Really stupid...

If an idea is good, it's on the verge of being stupid. ~ Michel Gondry

I have always had this theory… get a group of people in a room, throw out a bunch of ideas and at the end of the night, look at your list to find the most idiotic and that's the one you should do.

This blog was spawned from one very stupid idea - run the Leadville 100. I gave that a shot in the summer of '07 - completed 73 miles - and survived. The blog lives on...

RunStuRun has moved to http://www.runsturun.com

Friday, August 28, 2009

WTF...

Apparently, nicotine products are exempt.

Cigarette sales would drop to zero overnight if the warning said "CIGARETTES CONTAIN FAT." ~ Dave Barry

Anyone who has spent more than 30 seconds with me knows my disdain for littering in any form. I have a particularly venomous attitude toward those who toss cigarettes out the window because a) it appears these idiots feel that it isn't littering, b) it is actually WORSE than littering in that it causes fires which endanger lives (human and critter) and property and c) is completely preventable since every goddamned car on the market comes with this crazy thing called an ash tray (or has "ashtray" as an option that one can add for a small sum of money).

Regardless, when some dipshit feels the need to throw their smokes out the window, I get infuriated. So much so that I almost got into a fistfight over it once. True story.

I was coming home from somewhere and forgot about the weekly jackass parade from Denver to the casinos in Black Hawk. So I was stuck in traffic... for a long time. So I am not a happy Stu to begin with then SeƱor Asshat in the car in front of me decides the dry grass to the right of his car is where cigarettes go. I laid on my horn and shouted at him to pick up his cigarette at which point f-bombs were hurled and fortunately for I don't know who, the parking lot began to move and I was unable to do the horrible things that were coursing through my very imaginative mind. And to top it off, that car from which the butt was tossed was sporting a volunteer firefighter bumper sticker. I shit you not.

I have promised Rach I will no longer confront jackassery done in my direct line of sight but my blood still boils when I see people using our roadsides as their personal ashtrays.

So tonight, Rach found some litter in our driveway... tossed there, I'm sure, by one of the many douchenozzles who speed up and down our road on a regular basis (don't get me started). Lo and behold the litter wasn't a cigarette, but a nicotine gum package. I am not sure if this is a step in the right direction or not.

~stubert.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Spectating is hard...

Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes, well, he eats you. ~ The Stranger

Headed up to the LT100 on Saturday to do some spectating intervals. Needless to say, that was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be and I ended up dropping out after Tony came back through Twin Lakes (mile 60). I feel pretty good about the effort, however. It was quite warm, I was on the dirt bike and I managed to get a little run in there somewhere. I have to give a special shout out to my Patagonia Nano Puff Pullover for keeping me from freezing on my way to the race. Funny how cold it is at 6:00 in the morning on a motorcycle.

I was really pulling for Anton to win the thing in record style and thought he was still looking solid in Twin Lakes. He ended up dropping out at Fish Hatchery (about mile 75) due to severe cramping and intestinal issues. Read all about it here. Tim Parr took the reigns and finished up strongly with an overall time of 17:27:23. Way to go, Tim! Lynette Clemons took the women's title in 20:58:01 and I even ran with her briefly as she left Twin Lakes and I was trying to get some real training in.

So I jammed back to the Front Range and Rach and I went to see Ponyo, Hayao Miyazaki's latest film. As usual, he delivers the goods and it was fun to see in a theater full of munchkins.

Sunday, I went out for what is supposed to be my long, slow run but I turned it into a medium, fast run. Go figure. I was feeling super awesome so just thought I'd see how much I could turn on the heat. Ended up spinning 9.6 miles in 1:26. Good stuff.

Waiting for a break in the weather now to get in a short run with some speedwork then I'll try to get the shed roof dried in. Should be a productive afternoon.

~stubert.

Friday, August 21, 2009

And the trend continues...

What am I supposed to do? Just sit on my ass and watch TV? That ain't my style, man. ~ Homer Simpson

Missed my run on Tuesday due to extended work wackiness but did make it out on Wednesday for a great run in the woods with some tempo thrown in for good measure. 7.3 in 1:10 on technical trails with 15 minutes of tempo really satisfied.

