Wednesday, April 09, 2008
thunder!
Heard my first thunder of the year! Did a nice 13 miler out the Intemann trail, throughout Section 16, and even a little bit through Red Rock Canyon. Nice to see it finally raining instead of snowing.
sick day!
Phoned it in today, gonna try to rehab my aching shoulder! Woohoo! Think what it might need is a nice 20 miler up in the mountains...
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Platte River
Up at 5AM and on the road by 5:30AM. Horribly hungover. Used to be able to compete hungover and not lose a step, though that was way back in high school. Not quite that kind of machine anymore. From all the looks I got, I'm sure people could still smell booze on me when I picked up my packet. Which was fine with me, I love pissing off road runners.
Had a goal of breaking 90 minutes for this race. Then I thought running 1:33:57 would be acceptable, as that's Boston qualifying pace.
Didn't feel like running at all, so I skipped the warm up. Figured I'd just start slow. And I did start slow, or at least it felt so. Hit mile one in a very surprising 6:38.
Continued to mentally bitch myself out for drinking so much the night before, for wasting $45 and ruining my race before it even began. Yet somehow during my self-scolding I was clicking off 6:30 miles. Somewhere around mile eight I said to myself, "self, maybe you should quit whining about what you did yesterday and race." I did, and I passed a ton of people over those last few miles. Had to push like hell to keep the same pace, as my legs just aren't used to spinning that fast, but while everyone else was fading I was holding steady.
And it paid off, I passed hundreds of people after that first mile. Finished in a time of 1:26:09, much faster than I thought I could run. Good for 24th place out of at least 800 runners (they only list the top 800 on the website - there were probably about 1200 runners who started).
I'm not suggesting that racing hungover is a smart thing to do, but I'm proud I didn't use it as an excuse to bail on a race effort. Last year I was hungover and threw in the towel at this race and ran 1:41. Shows you the difference between my training for Hardrock and what I did for Leadville. Taking things a lot more seriously this year. Fighting tooth and nail to meet cutoff times isn't something I'd like to go through again.
Next up for me is the Greenland 50K. My first ultra since Leadville. My current PR for that distance is 4:22, ran at the pancake flat sea level course at Rocky Raccoon. It'll be tough to lower that on a Colorado trail, but that's what I'm gonna go for.
Had a goal of breaking 90 minutes for this race. Then I thought running 1:33:57 would be acceptable, as that's Boston qualifying pace.
Didn't feel like running at all, so I skipped the warm up. Figured I'd just start slow. And I did start slow, or at least it felt so. Hit mile one in a very surprising 6:38.
Continued to mentally bitch myself out for drinking so much the night before, for wasting $45 and ruining my race before it even began. Yet somehow during my self-scolding I was clicking off 6:30 miles. Somewhere around mile eight I said to myself, "self, maybe you should quit whining about what you did yesterday and race." I did, and I passed a ton of people over those last few miles. Had to push like hell to keep the same pace, as my legs just aren't used to spinning that fast, but while everyone else was fading I was holding steady.
And it paid off, I passed hundreds of people after that first mile. Finished in a time of 1:26:09, much faster than I thought I could run. Good for 24th place out of at least 800 runners (they only list the top 800 on the website - there were probably about 1200 runners who started).
I'm not suggesting that racing hungover is a smart thing to do, but I'm proud I didn't use it as an excuse to bail on a race effort. Last year I was hungover and threw in the towel at this race and ran 1:41. Shows you the difference between my training for Hardrock and what I did for Leadville. Taking things a lot more seriously this year. Fighting tooth and nail to meet cutoff times isn't something I'd like to go through again.
Next up for me is the Greenland 50K. My first ultra since Leadville. My current PR for that distance is 4:22, ran at the pancake flat sea level course at Rocky Raccoon. It'll be tough to lower that on a Colorado trail, but that's what I'm gonna go for.
Monday, April 07, 2008
good times!
An oldie but goodie. One of the early Austin invasions of the HCH3. At McDermott's, a doublewide trailer turned into a bar.something new to whine about...
My ankle is no longer the #1 item on my "things that hurt" list. Somehow I jacked up my right shoulder. Think I slept on it wrong or something. If I lift my arm up past my shoulder, I get rocked by a sharp pain. Doesn't effect my running at all, but my workout at the rock gym this afternoon sucked ass.
saturday
Great day on Saturday. Up at 5AM for a killer long run. Five hours that took me to the summit of Red Mountain, along Ute Pass, around Waldo, up Longs Ranch Road (one of the worst hills in the area), down Barr Trail, and back to my place via the Intemann trail. Felt good, and I was able to run the entire thing, minus the very top of Longs Ranch. Stuck my kankle in Fountain Creek afterwards. I don't recommend that, it's kinda so cold it feels like someone is jabbing a knife into you.
After a quick shower it was off to Will's pub in downtown CS for the Pikes Peak hash. Not a big fan of downtown hashes, but I had to go support No Girth since he's a Kimchi hasher at heart. After a bunch of drinks at Will's, Boobs, BLOS and I went on trail all the way to Southside Johnny's. Luckily for me, they had the 24oz cans of Pabst. We ran into a hasher home on leave from Iraq at SJ's, real good to drink with him for a bit.
Rest of the trail was uneventful, save for finding one of Tonka Butt's maxi pads on trail. The hash ended at an old stomping ground of mine, the Triple Nickel tavern. Always have pitchers of PBR for $5.55 there, woohoo! Circle, run by Wong Way, was a good one, and I drank quite a bit. Don't remember taking my pants off, but looking at some pictures I suppose it may have happened.
Bob and I left to head back to my place. On the way there, Boobs calls and tells me that Bristol brewing is having $0.33 pints to celebrate the end of prohibition. A couple of illegal u-turns later Bob and I pull into Bristol to join the party. Several more pints here and we end up back at my place for some PBR.
$100 Fuck shows up and drives my drunk ass back downtown to McCabe's to see Boobs off. No way I should have continued to drink, but oh well. Saw a bunch of wankers I hadn't seen in a long time down at McCabes, that was cool. Pounded three pints of Guinness at McCabes which sent me over the edge and I don't remember much after Tonka and MeatGazer showed up. Next thing I know, my alarm is going off at 5AM...
After a quick shower it was off to Will's pub in downtown CS for the Pikes Peak hash. Not a big fan of downtown hashes, but I had to go support No Girth since he's a Kimchi hasher at heart. After a bunch of drinks at Will's, Boobs, BLOS and I went on trail all the way to Southside Johnny's. Luckily for me, they had the 24oz cans of Pabst. We ran into a hasher home on leave from Iraq at SJ's, real good to drink with him for a bit.
Rest of the trail was uneventful, save for finding one of Tonka Butt's maxi pads on trail. The hash ended at an old stomping ground of mine, the Triple Nickel tavern. Always have pitchers of PBR for $5.55 there, woohoo! Circle, run by Wong Way, was a good one, and I drank quite a bit. Don't remember taking my pants off, but looking at some pictures I suppose it may have happened.
Bob and I left to head back to my place. On the way there, Boobs calls and tells me that Bristol brewing is having $0.33 pints to celebrate the end of prohibition. A couple of illegal u-turns later Bob and I pull into Bristol to join the party. Several more pints here and we end up back at my place for some PBR.
$100 Fuck shows up and drives my drunk ass back downtown to McCabe's to see Boobs off. No way I should have continued to drink, but oh well. Saw a bunch of wankers I hadn't seen in a long time down at McCabes, that was cool. Pounded three pints of Guinness at McCabes which sent me over the edge and I don't remember much after Tonka and MeatGazer showed up. Next thing I know, my alarm is going off at 5AM...
81.2
Another good week, getting in over 80 miles for the first time ever. I'll hafta take a break this week due to being out of town. Probably a good thing, I'm starting to feel a lot of minor aches and pains which I should let heal now before they become big problems.
Highlights were Saturday's rough 24 miler (my house - red mountain - ute pass - waldo canyon - longs ranch road - barr trail - intemann trail - my house) which was definitely my best battle against Longs Ranch ever, and of course Platte River on Sunday.
