Lack of motivation...

Ride 'em. ~ Aho Joe

Yesterday has to be chalked up to wussdom. I really wasn't feeling it so I blew off any training to hang with my special lady and watch The Illusionist. Not so great. The Illusionist, not hanging with my special lady. I intended to go for a ride after work but postponed that endeavor until I got home. Then it started raining and my motivation quickly dissipated. I know I need to get out in that stuff but yesterday just wasn't the day. But today we ride. Luke and I are planning to do some bike-related activity post work. Anyone interested, give me a shout.

~stubert

Squirm...

To congratulate oneself on one's warm commitment to the environment, or to peace, or to the oppressed, and think no more is a profound moral fault. ~ Robert Conquest

Ever wonder how you can make a difference in this world? I sometimes get overwhelmed with the thought of making a significant impact on the human race and go back to my standard ways of doing things. Well today I would like to recommend that we all go out and try to make a small difference. Sacrifice something small that would otherwise tax the environment. Help someone out you would normally just pass in the street. Plant a tree. Refuse both paper AND plastic. Did you know that scientists estimate that it requires 1000 years for a plastic grocery bag to biodegrade and there are something like 50 million distributed yearly. That is just gross. San Fransisco may actually ban plastic grocery bags for larger stores. Go San Fran! Buy re-usable bags here. </soapbox>

So today I got Shirlified again. Shirley Plaatjes is a massage therapist here in Boulder who is not afraid to whale on a person. After this weekend's madness, I needed/feared the session. I thought I was going to squirm off the table when she went to town on my hamstrings but afterwards, I always feel much better. Today was not exception.

Yesterday, I just chilled out at home and did a bunch of freelance work that needed my attention. No activities were planned and none were accomplished. A good, solid rest day for once. Today I plan to get out on the bike for a bit after work. Let me know if you would like to join me in the fun and/or games.

And now, a product review: I love these socks. Seriously, they are tall, comfy and since starting to wear them exclusively, I haven't gotten a single blister. I'm tellin' ya... the Wrightsock is the bomb. I just picked up 8 more pair so that I have enough for every aid station at Leadville if I am feeling the need. Great stuff.

Movies: Last night, we watched Factotum which was okay, I suppose. Based on several Bukowski stories, it starred Matt Dillon and Lili Taylor who both did an admirable job of portraying pathetic drunks. So not a particularly uplifting film nor one that made me too interested in slugging down copious amounts of booze anytime soon. I wouldn't necessarily avoid it but I wouldn't encourage you to rush out and rent it either.

Enjoy the day, this is the last May 30, 2007 ever. Might as well make something of it.

~stubert

The front side of fifty...

We chased our pleasures here, dug our treasures there. ~ The Doors

Days 48 and 49 were spectacular. Yesterday Luke and I started early and we were riding in to the trailhead by 6:15. It was a bit cooler with hellacious winds buffeting us from the west. We made quick time to the trail and quickly found ourselves bushwhacking through the forest. The Audubon Trail is heavily traveled in the Summer but gets less frequent activity in the early Spring. Once we made treeline, however, we were able to move more quickly across the tundra.

The wind howled all around us, coming in bursts that threatened to topple us with virtually every step. We got some respite while trudging through a patch of high-altitude willows and managed to make it through this somewhat soggy terrain relatively unscathed. If we were a few minutes later, I am sure things would have been different as the islands of tundra were still a bit firm. Which was nice.

Our goal was to ski this skinny box canyon but once we reached the top, we determined this was not the best option as we would have had to downclimb into the pitch and the run-out was grim. The consequences of a fall would have been pretty high so we opted to ski an exposed snowfield from which we could traverse over into another very cool coulior. We booted out of the bottom of this to the top of the second pitch we skied yesterday for a sweet link-up. Then we dropped back to the bikes for a quick spin back to the cars for a total of about 4:45 hours. A great day of Spring skiing.

Today was more of the same: Up at 4:45, on the bikes by 6:15, hiking by 6:45 and skiing by 9ish. We didn't get a hard freeze last night so we spend a good portion of the approach postholing. If you have never experienced this phenomenon, I recommend avoiding it. Not a ton of fun. It is amazing how quickly conditions can change in the high-country.

On the way up we came across two ptarmigans foraging for food way above treeline. (See if you can find them in the image to the right.) The male was molting, shedding his winter white for his summer camouflage. He stayed very close to his special lady who was already sporting plumage and was difficult to spot, even when you knew where to look. They softly cooed at one another as they picked around the tundra for seeds and other goodies.

We skied a very spicey line on the North side of Pawnee Ridge that was a real challenge. Very tight entry to some fairly scrappy, tight and steep terrain. It opened up at the bottom where I was finally able to make some decent turns. Luke and Pete were great company once again and we met up with Ben and Dan for some tasty post-ski food at Nederland's Kathmandu Restaurant. Dan raced the Bolder Boulder this morning and has been helping me with Leadville strategy with his brother Ben. Both have run (and completed) the event and are a lot faster than I ever hope to be. It was good to get some much-needed advice for the race and training.

