Rainier

What a trip!  Wasn't too excited about the chances of a summit as I got on the plane to Seattle.  A late winter had been dumping snow on the mountain and hardly anyone was able to get to the summit.  But summer arrived quickly, and the two days we spent slowly making our way up the lower parts of the mountain allowed the upper route to improve enough for a successful summit.  Ended up doing the Ingraham Direct route, as the Disappointment Cleaver route was a mess of snow and ice.  It was still cold and windy, but it could have been much worse.

Not a whole lot of pictures, it was cold enough that I didn't want to take off my gloves.  Here's what I got.

Finally getting above the clouds on the slog up to Camp Muir.  My pack was already approaching 60 pounds before I volunteered to carry the team rope.  Day one was a five mile hike that gained 5,000 feet:

Arriving at Camp Muir, right at 10,000 feet:

Morning coffee on day two.  That's Mt. Adams off in the distance:

From my tent at Muir you could see the next part of the route:

My tent is the blue one.  Had it to myself as my partner bailed at the last minute due to a positive COVID test:

Another Muir shot.  Adams to the left and Mt. St. Helens to the right:

Then it was up to Ingraham Flats for the next camp.  This was the view from my tent.  That's Little Tahoma peak:

On summit day we set off at 3AM.  Three person rope team, and no pics as I was busy doing other stuff and it was fucking cold and windy.  Rainier is a volcano, and you keep climbing until you get to the bowl.  Our route got us there, then it was an easy unroped walk across the bowl to the summit.  Here are some peeps crossing that bowl:

It was actually nice in the bowl as the wind was blocked.  The summit was awful though and I had trouble standing the wind was so strong.  Spent less than five minutes there.

Quick summit selfie.  I applied sunscreen every eight seconds and still got burnt.

From the summit it was back down to our camp at Ingraham Flats.  Left at 3AM, got back around noon.  Got up early the next morning for a cup of joe before heading all the way back down to the van:

Here's our camp at the Flats.  You can see a lot of our route to the summit here:

Katie met our group as we got back to the finish with a case of Rainier beer.

We then toured the Olympic peninsula before heading up to I-90 and coming back east through Spokane, Coeur d'Alene, Missoula, then down to Alpine, WY, and then home.  Lots of breweries.

rainier

Made it!  

Great climb, great roadtrip.  I'll post more once I catch up on sleep.

Rainier or bust!

Mon - Easy 7.4 miles on the Garden trails in the morning, 15 mile gravel ride at lunch, easy 4.7 miler in the evening.  Still sore from the Garden ten miler.

Tues - bike commute 41.  Ten there, 15 back.  Went over 1500 bike miles on the year, halfway towards my goal.

Wed - run commute 40.  Five there.  CityRock 70 at lunch.  5.3 miles back home.  Hollydog is now 13.5 years old and is slowing down, but we have started walking one mile around the 'hood each evening.  Not taking the time I get to spend with her for granted.

Thurs - run commute 41.  4.7 there, 3.5 home.  Mookie is crushing dog school and is slowly turning into a good pup.

Fri - bike commute 42.  Straight there and back.  King's Chef for lunch.

Fly to Seattle tomorrow afternoon.  Start hiking up Sunday afternoon.

Earlier this week I had accepted that there would be no summit.  It was snowing heavily and avalanche conditions were terrible.  None of the paid expeditions were getting to the top.  

But that has recently changed, and things look to be improving.  Will they improve in time for me?  Not sure, but I feel a lot better than I did a few days ago.

I've only used my inReach for texting $100 to let her know I was safe, but I'm gonna try the tracking feature.  This link may or may not work as I'm not the most technologically gifted guy.

After the climb we're taking some time to explore the Olympic peninsula and then slowly heading back home on a route not fully decided yet.

Garden/Elevation/13

I received a nice ass kicking at the Garden ten miler on Saturday.  Solid race for me, I just had nothing in the tank over the last two miles.  Officially finished in 1:16:00.  I got what I deserved - I'm in good shape to hike uphill with a heavy pack on, but not really ready to run a good road race.  But it was fun, I pushed as hard as I could, saw a ton of friends, and it was all basically in my backyard.

After that I headed down to help Elevation Brewing celebrate their ten year anniversary.  I have drank quite a bit of First Cast IPA over the past decade for sure.  

Slept in the van at the Poncha visitor center, then up early to tag Shavano.  13 straight months.  

The weather is looking crazy for Rainier as they've had a ton of snow.  Very few of the guided trips have had successful summits so far this year.  Hope that changes soon.

For the week:

run - 44 miles, eleven hours (counted Shavano, which admittedly was more of a hike than a run)

ride - 57 miles, six hours

hike - 18 miles, seven hours

canon

Mon - 5.8 mile run in Red Rock Canyon.

Tues - bike commute 39.  Ten miles there, 18 back up and over Cheyenne Canon to High Drive, down Cap't Jacks.  Need more of this in my life.  So glad that road is open again.

Wed - run commute 39.  5.5 miles through Sonderman there, 4.8 miles back home.  Guitar practice in the evening.

Thurs - took Mookie over to Red Rock Canyon for a 5.8 mile run.  He loved it.  Took him to Red Leg Brewing in the evening for Garden packet pick up and he loved that too.

