Sunday postage...

Remember, just because you have a stripper name doesn't mean you have to grow up to be a stripper. ~ Earl Hickey

Yesterday: Run - New WestMag Trails, 1 hour 45 minutes
Today: Lumberjackin' - House, 2 hours
Tomorrow: Hike

Still a bit buried with work but got out for a run with Brad and Jess yesterday to check out the Fall colors and some new trails on WestMag. Then we hit up the buffet at Kathmandu and chowed down.

It was perfect Fall weather... sunny with a storm pending. We started on a fairly standard loop but soon discovered a new trail which none of us had ever been on before. It lead up to a network of other un-charted trails (by me, anyway). Definitely putting this on my list of places to explore. (Check out the gallery.)

Once we topped out, we headed West and back down to a junction of the trail on which we started so we ran back toward the Habitrail where we ran into a client, Derek, who was missing his dog, Greta. Apparently, she had taken off after something and was MIA. We spun back around on the Habitrail and bailed at the second road crossing only to run into Derek again, with Greta in tow! It started raining just as we finished up then we headed to Kathmandu for their lunch buffet. Normally, I am not much of a buffet guy but Kathmandu pretty much rules so I overlook the gnarly aspects of the whole buffet system. Anything that requires sneeze guards makes me nervous.

Today I did some more work on our trees and took two more trailer-loads to the slash pit. There are probably 10 more to go, slowly but surely getting there.

If you haven't checked out My Name is Earl, give it a whirl. Decent TV.

I am planning to head over to Winter Park on Wednesday to play a round of golf with my pops. Apparently, they got about 3 inches of snow last night (yes!) but it will surely be gone by Wednesday. Rach and I will probably head over in the morning, hang out with the 'rents then jam back that evening to take care of the critters. Will keep you posted on that.

Take it sleazy.

~stubert.

I have cubicle butt...

An historic event, Stus outdoors.

It buurrrnnses!~ Gollum

Yesterday: Run - Neighborhood, 1 hour 15
Today: Sat on my ass
Tomorrow: Work and then something outdoors

I think that the outside still exists though I didn't see it today. Man, I'll be happy when this crunch is over. Quintess is keeping me busy like crazy plus I am working three other deadlines. It pays the bills. The last time I actually got out and about for a substantial period of time (other than lumberjacking days), was with Luke 2 weeks ago. He wasn't feeling super red hot but I did take a couple of cool shots of him while running along the Switzerland Trail. Good times.

Yesterday, I did tear myself away from the computer for about an hour for a nice run in the woods around the casa. I have been trying to figure out how to run faster with less effort but the combination of not getting out regularly and not eating lunch made for only about an hour or so of this working well, then I kindof ran out of steam. Fun run though. The trees up here are amazing right now.

Have I mentioned lately how much ass Rach kicks? She not only makes me amazing meals that are as beautiful as they are tasty, but ran a couple of important errands for me yesterday which saved me hours of frustration and drive time. How much does THAT rule? She is on her way home from delivering some bunnies in Aurora or somewhere so I am looking forward to getting to kick it with her for a little while.

I haven't had time to watch any movies lately though we have been watching the second season of My Name is Earl. Funny stuff. Pretty lowbrow but sometimes that hits the spot.

Ok, I have to go take a shower as I smell like a goat for some reason. Actually, that is offensive to goats. Sorry guys.

~stubert.

Too much, too soon...

"Leafers!" ~ Peter Griffin

Yesterday: Hike - Raccoon Trail, 1 hour
Today: Work
Tomorrow: Hike

Still swamped with work. What else is new? At least Rach is making me get out of the house for hikes. Gotta love that.

I also took some time yesterday to continue chopping down trees. I am almost done with this project and man, lumberjacking is hard work. Glad I don't have to do that every day. I probably have another 5-7 large trees to drop and a bunch more smaller ones. Slowly but surely getting it done.

We were hoping to do a Fall Colors run this weekend up on the Leadville course but time simply didn't permit. I am guessing next weekend will be the last chance to get peak colors so we'll try to make it happen then. I have 4 projects due by the 1st though so I am not sure I'll be able to get away.

Gotta jam back to work.

~stubert.

Risky business...

Your head will collapse but there's nothing in it and you'll ask yourself, "Where is my mind?" ~ The Pixies

Yesterday: Hike - Coyote Trail, 1 hour
Today: Run - Neighborhood, 1 hour
Tomorrow: ???

