Still life with Canada Crüe and thumb: Me, Luke, Pete, Seth, thumb

We need to form a full assault, it's Canada's fault! ~ The Residents of South Park

Tomorrow I head up to the Great White North for a fun-filled week of skiing and trying to avoid back bacon. Luke, Pete, Seth and I are staying in Canmore (outside of Calgary) and have plans to ski around the Banff area. We are hoping to get in some days at Lake Louise as well as Kicking Horse and other highlights of the Canadian Rockies. Should be pretty kickass.

I managed to get in a few more days this week but stayed away from running despite the unbearably warm temps. This week featured several 70° days in the Denver/Boulder area which is, frankly, stupid. It did snow today (finally) so that should help things a bit. I am not a big fan of this kind of crazy heat in January. I skied at Eldora on Saturday with the Canada Crüe and then at Eldora with Pete and Edy on Sunday. Both days I was virtually pain-free, which was a treat. My abs/psoas muscles were bugging me a bit again on Monday and I visited Dr. Dave on Tuesday to see if he could work some more magic but alas, it was not to be and I am once again feeling it. Oh well.

Wednesday, I headed up to Eldora to spin some Lost Lake laps with Larry. How alliterative. It was 40° at 7:45 when I got up there which didn't bode well for the snow conditions but the gut of Right Chute was actually quite tasty for not having had any fresh for a week. Larry and I did a couple laps then both headed back to the real world and work. It was great to get out and it really made me look forward to next week even more. Gotta love exploring.

So I hope to keep everyone posted during the trip and will let you know how things are going. Rach is currently baking a bunch of cookies for us to mack on and I am pretty much packed up and ready to go. Next stop, Pete's house in Boulder to pick him up at 5:00 then we get our flyin' on and will be in Canada by 11:00 or so.

Stay tuned...

~stubert.

Holy crap...

May I have a Venti, decaf, iced, vanilla latte with 4 pumps please? ~ John Roach

I have no words.

~stubert.

I need some Vitamin I...

I don't like goats. You know, leever, keedneys... goats. ~ Someone with whom Rach went to school

Sorry to get all technical on you but my guts hurt. Still nursing this abdominal/psoas muscle deal and frankly, I am getting a bit sick of it. I guess I am going to need to get the extra large bottle of Ibuprofen and take Caleb's lead on whacking them down on a regular basis.

Went to Dr. Dave twice this week. I guess we are making progress on it but man.... He put the serious hurt on me yesterday trying to help relieve whatever is going on in there and today I am pretty sore. I see him again on Tuesday and will probably make an appointment with Mark for next week as well to see what can be done. It doesn't bother me too much while skiing (but definitely puts a damper on things) but is still really bugging me when I run. I did a treadmill workout on Thursday that went okay... not great but okay. Just over 3 miles at a steady, fairly slow pace. Baby steps, I guess. Those are a bit tough when one is used to taking big boy steps.

Rach is continuing her reign on awesomeness, in case you were wondering. I am turning into fat Stu with her cooking and my limited exercise. Must remember to not eat like I am training for a huge race when not actually training for a huge race.

We are getting the Banff Crüe together today for some turns at Eldora (day 25 for me this season). We leave in a week for the trip which should be killer. (The trip, not the leaving part.) Pete, Luke, Seth and I are headed up for a week. Staying in Canmore (thanks for the hook-up, Dad!) and will be skiing all around the Banff area. Seth is an amazing photographer so hopefully we'll get some good shots out of it. I recently got back on the Patagonia Pro program and am hoping that we can get something for them while up there which might open up some other opportunites. We'll see how it goes.

Still trying to figure out this season's event schedule. I am still targeting the Leadville Trail 100 for late August and a double crossing of the Grand Canyon in early May. I am debating between running more or less and think that Ben's recommendation about just having fun with it is pretty solid. I would like to do a 50K event in March and was thinking about doing the Collegiate Peaks Trail Run but it looks like it is in early May too, so I guess I'll try to find one in June or create my own adventure run for late June/early July. There is a cool loop around the Indian Peaks that Ben and Luke did once... perhaps that would be a good substitute. I also may try to get into the New York City Marathon in November.

