week in review

Not the best week numbers wise.  Suddenly owning a second dog for two days took a lot of workout time away.  Also took a wilderness first aid class through the Colorado Mountain Club, which sucked away my weekend.

Run - 18 miles
Ride - 15 miles
Hike - 16 miles
CityRock - four times
Accolade - twice

Also did hot yoga on Saturday.

They closed the Garden to traffic on Sunday morning, so we went on a road hike.  It was awesome!

Speaking of awesome, I wasn't holding out much hope for our found dog once I had to take him to the humane society.  But a day later I checked one of the FB posts and saw this:

$100 had named him Willis, which he didn't answer to since his name was Max.  Dog hiked all the way from Yoder, a good 40+ miles from where we found him.  But he's all good now, back home safe and sound.

accolade 23

Had a decent mileage week all planned out after the Lost Creek hike.  But on Tuesday morning, as the dog and I were out on our morning walk, a large and ferocious looking pitbull came up to us.  And he followed us, periodically running into the street.  Friendliest dog ever.  Obviously belongs to someone.  And I was afraid he was going to get hit by a car.  So now this dog lives in our backyard while I try to locate his owner.

Monday - run commute 23, CityRock 61.

Tuesday - 5k dog hike, bike commute 20, CityRock 62.

Wednesday - 2.8 mile dog hike, run commute 24.

Thursday - accolade 23.

Refrigerator Gulch

Good week of training.

Run - 46 miles
Ride - 64 miles
Hike - 18 miles
CityRock - three trips
Accolade - zilch

The highlight was a Sat/Sun overnight hike we did at Lost Creek Wilderness, rucking 7.5 miles in to Refrigerator Gulch, spending the night, and walking out the next morning.  Great time, even if it did get a bit chilly on Sat night.  We are planning a big three day/two night trip in Lost Creek over Memorial Day, our last overnighter before we leave on the Colorado Trail.

After the hike we enjoyed a well earned late lunch at the famous Bucksnort Saloon.

incline 10

Friday night incline.  Poor weather forecast, so hardly anyone else was over there, but it was actually quite pleasant.  Straight up and straight back down, I think coming down is a great hiker workout.

track

Monday - 2.5 mile hike with the dog followed by bike commute 18.  CityRock 58 at lunch.

Tuesday - 5k hike in the Garden, five mile run to work, 4.2 mile run home.  CityRock 59 at lunch.

Wednesday - 2.6 mile dog hike, run commute 22.  5.5 miles to work via Sondermann Park, 3.2 miles back.  Then rode over to Red Leg.

Thursday - a bit hungover.  Nothing before work, nothing but junk food for lunch.  2.4 mile dog hike and a 13 mile ride after work.

Friday - 6 x 400m at the track, untimed.  Followed by bike commute 19, CityRock 60.

Not feeling very motivated this week after shitting the bed at Platte River.  We are headed to Lost Creek Wilderness this weekend, I'll try to get the effort up a bit next week.

Platte River Half

I guess I can no longer consider myself a sub 90 halfer as I failed miserably at Platte River.  Things just weren't there mentally or physically on Sunday, and combined with a terrible headwind I just completely gave up around mile six.  1:43:38.  If there is one thing I'm good at nowadays it's throwing in the towel.  I either hit that goal or don't even come remotely close.

At least I got to try a new brewery, 38 State (it was delicious!) and visit one of my favorites, Living The Dream.  So the day wasn't a complete disaster.

week in review

Pretty good week.  Been battling some low grade crud that I'm trying, but not having much luck, to get rid of before Platte River on Sunday.

Run - 40 miles
Ride - 26 miles
Hike - 16 miles
CityRock - six times
Accolade - one time

Winter came back on Saturday and it was 23F for our morning dog walk in Stratton Open Space.  The dog still had a blast.

Then went for an eight mile run in the Garden.  Love that place.

track

Got my lazy ass out of bed this morning for 6 x 200m.  Starting to enjoy that workout, but I realize I need to lengthen those repeats someday.

