Pikes

Meh.

The exciting part of the weekend was Fri/Sat, when I went on a SAR call to help some hikers get off the mountain.  Got to the summit around midnight, had to hike down about half a mile and escort them out, very slowly.  Two of the eight hikers got put on oxygen, the others just went real slow.  Like an hour from the top of the golden stairs slow.  Oof.

No excuses, I signed up for SAR and I knew what I was getting into.  But I had nothing to give on Saturday and luckily ended up just under four hours.  I had guessed I'd run close to that, but I didn't think I'd feel so awful doing so.  At least the kazoo band at the Cirque played Pearl Jam for me.

I got a good nights sleep after the Ascent and woke up thinking I'd do a lot better, and then I got word that the Marathon had been shortened.  I ran a lot better, getting to Barr Camp ten minutes faster and feeling good, but it was all for naught.  Couldn't even go to the Royal after the race as the place closed down a few weeks ago.

My tenth double.  14 Ascents and 12 Marathons (including this ultra half marathon finish).

Time to change things up as I have a bunch of road marathons coming up.  Not expecting much at Detroit in mid October, but I'd like to take a crack at a sub 3:30 in Eugene next April.

Andy Frasco & The U.N.

Took off for Chaffee County this weekend.  Friday night was one of our favorite bands, Andy Frasco & The UN at the Lariat.  While pre-gaming for the show we ran into Andy Frasco himself.  So cool to see him just hanging out in BV.

Incredible show, $100 and I both agreed it was the best show we've seen of his.  Such a good live band.

After a good dog hike on Saturday morning we headed over to Salida.  Hit all the usual places over the day - Elevation, Soul Craft, Salida Distillery, Tres Litros, Benson's.  And it was my first visit back to The Vic, open again after closing it's doors years ago.  Love the new place, so glad it's back.

Another long dog hike on Sunday, then it was back home.  We got a new cadet and we got to meet him Sunday evening.  He is slightly faster than me at the 5k right now so I have some work to do.

For the week:

run - 43 miles, nine hours

ride - 14 miles, 80 minutes

hike - 27 miles, eleven hours

Panthers are 3-0.  Steelers are 2-0.  Good time to be a Pittsburgh football fan!

staying busy

Been super busy with SAR since we got back.  

On Friday we had a mission out on Vigil Peak.  I've lived here 15 years, a lot of team members have been here for much longer, and nobody had ever heard of the peak.  Out off Old Stage Road.  The first truly fucked up person I've seen on SAR as he took quite a fall and was dealing with some serious head injuries.  Luckily the Army came to help out.

On Saturday I helped with the Brain Injury Alliance Pikes Peak Challenge.  They have SAR folks along the course just like the Ascent/Marathon.  I was at A Frame most of the day, then hiked up from there with my pack and a hikers pack.  Oof.  Counting it as my 40th Pikes summit as I went down significantly below A Frame at times.

Tuesday night we got a late call to head to Palmer Lake and find a potentially suicidal girl who was lost in the woods.  Could have been bad but it turned out alright.

All that time is definitely giving weight to my guess that I'll be pretty close to four hours for the Ascent and 6:30 for the Marathon next weekend.  Little slower than I'd like but the training just hasn't been there since Creede.

let's play two!

Back from the road trip only to catch a flight to Chicago for two more nights of Pearl Jam at Wrigley Field!  It was my first time to Wrigley and I didn't even have to watch the shitty Cubs.

Explored Wrigleyville, did some running and rucking on the lakefront, drank too much Malort, and checked out a few breweries.  Great trip.  The liver is begging for mercy and now it's time to return to a much more healthy PJ habit - listening to their shows during long runs.