Fri - bike commute 40.  CityRock 68 at lunch.

Garden ten miler on Saturday, I expect to run 73-ish.  Then down to Elevation for their 10th anniversary.  Shavano on Sunday, making sure the 14er streak continues just in case Rainier is a bust.

The Tour Divide started today.  I hope to be starting my ride from Antelope Wells to Banff in exactly one year.

Hoosier Pass

Tues - bike commute 35.  Ten there, eleven back.  Four mile run with Mookie over in the Garden after work.

Wed - run commute 37.  5.5 there, four back home.  Guitar in the evening.  Working on the Wish You Were Here solo stuff.

Thurs - run commute 38.  Five there, 3.5 back.

Fri - CityRock 65 at lunch.  Drove the van to work and took off for Hoosier Pass to sleep up high.  Enjoyed some Broken Compass beers up there.

Sat - final HAMS training on the ski slopes in Breck.  Only thing left is the mountain herself.

Sun - big ride.  Slogged up Rampart Range road to Mt. Herman road, down to Pikes Peak Brewing, then back to Fossil.  67 miles in seven hours.

For the week:

run - 29 miles, 4.5 hours

ride - 101 miles, ten hours

hike - 22 miles, ten hours

Shavano

Kircher and I met up down in Chaffee County on Saturday and successfully hiked Mt. Shavano.  My 12th consecutive month of a 14er.  Lots of fresh snow but nothing too heinous.

Mookie, though not quite ready for a 14er, had a blast and loves both the vanlife and Chaffee County.

Had to bolt home after a nice dog hike early Sunday morning, got to dogsit Moose and Millie and drink approximately 1000 local beers with Bob.  Warning: there are middle fingers in the pic below, please look away if you are easily offended.

And yes I do realize Hamm's is not a local beer.  I had 1000 local beers and one Wisconsin beer.  And one can of Rainier.

On Monday early AM Bob and I got up and took Moose and Mookie over to the Bear Creek dog park for 90 minutes.  After that we headed over to Red Leg for the memorial day 5k, probably the second biggest race within 90 minutes of me that day.  Yet again I scored a cheap victory, running 20:50.  Was on sub 20 pace for 2+ miles, but coming back up and over Gas Station hill crushed me.  Obviously a small field, I won by over 90 seconds, but the $75 gift card to Red Leg that I got was the biggest running payday I've ever received.

Not the best workout month numbers wise.  Lots of visits from friends, lots of travel, lots of time with the new dog, lots of time with the old dog, lots of time training with the HAMS crew.  Definitely not complaining.

For the month:

run - 25 runs, 115 miles, 20 hours

ride - 25 rides, 225 miles, 22 hours

hike - 37 hikes, 142 miles, 58.5 hours

butterbar

First off, congrats to Ryan for somehow making it through the Academy.  She will do a one year assignment as a recruiter and then she's off to flight school.

Low mileage week as my old Pitt roommate (who is Ryan's uncle) came into town, and then I spent all day Wednesday doing the graduation stuff.  

Mon - nine mile run over in the Garden.

Tues - bike commute 33.  Ten there, four back.  After work beers at the house, then Murphy's, then the Triple Nickel, then Fossil.  Oof.

Wed - Mookie's first motorless morning in the Garden.  We hiked a 10K before heading up to Falcon Stadium.

Thurs - bike commute 34.  Ten there, four back.  Had a HAMS meeting up in Palmer Lake after work.

Fri - run commute 36.  Five miles in 42 minutes.

Taking the van down to Chaffee County after work, gonna attempt Shavano tomorrow and hike the shit out of the dogs.  Back on Sunday for Bob's annual visit.

the week

Travel, weather, injury, Academy graduation - May sure has gotten away from me.

The Sunday I was in San Fran I somehow tweaked my lower back.  Not a crushing injury like I've had there before, but I had to take things easier to make sure it didn't get worse.  Then on Thursday, the temp hit 88F.  And on Friday we got a good foot of snow at the house.  So the week wasn't much to write home about.  The back is better, and the big hiking week included a trek with a 40+ pound pack and heavy mountaineering boots through a ton of snow up to Barr Camp with the HAMS group on Sunday.

run - 17 miles, three hours

ride - 30 miles, three hours

hike - 42 miles, 18.5 hours

So much snow here.  Which is great, but my monthly 14er streak is definitely in jeopardy.  Going to try for Shavano on Saturday, but they got good snow down there as well.  And Kircher is tagging along, so not only is there a good chance of not getting to the summit, but hospitalization and loss of a limb or two are probably in play as well.

Bay to Breakers

Well holy shit that was fun!

Quick trip to San Fran, flying out on Saturday morning and returning Monday evening.  Tons of pubs in between, including during the 12k race.  Took $100 and I 3.5 hours to meander the course, and I ran up Hayes hill with a gin & tonic in hand.

fire

Mon - easy lunch ride, 15 miles in 90 minutes, and a post-work 7.5 mile Garden trail run.

Tues - bike commute 29.  Ten there, 18 back home.

Wed - run commute 32.  5.7 there, 4.2 home.  Guitar practice in the evening, followed by a quick ride to check out a possible sighting of Amanda's stolen bike.  Still haven't found it.

