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.