Highlights were Saturday's rough 24 miler (my house - red mountain - ute pass - waldo canyon - longs ranch road - barr trail - intemann trail - my house) which was definitely my best battle against Longs Ranch ever, and of course Platte River on Sunday.
weekend
Couple 'o pics I stole from other people. Sure was one helluva weekend. Won't be topped again until this weekend - when I head out to the mountains (Leadville, Copper Mountain, Vail) for some hiking and some killer live music.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Platte River
Ran 1:26:09 for the Platte River half marathon. Much faster than I thought I'd go, and I think I would have been 1:24 had I not had a raging hangover from sending Boobs off last night. Splits I can remember:
Mile 1 - 6:38
Mile 2 - 13:01
Mile 3 - 19:33
Mile 10 - 65:45
Really struggled in keeping up the pace over the last 5K, but I pushed hard. Pretty psyched about the race, didn't think I could run that fast. Plugging that time into the runner's world calculator predicts a marathon finish of 2:59.
This is my fastest half marathon ever. First Colorado PR. Even beats my Slacker time. Ran this same race last year in 1:41. Next race up is the Greenland 50K, my first ultra since Leadville, and I'm gonna try to lower my current PR at that distance (4:22).
Race report to follow, as well as hash trash from the Pikes Peak and Boulder hashes. All in all, one helluva weekend!
Mile 1 - 6:38
Mile 2 - 13:01
Mile 3 - 19:33
Mile 10 - 65:45
Really struggled in keeping up the pace over the last 5K, but I pushed hard. Pretty psyched about the race, didn't think I could run that fast. Plugging that time into the runner's world calculator predicts a marathon finish of 2:59.
This is my fastest half marathon ever. First Colorado PR. Even beats my Slacker time. Ran this same race last year in 1:41. Next race up is the Greenland 50K, my first ultra since Leadville, and I'm gonna try to lower my current PR at that distance (4:22).
Race report to follow, as well as hash trash from the Pikes Peak and Boulder hashes. All in all, one helluva weekend!
Friday, April 04, 2008
good times for Pirate fans!
My Buccos enter the weekend atop the National League Central! The Astros are last place in that same division, FYI.
Then some other Pirates take over a French cruise ship! Read about it here. Pirates there are complaining about the body odor of French people...
Global Pirate attacks rose by 10% last year, so be on the lookout! Arrrrrrrgh!
Then some other Pirates take over a French cruise ship! Read about it here. Pirates there are complaining about the body odor of French people...
Global Pirate attacks rose by 10% last year, so be on the lookout! Arrrrrrrgh!
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Incline Club hill climb!
Figured not too many brave souls would show up tonight, but about 30 ICers toughed out the crappy weather for the first Thursday hill climb of the year. Did 15 x 1 minute repeats up Barr Trail, with one minute easy in between. I hammered the repeats and walked the easy part, need to make sure my hiking skills are up to par for Hardrock. Was hoping to make it to the top of the W's, and I got there as my 13th repeat ended. Great workout, which included stops at Kinfolk's and the Townhouse on the way home.
Have a very important race on Sunday which I hope to break 90 minutes at. My taper since Tuesday has included two 7 mile long tempo runs, a 4 x 1200 track workout, a weight workout at the Y, three straight days of the rock gym, the IC hill climb, the Incline, and a twelve mile easy run. Tomorrow is a rest day, only hitting the rock gym, the Y, and the Incline. Saturday it's a 25 to 30 miler in the morning, followed immediately by the hash. Should leave me good and fresh for Platte River.
Have a very important race on Sunday which I hope to break 90 minutes at. My taper since Tuesday has included two 7 mile long tempo runs, a 4 x 1200 track workout, a weight workout at the Y, three straight days of the rock gym, the IC hill climb, the Incline, and a twelve mile easy run. Tomorrow is a rest day, only hitting the rock gym, the Y, and the Incline. Saturday it's a 25 to 30 miler in the morning, followed immediately by the hash. Should leave me good and fresh for Platte River.
the witches of Manitou...
Good article in this week's CS Independent concerning all the rumors about Manitou being a haven for witches. I had heard this ever since I started hanging with the Pikes Peak racers in Austin. The nice people of Colorado Springs think Manitou is some kind of Harry Potter magicland. I even believed it, though I just assumed Manitou was full of wiccans, who I think are weird, but I figured I'd have much less of a problem with them than the jesusfreaks in CS.
But I have never, ever seen any evidence of a witch in Manitou. And even before I moved here, I spent tons of time on this side of the highway.
Couldn't find a link to the article, so you'll hafta pick up a copy of the Indy if you wanna read it. It's in the special "annual manual 2008" section. I'll copy the final paragraph of the article:
"By the way, my little quest turns up six witches. None lives in Manitou. And none of them knows any witches who call Manitou home."
