Monday

3.3 miles in 45 minutes with the dog in Red Rock Canyon this morning.  She was not very impressed with my win, as she shit twice despite knowing damn well I was only carrying one poop bag.

Going to shoot for 100 Incline ascents in '13.  Doing the Incline twice burns off one bacon cheeseburger, right?

Not sure what I'm going to do when I get home tonight.  One minute I'm motivated to do the Incline twice, the next minute I'm wondering which bar I should start drinking at the moment I leave the office...

Just Call Me Champ!

Boom!

2013 Challenge: Burgers!

Looks like the challenge for 2013 will be burgers!  Eat a burger in 50 different locations.  Go here if you want in on the action.

Does this make me an elite ultra runner?

racing

Logo on the shirt for the annual Rescue Run 10K on January 1st in Palmer Park.  Just one of three races I'll be doing over an eight day span to end/start the year.  Also hitting up the Raptor Resolution Run 5 miler and the Jackson Day 9K in NOLA.  Anyone know the FKT for that amazing triple?

commute #52

That wraps up the commuting challenge of 2012.  Ran to work at least once a week over the past year.  5.5 easy miles in just under an hour.

Tuesday

Rick H and I ran the first few miles and the last few miles of the new fat ass course this morning.  See the beta here.  Basically we head out through the east side of Red Rock Canyon, run all over the Cheyenne Canon/Section 16 area, and come back through the west side of Red Rock Canyon.  Should be pretty fun.  8.2 miles on the day in just under two hours.  Saw two sets of mountain lion tracks on Intemann!

Rick told me about this shirt while we were BSing on the run:

But when I googled it, this much better image popped up.  Merry Christmas.

Monday

Nice 14.5 miler through the Garden and Manitou this morning to get a jump on the iRunFar Strava Challenge.  I was in 7th place overall when I posted those miles this morning!  I've since fallen way down now that all the late sleepers have gone for their run.

After the run I jumped on the bike for the four miles over to Trinity.  It's their annual "kill the keg" christmas eve shindig.  Always liked this, but at eight bucks a pint I think I'll have to start my own tradition over at the Lounge.

Wisconsin girls sure are expensive!

This is what $600 an hour gets you:

A whole hour, I wonder if she'll run my next 3K steeplechase with me for $400.  The story is already old news, but it has given birth to the greatest thread EVER on letsrun.com.  CRUD was trying to get her for the pre-fat ass expo, but at that price I doubt she's interested in a bunch of dudes who live in their trucks.

Gotta admit, this is a pretty awesome commercial:

canon FAIL

Was real hard to get out of bed this morning at 4:30.  Then I seemed to struggle getting into the required six layers of clothes.  Then I couldn't find my keys.  Then, two minutes into the run up Cheyenne Canon, my face was in horrible pain due to the cold temps (4F in downtown Springs, much lower over in the Canon).  So I finally gave up.  I did eat a bag of doritos for breakfast though, so I still get to keep my coolness points.

Incline tonight, should be a lot warmer.

The Horsetooth Half Marathon up in the Fort now has a full marathon division.

Hadn't had a trip to the big ditch planned for this year, but after seeing this I might go back...

Grand Canyon : Blink of Time from GOTM Films on Vimeo.

commute #51/Keystone question

Quick run to work, five miles in 48 minutes.  Not nearly as cold as it was supposed to be.

Only one more week and the big 2012 commuter goal will be in the books.  Lopped over 20% of my driving miles off.  Looking to double that number in '13.

In Keystone this weekend.  For a concert, not skiing.  Any good bars there?  Any good runnable-in-December trails there?

Red Mountain/4:20 Incline

Mon PM - Red Mountain with toe dog, $100, Marc (who did the Incline first), Amanda (who ran the seven miles from her house to the start), Vega, and BLOS.  Up in 25 flat, first time I've run the whole thing in a while.  3.5 miles, 50 minutes.

Tues AM - And I mean AM.  Stepped off with O'Day and the dog at 4:20.  Marc had started about ten minutes earlier, and Roger was on his way up before that.  Two miles, 1:14.

Act now, all 2012 NYC Marathon finisher schwag is 50% off!

Stumbled upon another drug related cycling post on letsrun.com.  This chick below (and yes, it really is a chick) was busted by the anti-doping peeps while shaving her beard.  See the original thread here.