Tomorrow, I actually plan to take the day off. My ankle is still bugging me a bit and so I will probably take it easy for a few days to give it some much-needed rest.

Check out Luke's photos of Audobon and Pawnee Ridge.

~stubert

Edit: And here are some more shots from Pawnee Ridge.

Day 47...

The important thing is not to live but to live well. ~Socrates

Day 47 was a helluva day. Though I seem to recall saying the same thing about days 45, 44, 43, 42... not 46 though. That day was jacked.

Luke, Pete and I jumped on the bikes shortly after 6 this morning and rode in to the Mitchell Lake Trailhead west of Brainard. The Brainard Lake road was relatively clear with only a few major drifts to negotiate. There were quite a few people at the trailhead with a similar plan to our own but we seemed to be the only ones heading up toward Mitchell. After about 30 minutes made it to the Mitchell Lake trailheadh and hit the trail (which is currently not much of a trail, being that it is still covered with several feet of snow) and fairly quickly found ourselves at the base of Audubon on a glorious Spring day in the Rockies.

We started to "sneaker pack" up the main bowl and, after several minutes extolling the virtues of The Big Lebowski opted for the more secure and skier-preferred "boot pack" technique. Seems running shoes don't a) kick steps very well and b) aren't super stable in steep snowfields. Go figure. We selected a couple of nice couloirs to tackle and headed up the southern-most first as it was the most sun-exposed. After following Luke up his killer staircase (thanks for kicking steps all day, Luke!) for who knows how long, we made it to the top of the pitch, put on our gear and started the fun part of today's adventure. The top was still in the shade, so pretty scrappy but conditions quickly opened up to hero conditions and great turns.

We repeated the effort on the more northerly pitch and were treated to more of the same with a gorgeous "summit". There were some fox or coyote tracks at the top and the marmot and pika were out in full-force. We dropped back down and headed back out to the bikes for a quick cruise back to the cars in a total of just over 6 hours round trip.

A beautiful day with more of the same planned for tomorrow.

In keeping with my promise to share the movies I have been watching, here is my list for last night:

• Delicatessen: I have seen this one before and was a bit distracted last night preparing for today's adventure so I'll have to watch it in full later this weekend. This is a very dark film by the makers of Amelie.
• Jesus Camp: Scary as hell. Makes The Exorcist look like The Apple Dumpling Gang.

Thanks to Luke for the shots. Check out the full gallery. Hope you are having an awesome weekend.

See you out there.

~stubert

And some brightness...

Too many people miss the silver lining because they are expecting gold. ~ Maurice Setter

In an effort to counteract my last post. I ran across the story of an 18-year-old who recently summited Mt. Everest. Hopefully without the use of banned substances. She has climbed to the top of the each continent's highest peak and her little sister (age 10) is following in her footsteps. Good stuff.

And in my EPO-fueled rage (others use, not my own), I forgot to mention yesterday's Singlespeed ride with Luke. We did a quick spin around Heil Ranch, north of Boulder. Afterwards, I was ready to get back on my Dual Sus as this full-rigid stuff will shake the fillings out of your teeth. Or teeth out of your head. Fun stuff though. Heil is a blast.

Tomorrow, I am hoping to get in a long backcountry trek to log some Spring turns near Brainard and may do a run or ride near my house in the afternoon. More of the same Sunday and Monday. Comment if you are interested in joining in the fun and/or games.

~stubert

Breaks my heart to see a good sport go bad...

I was a juicer. Diabonol, then, Wisterol – it's for racehorses, for Christsake. Now I'm bankrupt, divorced, my two grown kids won't return my calls… ~ Robert "Bob" Paulson

So I started the day in a pretty good mood. It is Friday, after all – and one that supports the front end of a long weekend. My spirits were dampened, however, when I stumbled across this article about Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis and his admission of cheating when he won the 1996 race. This comes on the heels of Erik Zabel's admission earlier this week.

There has been a lot of buzz in the press of late surrounding doping and the losers who have cheated their way to "success". The most notable being current title holder, Floyd Landis. He is staged to be the first person stripped of his title due to cheating. Makes you wonder if anyone is riding clean.

I raced bikes steadily from about 1987-1992 and then off-and-on for many years thereafter. I won the first bike race I ever entered, way back in Junior High. It was part of our "Middle School Olympics" event that I believe was an attempt to teach us about other cultures and how to work as a team but I just remember how exciting it was to be able to spend several days outdoors instead of stuck in a classroom. My recollection is that one signed up for one's favorite events and less-popular events were filled randomly. I knew I wanted to do the bike race – a 1-mile (4 lap) race around our Highschool track and signed up immediately.

