire race, though I just couldn't run down the top female. And I tried hard, probably gaining 20 seconds on her over the final 1.1 miles.

Passed Brandon on a long downhill just after mile one. Snuck in behind him and allowed him to view my shadow for a while. He knew he was either about to be stabbed by Freddy Krueger or passed by me, and he might have preferred the former.

Got in with a pack of other dudes to try to break the wind a bit, and I noticed GZ was not too far ahead. And he was all alone, so I knew he was suffering with the conditions. After a quarter mile or so I broke from the pack I was in and went after him. I got about 15 feet behind him and he suddenly made a U-turn to head back for his son. Damn you! I'm not quite in GZ's league anymore and I'm sure he would have dropped me over the final mile had I caught him, but it was nice to dream for a bit. Accidentally used some technology to figure out my pace during this section, as one of them fancy radar speed limit signs clocked me doing nine miles per hour. Slowest mile of the race for me, but it doesn't seem like I slowed as much as everyone else, thanks to the boost I got from dropping B and chasing GZ.

Had to work hard that final mile though. I thought Brandon had fallen way behind but I shot a glance back at mile two and he was still alive. Passed quite a few folks over the final 1.1 miles, but couldn't quite catch the female winner. Final 1.1 miles in 6:18, meaning I probably closed in 5:45ish pace, pretty fast for me.

Maybe in ten years or so when the wind finally eases up on the Front Range I can sneak in a sub-18 5K.

The race also served as a blogger convention, besides GZ and Brandon we had Ryan, Lucho, Aaron, and JV out there. Big props to those guys who do this sport, kick my ass, and manage family life.

Springs was well represented, with Adam Rich taking the win and Andy Rinne grabbing 7th place in a pretty tough field. Boulder who?

How is it my 5K race reports are longer than my hundred mile reports?