Getting back out there...

Look at me, I'm Peter Pantsless! ~ Homer Simpson

Let's see... where to start? I suppose I'll lead off with Sunday's run -- the infamous Double Mesa. '

Bob decided it was time to get out there and grind out a half marathon on some of Boulder's finest terrain. The Mesa Trail (for those unfamiliar with the more popular area runs) rolls along the foot of the Flatirons and spans about 7 miles from central Boulder to Eldorado Springs (almost). This is a great run and often times one can take on a large chunk of the course without seeing any other runners or hikers. The middle section is particularly devoid of the crowds that can plague other Boulder-area trails. Good stuff.

Bob put together a great group of guys for this outing and a total of six of us headed out from the Ranger Station at shortly after 10 in the morning. The group was fairly well balanced with everyone from seasoned marathon runners to "longest evers". We maintained a solid pace throughout and it was good to be back on Mesa. Still one of my favorites. This was my longest run since the event and we finished in about 2:40. Not blazing, by any stretch of the imagination, but not too shabby (actually on par with the last time I ran the Double Mesa). (Check out the full album.)

I was pretty sore the following day. Given my activity levels of late (or lack thereof), I wasn't surprised but recovered quickly. All in all, this was a good run for me and it reminded me why I do this stuff. I need to set aside time to get out in the wilderness more often. Put that on my list.

So I took it easy the next couple of days. Back to the grind. Today I waffled about whether or not to go up to A-Basin for some more early season turns and finally decided to give it a shot about 9:00. I needed to get to the bank anyway and this was a good excuse to get out. We got about 3 inches of snow last night which also helped to motivate me for the drive. I was hoping to drag Luke or Pete into the fray but neither was able to make it up so I headed out solo.

Everything was splendid until about 5 miles from Eisenhower Tunnel when traffic came to a standstill. Unfortunately there is a dead zone right there so I was unable to get a signal to check to see what the hell was going on up the road. After about 30 minutes of sitting at a virtual standstill punctuated with periodic 1-2 mile and hour surges up the hill, I got a signal and discovered that the tunnel was closed due to wrecks on the West side. Super. I stuck with things until the next exit then bailed back to Golden, a quick jaunt to the bank and grocery store then back home. Took the skis for a drive. Always a joy. Oh well.... Can't win every day.

Oh yeah. I also lost a toenail. Two more are looking suspicious. My feet are still just hammered from Leadville.

Movie time:
We have been spending a lot of time with Robot Chicken of late. Great show if you have never seen it. Seth Green cracks me up. Essentially, this is stop-action animation with action figures and dolls and whatnot. Very funny.

We also watched Spiderman 3 and Harsh Times. Neither is worth the effort, really. S3 had some great special effects but for some reason Sam Raimi decided it would be a good idea to show the softer side of Spidey in the third installment. Um... no one wants to watch a super-hero bawl all the time. Trust me. Plus, it just wasn't that great. There was this space goo that was never really explained and just seemed like an afterthought. "Well, we have to get Spiderman to get infected by this gunk to show his alter-ego. Ah hell, I'm lazy, let's just send it in on a meteor and call it good." In any event, I wasn't particularly impressed.

Harsh Times was a Christian Bale/Freddy Rodriguez vehicle that just didn't draw me in at all. Both characters were just not sympathetic. Being what I like to call a "Steve" (Straight To Video), I am not sure what I expected. Don't rush out to put this one on you list.

Okay... that's all I have for now.

~stubert.