May numbers

Another decent month.  Rode over 1200 miles these past two months, hopefully it's enough.  You always want to have done more, but that's just the amount of time I had to work with.

run - 107 miles, 20 hours

ride - 564 miles, 56 hours

hike - 120 miles, 45.5 hours

From now until June 16 I'll probably alternate running and riding days.  Hope to start pedaling north from Antelope Wells on June 18.

Stryper

Bit to catch up on.

On Tuesday I went eastward to the Black Sheep to catch Stryper, an 80s Christian hair metal band that for some reason I listened to a lot of when I was in high school.  Solid show.

Saturday found me once again helping out with the local SAR dogs.  Love all these pups.

This was up at Black Forest Section 16.  Some good views of our mountain from that area.

Got in a good ride on Sunday, up Rampart Range Road to Mt. Herman Road and back home via the Santa Fe trail.  66 miles.  Lots of climbing.

For the week:

run - three miles.  Hardly anything, and even the one run I did was a disaster as the Mook and I got stuck in a hail storm.

ride - 153 miles, 16 hours

hike - 38 miles, 15 hours.  Saturday's dog training included a lot of hiking.

On Monday I hit up Red Leg for the annual Angels of America's Fallen 10k.  Started off a bit slow and that cost me a place or two in the end, but pretty happy with the effort, especially over the second half.  45:29.  Allowed me to start my holiday beer drinking before 9AM.

Colfax

Another year, another Colfax marathon in the books.  

Went up Saturday for packet pick up, then hit a few breweries before watching the Nuggets.

Race day went well.  Snuck in at 4:52:48, which sounds terrible but includes two beers at the Lakeview Lounge at mile ten, a beer at Reverence Brewing at mile 24, and another brew at a house party around mile 25.  Strava had my moving time at 4:04:59.  Not awful for someone who has been running 20 mile weeks and biking a ton. 

For the week:

run - 37 miles, seven hours

ride - 115 miles, 10.5 hours

hike - 25 miles, 9.5 hours

mug

Mon - 15 mile ride in the AM, incline in the PM.

Tues - three hours on the bike, 31 miles.

Wed - bike commute 52.  Ten there, eleven back.  3.5 mile dog jog in the evening.  50th visit to CityRock over lunch.

Thurs - bike commute 53.  Ten there, six back.  New mug night at Fossil.  Starting to think the Nugs might win the title this year.

Fri - might have had one too many beers last night, not much accomplished today other than a good hike with Mook.

Sat - 30 mile ride before heading up north.

We've been having crazy rain around here.  The COS average rainfall for May is one inch, but we've had over four inches the last week.  Beats worrying about fires though.

Off to Denver for my annual Colfax marathon slog.  Gonna be rough this year but I'll get 'er done.

dogs

Mon - four mile run, 24 mile ride.

Tues - bike commute 49, ten there, eleven back.

Wed - early morning four miler with the Mook, then bike commute 50.  Guitar in the evening.

Thurs - it rained today.  Over two inches.  Run commute 14 since it was raining too hard to ride.

Fri - bike commute 51.  Ten there, seven back.  Went to night number one of The Motet at Lulu's.  

Sat - went out and helped the local SAR guys train the search dogs.  I wondered out into the woods about 3/4 mile, then sat around and let the dogs come find me.  Good times!

Four mile run before heading out for night two of The Motet.

Not much on Sunday as I was fairly hungover and wanted to watch the Sixers/Celtics.

For the week:

run - 25 miles, 4.5 hours

ride - 73 miles, seven hours

hike - 25 miles, nine hours

tricks

Mook's full name is now Mookie Blaylock, CGC, TDN.  Two more classes (which sounds easy but will be a ton of work) and he'll be a registered therapy dog.

Take 5

Solid week, lots of riding and the Take 5 in the Garden "double take," which was a nine mile race that covered both the trail loop and the road loop.  Then it was a good ride up Cheyenne Canon.  Hard effort that left me pretty sore on Sunday.  Rode up to Pikes Peak Brewing on Sunday, suffering in a head wind the entire way up.  Good times.

run - 30 miles, six hours

ride - 169 miles, 17 hours

hike - 25 miles, 9.5 hours

miles

Tweaked my lower back once again, which led to some lower than wanted numbers, but I did manage not to do any considerable, long term damage.  The hangover from the Tres Litros three year anniversary with DeadPhish Orchestra didn't help either.