I don't remember the specifics of the race except that I was on my dad's Ciocc (which was later stolen). It was too big for me and the skinny tires didn't have much traction on the dirt track but I was determined. I remember that this wasn't much of a race. I jetted out to an early lead and was never really challenged for the win. But a win's a win, right? Unless, of course, you are cranked up on steroids or whatever else these selfish bastards are taking. (I raced clean – fueled by youthful enthusiasm and possibly Big League Chew.)

In any event, the remainder of my cycling career was dotted with occasional wins, strong placings in a number of races and a quick understanding that to be really able to compete, one needed to ditch the 9-5 job and train constantly – two items I might have relished in a different life but was in no position to accomplish.

Did people I competed against cheat? Most certainly. The odds are stacked against having a completely legit field. There were, and always will be, people willing to do "whatever it takes" to advance. Some of us will do it the old fashioned way, however. And those are the people I admire.

~stubert

The trend continues...

You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. ~ Bob Dylan

I seem to be the bringer of precipitation of late. Yesterday, I finally got motivated around 2:00 for a 2-hour run and shortly after heading out the door, it began to snow. No big deal, I came prepared with my new Marmot Precip Jacket – which, incidentally, I like very much. But running in the cold definitely is a different beast than in more moderate temperatures and I would not consider this to have been a particularly "good" run. We ended up with about 3 inches total accumulation. Springtime at 9000 feet.

It was definitely beautiful out. I explored the trails around my house, did some maintenance, and felt better for having dragged myself off the couch for a couple hours of training. Generally speaking, people don't like to run. I find this is a significant contributor to the blank stares and quizzical looks I receive whenever people learn of my Leadville plans. I have found that there is a definite period of time one must invest in the sport before it becomes something enjoyable. And this time varies from person to person for sure. Running hurts. Make no mistake. But once you develop a small level of fitness, you get past this pain to understand why thousands of people enjoy this sport. You see more, experience more and the world slows down around you. It can be a peaceful endeavor. One to which I have grown quite fond.

On Tuesday, I managed to get in to see Mark Plaatjes, 1993 World Marathon Champion and winner of the 1991 LA Marathon. Mark now lives in Boulder and is a Physical Therapist who has now helped me get back on the trails on several occasions. Mark did some work on my still-swollen left knee and tweaked right ankle. I am definitely still feeling both but anticipate that his efforts, along with some stride modifications, will help me get back to form in short order. It is great to be able to go see someone who has experience in sport. I always feel better knowing that my healthcare providers can sympathize with the frustration of not being able to perform at one's peak due to an injury.

On a completely unrelated note, if you didn't know already, I tend to watch a lot of movies. Not as many as I once consumed but more than the average viewer. Currently, most of these are viewed at home on DVD but I still get a lot of pleasure watching film. As an added feature to runsturun, I'll start posting what I have recently watched. I may even review a few of them for you. (I used to write for Filmthreat - a few of my reviews are still up there if you search hard enough.) So I'll catch you up on this past week's screenings and then try to keep up on a regular basis from now on:

• May 12 - Confessions of a Dangerous Mind: I often re-screen movies and this is one I have seen several times. Sam Rockwell was awesome and this is perhaps the only movie with Julia Roberts that I would ever recommend.
  
• May 13 - Inside Man: I actually enjoyed this film quite a bit. It is Spike Lee doing not Spike Lee. Not that Spike Lee doing Spike Lee is a bad thing.
• May 18 - Casino Royale: I am not a Bond fan but was told by several people that this was the antithesis of the standard Bond movie. It was okay. Cut out a ton of the Venice segment and it would have been a lot better. I would say that Daniel Craig did a decent job walking in Sean Connery's boots.
• May 22 - Amelie: Again, another repeat viewing. This is a beautiful film. Watch it immediately. An interesting note, this film contains lots of sexual situations, references and some nudity and was marketed as a family film in the EU. In the US, it received an "R" rating. Just another example of how screwed up this country is. (Casino Royal, filled with violence and scenes depicting torture, got at PG-13.)
• May 23 - Volver: Almodovar is pretty amazing. His films are typically snippets of time and feature severely-off-camber themes. This is no exception.
• May 23 - Pan's Labyrinth: Another repeat and a beautiful/horrible film. This one is not for the squeamish and was marketed as an adult fairy tale. This film is incredibly well done and is an example of all that is wrong with Hollywood. I find foreign film to be more willing to take chances and push the envelope than domestic endeavors. Pan's is no exception.

That's it for today, ladies and gentlemen. I plan to ride the Singlespeed at lunch or post work if anyone is interested in joining in the fun and/or games.

See you out there.

