RunStuRun - Ultra Marathon stuff and more

Hungry for more...

2010-01-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

I've got ants in my pants! I'm discombobulated! Give me a calmative! ~ Grandpa Simpson

Wed: 1:32, 10.5 miles, East Boulder tempo
Thurs: 00:40, 4.6 miles, Boulder Creek Path recovery
Sat: 00:40, 4.14 miles, Neighborhood surges
Sun: 4:12, 26.24 miles, North Boulder backroads

A crazy week got in the way of updates so I am playing catch up a bit. Things have been going relatively well... I am still nursing a tight hamstring and mildly sore knee but that doesn't seem to be holding me back too much. Wednesday's run was a bit of a cluster. My splits were okay but by the end, I was really just done and my knee hurt and so I cut that one a little short. Thursday was a bit faster than I should have been running but I felt okay so just cruised. Saturday was a squeeze run early. Went to the opera mid-morning so it was good to get out for a quick run while it was still quiet and calm. Sunday was the mad man of the week...

Headed to Boulder early hoping to get in a few miles before meeting up with the crew but that didn't happen so we started together shortly before 9:00. We wound our way around part of the Backroads course and I ended up way north on CO66 before heading back to Boulder. Not too much to talk about other than really working on managing lingering ailments and getting in the miles. For the most part, I was successful. After 3 hours things started to get a little ouchy for sure but nothing that sparked tremendous concern – mostly just the standard fatigue and soreness that comes with the territory when logging that much time on one's feet. These small increases every week are paying off, however. I am feeling super fit and recovery happens quickly.

People ask about nutrition during ultra running a lot and aside from some of the standard items (gels; "real" food like pb&js, wraps, fruit; etc.) I have started working in some fluid-based nutrition as well. I have been using nuun exclusively for the past year or so and find it to work really well. I recently started working Charles Corfield's famous "Rocket Fuel" into the mix. I'm trying to get more info about that so check back for a full report. Thus far, however, it seems to be working really well for me both during and post running. I have been using a 1:1 mix of Waxy Maize and Maltodextrin coupled with a tab of nuun per bottle. I have the feelers out to Mr. Corfield (3rd place in the '07 LT100) and will let you know what more I find out.

Most of the top talent whack down gels throughout the races. I am not quite sure how they handle this but it seems to work well for them. I will supplement with gels and do use gels exclusively during shorter, faster events like marathons (maybe that is the key – make 100 miles short and fast and you are golden!) but for longer runs, I tend to stick with more solid fare and try to work in as much real food as possible. When I did the LT100 in '07 and the Silver Rush in '08, I relied pretty much exclusively on real food. For the LT100, I relied on food my crew made for me: PB&J wraps, avocado wraps, bean burritos, fruit, trail mix, tomato/avocado soup and the like. I had decent success with this and found, for me, the avocado wraps worked really well (1/2 of an avocado and some pink sea salt wrapped in a tortilla). Being a vegan, I didn't want to rely on aid stations and didn't want to get into a situation where I needed nutrition but was unable to find anything that suited me.

I took a slightly different approach to the Silver Rush in '08 (mostly because I wanted to approach this event more casually to take some of the pressure off) and actually did use the aid stations which provided chips, pretzels, fruit (melons and bananas) and soda. I made the mistake of filling up with some energy drink at one of the stations that did NOT go down well, so definitely beware. I supplemented with my own food for the start (pb&j and avocado wraps) and put more in my drop bag for resupplying at the turn. The best practice is to well... practice! Grab a burrito and go for a run. See what works well for you. Be prepared for wacky cravings during events but try to stick with foods and supplements with which you are familiar and have tried in training. Nothing worse than stomach problems during an event.

~stubert.

Variety...

2010-01-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness. ~ Seneca

Wed: 1:34, 11.25 miles, Snowpacked and icy Boulder road tempo
Thurs: 00:20, 2 miles, Treadmill session with Janet
Sat: 00:32, 3.4 miles, Treadmill surges
Sun: 3:47, 23.5 miles, North Boulder Hygiene loop
Tues: 00:50, 5.86 miles, Boulder Creek Path surges

Playing a bit of catch up after a hectic week and jam-packed weekend. Still have some residual tightness in my right glute/hamstring I am trying to sort out but have gotten in several great runs despite the wackiness.

Last Wednesday, I missed hooking up with the crew due to work obligations and had to wait until later in the afternoon to get in my scheduled tempo run. It was pretty chilly (15°F or so) and snowing when I started from central Boulder and made my way west on the Creek Path. I tried to keep my heartrate below 150 (and actually, at the time, thought I was doing an okay job of this) but the splits don't lie and I guess I pushed it a bit on the warm up. Not a big deal given the weather. Had to keep the blood flowing for sure.

Once I reached Eben G. Fine Park, I headed onto surface roads and started my tempo after about 35 minutes of warm up. It was definitely game on after that as I rolled up 4th and dropped down Kalmia. One thing I do love about Boulder is that they tend to pay more attention to bike paths than the streets and Kalmia was a bit of a mess. Lots of snow-covered ice and slippery sections made for interesting and exciting running – particularly at tempo pace. I fared quite nicely, however and ended up with a solid effort for the day. Blew up just a smidge toward the end after getting stuck at a light or two, losing my mojo a bit and getting a bit chilled but all in all, a great run.

Thursday, I had a session with Janet Runyan and, given that it was all of 7°, we opted to hop on the treadmill instead of driving around with her windows rolled down. Janet has me pretty dialed in at this point and I showed her a couple of new tricks I have been employing to try to help drive my hips forward and she pointed out a some other techniques I could use to relax a bit more and get a bit more grounded. I can't really say enough good things about where she has gotten me over the past 9 months. My form has improved, my fitness is way up and, though I am still nursing a few goofy aches and pains, I am feeling like I am definitely on the right track for a great year in 2010.

Saturday, Rach and I went to see the Met's broadcast of Der Rosenkavalier. Fantastic opera and amazing performances. We even managed to get home in time for me to jam over to the gym for a quick run on the treadmill. Only did 32 minutes and 3 surges but it shook out some of the kinks from sitting most of the day. Glad to have that resource available for sure.

I met with the group on Sunday this week for my long, slow run. We hooked up in north Boulder and spun a quick loop on clear surface roads and snowpacked side roads then headed west and back north to Hygiene. These roads are quite familiar from my days racing bikes and I never even conceived that one day I would be running the same routes on which I spent so much time perfecting my sprint and chasing down breaks. Pretty cool, actually.

I actually felt amazing for the first two hours of the run and spent most of that time spinning sub-10s and chatting comfortably with Janet and Art Ives, a top-five Leadville finisher and all around nice guy. He also coaches runners and is never at a loss for amazing stories and solid advice about how to improve my game. We burned a lap southwest of Hygiene then Art headed back to Boulder while Rebecca and I spun one more circuit then followed. By this point, my heartrate was staying up for some reason but I felt okay so am guessing there was some interference or something. Maybe I was working harder than I realized but I was breathing comfortably so I am not sure what was going on. I was pretty ready to be done once we got back to the cars, to be honest, but it was a great run for sure.

I was a little sore afterward and had a good soak in an ice bath once I got home. Stretching, compression socks, lots of fluids and some killer grub from Rach did the trick to get me feeling much better very quickly.

Mild soreness on Monday dissipated by Tuesday and it was a gorgeous day for a run. I was down in Boulder anyway and took advantage of the spring-like weather (mid 50s, sunny, no wind) for a jaunt up the Creek path and some surges. Felt maybe a little clunky to start but kept a mellow 9:15 pace for my warm up then did 8 1x1 surges. Dropped back down for a sub 9 finish that felt really amazing. Almost mechanical in how I was turning over the legs with power and efficiency. Hoping that I get that feeling more and more as the season progresses. Really a fun run.

So that brings us up to date. Sorry for the lapse... hectic has been the word that best describes my world right now. But getting out for a run always seems to bring everything back into focus.

~stubert.

Ups. Downs...

2010-01-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

Nothing more foolish than a man chasin' his hat. ~ Tom Reagan

Sat: 00:40, 4.3 miles, Treadmill surges
Sun: 2:23, 14 miles, Boulder slow run
Mon: 00:45 weights
Tues: 00:48, 4.9 miles, Neighborhood surges

If I have learned anything over the past several years of running, it is never a good idea to obsess too deeply over any given day's effort. Certainly there will be times when your performance does not match up with your expectations – I am not saying you shouldn't invest some time trying to sort out the why – but I have found that beating yourself up about an off day is rarely productive.

After Friday's day off (intended to ski with my dad and his fiancée but the weather didn't cooperate), I got back to business on Saturday with a good ski with good friends and a quick run to shake out the cobwebs a little bit. Pete, Edy and I hit the Basin in the morning and conditions, though still wanting, were a lot better than the last time I was up. More terrain open which meant I was actually a bit sore the next day from using muscle groups that haven't gotten a lot of action over the past 8 months. I hit the treadmill on the way home and felt like I was ready for Sunday's effort.

Janet asked that I try to tone it down a bit for Sunday's run since the last three efforts were a bit higher than prescribed so the goal for Sunday was to keep the heartrate down and just have fun. I headed west along a route that took me to the far western edge of Boulder then worked my way south along city streets, eventually meeting up with the familiar system of Boulder's vast network of trails. These were snowpacked and icy for the most part so I donned my YakTrax and made my way up Enchanted Mesa to Mesa then down Bear. Other than residual soreness from Saturday's double-up, I felt pretty great. I was able to move at a relatively steady pace without spiking the heartrate. Just steady, relaxed and easy.

I made my way back northeast, via Boulder's equally awesome network of bike paths and wound my way back to my car with the plan being to use this as a staging area to refuel. As you have read, I have had some ongoing issues with knee pain in the medial posterior region of my right knee. This cropped up again on Sunday's run and it was really bugging me by the time I made it back to my car. I also was experiencing some unbelievable chafing for some reason and these, combined with a storm quickly moving in from the west and my having ditched my jacket at Pete and Edy's place early in the run (temps were much milder than I expected), pushed me to the decision to call it a day with only 14 miles and 2:23 covered out of a projected 24/3:50. Not a shining moment but one on which I refused to dwell (especially given that the skies opened up with a serious snowstorm no more than 10 minutes after I called it a day).

I was still a bit sore on Monday and went to the gym to work in some upper-body weights just to knock the rust off a little bit and try to get more consistent about full-body strengthening. Yesterday, I was back in action with a nice little run around the 'hood on snowpacked and icy roads. I then found a relatively flat section that was also dry on which to do some surges. These felt a bit harder than normal (mostly because the odd numbered surges were slightly uphill and into a headwind) but I really focused on staying relaxed and using good form over blazing speed (which, you are probably aware, is not really in my skillset anyway). It felt great to get out and I was able to work on some stride adjustments throughout the run that appear to relieve some of the wackiness I have been experiencing with my hamstring.

Today's planned group run was kiboshed by work priorities so I'll run solo this afternoon and get in some good tempo work. Planning to continue to test this new form to see if it is something I should work into my regular stride. I am sure Janet will have some recommendations and feedback when I meet with her tomorrow.

All in all, though last week was not my finest effort (only ran about 30 miles), I learned a lot, had fun and continue to be consistent which, at this stage of the game, is probably more important than actual numbers. I feel that I continue to make progress and that is the key.

See you out there.

~stubert.

Iskiate...

2010-01-01T11:27:00.000-07:00

Let food be your medicine. ~ Hippocrates

Iskiate, or chia fresca, is a popular topic these days after appearing prominently in Born to Run, Christopher McDougall's book about ultrarunning, the Tarahumara, and the physiology of running - particularly running stupid distances in a single push. McDougall speaks about its use as a natural energy drink in his book and I have been experimenting with it the past several months to see how to incorporate it into my regular race and training diet.