Barr Camp

Dog was a pain in the ass this morning.  Three miles up and down Barr Trail, 50 minutes.

Tomorrow O'Day and I start our new tradition - Tuesday 4:20 Incline.  Stepping off at the lovely hour of 4:20AM if anyone wants to join us.

I believe I have the best luck of anyone in the history of the Hardrock lottery.  Not sure when the lottery started (guys like Blake and Mr. 16-time-finisher-but-still-on-the-waitlist Kirk, got their start way back before Born To Run when there was no lottery).  I bet I even have a better winning percentage than Steve or Deb or Ted.  So I can tell you, there is no sort of lottery conspiracy going on.  I don't have any dirt on Dale, and I'm not rich enough to bribe the entire board of directors.  Whine away because you didn't get in, but there's no need to rip on other runners who happen to get lucky and it's certainly uncalled for to call into question the ethics of those in charge of putting on the race.

Fat Ass Course Pics

Harsha took a ton of pics while previewing the Fat Ass course on Saturday, you can see them here.

woohooo!

Time to go get all that five time finisher schwag!

Fat Ass

CRUD ran a chunk of the upcoming Fat Ass course yesterday.  My garmin data is here.  Strava stuff is over here.  Beautiful course.  Think it will end up being somewhere in the 28-29 mile range.  We will have an aid station just before the halfway point, at a parking lot where High Drive and Gold Camp Road intersect at the top of Cheyenne Canon.

The Dive

bike to work

$100 gave me the green light to drop some serious coin on a new bike if I can ride once a week to work in 2013.  Right now I'd go with a Surly, either the Long Haul Trucker or the Ogre.  But that will probably change as I put more thought into it.  And $1200 isn't really considered serious coin in the bike world, I'd still be treated as a welfare recipient among the cyclists on the Front Range.  Which is reason #2 that bike riding will never be as cool as running (reason #1 is the whole spandex thing).

There's a weird clicking noise I get when I pedal.  It comes and goes.  When it comes, I just stop peddling for half a second, and when I start again it has gone away.  No idea what this is.  It seems to be coming from the crank area.  Any thoughts as to what it might be?

My professional triathlete neighbor took a look at my mountain bike and told me the rear derailler is broke.  This throws a wrench into my plans for a possible attempt at the Steamboat Stinger double.

Anywho, I did bike to work today.  Even at a somewhat warm 30F, I thought my toes were going to freeze.

commute #50

Easy five to work this morning.  About to run home and then head to the annual Colorado Running Company holiday party.

Good stuff (as usual) from Sharpie's FB page:

El top de los W's

Easy run to the top of the W's after work tonight from the Cog station.  33 minutes up, 27 down, 3.9 miles.  Friggin' cold, though at 22F it was almost twice as hot as it was this morning.

Here's the CRUD e-mail for Sat's long run if anyone wants to join us.  Checking out a good chunk of the upcoming Fat Ass.  Will be hitting The Dive for post-run grub.

Meet at the Section 16 parking area on Lower Gold Camp Road at 7:00 a.m. See below for directions to trailhead.

Colorado Springs will be hosting the 3^rd and final run of the Front Range Fat Ass Series on January 19, the Ponderous Posterior. With the Waldo Canyon fire this summer we are unable to run the route we have ran the last 2 years. This Saturday will be running the middle portion of the Ponderous Posterior.

From Section 16 parking lot up High Drive, take a left and head down Capn’t Jacks to Lower Gold Camp Road. Just before the tunnel on the left take the Spring Creek Trail down to Columbine. Up Columbine to North Cheyenne Canon Road which is the paved road. Up North Cheyenne Canon Road for about ½ mile. Head left at the dirt parking lot to Gold Camp Road which is closed to traffic. Where the road turns sharp to the left head to your right and hit the Buck Horn Trail. Up Buck Horn to Capt Jacks (Trail 667). Left on Capt Jacks(Trail 667) to Bear Creek Trail(Trail 666), down Bear Creek Trail to High Drive for ¼ mile then up Palmer Red Rocks Loop/Section 16 and back to cars. Estimated mileage 18 miles. Can cut it shorter by heading back to car when coming down High Drive instead of doing the Palmer Red Rocks Loop/Section 16.

Direction to Start:

To get to the Section 16 Trailhead , turn south on 26th Street from US Highway 24 near Old Colorado City in Colorado Springs. Continue on 26th to the 5-way intersection with Gold Camp Road, Wheeler, and Bear Creek Road. Take Upper Gold Camp Road (right turn) and follow it to the parking lot with the big sign for Section 16

Damn bike thieves!

The Dive

Brand new diner just opened down the street from me at 31st and Pikes Peak.  Tried it this morning and the breakfast sandwich was really good.  Looking forward to trying the burgers!  Open 6AM to 11PM and hoping to go to 24 hours soon, this place could save me from a lot of future Red Rock Lounge hangovers.

AM Incline

Stepped off on the Incline at 4:50AM this morning, at a balmy 13F.  With O'Day and Rakita.  And by "with," I mean I picked them up and we were technically tied at the bottom.  But I'll take the bronze medal for any Incline done by 6AM.  Straight up and straight down, first time I've come down the Incline in years.  Up in roughly 40 minutes, 2 miles in 1:15.

Monday

AM - Took the dog over to Red Rock Canyon.  Had I hit the jackpot at powerball last week, I probably wouldn't have been half as excited as our dog gets when there's fresh snow on the trails.  6.8 miles, 80 minutes.

PM - Weekly Red Mountain throwdown.  Ran there from the house via the Garden trails.  Small turnout due to the weather, only $100, Dan V, and Brandon S showed up.  9.5 miles, two hours.

Fort Collins

As expected, a great time up in the Fort at the Chubby Cheeks Fat Ass on Saturday.  I ran the marathon course in just over six hours.  Easy effort and nice to be on my feet for that long.  Awesome to see so many like-minded folks up there.  Strava tells me that I'm now the KOM of the Horsetooth Falls Trail Climb, nice to show up and take that away from the locals.  But I'm sure that now Nick or Mike H will jump on Strava just to take that trophy from me.

Stayed up north on Saturday night and visited two more breweries - Pitchers and Equinox.  Good stuff!  Equinox had a pretty solid band playing, and everyone got bonus points when the band threw down a cover of First Tube.



Of course it wasn't all about snooty breweries.  We also visited Tony's for some jager, the Drunken Monkey for some gin, and the Town Pump, where $100 put 14 vodka soaked cherries into her mouth at once.  Probably some other pubs in there as well.  That's on top of all the brews downed after the Fat Ass.  I took a life insurance physical this morning, and I wonder if the UA I provided will still have alcohol in it.

50 miles on the week, with good runs at Incline Happy Hour and the Fat Ass.  Training has really been hit or miss since the no-go at NYC.  Been nice to sort of take a break, but it's about time to get in gear or else Mt. Mitchell is going to hand me my ass.

Hoping to get up to Todd G's Hardrock lottery party on Sunday.  But that's the day after the infamous Verly Hudson Pub Crawl in Manitou, so we'll see if I can get my ass out of bed in time.

2013 Race Schedule

Been sitting on this for a while, figured I'd throw it out there now.  Of course a lot of it depends on the Hardrock lottery next weekend.

Feb 23 - Mt. Mitchell Challenge
Mar 9 - Salida Marathon
May 11 - Quad Rock
May 19 - Colfax Marathon
June 1 - Dirty Thirty 50K
June 15 - Mt. Evans Ascent
June 22 - Lake City (if Hardrock) or Rachel Carson Challenge (if no Hardrock)
June 29 - North Fork 50K
July 12 - Hardrock
Aug 18 - Pikes Peak Double
Sept 7 - Imogene/Chicago Basin/Telluride Blues & Brews
Nov 3 - NYC Marathon

And godfuckingdamnit I am going to finally hike Longs Peak sometime in '13!

commute #49

Damn, almost crossed this new years resolution off the list.  Five miles to my new finish line, Quixote's (the breakfast burritos are killer, and a steal at $1.66).

Working on some 2013 resolutions.  Have two different race schedules scratched down, which one gets the green light depends on the upcoming Hardrock lottery and whether or not the NYRR can get their head out of their ass and figure out what's going on.

