1058

My bib number for NOLA is 1058. Predicted finish time, entered one year ago, is 2:57...

So, taking a page from PG, we'll use 2:57 at the over/under for the beer bet. Comment on this post if you want in on the bet. Guess right, and I'll gladly buy you a brew. Guess wrong, and I come collect some suds.

FYI, my last road marathon was 3:49 at Boston, not even enough to qualify me for the A wave at the Pikes Peak Ascent. Luckily, the suicide attempt brought on by losing to both Wiley and Brandon in the same race was just as unsuccessful as the marathon itself...

no-go on Dispatch

Damn! I was on the computer at noon but the Dispatch show at Red Rocks sold out in a few seconds.

Oh well. Now I'll have to focus solely on kicking everyone's ass at the Golden Gate Dirty Thirty!

Found out the annual Big Head Todd show up there will be on June 11th. Probably won't sell out as quickly...

Dallas Cryboys

Good article from the NY Times on one thing Steelers and Packers fans all agreee on: the Cowboys suck ass!

Includes this great quote from Chuck Noll, "Jack Lambert is a defender of what is right."

Thursday

AM - Easy 9.3 miles in the Garden, 1:22.

Pitt football announced their non-con schedule. 2011 is gonna be a huge season for us!

Sept 3 - Buffalo
Sept 10 - Maine
Sept 17 - at Iowa
Sept 24 - Notre Lame
Oct 15 - Utah

hashing in RW

Just dug up this article on hashing from runner's world. Seems like it's been ten years since I've hashed...

Wed

AM - few laps around the local park with the dog, 2.5 miles, 24 minutes. Heel was screaming at me again. One of the reasons I'm taking a longer than usual taper for NOLA is to finally put this nagging heel/plantar thing behind me for good. Wore my sanuks to work yesterday and that seemed to put me back a few steps. Who woulda thunk it, but going barefoot may not be the best thing in the world if your feet are hurting...

PM - Four miles, 30:00

quote of the day

"Packer fans have a cholesterol level approximately 10 times higher than their IQ."

I changed that up a bit from this article on why the Terrible Towel is much cooler than a cheesehead.

miles

Mon - Rest day, zero miles, though I did hit the gym for an hour in the evening.

Tues AM - 1.6 mile warm up, 4 x 1600m with 400m RBI, 1.6 mile cool down. 5:55, 5:53, 5:47, 5:46. Awesome workout considering it was so cold my face was hurting during the warm up. Would like to say that the shorter recovery period was due to me wanting to get into better shape, but in reality I just didn't want to be outside any more than I had to.

Might hit the Manitou track for some Yasso's this Sunday if anyone wants to join me.

Tues PM - couldn't get to the gym so I knocked out an hour of P90X - shoulders, back, and tri.

Jurek at Mardi Gras

Another CO guy is headed to Mardi Gras. Go here and vote for Jurek to pace the 3:00 group if you have a facebook account. I'm also going to start a write in campaign to Pearl Izumi to get Nick to pace the four hour group...

it's a 'burgh thing

Good time to be a Pittsburgh fan. On top of a trip to the Super Bowl, Pitt hoops comes in this week at #2. Hell, things keep going this good and maybe we can see the Pirates lose less than 100 games this season!

Yeti Chase 10K

Ended up just under 43 minutes. Was sore from the Saturday long run and feeling a bit under the weather, so I went into the race wanting to run a sub 50. Started out at what I thought was an eight minute mile, so I was surprised when I hit the first mile in 6:50. Very minimal effort, especially up the hill at 3.5 miles. I was worried that I might have to sprint to beat a chick I was running with at mile six, but she ended up taking a nasty fall on the concrete so I could slack off the final quarter mile.

Do not think I will have a problem keeping this pace for a marathon.

Bigger news is that I added two more growlers to the collection - one from Strange Brewing in Denver, courtesy of a fellow fat asser, and another from the Golden City Brewery.

a house divided...

I mentioned PBR at the Golden City Brewery, and the bartender gave me this to read...

let the taper begin

24+ miles with Brooks and BLOS this morning. 16 miles on the Sinton and Santa Fe trail, then the PPRR Winter Series race II. 3:16:10, little faster than I usually go on my solo long runs. Final long run until NOLA, and it was a good one.

Received notice that I'll be receiving a whopping $3 refund from imathlete folks due to their SNAFU from rego last week. Would like to see them donate every runner's three bucks to the Lake City EMTs, but instead I'll use it to buy two big mugs of PBR at the Muff. Actually, I'd like to see them not fuck up rego anymore, but my second vote would be for them do donate a good chunk 'o cash to that fine volunteer organization.

