Sunday, June 30, 2013

Grumpy's!

Bonus Beer

Rush Rivet Brewing out of River Falls, WI.

6/30 - Leinenkugel's Red Lager

From the brewery tasting room.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Wabasha, WI

5/29 - Surly Smoke Lager

I'm at the brewery!

Good Morning!

7:30am at the New Belgium hub at DIA.

Friday, June 28, 2013

Thursday, June 27, 2013

6/27 - Mama's Little Yella Pils

Thankfully Longmont produces better beer than it does runners.


Speaking of breweries, check this out.  I'll definitely be at the grand opening!  They should have gone with an Infantry theme, but since they used Phish in this video I'll cut them some slack.

I don't need no stinkin' pants...

Wed - Bike to work day.  It's a nominal event in the Springs, with a crappy breakfast and a douchebag mayor putting on spandex to ride a block or two.  12 miles in the saddle.

Wed PM - A real workout.  Incline and Red Mountain.  2:15, nine miles.

Thurs AM - 2.5 miles with the dog, then five miles to the office.  Of the hundreds of times I've ditched the truck to come to the office, today was the first day I forgot to bring pants.  Oops.  Went with a dress shirt and go-lite shorts until the wife was able to deliver something more work appropriate.




Tuesday, June 25, 2013

catching up...

Monday AM - Easy two hours in Red Rock Canyon.  Still pretty sore.

Monday PM - Rode over to Bristol and then joined the Upadowna crew for a bike ride.  Stratton Open Space, Gold Camp, Buckhorn, Cap't Jacks, Stratton, then back to the brewery.  23 miles, three hours.  Pretty solid ride for a novice.


Tues - Five easy miles up Barr Trail and then back down.  Just over two hours.  I'm definitely no Chris B, but the columbine are blowing up near No Name Creek.


I ended up forgetting my trusty Timex on Saturday and ran without a watch.  Thinking I took it out a bit hard for the first 40 miles as I'm still feeling it today.  A lot of my buddies who are normally faster than me had good days and I was right with them through Slum, so I should have known better.  Not much I can do about that now but rest up these next three weeks.

Beer for today is the Session Lager from Full Sail Brewing, given to me by Rick H after San Juan.

Monday, June 24, 2013

6/24 - Wet Mountain IPA

Brewed at Bristol.

11:36

11:36 at San Juan.  My sixth finish there and a course PR for me.  Hit mile 40 in well under nine hours and then shut it down, hiking and goofing off the final 10 miles.  If I was ever going to go sub eleven, that was the day, but I wanted to save something for Hardrock.  Three more weeks...

That dude who tight roped across the Grand Canyon has nothing on me!


Wetterhorn

Post San Juan hike. My 33rd Colorado 14er.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

5/19 - South Austin Brewing Company

PM - Easy 7.4 miles on the Garden roads.  Super cool to see the bighorn sheep out.  Not super cool to have a big 'ol snake block the trail.  But it gave me a great opportunity to go up to the first chick I saw and say, "hey, do you want to see a snake..."

Pete brought up a bottle of the Belgian style golden ale from South Austin Brewing Company.  Not my favorite kind of beer but definitely quality stuff if you're into yuppie beers that taste like wine.


Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Evans

Ran my first Mt. Evans Ascent on Saturday.  Had a weird race in which I felt like shit the entire time, was never really into the run mentally or physically, but then at the finish I looked up and was 15 minutes faster than what I wanted to be.  Goal was a sub 2:40, ended up just under 2:26.  Garmin beta is over here.  Walked a lot of the final 1.5 miles, just to piss off JV and Pete who were having worse days than I was.



6/18 - Santa Cruz Casino IPA

Tues PM - felt like shit, so I bailed after four miles.

Marc & Amanda recently visited San Francisco and they brought back some presents, including this super good IPA from Santa Cruz Brewing.  And they got me my first ever stainless steel growler.  All this just because I threw their dog in the basement and forgot about him for a few days.


Tuesday, June 18, 2013

new gig

Good run on the Garden roads this morning.  6.5 miles in an hour.

Got an unexpected phone call this morning and I'll be switching jobs in July.  I'll actually be unemployed for Hardrock as my last day at my current gig is July 10th and I start the new gig on July 22nd.  Last thing I thought I'd be doing today was submitting my resignation.

I did tell them I wouldn't take the job if they didn't allow me to go on my planned Austin trip.  So that visit is still a go!

5/17 - Eddyline

AM - easy hike in Williams Canyon with the dog.  2.5 miles.

Lunch - Cheyenne Canon with Pete.  Out and back on  the Canya Canon course.  7.9 miles in 1:21.

PM - Two hours on the bike, 15 miles.  Up High Drive and down Cap't Jacks.  I'm officially signed up for a real mountain bike race.  Two of 'em, actually.

Beer of the day was the River Runners Pale Ale from Eddyline.  Eddyline is quickly climbing up the list of my favorite breweries.  Love their Crank Yanker IPA and the Kickin' Back Amber as well.  I'll probably be staying far away from their new Mountain Fairy Raspberry Wheat though.


Sunday, June 16, 2013

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Thursday, June 13, 2013

6/13 - Buried Hatchet Stout

Made with pride in Conroe, Tejas, by Southern Star Brewing.  Not sure why this pic won't set itself right, but you get the idea.







Thurs

Took Pete and Josh for a nice run just past Frosty's Park yesterday.  Ten miles, 2.5 hours.  Good stuff.  Easy run to work this morning, five miles in 45 minutes.

Unfortunately we're once again dealing with fire shit.  Pete is here on vacation, and we are currently watching Pug as Marc & Amanda are in California.  Then we took in two more adults, three kids, four more dogs, and a turtle after the Black Forest fire blew up.  And our backyard is currently an RV park.  Not that we mind, but it's so much better seeing your friends when they're not worried about whether or not their house is still standing.  It looks like a gal at work has lost her house as well.  Sheesh.

The Waldo Canyon Fire one year anniversary party is at our house next Thursday evening (June 20th).  We'll be up on the roof.


Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Monday, June 10, 2013

Garden

Last year I took the Garden pretty serious, hitting the track in the months prior and not drinking the night before the race.  I was very happy with the 67:48 I put down in 2012.

This year I've been doing nothing but trails and hills, very rarely averaging under ten minute miles.  I doubted I would break 70, and thought 75 or even 80 would be a realistic goal.  Especially since my buddy Pete from Austin was in town and we drank a ton of beers on Saturday night.

I ran 67:56.  35:15 for the first half, 32:47 for the last five.  Eight seconds over ten miles is definitely not worth all that suffering I did on the track last year.

Sunday, June 09, 2013

6/9 - Pacifico

Bartender listed this as a local microbrew.

Saturday, June 08, 2013

5/8 - Bristol Red Rocket

Packet pickup for the Garden Ten Miler.

Friday, June 07, 2013

Thursday, June 06, 2013

Is Lance making a comeback?


Lots of Lance sightings on Sunday, but it was just me crushing the gravel course at Elephant Rock.  You can tell I'm taking this seriously by the way I found a handlebar bag to carry my hammock with me at all times.  Effing $30 - THIRTY! - bones to download pics from the event.  Are there actually people who pay this?

Think I have my second bike event locked in.  Bikes & Brews down in Canon City this September.  Could be quite the grudge match since Donnie H is threatening to show up.

Since I mentioned Lance, I would be remiss not to point out that Justin Gatlin has gotten lots of coverage of all his smack talking and today's beatdown of Usain Bolt.  Let's not forget that Gatlin has served a lengthy drug suspension in the past.  He needs to STFU and leave the sport.  Fleshman says it best:


6/6 - Left Hand Milk Stout

Made in Schlongmont.

Wednesday, June 05, 2013

5/5 - Guinness Black Lager

Tues AM - 6.4 miles on the Garden road loop, 55 minutes.  I didn't know this at the time, but a few hours before I ran through there, another responsible gun owner was out having a little fun.  For all those who couldn't figure it out - yes, it is actually illegal to fire a gun at the Garden.

Tues PM - Garden trails.  7.3 miles, 1:16.

Wed - Commute #37.  8.8 miles, first 3.5 with the dog in Red Rock Canyon.  Then a quick 6.4 miles home after work.  Word is now leaking out that a hiker was raped in RRC a few weeks ago.  Sheesh.

Think I'm going to attempt Peak on Friday if anyone wants to bail from work.


Monday, June 03, 2013

5/3 - Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Wild Ale

AM - nice four mile hike with the dog at Stratton Open Space.  Hot, but we stayed near the lake for her to cool off.

PM - Biked over to Manitou, locked the bike at Memorial Park, then hit Incline #35 on my way up to Rocky Mountain.  Lots of walking as I was still hungover.  Eight miles, 2:20.

Another solid beer from the Lagunitas folks.  Little Sumpin' Wild Ale.  Yummy.


I had to locate that prancercise video that's been making the rounds on youtube.  Um, you know, for a friend.  Something compelled me to click the amazon link.  This is the cover of the book the chick wrote:




Sunday, June 02, 2013

Saturday, June 01, 2013

6/1 - Monty Python's Holy Ale

AM - Ran out the hangover via the incline up to the Bottomless Pitt sign.  No snow at all up to that point.  I figure some of the IC guys will get to the summit on Sunday.

PM - Four mile hike with the dog in Bear Creek Canyon.

I started season five of Breaking Bad tonight.  Good stuff.  Magnets, bitch!

Found a bottle of Monty Python's Holy Ail at the liquor store.  From the Black Sheep Brewery in the UK.


Commute #36/May numbers

Bike to work.  Dropped by the new Bristol Brewery at the Ivywild School on the way home.  Awesome, I'll be spending lots of time there in the future.


May ended up being a good month.

Running: 328 miles, 65 hours.  Two 50 milers.  27,500 feet of elevation gain, though that doesn't include Quad Rock or Jemez since I'm too slow for the garmin at that distance.

Biking: huge month for me, 97 miles on almost 12 full hours.  10,000 feet of climbing.  Will I get an invite for the Tour de France after ERock, or do you think they'll make me wait until the '14 Tour?

And another four hours of just hiking (the dog's favorite part of Hardrock training), and a couple of trips to the gym.

Most important stat of the month: four new breweries!  Black Bottle Brewing, Denver Beer Company, Prost Brewing, and Taos Mesa Brewing.  Shad has been trying to challenge my numbers in this department and hopefully this month puts him back on his couch drinking coors light.