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.