Thursday I did a short recovery run and today I worked and hammered some nails. The shed is really taking shape and I expect to have the roof on in the next few days. Good stuff.

I am heading up to Pbville tomorrow to spectate and get in a little run somewhere on the course if possible. Hoping to see Tony Krupicka crush the course record. Sounds like he is flying right now.

I'll try to post from the race.

~stubert.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Well that was satisfying...

I haven't felt that good since Archie Gemmill scored against Holland in 1978! ~ Mark "Rent-boy" Renton

Two good runs in a row. That must be some sort of record.

Yesterday I got out early which was, I must admit, highly refreshing. Morning in the mountains is just different somehow. Anywhere, really. Things are more calm, collected. The quiet envelops you. And you can just settle into what you are doing without distractions found the rest of the day.

I headed out for a quick warm up on trails followed by several surges. I must admit, my abs have been bothersome of late but not so much that I can't enjoy myself and I have managed to finally get a tentative grip on running relaxed. By the time I hit the pavement for my first of 4 surges, I still felt fresh, fast. I spun nearly 5 miles in 40 minutes total with a good warm up and cool down. Pretty happy with that.

Today I headed out for my "long" run. The target was 1:20 and how I got there was really up to me. I selected one of my favorite routes with lots of hills and technical trails and told myself I would be happy if I ended up with 7 miles at the end of it all. I ran down the Beav then up into the forest that makes up what I like to call "the Triangle". This area represents part of the Roosevelt National Forest broken up by South Boulder Creek, Highway 119 and South Beaver Creek Road and is home to some of my favorite local trails – a couple of which I created. After climbing up Creekwood and heading out Judges, I dropped down Little Hope to Ski Thing and then climbed back up to Funky Boss via Sofa Spring. From there, I headed back up to Diver Down and then finished up by reversing my normal route on the Casa Trails and back home. Felt really great for most of the run with a couple of places I power hiked and went way anaerobic on one of the climbs before saying "screw this" and hiking. I have run everything on this route at one time or another but some sections are STEEP and I am working on hiking big ups but hammering the downs. In any event, I finished up with 8 miles in 1:20 on the nose for an average of 10-minute miles. VERY happy with that result.

I also made some progress on the shed over the weekend and just need to get a few more things in order to finish it up. Qwest comes tomorrow morning to fix our phone line and install a new modem for the office so that should make working in the studio a lot better and I have a meeting in Idaho Springs in the afternoon which should be productive. Rach hits the shelter on Monday so I'll be taking care of the critters at home while she is away as well. She has been staying down there Monday nights to give Nancy a break... which is just awesome of her.

I tuned into the Leadville 100 mountain bike race on Saturday as well and wish to congratulate Lance Armstrong on his record-breaking win. I was pulling for Dave Wiens but an in-shape Lance is a tough cookie to break. Dave took second (reversed the order from last year) and it sounded like an exciting race. I am looking forward to heading up next weekend to check out some of the run and hope to be back in there next year!

Also, if you have seen a shoe, Cort's was stolen last night by a fox so keep your eyes open for a stinky, fox-chewed Merrill clog-type thing. Not sure if we are looking for a left or a right but if you see something, let me know.

~stubert.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Rach is the best...

I feel that I would be remiss in my marital duties if I failed to ask, "Are you schtupping that Holstein?" ~ Rach

Open, unedited communication... the cornerstone of any successful marriage.

~stubert.

(And, no... the Holstein's reputation remains untarnished.)

Monday, August 10, 2009

Wild West Relay race report...

Bright and early is a half-truth. ~ me

Getting back on the racing train was great. I had been missing the camaraderie of running with others and the Wild West Relay was just the ticket.

I managed to climb in the sack Thursday night around 9 so actually got in a decent number of cuts before the alarm started blaring at 2:30. It was early but not very bright when I rolled out to meet the rest of the team in Denver for a short van ride up to Ft. Collins. The race started at the Budweiser plant (can't think of a better place from which to run away) and we met the remainder of the team at the start line. I was batting clean-up in van #2 so I would have to wait a LONG time before hitting the road for my first leg.