Friday

PM - easy 6.4 in the Garden in the brand new Kinvara. 58 minutes.

Might have a free entry into the Transrockies Run. I know I said that last year, hopefully it goes through this time. Could make for a good week - PRing the Ascent, pacing at Leadville, and then running from Buena Vista to Beaver Creek...

22 days 'till NOLA.

safe!

Always had faith in our brewer/gov!  No layoff for me!

Have an interview for a gig on the AF Academy this Thursday, however.  Will probably still check it out and see what they have to offer...

smart dog

Thurs

AM - Easy nine through the Garden, 1:25:52. 14F this morning, but not much wind so it wasn't too horrible. Jacked up some muscle in my back while sleeping on Tuesday night, which leaves me unable to look to my left as well as making it difficult to breathe. The looking left thing can be overcome, but the difficulty in breathing kind of sucks for a runner.

PM - Hard 45 minutes at the gym, working on shoulders and arms, followed by 2.6 miles on the treadmill while watching the Wisconsin hoops game. Have to work on pretending to like some Wisconsin teams, trying to minimize the time I'm gonna spend in the doghouse after Pittsburgh whoops the Packers in the super bowl.

Wed

Wed AM - easy warm up over to Westmore Park with the dog, then I let her run amok while I ran a bunch of short sprints. 4 miles total, 40 minutes.

PM - Four miles easy at the full moon run. 39 minutes. Have a long way to go in terms of training the dog to run with me. Only seven people braved the cold weather, probably an all time low for this monthly club run.

the axeman cometh?

Looks like we're facing layoffs next week. I've survived before, but I'm not sure how many more lives I have left here...

in case you're counting...

...that's two top five teams that Pitt has dismantled at the Pete this season!

post fat ass gin-off

fat ass results

50K:

1. Fast Eddy 5:19

2. Justin Ricks 5:19

3. Tony Krupicka 5:24

4. Scott Jurek 5:24

5. Jacob Rydman 5:24

6. Joe Grant 5:24

7. Drew Warnke 5:28

8. Scott Schrader 5:42

9. Matt Pehowda 5:42

10. Doug Johnson 5:43

11. Ryan Kircher 6:06

12. Jeremiah Grief 6:06

13. Paul DeWitt 6:19:37.2

14. Brian Fisher 6:20

15. Todd Ganglehoff 6:20

16. Jesse Grizzle 6:30
17. Clark Sundhall 6:32

18. Steve Bremner 6:34

19. Patrick Garcia 6:35

20. Brooks Williams 6:35
21. Paul Doyle 6:45
22. Rick Hessek 6:48

23. Ryan Morgan 7:05

24. Marny Scalard 7:08

25. Rob Erskine 7:20
26. John Courtney 7:33

27. jt 7:42

28. Christoph Zurcher 8:07

29. Jeff Owsley 8:12

Marathon:

1. Tim Long 4:52

2. George Zack 4:52

3. Sean O'Day 4:52

4. Brandon Stapanowich 4:43

5. Luke Crespie 4:43

6. Matt Laubhan 5:10

7. Dave Philipps 5:20

8. Rebekka Hannula 5:33

9. Chris Grove 5:41

10. Marley Shipps 5:41

11. John Cassidy 6:15

12. Barry Odrich 7:30

Other:

Mike Safari 4:00 (21.3 miles)
Richard Bennett 3:45 (21.3 miles)
John Gardner 2:40 (13.5 miles)

That's about all I can make from the chicken scratch results sheet. Had about 90 runners heading out for various distances. If you want your time posted, leave a comment here or e-mail me and I'll fix it.

Thanks to Mountain Man Steve and Rick for helping to mark the course, Katie for letting us trash the house, Nacheaux for running the beer check, Harsha for the Crystal Park aid station, Wes for signing me up for the San Juan Solstice, Pearl Izumi for all the schwag, the Steelers for crushing the hopes and dreams of Baltimore, and Holly for only biting one person. And thanks to all the runners who brought beer, I should be set for the next week with all the leftovers!

Fat Ass

Great time at the fat ass yesterday, thanks to everyone who came out. About 90 showed up. I'll get the results posted today. Tim has a good write up about the day over at PikesPeakSports.us.

I finished the 50K in 7:42. Then drank a lot of beer.

Fat Ass trophies

that's odd...

This came in the mail today.  Can't figure out who sent it.  Seriously, Vanderbilt???

Intemann

The dog and I just got back from marking the final third of the Fat Ass. 10.8 miles to the house once you hit the Intemann Trail. Lots of snow, but it is very runnable and should be even moreso tomorrow. I ran in old, beat up road shoes and didn't slip one time.