~stubert

Edit: And I just stumbled across this gem celebrating the death of the Hummer. Good times (and that says a lot considering the behemoth I drive).

Wetter is better...

Open the sky and let her come down. ~ The Cult

Yesterday I was the Singlespeed commuter extrordinaire. I rode the bus in from Ned and then rode from the station to work - about 40 minutes. I was in dire need of a haircut and Shannon at Al's Barber Shop had a 1:30 available and was going to be on vacation for a couple of weeks, so I took it. Luke joined me on my trek back to Boulder and showed me some fun bike-path trails out in the Gunbarrel area. We grubbed some burritos, Luke goofed around while Shannon went to work on my melon, and we rode back to his house via 4th Street/Wonderland Lakes.

Shortly after parting company with Luke, the clouds broke open - drenching me completely. It was a warm day so I wasn't really bothered by it. Sometimes it is fun to ride in the rain. I made it back to work safely and then grabbed the bus back to Boulder/Ned since my clothes were soaked. There are few things worse than having to put on wet gear so I opted out of riding back to the station.

I somehow squeezed in an appointment with Mark at In Motion for this afternoon and will probably try to ride this evening at home depending upon his diagnosis and recommendations for activity-levels over the next few days. I am feeling really fit right now and don't want to lose it but maybe a rest is in order. Gotta take these things in stride.

Log some miles for me.

~stubert

Edit: Oh yeah, if anyone wants to bring me a replacement Jamba Juice (Protein Berry with Immunity, please) I'd be most grateful. I dropped mine on the way in to work and it exploded all over the foyer. Good times.

Mud not blood...

My name is Mud, but call me Alowishus Devadander Abercrombie thats long for Mud so Ive been told. ~ Primus

I love the forest after a good rain. Everything sparkles. The silence is broken by birds coming out of their hiding spots, water gurgling down mid-summer-dry streams and the rush of the wind past my ears.

Yesterday, my riding plans were temporarily thwarted by an early-afternoon thunderstorm that brought with it a steady flow of rain to the South Beaver Creek area. As soon as the weather broke, I grabbed my neglected Dual Sus and hit the trails. I had forgotten how much fun the Tracer is. Man, what a ride. Smooth as butter. I purchased a RockShox Recon for this guy late last year and have only had the opportunity to ride it a couple of times. Brad steered me in the right direction on this one. I highly recommend this fork.

So I finally got up into my old stomping grounds in the Roosevelt National Forest near our house. The trails are pretty much clear at this point with some massive drifts still dotting the North-facing slopes from time to time. Totally passable, however. It is interesting how different riding the Dual Sus is as opposed to the Singlespeed. I definitely think that the S2 has helped my "regular" riding. My legs felt great throughout the ride and the little tricks one learns on the Singlespeed come in handy on the standard ride (e.g., conservation of momentum). Good stuff.

The Flume was mostly clear and a bit slippery but that actually can help matters. It is a fairly rocky descent (mostly) that brings you down to a mining claim near the Peak to Peak. The creek here was roaring and the sound of rushing water easily drowned out any road noise. I jammed back up the P2P to my house in a little under 90-minutes. Everything felt great except the lingering ankle issues. I hope to get into the doctor for a peek at that later this week.

Today I am doing the commute on the S2. Took the bus in from Ned and will play back up by ear. I'll probably end up taking the bus back home as well but may get adventurous and try to ride up Mag or Sugarloaf.

See you out there.

~stubert

Recovery...

Be the ball, Danny. ~ Ty Webb

Yesterday, I hit the links with my parents. It was a beautiful day in Gunnison and great to be outside. I shot a 102 which, for me, isn't too shabby. I am not much of a golfer but am improving a bit. It was good to have a solid couple of rest days as my ankle is bugging me quite a bit. It feels and acts very similarly to a wrist injury I sustained at the start of the ski season that was diagnosed as tendonitis so I am guessing that is the verdict. I'll need to get in to see someone about it as soon as possible in order to be able to get back to training. Dr. Paul, here I come.

Today, I may go for a bike ride to see how that affects my ankle problem. Hopefully, I will be able to find something relatively low impact so that I can keep my hours up while recovering. I still haven't gotten out to explore the trails around our house and would like to link a couple of things up this summer. There is some fun, non-technical stuff in this area and new loops seem to appear every season. I'd like to build a couple more technical descents and keep searching for good places to put them in. The Flume is my current favorite and just needs a dirt hook-up to make it really good. Maybe that will be my other summer project.

~stubert

Semi-Cirque de Boulder...

Pain don't hurt. ~ James Dalton

So yesterday went relatively well. Luke and I got started around 4:30 from the 7-mile mark of the Cirque de Boulder route. Let's call it the semi-cirque. We started off under overcast skies and moderate temperatures. Pretty near perfect conditions. The first half of the route went smoothly and Nichole and Pete met us at Gregory Canyon to help crew. Special thanks to those two as we were both out of water by this point and it is always good to see a familiar face.

