St Louis

Great trip.

Day one was the long slog of a drive to Emporia.  Damn near ten years to the day I finished the Dirty Kanza 200 in front of Mulready's Pub, I took my finishers pint glass into the bar and they filled it.  I took that same pint back and of course they filled it again.

Next day was off to St Louis.  Hotel check in, packet pick up, and a quick tour of some local breweries.  The race was Saturday morning, and it went about as well as I thought it would.  After two long days of driving I did not have the fortitude to push through the final miles and I slowed greatly, running the first half in 1:45 and finishing in 3:44.  Did stop for two cans of beer in the final six miles, which didn't help my time.

Spent the rest of the day in St Louis, visiting a bunch of breweries and bars within walking distance of the hotel.  Next day, which happened to be National Weimaraner Day, included a long dog hike at Gateway Arch, then a short drive south to Taum Sauk mountain.  Not a huge climb, but the trails in the state park we stayed at were awesome and we got a ton of hiking in.

Then it was two long days of driving back home.  Stopped for the night at Happy Basset Brewing in Topeka.  Had to be the most dog friendly brewery I've ever been at.  There was a huge storm while we were there and a nearby tornado, but nobody at the bar was worried so I just kept drinking.  That evening I got to sip my last beer of the trip at the van door watching an incredible lightning storm.  

16 more states to go.  Des Moines in October, probably the last state I'll be able to road trip to.  

Missouri or bust!

Mon - incline 13 in the evening.

Tues - run commute 39.  Five there, 6.4 back home.

Wed - run commute 40.  Five there.  Started to run home when the SAR pager started chirping, so I jumped on a PikeRide to get home quicker.  Then the call got stood down.  Spent the extra time finishing up my wilderness first responder recert, I'm officially a Wilderness EMT now.

Off to St. Louis tomorrow.  Emporia on Thursday night, damn near ten years to the day since I somehow finished the Dirty Kanza.  Then downtown STL for a few days, then back.  Hoping to get state marathon number 34 and state high point number 28.

fine art

Mon - incline 12

Tues - run commute 35.  Took the bus to work, 6.4 miles back home.  The number three bus which runs from downtown COS to Manitou and back is free now!

Wed - run commute 36.  Five there, 3.6 back home.

Thurs - run commute 37.  Bus to work, four miles back home.

Fri - run commute 38.  Five there, five back.

Sat - the 'ol COVID loop with the Nielsen Challenge in the middle.  Timing was a bit off and showed up two minutes late for the Nielsen, but still managed to barely crack 14 for the two mile run.  15 miles on the day.  Late night SAR training was a mock mission up in Fox Run park.

Sun - big plans for a trip to Barr Camp, but instead I got stuck on cadet taxi duty.  Ran around for an hour unsuccessfully searching for some hidden brewery Easter eggs before hanging at Fossil.

We took part in a fundraiser for the Ark Valley Humane Society where they assigned a rando to draw your dog.  Our artist was some kid from Whitewater high school in Wisconsin and it turned out really good.

For the week:

run - 56 miles, 11 hourss

hike - 35 miles, 15 hours

Where's My Mule?

Mon - good 3 x 1 mile workout up at the John Holmes track.

Tues - run commute 31.  Five there and five back.  CityRock 16 at lunch.

Wed - easy day.  Run commute 32, four miles there.  Took a PikeRide home after work.

Thurs - run commute 33.  Five there, four back.

Fri - Iron 13 in the early morning, then an easy four miles to work.  Later in the day $100 picked me up and we headed to Denver for the Gov't Mule concert.  Excellent show!

Sat - Solid day drinking in Denver, hitting the Lakeview Lounge, WestFax, and the Sit n Bull Saloon.  Then lots of Buff Creek hiking.  

Sun - drank a lot of beers on Saturday night but still got in a good two hour hike with the dogs followed by a two hour run on the Colorado trail.  Then headed to Crazy Mountain Brewing to spend the night.  Sunday was a good day!

For the week:

run - 50 miles, 9.5 hours

hike - 37 miles, 14 hours

4900 feet of climbing

I'll just go ahead and throw in March mileage here.  Pretty solid month with the Little Rock and Salida marathons.

run - 237 miles, 44 hours

hike - 131 miles, 51 hours

35,383 feet of climbing