Bingo!

4 x 1 mile

The CC track was still covered by snow, so the Harsh and I knocked out 4 x 1 mile on the Santa Fe trail, 3 minutes RBI. 6:58 (I started at the wrong place here, the distance was significantly over a mile), 5:47, 6:07, and 5:45. One of the directions on the Santa Fe trail is uphill. Saw some SF guys doing PT on the last one, psyched me up enough for a huge negative split. Totaled 8 miles in just over an hour.

Rick and I will be marking the fat ass course tomorrow. Luckily for us, Mountain Man Steve has tackled the hardest part already, Longs Ranch/Barr Trail. That section should be all within Pike National Forest, but I'm sure Steve somehow found somewhere to trespass. I'll post a report on the trail conditions tomorrow, but expect lots of mud! The run is an official Incline Club run, possibly the first Saturday run, other than the Ascent, of all time?

new diet

Quote of the day, from the letsrun.com message boards:

"REAL RUNNERS DON'T DIET! They eat a shit load of whatever they want and then hit the crete until they are skinny little bastards."

big time!

Run the fat ass, get your star for the Incline Club. We're even on the webpage! I'll go ahead and bill this as the first time Tony and Matt have ever gone head to head, though I'm not sure either will show up...

lazy

Rest day today. Doing the Incline on Friday and knew the track was not runnable today, so I slept in. I ran yesterday, when it was even colder, so lay off. Plus, I'm seeing the Hood to Coast movie tonight, so that should count for something, right?

varsity loop

Kinda weak over the second half, but feel free to do an out and back up Red Mountain if you want more climbing.

Bandera

Really missed being out on the Bandera trails over the weekend. May have to make a return trip next year. 100K on Saturday, then return to Austin on Sunday in time for chicken shit bingo.

JV route - 26 miles

quote of the day

"I've got three kids who attend the University of Tulsa. I've pretty-much bought in and sold out. You know, my wife informed me that if I go anywhere I'll be going by myself. So, that's a little hard for me right now being 46. I don't really want to do that."

-Tulsa football coach Todd Graham, speaking after last month's Hawaii Bowl

Graham is expected to be announced as the new Pitt head coach today or tomorrow. Luckily, lying is quickly forgotten in the college football world, as long as the guy wins.

Rumor has it Graham has already started growing his moustache...

Did a google image search for Coach Graham and these two nuggets were on page one. I'm sure this is a sign of great things to come for the Pitt football team.

Mon

AM - Cool and crispy 8F this morning. Warmed up by shoveling the sidewalks and then ran a nice, easy 7 miler, 1:14. Thought I was gonna lose some body parts it was so cold in the Garden.

week in review

68.6 miles total. Pretty solid week, including two good track workouts and a nice long run. Also had three trips to Accolade and another three to the rock gym. Pretty good on the diet front as well, though the weekend could have been a little better.

quote of the day

From the CRUD e-mail list concerning the Fat Ass:

"6600 ft yesterday + Longs Ranch will make it in the neighborhood of 8000ft+ of climbing"

HAIL TO PITT!

Showing my Panther pride out at CM State park over the weekend. Pitt went on to crush Kentucky in the big bowl game. Looks like the current front runner for the head coaching position is Tulsa's Todd Graham. Kinda scared since I don't know much about the guy. But then again, I thought I'd have a crappy time the last time I went to Tulsa, and it turned out to be quite the trip to remember!

Fat Ass pics

'Couple guys from CRUD ran the short course yesterday, and Harsha took a few pics. See 'em here. Looks like the long course will be closer to 35 miles, and the Ute Trail "shortcut" will put you around 24 miles.

Me? BLOS and I did a nice 3:45 long run in Cheyenne Mountain State Park. Then another 12.5 miles this morning. BLOS seems to be in pretty decent shape, depending on how much he drinks the night before NOLA, I wouldn't be surprised to see him nab a PR there...

Golden Gate

Just signed up for the Golden Gate Dirty Thirty 50K. Part of a seven week stretch that will have me running Collegiate Peaks, the Colfax Marathon, Jemez Mountain, the Arkansas River Bluegrass Marathon, Bolder Boulder, Golden Gate, the Garden 10 miler, and Lake City. Good times!

The 50K is on GZ's calendar, but we'll see if he has the cojones to sign up. Looks like Footfeathers won't be coming back for a rematch either, but I can't talk too much smack there since he beat me by about 12 hours last year.

My prediction for today's game:

Pitt - 70

Kentucky - 12

Speaking of state parks, time to go hit Cheyenne Mountain State Park for a long run...