Not sure I ever mentioned my Breaking Bad fix here.  Almost done with season four, which is a problem since that's all that Netflix has so far.

machete robber update

The latest on the machete robber, who is now suspected of murder, can be seen here.  This is the dude who walked into the Red Rock Lounge with his machete, saw there were too many people there, and went next door to rob the Papa Murphy's.  The trailer park where he lived is at the t-intersection of Pikes Peak Ave and El Paso Blvd, about a mile down the road towards Manitou from my house. The new hike & bike trail runs along this trailer park.

The real question here is how could a woman possibly turn down a westsider who drinks his booze straight from the bottle, 'cuz those types of guys are classy!

Garden/Red Mountain

Very easy day.

AM - Easy dog jog on the Garden trails.  2.4 miles.  Bears were out so it took forever to get her through leash country to the actual trails.

PM - Red Mountain.  Easy run with $100 and the pooch up the usual Monday mountain.  Incredible weather for this time of year.  Post run brews at the Keg.  We are not a cursed group, as somebody finally had a good race (Brad at NF50).  Andy and I had not been representing very well since we started running this.

Incline Club

Decent run this morning with some good climbing.  Intemann, Section 16, a bit of High Drive, and back through Red Rock Canyon.  18 miles in 3:40.  Good long run for me, takes away some of the shame and failure I was feeling from yesterday.  More importantly, I was able to get my new badge from strava.  I know you're jealous.

Rock Canyon Half

Not sure what happened here.  1:41 and change.  Pretty much gave up and jogged it in after three miles, just wasn't into racing today.  Started walking through aid stations and everything.  Blech.  At least I got to chow down at Bingo Burger after the run.

Really good indicator of where I'm at mentally with running right now.  Might be time to step it up a bit.

Thanks to Pikes Peak Sports for the pic!

IBM in the news

I think more people read this blog than the Gazette, but they did do an article about the Incline Beer Mile a few months ago.  I love how it's "not recommended!"

Incline

Easy effort on a beautiful night for the Incline.  No flashlight needed.  Normally the loop is one mile up, three miles down.  I think my dog somehow throws in three miles up, and comes down in one.  We call her Killian with all the switchback cutting she does on Barr.

Amanda sent me this:

Tough talk from someone who is going to get her ass kicked tomorrow.  I haven't done much since the NYC no-go weekend but I still think I can crack 90 in Pueblo.

canon/cover boy

Cheyenne Canon this morning.  46 minutes to the top.  Today was warm out at 4:50AM when I started and would have been a good day to go for a sub 40, but I just wasn't feeling it.

I finally made the cover of the Long Run.  Contact my agent for autographed copies.

commute #48

Easy five to work this morning, 46 minutes.  Think I forgot to mention that I did get a run to work in last week despite a three day week.

Figured out how to get the info from my fancy GPS watch over to my Strava account.  Boom!  So if you ever see me driving around the streets at 12mph, it's not that I'm a slow driver, but I'm just killing some douche's KOM.

Tues night Garden

Taking a break from the track.  It's just too depressing in the cold and dark, plus I swear the deer were planning to gang up and kick my ass.

So for now Tuesday nights will be a Garden fartlek.  Last night I warmed up for 1.5 miles, then ran four minutes hard, three minutes easy.  Tough workout, and I think this will help me at Mt. Mitchell more than the track will.

Saw Muzzy on the way there, his foot is in a cast due to some PF issues.  And O'Day's vagina still has sand in it from Leadville.  Tough times for the Pleasant Valley gang.  Really lousy when you have to look towards me as the beacon of dedication and consistency.

NY

Quick recap of New York over on Pikes Peak Sports.

Still waiting to hear if I get to go back in 2013 (and more importantly, how much a return trip is going to cost).

No Name/Red Mountain

Five day break from work, maybe I won't be hungover by the time Rock Canyon rolls around.

AM - Took the dog up to No Name Creek.  Easy run, but I was able to run the whole thing so that's good.

PM - Red Mountain with the usual gang.  Spent all day drinking coffee and eating junk food, so this run wasn't the best.  Just over 28 minutes up.

3500 feet of climbing for the dog and I on the day, not too shabby for a Monday.

hottie adventure athletes

Adventure Journal has a poll on the hottest adventure athletes.  I only knew who two of the women were - Sasha DiGiulian (pictured below and my tied for my #1 hot female athlete vote with Kara Goucher), and Lindsay Vonn (whom I thought was an Olympic skiier and thus in my book not really an adventure athlete, though after googling pics of her I may forgive her for that offense).