Thurs - run commute 33.  5.2 there.  5.5 back.  Took Mookie over to PubDog in the evening, I drank beer and he ran approximately 400 miles in circles around their small dog park.

Fri - bike commute 30.  Eleven there.  

We had so many fires Thursday in COS it was hard to keep up.  I have a bad feeling this is going to be a rough summer.

Off to San Francisco for the Bay to Breakers 12k this weekend.  Won't be winning any awards unless there's one for most booze consumed during the race.

update

Busy lately.  Lots of good stuff going on.

The Atlanta trip was incredible.  So much good music.  Big Something, Doom Flamingo, Oysterhead, Too Many Zooz, Sexbruise?, and Taz Niederauer were some of the highlights for me.  Was excited for Umphrey's but their lead guitarist had to take some time off, and I thought the band was missing something.  Hit up the Clermont, Elliot's, Sister Louisa's, and a slew of other bars.  So much fun.  Possible return trip next year.

Had a good seven mile run around the MLK national historical site and the Freedom trail.  Also did a 5k on festival Saturday and did pretty well, winning the masters division in 19:59.  Goose was doing their soundcheck at the finish line and ended up playing three songs for the runners.

Took a while to recover from that.  I'm old and four straight days of partying left me pretty rough.  Did recover in time to have a good race at the Take 5 in the Garden though.  4.4 miles on the Garden trails in 34 minutes.  Then on Sunday the HAMS peeps and I went up to Loveland Pass to attempt Grizzly Peak.  Crazy windy so we had to bail early, though we did manage to summit 13,117' Cupid Peak.  Might have to go back there to get Grizzly and Torreys.

For the week of the festival:

run - 16 miles, 2.5 hours

ride - 38 miles, four hours

hike - 13.5 miles, five hours

For the previous week:

run - 31 miles, five hours

ride - 70 miles, 7.5 hours

hike - 25 miles, ten hours

bike thieves suck

Sat - big hike up in Palmer Lake with the HAMS crew.  16 miles in eight hours with a heavy pack, followed by a good lunch at O'Malley's.  

Sun - got in 20 miles on the bike, then dropped by the new Trinity Brewing location, which is where the old Red Leg used to be.  Great place.  I never used to lock my bike at the old Red Leg, but for some reason I did today.  Which was good, because while we were drinking, two dudes ran up, jumped on two unlocked bikes, and rode away.  One of the bikes was Amanda's, and while I'm usually happy to watch bad things happen to her, nobody deserves to have a bike stolen.  To add to the shitshow of an afternoon, I wrecked my bike on the way home and messed up my leg pretty bad.

For the week:

run - 37 miles, 13 hours

ride - 79 miles, eight hours

hike - 41 miles, 17.5 hours

Mon - 16 miles on the bike, out searching around local homeless camps for Amanda's bike.  Too sore to run and could barely walk the dog.

Tues - bike commute 26.  Ten there, eleven back.  Leg is improving but still to sore to run.  Did get over for an easy climbing session at lunch, my 50th trip to CityRock this year.

Wed - run commute 29.  Still feels like I have a charley horse and probably should have taken one more rest day, but I'll be traveling tomorrow and won't have time to run.

Off to Atlanta for the Sweetwater 420 music festival.  I was hoping to do well in the 5k but I think the leg injury put the kebash on that.  Still hoping to go sub 20 though.

eleven

Mon - easy four miler on the Garden trails before watching the Boston Marathon.  15 mile ride after work.

Tues - bike commute 24.  Eleven there, 14 back.  

Wed - run commute 28.  Five there, four back.  Guitar lesson in the evening, I'm finally starting to improve on my barre chords.

Thurs - Pikes via Barr Trail.  The upper two miles are a total shitshow of soft snow right now.  Lots of post holing as deep as my waist.  On the way down I found a lost hiker and got him safely down to the timberline shelter, where he said he knew his way back to town.  Eleven hours on the day, a long slog with a fairly heavy pack.  My eleventh straight month of a 14er summit.

smartest dog in the room

Sat - had to take care of some other dogs, so early Sat morning me, $100, Mookie, and Millie headed up Mount Muscoco.  It's now a seven mile hike as the Cheyenne Canon road is closed, but the dogs didn't mind.  Later that day I got in a good 90 minute run in Ute Valley Park.  Took a hard fall there and tweaked my back, but other than that it was a solid run.

Sun - 55 mile ride up to Palmer Lake and back.

For the week:

run - 36 miles in seven hours

ride - 115 miles in eleven hours

hike - 35 miles in 14 hours

Mookie has graduated his first dog training class!

run commute 27

Mon - my pack from Cheyenne Mountain was sitting untouched in the garage, so I took it with on the four mile dog hike in Red Rock Canyon.  Then headed up to the track for 2 x 1 mile.  6:49, 6:39.  Evening was a bike over to the Incline, down Barr Trail, and back home.

Tues - bike commute 22.  Booked my flight to Seattle for the Rainier attempt.  One way ticket, $100 and the dogs are going to drive out to meet me, then we'll take our time returning home.  Route to be determined.

Wed - run commute 26.  Five there, four back.  Guitar practice in the evening.  Moondog Music, the shop where I have my lessons, is moving at the end of May - only half a mile from my house.  Will be awesome but I'll have to work to keep my regular status at Benny's.