Hood to Coast

Gonna go check this flick out on Tuesday. It's a 6PM show, so I hope to be at the Colorado Mountain Brewery around 5PM for a few pints before checking out the movie. Gives me a good excuse to bail on my Tuesday night run since it's gonna be ass cold for a few days next week.

Speaking of no running, today is my first rest day of the year. Keeping with my resolution of taking at least one rest day per week.

Salida marathons

Rego for the Run Through Time is now up and running over here. Only 40 bones if you sign up before mid February! This little race has been growing every year, lots of the top dogs are starting to show up. Need to find out about the new course, hopefully there's still the out-and-back to Turret so I can keep tabs on Nick.

Info on the Arkansas River Bluegrass Marathon is up as well. Looking forward to that one.

Thurs

AM - I know I had been at the track less than 12 hours before, but I wanted to take advantage of the relatively warm weather before the next cold front moves in. 2 mile warm up, 3 x 2000m, 800m RBI. 7:53, 7:47, 7:43. Not fantastic since my legs were still sore from the mile repeats last night, but NOLA is right around the corner so any work down below 6:15 per mile is OK with me.

Waiting impatiently to find out who the next Pitt football coach will be. Think it's gonna be Tom Bradley, the current defensive coordinator for Penn State. Hopefully he can bring some recruits with him, just to piss off PSUcks. Supposidly UConn wants Bradley too, but choosing between Pitt and UConn isn't much of a choice, is it?

And quit making fun of me for saying "yunz." Turns out I'm bilingual n'aht. Haven't used it in a while, but I'm going to bring "nebby" back into my vocab.

Wed

AM - 3.7 miles with the dog. Almost got hit by a delivery van with the driver not paying attention. I got his attention by hitting the driver side window with the bag of dog shit I had. He started fumbling around with the door like he was going to get out, but decided against it when I politely said I'd wait for his exit. I like to think it's due to my recent return to the weight room that he thought better of it, but it was more likely due to the fact that I had two sweatshirts on under my coat and looked more like a linebacker than a runner. That, and lots of people mistake my dog for a pit bull instead of a weim/lab mix.

PM - One mile warm up, 4 x 1600m with 800m RBI, one mile cool down. Forgot my watch but given the effort I'm pretty sure these were all below six minutes. Somebody actually shoveled lane one of the track, big thanks to whoever did that.

Started and finished at the CRC, decided to go with these puppies at NOLA. Haven't worn Saucony since high school, looking forward to trying them out again.

5 days, 5 green monsters in '11...

Tues

AM - Was hoping to hit the track for my usual 4 x 1600m. I knew the CC track was a mess, and with the Sunrise Striders going there today it would have been crowded, so I decided to hit the local middle school cinder track instead. Big mistake, the entire track was under snow. So instead I did an easy hour, 5.7 miles, and will head to the track tomorrow.

PM - Easy 4.3 miles with the dog, 49 minutes.

Signed up for the 10K at the Yeti Chase. Hope to go sub 40 there.

Monday PM

Easy 6.4 on the Garden roads, 1 hour.

Been hitting the gym quite a bit lately, something that was lacking last year due to every spare second being taken up by running. Get lots of weird looks from the muscleheads since I'm starting to go around January 1st. Hopefully I can have a conversation like Evan had the other day:

I was told by an overweight guy at the gym today that I would be a much better runner if I would ditch my Lunar Racers and start wearing Vibrams. He explained that his friend had turned him onto a new revolutionary barefoot running book that has totally changed his running. I told him people have been running in flats for decades and this whole minimalist trend it nothing new. He did not know what flats were but reiterated to me that I would be much faster and less prone to injury if I would buy some Vibrams. I asked him how many miles he ran a week and was told around 15 to 25. He also added that he was now training for his first half marathon (he said this with an air of authority about him like I should be completely impressed with his awesomeness). As I headed for the showers I could not help but laugh. It reminds me of the cyclists that spend thousands of dollars for a super light bike but are carrying an extra 15 pounds of lard on their own personal frame.

Loved this video of Josphat Menjo blasting a 26:56 10K (slightly faster than my Rescue Run over the weekend) while at what looks to be, judging by the number of folks in the stands, an American high school track meet. Thought he might make some more noise, but Geb kicked his ass on NYE. Amazingly, third place in that race was a 15 year old who ran 28:37!

summer concerts...

First Red Rocks show announced, can summer be far behind!!! June 4th, gonna be a great day with the Golden Gate 50K followed by Dispatch!