At what point does sitting in front of a computer for days on end become riskier than some of the crap I do outdoors on any given weekend? When every day is Sunday, are weekends even relevant anymore? Probably not when you work through them. Oh well. Make hay while the sun's out.

Busy busy busy. We are in serious crunch mode right now with three (Three? Maybe four, I've lost track.) deadlines looming at the end of the month. October is lining up to be more of the same and that is good for sure. I would rather be way too busy than sitting around staring at the cats. All in all, things are good. Hectic, but good. I am managing to pry myself away from the computer from time to time and so I really can't complain.

Movie stuff: I actually took a couple hours off last night because my brain was leaking out of my ears and watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It seems that they are starting to figure these out as this was significantly less painful than the first two. I think the kids are actually figuring out how to act. Which is nice. I might actually recommend this one to you. A little slap-sticky at times but otherwise not too bad.

Speaking of prying myself away, I am going to go run.

Maybe it's just me...

You ever get that panicky feeling that your toenail is about to fall off as you walk across the supermarket parking lot carrying a chainsaw because it is rubbing all weird on your flipflop? The toenail rubbing, not the chainsaw.

Me neither.

~stubert.

All work and no play...

The trick to juggling is determining which balls are made of rubber and which ones are made of glass. ~ Anonymous

Yesterday: Worked
Today: Hike/Cut down trees
Tomorrow: Hike/Cut down trees

I wish I had more to report but I have been way too busy working. Frankly, it is making me a bit grumpy so I need to figure out how to make more time for other stuff in each and every day. I haven't figured that out yet but will get back with you on that one.

Today, I am going to start thinning our property. In case you hadn't heard (or somehow never leave the front range), we have a bit of a pine beetle problem in the high country that is killing vast amounts of forest. This is much more evident in Grand and Summit counties but is making its way eastward. One way you can help strengthen your trees (and hopefully stave off the worst of the damage) is to thin your trees to help those that remain to grow more resistant to the attack. Essentially maximizing the nutrients, water and sunlight available to each individual tree by minimizing the competition. So that's what we're going to do. Plus, we have some trees that have what is called Gall Rust which makes them more susceptible to wind damage so we'll drop those as well. Pete and Luke are coming up tomorrow to lend a hand which will be awesome.

The only other news is that I am a month out from Leadville and am feeling fine. One interesting phenomenon that occurred this week was that about 3 and a half weeks out, the skin on my feet started to shed. Mostly this was that which was affected by blisters but some between my toes decided to head for the proverbial hills as well. Not really a problem, just an interesting side effect of the craziness that is running 70+ miles. My toenails are still attached, which is nice. (I think that all sounded much more gross than it really is.)

Ok kiddies. That's all for today. Hope to have something more interesting for you tomorrow and in the days to come.

~stubert.

First frost...

Death lies on her like an untimely frost. Upon the sweetest flower of all the field. ~ Lord Capulet

Yesterday: Rest
Today: Hike
Tomorrow: Ride

Several quick announcements:

1. Per the title, today can be marked down as the first frost of the season. For those of you who are not fond of Winter - bummer for you. Everyone else, start doing the snow dance.
2. I am a bit stressed out right now but will keep thinking about #1 to try to deal with it.
3. In an effort to help out #2, I went to see The Bourne Ultimatum yesterday. Not really a recommended movie if you are trying to chill out. Just sayin'.

Movie time: As stated above, I went to see The Bourne Ultimatum yesterday. I felt this was a big-screener and was not disappointed. Pretty much non-stop action. Good times. I am not sure you should go see it if you tend to have seizures when confronted by flashing lights as I think the longest single camera shot in the whole film was about 1.5 seconds but from my perspective, the Bourne series is decent action filmery.

It has been awhile since I have watched the other two installments but I recall being pleasantly surprised by the first and more than satisfied with the second. The third built on both of these but didn't muck it up with the standard action-hero BS lines, some sort of cheesy love story or trying to make Bourne anything much more than the machine into which the government turned him. Sure, there is some social/political commentary tossed into the mix and a large amount of silly action stuff (Every action hero is an expert at everything, which always cracks me up. They can jump on a motorcycle and pull off stunts that would take years of dedicated practice to master, for example, and can sustain obscene amounts of abuse and keep on rolling but hey, it's an action movie, not Merchant Ivory.) but overall, this is a pretty good series if you are interested in just shutting off your brain for a bit.