Last week of April:

run - 26 miles, five hours

ride - 117 miles, 11.5 hours

hike -  23 miles, 8.5 hours

Included in those hiking miles was the monthly motorless morning in the Garden.  Mook says they should do this every day.

For the month:

run - 110 miles, 21.5 hours

ride - 640 miles, 62 hours

hike - 103 miles, 40 hours

It's gotta be my biggest bike month ever.  

Divide is six weeks away.  Finally got myself one of these:

Spiral Drive

Had a big ride planned for Salida over the weekend, but then it got cold and snowed.  So I just toured the local watering holes instead.  Did have a good run up and down S Mountain on Sunday at the Spiral Drive four miler, coming in just under 30.  And I beat Toby.

For the week:

run - 23 miles, five hours

ride - 89 miles, 8.5 hours

hike - 24 miles, nine hours

recovery

Mon - I was a physical wreck from Horsetooth.  Suffered a catastrophic failure of my rear tire on my easy ride, something I couldn't fix.  The tire was almost bald, but I was hoping to get another month out of it before having to replace it.  Got in 23 miles on the ride.

Tues - still feeling the race but did get a five mile easy run in.

Wed - easy four mile run with Mook before bike commute 39.  Ten there, 18 back.  Went over 1500 miles on the bike for the year.

Thurs - four miles of #mookmiles in the Garden, followed by bike commute 40.  Finally recovered from Horsetooth, I really did a number on my quads there.

Fri - easy four miles with the pup, then bike commute 41.  Headed down to Salida after work, running the Sprial Drive four miler on Sunday and getting in some kind of ride on Saturday.  Was planning on a big ride, but the weather is looking a bit iffy up high so we'll see what happens.

Horsetooth

Ran about as well as I could have hoped at the Horsetooth Half up in Fort Collins.  My days of sub 90 for this distance are long gone, 100 minutes now the new standard.  Went out with the 1:40 pace group for the first nine miles, then slowly plowed ahead to finish in 1:38:40.  Raced about as hard as I could and the last four or five miles were pretty rough, but I held on.  I'm typing this on Monday night and my legs are trashed.

Another solid week in the books.

run - 32 miles, 5.5 hours

ride - 148 miles, 14 hours

hike - 25 miles, six hours

Took Mookie over to the dog park today, which apparently had a visit from the tennis ball fairy.  Mook was in dog heaven.

coyotes

Mon - five mile run on the Garden trails in the AM, 30 mile ride in the PM.

Tues - bike commute 35.  Ten there, 13 back.  Four mile run in the evening.

Wed - starting to warm up here, and I decided that if I want to keep running Mookie it will have to be in the morning instead of after work.  So we headed over to Red Rock Canyon super early for a five miler.  Then bike commute 36.  Ten there and 19 back, including a break for guitar practice.

Thurs - morning five miler over in the Garden.  Saw some coyotes, they've been sparce on the westside for a few years but I've seen a bunch of 'em this year so far.  Bike commute 37, nine there and seven back.  Another good training session for Mookie in the evening.

Fri - bike commute 38.  Ten there, eleven back.  We got some much needed rain today.  Already had a local fire that worried me, though it was put out quickly.

Off to Fort Collins this weekend for the Horsetooth Half Marathon.  I have not been running much lately, and with the expected beer drinking on Saturday night I see a 1:44:59 finish in my future.

music

Solid week despite a three concert weekend.  Starting to get more miles on the rides home from work thanks to the improving weather.  50+ mile ride on Saturday.  

run - 23 miles, five hours

ride - 200 miles, 19 hours

hike - 24 miles, ten hours

Caught Hot Buttered Rum on Friday at Lulu's.  Love those guys.

Then we saw Third Eye Blind (yes, they played Semi-Charmed Life) on Saturday and Toto (yes, they played Africa) on Sunday.  Cut me some slack, this is Colorado Springs and it's not like I have a huge choice in live music.  But holy shit does my liver need some rest after the weekend.