20

Solid 20 miler this morning, 3:08:54. Lots of snow and ice on the hike and bike trails or that time would have been better. Even got to see this for some inspiration. Matt C is now even cooler in my book since he made fun of jack quinn's running club!

Rescue Run

Decent day out at the Rescue Run. Had to be there by 8AM to work the rego table, not a whole lotta fun when you're nursing an Icehouse hangover. The course was a mess with all the ice, which really ruined what was a good race for me. Ran the first mile in 7:50, then ran very well until mile 5. I basically had to walk the half mile or so down the big hill, as I was getting zero traction in my inov-8s. I had moved into 11th place at the top of the hill and had a lot in the tank, but two guys blew by me on the downhill and I couldn't catch them again. It didn't help that I stopped to chug a beer that Net (who ran the 5K) gave to me. 14th overall, 43:06. Think I'm in shape to go sub 40 on this course if the roads were clear.

the Great Green Monster-off begins...

3654.6

Ended 2010 with 3654.6 miles. 10.01 miles per day.

3650.9

Easy 4.5 with the dog last night, followed by a ton of Spotted Cow. And Wisconsin Bock. And a Fat Squirrel or two. Rewarded myself by taking today off.

Widespread Panic tonight. First time seeing them in a non-festival setting. Hoping to hit Elk Mountain and Wynkoop on the way there, but mother nature might make that tough. Someone let me know how the weather in Denver is...

Good heads up from Footfeathers on some of the cool beer happenings over the past year. Definitely gotta get me some of this in January:

San Juan

Just a reminder for anyone who wants to run the San Juan Solstice and the upcoming Pikes Peak Fat Ass. Rego for Lake City is on the same day as the fat ass, opening at 7AM. I'll have the computer on at the house, but the line forms after me...

Wed

Nice 6.4 around the Garden this morning. 1:16. An easy four tonight at the CRC happy hour gets me over 3650 on the year. 10+ miles a day. If any of you northerners would like to buy me a brew for this accomplishment, I'll be hanging out at Wynkoop Brewing tomorrow afternoon.

Thinking of signing up for the Yeti Chase 10K. Price doesn't go up until January 9th, so I have until then to decide, but I'll more than likely be there.

AJW is asking for ultrarunning nominations over here. Maybe Karl will nominate Brooks for female ultrarunner of the year.

preparing for the 2011 monster-off

Banff

Saw an ad for it this morning, can spring be far away!!! I think this will be my 5th time seeing the film festival. The first year was awesome, but each year since has been lamer and lamer, with the absolute worst moment being last years hour long film about a family canoe trip down some lame river. Felt like I was watching some else's grandfather put on a slide show of people I didn't know. Hopefully that's the low point and things will get better. Hell, if it's anything like last year, the only reason to go is to see a lot of good people and to kick off the unofficial start of spring.

Thinking about heading up to Denver to check out the radical reels tour which doesn't come to the Springs.

Anywho, this year's CS show is on March 5th. The other CO dates are here.

track

Not sure what happened today. In my defense, I couldn't find my trusty timex so I had to go with the garmin 305. That watch is so sensitive to the touch that it's pretty lousy for track workout. 2 mile warm up, 4 x 1 mile, 800m RBI, 1.5 mile cool down. 9 miles total, 3540 on the year.

6:06
6:05
5:59
5:55

Ugh. Thank god they were slow because of the watch and not all the beer I drank last night while watching Pitt kick the crap out of UConn.

3631

Easy 6.4 miles in the Garden this morning, just over an hour.

Hope to go over 3650 at the CRC happy hour run on Wednesday.

124 guys broke 2:10 in the marathon over the past year. I wasn't one of 'em. Neither was Mr. Top American. Hell, I was pissed when TA said he couldn't get me a discount on my Denver Post subscription, but I guess he's upset about his employer's new favorite marathoner.

Pitt/UConn

Get to catch some great hoops tonight, as the Pitt/UConn game is televised. Not surprisingly, GZ has not been returning my messages about a possible beer bet on the game.

In fact, he really hasn't talked college hoops with me since this happened a few years ago:

PPFA

Google earth view of the final 9ish miles of the upcoming Pikes Peak Fat Ass, courtesy of Wes. The loop shown over by the track was us trying to find a different route and won't be run during the fat ass. And the first mile or so of this was us running down Manitou/Ruxton to connect to the Intemann.

kill the keg!

Trinity Brewing on Christmas Eve. They brew two kegs of Cherry Awaken Stout and see how fast they can kick 'em. New record this year, 35 minutes.