Thurs - run commute 27.  Five there, four back.  CityRock 45 at lunch.  Post work trip to Pub Dog with Mookie.  Training has been going well for Mook but he still can't read.

The snow climb of Whale Peak has been cancelled due to avy conditions, so now I'll probably get in some good dog hiking and a long ride or two.

Cheyenne Mountain

Mon - track was sloppy so it was an easy jog on the Garden roads.  7.5 miles in 65 minutes.  In the evening I got in 20 miles on the bike with an incline in the middle.  Some dude just ran a seven minute mile down the incline and I can't even fathom that.

Tues - bike commute 20.  Eleven there, 14.5 back.  

Wed - run commute 24.  Five there, four back.  Guitar lessons have switched to Wednesday night for the summer.

Thurs - run commute 25.  5.5 there and back via Sonderman.  Great Thursday evening as I walked Mookie down to Pub Dog and drank a beer while watching him wrestle with a six month old Great Dane.  Pub Dog might be a weekly event from now on.

Fri - bike commute 21.  Ten there, eleven back.  Just me and the dogs this weekend as $100 took off to Trinidad for a big ride.

Sat - early morning Bear Creek dog park followed by an 18 mile run in 2:46 on the COVID loop.  Later on I climbed 1000 feet up Gold Camp Road on the bike totaling 13 miles.

Sun - Cheyenne Mountain hike with the HAMS group.  40 pound pack.  Good times.  14.6 miles in 5:38.

Another solid week:

run - 47.5 miles, 8.5 hours

ride - 102 miles, 9.5 hours

hike - 41 miles, 16.5 hours

the week

Sat - nice run up to No Name Creek.  No snow until then, but after that it gets pretty sloppy.  9.4 miles in two hours.  After that we took off in the van for Oil Well Flats.  Just a quick trip to see how Mookie would do.  He loved it.

Sun - easy 5.7 mile run in Red Rock Canyon.  Was planning on heading out on the bike but it started raining pretty good, so I went to Front Range to watch some music instead.

For the week:

run - 46 miles, eight hours

ride - 81 miles, 7.5 hours

hike - 32 miles, twelve hours

out like a lamb

Mon - track.  5 x 800m with 400m RBI.  25 mile bike ride on the paved bike paths after work.

Tues - bike commute 18.  Eleven there/eleven back.  Four mile dog jog with Mookie over in the Garden once I got home.

Wed - run commute 22.  5.7 there.  Four straight back home.  Weather improved in the evening so I got in a quick 80 minute ride on the COVID loop.

Thurs - run commute 23.  6.2 miles there, four back. CityRock 38 at lunch.  Mookie got his rattlesnake vaccine today.  Quick five mile ride in RRC before hitting Fossil to pick up my new mug.

Fri - bit hungover but got in bike commute 19.

Pretty decent month for me, especially considering we added a new member to the family.  For the month:

run - 197 miles, 35.5 hours

ride - 312 miles, 30.5 hours

hike - 136 miles in 55 hours

Group pic from the CMC snow class.  We'll be going to climb Whale Peak, a lesser known low 13er, in mid April.

Rainier

 Got our permit.  June 19-23.  Via the Disappointment Cleaver route.

Sherman

Mon - once again trying to get back into a track habit.  6 x 400m, 200m RBI.  The usual lousy weather up on the mesa.

Tues - bike commute 16.  CMC alpine snow movement class in the evening.

Wed - run commute 20.

Thurs - run commute 21.  Plus a bike commute back down to CityRock in the evening.

Fri - bike commute 17.

Sat - Snow movement field day up at Glen Cove, just off the Pikes Peak highway.  Great day but I was pooped afterwards.  Chauncy Crandall and a bunch of beers later that evening at Benny's.

Sun - Mount Sherman.  Ninth straight month of a 14er.  Had to be today or the streak would have ended as we have a storm moving in.  Lots of snow on this one.  And the hike was six miles longer than usual due to snow on the road.  

For the week:

run - 31 miles, five hours

ride - 28 miles, three hours

hike - 34 miles, 14.5 hours

Herman

Mon - five mile hike in Salida before leaving, then the Incline later that evening.  

Tues - bike commute 14.  Ten there, 15 back.  CityRock 31 for lunch.

Wed - run commute 18.  5.5 miles there, five back home.  CityRock 32 for lunch.

Thurs - run commute 19.  Was supposed to wake up to snow, but it ended up only raining.  Fossil in the evening to celebrate St. Pats and I drank way too many beers.  Mookie did well there with the packed house.

Fri - bike commute 15.  Straight there and back.  Too hungover to climb at lunch so Kings Chef it was.

Sat - good dog hike followed by a long ride.  Headed up to Pikes Peak Brewing, but halfway through the Academy the Santa Fe trail turned to sloppy mud.  $100 texted and said she was riding out to FH Beerworks, so I reversed back down to the Cottonwood trail, and explored the Cottonwood trail, which took me right to FH.  Definitely got my fill of east side COS for the next few years.  47 miles total.

Sun - HAMS practice up in Palmer Lake, working on crevasse rescue systems for a few hours before hiking up Mount Herman.  Had been quite a few years since I've hiked that peak.

After that I headed over to Front Range BBQ for some cheap yellow beer and some Chauncy Crandall.

For the week:

run - 32 miles, 6.5 hours

ride - 81 miles, eight hours

hike - 33 miles, 14 hours

Continuing to eye Mt. Sherman for my March 14er, just trying to figure out when I can get out there.

Salida

Another successful Salida marathon in the books.

I figured I'd be good for maybe 16 miles before the wheels fell off.  So I was happy to still be feeling decent at mile 18, but reality set in quickly after that.  Still fought (slowly) to the finish, crossing the line a few seconds before my 5:30 prediction.  Pretty happy with the day considering my lack of long runs.

Then it was the usual Salida debacle - Moonlight, Tres Litros, Woods, Benson's, Soulcraft, Poncha Pub, and Elevation.  I've cooled on that town over the years as it has exploded in growth, but it's still a fun place so spend a long weekend.

Big weekend for Mookie as he celebrated several firsts.  First Salida trip, first run, first mountain summit (Tenderfoot Hill), first visit to Gone to the Dogs.  He was super excited to return to the same house in COS and not have to figure out a new owner following a car ride.

On the week:

run - 57 miles, 11.5 hours

ride - 68 miles, seven hours

hike - 23.5 miles, 9.5 hours

off to Salida...

Mon - 5.8 miles in RRC in the AM, 15 mile lunch ride, easy 4.2 miles on the Garden trails in the PM.

Tues - 15 mile AM ride, CityRock 27 at lunch, 4.2 mile Garden trail run in the evening.

Wed - bike commute 13.  Ten miles there, eleven back home.  Super shitty weather.  CityRock 28 at lunch.

Thurs - run commute 16.  Four miles there, four miles back.  Hopefully, this is the last stand for winter.

Fri - run commute 17.  Four miles there.  5F for my dog walk this morning, not too much warmer for the run.  Stop me if you've heard this before - hopefully, this is the last stand for winter.

Mookie had his initial vet appointment on Thursday afternoon and he has a clean bill of health.  The vet gave him the green light to start running.  Our first run will be Sunday morning in Salida, up and down Tenderfoot Hill (aka, S Mountain).  He is doing great, and after his first ever trip to Salida this weekend he starts dog school with All Breed Rescue and Training on Monday.

We're off to Salida this weekend for what seems like my 434th Run Through Time marathon.  I'm predicting a finish in 5.5 hours - the usual five-ish hour fitness I generally have in March plus some time for what I expect to be muddy conditions.  Looking forward to some Chaffee County beers and trails, plus the extra hour of daylight that starts on Sunday.

catching up

Not a good February.  Shitty weather and the puncture wound on my foot really put the kebash on working out.  The numbers:

run - 24 runs, 121 miles, 22 hours

ride -  12 rides, 142 miles, 14.5 hours

hike - 31 hikes, 75 miles, 32 hours

On March 1st I signed up for the Garden to Peak Challenge, including the Pikes Peak Double.  Riding that motivation I had a pretty good week.

run - 51 miles, 8.5 hours

ride - 68 miles, six hours

hike - 35 miles, 13 hours

The new dog is doing great and I am working on adjusting to a new routine.  Mookie is loving our hikes in the Garden and Red Rock Canyon and it looks like he'll be a fantastic brewery dog.  Have a vet appointment this week and I'll see when I can start running with him.  Holly is adjusting quite nicely to her life as a senior dog.

Mookie

Survived the final HAMS weekend.  It got town to 6F overnight, definitely the coldest I've ever slept outside in.  Continue to have issues with crevasse rescue but nothing I can't figure out before the Rainier trip.

We have added a new addition to the family.  Meet Mookie.  

Somebody dropped off this seven month weim at the local shelter, but she's in a better place now.  Holly dog is super psyched to mentor this pup.

cold

Great trip down to the San Luis Valley.  Hit all the favorite stops along the way - Florence Brewing, Oil Well Flats, The Owl, Tunnel Drive, Sand Dunes, Three Barrel Brewing.  Super cold all weekend, but warm in the van.  Found two new places to park for a night - The Colorado Farm Brewery and the Poncha Springs visitor center.

Came back on Monday and I got in a two hour run over in Red Rock Canyon, and then the cold weather moved in.  Snow and single digit temps, and it's not going to warm up until the weekend.  Oof.  We can always use more snow but hopefully this is the last of the crushing low temps for the winter.  Nothing but short run commutes to the office this week.

Off to the HAMS winter campout this weekend, somewhere near Mt. Sherman.  Last scheduled HAMS activity until Rainier.

Potential big announcement on Monday...

off to the Valley...

Tues - bike commute ten, both ways on the COVID loop.

Wed - run commute eleven, five miles each way.

Thurs - run commute twelve, five there and four back.  Damn near got a 5.10 route at CityRock for lunch.

Fri - run commute 13, four there and back.

Taking the van down to the San Luis Valley this weekend.  The low for Saturday night in Alamosa is 5F.  Yay.  

ice climb/Quandary

Glad to bolt on Friday a bit early for the San Juans as the Springs got a good storm that blew through.  I avoided it and had a pleasant drive.  First stop was Gunnison for an old favorite.

And then down to Lake City.  

  

Ice climbing is not my thing, and it never will be my thing, but I had a full day on Saturday doing it.  It was cold, and I was terrified, but I survived.

Home on Sunday to watch Pitt guy Aaron Donald have himself a great game, then up early  to go bag my February 14er, Quandary Peak.  Beautiful day for a winter summit, though the wind was a bit much up on the top.  My ninth straight month summiting a 14er.

Off numbers for the week due to the ice climbing trip.

run - 26 miles, 4.5 hours

ride - 60 miles, six hours

hike - 22.5 miles, nine hours

update

Mon - good 10K run in the morning, 90 minute ride on the Santa Fe trail in the PM.

Tues - bike commute eight.

Wed - run commute nine.  Foot is improving though still uncomfortable.

Thurs - run commute ten.  Guitar lesson in the evening followed by Fossil.

Fri - bike commute nine.  

Plus some good sessions at CityRock this week.

Off to Lake City with the HAMS group for some ice climbing this weekend, should be fun if I don't shit my pants from the fear.

week in review

Rough week as we had some arctic weather blow in, dropping a foot of snow and bringing some way-below-freezing temps for a stretch of three days.  Still dealing with my foot issue but it's at least becoming manageable.  Took a fall on the ice during my Sunday run, so now I'm also dealing with a sore butt and thumb.  Getting old sucks.

run - 35 miles, 7.5 hours

ride - 68 miles, seven hours

hike - 16 miles, six hours

Dry(ish) January

My alcohol (almost 100% beer) use has been trending upwards ever since this COVID thing started and got significantly higher over the holidays recently.  So I thought it might be a good idea to try a booze free January.  

I didn't make it.  I did go the first 15 days without any alcohol, finally caving in to drink a horrific IPA from the Colfax Ale Cellar in Raton, NM.  In fact, there were six days during the month when I had some beers.  Two of those six were fairly heavy drinking nights.  But still, 25 sober days was an outstanding achievement for me, by far the highest monthly number since 2004 when the whole Iraq thing really put a kebash on my drinking.

Honestly I don't feel any different.  I was worried that after a long dry period I'd feel 500% better both physically and mentally, and I'd be forced to think about a future with less beer, but that just wasn't the case.

Anywho, that's over now, just in time for stout month!

The numbers for January:

run - 19 runs, 105 miles, 18.5 hours, five run commutes

ride - 25 rides, 304 miles, 30.5 hours, six bike commutes

hike - 37 hikes, 120 miles, 49 hours

Eleven trips to CityRock, one good long run (18 miles), one winter 14er summit, a van trip to New Mexico, a 50 mile ride, and a chunk of HAMS completed.  Not a bad month considering I put a piece of wood through my foot.

week in review

Down week for running as the foot is still messed up, but I did use that time to get out on the bike.

run - 7.2 miles, 72 minutes

ride - 134 miles, 14 hours

hike - 25 miles, 9.5 hours

Got in a solid 50 mile bike ride up to Pikes Peak Brewing and back on Saturday, longest ride in a long time.

Tyler Boyd vs Aaron Donald in the super bowl.  Hail to Pitt!

send it in!

Somewhat of a lost week due to poking a big hole through my foot.

run - 4.25 miles/45 minutes

ride - 23.5 miles/two hours

hike - eleven miles/4.5 hours

I did manage to re-watch Scream parts one through three.  I'll watch four tonight and then go see part five in the theater.

Recovered in time to survive the HAMS field trip to St Marys Glacier.  Always crazy weather up there.  Foot is healing nicely and I'll probably try to run to work on Wednesday.

34 years ago today, one of the all time iconic dunks!

ouch

Great weekend down in New Mexico.   Lots of good dog hikes, a ton of cheeseburgers, a good ten mile run with some hills on Sunday, and a good ride when we got back on Monday afternoon.  

On Tuesday I was running to work and I felt a sharp, stabbing pain in my foot.  My first thought was that I had stepped on a needle.  I crumpled to the ground and when I checked my foot, luckily it wasn't a needle but unluckily it was a long stick.  Pulled it out while I had some adrenaline in the system, but I've been dealing with that lately.  Hard to put any weight on the foot.  The puncture wasn't too deep, but my entire arch is pretty bruised.  Hopefully by Monday I can start hiking/biking/running again.

miles

Mon - sore as hell and it was cold in the AM, so I slept in.  20 mile bike ride in the evening.

Tues - bike commute two.  Eleven in the AM and 14 in the PM.  Was still warm when I got home, so I walked the dog and then ran up to Carson Pass over in Red Rock Canyon, 4.7 miles.

Wed - run commute two.  5.8 there, 5.4 back home.  Short (5.5 miles) ride in RRC in the dark.  I'm enjoying these shorter, later workouts and I think I'll keep them up whenever the temp is above 30F in the evening.

Thurs - bike commute three.  Eleven to work, eleven back home.  Four mile run on the Garden trails in the evening.

Fri - early morning hike with the dog over in Red Rock Canyon.  Super warm at 5AM, but probably the warmest it will be all day.  Quick run commute to get to the office.

We have the van packed and will be headed south this weekend.  Canon City tonight, Sugarite Canyon State Park in New Mexico on Saturday and Sunday.  It's the trip we had planned for x-mas weekend, but the winds will be a bit friendlier.