Fremont County

Update: my Pirates have cooled off a bit but are still playing .500 ball and are not in last place in the NL Central.

Good weekend down in Canon City with the wife and the dog and some friends.  Lots of hiking and running and biking.  So glad the weather is finally warming up.  Got in some good rides.  On Saturday I did a tough 60+ miler exploring some of the gravel roads of Fremont County, then followed it up Sunday with a slog up Skyline Drive before heading over to Florence Brewing.

Solid numbers for the week.

run - 27 miles, five hours

ride - 132 miles, 13.5 hours

hike - 25 miles, 9.5 hours

Already got in a good 33 mile ride on Monday evening before some colder weather rolls in.  There were snow flurries during the early morning dog hike in Red Rock Canyon today.

Let's Go Bucs!

Typing this on Friday afternoon and I'd like to point out that the Pirates are currently on pace to win 162 games this year.

Mon - 6 x 400m in the morning, 14 mile ride in the evening.

Tues - zip, had to go to Denver for work.  But I did get to check out the Campus Lounge for the first time.  Quality joint.  Celebrated Millie's fourth birthday with four miles in Red Rock Canyon before hitting Fossil.

Wed - run commute 13.  Five there, 3.5 back.  Then biked over to guitar practice.

Thurs - 4.4 mile AM run, then bike commute 30.  Mookie is doing well with his tricks class.

Fri - bike commute 31.  Went over 1000 bike miles on the year on this ride.

Off to Canon City for the weekend.  Hope to get some good rides in, hopefully this wind dies down a bit.

The numbers for March:

run - 26 runs, 138 miles, 26 hours

ride - 31 rides, 293 miles, 29.5 hours

hike - 40 hikes, 115 miles, 44.5 hours

WFR

Passed my wilderness first responder course.  Loved it.  Evacuating a human from the wilderness is hard work.  Here's a shot of me helping to carry out a skinny guy.  Barely carried him half a mile and I was pretty worked.  

Pretty low numbers for the week as the class once again dominated my life.

run - 28 miles, five hours

ride - 57 miles, 5.5 hours

hike - 29 miles, 11.5 hours

Back into the normal schedule this week.  Weather seems to be warming up.  Van trip to Canon this weekend, looking at making April a big bike month to start to prep for the Divide.

woofer

The wilderness first responder course I've been taking has been great but I'll be glad when it's done.  30 hours of online stuff, eight hour days of classroom stuff Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and another Fri/Sat/Sun coming up.  Oof.  Plus my boy Mookie has started another class, it's time for him to learn some dog tricks.  

For the week:

run - 24 miles, 4.5 hours

ride - 40 miles, four hours

hike - 16 miles, six hours

Given the heavy snowpack along the route, and the fact that DeadPhish Orchestra is playing near my house on June 9, I'm thinking of pushing my start date for the Divide bike ride back a week.

Salida

Wasn't expecting to run well in Salida but that's exactly what happened.  Kept things very easy up until the mile 14 aid station.  It was snowing almost the entire time, but with warm temps it was a lot of fun.  I had a beer at the aid station and that PBR fired me up and I had a terrific second half.

Also had a brew at the mile 21 aid station.  Shad was too busy running hard to stop for a drink and he ended up missing a turn on the course.  I think there's a lesson to be learned here.  Ran really hard that second half all the way to the finish, and I'm paying for it now as my legs are toast.  Had a blast the remaining time in Salida, visiting all the usual hangouts and trying to drink all the beer in Chaffee County.

For the week:

run - 50 miles, 9.5 hours

ride - 90 miles, ten hours

hike - 30 miles, 11.5 hours

I'm taking a wilderness first responder class and my next two weekends will be spent doing that, so the rest of March will be a wash mileage wise.  In April biking will take priority as I start to prepare for the Divide.  Running is more or less done for me until August.

free solo

Solid week.  Including a local show by the Lil' Smokies and a trip up to Leadville for skijorning.

For the week:

run - 21 miles, 4.5 hours

ride - 105 miles, ten hours

hike - 25 miles, 9.5 hours

I made the fuck up of all fuck ups on Tuesday at CityRock.  Warming up, I picked an easy route, climbed to the top, and started to down climb.  About halfway back down I noticed I had failed to clip in to the auto belay.  Luckily I was able to get down OK.  I think the wall I climbed was 43 feet high.  Gym staff was not very happy with me.