3624

Two good runs over the holiday weekend. Saturday evening I headed out for a nice stroll through the Garden and the Santa Fe trail, 20 miles in just over three hours. This morning, Rick, Steve, Wes, and I did the final ten or so miles of the Pikes Peak Fat Ass along the Intemann Trail. Rick and I ran from my house, so we got 14 in on the day.

Up to 3624 miles on the year, should hit my goal on Thursday. Nothing like waiting until the last minute...

change of plans?

It's always tentative when you post your 2011 race calendar, and already I have a possible change.

Received an e-mail yesterday from the Mt. Lemmon Marathon. Turns out the Blue Ridge Marathon in Virginia also bills itself as the world's toughest road marathon. And to settle the debate, the BRM is offering free rego to anyone who finished Lemmon.

Unfortunately, the race is the same weekend I was hoping to go back to the Grand Canyon.

Looks like it would run about 800 bones once airfare/hotel/rental car/booze is factored in to run Blue Ridge. Less than half of that for the Grand Canyon trip.

Might come down to the Hardrock lottery. If I'm headed to Silverton in July, I'll need the longer run. If not, maybe I'll go cross Virginia off my 50 states list...

Sunrise Striders

Group pic at the CC track after our annual 12 laps of Christmas workout.

Green Monster-Off

Resolution #1 is now on paper, to kick off on January 1. I thought $100 invented the green monster to get me to consume more veggies, but there's a whole website devoted to the drink over here. The gal ain't too shabby lookin', but she lives in Canada, and I'm not one to mess around with Digger's women. Of course, if she ever wants to try my super special green monster, complete with vodka and roofies, she is welcome to visit CO.

More info on the challenge is over on Wiley's blog. We both google image searched green monster, and while he went with something lame, I'll go with this:

My goal for 2011 is 100 pints. It will be, by far, the most vegetables I've consumed in a year.

the 12 laps of Christmas

Nice workout this morning with the Sunrise Striders. 1.5 mile warm up, 12 x 400m, 1.5 mile cool down. Was supposed to take 90 seconds RBI, but I wasn't running very fast so I cut that down to 60 seconds after four laps. Averaged between 82 and 88 per lap, most at 85.

3579 miles on the year, with a few more up and down the Incline tonight. Slowly reeling in 3650.

This Sunday some of us are gonna run the final portion of the Pikes Peak Fat Ass. Meet at Memorial Park at 8AM if you're interested. Intemann Trail to Red Rock Canyon to my house.

joke of the day

Courtesy of my personal physician.

The first thing that is required for this joke to work is that you realise I have a massive cock…

Okay? Then we are ready to begin:

Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Who cares? I’ve got a huge cock.

track Tuesday

Nice workout at CC this morning. 2.5 mile warm up, 4 x 1600m with 800m RBI (only 600m before the last mile), followed by a 2 mile cool down. 5:57, 5:50, 5:47, 5:46, all from lane four since the blockers were out.

Ten miles total, bringing 2010 to 3557 miles. 93 to go...

Thanks to Nick and the FoCo peeps for the awesome fat ass on Saturday. I wussed out and did the marathon route. My longest run since the Bear had been 90 minutes, and after taking 3.5 hours to climb up to Arthur Rock, I just didn't feel like I wanted to run for another four hours. Awesome trails out there though, had a great time exploring some new singletrack and seeing old and new friends out there.

Salida update

Moonlight Pizza, the most awesome pizza joint on the planet, now has a website.

And since the town went out and got itself a new marathon, the Arkansas River Bluegrass Marathon, they had to add a new bar to accommodate all those extra miles. But for the life of me I can't remember the name of it. It's dog themed, pretty cool place, and I think it starts with an "L." It's right next to the Victoria, even closer to the hostel. Free beer to the person who is able to figure out what the name is...

Friday

Another run to work this morning. 8.4 miles total.

Didn't get as much running in down in Durango due to work and drinking. Still had fun exploring a new section of town, up above it all at Wasted State.

Sitting at 3503 for the year after a rest day yesterday.

post-chub refreshment

From left to right:

-Steamworks Steam Engine Lager

-Durango Brewing Purgatory Ale

-Carver Brewing CO Trail Nut Brown Ale

I'm set, I just wonder what everyone else is gonna drink...

HAIL TO PITT

Looks like my alma mater has a new coach. Read about it here.

Unknown black dude. Kinda scary. But my other favorite hometown football team did the same once, and it worked out fairly well.

And where the hell is Miami of Ohio? No idea, but that same other favorite hometown football team recently got a QB from there, and he has done pretty well in my two favorite categories - super bowl championships and number of hot sorority girls boned in dive bar shitters...

Carver Brewing Co.

Colorado Trail Nut Brown Ale. Drinking this in honor of my friend Fast Eddy.