We jammed up to the Mesa Trail and this is when my right ankle started acting up. No biggie, just kept running and ignored it. We were treated to some amazing views with the sunset highlighting the Flatirons. Really just a gorgeous evening.

We dropped down Blue Stem around dusk and pushed the pace along 93 and got to the Bobolink trailhead (I think) just as darkness started to set in. There was a pack of howling coyotes in the meadow through which we ran just yipping up a storm. Really cool to see this much of the Boulder Valley and Foothills in Springtime. The wildflowers and dogwoods were blooming, the pines were sprouting fresh needles and everything is getting green again.

We ran through the darkness under an amazing new moon to Luke's parents' house and grabbed a ride back to our starting point to retrieve my car. All in all a good run.

I am a bit hammered today. I felt like I was hungover this morning. I don't think I rehydrated enough post run and definitely didn't eat enough after we stopped running. My left knee swelled up quite a bit where I banged it last week but I think this, along with the ankle issue, will resolve itself in due time. I plan to limit my activity to hiking and biking for the next few days. All told, we logged at least 23 miles in about 4.5 hours. A bit off our intended pace but a pretty decent effort nonetheless.

Today, I drove to Gunnison to hang out with my parents. I head back to the Front Range tomorrow and will probably take it a bit easy thru the weekend. I'll keep you posted.

~stubert

Take two...

It doesn't matter if you try and try and try again, and fail. It does matter if you try and fail, and fail to try again. ~ Charles Kettering

Today we'll shoot for Cirque de Boulder (modified) vs. Luke and Stu round two. The first shot at this run ended earlier than planned. This time, we are cutting out about 7 miles of pavement (the first 7 miles as shown on the map above) and the weather is supposed to be significantly better so I am optimistic about our chances for success.

We'll start shortly after 4 at the Kelso trailhead and run counter-clockwise on trails around Boulder, finishing at the Bobolink trailhead about 23 miles later. This will eliminate almost all running on pavement and should improve our chances.

Yesterday, I tried to find my max heartrate by doing hill repeats. I am not sure if I got there or not but I did see 190 which, for now at least, will be considered my upper limit. This makes me feel pretty good about running around in the mid 140s as my target for long runs. I actually think I can do that. My resting rate was 44 the other day, which is pretty low for me. A good measure of fitness so I am pleased.

I am heading to Gunnison tomorrow to spend some time with my parents. I'll probably go for an early morning run on Saturday but plan to take tomorrow off and maybe play a round of golf. I will be back in town Sunday and will likely try to do a run and a hike depending upon how the legs are feeling after tonight's effort.

I have come to the conclusion that I need to do at least one all-night run prior to Leadville. I'll be looking to start around 10pm or midnight and run until dawn. I think this will be important training for my overall success in the event. I am currently working out the details and will keep you posted.

Incidentally, if you think I'm crazy, I just read that some guy is going to spin laps on Sanitas all day today. He started at 7:00 this morning and plans to finish his 15th lap around midnight. We run through there on our route so hopefully, we'll hook up with him for the brief descent of the main valley trail. Good stuff.

Ping me if you want to join in the fun and/or games this evening.

~stubert

Why...

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go. ~ T.S. Eliot

Yesterday, I was asked on at least two separate occasions why I planned to run 100 miles. The quote above sums it up best. I see this as a challenge of mind, body and spirit and want to see if I am up to it.

I have had many break-throughs and let-downs during the course of my training. I have come out of 2-hour runs feeling like this was going to be impossible and have finished 4+ hour treks feeling confident and inspired. I am sure there will be more of each as I get closer and closer to the event and that I will go through a whole range of emotions during the race itself. I am excited to know how I will deal with the challenges during that long day in August.

My main goal is to finish – that much I know. I am still trying to establish intermediate goals and will know better what to expect of myself as I continue to log longer and harder training runs. I have always thought of 25 hours as the ultimate goal. After listening to Dean Karnazes' book Ultramarathon Man, I am starting to think that I should really push myself, to better understand what I am really capable of achieving. Depending upon how training is going, I may push for a sub 24-hour finish – 100 miles in a day. I'll keep you posted on that.

Yesterday, Luke, Brad and I went for a Singlespeed ride. We left Brad's house for a quick jaunt up to Betasso. We pushed pretty hard the whole time. I had a hard time keeping up on the descents but was able to hang on the climbs pretty well. My Singlespeeder is fully rigid right now, making descents high on the excitement scale. I may have to put a shock on there but for now, I'm going to run it old-school.

Today, I am not quite certain of the plan. I may go for a run at lunch and may do a hike post work. Tomorrow, the weather is supposed to be crummy but I am sure I'll be out there doing something. Just have to keep moving.