On the other hand, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets continued the tradition of great book, mediocre movie started in the first installment of that series. I know it is for kids but there have been plenty of kids movies made that aren't borderline excruciating. I will probably continue watching this series as well but am not entirely sure why. I guess you get what you deserve when casting for looks instead of talent. And whoever wrote the score (John Williams) should be beaten to death with his own heavy-handed music. That would show him. And I seem to remember the book actually ending, not just trailing away into nothingness. Anyway... just my take on it.

Ok. Time to get some work done before I have to get more work done.

~stubert.

Gettin' my run on...

Three tomatoes are walking down the street -- a poppa tomato, a momma tomato, and a little baby tomato. Baby tomato starts lagging behind. Poppa tomato gets angry, goes over to the baby tomato, and squishes him... and says, 'Ketchup.' ~ Mrs. Mia Wallace

Yesterday: Hike - Raccoon Trail, 1 hour
Today: Run - Switzerland Trail, 2 hours
Tomorrow: Hike

Ok. I have to catch you up on recent events.

I jammed over to Gunnison on Friday to hang with the 'rents. Played 9 holes of golf with my pops, did some stuff around the humble abode, ate some good Mexican food, hung out with my mom. That kind of stuff. It was a nice weekend for sure.

Gunnison is an interesting town. Crested Butte is nearby so there is a definite hippie/liberal element (plus, there is a college there which adds to this vibe) but the rest of the area features a lot of farmer/rancher types which makes for an interesting mix. It is always good to get back over there for sure as the area is beautiful and filled with Stu-style goings on. Lots of mountain biking/trail running/skiing/outdoorsy goodness. I am psyched we moved there and that my parents have stayed. The X-Card went on sale again. Just put that on the list of things to get. Which reminds me. I need to get my Eldora pass as well.

The aspens are threatening to turn throughout the high country. I think two-three weeks will be the peak. I am hoping to get the Crüe together for a Leadville run from Half Moon to Twin Lakes and back. This section of the course is aspen-central and would be gorgeous if timed right. We'll see who is interested in an adventure of that sort.

Today's run was a real surprise. I actually felt pretty well throughout and ran a steady pace for a full 2 hours. Luke wasn't feeling so hot towards the end. I think he is coming down with something. I, on the other hand, had enough in me to turn some serious times in the last 2 miles or so and finished up strong. I definitely couldn't have sustained that pace for long but it was nice to get the legs turning over.

Luke and I talked about Leadville and whether or not I am going to give it another shot next year. The jury is still out on that one and I think I will try to hold off on any decisions until after February. In the meantime, I'll keep training to stay in shape for ski season and the Enduro and see how I feel about things later in the year. If I could figure out a way to do it without having to invest so much time training, I think I would give it another whirl. I just don't know if I can spend that much time away from my sweetie again this year. We'll see. In any event, it is really great to be able to run again. Today was just awesome along the Peak to Peak.

What else? Just procrastinating horribly. I have meetings all day tomorrow so need to get some work done tonight in preparation. We have been watching Season 3 of The Office which I highly recommend. Funny stuff. It's not Arrested Development but it is actually decent TV for a change.

l8s

~stubert.

See Stu run...

I did it like this. I did it like that. ~ Beastie Boys

Yesterday: Drive, Work, Repeat
Today: Run - Zoo Loop, 1 hour 45 minutes
Tomorrow: Drive, Golf

So three weeks out and I couldn't take it anymore. Had to go for a serious run to test the machine. It is still weary but doing pretty well.

I drove up to the Park and ran down Raccoon Trail then up to Elk. Really a gorgeous day: Sunny, a little wind, cool. Great weather for a run. Once I got up to Elk, I headed down valley through the conifers up top and then gradually turning into stands of aspen and open meadows. The last time I was up here, the wildflowers were going nuts. Today saw hints of autumn creeping into the flora. One thing I have really enjoyed over the course of the past year is being able to visit the same territory during the various seasons. Really neat to be able to run through fall colors, winter snow, spring green, summer flowers and eventual baked terrain and back again to fall.

Once I reached the valley floor and passed the old homestead, I stopped to stretch and take a few shots. I then headed over the ridge to Mule Deer Trail where I began to climb up the back side of the ridge separating Gap Road and Golden Gate Canyon. I was able to run most of this and only walked the steepest sections. I was really feeling okay. Not super, a bit tired, but decent. I focused on my form and on keeping steady upward progress. Not too shabby for the first run post-race.