Who ran the entire Colorado trail this summer.

And who likes nuts.

And who is brown.

Salida Marathon!

2011

Here's what I got lined up so far for '11.

Jan 1 - Rescue Run 10K

Jan 15 - Pikes Peak Fat Ass 50K

Feb 13 - New Orleans Marathon

Mar 12 - Salida Marathon

Mar 26 - 24 Hours of Moab

April 2 - Brew to Brew 44 miler

April 15 - Grand Canyon

May 7 - Collegiate Peaks

May 14 - Mike the Headless Chicken 5K/Lawnmower Race/Chicken Dance Contest

May 21 - Jemez Mountain

May 29 - Arkansas River Bluegrass Marathon

May 30 - Bolder Boulder

June 4 - Golden Gate 50K

June 12 - Garden 10 miler

June 18 - San Juan Solstice

June 25 - Western States (pace/crew/drink)

July 9 - Hardrock

July 31 - San Fran Marathon/Mt. Whitney

Aug 20 - Pikes Peak Ascent

Aug/Sept - Zion Traverse
Sep 16-18 - Telluride Blues & Brews

Oct 16 - Denver Marathon
Oct TBA - Burnet Road Challenge

Quite a bit on the plate, should be another great year. Really looking forward to crewing and pacing, I've relied heavily on friends for those duties in the past but have never returned the favor.

After shooting for a PR in NOLA, everything will be geared towards Hardrock. I want to run 32:55 this year, a ten hour improvement from my first finish there. I refuse to acknowledge the possibility that I might not get selected in the lottery. Hopefully the Silverton Brewery and the great folks at the Montanya Distillery are lobbying Dale once again, reminding him of the economic impact my crew has at those businesses.

I'll also be shooting for a PR in the Ascent. My best is 3:07 and I think I can crush that. If things are going well I'll be gunning for a 2:49. No time to celebrate though, as I'll get off the mountain ASAP and head out to Leadville to crew/pace.

Less long road trips this year, and will be looking to run fewer miles (3000 will be the goal, with at least one rest day per week), so that'll give me more free time to work on some other stuff. Drinking beer, bagging more of the 14ers (I've done 28 of 'em), hopping on the mountain bike, working on my pathetic bouldering skills, visiting all the Colorado breweries, hashing more often.

Here's a shot of my perfect running form, kicking down the final meters of the Stocking Shuffle. Or maybe it's me practicing for the Mike the Headless Chicken Dance Contest, it's hard to tell the difference:

18:30

Stocking Shuffle 5K this morning. 1st mile in 6:05, 12 flat at two miles. 5th overall. Still don't have my body ready for such a short race yet, but I'm getting there. Loved the course, two laps twisting and turning through the CC campus. Felt more like a hash than a race, cutting through parking lots and behind buildings and dodging traffic. The fast guys bitched about it being a slow course with all the turns, but it was fun.

Completely different course than last year's Stocking Shuffle, which ended with this:

Took the dog to the vet after the race to get the secret microchip injected into her in case she gets lost. Here with today's PSA for taking care of your dog is that chick from RW:

Rock Canyon

Just found this over at pikespeaksports.us. Hurtin' pretty bad here, think it was shortly before the 12 mile mark where I tossed the hat and gloves to the ground.

Friday

AM - easy 5.1 miles to work. Need to go back and check on how many times I've commuted to work, but it's gotta be approaching 50.

Planning on doing eight on the way home, which will take me past the 10-per-day average I'm chasing. Next week takes me to Durango, where I'll run a ton of miles between my hotel and the Ska Brewery, as well as the big FoCo Fat Ass 30ish miler on Saturday. So 3650 miles is looking like it'll happen.

Thursday

Awful session at the track this morning. Got there early, so I ran a two mile time trial. Awful eight laps, finishing in 12:48, not too much faster than what I averaged in Pueblo on Saturday. Jogged 800m then joined the Sunrise Striders for their workout, 5 x 1000m, 400m RBI. Last night I thought I'd go sub 3:40 on all of 'em, but I was between 3:41 and 3:44 on each. Not my best day. But you gotta struggle through the bad days if you wanna enjoy the good days.

With warm up and cool down I got to eleven miles total.

No run tonight, I'll be busy drinking beer and talking smack at the CRC holiday party!

Wednesday

AM - Easy 5.4 miles with the dog on the Garden trails, 56 minutes

PM - 9.2 miles on the roads in the Garden. 1:31:15.

342nd day of the year, 3416 miles so far. Averaging 9.988 miles a day.

New runner babe for this blog, that Brie chick from the cover of Runner's World this month.