Biked to work (bike commute 17) in shorts and warm weather.  It is currently (1:30PM) snowing.

Small turnout at Adult Bouldering League last night.  Here's the team picture:

run commute 20

Sunday - either drunk or hungover the entire weekend in no small part because of a friend from El Paso who was visiting, but he wanted to do the Incline so we knocked it out.  Number nine on the year for me, number one in his life for him.

Monday - 2.8 mile dog hike followed by run commute 19.  4.3 miles each way.  A few lackluster fartleks thrown in for good measure.  CityRock 53 at lunch.

Tuesday - bike commute 16.  6.7 miles to work, eleven miles home.  CityRock 54 at lunch.

Wednesday - 5k dog hike in the early AM.  Run commute 20.  4.3 there, 5.6 miles home.  CityRock 55 at lunch.

March

Run - 133 miles
Ride - 219 miles
Hike - 79 miles
CityRock - 19 trips
Accolade - 5 trips

Finished the month on 18 run commutes and 15 bike commutes.

March included the Salida Marathon, a sub 18 5k, and the Tour de Left Hand, pretty awesome month.

week in review

Low week.  Need to get back at it.

Run - 21 miles
Bike - 19 miles
Hike - 15 miles
CityRock - five trips
Accolade - one trip

Had a friend from El Paso pay us a visit so most of the weekend was spent boozing, with a Friday night trip to Murphy's and the Saturday hash pub crawl over in Knob Hill.

CityRock 50

Slowly getting back to normal after the Hops & Handrails bike binge.  Monday was a recovery day.  Tuesday and Wednesday were run to work.  CityRock on Tues and Wed as well.

I'll get a post up about the bike tour soon.

run commute 16

Monday - three mile AM hike with the dog, followed by run commute 15.  40 minutes to and from work.  Would like to start to get that number up to 60 minutes, but I'm already getting up at 4:40AM and I'm having trouble finding the time.  And the dog won't let me cut down her hour plus hike.

Tuesday - bike commute 14.  Six miles to work, three miles home.  CityRock 45 at lunch.  Hit up Trails End in the evening, and the guy who has the record for bikepacking the Colorado Trail was there.  He did it in just over three days.  Or about the amount of zero days we are taking in Salida.

Wednesday - 75 minute dog hike in the Garden followed by run commute 16.  CityRock 46 at lunch.

Thursday - 60 minute dog hike followed by a trip to Accolade.  CityRock at lunch.

Finished the MTI Teton Grand Traverse program just before Salida and I'm getting ready to start the Peak Bagger program that Shad has suffered through in the past.  Just some different stuff to get ready for the big hike.  This program includes lots of step ups, which I will do on a 19 inch step I have at the house or, if I have the time, head over to the Incline.

Speaking of the big hike, $100 has a timer on her phone and we have less than three months until we leave.

Luckily for us, Buddy Guy is coming to town 2.9 months from now!

week in review

Run - 27 miles
Bike - 42 miles
Hike - 21 miles
CityRock - four trips
Accolade - one visit

Not great numbers.  But a V4 and a sub 18, I'll take it.

party like it's 1995!

New Stone Temple Pilots album dropped this week.

Pearl Jam released a new single on the way to a new album.



And jt went sub 18 for 5k!

Unofficially 17:54.  Chip time was 17:50.  5:42 first mile, 5:51 second mile, 5:45 third mile.  That last 1.1 miles was just trying to keep everything together.  But, I gotta say, there was a fairly big group of folks trying to go sub 18, and we were all together after a mile or so, and I led the way.  Even caught two dudes in the last quarter mile.  Best race I've had in a long time.

Pic stolen from Pikes Peak Sports.

V4

Sun, Mon, Tues: not much of anything.  Some good dog hikes, a nice 15 mile ride with $100.  Mostly spent getting rid of the Salida hangover.

