Cheyenne Canon Ale

Cheyenne Canon Ale released tonight. Thinking of running the Canya Canon route, then up to the top of High Drive, then back down via the chutes. Then to the brewery for some post-climb refreshment.

Barr Camp

Decent run up to Barr Camp today. Saw lots of friends I haven't seen in a long time: No Name Creek, 7.8 Mile Sign, Neal & Teresa.

After visiting San Fran and seeing the layout of the city, as well as remembering how much shit I've talked about the Ascent, I've dropped SF to a B race and will concentrate on Barr Trail the next 1.5 months. Not sure when I'll get another shot to PR the Ascent, so I need to take advantage of it. Will still shoot for a sub-3 in SF, then work on getting a new PR at Wisconsin Dells.

Ryan Hall

The lord works in mysterious ways. From Ryan Hall's twitter page:

"I think some crazy drunk college kid that was running in Eugene and decided to push me over broke my elbow."

Should lead to some interesting letsrun troll comments, here's the link.

For the record, I was in San Fran all weekend, nowhere near Eugene. Says something about American distance running that our greatest talent can't outrun a drunk college kid.

peace, love, & haight

Awesome Monday morning spent in Haight-Ashbury. Also visited Jerry's old house:

Huge score as I grabbed a 1992 Lithuania hoops shirt from the local Goodwill for $8.99. Dead shirts in the other stores were running $40.

Michigan Bluff

Two ultra studs pulling off their best brownie impression, sitting around at an aid station all afternoon...

21

Vacation hangover, and the fact that I haven't done a push up or sit up in a long time, combined to push me up to 20:27 this afternoon. First 20+ time in quite a while.

Will try to get all the San Fran/Western trip posted tomorrow. Awesome time!

Park Chalet Brewing, San Fran

Auburn Alehouse

Cassidy finished in 29:34!

Jupiter Brewing

Berkeley

California

Flying to San Francisco and then headed directly to Squaw Valley. Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!

Colorado beer

Found this article while reading about the drunkest states in the nation (Colorado is #10, FYI). Penned back in 2008, it says there are 74 breweries within 100 miles of downtown Denver. Today, that number is well over 100!

San Juan video

Mr. John T. Sharp's latest video, this one from the San Juan Solstice. He passed me while I was in the bar.

annoying SF fundraising

Using a race for fundraising is one of my big pet peeves. I keep getting e-mails from Sophia Bush and the San Francisco Marathon asking for loot for some celebrity cause. There are definitely things I'd pay her for, but saving the trees isn't one of 'em. To make it even worse, I find out today that she's not even running the marathon. She's only doing the 5K. Ugh. Hell, Valerie Bertanelli at least ran Boston (I crushed her, FYI).

So no, I'm not going to pay several hundred dollars to attend some pasta fest with Ms. Bush, whom I assume is some reality TV star. However, maybe post race I'll pull one of these and get some good views...

(Sorry, I just had to work that Boulder article into a post somehow)

Benny's mystery shot

Before:

After:

Pretty sure it was gasoline.

Alferd Packer

Supposidly this is where it all went down. I highly suggest watching this movie to learn the history of the Lake City cannibal. Shpadoinkle!

San Juan

13:34:30. Went really, really hard on the uphills. Went really, really easy on the downhills. Just didn't feel like racing that day, so I didn't. Only had one bad stretch, the new dirt road along Lake San Cristobal, but at the end of that section someone handed me a Ranger IPA so it was all good.

Hoping they post the aid station splits. To say I wasted 90 minutes on the day goofing off at aid stations might be too little. I remember checking into Vickers at 11:59, then covering the final 3.5 miles to finish in 13:34. That included a stop at the Packer Saloon about 200 meters from the finish line.

Still, had a lot of fun being in the mountains and BSing with the MOP guys. I'd be more than OK with a year in which I only got to race twice - San Juan and Hardrock.

Best part of the weekend was the post race pub crawl. Packer Saloon, Restless Spirits ($2 bottles of Dixie!), and the Depot. Good times!

Action shot of me during the race. You can tell I'm in a hurry.

50 grand for not paying attention!

That idiot who rode his bike into the back of a parked city vehicle settled for 50 grand. Read about it here. What a country we live in.

Almost had my truck hit by a cyclist on Cimmaron Road (highway 24) the other day. No bike lane and lots of traffic. Within two blocks of HWY 24 we have Colorado Ave (has bike lanes and much less traffic), Pikes Peak Ave (almost no traffic and more than enough room for bikes and cars), and a brand new paved hike-and-bike path. Unbelievable.

Sir Nick, I've figured out what beer to get you to pay off the bet I lost...

beer!

Western

Copied this from an e-mail from John Cassidy, who I'll be pacing Saturday at Western States. Working on my insults for the top runners when they pass by at Duncan Canyon.