There are lots of ways to use chia seeds (yes, of the Chia Pet ilk) as a dietary supplement and I have been using Iskiate as a pre- and post-run addition to my nutrition with decent results. I have not been particularly scientific about my use of the chia seed but definitely have done a little experimenting with how best to incorporate its use into my regular regimen and have found it to have a refreshing effect.

Chia seeds can be purchased online or at many natural food stores. I have definitely found the best deals online, but if you want to pick up just a little to try it out first, many stores have chia seeds in their bulk or raw foods sections.

Chia seeds have a remarkable ability to soak up liquids and when introduced to water or another liquid, open up to absorb up to 9 times their original volume of water to form a gel. This gel can be consumed in a variety of ways and not only is a great source of energy but helps to keep a person hydrated. The seeds are rich in calcium, Omega 3 and 6 and when in gel form, provide a slow-release mechanism for carbohydrate absorption so you don't get as much of a spike as you would from a glucose-based energy drink but more of a slow burn energy release.

Chia gel can be made in a variety of different ways and can be stored for use in the fridge for a week (I have heard up to 3 weeks but I like to err on the side of caution). I mostly have been using it as an addition to juices (grape, apple, orange) and will pour a glass, add a couple tablespoons of chia seeds, stir vigorously, let sit for 10 minutes or so to let the seeds soak up the juice, stir again and drink.

A more traditional Iskiate recipe calls for lime juice, sweetener, water and chia seeds and I have found this to be incredibly tasty and refreshing before, during and after exercise. Take the juice of 1 lime, combine it with 1 cup of water and 2 tablespoons of sugar, agave or sweetener of your choice. Add a couple teaspoons of chia seeds, mix it up, let it sit for a bit for the seeds to soak up some of the liquid and get good and plump, then drink up!

Iskiate is a bit too thick to flow through a standard water bottle valve so you may have to slow your pace a bit and drink from an open top if you plan to use it during exercise but other than that, I have found it to be a great addition to my regular nutrition/hydration. nuun is still my go-to solution for hydration but I have definitely used Iskiate (even in combination) to provide a natural energy boost to compliment the regular use of nuun tabs during training and racing.

~stubert.

1153...

2009-12-31T16:55:00.001-07:00

I ran. I ran until my muscles burned and my veins pumped battery acid. Then I ran some more. ~ Narrator

Thurs: 00:34, 3.51 miles, Neighborhood recovery run

For my last run of the year, I just spun around the neighborhood in windy, cold conditions. Not much to say about that aside from, "It was great to get off the couch." All in all, I am very pleased with how the last few months of the year have gone and that I was able to log 1153 miles for the year. Considering I was injured for most of the year, that is not too shabby. Here's how it stacked up:

January - 0 miles: I was busy skiing, trying to recover from the wackiness that ended up plaguing me all year and well... just not running, I guess.
February - A few. Not many, however: I know I got out for one run on the Mesa trail and definitely hit the treadmill a couple of times but didn't write anything down so whatever I actually ran, did not make it into the final tally. Less than 20, for sure.
March - 28 miles: Sporadic, at best. I injured my knee in late February and that pretty much put the kibosh on any real running for the month. Plus, my abs were still kicking me in the ass (don't ask).
April - 102 miles: Actually started ramping it up a bit and started visiting Janet Runyan for coaching. Two good things that go great together.
May - 156 miles: Actually did a race in May too. Go figure.
June - 79 miles: Abdominals came back with a vengeance and I throttled back the miles, got an MRI, and got on the schedule for a procedure to help with the problems.
July - 51 miles: Going the wrong direction mileage-wise but the right direction health-wise. Sometimes one takes what one can get.
August - 105 miles: Ramping it back up and another race under my belt. The Wild West Relay was mellow and fun.
September - 137 miles: Able to keep things moving in the right direction. Relentless forward progress.
October - 139 miles: Got in some good runs in October and paced Chase Squires to a 3rd place finish in the 24-hours of Boulder race. (Mostly, he did it on his own.)
November - 172 miles: Really finishing up the year strongly with solid runs throughout the month despite crazy weather.
December - 182 miles: The trend continued in December with solid running over the course of the week and fairly consistent weekly mileage. Logged several 20+ days and ended up with a solid month of training despite some crazy-cold weather.

All in all, this wasn't quite what I had hoped to achieve this year but sometimes you have to just roll with it. My goals for 2010 include: Staying healthy and injury-free (gotta get cracking on that one), doubling my mileage for the year (see #1), getting in some fun racing throughout (one race already teed up for February), doing several adventure runs (Kokopelli Trail and R2R2R are both on the list), training monthly at higher altitudes ("Define 'higher'," you say?), spending a lot of time on the LT100 course in July (running each section, doing back-to-backs and putting in "real-time" training on course), and finishing in the top 50 at the LT100 in August (this actually may change in the scary direction if things go well throughout the year).

Thanks to Patagonia and nuun for providing great clothing and awesome hydration. I highly encourage all of you to look first at these guys when gearing up and seeking solutions for your outdoor activities.

And I definitely couldn't do any of this without the support and encouragement I receive at home. Rach not only keeps me moving in the right direction but provides me with unbelievably yummy sustenance to enable me to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Yea Rach!!!

Here's to a new year and new adventures.

~stubert.

Run, ski, ski, run...

2009-12-30T19:57:00.000-07:00

Frickin' marvelous. ~ Steve Willett

Sun: 1:00, 6 miles, treadmill
Mon: 4:00, ski @ Crested Butte
Tues: 4:00, ski @ Crested Butte
Wed: 1:19:14, 9.5 miles, treadmill/track tempo run

Instead of trying to cram a bunch of running in at the end of the year to reach some arbitrary yearly mileage (don't hold me to not doing that in the future, however), I decided some skiing was in order. After getting in a nice recovery run on Sunday (and feeling pretty great, actually, after Saturday's effort), I jammed over to Gunny early Monday morning and met up with Dad, Donna and my cousins David, Dianne and their daughter Reagan. (Wow, that was a lot of Ds.) The skiing wasn't particularly awesome but it was good to see everyone. I then gorged myself at Donita's, hung out with Dad a little bit (Donna was wiped out after chasing Dad and me around all day), then did it again on Tuesday. Slightly better conditions on Tuesday and a storm rolled in late in the day so hopefully conditions improve.

I jammed back home Tuesday evening and was greeted to an awesome dinner/snack made by Rach. Too awesome.

I had a bunch of work on which to catch up today so just hit the gym late to do a quick tempo run. Felt great to get back with the program (albeit somewhat abbreviated). Looking forward to starting the year off with some skiing and then have a long run planned for Sunday. As always, frickin' marvelous.

~stubert.

Mixing it up...

2009-12-26T19:59:00.001-07:00

Snow run shot courtesy of Sean.

Security is mostly a superstition; it does not exist in nature. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. ~ Helen Keller

Sat: 3:17, 21.5 miles, Boulder Backroads course avec snow

Yesterday's skiing turned into a movie due to single-digit temps coupled with 40+ mph winds and a desire to keep Dad and Donna from freezing their tuchuses off so we went to a movie instead. Invictus, though somewhat charming (thanks mostly to Morgan Freeman's portrayal of Nelson Mandela), was entertaining at best. The secret service/bodyguard sub-plot felt really tacked on and Eastwood has handled shooting more adeptly in other efforts (which is saying a lot, considering I am not really a fan of his work). However, Dad and Donna enjoyed themselves so mission accomplished. Sometimes you have to take one for the team.

So I mixed things up even more by moving my Long, Slow Day to Saturday this week so that I could run with a buddy of mine with whom I am hoping to do a lot of adventure running this spring and summer. We have a few grandiose plans (including the John Muir Trail, the Kokopelli Trail and a full assault of the Colorado Trail in '11) and he is actually starting to get excited about another attempt at the LT100 this summer. So that means I may have some company along the first half of the event but am down one pacer if he decides to go for it. One takes the good with the bad (and I kid... I'd love for him to give it another shot). So I headed down to Boulder amid flurries, gray skies and cold temps to get a long run on.

We met at Sean's place then drove out to the Boulder Res to run on the Boulder Backroads course. This is a notoriously difficult marathon course spiced up this morning by snow-covered and icy roads. Relatively fresh snow, to boot, so while it did provide some relief from the pounding one can be handed by frozen pavement and hardpacked conditions, it married this to sloppy footing and loss of traction to which I am becoming accustomed. This was not going to be a record-setting pace day, however.

We had the benefit of a crew today in the form of Sean's father-in-law, Dave, who graciously not only drove us to the start/finish but placed drop bags along the route so we could resupply water and other goodies, loaned me his YakTrax (which I didn't end up needing but were good to have along) and hung around after his shorter run to drive us back to Sean's. Dave rules!

Overall, I felt pretty great and we managed to keep an average pace in the low 9s despite the conditions. The weather even broke for us within a few miles of our start and it ended up being a gorgeous day. No wind, sun shining... good stuff. We were shooting for 20 miles but mis-estimated the turn around spot on the out-and-back section of the course and ended the day with 21.5. Some minor aches and pains in the last couple of miles but those were to be expected given the poor footing we experienced throughout the run.

I am testing a couple of recovery techniques and will let you know how they work. Added full-leg compression stockings to the immediate post-run regimen and took an ice bath when I got home. I know this isn't ideal (should tee that up immediately post-run) but thought I'd see if it appeared to have any positive effect when delayed. I tossed the stockings back on after the bath as well so now am I not only super sexy but well... I don't really know how to finish that sentence.

Rach filled me full of amazing curry she just made up from whatever we had in the house and now I am feeling quite sated. Great Boxing Day for sure.

~stubert.

Continued progress...

2009-12-24T22:10:00.002-07:00

Cold Stu.

What do you mean you don't have a quote? I've said a lot of funny stuff today. ~ Rach

Tues: 00:41, 4.88 miles, Boulder Creek Path Surges
Wed: 1:22, 10ish miles, Treadmill/Track Tempo (The GPS mapping of this one is amusing.)
Thurs: 00:37, 3.75 miles, Eldora Skate Ski

Continued recovery. Still experiencing some glute trouble but overall, still running strongly. Despite a hectic week, I have managed to get out and about consistently and I have to say, it feels great.

Ran on the Creek Path again on Tuesday and not only got so excited to start my surges that I goofed up my schedule and came to the realization that I have a difficult time running slowly on the BCP. After a slightly clunky warm up, felt better and better through 3 surges then tweaked my foot a little somehow. I walked briefly which make it go back to normal for a bit until I started to run again. Pain, walk, repeat. The third time was the charm and I finished the run strongly.

Hit the gym late on Wednesday for a tempo run. Pressed for time, I started on the treadmill for 20 minutes of warm up at a 10:00 pace. Felt great and my heartrate was super low so I headed to the track for what ended up being 52 minutes of tempo. Started with 8s then gradually picked up the pace. I lost track of my laps but ended up in the 7-mile range for the tempo. Then I took off the shoes and did a cool-down mile barefoot for a total of 10 miles (estimated). Was really pleased with the results, frankly.

Today I mixed things up and went to Eldora for a short skate ski. It was really cold (6°F) and SUPER windy and with the combination of fresh snow, blow-in and the temps, I wasn't quite as on it as last time I went up. Fun nonetheless and good to get out.

~stubert.

Catch up...