Wed: Run commute 14.  Some good 90 second repeats on the way to the office.  Not feeling great the way back, until I ran into $100 and the dog and finished the run with them.

Thurs: Accolade 19, CityRock 43.  Big news here was that I sent my first ever V4!  Might have been a bit overrated, as there were two others who got it as their first V4 as well, but whatever.  The sign said V4, and I sent it, so I'll take it.  Still consider myself a V2 climber but it was cool to do something at that level, especially since the climbing gym has a bar to celebrate at.

Fri: Track.  6 x 200m.  Easy workout, once again balancing out the hope to run well on Saturday with the need to start getting to the track once a week.  Followed that with a dog walk and bike commute 13.

week in review/Salida

Run -  60 miles
Bike - Ten miles
Hike - 12.8 miles
CityRock - five trips
Accolade - one trip

The highlight was of course the Salida Marathon, which I finished less than 90 seconds shy of five hours.  Stayed out a little later than I was planning on Friday (Dead cover band at The Vic) but that didn't mess with me too much.  Felt really good just moving at a steady pace all day.  The rest of Salida weekend was spent either drinking too much or hiking the dog over in the S Mountain area.

Oh yeah, and $100 got a new bike!

track

Thursday morning 5k hike with the dog.  Then I gave her a shower, so she was pissed.  But then I fed her, so we're buds again.

Adult Bouldering League is going well and it's fun not being the shittiest climber in the group for once.  Sorry for the weird faces, we had to do it for extra points.

Hit the track on Friday AM.  Nothing much, 6 x 200m, but I'm trying to start the habit of a late night of bouldering followed by an early AM track session.

Off to Salida as soon as I can weasel out of work, looking forward to seeing everyone!

Run Commute 13

Sunday AM - four mile Garden hike with the dog, followed by eleven miles on the trails of the Garden and Red Rock Canyon.

Sunday PM - quick trip to Accolade before CorePower.

Monday - run commute 12.  4.2 miles to work, 4.4 miles home.  35th trip of the year to CityRock.

Tuesday - bike commute 11, CityRock 36.  Went to the Banff Mountain Film Festival in the evening and it was awesome.

Wednesday - three mile hike with the dog followed by run commute 13.  Good climbing session at lunch.

Salida is coming up on Saturday and as usual I'm super excited for a great weekend.  Looking at five hours to finish the marathon given my current state of fitness.  Will likely run well for 18 miles or so, then slog it out to the finish.

Pic of the dog in White Acres today.  She is super excited for Salida as well.

week in review

All around good week.  The numbers never pop out when you're trying to fit five activities in every week, but I feel the fitness is coming around.  Definitely feel much better physically than if I was just banging out 70 mile running weeks.

Run - 22 miles
Bike - 34 miles
Hike - 20 miles
CityRock - four trips
Accolade - twice

Started up Adult Bouldering League again.  Thursday nights.  My third time doing this, and this is the first time I'm not the worst climber in the class, so I have that going for me.

Finally got the van out in '18, heading down to Oil Well Flats after work on Friday.  Five hour hike on Saturday AM, followed by 70 minutes on the fat bike.  Had to head back to the Springs on Saturday, but that meant we could meet up with a bunch of folks at Trails End in the evening.  Such a great day!

February

Good month.  Lots of hours doing stuff, ticking off the days before we head off on the Colorado Trail.  We are already worried about the lurking fire danger this summer.

Biking - 176 miles, 18 hours
Running - 146 miles, 28.5 hours
Hiking - 60 miles, 21.5 hours
CityRock - 14 trips
Accolade - 6 trips

Signed up for the JFK 50.  Other than Pikes, I hope it's the last big race I sign up for.  Besides some smaller local races, here's the rest of the year:

March 4 - Pueblo Ten Miler
March 10 - Salida Marathon
May 20 - Colfax Marathon
June 2/3 - Elephant Rock
Aug 18/19 - Pikes
Sep 22 - Royal 50
Nov 17 - JFK 50

Another trip is shaping up for March as we will be bringing back the Tour de Left Hand.  Leaving from Red Leg Brewing on Friday, March 23, we will ride up to Golden, crash for the night, then finish the trek to Left Hand's Hops & Handrails early on Saturday.  Of course there will be lots of breweries along the way.