My year is in limbo due to having to wait until March to apply for a Rainier permit, which will be for sometime in June/July.  But I'm still thinking of signing up for the San Juan Solstice...

winter Pikes

Mon - morning 7.2 mile run on the Garden roads in 68 minutes.  Good ride in the evening, 15 miles in 90 minutes on the COVID loop.

Tues - bike commute one (twenty miles total) and CityRock one.  

Wed - run commute one.  5.5 there in 53 minutes, four miles easy back home.  CityRock two at lunch.

Thurs - it was 5F at the house at 4:20AM, so I went back to bed.  Took the bus to and from work.  Did make it to the climbing gym at lunch where I got a 5.10 (probably should be 5.9 but I'll take it).

Fri - my first winter 14er.  Started at the Barr Trail TH and took that route to the summit.  Really good conditions for early January, not too much snow or ice.  Bitter cold above treeline, but the wind was tolerable.  Seven hours to the top, twelve hours roundtrip, including two long breaks at Barr Camp to chat with Neil.  My eighth straight month of a 14er summit.

Sat - finally got good weather back but I had HAMS training most of the day.  Did get out for a 15 mile ride on the COVID loop in the evening.

Sun - Again, shitty/cold/ice/snow weather in the morning.  I procrastinated for a while, then put my head down and headed out for a run.  Planned for a five miler, but five miles in the sky finally cleared and the temps rose.  So I kept going.  18 miles on the day.

Pretty good week considering the shitty weather, and Friday and Saturday being taken up by mountain stuff.

run - 35 miles in 5:42

ride - 65 miles in 6:42

hike - 45 miles in 20.5 hours

21/22

The final tally on 2021:

run - 265 runs, 1622 miles, 331 hours

ride - 301 rides, 2628 miles, 256 hours

hike - 378 hikes, 1107 miles, 459 hours

Highlights on the outdoors front were the two new state marathons, the Rut and Chicago, and getting in a few more of the 14ers.

My numbers have been trending down for several years now, and I'll look to slow that in '22.  The mileage goals:

run - 1800 miles

ride - 3000 miles

hike - 1200 miles

Already behind on those goals as the temps barely climbed out of single digits on January 1st.  Did have a decent Rescue Run 10k though, if you can count 50:05 as a decent 10k.

Already trying new things in '22, had my first ever Grump from Kings Chef after the race.

The Rainier attempt, June/July depending on when we can get a permit, will be the big goal for the year.  That will also serve as our big van trip with $100 and the dog driving out to pick me up, then taking ten days to meander back.  No other huge races on the list, so I hope to take another chunk out of the Colorado 14ers.  That goal was originally supposed to take me three years, but this will be my 15th year of working on it.  After Pikes in September I'll start ramping up the bike to begin getting ready to ride the Continental Divide in '23.  Big gravel ride down in Trinidad in early October will help motivate me.

CityRock 100

Mon - run commute 65.  Four there, 3.5 back.  CityRock 99 at lunch.

Tues - bike commute 91.  Eleven there, then for the ride home I just went straight to Fossil.  CityRock 100 at lunch.

Wed - nothing.  It was 3F when I woke up at 4:20AM, and still that temp at 5AM.  Plus I was hungover.  Mooched a ride to work from the wife.

Thurs - no more work for the rest of the year.  Red Rock Canyon over to Section 16, around that loop and back.  Twelve miles in 2:13.  Watched Pitt but up a valient but ultimately losing effort, then headed out on a quick overnighter with my buddy James.  From Fossil we rode four miles up High Drive and somehow found a place that was out of the wind.

a week of nothing

Took a week off to get fat and lazy.  Included a night outside up on Red Mountain and lots of drinking, including Fossil, Murphy's, and Robin Hood on x-mas night.  The planned van trip to New Mexico never happened as there were crazy high wind warnings all over the state.

run - 2.5 miles in 27 minutes

ride - 36.5 miles in 3.5 hours

hike - 24 miles in nine hours

solstice overnight

On Tuesday after work my buddy Bruce and I jumped on a bus and headed over to Manitou.  Dropped by the Royal and Manitou Brewing, and then it was off on a hike up Red Mountain.  Beautiful evening, you wouldn't have known it was the first night of winter.

Early Wednesday morning we woke up and headed back down to town, jumping on some PikeRide bikes to head home, then to the office.  Another solstice campout in the books.

On Thursday I hit 90 bike commutes on the year, and passed over the 2600 miles goal I set for the year.  Almost all of these were either commutes to work or short rides over in Red Rock Canyon.  I think I only did one ride of 50 miles the entire year, and not even that many rides over 25 miles.

We are taking the van down south to New Mexico over the x-mas break.  Hope everyone has a good long weekend.

1600

Mon - not moving very well on Monday, but eventually I got my ass out for a 30 minute run around the neighborhood.  Uneventful except for passing over 1600 miles on the year, which was the arbitrary number I picked for a yearly goal almost 365 days ago.

Tues - bike commute 88 and Cityrock 97.  Hope to make it to the climbing gym 100 times, but it's gonna be close as I have a lot of days off between now and January 1.  As for the bike, I should hit my '21 goal of 2600 miles on Wednesday or Thursday. 

Limping to the very end with these mileage goals, but a finish is a finish.

Lettuce

Fri - bike commute 87.  Straight there and then did the Mash Mechanix/Smiling Toad/Fossil route on the way home.