2009-12-21T08:29:00.000-07:00

Vanity is the enemy of funny. ~ Rach

Thurs: 00:38:28, 4.54 miles, Boulder Creek Path recovery
Fri: 00:32:54, 3.73 miles, Eldora Skate Ski
Sat: 00:40, 4.25 miles, Treadmill surges
Sun: 3:36, 22.5 miles, Niwot/North Boulder LSD

After Wednesday's effort, things started to settle down a bit in the injury department but I didn't feel 100% the rest of the week, that's for sure. Still had some good runs and got in a bonus skate on Friday so I ended up with just shy of 50 miles for the week. Not too shabby all things considered.

Thursday, I just did a quick, recovery run and felt decent. Ran in Boulder on the Creek Path and actually logged some quick splits given the continued crankiness I was experiencing in my right leg. Far less uncomfortable than the previous day but still there a bit for sure. Felt like I was constantly adjusting my gait to try to smooth things out. Overall, however, I was super relaxed and spun easy mid-8s without feeling like I was pushing things at all.

On Friday, I normally take the day off to rest but had to get outside to clear my head so went up to Eldora for a quick skate ski. My second day out on the twigs was MUCH better than my first. I am sure I still resemble a spastic turtle or something but I was actually able to glide uphill and felt like I improved a ton from my first effort. Hopefully it just keeps getting better.

Saturday, Rach and I went to see Les Contes d'Hoffman, presented by The Met. Amazing performance by an outstanding cast. Really enjoyed it. I even had time to jam up to the Rec Center and get in a quick run. Still felt some residual effects of the injury but much better. Just did 30 minutes of warm up at a 10:00 pace then 5, super easy 1x1 surges. Relaxed and fluid.

I got up early on Sunday and headed back down to Boulder for the weekly big run. Met with the group after spinning around on my own for about a mile then we headed out on a Niwot loop. Super leisurely pace for the first few miles then the group split and we started rolling 9s. I felt okay, never completely great and felt that my heartrate was up a bit from the week before (though at the end of the day, it wasn't up by much, really). I was starting to feel it by mile 15 or so but had stretches of decent recovery/feeling okay in the last 7. With 2 to go, we were really moving (mid 8s) as this seemed to be the only way I felt okay. We got stopped by a light with about 1 to go and that pretty much ended it for me. I pretty much just noodled it in and actually walked the last 1/2 mile or so. Was just a bit done by that point, which, given the week, was not too demoralizing. Ended up with about .25 miles less distance than last week with a longer warm up and about 10 less minutes so all in all, I am pretty happy with it.

Today, I planned to go ski with my buddy, Caleb but had problems sleeping due to an achy knee so I decided that it would be best to just rest it today. I have done something 6 out of the last 7 days while recovering from an injury so I decided to be smart for a change and take the day off to try to recover a bit. I ended up with over 50 miles for the second week in a row, which, at this time of the year, is not too shabby.

~stubert.

Jinx...

2009-12-16T21:38:00.000-07:00

I told him that a player on a streak has to respect the streak. ~ Crash Davis

Wed: 1:27, 10.55 miles, Gunbarrel tempo

Never mess with a streak. Don't call it out. Don't switch things up. If it ain't broke, fix it and it soon will be.

I opted for a double dose of stupid and actually paid attention to my form while running on the treadmill. Bad idea #1. I have a bit of a loop in the pick up phase of my left-foot stride. Gotta fix that nonsense, right? Also, I have a bit of a chicken wing effect going on with my left arm so I dedicated a solid 15 minutes to trying to get that straightened out. These adjustments (which were quickly abandoned, I'm sure), coupled with idiot maneuver #2, did me in.

For my second dose of dipshittery, I decided to test drive some Pear Izumi Peak XC shoes I wore a few times last spring to see if the changes I have made in my stride over the past months made them worthy of a second look. Though I am sure these are awesome shoes for the right person, I just need more stability and volume than they seem to provide and this, along with my self-diagnosed changes to my wacky stride made my right glute extremely unhappy – with a vengeance. Seriously though, if you are in the market for a super light trail flat, these are quite nice. (I'll sell you a pair of lightly used size 10s super cheap. Hell, if you want them, drop a note in the comments and I'll give them to you.) And from now on, I am calling any inefficiencies in my stride "style" unless someone who knows better tells me they need to be fixed.

In any event, my hamstring and glute started getting cranky towards the end of my surges yesterday and by the evening, I was paying dearly for my misguided experiments. Nothing lots of stretching and a good night's sleep couldn't cure, right? Guess again. Woke up with some serious cranky butt and stiffness down to my mid hamstring.

What goes well with impeded range of motion? Tempo work, of course. I jammed down to Boulder to meet up with the crew for the standard Wednesday Tempo run. I gave myself 25 minutes to make it to 63rd/Jay where we were to meet up for the start and was spinning easy, albeit hobbled 9:30s then I took a wrong turn. Bonus. So I started my tempo solo and managed to get back on the right track. Made it to the start with seconds to spare and actually was feeling better (this isn't saying much) when we started the "real" tempo. Spun mid to high 7s to start then worked down to low 7s. Actually, ended up feeling pretty good about the effort given the complications. I figured out a couple of techniques to lessen the ouchiness and learned a valuable lesson about change. Resist it at all costs.

~stubert.

On a bit of a roll...

2009-12-15T18:28:00.000-07:00

You never will get where you’re going if you never get up on your feet. ~ Jules Bass

Sun: 3:45, 22.75 miles, North Boulder LSD
Tues: 00:55, 6.15 miles, Treadmill surges

You have to love the satisfaction that comes with having an amazing run. Sunday was all about satisfaction as I logged the most distance and the best relative effort since I ran the Las Vegas Marathon back in December 08. Seriously, an awesome run on the roads between Boulder and Longmont.

The day started poorly with my sleeping through my alarm. So my pre-run prep was less awesome than I had hoped it would be. I got all the critters fed, grabbed a PB&J and bolted for Boulder to meet up with the group at the Cottonwood Trailhead. Temps had risen markedly since last week's freeze-a-thon and I started in shorts, a Cap3 Patagonia Longsleeve and a wind vest (which was quickly shed as Chinooks blew in from the southwest). We warmed up at a very leisurely pace on snowpacked and icy trails then moved to surface streets and on to the hardpacked dirt roads around the Res.

The group thinned as we made our way north then back east to hook up with pavement again on 63rd street. This is where we parted ways for good with just Rebecca and I heading north for the remainder of the day's adventure.

I felt super relaxed and just settled in for what turned out to be a very consistently paced run. Rebecca and I logged sub-10s pretty much all day and worked our way north, eventually turning back east on St. Vrain then hooking back up with 65th. By this point, the wind had picked up significantly and worked to push us back up to Wyoming but I was feeling great and kept up the pace to finish strongly at a solid 9:56 pace and average heartrate of 144 (that's pretty low for a Stu). That translates to about a 4:24 marathon pace. Not too shabby for a very low effort kind of a day.

And I eclipsed 50-miles for the week (6 was skate skiing), which is kind of a happy milestone to reach this early (or late, as the case may be) in the season. So I am hoping to finish the year strongly and am really looking forward to what lies ahead in 2010.

One thing I recognized as I ran into the increasing winds is that running in the wind is a lot less frustrating than riding in the wind. It is probably due to the relatively low speeds one travels while running and what the loss of 20% (for example) feels like vs. losing that same 20% of one's calm-day speed on a bike. Big difference.

And today I hit the gym because the warmer temps have turned our roads to slush and I wanted to add some upper body weights to the mix. Did a 30-minute warm up (10:00 pace) then did 10, 1x1 surges and a 5-minute cool-down. Ended up with 6.15 miles in 55 minutes. Generally felt pretty relaxed. Maybe a bit fatigued from Sunday but not too shabby. Then I hit the weights and jammed back home to get some work done. A good start to what I hope will be another great week.

~stubert.

Inspirato...

2009-12-14T08:47:00.000-07:00

It never always gets worse. ~ David Horton

In my never-ending quest for inspirato, I stumbled across this amazing race report from Garett Graubins, sub-20-hour finisher at the '09 LT100. Great race. Killer report.

~stubert.

Fabulous run...

2009-12-12T17:39:00.001-07:00

Fan-fucking-tastic. ~ Aurora Greenway

Sat: 00:45, 5.05 miles, Neighborhood loop with some surges

Couldn't be happier with today's run. I was planning to go skiing this morning but those plans fell through so I slept in a little, did some work around the house (hopefully our pipes will no longer freeze when the temps drop below zero), then got out for a great run around the neighborhood.

It was a little chilly (~25°) but I opted for the tough-guy approach and tossed on some shorts, a long-sleeved Patagonia Cap 3 shirt, a wind vest, knit hat and gloves; laced up my screw shoes and got after it. I felt awesome from the first step and just noodled my way around the 'hood then did some surges. Felt so great I decided to toss in a little extra time and ended up with an average pace of just under 9-minute miles with a pretty low average heartrate. This... is good.

Loved being back outside after so much time logged indoors over the past week. Perhaps that was part of my boost. Maybe it was all the amazing food Rach has been making me lately. I'll take it any way I can get it.

~stubert.

Round and round...

2009-12-11T15:06:00.000-07:00

Deep e deep dow do dee do do ~ Hamster Dance

Tues: 00:55, 6.00 miles, Treadmill surges
Wed: 1:37, 12 miles, Treadmill/Track tempo
Thurs: 1:00ish, Not terribly far, Skate skiing

Words can not really describe how nice it was to get out of the hamster maze yesterday. The temps here have been incredibly low of late and yesterday, they finally started to break from their single-digit (or lower) rut and climbed into the mid teens. It wouldn't have mattered as I was bound and determined to get outside for some fun in the sun but seeing 12° when I pulled on the skate boots at the base of Eldora lifted my spirits for sure. More on that in a moment.

I have been stuck in the gym but have been making good use of my time and spinning some solid efforts. On Tuesday, I warmed up for 30 minutes then did 10, 1x1 surges at an increasing pace. Felt a bit woozy to start after less-than-ideal nutrition for the day and a massage but a gel picked me up and I was able to finish the full workout with gusto. Then I did a circuit of upper body weights and called it an evening.

Wednesday featured the addition of wind to the frigid temps as well as client meetings in Denver so it was back to the gym for a tempo workout. I tried to mix things up a bit to fight off the boredom associated with running on the 'mill and track and ended up having a great run. Started on the treadmill with 30 minutes at a 10-minute pace, then went into my tempo slowly with 2 miles at 8:00, and 1 mile at 7:30. Then I moved to the track for 35 minutes at 7:00 then cooled down for 10 minutes at 10:00 on the treadmill for a total of 1:37 and 12 miles. Felt great but I was definitely getting pretty sick of running in circles by the end.

So that brings us back to Thursday. This was the first time I have skated since college (about 18 years) and I was definitely rusty. The wind was howling at the Rock but the nordic center there is hidden in the trees so once one gets going it isn't that big of a deal. I fell pretty much immediately (whoa those skis are skinny!), got up, fell again and broke the grip on my pole. Hmmm. Not an auspicious start but I was committed so I went in and got some rental poles and got back after it.

"Graceful" is not the adjective one would use to describe my form but in the next hour or so, I managed to quickly improve to the point where I was able to glide some uphill and didn't eat it any more, which was nice. Just worked on staying upright, getting used to standing up on toothpicks and trying to not look like a total kook. Two out of three ain't bad, I suppose. Had a lot of fun and am excited to get my pole fixed so I can get back after it.

Looking back at the past few weeks, I definitely have had some days that were better than others. All were productive, however and, though occasionally suffering, really have enjoyed myself. Some days feel a bit more like suffering than others but really, post run or ski, I feel way better about well... everything. That's why I do it and why I encourage others to just go spend a little time getting the old heart pumping. It soothes what ails ya.

