hey, it's still cold!

Shitty drive home early Monday as it was too cold in Breck to do much.  Later on I headed to WestFax to start prepping the SAR plan for winter series 2.

Tues - coldest day yet here in COS.  Bundled up and took the bus to work.  Temp ended up shooting up to 40F, so I was able to get the dog out for a much needed run in the Garden.  Was supposed to see Collective Soul today, but for some reason they ended up cancelling the show.

Wed - temps were still balmy (26F) and the dog and I got in a good AM ruck in the Garden.  Coyotes were all over the place, but Mook ain't scared.  Run commute nine on the day.

Thurs/Fri - run commute 11 and 12.  More of the same with shitty weather.

Sat - shitty weather with snow.  I got to be the incident commander for Winter Series II, overseeing the SAR presence at that race.  Thought it went pretty well.

Got another SAR call on Saturday evening.  Lost 97 year old dementia patient, walked away from her house.  18F and snowy and windy when I got there.  We couldn't find her, probably not going to end well.

Got more snow than anticipated, probably five inches on the westside.  Still got out for a good Mook hike in the Garden in the AM on Sunday.

For the week:

run - 35 miles, 6.5 hours

hike - 22 miles, 8.5 hours

Hopefully this current arctic weather front will show itself the door this week.

still chilly

Getting a bit ridiculous with the cold weather.

Got up to Breck this weekend for the Summit County Rescue Group annual avalanche training.  Lots of good folks from all over the state.  Great training, but fucking christ was it cold.  On Sunday we went up to Fremont Pass around 11k in elevation, and it was -18F when I pulled into the parking lot at 7:30AM.  And it didn't get much warmer.  A few pics from the weekend:

Learned a lot about avalanches, found out my gear can keep me relatively warm in horrible conditions, and spent a lot of time at Broken Compass Brewing, which allows dogs and is heated.  Good weekend.

No mileage numbers to speak of this week, just too damn cold to spend any length of time outside.  Supposed to begin to thaw out later today (it's currently -1F as I type this at 6AM on Tuesday, but rumored to hit 40F later today) so hopefully I can get my lazy ass back on track soon.

still cold

Trudging through the shitty temps.  Still have not been on a bike this year.

Shut out once again for High Lonesome.  Not even on the wait list.  Might be it for me as I'm not motivated to do another hundo and that will DQ me from trying to get into this race next year.  Can't say I'm too bummed about that.

Caught Hot Buttered Rum on Saturday night, they never disappoint!

Decent week considering it was a busy SAR week and temps were terrible for going outside.

run - 51.5 miles, ten hours

hike - 25 miles, ten hours

cold

Man alive a cold front blew in and just won't leave.

No biking this week and the run commutes have been four miles straight there and back.  Just too cold to do much else.  Was 8F on one of the mornings I ran to work.  Ugh.

Another pic of me from the Pikes training last weekend.  We were at the bottom of the Little Italy couloir.

2025

2025 started off as usual - at the Rescue Run.  But this year I was on the other side of the show, getting there three hours early to help set up the course and then serving as a course marshall at the bottom of the final hill, cheering on every last runner out there.  The Rescue Run is the single biggest fundraiser for SAR, and this year we had our biggest number of entrants and finishers ever.  Pikes is bigger.  Super Half might be bigger.  But I think that's it for local races.

Kept up the SAR theme as I hung out with the dogs on Saturday and then did some snow training at Glen Cove just off the Pikes Peak Highway.  Cold, probably 10F or so, but no wind so it wasn't too awful.  Here are the newest members who showed up (I'm the old guy on the right):

Super busy this week but I still got outside.

run - 31 miles, six hours

hike - 21 miles, 8.5 hours

2024 numbers

Another year in the books.

run - 2071 miles, 436 hours

ride - 1744 miles, 173.5 hours

hike - 1636 miles, 769.5 hours

72 run commutes.  92 bike commutes.  50 Iron Mountain summits, most if not all with Mookie.

Pretty decent year for me, dominated by my foray into the Search and Rescue world.  Takes up a ton of time but I love it.  

A trip to Milwaukee to close down Wolski's.  Two more highpoints (Oregon and Idaho).  Two more state marathons (Detroit and Rocket City).  Another San Juan Solstice finish and a solid run at the Creede 100.  Three more Pearl Jam shows, including my first trip to Wrigley Field.  Countless local hikes with Mookie and $100.  Can't complain.