February

Decent month considering some really cold and crappy weather, some track meets, some dog sitting, and the trip to Arizona. 

For the month:

run - 29 runs, 125 miles, 25 hours

ride - 23 rides, 286 miles, 27.5 hours

hike - 36 hikes, 88 miles, 34.5 hours

Was worried about the upcoming Salida marathon, which as usual I'm unprepared for.  I thought the cutoff was six hours, and if the course was a mess I could challenge that with my current ability to do a long run.  But I double checked and the cutoff is 7.5 hours!  Much greater chance of me beating that cutoff.  Hope to finish in 5.5 hours but I could definitely see me closer to six if I have a bad day.

innings

Incredible time out in Tempe for the Innings Festival.  We might be back, as it's super easy to get to from our house and a near guaranteed warm weekend in late February.  Highlights were the Offspring, Weezer, the Black Crowes, Umphrey's, and of course Eddie Vedder. 

For the week:

run - 28 miles, five hours

ride - 48 miles, 4.5 hours

hike - 25 miles, nine hours

track

We ran into some shitty weather with snow and super cold temps, so it was an up and down week.

run - 32 miles, six hours

ride - 37 miles, 3.5 hours

hike - 21 miles, nine hours

Sunday was a track meet up at UCCS.  I was a bit hungover from Manitou Mardi Gras on Saturday, but I still ran fairly well.  11:15.22 for the 3000m and then I doubled back to go 5:17.81 in the 1500m.  Did not finish last in either event, and in fact I won the slow heat of my 1500m.  Track is now over for a while.

Barr Camp

Decent weekend on the mileage front.  On Saturday I got out for a 45 mile ride.  Was hoping for a bit more but the Santa Fe trail kept getting soggier and soggier the more north I went.   Had the Wings of Blue doing some training overhead while I was on the Academy. 

Ran up to Barr Camp on Sunday.  Lots of snow and ice which made things slow, but it was good to get out for four hours.

For the week - 

run - 34 miles, eight hours

ride - 110 miles, 10.5 hours

hike - 22 miles, eight hours

Good Monday as I got in a 7.5 mile Garden road run in the AM, then a 24 mile ride in the evening.  On Tuesday I woke up with some form of crud, so I only got in the minimum Toby miles with a four miler with Mook.  Supposed to get a ton of snow tonight so Wednesday might be limited as well.

passport

Mon - four mile Garden trail run with the Mook, 14 mile COVID loop on the bike.

Tues - bike commute 14.  Went over 500 bike miles on the year.  Applied for my passport, which I'll need to get into Canada this July.  Guy beside me was getting his passport to begin the Seven Summits.  Four mile trail run with Mook in the evening.  Then watched Pitt destroy Louisville to move into a tie for first place in the ACC. 

Wed - bike commute 15, 25 miles on the day.  Good guitar session in the evening.  Lithium by Nirvana.  I still suck at barer chords.

Thurs - woke up to snow, so I got to do some shoveling.  Then ran to work.  CityRock 15 at lunch.

Fri - five friggin' degrees this morning.  Very chilly bike commute 16.  

Supposed to warm up a bit this weekend, hoping for a long ride on Saturday and a run up to Barr Camp on Sunday.

5:37

We hosted the CRUD fat ass on Saturday.  Solid turnout, saw some folks I haven't seen in a while.  I ran two hours, some went as far as 30 miles.  

On Sunday I ran a mile at the UCCS indoor track.  Officially 5:37.13.  Went much better than the 1500m a few weeks ago.  I have one more indoor meet on the schedule, I think I'm gonna try for a sub 5:30.  Nine fellow old farts in my heat, and it was nice to not finish last for once (I was 7th).

Neil here won the race in 4:33.  Last week at a meet in Boulder he ran a CO masters record 4:29.  I told him I'm getting faster and he's getting slower so it won't be long until I crush him.

For the week:

run - 35 miles, 6.5 hours

ride - 65 miles, 6.5 hours

hike - 18.5 miles, 7.5 hours

more cold

Mon - very cold, but I got out for a five miler on the Garden trails.