~stubert

I do stuff...

I did not have three thousand pairs of shoes, I had one thousand and sixty. ~ Imelda Marcos

Recently, Rage made the observation that the pile of shoes in our mud room consisted of mostly size 10s. I must confess, the volume of footwear I possess is a bit ridiculous. It seems that every activity in which I participate leads to a new shoe purchase. Plus, I am currently rotating 3 pair of running shoes, etc., etc., etc.. It is a bit obscene. So I looked into recycling programs for shoes to see what one can do to help get shoes that are worn but not worn out into the right hands. Good stuff.

Yesterday, Rage and I went for a hike in Golden Gate Canyon State Park. This great little front-range treat is just up the hill from our house and features some killer hiking and biking trails. I plan to spend a lot of time there this summer.

Today, I plan to go for a run after work up near my house. I want to see if the trails in Roosevelt National Forest are clear. I'll keep you posted.

Edit: No running tonight. I am feeling a bit like a wuss and it was hailing during the period I was planning to head out. I am trying to rally the troops for a Singlespeed ride tomorrow after work. Anyone who is interested, let me know.

~stubert

Heavy heart...

Mrrrrraaaaaaaaaannnnhhh. ~ Samantha

In order to avoid scaring any readers off with continued tales of woe (our beloved kitty, Samantha died yesterday), I will post a few things I learned during yesterday's productive, 4+ hour altitude run.

The route I took started from my house and ran down the Beav to Coal Creek Canyon. I then headed east to 97 and up to Magnolia. East briefly on Mag to the Blue Dot trail head tail and backwards on the Dots to Ned. Ned to the High School trails, West Mag and a sneaky trail back to Rollinsville. From there, I pretty much bee-lined it back home. I spun my last mile in about 7 minutes. At least I had that to brighten my spirits. Not sure how far I ran in total but I was pleased with the effort.

Here are some tidbits:

• Jackets with hoods are necessary. In the ever-changing weather of the Rockies in the Springtime, one needs proper protection. My hooded jacket, unfortunately, is still on its way. I should be able to test-drive it later this week.
• Drinking is a good thing. No, I don't mean lugging around bottles of fortified wine, but I do recommend creating a system that works for you to stay hydrated. Yesterday, like most, I ran with my trusty Shuffle, and made sure to drink at the end of each song (at least). This seemed to keep me very well hydrated throughout the run. Good stuff. I also experimented with soda and protein drinks. Both of which seemed to do the trick.
• There's no school like the old-school. I dipped into the bag of old tricks and went for the old-school solution of PB&Js for my main "meal". Seemed to work well. I think this is a combination of my getting better used to eating on the go but regardless, I plan to add the old standard to my new regimen.
• Eat, drink, eat, drink, repeat. I try to start eating no more than 20 minutes into my longer runs. This helps to get me in the habit of ingesting calories throughout my effort and starts replenishing energy reserves immediately. This also helps me to graze vs. trying to choke down a huge meal all at once. Thanks to Luke for the killer Gorp recipe: Almonds, Pecans, Chocolate-covered Espresso Beans, Dried Cranberries, Sunflower Seeds. Good stuff.
  

Other than those items, I can report that Blue Dot is almost completely clear as are the Highschool and West Mag trails. Gentlemen, start your bikes.

I am not sure what the plan for Monday entails. Probably a run but we'll see.

~stubert

Healing...

How poor are they that have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees? ~ William Shakespeare

I am healing up nicely. Yesterday morning I was still hobbling around a bit but I went to the driving range at lunch with Bret and then went for a Singlespeed ride after work with Luke and felt a lot better this morning. I am a pretty bad golfer. That much hasn't really changed. Good to know some things are consistent.

Luke and I headed out towards Heil Ranch north of Boulder but time constraints (mine) forced us back through on trails west of the Res. Luke showed off his Singlespeed skills by riding all the way up the Foothills Trail climb. I was thwarted by the steps at the top and my brain. Must avoid caving into the urge to stop.

Samantha is hanging in there. Rage is doing a great job of keeping up with her meds and fluids and whatnot. They went in for a doctor's visit this morning and we now get to wait to hear about test results. Hope it is good news. She is being a trooper and is spending lots of time getting pets from Rage.

Tomorrow, I plan to spin a few laps up at A-Basin before they close. I think they are trying to stay open until June 3rd but don't know if they will make it. Depending upon what skiing gets done, I may do a run in the afternoon. The Boulder Adventure Film Festival is this weekend too so we will probably try to catch some of that. Seems like there is never enough time to do everything on one's list.

Today, I plan to do a whole lot of nothing. May take a short hike when I get home but other than that, I just plan to kick it. Let me know if you have other activities in mind.

I leave you with a photo of a goat in a tree:


~stubert

Short but sweet...