Start M0 at Squaw Valley for those who are awake:

All cars/everyone/everything then drive to Auburn M100 and then to
Foresthill M62 --- all hotels need to be checked out of.

Yes, it's a roundabout drive to get access onto the actual course.

Foresthill is a small town and become a central point for most of the
race. The biggest crowds will be in Foresthill.

Then the crew split up:
Crew A (JT/Jess)
Crew B (Dad/Kelly/Dennis)

Crew A (JT/Jess): Mosquito Ridge Road - Crew at M23 Duncan Canyon and
M38 Dusty Corners (you will see the front runners at M23, maybe miss
the top 50 at M38)

Crew B (Dad/Kelly/Dennis): Foresthill Road - Crew at M29 Robison Flat.

Crews meet up at M62 Foresthill and drive together to M55 Michigan Bluff
(Dave may begin pacing here if I get there after 8:30PM)

Combined Crew at M62 Foresthill (however you can walk reverse course to
M60 and pace me in from Bath Road "unlimited pacers allowed" between
M60-M62)

Crew B (Dad/Kelly/Dennis) go to Drivers Flat and walks down 2.5 miles to
Rucky Chucky near side (M78). They will not be allowed to cross the
river. Some may choose to sleep this one out at the hotel.

Crew A (JT/Jess) go the shuttle pick-up point for Green Gate M80. If
you want to, you are allowed to walk reverse course M80 to M78 Rucky
Chucky far side - as "unlimited pacers allowed" between M78-M80. This
will have Me, Dave, JT, Jess together for M78 to M80

JT begins pacing at M80 Green Gate to the finish. M80 to M100

Dave will paced M62 to M80. (and Dave will ride with your sister back to
the finish/hotel/hwy 49 areas).

Combined Crew at M93 (Hwy 49 crossing) - or whoever is awake

Combined Crew at M96 (No Hands Bridge) - or whoever is awake

Combined Crew at M100 (Finish) - Crew can reverse course to M98.9 Robie
Point and pace me in (their choice). as "unlimited pacers allowed"
between M98.9-M100

San Juan

Spent LOTS of time in the beautiful San Juan mountains on Saturday. 13:35ish. Felt good, just didn't feel like racing, so I took it pretty easy. More to come...

Restless Spirits Saloon

Shiner, PBR, and Dixie.  I'll be unstoppable tomorrow!

Lake City!

good luck!

Lots of stuff going on this weekend. San Juan, Bighorn, Mt. Evans. Good luck to everyone running!

Training has been low the past two weeks. Life getting in the way. Just looking forward to spending some quality time in the mountains this weekend. Haven't even bothered to check out the new course, and only using drop bags for my iPod pick up and drop off. If I feel good on Sat, I'll go for it. If not, I'll enjoy a nice, long hike. Either way it's gonna be a blast!

pic of the day

JRDF = Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

Might have to grab a Mega Jug of soda soon, just to support diabetes research!

I heart KFC!

quote of the day

Was reading this article on LeBron and was reminded of a quote by one of my favorite sports guys of all time...

“When it comes to the Nature Boy, ladies, you cannot be the first, but you can be the next."

San Juan alternate course

It's official, we're gonna run a different course this year at San Juan. Not too bummed about it, it'll still be a great day spent running around the mountains. Might as well not even try to break Matt C's course record now...

HAIL TO PITT!

Pitt/Penn State will resume their football rivalry in 2016. I just started tailgating for it. Read about it here. They haven't told Paterno about it yet, but when they do I bet the old man craps his pants...

happy flag day!

blah

20 minute warm up, 3 x 1600m with 400m RBI, 15 minute cool down. 5:53, 5:53, 5:51. Just couldn't get motivated today. Was hoping to take down my Colorado PR (5:38) but it just wasn't happening.

oops...

The Miami Herald accidentally ran this ad in today's newspaper. Awesome!

50

50 miles on the week, with two rest days. Decent interval workout on Tuesday was the highlight. Didn't mean to taper quite so much for San Juan, but it is what it is.

Got in to the sub-seeded group at San Fran. Still not elite like this guy, but I'm moving up.

Garden

Awesome weekend. More about it later. I slacked at the Garden, sprinting at the finish to come in just under 1:30. I think about 6000 people passed me while I was drinking beer with Rick H at mile nine.

Flag Day

It's my new favorite holiday, if only because Tony's will give you a big Uncle Sam hat for having a liquid lunch! I'll be down there at 12:30ish on June 14th if anyone wants to join me. God bless the USA!

run commute

Easy run to work this morning. 5.3 miles, one hour. A few of those minutes were spent grabbing breakfast. For the run home I'll check out how far along they are on the new hike and bike trail going in along Cimarron. When it's finished it'll run from America the Beautiful Park in downtown Colo Springs all the way to Manitou.

