Intemann/Red Mountain

Had to drop $100 at the airport this morning (she'll be swigging PBR at the Paradise Lounge while we're out suffering at the Fat Ass) so I didn't have much time to run before work. Took the dog for a quick run up Red Mountain. Trails are in much better shape than I expected, should be really good by Saturday morning. 3.3 miles in 40 minutes.

Will report on the conditions of the Incline later tonight.

Rough time to be a Pittsburgh fan. Of course the Steelers loss. The Penguins have dropped six straight. The usually solid Pitt hoops squad is really awful, scoring 39 points against Rutgers yesterday to go to 0-4 in the Big East, alone in last place. Pitt football was crushed in the BBVA Compass bowl, a nice kick in the balls after the Todd Graham fiasco. You know times are tough when the only hope you have as a sports fan is that Pirates spring training opens soon.

fat ass awards have arrived!

The most coveted trophies in all of ultrarunning!

hottie trials runners

Nice post by the RunColo guys, though they really snubbed Shelton.

Brandon and I are working on our own version of Unbreakable. It's 85 minutes of watching Jenn run, then Tony wins the race.

Of course, there will be no mention of hot chick runners on this blog without some Kara shots. She is going to run 2:14 this weekend, you heard it here first.

miles and ice cream

Tues PM - Incline with $100 and the dog. Untimed. Great conditions, though it seems to be snowing over there right now.

Wed AM - Run to work. 5.5 miles, 54 minutes.

Carpenter made the front page of the Gazette today. Read the article here. During the summer I often end my long runs at Kinfolk's, then hit Colorado Custard for an Avalanche (their version of DQ's Blizzard). This should end all talk of custard being some kind of performance enhancer, since I ate a ton of the stuff and still sucked ass.

track

The Sunrise Striders were doing a work-unfriendly run in Cheyenne Mountain State Park this morning, so Andy W and I hit the CC track.

One mile warm up, 4 x 1000m with 400m RBI, 4 x 200m with 200m RBI, one mile cool down. 4:49, 42, 41, 44 for the thousands. First time back to the track in a while, so I took it pretty easy. Like this workout A LOT better than the 4 x 1600m I used to do.

Fat Ass has 8,804 feet of climbing.

Headed out on Saturday night to celebrate Amanda's 40th birthday. If any out of towners want to join us, you are welcome to crash at my place, though it will be on the floor as all the beds are spoken for. If you come, be sure to ask Amanda who won our battle on Pikes this year.

Fat Ass

Might be a bit hard to read here, but we'll have maps on Saturday.

Yellow route is the 50K route, and includes an out and back up Red Mountain. The Red Mountain route will not be marked, but it's quite obvious.

The white route is the shortcut. Skip the Incline and take the Ute Indian trail over to Waldo Canyon. 26.75 miles.

1/9/12

AM - Easy three mile dog jog, 30 minutes. Woof.

PPRR Full Moon Run tonight. Beckers baseball field in Manitou. 7PM.

1st place male and female in the 50k will receive a $10 gift card to PF Chang's. I think this makes us the most lucrative of the Front Range Fat Ass series. Word on the street has Galen Rupp showing up, since he's bailed on the olympic marathon trials. If he wears his ninja mask he has to be considered the favorite.

long runs

Good weekend on the trails. Still out of shape after the time off, but things are at least moving in the right direction.

Saturday - two hours (11 miles) on the Garden and Red Rock Canyon trails.

Sunday - three hours (14 miles) with Andy W marking the Intemann route for the upcoming PP Fat Ass.

Info for the fat ass will go out today. 7, 8, and 9AM start.

Incline happy hour

Thursday night, easy Incline with the dog. 45 minutes up, then FOREVER to get back down as we got stuck behind a search & rescue operation.

Rest day today. Weights this morning, hot yoga after work.

Signed up for the Frosty's Frozen Five & Ten. PG will be there. While ultrasignup says he's a 10% better runner than I am (he should beat me by a full mile in the ten miler, right?), we'll see how he handles himself on the roads.

Go Steelers!

Corner of Pikes Peak and Institute

Salida Marathon

Rego for the 2012 Run Through Time is now online. Over here.

NYC Marathon, $266. Salida Marathon, $40.

Sir Nick continues to blow me off as to what, or if, the bet will be this year. Sounds like he's scared.

Cheyenne Canon

Back over to the Canon for the weekly CRUD hill climb. 38 minutes to the gate at High Drive, where I had to turn around so I could get to work on time (not because I was slow and felt like I was going to lose a lung). That roughly equals 51 minutes to the top of High Drive. Would like to get under 40 this year, so I have some work to do.