Ouch! Quit it. Ouch! Quit it. ~ Bart Simpson

Still recovering from Tuesday's debacle. Luke and I ran a variation on the Foothills Trail yesterday at lunch. Just a quick jaunt to get things moving again. I am hoping this doesn't set me back too much.

Sam is hanging in there but really doesn't feel well at all. Rage is being awesome and taking care of Sam's medical needs along with giving her lots of pets, which she loves. Siamese cats are a bit odd – they are so vocal normally, you don't really know when they are feeling lousy. They kind of fuss all the time anyway. Part of their charm.

On the way in to work today I saw a fox running down the sidewalk with some dead thing in his mouth. There was a woman walking the opposite direction who freaked out when she saw him and took an immediate left to try to get away from him. Of course, he went right. Hilarity ensued.

For those of you trying to actually find some substantive information about running Leadville, I pinged the Boulder Trail Runners Group yesterday to get some advice on what lights work well for the night segment of the race. The consensus seems to be the Gerber LX3. I have not yet tried this out myself but plan to give it a whirl shortly. I have been using headlamps but a lot of the feedback I received indicated that one gets better results from a hand-held light while running trails. I'll let you know.

For those of you looking for something fun to do this weekend, you should check out the Boulder Adventure Film Festival. This is an annual event that focuses on outdoor, adventure and environmental film. Screenings are held at the Boulder Theater and this year it features a filmmaker's seminar on Saturday. Check it out!

For today's "training", I am hoping to hit some golf balls at lunch and then go for a Singlespeed ride post work. Ping me if you have an interest in attending either of those events.

See you out there.

~stubert

Tuesday, Bloody Tuesday...

This is a very deep cut. ~ Morris "Mo" Wanchuk

Seems that gravity is more than just a theory, my friends. Yesterday witnessed two casualties of Newton's First Law: Brad decided it would be a good idea to test the tensile strength of a street sign, and I introduced my mouth to a very large rock. The rock, as you can imagine, won.

Our Singlespeed ride was a blast. I may have to outfit my ride with a fork, however, as I quickly remembered why full-rigid went the way of the dodo bird. How did we ever ride this way? Still, a good time was had by all and Brad and Luke kept the fun and/or games in full effect. We headed out from Brad's house (post road sign encounter) and jammed up to Betasso for a quick lap. Then it was back to town to toss on the running duds for a run with Jess up Sanitas. Up was a steady slog, as usual. On the descent, the excitement began.

Essentially, I blew a step, tripped and decided somewhere along my fast arc to the ground that it would be best to lead with my face. Fortunately, my teeth are all intact and my jaw only feels slightly like I took a pummeling from Mike Tyson. Or Cicely Tyson at least. Overall, the damage wasn't too bad: a scraped and banged knee, hip, wrist and chin and a small cut on my lip. If you want to bake a cake, you have to break a few eggs. Unless you don't eat eggs in which case you can use Egg Replacer and my analogy gets all shot to hell.

Today, I may go for a short ride run at lunch and maybe a hike after work but will chalk today up as a rest/recovery day. Luke and I were going to try a modified Cirque de Boulder tomorrow but I think that will be postponed for the time-being. I'll keep you posted.

~stubert

Ex-STREAM skiing...

Idiots rule. ~ Jane's Addiction

Today's adventure began with a trip to the Vet. Sam, our wonderful Siamese kitty is sick. This is really horrible news after the loss of Oliver just a couple of weeks ago. We have pretty much ruled out the pet food problems that have been seen around the country but Sam is having the same problems as Oliver and this is not good news. She is back home now and resting.

Post Vet, I hooked up with Luke and Pete for some backcountry skiing. We opted out of another Chihuahua/Margories loop for a sojourn into the National Forest around Eldora. We were promptly kicked out of the Eldora lot and headed down to the Hessie Trailhead to try our luck skinning up the back way. After several false starts, we were on our way.

The skin took WAY longer than we hoped as we did a bunch of poking around to see if there was an easy way to ford South Boulder Creek which, being May 7, is roaring. No luck. So after bushwhacking back up to the main trail and getting a ton of practice donning and removing our skis, we finally made it to Lost Lake.

Conditions were a little sketchy so we opted out of starting our ski from the top of Left/Right Chutes and just launched out descent from the roll. Not a lot of vert but still good lines were lain. Lain? Sure, lain.

On the way out, Pete jacked his knee up which made for some interesting navigating. We decided to traverse over to Corona and jam straight back down to the car. Pete handled it all with good humor and Luke showed off his stream skiing and tree skiing skills on the way out when we crossed back over the creek - sans bridge. Needless to say, I am putting my boot drier to very good use.

I may still go out for a run later this evening but am looking forward to seeing Shirley at In Motion Rehabilitation (Luke, this may be the worst site I have ever seen. Think they'd trade us some bench time for a little help?) tomorrow and then going for a bike ride. Singlespeeders, start your engines for a 4:30 launch. Be there or be elsewhere.

