pearl jam and pizza and pups

Saw my favorite band, Pearl Jam, for only the third time and they were fantastic.  Met up with JP before the show, it was his 80th PJ concert.

$100 and I were way up in the cheap seats and could barely see the band, but we could hear them and that's all that counted.

On Sunday some friends and I did a pizza run.  Started at Hell's Kitchen in Manitou, hit Slice 420 in OCC, then downtown to Fat Sully's, ending at Leon Gessi on the east side.  Four slices, a bunch of beers, and a ten mile run.  Good times.

We had a DNA test run on our pups to see what they were made of.  Mookie wasn't much of a surprise coming back as 100% weimaraner.  Holly's results were much more varied.

Pikes

Good weekend over at Pikes.  Ran a little faster than I thought I would on Saturday, hitting the top in 3:35:46.  Got to treeline at 2:31:30 and thought a sub 3:30 might have been possible.  I went hard, but you can only do so much that high up.  Still really happy with the day.  169th overall out of 1481 finishers.

I was pretty sore on Sunday but still had an OK marathon.  I was five minutes slower to Barr Camp, ten minutes slower to A-Frame, and the splits grew worse from there.  Hit the summit in 3:54:36.  Had trouble getting the sore legs to turnover on the downhill, and my split from the top back to A-Frame was atrocious.  I did get things going a bit as the air got thicker, completing the downhill in 2:25:08, about ten minutes slower than I would have liked.  My up placed me 142nd on the day, while my down was 147th, so at least I was consistent.  6:19:44.  Ended up 145th overall out of 684 finishers.  While not my best day I was able to do just enough to keep my double time under my goal of ten hours, totaling 9:55:30 on the weekend.

The mountain gets harder every year for me, but I can't imagine not running.  This was my ninth double.  Overall I have twelve ascent finishes and eleven marathon finishes.  This was also my first "Garden to Peak Challenge" finish.  And my 16th straight month with a 14er summit.

Physically I'm a hot mess.  Every year this weekend beats up my body a little more.  This will be a good week for less miles though, Pearl Jam and the Manitou Beer Fest are on tap.

I'll definitely be back here in '23.  Should be interesting as my training will consist of riding my bike from Mexico to Canada.

waffles

Mon - 6.6 miles on the Garden roads in the AM as the track was a mess from the rain.  13.7 mile COVID loop ride in the evening.  Went to Manitou Brewing Company for dinner and the tourist rush seems to be over, so I may start hitting the incline again on Monday evenings.

Tues - bike commute 63.  Five miles to work, 16 back home via Cheyenne Canon.  Over lunch I picked up a pair of waffle racers for some upcoming short races.  First time I've worn a pair of these since 1993.  

Wed - run commute 58.  Four there.  Ended up meeting $100 for a drink after work and mooched a ride home from her.  Guitar practice in the evening.  I am still grinding away on the guitar even though I don't mention it much.

Thurs - Off work so I got in a good hike with Mookie before a 40 mile ride on the Santa Fe trail.  Saw Buddy Guy that evening, he is fairly better than me at the guitar.

Fri - nada.  Complete rest day before Pikes.  Looking forward to the weekend!  No, I am not wearing the waffle racers for either race.

football

Mon - 15 mile run in 2.5 hours on my COVID loop.  Rode the same loop later that evening.

Tues - bike commute 62.  Ten there, four back.  CityRock 90 at lunch.  Weird Al in the evening and he put on a terrific show.

Wed - run commute 56.  Four there, four back.  Guitar lesson in the evening.

Thurs - run commute 57.  5.4 there, four back.  

Fri - nothing.  Mookie has a new dog class on Friday right after work so I'll be driving the next few weeks.

Saturday was a big day for Air Force football as the CU Buffs made the trip to town.  Not a good game as Colorado has a pretty terrible football team this year.  Poured rain the entire game.  I had more cold weather gear on for the game than I did when I climbed Rainier.

The injury bug hit both my Pittsburgh football teams.  Pitt couldn't quite overcome them, but somehow the Steelers pulled out an ugly win.

On Sunday our new cadet paid a visit to the Sabol memorial guest room.  Seems to be similar to our last cadet as 99% of her time here was spent sleeping and doing laundry.  

For the week:

run - 38 miles, 6.5 hours

ride - 50 miles, 4.5 hours

hike - 33 miles, 12.5 hours

Pikes coming up this weekend.  I'm not in danger of not finishing, but I definitely haven't put in the work required to have a good race.  Hoping I can combine to go sub ten hours for the Double.  

19:28/STP

Saturday was the home opener for Air Force, which they won handily, including four big plays of 60+ yards.  AF is favored to win all of their remaining games.  We got to hang with our cadet and her family.

On Sunday I rode east over to the Labor Day Liftoff 5k.  Not a super fast course as it had a lot of grass, but I still managed a 19:28 which was a little better than I expected.  I was hurting pretty bad the final mile and I could tell I haven't been racing much.

Sunday evening was a trip down to the state fair in Pueblo to catch Stone Temple Pilots.  Once upon a time that band was a big part of the soundtrack of my life and it was great to see them live.  (yes, I realize the original lead singer died a while back).  Fantastic show.