Teams consisted of 12 people who took turn running individual sections of the 197-mile course from Ft. Collins to Steamboat. Legs ranged in distance from about 2.5 miles to almost 8 and we competed in the Masters category which meant that we each had to run our respective sections in order. We started at 6:40am and since van 2 wouldn't have to start our first leg for several hours, we grabbed some food then made our way to the first van exchange point - a school somewhere in the middle of nowhere, Northern Colorado.

We hung out, got organized, chatted with other teams and waited quite awhile for the first runners to arrive. By the time Tom, our team runner, arrived, it was quite toasty. Sammie took our van's first shift and ran well despite the conditions. By the time I was up for my 2.5 mile jaunt, it was scorching out. I just put the hammer down so that I could get this bake-fest over as quickly as possible and finished in 19 minutes or so.

Then the waiting started once again as van #1 took over the running duties.

We drove back roads to the second van exchange and did our best to get some sleep during our break. We hung out in a campground for several hours until our teammates rolled in around 11:30pm when once again, we were on duty.

We took turns sleeping and running and my second leg started around 4:45am Saturday morning. I love night running and felt awesome during my 5.5-mile section of highway running. Competitors were spread out along the route before me and were just small dots of blinking red lights in the distance. I ran smoothly and managed to pass 6 other runners and finished in Walden with an average pace of 7:50-minute miles. Not too shabby.

The cycle repeated itself and we ended up in a field near the foot of Rabbit Ears pass. I immediately plopped down in my bivy sack and crashed out for a couple of hours until it got too warm to sleep any more. Some time thereafter the other van showed up, followed closely by their last runner and we were off again for our final sections. Up and over Rabbit Ears then I took over the final leg through the town of Steamboat and on to the finish line. 5-miles in 40 minutes (with a couple of delays where I got slightly off course and stuck at a traffic light). Not too shabby. Overall time: 32:25, average pace: right around 10-minute miles. Good times.

Thanks to Kathy, Paul, Sue, Lauri, Merlin, Tom, Lynn, Joel, Dave, Sammie and Frank for including me on the team, to Kevin and Drew for volunteering and giving me a ride back to my car on Saturday and to Rach for putting up with all my crap all the time and baking awesome treats for me and the team. Hopefully more fun times to come.

~stubert.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Run all night? Sign me up...

Ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long ~ Ministry

Run, work, hammer, repeat. Sounds pretty sweet, actually. I have been getting out regularly and feeling okay albeit a little out of shape. That is to be expected, however, given my standards are all messed up. Running marathons last fall made me feel that anything over an 8-minute pace is slow. And running ultras has made me feel that anything under, oh... 13 miles is short. So yeah, I'm all screwed up. But you knew that already.

I have also been building a shed at our house and have actually somewhat enjoyed the process thus far. I also have learned that I should not quit my day job. I have the floor all framed up and covered and it is actually mostly straight so... go figure. I am considering it a success thus far and plan to raise the walls next week. I'll keep you posted.

Today's run featured some trails, hills and a lot of sunshine plus 10 minutes of tempo work during which I went out way too fast and blew up a little towards the end. I believe that after I banish doubt, I will start working on accepting being humbled. And that is okay.

I also joined up with a team doing the Wild West Relay this weekend (well, Friday and Saturday). It is a 200-mile relay run starting in Fort Collins, jamming up through Wyoming and back down to Steamboat. All in about 24-30 hours. My shifts come around 3:00 on Friday then around 3:00 Saturday morning and again around noon. This will be my first foray into the team event action. Should be fun (or at least interesting). I plan on putting my well-crafted ability to sleep anywhere to the test and will apologize in advance for any grumpiness I may exude while being rousted for my shifts. Photos of me with Cheetos on my face to come...

Aaaaand Rach has been working her ass off at the shelter and taking care of Georgia, who is a special needs bunny. Georgia is doing really well under Rach's care and just loves giving kisses and eating piles of greens. Good stuff.

~stubert.

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