~stubert.

Decembrrrr...

2009-12-07T20:09:00.000-07:00

Balmy.

When I was your age, we had to walk 5 miles to school. Snowin' in the summertime. Uphill both ways. ~ Someone's Grandpa

Thurs: 00:40, 4 miles, treadmill easy
Sat: 00:40, 4.75 miles, treadmill with surges
Sun: 1:55, 13 miles, treadmill/track easy

I have been grossly negligent about posting this past week. Perhaps the cold weather has slowed my mojo or something. Apologies all around.

The treadmill and I have become friendly this past weeks as the temps have plummeted. Thursday, I hit the gym for a post-tempo recovery run and felt great. Really nothing to complain about or remarkable about the effort aside from its genuine lack of any issues. Just jumped on, spun through 4 miles or so, then went home. Good stuff.

I took Friday off then headed up to the Basin with Pete on Saturday morning. We were greeted with chilly temps and fresh corduroy which I used to my advantage spinning blazing laps on my AK Maidens. Not really what the skis were designed to do but they do it admirably. Tip those puppies up on edge and they just accelerate away from you. I hit the gym on the way home to say hello to Mr. Treadmill again and busted out 4.75 miles in about 40 minutes with 5 sets of 1x1 surges. Again, felt awesome.

Sunday, Rach and I headed down to the shelter early to help out with the bunnies and it was cold. And snowy. And windy. Not the best combo. The plan was to drive back home, then jam down to Boulder for a long run but that simply wasn't in the cards with temps and conditions that were not much better than those found at home. So back to the gym for more treadmill action. Spun 8 miles at a leisurely 10-minute pace then hopped on the track for 5 more. 13 total in a bit less than 2 hours. Didn't push it at all and felt smooth. Boredom was the only battle I had to fight, really.

So I'm hoping we get back into some more normal "cold-up-top, warmer-down-below" style weather soon or I am going to have to break out the balaclava and mittens. Running indoors serves its purpose but is not the best companion long-term. I did get my skate boot back from Larry today so I envision some skinny skiing in my not-too-distant future.

~stubert.

Trigger pulled...

2009-12-03T11:40:00.001-07:00

Got my hand in my pocket and my finger's on the trigger. ~ Beastie Boys

Wed: 1:30, 10.5 miles, Boulder tempo on snow

Just signed up for the Moab Red Hot 50K event February 13th. Pretty excited, to be honest. Looking forward to getting back out there and doing an early season event.

Yesterday, I headed down to Boulder and did a run on mostly snowpacked and icy roads. Warmed up for 30 minutes then did 1 hour of tempo. Didn't feel like it but I churned out 10.5 miles total. Pretty sweet effort for a Stu. Janet worked on a couple things with me to try to get me to ground my left side a bit more to open up my right hip and, though it felt a bit wonky and ended up affecting other parts of my bod, did seem to make everything feel "easier". Easier is good, for sure.

Was going to head up to Eldora for a few turns today but the schedule booked up and we lost water in the kitchen (stove went out last night, ugh). So I'll stick around the house, get some work done, try to get the water back up and running and then head to the gym later for a quick run (most likely). It's 5° out right now and my screw shoes are frozen so I'm guessing I'll opt for the wuss route today.

~stubert.

Links, snow and walls...

2009-12-02T10:30:00.001-07:00

He may have driven us into a wall, but at least he didn't blink. ~ Jon Stewart

Fri: Golf @ Deer Creek
Sat: 00:40, 4.19 miles, Snow trails and surges
Sun: 3:30ish, 18ish, LSD bonk-a-thon

Where'd the time go? After last week's efforts, I tossed in some golf with my pops then got back on the running plan for a nice little jaunt on Saturday near the house then a long, slow run on Sunday that was pretty awesome for the first 2+ hours then turned south quickly. Headed out from the Cottonwood trailhead in Boulder and made our way north to Jay then up past the Res and on to the Eagle trailhead. It was a beautiful day for a run and there were tons of people out enjoying the cool, clear weather. I ran for a bit with Janet Runyan along the Eagle trail until she turned around to head back home. The group split apart as we headed west and by the time we reached the Foothills trail, I was running comfortably with Art Ives, a top-10 Leadville finisher.

Art and I made our way south along the Foothills trail, up and over the ridge to Sanitas and then back down to Eben G. Fine Park where we went our separate ways. I needed to get in 3:10 for the day so jammed up and over the flank of Flagstaff and back down to Chautauqua. This... was ill-conceived and given my lack of water and food, quickly made for the rapid approach of the proverbial wall. So I sucked it up and kept going since my car was on the other side of town and I wasn't about to let a little thing like 6 miles get me down.

I made my way over to the Boulder Creek bike path and started to work a run/walk cycle that eventually got me where I needed to go, albeit much more slowly than I had anticipated. But that is what happens sometimes, particularly in ultras... you have to just suck it up and keep moving. All told, it was a good run and I learned a lot. Plus, I wasn't too destroyed the following day as I was able to rehydrate and get some calories moving quickly. A good day of training, for sure.

I took Monday off then didn't manage to get out for a run on Tuesday so I am really interested to see how today goes. There is snow in Boulder so it could be a total cluster but I'll go give it a whirl and report back soon.

~stubert.

Ski, run, run, run...

2009-11-26T16:04:00.005-07:00

If one could run without getting tired I don't think one would often want to do anything else. - C.S. Lewis

Tues: 2:00, ski, A-Basin, 00:40, 4.5 miles, treadmill surges
Wed: 1:30ish, 11.4ish miles, Boulder tempo
Thurs: 00:36, 3.45 miles, Casa recovery

Crazy week. My mojo has been thrown off a bit by the holiday but that does not seem to have affected my running. Which is nice. I have continued to be consistent and even tossed in some turns at the Basin on Tuesday for good measure.

Tuesday featured early morning snow sliding with Caleb, a buddy who hadn't skied since last March when he suffered a broken leg while skiing at the Basin. So it was a celebration of sorts, welcoming him back to the world of tele turns. A-Basin still has really only one run of man-made open but it was fun to get out there and spin a few laps. It wasn't too crowded on Tuesday morning so we just burned vert until we felt like we had explored the one run enough then called it good. Caleb is a two-time Leadville runner and has logged a bunch of really cool marathon experience as well. He has done a lot of the major events (Chicago, New York, Boston, San Fran) and logged a PR of 3:02 at New York two years ago (if memory serves). I definitely am putting that one on the list and may just toss my name in the lottery for next year's event for good measure.

Post skiing, I hit the gym for some surges on the treadmill and felt great. Good, solid warm up then 5 strong, 1-minute surges. Apparently the skiing treated me well as I felt awesome and just cranked through the workout in good form

Wednesday, I got up early and headed down to Boulder for a tempo run. I forgot my Garmin and iMapMyRun didn't work for me so well but I survived the technical difficulties to pull together a pretty amazing run. I warmed up really slowly then chased through the group to log over 11 miles total in about 1:30. Considering the warm up (~50 minutes, 4+miles), that is a really fast tempo for a Stu. I was pretty much done by mile 11 and coasted in the last half mile for a really solid tempo run. Too fast, yeah. But good to get things moving and sustain for that duration.

Today featured a quick recovery run. It was a gorgeous day up here and I was treated to virtual silence throughout the run. With everyone indoors watching football or whacking down enough food to keep an African village well fed for a week, I had the roads and trails to myself. I put it on auto-pilot and just ran at a slow, comfortable pace throughout. Headed up through Mountain Meadows and unconsciously, turned onto one of my favorite trails near my house. It was snowpacked and icy but that didn't seem to bother me much at all as I worked my way through the forest, the tempo of my footsteps providing the rhythm to carry me up and over hills and obstacles along the way. The trail became progressively less traveled as I made my way through the woods until I was breaking trail through 6 inches of untracked snow left over from our last storm. I popped out on the main thoroughfare and headed back towards my house. A red-tailed hawk was circling lazily overhead, ducking courageously through the tall pines until it drew the attention of a single crow who quickly made its way up to make its challenge. They danced, providing me ample entertainment to carry me over the last hill effortlessly. I made it home shortly thereafter, energized from the time spent out among the flora and fauna of the Colorado high-country.

~stubert.

This is pretty awesome...

2009-11-24T15:49:00.000-07:00

To know the road ahead, ask those coming back. ~ Chinese Proverb

Just sayin' is all.

~stubert.

Hydrate or die...

2009-11-23T17:15:00.003-07:00

Simplify, man! ~ Recycle Center Guy

Spent the day today waiting for a delivery which finally arrived about 3:00. Then I got to move a bunch of building materials around and stash 2400 pounds of stove pellets in our garage. Good, good times. Now we're definitely set for winter, however and I can also finish up work on the shed. SO psyched.

So today, since I have no running to report, I'll toss another review your way. Today's product review: The many awesome flavors of nuun.

I discovered nuun sometime last spring and thought it sounded like a great idea. It removes all the crap packed into common sports drinks: the waste, the high fructose corn syrup - the unbearable taste - and slams it into a compact treat that is not only yummy, but is super convenient. nuun comes in a wide variety of flavors to appeal to virtual any taste. My current favorites: Cirtus Fruit, Cucumber Mint, and Banananuun. nuun doesn't rely on artificial sweeteners (actually, all nuun is sugar-free) so it is a perfect compliment to your hydration/nutrition regimen.

nuun is portable and super easy to use. You just drop a tablet into 16oz of water and watch it go to work. It turns any available (potable) water source into an instant sports drink. Another upside to nuun is that its mix of ingredients keeps one from having to rely heavily on salt tabs during long runs. Sweet! One less thing to have to keep track of when my brain is run-addled anyway. I love being able to re-use bottles without adding to the landfills and being able to create great tasting sports drinks on the go. Each tube contains enough tablets to make 12 bottles of electrolyte drink and costs a LOT less than the equivalent volume of sports drink.

Full disclosure time: I was so thrilled with nuun after first trying it this spring that I contacted them to see if they had room on their roster to sponsor an athlete such as myself. For the '09 season, I was a proud member of their pro program. In 2010, I am happy to announce that I will continue to fly the nuun flag!

~stubert.

Slow and low...

2009-11-22T19:40:00.001-07:00

Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself. ~ William Faulkner

Sun: 3:00, 18 miles, LSD road and trails

Ah, the long slow day. Time to reflect, mingle and just keep putting one foot in front of the other for 3 hours or so.

Today I met up with the group in Boulder to get in some time on the old feet. I parked at the mall then jogged over to Pott's Field for the meet up. After a short delay, we were off, making our way through the mostly abandoned Boulder surface streets on a crisp, cool Sunday morning.

We headed west and ended up at Eben G. Fine park at the mouth of Boulder Canyon then meandered up to Chautauqua. Enchanted Forest to Mesa to Bear featured mixed running with variable conditions. Many areas were completely dry but north-facing sections were icy. If you are planning to log longer hours Mesa-west, traction might be advisable.

One item of note: there were TONS of runners out today on Mesa. Many traveling in packs and most who really appeared to know what they were doing (vs. casual runners). Boulder is a running town but this was an interesting phenomenon, even for Boulder. Great to see groups of people out there getting after it for sure.

After jamming back down Bear Canyon Drive we worked surface streets again to Martin Park then jumped back on Boulder's extensive network of bike paths. With about an hour remaining in my scheduled run, I headed back north flying solo and picked up the tempo to try to log a full 18 miles in the 3-hours scheduled. Mission accomplished.

I learned some things today: I can sustain a mellow pace for a significant amount of time; public restrooms are available at the Chautauqua dining hall if you need them; miles tick off quickly when running with a large group (I actually knew this one); I sweat like a hypertensive gorilla even when it is cold out (um... I knew this too).