Manning the CRUD aid station out in the middle of nowhere tomorrow. Mile 31 of the Ring The Peak Fat Ass 100k. Yes, there will be PBR there. And all who DNF at my truck will be forced to stop at Bierwerks on the ride home.

Saturday night will be spent in my yard drinking beer and watching the Starlight Spectacular roll by.

Sunday morning I'll be volunteering at packet pick up for the Garden 10 Miler. I'll be running as well, shooting for a 69:59. On that course sub 70 is a fairly decent tempo run for me, but not quite a race effort.

incline

Good article on troops doing the Incline over here. Very classy of Ms. Williams to break the law and then whine about others who are breaking the law.

Go Army!

June is sexual assault prevention month...

Thurs

AM - Wanted to hit the final PPRR Garden run of the year, but had to bail in favor of 30 minutes with the dog around Woodmore Park. Found out the guy who always carries the POW flag in local races lives in Pleasant Valley. Good addition to the PV cross-country team with me, Kyle, Muzzy, and Kute. Plus, we've waiting on the trade of the century - Jillian for O'Day - to go through...

1400 miles on the year.

track

AM - Overslept, which has been a common theme lately. Had to fit in a quick workout, so after I did a 1.5 mile warm up I ran 2 x 2000m with 800m RBI. Hit 7:22 and 7:18. 1.5 mile cool down.

PM - Section 16 with Pete and the dog, untimed. The dog is pretty slow in this heat.

Vegas, baby!

Signed up for the Las Vegas Marathon.

After San Juan, I'm going to concentrate on the shorter stuff and take a stab at a 2:49 three times this year: San Fran, Wisconsin Dells, and Vegas. Will probably fail miserably, but I won't know unless I try. It's already been a great year with a new marathon and 50 miler PR, so even if no more races go my way I'll still be happy with 2011.

house

Prolog for the Quizno's bike ride thing. Passes two blocks from my house. Read about it here.

I believe the upcoming Starlight Spectacular short course goes down 31st Street. I'll be out on the lawn drinking beer, watching all that spandex pass by. Stop by for a drink if you're riding.

Also gonna be grilling after the Garden 10 miler on Sunday. Feel free to drop by.

Leadville

Rego for all the Leadville races closes on June 10th. Better enter soon if you've been on the fence.

smoke

Must be some bad fires down in Arizona. 600+ miles away, but the smoke is currently making it hard to see Pikes Peak from my house...

Golden Gate Dirty Thirty 50K

Started slow, mediocre through the middle, slow through the end. 6:19. More of a good long run than a poor race though. Been pretty beat up since Collegiate Peaks, gonna enjoy this next two weeks of low mileage. Can't complain about this Dirty Thirty too much, I had a good race last year and finished in 6:41. Something I'm doing seems to be working.

Really love this course, I'd put it up with San Juan as my favorite non-Hardrock trail race.

quote of the day

Had a guy in my office today wearing not one but two yellow livestrong bracelets. I asked him what he thought about Lance Armstrong and the whole steroid mess.

His response:

"Lance Armstrong? Is that the dude who walked on the moon?"

food plate reminder...

21

Just updated my log, and the recent Arkansas Bluegrass Marathon was the 21st time I've run the 26.2 distance. Six of those were the Run Through Time.

Best time? 2:53:10 at this year's NOLA marathon.

Worst time? 5:24:11 the very next race in Salida.

food

Hooray! The new gov't food guide is out! Looking forward to hearing what Digger and Meredith have to say about it...

MyPlate is/was the old Lance Armstrong Livestrong thing. Wonder if they're all getting ready for something?

In case you don't trust the leaders of a country where 66% of adults are overweight or obese telling you what to eat, I have also updated my personal dietary plate schematic thingey:

BB beer check

Working hard at the Bolder Boulder beer check.

May

Solid month. 321 miles. Think I raced about 241 times. Two mountain 50 milers. Two marathons. 10K, 4 miler, 5K. Even beat Amanda E to the choc milk isle last night at King Super's.

Not a good month on the green monster front. Up to 43 on the year.

One last hurrah at the Dirty Thirty this Saturday. Going to go out too fast so I can suffer over the final 15 miles, good training for San Juan. Entered in the Garden 10 miler as well, though I'm volunteering at packet pick up so I'll probably start the race a few minutes late.

track

Awesome workout this morning. 20 minute warm up to the CC track, 6 x 800m with 400m RBI, 15 minute cool down. Wasn't looking for anything special and originally wanted to average 3:09 just to keep the legs spinning. Ended up going 2:59, :55, :51, :47, :41, :41. Not sure where the last three came from, think 2:41 is about the fastest I've run since college.

Happy National Running Day!