Sat - obviously hungover, got in a quick four miler on the Garden trails before heading up to Denver for the Lettuce show at Mission Ballroom.  Incredible show.

Argonaut Liquor sells Malort, FYI.  And twelve packs of Old Style.

Got home and found out the wife had just finished her ride and was at Fossil.  So I went over to join her.  We drank beers and talked about music and ended up drunk buying tix for this:

I'm currently in the middle of my usual holiday laziness, so some low totals on the week.

run - 20 miles, 3.5 hours

ride - 48 miles, five hours

hike - 22 miles, 8.5 hours

wind

Tues - bike commute 86.  Ten there, eleven back.

Wed - run commute 64.  4.2 there through wind and rain and snow.  The wind really picked up soon after I got to the office.  Trees breaking, trucks overturning kind of stuff.  Just walking across the street to CityRock was difficult.  Early afternoon the power kicked out at the office, so I jumped on a bus and headed home.  Quite a few of the red lights were out.  Lots of trees down.  Our power went down around 2PM and didn't come back on until 7PM.  Our house was pretty unscathed as we've already paid our falling tree dues, unfortunately the same can't be said for some of our neighbors.  We are missing a ten foot section of our gutter, I've walked all around the neighborhood and can't find it.  On a sad note, I've seen a bunch of dogs running around, obviously escaped.  I hope they all make it back home safely.  Hollydog pretty much napped through the whole thing.  Around 4PM the wind just abruptly stopped and the weather got nice.  Finished up my last HAMS classroom session, the outdoor stuff starts early January.

Thurs - easy hour run in Red Rock Canyon, 5.7 miles.  Lots of guitar today.

week in review

Incredible weather for mid December so I got out for a good ride on Sunday.  34 miles on the Santa Fe trail in just under three hours.  That trail south of Tejon is currently fairly sketchy - lots of meth'd out homeless peeps and off leash mean dogs.

For the week:

run - 31 miles in ten hours

ride - 74 miles in seven hours

hike - 21 miles in eight hours

Good track workout on Monday morning.  8 x 400m with 200m RBI.  

jingle jog three miler

Thurs - run commute 63.  The quick 3.5 mile route both ways.  CityRock 95 at lunch.  Good guitar session in the evening before watching the Steelers get crushed.

Fri - bike commute 85.  Straight there and back.  CityRock 96 at lunch.

Sat - headed down south to Fountain for the annual Jingle Jog 5k.  Ran 19:13, which would be fantastic for me but the course was 0.1 miles short.  Solid effort in the very chilly conditions, so I'll take it.  Would have been nice to get another sub 20 though.

Pikes

Mon - a bit sore from the half and it was cold AF out, so just an easy four miler on the Garden trails.  Later in the evening I headed over to Manitou for a hike up Red Mountain.

Tues - bike commute 84 and CityRock 94.

Wed - bailed on work and got in my seventh consecutive monthly 14er with a hike up Pikes via Crags.  That route is usually closed down by this time as they shut down the dirt road to the parking lot once the snow starts falling, but it's still open.  It was bitter cold - 18F when I started, and the high for the summit was 20F with sustained 20mph winds.  But with no snow or ice to worry about, I feel like I got away with an easy December summit.  I bet next month is more difficult.  Just over 14 miles on the day.

ACC Champs!

Might have had one too many brews on Saturday - met up with the Kimchi hash at Murphy's in the afternoon, then watched Pitt win their first ever ACC championship that evening.  So I wasn't expecing much at the Rock Canyon half down in Pueblo, and that's exactly what I got.

Stayed under eight minutes per mile for the first eleven miles, and then a bad experiment with some new shoes caught up with me.  The pace didn't get to me but my feet were hurting like hell.  Not sure why that caused me to slow down, I knew that taking longer out there would only make the problem worse, but that's what the day gave me.  Finished in 1:42:16.  I think I could definitely still go considerably under 1:40, but I fear my days of sub 90 are long gone.

For the week:

run - 36 miles in 5.5 hours

ride - 57 miles in six hours

hike - 22.6 miles in 8.5 hours

12:51

Mon - bike commute 81, both directions of the COVID loop.  CityRock 89 at lunch.

Tues - run commute 61.  Five miles there in 45 minutes, four back in 40 flat.  CityRock 90 at lunch.

Wed - bike commute 82.  Through Sondermann on the way there, straight back home late at night after the latest HAMS class.  CityRock 91.

Thurs - run commute 62.  5.2 miles in 51 flat through Sondermann, then four miles back home via the Midland Trail.  Worked on "Folsom Prison Blues" at my guitar lesson then picked $100 up from Red Leg Brewing.

Fri - bike commute 83.  Six miles there and eleven back home.  A good bouldering session at lunch.

Sat - Nielsen Challenge.  Two miles in 12:51.

November recap

November is always one of my laziest months.  The holidays, college hoops kicking up, college football winding down, the lack of daylight.  But not a total disaster, I got a sub 20 at the Turkey Trot, another Pikes summit, and a ton of dog hikes.  And I escaped a potentially disastrous back injury.

run - 19 runs, 103 miles, 22.5 hours

ride - 37 rides, 247 miles, 24.5 hours

hike - 32 hikes, 92 miles, 37 hours

Incline Club started on Sunday, and that's generally when I start ramping things up again.