All in all, it was a very good run. I did have some lingering issues later in the effort with the spot between my shoulder blades catching fire and some slight abdominal and sciatic nerve involvement but post run I wasn't completely wiped out nor do I feel damaged in any way. I even had the energy to do a little more work on the house I started yesterday. Project finished. Bring on the snow!

~stubert.

The road to success...

2009-11-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

Get your motor runnin'. ~ Steppenwolf

00:32, 3.27 miles, slow recovery

As we roll into winter months here in the high country, the ability to log miles on trails pretty much goes away. Fortunately, I am close to Boulder/Denver and trails down there stay relatively clear year-round (traction is a plus so I plan to get a lot of time with screw shoes or yaktrax) but one does tend to log a lot of miles on the slab during the course of winter training. Interestingly enough, I have been running on pavement quite a bit of late anyway as I have started running with a group of people who spend a lot of time on the blacktop.

Last year, I purposely started running longer-distance street races in an effort to become more efficient, get my average pace up and get in some late-season racing to jump start my ultra dominance in 2009. We all know how well that worked out as I was injured most of this year and only got in a couple of races. Alas, I do not blame the pavement and still believe that training on roads does help in many ways to translate fitness, efficiency and consistency to the ultra-distance scene and here I am, a year later, approaching the slab with a keener eye for how quickly to ramp up mileage and pacing.

Bryon Powell has a great summary of why he believes road running is great for trail running if you are interested in checking out his post on the subject.

I am not sure what you would call yesterday's run, to be honest. It certainly wasn't on pavement (mixed snow, ice, some hardpacked dirt roads) but it wasn't trail running either. It was a bit chilly and given that I was moving at a very relaxed pace, I piled on the clothing a little bit. I felt better as the run progressed as well - starting out feeling a bit clunky then, by the end, feeling much smoother. All in all, it was good to get out for a quick spin and enjoy the time I get to spend in our beautiful surroundings. I recommend you do the same.

~stubert.

Docs...

2009-11-18T21:23:00.003-07:00

RIP.

They need dip-tet boosters yearly or they develop lockjaw and night vision. ~ Dot

1:30, 11 miles, tempo

Got my run on this morning then went to the doc for a check-up and tetanus shot. All appears to be doing well with the bod and I didn't even feel the shot. That nurse was a magician, I tell ya. Either that or she faked the whole thing and is selling my tetanus medication on the black market.

Ran tempo this morning and almost missed the train. Started at around 75th and Jay in Boulder and leisurely ran up to the starting point only to remember that I forgot to slather on the Body Glide. This... ladies and gentlemen, is a problem. So I started my tempo early and jammed back to the car then pushed the pace up Jay to meet with the Wednesday tempo crew. I made it with seconds to spare (well, or a few late) and ran a progressively faster tempo for just under 5 miles at which point I shut 'er down and jogged back to the car. Good, solid run for me and I really felt great throughout.

Took Beep-kitty to the vet this morning as she had some follow-up surgery from a lump we discovered last week that proved to be cancerous. Dr. Bock felt like the procedure went really well and that he got good margins. The lab results should be back in a day or two then we'll know for sure but she seems to be recovering nicely at this point.

I also got my old G4 desktop back from the shop and it is in need of a power supply. That's $400 so the old girl may get repurposed as a liquor cabinet or a planter or something since that is about $100 more than the stupid thing is worth. (Purchased in '03 for ~$3000 - lovely.)

Tomorrow work and a quick, easy run.

~stubert.

Screw shoes rule...

2009-11-17T20:50:00.000-07:00

Remember, if you are puking, you are running well. ~ Timmy Parr (2009 Leadville 100 Winner)

00:55, 5.67 miles, 10x1minute surges

I may make it through this winter after all. Finally got out today on my new screw shoes and they work great. Definitely a TON more traction and less distracting than YakTrax. I suppose they aren't quite as adaptable as the YTs and your mom will KILL you if you wear them indoors but as far as hooking up a fear-free snow run, these things rule.

Headed out in nice temps (35°, bluebird) and did a warm-up jaunt around the 'hood. Just explored a little to see what was open and stayed on plowed but snowpacked roads. Felt fine, just cruised. Then I headed back to the Beav' for ten surges. These went fairly well. The Beav' isn't exactly flat so that, coupled with the conditions, made it a bit of a challenge. But I like challenges. Like the time I tried to pick up Daryl Hannah at a juice bar in Telluride. But that is another story...

I am working on the race schedule and believe I am going to forgo the short, fast-paced races for longer events. Targeting the Moab Red Hot 50K on February 13th as my first of the season. Should be super cool (if I can still get in). Seeing what happens for the remainder of the year as well with the big event, Leadville, being my main focus. Trying to get a feel for how much I should be racing vs. doing big, fun, self-supported, adventure runs. I definitely want to toss in a 60/40 Pbville jaunt in July so put that on your calendar. The first 60 miles of the course on Saturday, sleep in Twin Lakes, the run the last 40 on Sunday. Should be good times.

I also want to give a big shout out to Russ Bolig at Podium Custom Footwear. Totally hooked a brotha up on some insole fixes. These things are working very well and just needed a little attention and Russ made it happen and I didn't even miss out on any training runs. Thanks, Russ!

Tomorrow, tempo. Gonna get my fast on.

~stubert.

Couch-bound...

2009-11-16T12:56:00.005-07:00

Keep your icy feet away from me, Mr. Freezey. ~ Akbar... or Jeff... I get those two guys mixed up

Seriously, my feet are like bricks of ice. Gotta get that situation fixed pronto. Rach, go boil some water or something...

Well, today I just feel like going for a run. But it is supposed to be my rest day and realistically, I need the rest, so run I will not. I may just kick the new cat around a little and hope that the impact doesn't shatter my feet.

It was pretty nippy up here last night. 3° to be exact. Which, as defined by Webebster* is nippy. So that makes 3 + 8 = horseshoe. Math... who gets that stuff?

So instead of a thrill-a-minute, action-packed tome about tromping around the woods for 17 hours, today, I'll pick something to review and well... review it, for your reading pleasure. See, I got your back.**

Today's review: The Patagonia Nano Puff Pullover - Mmmmmmmm Pufffy

My new favorite garment of the year is the Patagonia Nano Puff Pullover. That is a lot of words but there is some serious alliteration in there so we can forgive them. It is not only fun to say, but fun to wear and has kept me toasty warm in a wide range of conditions. This awesome jacket proves that good things DO come in small packages as it is amazingly lightweight, packs down to a tiny, easy-to-store bundle, and keeps you warm and dry even when wet. This is the advantage to Patagonia's PrimaLoft One insulation over Down - well, that and no birds are harmed - and it gets the stubert seal of approval. The outer shell is even made from recycled material so that makes, like, three thumbs up which means I need to go out and find a third thumb somewhere. Where's Walter Sobchak when you need him?

Just yesterday, I was removing a foot and a half of snow from our driveway and, as I am known to do, misjudged the wind direction a bit with the snowblower resulting in a seriously coated Stu. No problem for the Nano Puff... I stayed toasty warm. It's like wearing some sort of magical anti-coldness cloak. Now, if I could only get them to make one for my feet...

~stubert.

*Webebster is a completely fictional reference book made up by the author to cement a punchline. I cheat. Sue me. Webebster did.

**Yes, though occasionally I misspell "contemplate", I am not a complete moron and do know that "I got your back" is not correct grammar. Punctuation and where commas and shit go when tossing quotes into sentences, I really need to brush up on that but right now I am in the zone and as I discovered when I startled our cat one time while he was playing with a piece of tinfoil or something, you should never disturb someone who is in the zone... particularly when your nose is within clawing distance.

Meh...

2009-11-15T20:33:00.005-07:00

Success isn't how far you got, but the distance you traveled from where you started. ~ Steve Prefontaine

1:36, 10 miles, treadmill/track, steady

Today was a bit less than awesome on the running front. I did get the driveway mowed, however, so that was nice. Then I went to the gym and jumped on the treadmill for 1:20 (8 miles). Felt pretty shitty, really... just couldn't get relaxed or feel any sort of solid rhythm. So I switched over to the track for another 16 minutes or so (2 miles) and called it good. Felt a lot better on the track so maybe next time I'll start out there then move to the treadmill. Or just strap on some snowshoes and go wander around the woods for 3 hours like I was supposed to.

All in all, it beat sitting on the couch all day so there you go.

So speaking of getting off the couch, here is a video of a Frozen Flash Mob in Grand Central Station:

~stubert.

Back and forth...

2009-11-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

Gas brake honk. Honk honk punch. Gas gas gas. ~ Homer Simpson

This week featured some great runs and a lot of commuting to Boulder for running and film festival activities. I am reminded, again, that I do not miss my commute. Surprised? I doubt it.

This year's festival showcased a lot of great adventures and environmental movies. As a member of the jury, I saw most of these over the course of the past 4 months during screening events to select which movies would ultimately be shown at the festival and would win awards. Some highlights included:

Swift. Silent. Deep.
No Impact Man
First Ascent: Point of No Return
Signatures
Reporter
Making the Crooked Straight

Thursday, I did do a quick run around the neighborhood. Broke out the Vibram FiveFingers for the short spin and I still really like these friggin' things. Definitely a cool addition to the gear list. Though I don't ever envision doing anything more than a few miles at a time in them, I do believe that they help reinforce solid mechanics, improve foot and lower-leg strength and stability and provide a nice way to break up training so that a routine run becomes "something different". I'll probably work in a little barefoot time in my indoor workouts over the winter (*cough* today *cough*) to help offset the monotony of treadmill and short track laps.

Yesterday, I bailed on the snow to go to the gym and do surges on the treadmill. Mellow XC course for 30 minutes (10-minute pace) then stepped it up for another 10-15 to get in some nice, smooth surges. Felt great, actually. Since we got another foot overnight, I am heading back today to do my long run. Eldora opens this week so I'll be hitting the XC trails soon and may toss in a snowshoe race or two this winter just for kicks. We'll see how things progress.

~stubert.

Tempotastic...

2009-11-11T21:48:00.002-07:00

We have the technology. ~ Narrator

1:28, 10.77, 55 minutes tempo

Tempo runs can get a little interesting. Today's was mellow at the start, then smooth and awesome, then pretty miserable. Typical, really - but the wheels really came off about 45-50 minutes in. Especially when I tried to keep up with Art who was spinning 6:40s. Not pretty.

I parked just over 2.5 miles from the start and warmed up on the paths and roads of east Boulder. Then we did a few strides and queued up for tempo - splitting into about 3 groups. This is the third week I have come out to run with this group and it is a lot of fun to get in some good miles with other runners. My group started second to last with Art chasing and moved along at a pretty steady 7:30ish pace. Fairly sustainable from my perspective. About mile 3 I was feeling solid and kicked it up a notch to about 7:15s.

Overall, I wasn't feeling super red hot today. I was still wearing the effects of Sunday's long run and yesterday's massage left me feeling a bit clunky. I ran alone for the next couple of miles then heard Art rapidly approaching so I slowed a bit to let him catch then tried to keep up as we ran past my starting point and across Valmont. He actually toned it down a bit from his standard 6:40 pace (I think) but I was unable to match that for long and soon turned back around to finish up my scheduled 55 minutes (poorly) then run some semblance of cool down.

All in all it was a great run. I was able to push myself and run very relaxed, just wasn't quite able to keep up with someone faster and vastly more experienced than I. Nothing to be worried about for sure. Just part of what one has to experience to get better, stronger, faster.

~stubert.

Location, location, location...