Been updating my other blogs a little more recently, thanks to my iPhone. Most of you will prefer the Pikes blog to the shitter blog. The new 100 beers/100 places blog is turning out pretty nice as well.

Knob Hill Lounge

Keepin' it classy at the Knob!

run to work

One of my 2012 resolutions is to leave the truck at home at least once a week. Reduce the commute bill by 20%. Week #1 down, easy run to work, 5.5 miles in 53 minutes. Even dropped off the interweb bill on the way.

Brandon was talking some smack earlier, so I decided last night I would return to Leadville to kick his ass once again. But the race is sold out, so the Ascent is back on the schedule. You can tell ultrarunning has gone mainstream, Pb has a whopping 850 runners signed up. FYI, I rego'd for NYC about an hour after sign up opened, and over 88000 people had already threw down $11 for the lottery.

Incline

Incline happy hour now happens twice a week. Tuesday and Thursday. Going to take the next month or two of crappy weather to get back into climbing shape, then I think I'll look to take down my Incline PR (28:26). That PR is from the shed at the very bottom of the Incline. Not the first railroad tie, or the parking lot cheater trail, or the no trespassing sign, or wherever the folks with Incline PR's of 24 minutes and 5K PR's of 25 minutes start.

I had been on a hiatus from the Incline, Tuesday night was my first trip up the steps in over a month. And I could tell. 44 minutes to the top. Ouch. Very easy on the way down.

When $100, the dog, and I left Kinfolk's at 8:30PM, it was still 45F in Manitou. Spring is here! FYI, all pints at Kinfolk's are $3 on Tuesday (quite a few micros on tap). Good deal, but PBR bottles are only $2.50.

back at it

November was a lot of fun. I was still hammering, getting ready for Vegas. Most of the ultra guys were taking a break. So I got to crush some of the guys I normally finish far behind on race day.

But since I took December off, and everyone else was training hard, the shoe is now on the other foot. And it sucks.

Mon - 8.7 miles, two hours. Red Rock Canyon to the top of Section 16. Had to walk the entire climb up Section 16. It's something I normally run with the dog without thinking.

Tues - 6 miles, 52 minutes. Sunrise Striders. With a short tempo run in Bear Creek Park. Some of the homeless guys on the Santa Fe trail were making fun of how slow I was going.

It sucks, but I should be back to normal by February.

Marking the Intemann section of the Fat Ass on Sunday. Meet me at the Incline Club if you wanna join me.

racing

Ended 2011 and started 2012 with some racing.

Headed down to Pueblo on Saturday for the Raptor Resolution Run 5 miler. Pretty cool place. I ran the race while $100 took the dog for a hike. Two person race right off the bat, unfortunately the other guy was much faster. I took the lead just after one mile and held it to mile three, but Paul K is just a faster runner so he dropped me over the final two miles. Had gone in wanting a 32:30 and ended up with a 32:35. Not too shabby with the heinous wind. Also won a year membership to the Nature and Raptor Center. Stopped at Bingo Burger and Shamrock Brewing before heading home.

Sunday was the annual Rescue Run. I was hungover as all get out, so I figured it was better to suffer through a hard 5K than run a 60+ minute 10K. Volunteered at pre-registration so I got no warm up in, then struggled to a 20:47. Can't believe I didn't barf out there.

Looking to become the Bernie B of the middle of the pack in 2012. Next race is Saturday at the monthly Nielsen Challenge. 2.5 hour run on the Santa Fe trail, then 2 miles all out.

3010

Ended 2011 with 3010 miles. Very easy December, with only 123 miles on the month, including two weeks of no running at all.

Ready to get back at it. Hardrock or bust!

Humphreys Peak/Grand Canyon/Zion/Bryce/Moab

$100 and I sat down and hashed out the beta for the 2012 Grand Canyon trip. Should be pretty epic. Headed down there the last week of September.

Fri - leave after work for camping at Taos.

Sat - drive to Flagstaff.

Sun AM - hike Humphreys Peak

Sun PM - drive to/camp at Hualapai Hilltop trailhead

Mon, Tues, Wed - explore Havasu Canyon. Basically, do what this guy did, only at a slower pace.

Wed - Head to Springdale, UT. Through Vegas, hitting the Double Down Saloon and Dino's. Dinner at the Flying Monkey.

Thurs - Zion Subway

Fri - Bryce Canyon Under the Rim Trail

Sat, Sun - Moab

September can't get here fast enough!

how not to finish a race

You don't want to be anywhere near a South CRUD guy towards the end of a race. Check out Brandon S's finishing kick at Boston: