run commute 50

On my last workday of the year I got in run commute 50.  

A few pics of the recent high points, and one of Mook enjoying a rainy hike on the beach.

Dunes

Had a long holiday weekend so we packed up the van and headed down to the San Luis Valley.  Canon City on Thursday after work, arrived at night but we got in a good hike on Friday morning.

After the hike we headed west, dropping by Elevation Brewing (they're opening a tasting room in downtown Salida, FYI) before heading over Poncha Pass to the valley.  Had some time on our hands so we dropped by Spare Keg Brewing (used to be Square Peg Brewing but that name apparently upset some lawyers) and the Colorado Farm Brewery.  Then it was off to Del Norte.  Hadn't been to Three Barrel in a while, forgot how good the pizza and beer are.

On Saturday we made the sketchy drive over to the Sand Dunes.  Highway 160 was pretty icy but the van did well.  The Dunes were foggy as hell, reducing visibility so bad we didn't even see any dunes while we were there.  Mookie loved his hike though.

We stayed at the Sand Dunes Hot Springs on Saturday evening, enjoying more Three Barrel from the Steel Box Bar, then headed back up and over Poncha to spend Christmas Eve in Salida.  Mookie got to spend some quality off leash time with his boy Fritz, and Moonlight, Benson's, and Tres Litros were all open.  

Despite highway 50 being an ice skating rink on Monday we survived the drive and got home in time to enjoy our Christmas day at Fossil.

Mookie was a tired pup from all the hiking and breweries and van life, but we did get up Iron Mountain this morning.

bike commute 100

Mon - easy seven miler on the Garden roads in the AM.  Incline in the PM.  Bah humbug.

Tues - bike commute 99.  Ten there, eleven home.

Wed - run commute 48.  5.3 there, 3.6 back.

Thurs - good amount of snow overnight.  Got up early to shovel, then took two dogs (we're dogsitting) over to the dog park before run commute 49.

Fri - bike commute 100.  Straight there and back as there was still some ice on the roads and bike paths.  

Helping out with the SAR dogs on Saturday, not much else planned this weekend.  Kind of laying low these next few days until the days start getting longer again.

Florida

We had a clear weather day as we rolled out of COS on Wednesday.  Easy though long drive down to Oklahoma City on day one.  The morning of day two it started raining, and it wouldn't stop until we were almost back home.

Still a fun trip.  Got three more state high points - Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida.  And my 25th state marathon.  And a few decent breweries and lots of Yuengling.  The 'thon did not go well as the entire day was very windy and pouring rain and I fell apart after mile 18.  Finished in 3:51.  I used to be able to run a decent marathon but I guess those days are long gone.

We did not have laundry in our Panama City Beach condo so everything was wet and sandy the entire time.  Even had some very minor trench foot coming on by the time we left.  Did get some good hikes along the beach in with the dog, other than a few hardcore surfers the beaches were completely empty.

On Wednesday morning, back on my home turf in the Garden with the pup, I took a fall and jacked up my right hip pretty good.  Nothing long term but it's real sore and stiff.  The 5k on Saturday is up in the air as of now.  Getting old sucks.