2009-11-10T22:19:00.001-07:00

Perfect practice makes perfect. ~ Vince Lombardi

1:05, 6ish, surges

One of the things I love about living where we do is our proximity to interesting people and terrain. In the winter, running in the high country becomes somewhat challenging as trails disappear beneath drifts of snow, the wind kicks it up to eleven and the temps drop. The Boulder/Denver basin, however, sees many days of sunshine and warmer temps that allow runners to get out and enjoy a wide variety of trails and safe running circuits. You can ski in the morning then drop down to Boulder and get in 20 miles in the afternoon. No sweat. (Well, maybe a little sweat.)

Today I headed down early to drop our kitty off at the vet then got a little work done and ran a few errands before heading out to Janet's for our regularly scheduled training session (just a portion mapped there... forgot my Garmin). I warmed up in shorts and a Patagonia Capilene 1 T-Shirt (yeah, it was lightweight t-shirt weather) then worked with Janet on surges. Felt pretty great, actually. We worked on getting me to initiate the stride from my hips instead of my feet and I felt like I was really starting to get it. Sweet!

Then I went to Shirley for a great (if brutal) massage, picked up Beep and jammed back up to the hills. I did pick up some screws while down in Boulder to make some screw shoes. Probably not a bad addition to the gear list... just in case.

~stubert.

GoLite HydroSpeed pack review...

2009-11-09T21:18:00.004-07:00

So much time, so little to do. ~ Willie Wonka

And on the second day, Stu rested. Mondays are typically my rest days so I just kicked it today. I did head to the gym for some circuits but other than that, I laid low. A little sore from yesterday's adventure but I think most of this is from jumping in the car immediately after running and sitting at a desk most of today. Gotta knock that off.

So in lieu of a long, boring talk about lifting weights, I thought I'd entertain you with a brief review of a hydration pack I have been using for a couple years: the GoLite Hydrospeed Lumbar Pack.

When I ran Leadville in '07, I alternated between the GoLite Rush and a lumber pack that a buddy loaned me from Ultimate Direction. The UD pack suited me very well for cooler, shorter segments and I grabbed the Rush for the long, warm trek between Treeline and Twin Lakes and outbound over Hope Pass. Honestly, now I would go with the HydroSpeed and a handheld for every section unless it was blazingly hot (and even then, might opt for the lighter set-up regardless). This was what I used on Sunday's 4-hour run and it was about perfect.

The HydroSpeed is a comfortable, lightweight lumbar pack that is designed to carry two bottles. The UD pack I mentioned earlier (no longer available) had a similar set up: Two bottles, two good-sized pockets and a secure bungee strap for a jacket, spare bottle or whatever else you might need to bring along. The HydroSpeed is even more awesome. GoLite (as you may have guessed) engineers their gear to be very lightweight without compromising comfort or stability and the HydroSpeed fits the bill nicely. The bottle sleeves are positioned well (when cinched-down as much as I like it, they make bottles easy to access but a little tough to remove) and the overall carriage is super comfy and easy to adjust. The dual pockets are perfect for carrying the necessities and I have crammed cool weather gear, food, camera, keys and an iPod in there without feeling overly burdened at all. The pack rides low on one's hips and the buckle system is very easy to get adjusted to fit snugly without excess wobble.

The pack utilizes the lightest weight clips and buckles but they have held up very well through a LOT of abuse over the past two years. It even has an iPod headphone port and key clip. It does not feature a whistle buckle so if you live in kitty or bear country (or just for safety's sake), you will want to pick up an emergency whistle to attach to the straps.

The pack weighs in at a scant 450g and retails at $50. This has been my go-to pack for two years now with my Rush relegated to only my longest, unsupported, no-access-to-water-type adventures.

~stubert.

Weekends are good...

2009-11-08T19:11:00.002-07:00

Chase atop Green. With mountains.

Slipped my mind. ~ Dean "The King of Empty Promises"

4:04, 16.19, LSD

This was an action-packed weekend. Got up early on Saturday to do a quick run in the 'hood. The trails around the house are still snow-jammed so it was slow going but fun to get out and give them a go. Ended up with just under 4 miles in 40 minutes.

Rach and I then met my Dad and Donna for a screening of Puccini's Turandot. The Met has been broadcasting their performances to theaters across the nation (world, maybe) and they are pretty awesome. The screening we attended was completely packed so that bodes well for the program to extend for years to come. Good stuff.

Sunday, I met up with Chase for a long, slow run in Boulder. Beautiful day for it, too. We started out at the South Mesa trailhead and rocked the Mesa Trail north to Chautauqua. Then we headed up Gregory Canyon, Green Mountain and back down to Mesa via Bear Canyon, then south to Bluestem and back to the trailhead in a mellow 4 hours. My longest run for quite some time. Felt awesome and was good to have some company. Just what the doctor ordered.

Also, here is a video of our new kitty, Nino, who has some interesting quarks: She likes peanut butter, chili, yowling, potato chips, hostile occupation of the bunny magic dream cottage, refusing to recognize our right to exist, being a meezer, catching mice, watching Rach shower (me too! go figure) and... drinking from the tap.

Looking forward to more fun and/or games this week.

~stubert.

edit. GPS info for this run.

Crash, boom, bam...

2009-11-06T10:55:00.000-07:00

You take the good, you take the bad... ~ Alan Thicke (Who knew?!?!)

This has been a pretty stellar week for some of us. Others, not so much. I'll start with the some and move on to the others...

After Sunday's long run, I thought I would be a little worked. However, Monday morning I felt awesome and hit the gym for some weight-training and just to get the blood flowing again. Did about 10 minutes on the rowing machine then circuits. The gym is not my very favorite place to be but if one is efficient, one can minimize the time spent. Plus, the Gilpin County Rec Center is very nice and rarely crowded. So it's all good.

Tuesday, someone decided to kick the blower into high gear and it was howling up here. So I headed back to the gym to run on the treadmill. Just put it in cruiser mode for about a half an hour warm-up (10:00 pace on an XC course that didn't ever really tax me) and then stepped it up for a whole boat-load of surges. Amazingly, these felt awesome. Yes, I was working pretty hard but was able to stay relaxed, even at a quick clip. 50 minutes total for somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 miles.

On Wednesday, I headed down to Boulder early to meet up with a group that does tempo runs every week. I parked a few miles from the start and got in a good warm up, did some short strides with the group then we split into 3 or 4 packs for the tempo work. I was in the last group that consisted of Tim, Rebecca and me and we chased the rest of the runners. I am guessing there were 10 people total including my running coach, Janet Runyan. Fun to finally get to actually run with her.

I pretty much just stuck with Tim for the first 4 miles (where he stopped) and we spun low 7s for most of that period. We would catch other runners then they would take a shortcut and meet us farther along the route so we all got to run together for at least a little while. After Tim dropped off, I kept going for a full 50 minutes of tempo. Ended up back at my car in sub 1:30 and a total of 11 miles. I did about 25 minutes warm up, 50 at tempo and about 10 cool-down. This was actually a really great run and I felt awesome throughout. Covered lots of miles in a short period of time. Good stuff.

Wednesday night was when things took a turn. First, we found out that Reggie, my buddy John's 13-year-old bulldog, had gone missing. He had been sick for quite awhile and was really old for a bulldog and his body was found the next day. He apparently had just wandered off to find a place to die. Very sad for John and the Reg-man will be sorely missed. He was awesome. Then Thursday, Luke, Pete and I went up to the Basin to get in some runs. On run #3, when we weren't even really skiing that fast, Luke caught an edge and went down like a sack of potatoes. Spiral fracture of his left clavicle. Super drag. He handled the whole thing like a champ, though. We look forward to his recovery so he can get back to the business of kicking our asses all over the ski area.

I hit the gym on the way home for a few circuits and decided that I could take the day off from running since I skied and lifted. Off again today then a short run tomorrow and long again on Sunday. Starting to really feel great and I'm looking forward to putting some races on the schedule soon.

Be sure to get your passes lined up for next week's Adventure Film Festival in Boulder. A lot of great movies to check out. Don't miss it!

~stubert.

Snow becomes water...

2009-11-02T18:41:00.004-07:00

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/co/boulder/979125710491827651"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;iMapMyRun Nov 1, 2009 12:47&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br/&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/find-run/united-states/co/boulder"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Find more Runs in Boulder, Colorado&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

The slow one now will later be fast. ~ Bob Dylan

One reason I have very little tolerance for people who complain about the weather here in Colorado is that it so frequently changes. Yes, we might have gotten nearly 4 feet of snow last week but that certainly wasn't going to stick around very long. And rest assured, it hasn't.

After my foray to the gym on Saturday, I headed to the valley early Sunday to help Rach clean runs at the Bunny shelter then jammed up to Boulder for a long(ish) run. I read trail reports that indicated heading west, into the foothills might not result in the most fluid of forward motion so opted for an easterly route.

Temps were just about perfect and cloudless skies accompanied my as I started the day's adventure at the South Boulder Campus trailhead and ran south on very muddy roads, eventually intersecting with Broadway (or Highway 93 at this point). I felt great and though I had forgotten my Garmin, used the iMapMyRun app on my iPhone to track my progress. Pretty cool, actually, if a bit of a battery hog. Marshall road to Bobolink to the South Boulder trail... all ticked off quickly as I maintained a steady pace and felt strong.

Phase two of the run switched from dirt to slab as I made my way North and eventually hooked up with the Boulder Creek bike path and headed back West. I was running for time so had no real agenda regarding route and decided to run up the flank of Flagstaff then make my way back to the start. I definitely started feeling the pavement as I made the switch back to dirt and settled into an alternating power hike/run up to the saddle and back down to Chautauqua.

Rolling back down to Moorhead, I had problems keeping the pounding at bay but once the roads flattened out I settled into a steady pace and actually felt pretty solid. A brief stop to say "hi" to Houseboy Bob who was busy pushing his custom buggy around the front yard then on to the finish. Final tally: 17 miles and 2:40. Not blazing speeds but as always, good times.

I definitely felt the run after getting home and probably should have taken some extra measures to stave off soreness before getting back on the road. Some ab involvement and my hips were a bit sore. I was not as fatigued as I thought I might be the following day and it was great to see the bod kick into gear and recover. I even headed back to the gym today for some weight and plyometric training. It was good to get some activity in the legs today and I plan on adding these types of activities to my regular regimen. Setting my goals for 2010 pretty high so I'll need to keep things moving throughout the winter months to accomplish everything I am aiming for. This was more than a little tough last year so I'll have to stay focused and plan to come out of the winter months in stellar condition to hit the ultra circuit hard.

This week I have runs scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (though this may be replaced by some skiing) and again both days on the weekend. Drop me a line if you want to join in the fun and/or games.

~stubert.

One in the bank...

2009-10-31T15:36:00.000-06:00

...one of many children... ~ Jane's Addiction

Hit the Basin up this morning for the kick-off for the '09-'10 ski season. I was a little rusty on the first run for sure and my new liners, courtesy of Larry's Bootfitting, will take some getting used to (yes, they are STIFF), but otherwise, it was a good first outing.

Luke and I didn't last very long - not due to any physical, out of shape-ness - but due to the ever building crowd of snow sliders flocking to one of only two mountains open for business. We made about 6 runs before calling it a day and Exo was actually spinning at a much faster tempo than normal. Our final foray into the maze was a 15-minute affair... only an hour or so after catching first chair. Alan is promising more terrain will open soon and with Keystone set to turn next week, the crowds should thin a bit.

I hit the gym on the way home to log some time on the treadmill and do a few surges. Temps climbed today which resulted in a squishy mess on local roads and trails. I definitely would love to get a treadmill at some point. Plop in a movie and bust out 15 miles. Sounds like a great combo to me.