For the week:

run - 35 miles, six hours

ride - 65 miles, six hours

hike - 30 miles, twelve hours

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

Life is keeping me busy but I still had decent numbers for August.

run - 27 runs, 158 miles, 32.5 hours

ride - 27 rides, 346 miles, 32 hours

hike - 45 hikes, 132.5 miles, 53 hours

Mookie crushed his American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen test.  Only two of the six dogs passed without failing anything, and it's no coincidence both those dogs are regulars at Fossil. Mook starts a "walk with me" leash class today, and after that he is going to visit Switzerland to help with some research at the CERN large hadron collider.

The Backyard Brawl is back baby!  And holy shit, what a game it was!  Hail to Pitt!

More college football this weekend as we're going to the Air Force game.  Running a 5k on Sunday over at the balloon festival, then heading down to Pueblo to see Stone Temple Pilots.

the week

Mon - down in Salida in the AM with the dog, we had a good hike there, and another good hike in Canon City on the way home.  Late breakfast of cheeseburgers at The Owl.   90 minute evening ride.

Tues - bike commute 59.  Ten there, eleven back.

Wed - run commute 52.  5.2 there, 3.5 back.  The run home was in the pouring rain.

Thurs - off work today, got in a 15 mile ride on the local bike paths.

Fri - run commute 53.  4.2 there, 3.6 back.

Sat - we were on dogsitting duty this weekend so not much time.  Got in a 40 mile ride in 3.5 hours, heading way out east on the Cottonwood Creek path.  My bike currently weighs 800 pounds.  After the ride it was endless amounts of dog walking.

Sun - I planned to run with Beuke on Sunday so I made a good decision to tab out after my second beer at Fossil on Saturday night.  Then I got a text from Brooks saying he was at Benny's, and I overrode my good decision making.  So it was not much of a run on Sunday, but I did meet him at Manitou Brewing after his summit of Pikes.

For the week:

run - 20 miles, 3.5 hours

ride - 93 miles, 8.5 hours

hike - 35 miles, 14.5 hours

Busy week coming up.  Mookie finishes one dog class and starts another.  Pitt gets to kick the crap out of West Vagina on Thursday.  Parents weekend at the Academy with the AF/Northern Iowa game on Saturday.  I'll squeeze the miles in whenever I can.

Pikes

Got my 33rd full summit of Pikes on Saturday.  Elk Park down to Barr Camp, up Barr Trail to the top.  It was snowing above 13K.  Six hours on the 21 mile run.

Sunday was a 40 mile ride on the Santa Fe trail before heading down to Salida to visit friends and attempt to drink all the beer at Tres Litros.  Might have been some Malort and Jager in there as well.  Oof.

For the week:

run - 53 miles, 11.5 hours

ride - 95 miles, nine hours

hike - 23.5 miles, nine hours

Jim Breuer

I suddenly realized I have the Pikes double, Trinidad 160, Seattle 'thon, and Tour Divide coming up.  I should probably get my shit together and start getting ready.

Mon - tried to go to the track but it was a slophouse due to all the rain.  Ended up getting 8.6 miles around the 'hood.  15 mile ride on the COVID loop at lunch.  More rain in the evening and the wife was working late so I stayed in with the dogs.

Tues - bike commute 57.  Ten there, eleven back.  Nice 4.6 mile run with Mookie in the evening.

Wed - run commute 50.  6.2 there in 50 flat, including a two mile stretch where I hit 6:58 and 6:26.  Easy four miles home before taking Mookie to dog school.

Thurs - run commute 51.  5.2 there, 3.6 back home.  Saw Jim Breuer at our local comedy club, good stuff.

Fri - bike commute 58.  Ten there.  Four back through a thunderstorm. 

Not much going on this weekend so I hope to have a big run and a big ride.  It's been a while.

Evans

Mon - 5.7 mile run laying down trail for the Jerry hash.

Tues - bike commute 55, ten there and eleven back.  Took Mook for a short run over at High Drive in the evening.

Wed - run commute 49.  Five miles there, 3.5 back.  CityRock 85 at lunch.

Thurs - bike commute 56.  4.2 there, 4.2 back.  A few too many Mammoths on Wed evening.

Fri - Mt. Rosa.  14 miles in four hours, 4000 feet of climbing.  I need to spend more time in the Cheyenne Canon part of town (yes, I say this every time I run/ride there).  Mook's longest run and he did great.

Friday afternoon $100 and I headed north to Denver.  Hit up Sancho's.  Rumors have this place closing down soon due to various liquor license infractions.  However, the bartender there said all those rumors are false!  Long live Sancho's!

Then it was over to Levitt Pavilion to catch one of our favorites, Hot Buttered Rum.  Incredible show!  Levitt is a gem and I hope to catch more shows up there.  Great to finally catch up with GZ.

Sat - nice hike up Mt. Evans from Summit Lake with Carson and Cynthia, friends from San Fran who recently moved to Golden.  I had been developing some crud that jacked up my throat (not COVID, I tested negative on Thursday and Friday) and I struggled to breathe normally on Evans.  But I got it done, month number 15 in the books.  Three more months to go.