I quickly made it to the top of the ridge where I stretched again, removed some boulders from my shoe and ran on through the aspens up to the second homestead on this loop. There used to be a lot of bootlegging in this area during Prohibition and several sites still exist where enterprising outlaws made hooch for delivery to Golden, Denver and the mining towns of Central City and Blackhawk. On Coyote Trail, there is even an old car that was left to rust from that era. Pretty cool.

After about an hour, things started to hurt a little bit but I carried on, ignoring the aches and pains that still remind me of the Leadville effort. Nothing serious, just some creaky joints and still-tender toes. My right knee gave me a little grief as I made my way along Mule Deer back toward Gap Road but I was able to push more than in a long time on the downhills which was fun. Now that the race is over, I need to focus my attention on getting into skiing shape and there is nothing better than downhill trail running to get the spring back in your legs.

Running along the last mile, I came across a large group of schoolkids being chaperoned by several adults. I am guessing they were all in kindergarten or first grade but I am a lousy judge of ages so who knows. There were about a zillion of them and they were everywhere. It was horrible. Actually, it was pretty cute. Several were carrying packs in which it appeared they themselves could have fit and several were talking non-stop in an effort to show how much they knew about the area. Basically, they kept saying the same thing over and over, torturing their poor guide.

I finished up fairly strong and overall felt like I wasn't damaging myself further by getting out there. Hoping to do something with Luke later this weekend.

Tomorrow, I am heading to Gunnison to visit the parental units. It has been quite awhile since I have made it over that way and it will be good to see them. Hoping to get in a round of golf with my pops and help out around the house with winterizing stuff and whatnot.

Ok, back to work. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

~stubert.

Crash, boom, bam...

More often than not, circumstances do not permit the full use of your lane from yellow line to white line and back again. ~ Nick Ienatsch (from The Pace)

Yesterday: Hike - Raccoon Trail, 1 hour
Today: Hike - Coyote Trail, 1.5 hours
Tomorrow: Swim - Gilpin County Rec Center, 30 minutes

So this morning's meeting was postponed until tomorrow and I took a different route in to another client meeting in Denver. As I cruised down Golden Gate Canyon, I was joined by another rider on a Ducati. Shortly thereafter, a third rider joined the group on a big Yamaha sport bike as we got jammed up in traffic a bit. Once the road opened up, we were able to pass the slower moving cars and Senor Yamaha took the lead. I followed him for a bit but wasn't too thrilled with his pace and apparent experience. As I rounded a tight, left-hand corner, I saw him up ahead, leaning against the concrete guardrail - his bike in the dirt up against the barrier, wheels still spinning. Yup. He ran out of road.

I pulled over to the shoulder along with the Ducati rider and we walked back to the Yamaha guy who had now removed his helmet and turned off his bike. He was pretty shaken up but didn't appear to have suffered more than a little road rash. He was VERY smart to have been wearing a helmet, however as his sunglasses were crushed and his helmet badly scraped up from the impact. We picked up his bike, inspected the damage (broken plastic and mirror, dented tank, scratches everywhere) and the Ducati guy offered to follow him down to the mouth of the canyon to be sure that it was still ridable. I needed to get down to a meeting so I headed out.

Boys and girls, not only should you be safe out there but be sure to wear protective gear. I ride in a helmet ALWAYS as well as my Aerostich super suit and big-ass boots. Yes, it is hot. Sometimes uncomfortably so. But it is a helluva lot more comfortable than skin grafts.

Keep the rubber side down.

~stubert.

Vrooooom...

Corporations don't deserve free speech, people deserve free speech. ~ Ron English

Yesterday: Bunny Cages - COHRS, 3 hours
Today: Hike - Raccoon Trail, 1 hour
Tomorrow: Swim/Hike - Gilpin County Community Center/Coyote Trail, ~2 hours

So today was spent getting a little work done, tinkering on the dirt bike and dodging rainstorms. I got up at a relatively decent hour and put in some time organizing items for the coming three months' worth of work (that needs to be completed in the next 24 days). Then I took my chainsaw in to the shop as I need to drop some trees. We have a pending shitstorm of beetle problems headed our way and I am going to thin out a bunch of our trees in an effort to minimize the overall impact on our property. We'll see how that works. I did speak at length with a forest service guy today who steered me in the right direction. Now the fun part begins.