Tues - very cold, but I got in bike commute 11 and a four mile run with Mookie on the Garden trails.

Wed - very cold, but I got in run commute five.  Guitar lesson in the evening.

Thurs - finally a break in the weather.  It was still cold, but not so much that I was worried about frostbite.  Bike commute 12, four mile run with Mookie in the evening.

Fri - it hit 50 today!  Global warming FTW!  Bike commute 13.

Busy weekend.  We're watching two other dogs, hosting the Fat Ass, track meet/Mook school/Fossil happy hour on Sunday. 

Pitt hoops looking more and more like a lock for the Big Dance!

January recap

Pretty good month given two trips and some really sub par weather. 

run - 137 miles, 27.5 hours

ride - 421 miles, 44 hours

hike - 108 miles, 43 hours

Plus ten trips to the climbing gym.

None of the bike miles were spectacular.  Just grinding away on slippery trails, trying to keep my fingers and toes from going numb.  But it was a lot of time in the saddle for me, and it sets me up nicely to start getting my ass ready for the Divide.

Dry January went alright for me.  I knew the trips to the Fort and Wisconsin wouldn't be beer free.  And the shitty winter weather broke me the final weekend of the month, when I visited Fossil on Saturday and Sunday.  But I did go 23 days of the month without any alcohol.  I don't feel any better or worse.  Even when I ran off twelve straight booze free days to start the year, I didn't feel any different.  As a bonus, drinking this past Sunday allowed me to meet a wolf.

the week

Not a bad week with the travel and Wisco recovery and shitty weather.

run - 31 miles, six hours

ride - 72 miles, 7.5 hours

hike - 27 miles, ten hours

About over this recent cold snap.  A bunch of days with snow and temps below 0F.  Monday evening it was 5F after work when I headed out for five miles in the Garden.  This has been a much colder winter than usual for us here in the Springs.

Mad City

Incredible time out in Madison.  Fried cheese, Paradise Lounge, the Rigby, the Old Fashioned, dive bars, tons of new breweries.  The beer and cheese fest was fantastic.  So was the Nirvana cover band.

Went on a decent hike along the lake each frigid morning, but that was it for any activity.  

For the week:

run - 26 miles, five hours

ride - 89 miles, 8.5 hours

hike - 28 miles, 10.5 hours

Having a decent week so far.

Mon - 6.2 mile hike around the Univ of Wisco campus

Tues - run commute four.  Four miles there and back.

Wed - bike commute eight, nine there and eleven back.  Four mile run with Mook over in the Garden in the evening.

Thurs - bike commute nine.  Six there and 13 back.  Four more Mook miles in the evening.

Fri - bike commute ten and CityRock ten.

No signs of warming weather, but I've started to notice on my super early dog hikes that at the end the sun is starting to try to make an appearance.  Been about two months since I saw the sun on a dog walk.

These came today.  Really looking forward to the show but hopefully it's the last time I have to deal with airports for a while.

300

Mon - off of work so I got in a good four hour ride, covering 44 miles on the mostly clear Santa Fe and Cottonwood bike paths.  Easy five mile run over on the Garden trails with Mookie in the evening.  Saw some kids practicing baseball, can warmer weather be far behind?

Tues - bike commute six.  Ten there, eleven back.  Despite the crappy weather and conditions, I'm at least getting my ass on the bike saddle as I went over 300 miles on the year today.  Another five miler with Mookie over in the Garden as the snow started to fall.  He's turning into a good running partner.

Wed - run commute three.  More snow and cold weather.  Yay.  Four there and four back.  Guitar in the evening, worked on the opening riff of Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi.  

Thurs - bike commute seven.  Balls-out cold again this morning.  

Getting on a plane early Friday morning.  My dreams may not be big or complicated, but at least I will accomplish one of them this weekend - the Isthmus Beer & Cheese festival.  This whole long weekend will be nothing but cheese curds and Wisconsin beer.

Lettuce/19:39

Fun weekend up in the Fort.

Lettuce was incredible, as usual.  Got right up front for the show.

Visited a ton of breweries and, of course, the Town Pump.  