Tomorrow is the date for the annual New York Marathon. This one is definitely on my list of "must-dos" as it is not only enormous but would be really cool to run through all five boroughs. Fred Lebow started the event back in the early 70s (if memory serves). There is a pretty good movie that goes into a lot of interesting detail about the event: Run For Your Life. The New York Times published an article recently about a man who created his own NYC marathon by walking around his block 75 times. I like DIY.

Tomorrow I have a long run on the schedule. Definitely not "planned" yet as I have no clue where it will be but probably will end up somewhere in Boulder. Unless you have other ideas...

~stubert.

Deja vu...

2009-10-28T20:16:00.000-06:00

I hear digging but I don't hear chopping. ~ Homer Simpson

Seems like we have done this before. When I got home, there was an additional foot and a half of snow in the driveway. That makes for 3+ for the first day of the storm that is still puking snow. Good stuff. Got the car a little stuck in the driveway, busted out the snow blower and took care of that action post haste. I have to get the snow tires put on ASAP as the stock ones just aren't cutting it any more.

And on a completely unrelated note (and at the risk of sounding anti-social), neither Rach nor I can figure out how we ever survived without Caller ID.

Just sayin' is all.

~stubert.

Get off the couch...

2009-10-28T12:54:00.002-06:00

These boots aren't made for walkin'.

Hit 'im with your purse, you pussy! ~ Fan

First big storm of the year rolled in yesterday and deposited (as of last viewing) a foot and a half of fluffiness at our casa. Good stuff. Got up super early (after a pretty crappy night's sleep for whatever reason) to mow the driveway and jam down to Boulder to get in a run. Met up with a cool crew of people and we spun laps at IBM.

Slushy goodness and driving snow throughout but that didn't seem to get in the way too much of doing about 40 minutes of tempo. Ended up with over 10 miles for the day, which was pretty sweet. Seriously, running in the snow is just awesome. You stay totally warm. You don't eat shit every three minutes. And you don't have that stripe of frozen road grime and slush up your butt all day long. Beats riding for sure.

Had to drop the car off for some work and walked from there to try to get some food. First attempt (Noodles) aborted due to a power outage so I ended up at Pei Wei. Good eats, though I was really more in the mood for Noodles. Wandered over to the Mac Store to find it closed for rennovations so have parked it for now at Barnes & Noble. Going to try to get some work done and hopefully the car will be done before all the bozos head back up the canyon. There was a bus stuck in the narrows this morning and one of the guys driving in front of me thought 20 was the appropriate speed all the way down. It's all good, however. Just the standard wackiness.

More to come...

~stubert.

Trimming the fat...

2009-10-27T18:40:00.003-06:00

How bodybuilders/Hollywood actors get ripped quick (without annoying shrinkage.) ~ Annoying Internet Ad

Now RunStuRun is 40%* more efficient. Just type in "runsturun.com" to get the latest goodness. Yeah, you too can set a new PR.

~stubert.

*Estimates of efficiency gains are approximate and not guaranteed.

No business like snow business...

2009-10-27T08:01:00.005-06:00

Cause one man's ceiling is another man's floor ~ The Beastie Boys

There is just something exciting about a snow storm... particularly one that comes whistling in and pounds you with fresh flakes during your long solo run. Not that 2.5 hours is particularly "long" but conditions do play a major role in how long that feels and how fast one can cover the distance during the planned time.

I used this handy tool for judging what to wear, added a couple of items for backup and to combat what I knew were going to be challenging conditions, and headed out the door under heavy clouds, falling temps and intermittent snow showers that quickly turned to full-on blizzard activity. I was in the zone, however... so much so that I blew through one important turn that I missed due to the trail being covered with fresh pow and my not really paying attention. So I went another way.

The beauty of running familiar territory is that when you do blow a turn and find yourself staring at an adamant "no trespassing" sign, you can just take another route, knowing that eventually, you'll be back on common ground. So I dropped down an old mining road that eventually spilled me out with minimal bushwhacking to the Beav'. Crisis averted, on with my run.

So instead of doing the planned, clockwise loop, I modified my game to roll counter-clockwise - actually the more familiar direction of the two. I power-hiked up to Little Hope then dropped off the back side and into the system of mining roads and singletrack trails which have become my regular stomping grounds. Little Hope feeds to Ski Thing which then heads around the shoulder to Sofa Spring and Funky Boss. A quick, steep climb follows to the shoulder summit and I dropped down Tupperware, fed back to the Casa Trails on which I started (but now hooked into a different section) and headed up to try to find Dan the Man without success. Too much fresh had fallen between my last venture in these woods. So plans changed again, I hit the Fire Station and worked my way back around to Saddlebend, Diver Down, then back up to the other end of Dan the Man to Ladybug then home. I am sure that other people have names for these trails, or perhaps they just refer to them all as one bulk item. Either way, they are a blast.

I actually felt great for most of the run. At times, the going was slowed a bit due to the conditions and by the end I was tired and getting pretty chilly. Temps throughout were in the mid 20s and I was relatively comfortable most of the day with just long pants, a long-sleeved Patagonia Capilene 3 Crew, and gloves but donned a hat and my Patagonia Houdini Jacket when the snow was really coming down. One interesting equipment issue I had early on was with the gaiters (which actually look a lot more like spats) I was wearing. I actually really like them for times when I am sure that dirt and debris are going to be a problem but the string that runs under my foot (to keep the gaiters in place), kept collecting snow, ice and detritus. Eventually, one broke and I removed the other one without further incident. Makes me better understand why some manufacturers go with a Velcro attachment.

All in all, it was a pretty awesome day for a run.

In other news, we got a new kitty about 3 weeks ago. She is a Siamese short hair, is nuts (though that may be redundant) and her name is Nino. She likes to drink out of the faucet and is slightly less aggressive about it than this kitty. I'll post photos soon. We also are saddened by the death of one of our long-term foster bunnies, Rosie le Rose who died late last week. She was a sweetie and will be very sorely missed. Rach does such an awesome job taking care of the little guys and providing them with lots of love and tenderness. Rosie responded in kind and was a welcome addition to our family. We'll miss her tons.

~stubert.

Exploration, discovery...

2009-10-24T21:44:00.004-06:00

Whoot, there it is. ~ 95 South

There are many things to appreciate about levering oneself off the couch to go out for a run and I was reminded of one this evening when I braved the elements for a fun trot around the neighborhood trails. Snow started coming down as I pulled on my trainers, grabbed a hat and headed out the door. By the time I reached the woods, it was pounding. And windy. And awesome.

I kept a nice, mellow pace and made my way down familiar singletrack, already dusted with fresh, heavy flakes. Getting out, no matter what the conditions, has become a favorite pastime and I have grown to really enjoy traveling familiar byways in anything nature throws my way. (Check with me again in a few months when it is like, 3° out.)

As I approached my final descent back to dirt roads and the asphalt ribbon of the Peak to Peak, I glanced to my right to discover a new trail - one which I have passed without noticing at least 50 times. The conditions were just right so the snow coverage made this new trail stand out from the pine-needle-covered ground. Otherwise, I would have missed it.

This deviation was not part of my agenda but I had to see where this new trail would take me. I knew it couldn't lead me too far astray and had to intersect with familiar territory fairly quickly given the area in which I was running. After running along for a few minutes, enjoying the undulations and twists of the route, I ran into a mountain biker heading the other direction.

The other funny thing about getting out in all sorts of weather is that when you do meet up with other adventurers, they are always just as happy about being out in the conditions as you. "Great weather for it, huh?" said Señor Mountain Bike. "Indeed," I concurred. We chatted briefly and I introduced myself. Now, I'll call this trail "Dan the Man" in his honor. I'm sure it has many other names but that's how I'll refer to it... in my own mind, at least.

So not only did I get in a run but I experienced some rather inclement weather and, in fact DUE to that weather, I found a new trail among those which I have been running for years. That, to me, is bliss.

~stubert.

Ten ways to solve that problem...

2009-10-23T09:53:00.004-06:00

Not mine, I assure you. © The New York Times

That was my favorite arm. ~ Douglas

Toenails, or lack thereof, are a fairly common thorn in the side of distance runners. I think I eventually lost 3 during my first attempt at the Leadville 100 and another has finally grown back after last year's Denver Marathon. Some runners lose toenails mid-event - dumping nails out of their socks and continuing on their journey. Losing toenails just seems to be part of the wackiness those of us who enjoy running for hours on end have to endure.

Apparently, there is a small group of endurance athletes who have taken drastic measures to ensure that they no longer have to endure the pain and hassles of toenail loss - permanent removal.

Though this is not a route I believe I would take, it is an interesting, albeit drastic, solution to a common problem. Thoughts?

~stubert.

They figured out a way to make it tougher...

2009-10-19T21:22:00.003-06:00

Train don't run out of Wichita... unlessin' you're a hog or a cattle. ~ Owen

There are so many logistics to consider when promoting an event. I flirt with the idea of promoting a race up here from time to time but know there are a lot of hurdles to get over before one can have a successful race. Add trains to the list of hazards to consider. The Des Moines Marathon thought they had this covered. Alas, they were wrong.

~stubert.

Pace Chase...

2009-10-18T11:02:00.002-06:00

I didn't feel so bad 'til the sun went down. ~ The White Stripes

Headed out to the Res around dusk to run with Chase during his 24-Hours of Boulder effort. I just missed him when I arrived so got to spend some time with his lovely wife, "Saralee" while we waited for him to come back around. It was a beautiful night without a cloud in the sky. Perfect weather for a run.

Chase's other crew member, Duane, had headed out "just to the top of the hill" and ended up doing a full lap. Nice work off the couch, Duane! I took over pacing once they returned to base camp and we headed out across the dam for the first of two laps (for me).

The course is an out/back that starts on pavement by the main Res center, runs east past the boat dock, across the dam then back west across the spillway and up to the north-side trailhead where it turns around at the second aid station (adorned last night with many great jack-o-lanterns) and heads back. Pretty cool in that you get to see the front-runners hauling ass on what is really a very flat, fast course. Chase was spinning great splits during my stint as pacer and we alternated running/walking for 3.5 hours or so.

I hung up my shoes after 2 full laps (15+ miles), defrosted my thoroughly dysfunctional hands (why I didn't wear my gloves is beyond me) and headed home. Chase had completed 9 laps (64+ miles) when I left. He was gunning for a full 100 miles and was still on track at midnight. Hoping to hear more later today and I'll post information when I get it.

All in all, it was fun to get out for a nighttime run with a bunch of other lunatics. If you have never taken some part in a 24-hour, lap-style event, you should give it a whirl sometime: as spectator, crew, pacer, team member or solo runner. They are a lot more spectator-friendly than traditional ultra events for sure.

~stubert.

UPDATE: Just got word that Chase did 12 laps, 85.7 miles total. Hung it up at about 6:00 this morning after 21 hours. Had visible bruises on the soles of his feet - Yikes! Nice job, Chase. That is a proud effort, rolling all but about 22 miles of that solo.

Run, rest, repeat...

2009-10-15T21:56:00.004-06:00

...and proud we are of all of them. ~ Maude Lebowski

Killer week on the trails. Missed out on a run on Saturday due to some water turning from liquid to solid in the old house pipes but managed to get that all fixed up in time to get in a great run on Sunday. Rach and I did get to go see Tosca which was simulcast from The Met. These events are just awesome. Definitely go see one if you can.

Sunday, I just spun around the neighborhood trails for two and a half hours. Snow flurries kept me company throughout and it turned out to be a great run. Finished it off with about 15 minutes of "barefoot" running in the Vibram FiveFingers KSOs and I must say, I really like these puppies. They do really poorly in the snow but otherwise are quite kickass.

