Monday, April 29, 2019

Friday, April 26, 2019

kindergarten rock

Was supposed to climb on Kindergarten Rock with the CMC on Thursday evening, but the rain cancelled those plans.  But I was already there, and I went for a quick hike on some climber paths I had never been on before.  Pretty cool views of the Garden that were new to me.  And I identified a route I'm going to do from my front porch and back (stopping by Fossil on the way back of course).







Thursday, April 25, 2019

bike commute 23

Mon - Bike commute 22.  CityRock 50 at lunch.

Tues - Run commute 28, five miles each way.  Had a late lunch and that kind of ruined the jaunt home, as the last two miles were jog/walk (mostly walk).  CityRock 51 at lunch.

Wed - Good morning ride in Red Rock Canyon, 9.4 miles in 74 minutes.  9.5 miles after work through Bear Creek Park and Red Rock Canyon to Trails End.  I cleared two obstacles that have beaten me for years, possibly a decade, today.  Definitely seeing a small improvement in the tech department.

Thurs - Feeling a bit beat up so I took the day off other than an early morning 75 minute hike with the dog. 

Busy this weekend with the Bluegrass Generals show in Denver, but I made a reservation at Sugarite Canyon State Park down in New Mexico the following weekend for the van's first out of state trip.  Never been to a NM state park but they seem to be significantly cheaper and much more dog friendly than Colorado state parks.

Monday, April 22, 2019

update

Thurs - had the day off work so I went over to Barr Trail for a run.  10.2 miles total, getting about half a mile past No Name Creek before hitting snow.  Got in a good 75 minute ride in Red Rock Canyon later in the day.

Fri - Easy day, having to do with an early trip to Castle Rock for a work meeting.  Dog hike in the AM and that was it.  $100 and I caught some of the dudes from Yonder at Bristol later that evening.



Sat - another run up to No Name.  Ran with a buddy who was fairly sick so the pace was slow, but a good climb nonetheless.  Also took the dog over to the Garden for the motorless day, she always gets confused when we hike right down the center of the road.

Sun - incline 17 with the Incline Club, followed by an awesome ride.  Red Rock Canyon, High Drive, Cap't Jacks, back through Red Rock Canyon and ending at Fossil.  16 mile ride in a little over two hours.  After that $100 and I rode over to Manitou for the Munchie Fest, catching Be Positive and Big Sky, two local hippie bands.

Pretty good week for me, with the highlight being the good run at Platte River.

Run - 43 miles
Ride - 36 miles
Hike - 14 miles

Thursday, April 18, 2019

and now for something completely different...

Last night a bar down the street from us, Alchemy, hosted midget wrestling.  Seriously.  So of course $100 and I had to go check it out.  Well, I had to go, and i drug her along.

Definitely a weird event.  I told some people I feel that in ten years if I ever run for office a pic of me at this event will surface and sink my campaign.

But it was fun.  The wrestling was good.  I was a huge professional wrestling fan back in high school and this brought back some of that late 80s stoke.  They had two one on one matches and a battle royal with four little people to end the night.








It did get a bit weird after the wrestling.  You could pay $20 to hit a midget over the head as hard as you could with a trash can lid.


We left when a female midget was offering lap dances in the ring.  Lots of takers on that.

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

run commute 27

Still a bit sore from the weekend so an easy day today.  Hour hike with the pooch followed by 4.2 miles on the Midland Trail in 37 minutes.  A few vertical laps at CityRock for lunch.  5.4 miles home in 53 minutes.

Shot of me crossing the finish line on Sunday:

Monday, April 15, 2019

i'm not dead!

Well shit, as much as I lamented the end of my sub 90 half mary days, I just went out and ran 88:20 at Platte River!

Super happy about my effort, I really straddled the border between sub 90 and over 100+ minutes.  Extremely painful, and it's probably my last time going sub 90 as that shit just hurts too much nowadays.

Hit the halfway point at exactly 45 minutes.  Very solid second half for me despite constantly feeling like the wheels were about to come off.  Miles seven to 13 were 6: 38, 40, 39, 37, 38, 23, and 48.  The one big hill is during that last mile and it about took my soul. 

Relive 'Platte River'


       

Saturday, April 13, 2019

Rattler 10k

Winter reared it's ugly head yet again this morning as it was about 30F with a light rain/snow mix falling.  But I showed up and ran pretty hard, finishing the muddy course in just under 56 minutes.  Averaging sub 8:45 on this course is pretty good for me, especially given the sloppy course that slowed things down quite a bit.  Also got to do a bonus half mile when I ran right past a sign telling me not to go that way.

Relive 'Rattler 10k'


       

Another good week in the books.  Was looking forward to getting in a good trail ride today, but the parks are all messy and the snow if falling pretty good right now so I guess I'll just crack a brew and watch me some NBA playoffs.

