30 (again)

Streaking!  Two days in a row of half hour runs.  8F this morning.  This has been a really, really cold winter so far.

Last ride to work of '15.  139 on the year.  Started snowing just as I rolled out of the garage, just one last kick in the balls to end the year.

Watched Umphrey's at the Fillmore last night.  Tonight we're streaming Phish from MSG.  Couch touring is my new hobby.

Required reading for the end/beginning of the year.  Probably my favorite semi-rad post ever.  Get after it in '16!

Pitt broke my heart earlier this week when they were crushed by Navy.  But I'm back on board after the hoops team took down the 'Cuse last night!  HAIL TO PITT!

30

It was a balmy 8F this morning, but at some point I need to get off my fat ass and start running again.  Easy 30 minutes around Old Colorado City.  Also rode the bike into work, hot damn that was chilly.  Even with all these clothes on:

A few additions to the '16 resolutions:

 -camp for 30 mights

 -see more live music than Brandon.  We're too old to have a running rivalry nowadays, as he usually DNFs and I usually miss the cutoffs, but I get jealous when he posts about all the shows he sees (except when he took his kid to see Taylor Swift)

 -100 carless commutes to work, which will include biking and running

Fat Ass

Team CRUD will be running the Ponderous Posterior on January 16, starting and ending at my house.  Details TBA shortly.  Will include the Garden, Manitou, the Incline, Rocky Mountain, Barr Trail, Intemann, and Red Rock Canyon. 

Rick says it's about 18 miles, I say it's closer to 24.

2016

2016 is falling into place nicely.  I haven't had much physical activity since the NYC marathon on November 1, and I'm looking forward to getting my ass back in shape.  Here are the big ones I have planned for the next year:

March 12 - Salida Marathon
April 16 - Rattler 50K
May 7 - Collegiate Peaks
June 4 - Dirty Kanza
June 25 - Lake City 50
Aug 20/21 - Pikes Double (sub three hour Ascent!)
Sept 3/4 - Grand Traverse
Oct 16 - Mount Desert Island Marathon

I will be racing a lot due to the Brewers' Cup.  Tons of low key, local, shorter races.  Nielsen Challenge, Winter/Fall Series, Full Moon Runs.  And I'll be running the Triple Crown (GOG 10 miler, Summer Roundup, Pikes Peak) again.  Lots of 5Ks as well, as I want to get back down below 18 minutes.

Total numbers goals will be 3650 miles biking and 2263 miles running (10K a day).  And, of course, 50 Inclines.  I know I have that goal every year but 2016 will be the year I finally make it!

I'll also be looking to try 50 different types/brands of whiskey and documenting that on the blog.  This will start over x-mas on the trip to Florida, as we are opening a bottle of the Stranahan's Snowflake!

There's also this:

Sept 10 - Pitt/PSU

Making a trip back to the 'burgh to watch my beloved Pitt Panthers crush PSUcks.  Will be the first time I've ever seen these two play.  Can't friggin' wait!  My early prediction: Pitt - 432, PSU - 16.

Will also be making a trip back to Wisconsin.  Might be the last time there for me, as the in-laws are in the process of retiring to Florida.  Driving back, so I'll be bringing home a lifetime supply of New Glarus and Surly beer.

Kung Fury

Someone e-mailed me this morning and asked for my top five IPAs.  Very difficult question.  Here was my reply:

Mammoth IPA, Fossil Brewery. 
Heady Topper, The Alchemist Brewery, Waterbury, VT. 
Bridal Vail Rye Pale Ale, Telluride Brewing. 
First Cast IPA, Elevation Brewing. 
Crank Yanker, Eddyline Brewing, Buena Vista, CO. 
Johnny's IPA, Moab Brewing. 
Perpetual IPA, Troeges Brewing, Harrisburg. 

Off to Orlando to visit the in-laws Thursday through Sunday.  Mid to high 80s every day.  Enjoy the Colorado winter weather, suckas!