Ok, I'm off to the Rock. Looks like it could be a warm on and so far, no wind.... which is nice.

~stubert.

Double deuce and another...

Aaagh! My groin!!! ~ George C. Scott (as impersonated by someone on the Simpsons)

Greetings blog readers.

Now that I have the formal bs out of the way, I would like to tell you about the last couple of days which notched 22 and 23 on the belt of the 08/09 season. Which reminds me... I need to purchase a belt notcher. And a belt, I suppose.

We got the serious posse together yesterday for Luke and Nichole's triumphant return to the Basin. They were greeted by pretty chilly temps and funky snow conditions. Luke still skis like a champ but for once, I was able to out-pace him. Only because he is not acclimated, really... but I'll take it however I can get it.

Pete, Edy and Caleb rounded out the crüe and we hooked up with Jodi for some nice, hard-charging laps off Pali. The Spine was flowing smoothly the first part of the day then got some nice blow-in later, which was pretty cool. The Rock Garden was skiing really well (as usual) and there were great turns to be found in the lower alleys. All around a great day.

I headed to the gym on the way home in a misguided attempt to get some miles under my belt. I lifted for a bit then did manage to run 1/16 of a mile. Not my best effort. My entire pelvic region is just completely messed up right now. Psoas muscles giving me a lot of trouble and now my groin muscles have decided to join the party. I suppose I should stop doing everything but it bugs me less skiing and I am feeling great otherwise so I'll probably be an idiot and keep hammering. Yeah. Not much has changed when it comes to self-abuse dipshittery in the casa del stubert.

I did swim for a bit, which actually seemed to loosen things up. Then my left foot cramped up. Which is not on my list of recommended things to have happen in the deep end. I do like my new goggles, however; and even suggested to Rach that I wear them full-time. She did not give the thumbs-up on that idea.

So today we headed up to Eldora which lived up to its name admirably. It is a little-known fact that Native Americans coined the word "eldora" to mean "cold as hell and windy as all get out". Most belive this was a reference to someone tribesman's bitchy and flatulant aunt but the origin is a bit foggy. Wait, what? It doesn't mean that? Well it should.

Caleb, Pete, Evelyn and I met early for a morning assault on the Rock and though it actually wasn't that cold, it was blowing like crazy which made it feel about minus eleventy million degrees. Yes, Centigrade... duh. Salto was skiing really well though so we braved the conditions until around noon. We hooked up with Morgan about 11 so got to spend some time skiing with her, which is always a treat. I also found a sweet nook at the top of Salto in which to hide from the blasting wind. I did my best Totoro impression but I don't think anyone got it but me. But as long as I am entertained, I'm happy.

I really, really need to get my office set up so maybe that will be today's afternoon project. If you think of anything else that I could use as a distraction, please let me know.

~stubert.

The Basin rules...

The East Wall has our back. Cort and Stu, day 21.

Squeeeeeeeeee!!! ~ 13 year old girl

Day twenty-one was a blast. Cort and I headed up to the Basin for some slopeside office action and we just kinda cruised for a few hours on really decent snow. I did one run down the Spine for good measure and it, and the Rock Garden, were just dreamy. Yes, I have turned into a 12 year old girl. Well... 13.

I have mixed feelings about this.

I also got my run on again yesterday and man it hurt. I think that I need some new psoas muscles. They are trashed. I sense a visit to Mark Plaatjes in my near future. In any event, I did spin laps on the mini-track at the gym for about 42 minutes. 5 miles. Not too shabby but it was pretty ugly. Contradiction? Yes. But I am the boss of this blog so put that in your pipe and smoke it*.