Anywho, no runners on the list.  Maybe Shelton should be there?  Or are runners just ugly?  Or maybe anyone who isn't a runner looks at the sport as boring.

Incline Club

Run #1 of the season with the Incline Club.  Ute, Longs, Bobs, Barr, Intemann, home.  16 miles, 3:15, lots of climbing.  Here's a pic of me at the beginning when I didn't yet look like a piece of shit:

Nobody could keep up with Carpenter after 100 meters.  Dude is in pretty good shape.

Red Mountain

Have a nice group showing up on Monday nights for the Red Mountain Throwdown.  $100, Amy, Brad P, Dan V, Andrew, Marc P, Amanda, BLOS, Nick P, Lauren J, and of course Holly and George representing the dogs.  And this crew was without Andy W, Brandon S, and Peter M since they were already traveling for the holiday.

Red is a nice run, from Memorial Park in Manitou straight up.  Gains about 1200 feet in a little less than two miles.  My Garmin beta is over here.  Some of yunz may have ran this trail for the fat ass last year.  We hammer up, goof off on the summit for a bit, and then head down for beers at The Keg.  Good times.  Believe I PR'd last night, Amanda was talking all kinds of shit so I blew her doors off with a 23:30.

Turkey Trot Predict

Beautiful Saturday morning over at Memorial Park for the annual Turkey Trot Predict.  You guess your time for the 5K and then run the race without using a watch.  It's a staggered start, with folks predicting the slowest times starting first and working all the way down to the guys who pick the fastest times.  Always great to see the final results, as the ones who win usually aren't the type to finish near the top.  Especially great to see this year's results, since I was in the top six and won a turkey.  Looks like Katie and I will get to eat this Thanksgiving!

Nice article from the Gazette over here.  I predicted 18:59 and ran 18:51, good for fourth place.  Love the pic below as it really looks like I'm out-kicking Simon G.  Simon is in the white shirt behind me, and Don K, the guy in the blue shirt next to him, was the winner of the race (both less than three seconds off their predicted time).  If you look closely you can see 3rd place finisher John C, Leadville finisher and the dude I paced at Western States, in the pic as well.

Thanks to Pikes Peak Sports for the pics.

brick

Very easy 30 minutes with the dog, then I hopped on the bike to get to work.  Riding in the cold is not fun at all.

Might be heading down to NOLA for the 106th annual Jackson Day 9K.  OK, ok, I'm going to NOLA to party and drink and visit friends and listen to some killer music, but there happens to be that 9K race the same weekend and I might as well run it.

Cheyenne Canon

Another 5AM jaunt up Cheyenne Canon.  44:40 to the top.  Almost a minute faster than last week, though that was probably due to bringing a flashlight and being able to see in the dark this time.  Second week in a row Grimes was out there, I could be witnessing the beginning of the comeback of the year.

commute #46

5 miles to work, 49 minutes.  About to run home in the dark.

NYC still hasn't put out anything of substance since the race was cancelled 12 days ago.  I'd be OK if NYRR was an all-volunteer organization, but the top six guys on the food chain make over 1.5 million.  Seems like quite the cluster up there.  Hell, I gave Nick shit for waiting so long to announce the Chubby date, so you can imagine my opinion on Mary Whittenberg.

Fat Ass

In case you missed it buried in Nick's blog, the FoCo Fat Ass is on December 8th this year.  Believe they're running the same course as all the other years.

The Springs Ponderous Posterior will feature a brand new course due to the Waldo fire closing most of our old course down.  We're running on January 19th.  Crash space available.

bike

I changed the tube on my front tire last night, and rode all the way to work today without breaking anything.

I think I'm ready for the Tour de France.

Cheyenne Canyon

The Men of CRUD (I think we had two chicks as well) started their Thursday morning workout today.  I ran 45:33 to the top, 1:21 on the round trip.  As if this climb doesn't suck enough, I have to start the damn thing at 5AM in order to complete it and get to work on time.  Ugh.  Still, I'd like to get that below 40 before snow and ice have anything to do with things.

Believe it or not, I saw Grimes out there.  Could there be a comeback in the making?????

the poncho that never was

Saw this pic on CNN.  These NYCers stole my finisher poncho!  Bastards!

Kept the streak alive yesterday, commute #45.  Ten mile round trip.

NYC

So, as you may have heard, the NYC marathon was cancelled this past weekend.

We had a pretty big group of friends head out there, some running and some not.  None of us missed a beat once the announcement was official.  Disappointed?  A little, though given the circumstances I was fairly happy that a cancelled marathon was the biggest disappointment I'd have all day.

We ended up cramming about ten days of sightseeing and drinking into a long weekend.  We stayed in the Chelsea district of Manhattan.  Hard hit earlier in the week, but fine by the time we got there on Friday.  Our hotel, the Jane, did suffer some severe damage and we wouldn't have heat, lights, or hot water for our entire visit.  Cool bit of history - the Jane was where the survivors of the Titanic were housed.

$100 and I took a nice tour on a boat along the Hudson and East rivers.  We rented bikes and hit the road for a five hour ride, exploring Battery Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, and Central Park.  We made a failed attempt to visit the 9/11 Memorial (closed due to storm damage) and rebounded by hitting McSorley's and the Double Down.  Empire State Building, Times Square, the High Line.

Of course we boozed a ton as well, and there's not a single night I actually remember returning to the hotel.  New York City is one hell of a town to party in.

We did not head to Staten Island, so I didn't see very much of Sandy's aftermath.  Figuring out how to get to the Island with limited public transportation and my generally negative view of runners and their charity work persuaded me to stay closer to the hotel.  I still think they should have had the race, pretty much agreeing with this guy.  I like how he points out that 46,000 NYCers are homeless every day, and nobody does much of anything for them.  Bad shit is always going to happen.  Call me a cynic, but I'll try to improve the lives of those in my little circle and if you're not in there, well, please solve your own problems.  I heard that, on average, 150,000 people die every single day.  I can't live my life worrying about that.  On the issue of diverting police and firefighters away, NYC has 335,000 of those types.  That's roughly the population of Colorado Springs.  I can honestly say that there was no single five minute period during the time I was outside of my hotel that I didn't see either a cop or a firefighter.  They were very friendly, and they seemed to know what they were doing.  They absolutely could have pulled off the race as well as whatever was required for the storm.  I also understand that there are different views on the situation and won't be too butthurt if you think I'm an asshole for not personally handing my fleece lined finishers poncho over to some single mom who just had her two children drown, as if my quickly updated FB status about how charitable I am would have helped her get over the tragedy.

Anywho, I hear I get another shot at NYC next year.  I'll be the first person to sign up when rego opens.  I loved the town and the people and I can't wait to get back.  I think I would have ran right around 2:57 this year, and with an entire year to prepare there is no reason for me not to take a shot at 2:49.

home again

Back in Colorado after what feels like an eternity.  Hell, last time I was here it was still illegal to smoke pot.  Lots of stories from NYC and I'll try to get to them soon.

FYI, our flight from Chicago to the Springs was delayed due to the landings of Air Force One and Two.

Fleishman's Gin!

New York!

retirement

Stumbled across a website that lets you know how much your blog is worth.  I've grown this puppy into a $163 empire.  The site is over here.

For comparison:

GZ - $472
Andy W - $163
Tony - $1327
JMock - $163
PG - $234
Wyatt - $1733
Wiley - $163
Slow Aaron - $125

Had to look real hard to find someone under $163.

commute #44/NYC

Easy run to work today, 60 minutes, 6.5 miles.

So far our flight to NYC is still on.  Our classy hotel, The Jane, sits right next to the Hudson and I have no idea what's going on there.  But as long as we can get on a plane, we're going.

Very rough feelings about the marathon.  Part of me wants it to go on to show how quickly NYC can rebound from tough times.  The other part of me realizes it's asking way too much of the police, firefighters, and medical personnel to work a marathon on Sunday.  Sure glad I'm not Mary Wittenberg right now, she has some tough choices to make.

it's on like Donkey Kong!

Thanks to Mike H for the tip on this one.  Turns out those Fort Collins guys aren't completely worthless after all.

I'm planning on checking it out on Nov 17th if anyone wants to hang in Denver.  Event info for this life changing experience is over here.  Also need to scout some stuff out for the post Colfax marathon pub crawl, so it could be a fun afternoon.