~stubert

In lieu of...

You begin saving the world by saving one person at a time; all else is grandiose romanticism or politics. ~ Charles Bukowski

Often times, we seem to only see the full task of what lies ahead and that can be quite overwhelming. "Why even start?" one may ask. Look for the small victories, the tiny differences we can make that, as individual pieces of the puzzle mean little but are quite powerful as a collective whole. If we do what we can, make small sacrifices or changes to our lifestyles, we can make a difference. And by making a difference, we can influence others to do the same. And so on.

Today was spent at COHRS cleaning rabbit cages. I had plans to get out for a run or ski but just didn't have it in me today. Good to take some rest when you feel the need.

Tomorrow, we are hoping to get out for some backcountry sking. Will see if that plan comes to fruition but mark your calendar for a Tuesday evening Singlespeed ride. Should be ready to roll by 4:30 or so.

How will you make a difference today?

~stubert

Big shoes...

Rub some dirt on it and get back in there. ~ Coach Sanders

Yesterday's run was interesting. I definitely learned a few things:

• Running in headwinds and rain takes it out of you
• Sticky mud = very big shoes (I knew this already but it was reinforced nicely last night)
• I need a new jacket - preferably one with a hood
  
• I need to practice running at night - MUCH slower than in the daytime
• I have a great crew

So after a few stumbles, Luke and I finally started running at 5:00. The first few miles were on pavement/bike paths and went quickly. Easy 10-minute pace. We ran on trails here as much as possible but had to spend a bit of time on the hard stuff, which is not really what either of us enjoy. Once we hit dirt, the wind kicked up and it started to rain. This would be the standard off and on for the remainder of our run.

Pete tried to hook up with us out by Boulder Res but we somehow missed him and just kept rolling. We had to walk anything remotely steep as the trails out this way are mostly clay and were pretty slick. We were getting tired from having Gene Simmons shoes and I was trying to stave off the fatigue by pounding yummy humus burritos Rage made.

Several miles later, after running down the Sanitas Valley Trail, we looked up ahead to see our favorite black-haired crew member trotting down the trail towards us. Brad had braved the crummy weather to come join us for a brief section of the run. We shuffled into Eben G. Fine Park and met up with Nichole and Pete just before dusk, roughly 30 minutes off pace but still feeling okay.

Nichole, Pete and Brad practiced crewing (Brad holds a mean apple if you are ever in the need of those services). After a quick shoe change, some dry clothes and refilling our food and water stocks, we were off into the night to run up the first part of Flagstaff on our way to the Mesa trail. This is where things started to fall apart a bit.

I could tell that Luke was not feeling particularly well on the climb up Flag. Usually he is the one pushing the pace but last night, he was experiencing some knee pain that was holding him back. I wasn't feeling just red hot myself and we decided to take a short break once we got to the Ranger Station. At this point, Luke decided it would be best if he were to call in the cavalry to give his knees a much needed break. I wanted to push on a bit so that I could increase my longest distance and time active and headed out Mesa solo planning to catch the car at NCAR.

I was definitely a bit slower on this section than I had hoped. I also lost my ear buds somehow and, though I searched for several minutes, was unable to locate them in the dark. I must have stepped on them while putting on my jacket or something. So we can add that to the list of needs: New headphones. I finished up at NCAR about 4:45 after starting and estimate my total distance to be ~20 miles. Pete was gracious enough to come pick me up and Luke and Nichole donated a shower. I got home sometime around 11:30 after driving through a pretty good Spring snowstorm to roughly 6 inches on the ground. Spring in the Rockies... gotta love it.

So today, I plan to recuperate - watch some movies, maybe go for a short walk later and let Rage drive the car back and forth over my legs for awhile. Tomorrow I am cleaning cages at The House Rabbit Society in the morning and may do a short run in Boulder in the afternoon or perhaps skin up Eldora for a few turns. Comment if you would like to join me on either or if you have a preference.

~stubert

Rest day...

No rest for the wicked. ~ Kathy with a "K"

Like many a fine film, I will start this in the middle. Just to keep you on your toes. I have been training for the Leadville Trail 100 for about 9 months now and took a much needed rest day today to get ready for tomorrow's training event - the Cirque de Boulder.

I'll work my way back to the beginning, I promise, but for now, please bear with me. I have started this site to keep everyone appraised of my current mode of self-flagellation and to invite you to tag along in the fun and/or games. Friday's homework: Run around Boulder with as few forays onto pavement as possible. We'll start around 4:30 from the house that Luke's dad built (near Cherryvale and Baseline). About 30 miles later, we'll stop. Good times.

Map de la route

Comment if you care to join us or if you would just like to mock me.

~stubert