This is the best movie of all time.  Half hour long, drink two or three beers before pressing play, then have a few more while watching the masterpiece.

4

Four miles in the Garden this morning, 38 minutes.  I weighed in at 179.4 pounds this morning, and getting all that weight up Ridge Road was tough.

Some non-dog pics for once.  From the Sunday night debacle that included the Triple Nickel and the Reverand Horton Heat.  And the Steelers crushing the donkeys!

Palmer Park

Took the dog over to Palmer Park today to enjoy the awesome weather.  Dog had a blast.  It's no Red Rock Canyon, but I need to start spending more time over there.

bike

Too cold to run this morning so I went back to sleep.  Then I felt guilty, so I rode the bike to work.  Damn, that was chilly. Supposed to warm up, so maybe I'll get a decent ride home.

Had a Brewers' Cup happy hour last night at Red Leg.  This is our opinion of Team Fossil:

activity

Slowly getting my fat ass back off the couch.  Mostly staying indoors, as it's been cold in the Springs this week.  The last two days I got up early to run it was below 10F, and I'm just not into that stuff right now.  $100 and I are going to Orlando for x-mas and I saw it was going to be 80F every day there, and I can't friggin' wait!

Been hitting CityRock a lot lately.  Haven't been working any problems, but I love the wall traverse.  I can get in a killer workout in half an hour, and I'm never more than a few inches off the floor. 

Working on the final 2016 schedule and should have it up soon.  I had a run/bike mileage goal of 2K/3K in '15 - I hit 2000 miles running last week, and I hope to hit 3000 miles biking this weekend.  Will probably need to up both of those numbers a bit to hit some goals for '16.

The Garden was looking beautiful as always with the recent snow:

Someone asked if this blog was just going to turn into pictures of my dog.  I'd be OK with that.

booze

Another good snowstorm last night here in the Springs.  Very slippery roads and sidewalks but I got out for a solid 40 minute run this morning.

Some pics from the various parties and happy hours going on around here.  Pretty obvious as to why I'm now running 21 minutes for a 5K.

20+

$100 and I ran the Chasing Santa 5K way down south in Fountain on Saturday.  Was hoping to break 20, but a late Friday night at Fossil made that a bit difficult.  Ran the first mile in 6:10 and then completely came unglued, crossing the finish line in 20:38.  Horrible, but it's what I expect from myself this time of year.  A shot of me approaching the finish line, courtesy of Pikes Peak Sports:

One of my goals for 2016 will be to drop below 18 minutes for the 5K.  Lots of work to do there.

On Sunday the dog and I went over to meet the Incline Club, then made the trip up and down Red Mountain.  Great time out in the snow, and the dog seems like she's going to sleep the rest of the day.

30

Got out for 30 minutes in Red Rock Canyon this morning.  Beautiful outside, as it was over 40F when I started.  Saw a guy biking, and I think that in all the years I've been running in RRC I've never seen a biker this early on a weekday.

Later, while walking the dog, we caught a glimpse of Pearl, a rescue dog that got away from her owner.  She seems to be doing well.  She has taken on a bigfoot type quality as we've been trying to catch her for several months now.  Pearl lives!

Signed up for the Salida marathon.  Also jumping into a 5K on Saturday to see where the fitness stands.  Won't be pretty.

not quite as fat as I was last week...

Getting back towards being a bit more active.  It's tough this time of year, as every local group I have anything to do with has a holiday happy hour at a local brewery.

Running on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, plus the Incline Club on Sunday.  I'll keep this up until January when I start working towards some of my goal races for 2016.  Ran up to Carson Pass in less than 25 minutes this morning, so despite my recent weight gain I'm not completely out of shape.  Yet.

Still biking to work nearly every day.  Today was commute 135 on the year.   Also hitting the gym a little more regularly, whether that be lifting weights or climbing fake rocks.

Headed up towards Buff Creek on Sunday afternoon to meet Shad and ride some snowy trails on the fat bike.  Unfortunately, Shad has a specialized so most of our time was spent on waiting for him to fix his bike.  But eventually we got in a good hour on an out-and-back canyon near Camp Shady Brook and then drank some beers afterwards.  Good stuff!