Sure hope I get to meet my all-time hero!

I did not ride my bike to work today.

After an easy 30 minutes with the dog, I decided I'd ride the bike to work today.  The singlespeed had a flat front tire, and after pumping it up I somehow tore the presta valve off.  Oops.  No spare tube around so I got the mountain bike off the shelf.  I had been having issues with the rear derailleur, despite TWO trips to CS West to fix it (not that I'm angry about it), and about a block from the house as I was shifting the damn chain broke.  Could have been head and shoulders above the hipsters by riding my new zerospeed, but instead I jumped in the truck and drove to work.

Shit like that never happens to runners.

King's Chef!

quote of the day

"...obsessive training is sort of like excessive masturbation; you'll undoubtedly get better at it.  And?"
    -Will Gadd

Where will you be when the world ends?

I'll be in Keystone.  No, not skiing, but at the Keller Williams show.  The Friday night show is guaranteed.  The Saturday show has a clause on the ticket that says you don't get your money back if the world ends and the show doesn't go on.

commute #43

Easy run to work, 6.1 miles in 60 minutes.  Legs are still sore, good stuff.

track

One mile warm up, 10 x 400m with 200m RBI, .5 mile cool down.  Windy, and my legs were still sore from the weekend, so I took things pretty easy.  90 second first lap, then hit 86-87 the rest of the way.

Newspaper Rock

Stopped here on my way home from Canyonlands.  These rock drawings must be millions of years old!

Or maybe not...

Canyonlands

Couple 'o pics taken with my iPhone while exploring the Needles district of Canyonlands Nat'l Park.

Red Mountain

Easy 3.5 miles up and down Red Mountain last night, see the stats here.  Joined by Andy, Brandon, and Amy.  Making this into a weekly run, starting 6:15PM from Memorial Park, if anyone wants to join me as I try to get my ass ready for Mt. Mitchell.

Took the dog out this morning for a blazing 2.1 miles in half an hour.  As long as the dog keeps it below EIB pace I'm alright.

Hooray Pass

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjacLkjyKM0

one more for the collection

Chesler Park

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ8UKIWQhYg

Joint Trail

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRm_sNJTn7o

books are cool

Next person to have a kid is getting this as a present.

rest day

Dog didn't feel like running, and I didn't feel like making her.  Just an easy 30 minute walk around the neighborhood.  Still trying to get her to shit in O'Day's yard so I don't have to clean it up, but no dice so far.

Off to Moab after work.  Have a cool course around/through the Needles in Canyonlands I'm looking at for Friday morning, then kicking around some other trails to check out on Saturday.  On Sunday it's The Other Half before heading back to the Springs.  If I can go sub 90 after two 20+ mile trail days, I'll be happy for my chances at NYC.

This came today...

I'm starting to believe I can still go sub three.

Not that you'd guess that from my run home.  6.2 miles, 56:36.

commute #42

Easy five miles to work, 45:33.

Track last night.  One mile warm up, 6 x 800m with 200m RBI, one mile cool down.  Averaged 2:53, with the first one in 2:57 and working down to the final one in 2:48.

I've decided to cut back to one beer per day...

20

Off on Monday, so I took advantage of the good weather and got 20.3 miles in, three hours.  Hilly course through the Garden and Manitou.  Probably my last long road run before NYC.

On Saturday I ran the Mine To Mine Challenge, a 9K up in Cripple Creek.  Hard course, the first two miles are some steep downhill (I hit 5:45 and 5:44) and then suffered after that.  Held things together until mile 4.5 or so, then fell apart.  My garmin had the day at 5.75 miles in 36:14.  Results are here.  I was talking to Adam R after the race and he said he and Levassiur hit the first mile in 4:30.

Pic of me near the finish, courtesy of Pikes Peak Sports.  Kircher is somewhere well behind me at this point:

video

Part two of the wedding trip video.  Thanks to Wiley for putting this together.

commute #41

Unexpectedly got a free day off on Wednesday, so I had to wait 'till the end of the week to continue the streak.  45 minutes, five miles.

Quick NYC update over on Pikes Peak Sports.

From the Triple Crown awards last night, I was second in my age group.  The guy who won, Jesse, is obviously taking PED's.