At some point I got talked into signing up for a local Tortoise and Hare 5k.  Glad I did as I ended up running fairly well.  Ran 6:24, 6:15, and 6:10.  Officially finished in 19:19 but my watch had 3.08 miles, so I walked for another .02 miles to get the full sub 20 5k experience.

For the week:

run - 30 miles, six hours

ride - 112 miles, 11.5 hours

hike -  20 miles, 8.5 hours

miles

Update: 5:32.77 was my official 1500m time.  Converts to a 5:58 mile.  But the way I was suffering at the end, the 104 or whatever extra meters might have taken me a full minute.

Mon - easy 7.5 mile run in the morning, 25 mile ride in the evening.

Tues - bike commute four.  Ten there and 20 back.

Wed - bike commute five.  Crazy windy today.  Ten there and seven back.  Quick four mile run before my guitar lesson.  These four milers are what I call "Toby runs" just to get a minimal amount of mileage in.  At least they are outside and not on a treadmill.

Thurs - dogsitting, so all morning was spent at the dog park.  Nice 20 mile ride in the evening.  After that $100 and I took the dogs for a hike up Iron Mountain.

Fri - more dog park and then run commute two.  Four miles.

I made it through twelve days of a dry January attempt, knowing all along I'd fail due to a Lettuce show tonight in Fort Collins and a beer festival in Wisconsin next week.  The breaks are probably good for me but I never feel that much better than when I'm keeping the binge drinking to a minimum.

1500m

Solid weekend.

On Saturday I got in a good ten miler on the Garden roads, then jumped on the bike for 25 miles.  

Sunday took me up to the Academy to run the 1500m in an open meet.  Not the smoothest run meet, including the bell lap being rung one lap too early.  I was quite a ways behind the lead, but when I heard the bell I figured I had less than 1.5 laps to go, and I went.  I actually had closer to 2.5 laps to go.  Oof.  Finished in roughly 5:33, which might come down once official results are posted as I didn't glance at the clock until a few steps after the finish.  Ran as hard as I could, I'm just so far removed from this kind of racing this is about the best I can hope for.

For the week:

run - 34 miles, seven hours

ride - 109 miles, 12.5 hours

hike - 26 miles, eleven hours

ice

Forgot to mention the commute numbers for 2022:

run commutes - 71

bike commutes - 88

And 120 sessions over at CityRock.

Mon - crappy conditions but still got in a bit of everything on the day off.  3.7 mile hike with Mookie, 5 mile run on the Garden trails, an hour of yoga, and a 14.8 mile ride on the COVID loop, almost crashing several times despite being sober.  Unfortunately spent the end of the day hoping for the best for Pitt guy Damar Hamlin.

Tues - still shitty outside with ice and snow.  Run commute one.  CityRock one, me and approximately 40,000 folks who I've never seen before kicking off the new year.

Wed - bike commute one.  Lots of slow miles on the fat bike so far this year, as the side roads and bike trails have been in fairly rough shape.  Good guitar session in the PM.

Thurs - this shit is never gonna melt.  Bike commute two.  Easy four mile run in the evening.

Fri - bike commute three.  Nice full moon run with $100 and Mookie up Iron Mountain after work.

Was going to run the Nielsen Challenge on Saturday, but found out it's a brewer's cup event and over 300 are registered.  I'll stick to a Garden run and long ride instead.  Track meet at USAFA on Sunday, that's going to be a disaster.

2023

Another year, another list of shit I hope to get done.

The attention for me will be on the bike tour.  Goal is to get from Mexico to Canada and I'll try to follow the Tour Divide route as best I can.  I'll only get one shot at this, so I need to make it count.  Definite concentration on biking the first seven months of the year.

Then in mid July I'll switch gears and start getting ready for Pikes.  No big goals there, just want to finish the Double.

The hoped for numbers in the year:

ride - 5000 miles

run - 1000 miles

hike - 1000 miles

Good first day as I got in a 3.8 mile hike, 5.9 mile run, and 22 mile ride in despite crappy trail conditions.  Knee is nowhere close to 100% but I'm not doing any damage, so I'm gonna trudge through it.

Two trips coming up - the Isthmus Beer & Cheese festival in Madison in a few weeks, then the Innings Festival in Phoenix in late February.  Then a van trip home from Banff.  After that I won't have any vacation for a while.