As you can see, we have similar philosophies on cross-training techniques to improve your running...

RMS Trophy

Hard to tell from this pic, but the stick figure on the trophy is holding a cigar and a beer, and underneath it says, "fueled by bacon cheeseburgers."

exit the 'stache...

Goodbye, Dave. We hardly knew ya. At least they waited 'till Movember was over to can him.

Let me start the rumor mill: the top two on the list to replace him are Troy Calhoun and Josh McDaniels...

Tues

Awesome run this morning. 25 minute warm up down to the CC track, then did 4 x 1 mile with 800m RBI. Hit 5:58, 5:55, and 5:49. Then pulled out my newest training tool, a stick with a picture of Nick drinking the beer he won from me in Salida last year. Chased that to a 5:41. 25 minute cool down. Think this is gonna be a staple workout for me on Tuesday mornings for the time being, maybe cut down on the RBI a bit as the season moves forward.

more on bandits

There were LOTS of bandits down in Pueblo. Including the first female. Also had volunteers apologizing to wannabe race day signups and telling them to run the course but not to cross the finish line. Somehow, the distance running scene here on the front range has survived...

Monday

PM - 11 miles in the Garden, 1:47.

Good article over here on how America is getting too fat to fight. One in four young Americans can't even sign up for the military due to weight issues, and the military does not have tough weight requirements. I always get a kick out of the fitness products that brag about the military using their system, that sort of endorsement should really scare anyone who wants to get in shape away.

But I can't really make fun of fat, lazy people today. Instead of my normal Monday morning run I slept in. Stuck at 3380 miles on the year. Need to run 10.8 a day for the rest of the month to hit 3650. Will be tough this week with the PPRR meeting and the CRC holiday party.

Ricks ran 2:22:43 at CIM over the weekend. BLOS ran 3:30:53 in Vegas, but was obviously slacking so he'd have something in the tank for the Brett Michaels concert at the finish line.

The RW calculator says I'm in shape to run 2:57:09 in NOLA based off Rock Canyon. Still have some work to do, but it's a good start...

quote of the day

"I've spent the past year messin' with my groin."

-Matt C

Perfectly normal thing to say while standing around a bunch of runners...

Rock Canyon

Results are over here. I ended up 15th. I think I was 19th at the 7.5 mile aid station. Lots of good competition down there. Ended up with 3rd in my age group.

The splits I remember:

Mile 1 - 6:42

Mile 2 - 13:00

Mile 3 - 19:25

Mile 5 - 31:50

Mile 10 - 64:xx

Pretty much the same race as last year up to the 10 mile mark. I can't say I rallied over the final 5K, but my race was going south quickly and I was able to hold things together this year. Almost lost everything between miles 8 to 10. All in all it wasn't a great race for me, I was overdressed and wasn't feeling 100% at anytime during the run. But I guess I can't complain about a PR. Hopefully that time goes down again at Platte River.

If I were a big A-hole I'd point out that I crushed Harsha and Dillon. But I'm not one to smack talk.

PR - the cure for vaginitis

lunch is the most important meal of the day!

Friday

AM - 9.3 miles to work, 1:28. First half was a loop through the Garden with the dog.

3351 miles on the year. Hope to be caught up to the 10 a day average on Sunday. Not feeling physically or mentally 100% right now, so I'm doubting I'll get the PR on Saturday that I think I'm in shape for. Especially now that Jesse has fallen to his vicious bout of vaginitis and will not be showing up.

Yeowza, just read that 700 are signed up for the the half marathon, and registration has closed!

The deal-of-the-day over at the Gazette is a $30 certificate from the Colorado Mountain Brewery for $15. Grab it here. For those of you coming down in January for the PP Fat Ass, it could be a good catch since CMB is on your way home. Might help ease the sting of the ass kickin' that South CRUD will be dishing out that day. As far as Springs breweries go, CMB isn't nearly on par with Bristol, Trinity, or Black Fox. But by Boulder/Denver/FoCo micro standards it's pretty good...

more turkey pics

Cool shot of us at the Royal. Looks like some of us were on at least our second drink...

Wed

AM - You know it's early when you've been running for an hour and there's no sign yet of the sun coming up. 10.2 miles in a very sluggish 1:47.

Tony is out for the NF50 this weekend. I think he's just scared that some of us are coming up to run Green Mountain tonight and had to develop some lame injury to avoid getting his ass kicked on his home turf. Chautauqua at 6PM if anyone wants to join us...

I bet Fast Eddy comes up with an even lamer excuse for bailing...

mmmm....bacon cheeseburgers!!!!