After dropping off the chainsaw, I messed around on the dirtbike for a bit to see if I could get it running. No dice. So I ran it back over to the shop to let the pros take a stab at it. I am sure it is something dumb but is also has a leaky fork seal with which I simply don't want to deal. I am debating whether or not to sell it and maybe even all my other bikes to get a single ride that will cover my bases adequately. We'll see about that. I am kindof jonezing for a snowmobile for this winter but frankly all of this goes a bit against my nature. I tend to prefer non-motorized means of travel. Hmmmm.

On the way home from the shop, I stopped to pick up two motorcyclists who were hitching a ride. They had started the day near Blackhawk and ended up near Rollinsville. Since their bikes were not street legal, they didn't want to risk getting stopped on their way back and didn't know how to get there on trails. We tossed their bikes on the trailer and I drove them back to their truck. They were amazed how far away they had managed to get. The system of trails and mining roads is pretty expansive in Gilpin County and it is actually fairly easy to find yourself a great distance from your point of origin without realizing it. I have been lost on these trails many times. Fortunately, most dump back out to the Peak-to-Peak eventually so you can usually find your way home (even if you have to go a helluva long way to get there).

So with two of my maintenance-impaired items in the shop, I think that should cover the major repairs for awhile. I did do some more research on garages and now just need to either pull the trigger or keep looking for property to purchase. We really like where we live, our chief complaint being that we don't have as much southern exposure as we would like, that we would like a little extra room and a larger garage in which we can keep our cars out of the elements. We'll see which way that goes.

Rach made me super yummy vegan pizza for dinner. She is the best cook. I wolfed it down and then we went on a nice little hike in Golden Gate Canyon State Park. Now it is time for a little more work and then off to bed.

Movies:
Last night, we watched two films: POPaganda: The Art and Crimes of Ron English and Unknown.

POPaganda was actually not the greatest film ever but Ron English is an amazing artist so it was pretty cool to see his work and to be able to watch him work. If you haven't seen any of his stuff, you should definitely check it out. He is primarily a New York artist who specialized originally in doing "takeover" billboard art. He would find billboards and paste his art (often times satirical advertising) up over the regular advertising. He then moved to more traditional forms of art and is really an incredibly talented fine artist who does most of his work in oils on canvas. Even if you don't watch this film, check out his work here.

Unknown was pretty much crap. Don't bother with this one.

Ok kiddies, don't do anything I wouldn't do.

~stubert.

Ouch...

I don't believe in Harry Potter (or arnica or gmail). ~ Pete (paraphrased, last name withheld to protect the non-believers)

Yesterday: Run ~ neighborhood trails, 1 hour
Today: Bunny cages
Tomorrow: Ride

Hmmm. Well that wasn't the most painful run I have ever done but it definitely wasn't the least either. I thought it might be interesting to see how well I could deal with a run. From the beginning, I felt pretty rusty and had some pain in my left knee after running only about 1/4 mile. That subsided after a bit but I never really felt great. Downhills were just jarring. Getting back into a flow was really not an option somehow. What did I expect only two weeks out?

I think I need to just stay at it. Slowly work back into the longer runs. My foot is still a pain and standing on it for 3 hours today didn't really help matters but it will heal. I am just a little beaten still. I have been thinking a lot about what would help the most if I decide to run Leadville again. One item on the list is to get faster and smoother. I think that if I were able to minimize the time and the punishment, things would go better for me overall. I need to improve my gait for sure.

Maybe some mid-distance events are in my future (marathon-50 miles). I may seek out a few of those to use as training events in the coming months. I am really excited for ski season, however so staying in shape (and healthy) for that is priority #1 right now.

Friday night, the Crüe met up for dinner at a local Boulder restaurant, Ras Kassas. This place rules. I had a great time with everyone and was psyched that everyone could make it. Ras Kassas features amazing Ethiopian cuisine and a fun atmosphere. If you have never eaten there (or another Ethiopian restaurant), I highly recommend it. Good times were had by all.

I haven't been watching many movies of late as I have been reading the Harry Potter series of books. I finished the final installment last night and I must say that they are quite engaging. Again, highly recommended. As Rach says, "They aren't Proust," but they are good entertainment. I am still not so sure about the movies (though I have only seen the first). I'll keep you posted on those as I attempt to sit through them as well.

Ok. I have to get some work done. Have a great long weekend.

~stubert.