But I have never, ever seen any evidence of a witch in Manitou. And even before I moved here, I spent tons of time on this side of the highway.
Couldn't find a link to the article, so you'll hafta pick up a copy of the Indy if you wanna read it. It's in the special "annual manual 2008" section. I'll copy the final paragraph of the article:
"By the way, my little quest turns up six witches. None lives in Manitou. And none of them knows any witches who call Manitou home."
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
“Adventure isn’t hanging on a rope off the side of a mountain. Adventure is an attitude that we must apply to the day to day obstacles of life - facing new challenges, seizing new opportunities, testing our resources against the unknown and in the process, discovering our own unique potential.”
-John Amatt
-John Amatt
32:48
Made it up the Incline in 32:48 this morning. Hope to be back down below thirty minutes by the end of the month, and setting PRs by the end of May.
Some Army guys had a huge lead on me going up, but I caught them early and passed them like they were standing still. Very sad, I would expect that from Air Force folks but I was hoping the Army could hold me off a little longer. Hopefully they weren't Infantry. Probably commo pogues.
Some Army guys had a huge lead on me going up, but I caught them early and passed them like they were standing still. Very sad, I would expect that from Air Force folks but I was hoping the Army could hold me off a little longer. Hopefully they weren't Infantry. Probably commo pogues.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
i'm so glad i'm a trail runner
Road runners are such dorks, proof of which can be seen here. Unfortunately, in today's sue-happy society, I can see this passing.
GO BUCS!
The Pittsburgh Pirates began their world championship season last night, routing the Atlanta Braves. We're on pace to go undefeated with the highest scoring offense of all time! And we're ahead of the Astros!
Salida
Stole these pics of the Colorado Runner website. Two pics that illustrate why I keep going back for the Salida marathon. The first pic is the start, shows you how scenic the course is. The bottom pic is when you finally start the trip back down into town. Your legs are already shot to hell, then you gotta bomb down 2.5 miles of rocky, technical trail to get that hard earned PBR. Good times!
Garden training run #1
Not all of us slept in this morning. I drug myself out of bed at 5AM to hit the Pikes Peak Road Runners Garden training run. This is a pretty decent run attended by those willing to rise early, not sleepyheads like Susan.
Anywho, I decided this year to bail on the trail guys and hang with the fast group. They have a bunch of groups this year - fast, slow, two trail groups, and a social group. The fast group is a bunch of tri-dorks and other serious road runners. Wasn't sure I could hang, but I figured I'd try and at least get a good workout out of it.
We started at 6AM sharp, and a group of three shot out of the gate. I followed. The Garden is a bunch of rolling hills, it's actually a pretty hard run. But I hung on. Eventually, two of the group (a guy and a gal) faded, and it was down to two of us. Several times the remaining guy tried to drop me on the hills, but I held on. And on the final hill, I attacked, leaving the guy in the dust. So, at least for today, I was the fastest guy at the run!
6.7 miles in 46:32, under seven minutes per mile. Pretty good pace for the hills of the Garden. I'd like to run around 66 minutes for the upcoming Garden 10 mile, this was a good start.
Anywho, I decided this year to bail on the trail guys and hang with the fast group. They have a bunch of groups this year - fast, slow, two trail groups, and a social group. The fast group is a bunch of tri-dorks and other serious road runners. Wasn't sure I could hang, but I figured I'd try and at least get a good workout out of it.
We started at 6AM sharp, and a group of three shot out of the gate. I followed. The Garden is a bunch of rolling hills, it's actually a pretty hard run. But I hung on. Eventually, two of the group (a guy and a gal) faded, and it was down to two of us. Several times the remaining guy tried to drop me on the hills, but I held on. And on the final hill, I attacked, leaving the guy in the dust. So, at least for today, I was the fastest guy at the run!
6.7 miles in 46:32, under seven minutes per mile. Pretty good pace for the hills of the Garden. I'd like to run around 66 minutes for the upcoming Garden 10 mile, this was a good start.
MOPP hash
Scouted trail for the upcoming MOPP hash on Sunday. Here are a few pics. The rest can be seen here. Thinking of using this same trail for the CO Invihash pre-lube as it would be a super-cool trail for outta towners. So all yunz locals need to come out, do this trail, and let me know what you think.
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