Matisyahu

Sunday - Pretty hungover from a late trip to Fossil but I still got in a nice four mile hike with the dog over at White Acres and my eighth trip up the Incline this year.  If that wasn't enough, the wife goaded me into a trip to Accolade (16).

Sunday evening was the Matisyahu show at the Black Sheep.  Pretty good time despite it being on a school night.

Monday - Not much, pretty tired from the show.  3.7 mile bike to work, 11 miles home.  Bike commute nine.

Tuesday - Three mile hike with the dog, then run commute 11.  4.2 miles to work, 4.4 miles back home.  CityRock 31 at lunch.

Wednesday - 2.8 mile hike with the dog, then bike Commute ten.  Four miles to CityRock in the AM.

incline 7

Broke my streak of laziness on Friday evening with a trip up the Incline.  Despite the recent snow and chilly weather the Incline was in pretty decent shape.  Sure got a bit chilly coming down Barr Trail though.

Saturday - 20 mile run on the Midland, Santa Fe, Sinton, and Garden.  Windy AF.

accolade 15

This arctic weather has crushed my motivation to do anything but sit on the couch.  Did get to Accolade for some weights on Thursday morning.  Got on the treadmill for a planned 30 minutes, but it was one of those days where the 'mill just mentally crushed me and I only ended up doing 20 minutes.

Things sort of warmed up on Thursday afternoon, so I got the dog out for an hour hike in the Garden.

After that it was off to Bristol Brewing to see the Lil Smokies.  Great show.  We also hit up Trails End before the gig to try the Upslope Experimental IPA.  Delicious and I can't wait until cans hit the liquor stores in early March.

run commute 10/CityRock 30

Monday - had off work for President's Day.  Hungover, but I managed to get the dog out for two hours in Stratton Open Space.  Recovered later in the day for a good hour at CityRock and an hour of hot yoga.  Glad I got the dog some exercise, since a blast of arctic air blew in Monday evening.

Tuesday - I got up to take the dog out and it was 6F.  Oof.  She hates those low temps as much as I do.  I shoveled the walks, and ran to work, run commute ten.  Took me 40 minutes to get to the office and I was worried about frostbite on my fingers and toes.  Hit CityRock at lunch, took the bus home after work.

Wednesday - woke up to this:

No thanks.  I went back to bed.  Threw some weights around in the home gym before driving to work.  Did have a good CityRock session (30) at lunch, and it warmed up enough to get the dog out for a 40 minute walk when I got home.

cup 'o dirt #1

Took advantage of the warm weather to sneak in a February cup 'o dirt ride.  Hit my go-to gravel ride, north on the Santa Fe trail.  The wind beat me ragged on the way up, but after the halfway point at Pikes Peak Brewing things got a bit better.  6.5 hours in the saddle.

I'm writing a haiku for all my submissions to the cup 'o dirt page.

North was all windy
Thank god for Pikes Peak Brewing
Damn was this a slog

run commute 9/CityRock 25

4.5 mile run to work.  Threw in some 3 minutes on/2 minutes off.  The hard parts were interrupted by a charging dog and a long red light.  Then a terrible four mile run home that I walked a good chunk of.

Week has been all messed up with $100 out of town.  So now everyday it's at least two hours with the dog.  Which is awesome, but it brings down the time available for running and biking.