Was a bit bummed I couldn't make it to CityRock to see Will Gadd (his blog, when not focused on ice climbing and more on generally being an badass, is awesome - including his latest post) on Friday.  But no shit, I went for bagels on Saturday morning and who is at the bagel shop but the man himself.  I introduced myself and we had a nice, quick chat.  He was in town for an ice climbing shindig but we mostly talked about this video:

chilly water

With the opening of Red Leg, I don't go to Trinity as much as I used to.  But there are a few days of the year I look forward to going there for specific beer releases.  One of those is Black Friday, when the Chilly Water is released.

As you may have heard, there was a shooting in our village a few days ago.  The shooting was about two miles from my house.  Less than 200 meters from where BLOS lives (I got in touch with him to make sure he was OK, and no surprise that he was in the Royal Tavern while all this was going on).  Involved the King Soopers which is one of three supermarkets $100 and I use (I was on orders to go there for meatballs once I was done drinking at Trinity).  And about a mile from Trinity and Red Leg.

Marc and I had plans to visit Trinity that day, and after talking we decided that not going to drink some beer  would mean the terrorists had won.  And this is 'Merica, god damnit, and the terrorists will never win!  Except on last Friday, when we got to Trinity and the place was closed.  This sign was on the door:

Ha, just kidding.  Evil will never win over goodness.  I still got my chilly water, as someone brought some bottles to my house later that evening:

The stuff is so good!

After being denied at Trinity we went down to Red Leg.  Quite surreal watching the news there report on something happening pretty much right across the street.

30

30 minute run around the neighborhood this morning, 3.3 miles.  Cold, outrageously windy, icy, I'm so ready for summer to get here.  As I was turning on to the Midland Trail some homeless chick, high on whatever, unleashed quite the stream of profanities towards me.  At 5:30AM.

back at it

I weighed in on the wrong side of 179 pounds on Sunday, after spending four full weeks watching TV and eating chips and drinking heavily.  The wife said if I got any more fat I would have to start sleeping on the couch.


Luckily, the Incline Club started on Sunday and that provided me some motivation to get out the door for a workout that didn't involve walking slowly with my dog.  I chose the Incline, which took me 40:02 from bottom to top.  Not great, but with the snow and lack of fitness it was faster than I thought I'd go.


I'll continue to run every other day for the rest of the year, with some biking and trips to the gym thrown in for good measure.  A sub three Ascent and the Double will be the goals this year once again.  Plus the Dirty Kanza, which will require some serious time on the saddle.


Here's what my front yard currently looks like:

Little London

Jeff M has been doing a podcast on KCMJ dealing with all kinds of local issues.  You can check out the Little London show here.  Of course it didn't take long until a drinking game materialized.  Some of us got together on Tuesday to play and some alcohol was consumed.  I didn't get much done at work on Wednesday...

Dunes

Headed down to the Sand Dunes over the weekend for some cold weather camping.  The low temps at the park office were 3F on Friday night and 0F on Saturday night.  We stayed at the Zapata Falls campground about 1000 feet above that office, so who knows how cold it got up there.  Miserable, but one of those times we'll eventually look back on and think it was fun.

Love the Dunes, I need to get down there when it's warmer and do some exploring.  Not sure why this place isn't ever mentioned in typical Colorado adventure talk.  Besides the actual dunes, you have the Sangres right there with their endless mountains and trails.  Not to mention the UFO's.  And you even get to drop by Salida on the way home for some Moonlight Pizza and Elevation Brewing.

World Trade Center

On our last day in NYC $100 and I took the elevator to the World Trade Center Observatory.  Loved it, and obviously the views were fantastic.

Muscoco

The dog and I got out and about on Saturday, heading over to Cheyenne Canon to check out the new-ish trail up to Mt. Muscoco.  Four miles round trip, probably a good 10K for the dog.  Beautiful November day to spend outside.