Run - 41 miles
Bike -  47 miles
Hike -  18 miles

Hoping to start up weekly hot yoga again, as I feel much better when I'm doing that regularly.  But I'm out of punches and there's always some sticker shock when I get another 20 classes.  $344 bones for 20 classes.  Ouch.

Friday, April 12, 2019

incline 16

Decided to hit the incline on Friday evening.  Solid choice.  Light snow at the top.

bike commute 20

Thurs - run commute 26.  Five miles to work on the Midland Trail in 41 minutes.  5.5 miles back home in 53 minutes through Sondermann Park.

Fri - 5k dog hike in the Garden followed by a quick four mile ride to work.

Hanging low this weekend but I do have two races on the schedule.  The Rattler 10K on Saturday, part of the Grand Prix short series, and the Platte River Half on Sunday.  Going to take one last shot at a sub 90 before giving up those glory days forever.

Thursday, April 11, 2019

incline 15

Sunday - bit hungover from the show on Saturday, so I started the day off with a long dog walk.  Four miles around Old Colorado City, letting the pup stop to sniff whenever she wanted.  Then I headed over to Manitou for incline number 15, straight up and straight down.  Then a nice 90 minute ride over in Red Rock Canyon.  After that ride $100 and I hung out at Fossil for a bit.  Great stereotypical Colorado day.

Monday - 2.5 mile early AM dog hike followed by a solid trip to CityRock for some bouldering.  After work I got in an hour ride in Red Rock Canyon.

Tuesday - run commute 25.  6.2 miles to work in 51 minutes, 5.5 miles back in 49 minutes.  CityRock 48 at lunch.

Wed - bike commute 19.  The latest storm of the century was due to blow in, so I took advantage of the early morning high temps for a two hour pre-office ride in Red Rock Canyon.  Only four miles home as it was balls cold.  Trails End in the evening for a few brews.

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Jazz is Phish

I know I often complain about the lack of live music here in the Springs but it has really been quite the scene lately.  Another show last Saturday as Jazz is Phish dropped by the Black Sheep.  Added bonus to see local Deadheads Lost Junction open the show.




Tuesday, April 09, 2019

van

We were finally able to get our new van out on Friday night.  Had the beast packed and we left right after work to head down to Oil Well Flats.  Already scratched the thing, which I knew we would do eventually but to do it so soon hurt for about five minutes before we got the fire started and beers cracked.

We still have some work to do on the inside, but here are a few pics.






I got in a good two hour run on Saturday morning on the trails.  So glad spring is finally here (until tomorrow, when it is supposed to snow)!  Great views of the Sangres all day, and holy crap do they have a lot of snow on them.

Relive 'Oil Well Flats'


       
On the way out of town we hit up Canon's newest brewery, World's End.


And then one more stop, our Fremont favorite Florence Brewing.


Not van related, but later that evening we went to the grand opening of COS's newest brewery, Lost Friend.  We've been waiting for about 2.5 years for this place, so it was good to see them finally get those doors open.


Friday, April 05, 2019

bike commute 18

Thurs - run commute 24.  Five miles to work in 41 minutes, four miles easy back home.  CityRock 45 at lunch.

Fri - nice hike in the Garden with the dog followed by a quick four miles to work on the klunker.  Will ride home as soon and as fast as possible as we are doing a quick overnighter at Oil Well Flats in the new van.

Still trying to get rid of the old van.  Craigslisters basically want to not pay anything but also want a brand new 2019 sprinter.  I'm pretty open about Stella being a 1999 vehicle that's been beat up a bit, but folks somehow seem surprised that a 20 year old camper van isn't in mint condition.  I have about another week in me of this headache before we just donate her to KRCC.

Thursday, April 04, 2019

bike commute 17

Tues - run commute 23.  6.2 miles to work through Sondermann Park in 52 minutes.  Good lunchtime bouldering session.  Four miles home in 34 minutes.

Wed - bike commute 17.  80 minutes in Red Rock Canyon with Lance, of course ending at Rudy's for breakfast tacos.  Then a quick four miler to the office.  Another good climb over lunch.  Home via Cheyenne Canon, High Drive, and Capt Jacks.  17 miles with 1950 feet of climbing, ending at Trails End.

Monday, April 01, 2019

bike commute 16

Saw two more concerts this weekend - blues guitarist Chris Duarte at Stargazers on Friday and Ozomatli at the Black Sheep on Saturday.  Those late nights and trying to get rid of our old van via craigslist really sapped my energy by Sunday.  I did get out on Sunday for a 70 minute ride on the fattie - which was fitting because it started snowing about ten minutes into my ride.

Monday morning was a quick bike ride to CityRock for a good early morning bouldering session.  Hopefully this is our last really cold morning for a while.