I've been spending a lot of time at this wall at CityRock the last few weeks.  There is a tan V2 problem at the right that I struggled with at first, but I eventually got it down where I could do laps.  Which would crush me, but it definitely brought a lot of improvement.  I had been working on the green V3 on the right damn near every day, and I feel I was about to get it.  But then I came into the gym Thursday morning and they had completely stripped the wall.  New problems going up.  Such is life when you're a gym climber.

bike commute 7

Friday was winter bike to work day.  Nice enough for shorts.  Got in a four mile Garden run with $100 and the dog, then rode 6.7 miles to work.  Free coffee and donuts at the popcycle bridge!  Here's a shot of my arrival from Fixie Dave:

Not much physical activity over the weekend due to Manitou Mardi Gras and a trip to Denver on Sunday.  I ended up hitting five breweries on Sunday: Grandma's, Chain Reaction, Black Project, Livin' The Dream, and Pikes Peak.

run commute 7/accolade 13

Wednesday - 3.5 mile Garden hike with the dog, followed by a 4.2 mile run to work.  CityRock (21) at lunch.  4.4 mile run home.

Thursday - Almost slept in instead of dragging my ass over to Cheyenne Canon.  But I won't be doing much on the exercise front this weekend due to Manitou Mardi Gras, so I figured I better not slack off today.  6.3 mile run up the Canon followed by a good weight room session.

Accolade 12

Monday - pretty wrecked from the half.  Easy 5k morning hike with the dog, followed by the four mile bike to work.  Good CityRock lunch workout.  4.5 miles back home on the fat bike.  Then an hour of hot yoga with $100.

Tues - sub 20F when I got up so I went to Accolade.  Half hour of throwing around weights and half an hour on the stationary bike.

Signed up for another round of Adult Bouldering League at CityRock.  Starts March 1st.  It will be close, but this might be the first time I'm not the worst climber of the bunch.  I have also committed to heading outside, hope to be hitting Shelf Road the first weekend in May.

Super Half

Was really wanting to go sub 90 at the race.  Somewhat behaved myself on Saturday to avoid a hangover, and was feeling good at the start line as it was sunny and over 40F.  And then things went to shit very quickly.  Not with me, but with the weather.  Got super cold.  After the race when I got back to the car, it was 19F.  I'm way too weak and old to push in those conditions. 

Good first half - I was right on 90 minute pace for 5.5ish miles.  But the dropping temps had my legs feeling tight and my motivation disappeared very quickly.  Wasn't a total disaster, I would stay around 7:15 pace from 5.5 through nine miles, then I went 7:39, 7:21, 7:45 (which included stopping for a beer), and 7:36.  Lots of folks went by me in those miles.  The bitter cold caused me to slow down, and for a lot of others it caused them to speed up as they wanted to be done.  I didn't crush the last mile, but with Amanda somewhere behind me I went 7:09 to get the cheap win.  Official finish time was 1:34:41.

So a good tempo for 5.5 miles, a much slower tempo for the rest of the day.  Wish this race was on Saturday, when I rode around bike trails and side streets for 40 miles in shorts.

One last shot to go sub 90 at Platte River.  After that I'll need to start being happy with sub 95.

January

Pretty good month of doing shit.  And by doing shit, I mean getting out there and doing a little bit of everything.

Running - 150 miles, 30 hours
Biking - 123 miles, 16 hours
Hiking - 85 miles, 33 hours
Accolade - nine trips
CityRock - 17 trips

I am a huge fan of the Dirtbag Diaries, and their latest annual year of big ideas really resonated with me.  Fitz talked about finding joy in being mediocre, and it hit home for me since that's where I've been for a while.  I really love getting after it everyday, but as far as big events go, I don't get excited to hurt anymore.  So I've unofficially adopted what Fitz called "joyous mediocrity" as my new slogan.

That being said, here are the goals for the rest of the year.

Running - JFK 50 miler
Biking - Cup 'o Dirt Challenge
Hiking - CO Trail
Climbing - climb outside once

None of those will require a whole lot of training for me, especially since I have no time goals.  Which is awesome, because it opens up more time to explore the area by van.

And I'm thankful I have the opportunity to do the shit I do.  Not everyone is so lucky.  I spent the last week counting the homeless population down here.  Here's a shot of me utilizing my mad slackline skills to keep my feet dry.