Anyway, the wind has finally calmed down a bit. I tried to shoot some video of the wackiness yesterday without much success but let me tell you, it was howlin'. Like um... some sort of moon-crazed animal. A marmot or some damned thing.

Okay, that is all for now. Don't do anything I wouldn't do.

~stubert.

*[Ed. - Neither the author of this blog nor its affiliates condones the smoking of non-prescription adjectives, adverbs or other assorted modifiers. If you are starting a smoking-related exercise program, please consult your physician.]

Where'd the last week go?

Caleb and me at the Basin.

Slipped my mind... ~ Dean

[Ed. ~ So I forgot to post this yesterday or whenever I actually managed to get it written. How much does that rule?]

Apparently, I have been busy as the last week has flown by. I know I have been working a ton and did manage to check out a movie (Milk) on Sunday after cleaning bunny cages at the House Rabbit Society with Rach in the morning. It was quite good. Go see it immediately. I haven't skied since last Friday though, which is a bit of a drag and today the wind is working overtime up here so I am not sure Eldora will even have the upper mountain open. Plus it will probably be scoured. I'll keep you posted on that though.

I did break out the trainers on Saturday and hit the dreadmill at the gym. Felt pretty awful after way too much time away from regular running. I did do 5 miles at a moderate (joggy) sort of pace of 9-10-minute miles. A far cry from my standard pacing. But that's okay. I probably shouldn't have taken so much time off but I was hoping some of the nagging injuries I have been experiencing would go away in the interim (they haven't). Still having problems with my psoas muscles and toes. But if these are my biggest problems in life then I have it pretty good, really.

I did get in day 20 up at A-Basin on the 2nd with Caleb. Pete and Edy came up for a few runs too. I was feeling pretty tired and beaten up at the start but got way better as the day went on and by the time we had to leave, I was skiing really pretty well. Dropping the cornice, then top rocks and even flowing a tricky little rock feature mid-way down the mountain. All in all, I am skiing pretty well.

So given today's conditions, I may hit the gym for my lunchtime adventure instead of braving the wind at the Rock. We'll see how things go.

~stubert.

The late teens...

Day 18 Crüe: Me, Caleb, Pete, B-Rad

There are no friends on a hardpacked, punchy, windy, boney, shaved-butt-bump day. ~ Collective effort

Actually, the above statement is false unless you are trying to figure out who the jackass was who recommended skiing on such crap conditions. That would be the not-friend. (For the record, I think that jackass was me.)

Caleb, Pete and I met up with Brad on the 31st for some year-end turns at Eldora. (Day 18 for me for the season.) The conditions were, to put it mildly, challenging: Hard-packed, rhythm-challenged, choppy bumps and wind combined for fun and/or games. Good times. Salto and Westridge were both open though we all agreed that this was a more bold move than usually witnessed at the Rock. We weren't really complaining, actually. So we spun laps until close to last chair then had a beer with Brad and Jess (thanks Brad!).

Caleb shows how it's done.

Pete, Caleb and I headed up to A-Basin early on New Year's day and were greeted by firm and buffed conditions. Apparently the wind did not take a break on the Basin in the last few days and the Spine was firm yet smooth. Pali Face and the Rock Garden were equally tasty once we all figured out how to deal with the snow conditions. Pete was skiing like a champ though he had to bail early to go meet Edy at the airport and Caleb, as usual, was solid. I skied on my new, graphics-free AK Maiden prototypes courtesy of Luke's garage (thanks, Luke's garage!) and good times were had by all. By the time we took off, the A-Frame was absolutely packed with semi-hung-over clientelle bitching about how cold it was (it wasn't) and all in all, it was a great 19th day. Oh, and on the way up, we only saw one hung over reveler puking on the side of I-70 and one woman who appeared to be nursing a very serious headache. So whoopee!

Pete is killing it on the slopes this year.

So if you are looking for a good way to end/start the year, I recommend getting your ski on.

~stubert.