I was feeling pretty rough on the way home but our new cadet wanted a pizza, so we delivered.

Caught the Steelers pre-season game on Saturday.  Kenny Pickett is clearly a first ballot hall of famer!

Sun - slowly coming out of this sickness funk, got in a 30 mile ride on the Santa Fe trail just before the rain hit.

For the week:

run - 31 miles, 7.5 hours

ride - 62 miles, 5.5 hours

hike - 30 miles, twelve hours

Sun Volt

We are finally a two dog household again.

Mon - track in the AM, 6 x 400m.  Need to get back to making these a habit.  Solid incline in the PM.

Tues - bike commute 53.  Ten miles to work.  CityRock 81 at lunch.  16 mile ride back home through Cheyenne Canon.

Wed - run commute 47.  6.2 there in 55 minutes.  Four miles straight home.

Thurs - run commute 48.  5.5 there, four back home.

Fri - bike commute 54.  Straight there and straight home.

Sat - spent the day drinking beer before hitting up the Pikes Peak hash.  Good times.

Sun - hungover so not much, though I did load up the Jones for a 14 mile very easy ride.  Caught the Sun Volt show in the evening.

For the week:

run - 30 miles, 5.5 hours

ride - 58 miles, six hours

hike - 18 miles, seven hours

easy week

Down week as every free moment I could find was dedicated to walking one of the four dogs we had in the house.  

I signed up for the Seattle Marathon in November.  If all goes well it will be my 25th state. 

Our first cadet was back in town for some officer crap at the Academy, so we got to catch up.  She’ll be going to Texas on a recruiting assignment for a year before beginning flight school.

We should be meeting our new cadet soon.  A hurdler on the track team.  Very excited to not have to pretend I like soccer anymore.

For July:

run - 25 runs, 150 miles, 35.5 hours

ride - 37 rides, 318 miles, 32 hours

hike - 49 hikes, 112 miles, 46.5 hours (including Elbert to keep the 14er monthly streak going)

Elbert

In attempt to give $100 a break from all the dogs I took the youngest two out to Leadville on Saturday.  Early Sunday we headed up Mt. Elbert.  14 straight months of a 14er, first 14er summit for Mookie and Millie.

The week:

run - 38 miles, 11 hours

ride - 55 miles, six hours

hike - 35 miles, 15.5 hours

rumdoodle

I've had the Pikes via Rumdoodle route on my to-do list for years now, and I finally took a crack at it on Monday.  Did not go well.  I was with Amber, and we went in from Elk Park, to Barr, to Bottomless Pit.  The Pit trail wasn't in great shape, and we ended up getting off route and scrambling around for a while.  We ended up having to bail as black clouds were looming.  But it was great to explore back there and I will be returning for another shot soon.  A good eight hours of running/hiking/scrambling for 18 miles.

In other news, Mookie passed NeoDog 2 with flying colors.  He is going to take some time off before beginning med school.

A lot of our friends are riding RAGBRAI this week, and as we are only friends with dog people we currently have five dogs roaming our house.  Here are three of them:

route

Love this pic that one of the park rangers posted on their outstanding Rainier blog.  You can see where we camped, then how we pretty much climbed straight up to the summit.

Pretty decent week on the workout front.  I finally participated in the local 719 Ride and got my ass kicked pretty good.  Ended up with four laps/56 miles on the Jones.  

Still sore the next day but managed to have a decent long run at the Barr Trail Mountain Race, finishing in 2:34.

For the week:

run - 45 miles, 8.5 hours

ride - 133 miles, 13 hours

hike - 22 miles, 8.5 hours

Kudos to Sharpie, Zagbag, Shad, and PG for their Hardrock finishes!

appetite for destruction

The drive back after Rainier was mostly a pub crawl as we slept in a lot of brewery parking lots.  $100 put up with a lot of crap from me while I was getting ready for the climb, so I was on dog duty whenever she wanted to ride or fish.  But that week was mostly a wash running and biking wise.

Started to get back at it this week.

Mon - eight mile run over in Red Rock Canyon.  Then the COVID loop on the bike over to Red Leg for their ninth anniversary.

Tues - run commute 42.  Four there, 3.5 back.

Wed - bike commute 43.  Ten there, four back.

Thurs - run commute 43.  Five there, four back.  CityRock 75 at lunch.

Fri - bike commute 44.  Straight there and back.

Sat - signed up for Doolie Day Out.  The new cadets have gone through two weeks of basic training, and on Monday they march out to Jacks Valley to pretend they joined the Army.  I was assigned a kid, but he tested positive for COVID Sat morning.  So I ended up taking two other kids who got stood up.  They chilled at the house for a while and then we took them to Front Range before dropping them back off.  We are in the process of adopting another cadet for the next four years, a gal on the track team from Austin.

Saturday night I went over to the Black Sheep to catch Appetite for Destruction, a Guns 'n Roses tribute band.  Good times!

For the week:

run - 40 miles, seven hours

ride - 67 miles, 6.5 hours

hike - 23.5 miles, nine hours

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