Took Monday off then hit the Casa Trails again on Tuesday for a quick warm up then a series of 45 second to 1 minute surges. Really felt great. Working on a lot of new tricks after spending time with Janet Runyan and Matt Nasta last week. They are hosting a workshop on the 24th in Boulder. Anyone seeking to get some great gait analysis and mechanics assessment should definitely check it out. Worked on relaxing from my head down with particular focus on my feet, neck and arm swing. Feels great.

Wednesday, I hit the Betasso trails for some tempo work. My warm up was mellow but resulted in a PR for the loop then I kicked it into high gear for 40+ minutes. Betasso is a challenging loop somehow. Just steep enough to put the ouch on a person without a lot of flat terrain on which to coast. I felt a little hammered after the run and headed down to Boulder for the last night of jury selection for this year's Adventure Film Festival. Mark the calendar (November 12-14), it is going to be a good one.

Tonight's run can only be described as "effortless". Took the KSOs out again for the duration of the run and just did a fun little Popsicle loop out my back door. (Well, front door, we don't really have a back door at my house.) Just felt amazing. One has to be a bit careful with foot placement while running on trails with the FiveFingers but everything just feels right. Posture, stride length... everything seems really put together. One tends to run a lot "lighter" with these anti-shoes and I definitely could feel the difference. Part of the run was on fairly hardpacked dirt which definitely took a little getting used to and I don't think I will be replacing my regular shoes anytime soon but I do plan to make "barefooting" part of my regular regimen.

So all in all, I am feeling rather awesome when it comes to getting my run on. And just in time for winter! This weekend should be a blast as I am pacing an online friend at the 24-Hours of Boulder race. Only know him through his blog and a few emails/messages back and forth. Should be fun. If you have time, spin out to the Res on Saturday after 9:00 to cheer on all the ultra runners. I'll be there after dark if that works better for you.

I'll let you know how that goes.

~stubert.

Get your adventure on...

2009-10-08T10:18:00.003-06:00

Give 'er. ~ Anon

I have been a member of the Adventure Film team since its inception and this year's festival is shaping up to be a great one. We have been screening films non-stop for months and are getting down to the final few weeks before the Festival which hits the screens of Boulder November 12-14. This year's crop of films will surely honor the legacy of our fallen leader, Jonny Copp.

So mark your calendars, save the date, follow Adventure Film Festival on Facebook or AdventureFilm on Twitter and come out to check out the awesome movies we have lined up.

Hope to see you there.

~stubert.

Keep at it...

2009-10-06T21:07:00.002-06:00

The longest journey begins with a single step. ~ Lao-tzu

Apparently, running marathons has somewhat transient benefits for most runners. It seems that in recent years, the marathon has become a mainstay on everyone's bucket list - well... life list, since running a marathon with any style whatsoever would not be feasible once one got to bucket-list time (for most people, at least). This Wall Street Journal article explains the phenomenon where people binge to get fit enough to run their event, then dump the regular workouts for less strenuous pastures.

Though marathon training or ultradistance running is not usually an exercise in moderation, one certainly can use an event such as a marathon to jump start a lifestyle change that can lead to improved health (both physical and mental) in the longer term. I know I rarely regret going out for a run, however brief. Give it a shot.

~stubert.

Good eats...

2009-10-05T19:57:00.003-06:00

Mmmmmm... purple. ~ Homer Simpson

In addition to whacking down nuun by the truckload, I have been experimenting with some new food selections I picked up from Christopher McDougall's book, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. In the book, he mentions iskiate and pinole on numerous occasions and hypes their collective awesomeness for endurance sports. Since no recipes were provided, I was left to my own devices to find information about how to prepare these tasty treats.

So I turned to my buddy, the internet, and found a couple of references to iskiate or chia fresca that turned out to be quite awesome. Here is one recipe:

Combine 8oz of water with the juice of 1 lime and a couple tablespoons of sugar (or your favorite sweetener)
Shake or stir until the sugar has dissolved
Add 2 teaspoons of chia seeds
Mix, drink, feel the pow-ah

The Terahumara use iskiate to fuel their day-long treks and I must say that it is not only delicious but does provide what appears to be a pretty slow burn fuel for longer jaunts as well as a tasty, post-run recovery drink. Chia seeds (yes, the same stuff used to make entertaining Chia Pets) are high in protein and anti-oxidants and can be purchased at many natural food stores or online.

Pinole proved to be even more elusive in both where to find the stuff and how to prepare it. In Born to Run, McDougall mentions the use of pinole as a pre-run favorite as well as being used mid-run to help refuel. Caballo Blanco (Micah True), a gringo who has lived among the Terahumara for many years, takes dried pinole with him on long runs. Pinole is made from dried maize which one grinds into a fine powder and toasts to produce a very complex carbohydrate that is perfect as an energy source for long efforts.

Discovering a recipe for pinole was even more difficult than iskiate so... I made one up using regular corn meal. Two actually. I toasted the meal until golden brown then added some sugar and cinnamon to one batch and added some salt to another to see if either of these did the trick. I even tried eating it a variety of ways: Dry (not so great), mixed with water as a thin sports drink (the corn meal I used was a little too coarse for this to work well), just dumping some in my mouth and washing it down with lots of water (again, not the best plan while on the move). I actually did recognize the benefits to eating pinole even though my delivery methods were less than ideal. The meal tends to swell up in one's stomach, producing a feeling of fullness and my energy levels seemed to stay higher with less spike-and-crash sensation one can experience with other, high-carb food sources.

Undaunted, I contacted the source, Caballo Blanco, for more information.

One of the many things I love about the ultrarunning community is its openness and willingness to provide assistance, guidance and support to others. Shortly after my first ultra race, the 2007 Leadville 100, I contacted the winner, Anton Krupicka for advice. I'd never met Anton (unless you count the brief encounter we shared on the flanks of Hope Pass - he was running back toward the finish, I was still on my way to the turn around), but he quickly responded with a reply (run till your feet bleed then run some more). Micah was no different. Shortly after sending him an email asking for advice about how to prepare Iskiate and pinole, Micah replied with several recommendations for each.

For iskiate, he recommends soaking the chia seeds in water, juice, sports drink... whatever you like until the seeds get plump with the soaked liquid. Then drink them down. I have found them to also be good just tossed in a salad, on oatmeal, etc.

To make real pinole, one starts from whole maize that has been toasted and ground to a fine powder. This can be made into a cream of wheat type meal or can be mixed in water like a sports drink for on-the-go nutrition/hydration.

So I am off to find some maize. Or it can be purchased here: http://www.mexicogrocer.com, though Micah says the fresh stuff is way better.

And on that note, I am going to grab a snack.

~stubert.

Where'd I go...

2009-10-02T17:47:00.002-06:00

Rach has a problem.

Son, you got a panty on your head. ~ Pickup Driver

Hmmm... apparently I haven't been so great about updating this puppy. Apologies.

I have been super busy with work. We landed some new clients - The Solar Foundation, Strategic Sustainability Consulting, Healthy Chocolate Shop - so getting those projects up and running has kept me busy. I have also been able to run quite a bit and very consistently. Really starting to feel fit again and (gasp!) healthy, even. Good times.

I jammed out to L.A. last weekend to visit the brothers Roach. No agenda, just mellow time at sea level kicking it. We ate some good food and went to a Chivas game and I got in a couple of runs that were damp but fun. It was super warm and humid, even on the West side, and I came back from my "long" run on Sunday completely soaked. It was a quick, fun jaunt out to the nuttiness that is the City of Angels.

Running is going really well. My abdominal pain continues to decrease and I am feeling stronger every week. Did a great run on Wednesday on Boulder's Mesa trail where I put the hurt on myself for a solid 35 minutes. Parts were way slow but I managed to finish strongly and had a blast. Looking forward to more excitement this weekend with a short run on Saturday and 2:15 on Sunday.

Rach also turned me onto a great book - Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall. Great read and peppered with people and places with which I am familiar making it extra fun. If you are a runner, and particularly an ultra runner, you must check it out.

~stubert.

Fall is ariving with a vengeance...

2009-09-13T10:58:00.002-06:00

Play Dream Police, god dammit! ~ Some guy

Rach and I went to a fun party at Cort and Dickie's place last night. Good times. One over-zealous Cheap Trick fan made our night by shouting requests at Cort's band. We had to jet before hearing their rendition, however.

Running went really well this past week. Just stuck with the program and made gains all around. Here's the breakdown:

Tuesday: 40 minutes (~4 miles) with slow warm-up and 7 surges
Wednesday: 1:15 (about 8.5 miles) with 25 minutes of tempo
Thursday: 40 minutes (~4 miles), recovery
Saturday: 40 minutes (~4 miles) with slow warm up and 5 surges
Sunday: Shooting for 2 hours, mellow (I'll let you know how that goes)

I also worked with Janet this week and feel like we added some stride elements that are really going to improve things for me. Working really hard on initiating my stride from my hips and that seems to be feeling pretty good. Also got new orthotics made by Russ at Podium and so far, they feel great.

I reacquainted myself with the "crawl space" (in quotes because only someone under the age of about 5 could actually crawl down there) underneath my house and found that the critters are working their magic once again. So I need to redo some insulation and heat tape. Whee. I did get my office phone line working again (critter sabotage), so that is nice. Going to experiment with the Wifi a bit to see if I can improve reception all around and plan on diving back under the abode this week to get things all patched up before winter, which is rapidly approaching.

Enjoy the cool weather and fall colors out there.

~stubert.

Bonking and hand-held do not mix...

2009-09-07T10:12:00.003-06:00

These effects aren't very special. ~ Butthead

Yesterday's run was an exercise in physiology management, mostly. It is becoming more and more clear that I should never try the Badwater Ultra as I just do not do well at all when confronted with unrelenting sunshine and warm temps. It wasn't even that hot yesterday but man, I suffered a bit due to lack of any shade, the warm-ish temps and poor nutrition.

We were up early to clean runs at the bunny shelter which is truly a rewarding experience. Rach went in at some ungodly hour of the day to get started and I followed shortly thereafter - sans breakfast. We got the bunnies cleaned up very quickly and had decided we would go see a movie around noon so I had just enough time to get in a "long" run and then get changed and to the movies.

The run started off rather poorly. I whacked down an apple but felt super clunky and not at all fluid. After a couple of miles I started feeling better and just focused on staying relaxed with good form. This is not my day to go out and break any speed records so I settled into a nice 9:00-9:30 pace and was able to keep my heartrate down for the most part. I circled one of Broomfield's open space areas on dirt and then jumped into some neighborhood road running for the second portion of the day's run.

Really, I felt okay for most of the run but never great and the longer I went, the hotter it got and there was little to no protection from the sun's intensity. I wound my way back around on surface streets then picked up the Big Dry Creek trail for the next portion of the outing. It was during this stretch that I started feeling pretty crappy and my watch died so I had no information about how long I had been out but only a vague idea as to my timing. I circled back around to the shelter, checked the time and dropped off my non-functional HRM, then headed back out for another mile and a half or so to finish the day with about 11 miles and 1:45 or thereabouts of time. Overall, not too shabby but I wish I had felt a bit better.

Post run, Rach and I headed to see District 9. I was feeling a bit bonked and dehydrated and grabbed a burrito pre-screening to see if getting some food in my belly would help me feel better. It did, albeit briefly, and by about 2/3 of the way through the film I was feeling quite queasy. I think the combination of bonking, being a little dehydrated and the massive amounts of hand-held footage during the film combined to make things a little rough. I soon recovered and started feeling a bit better and enjoyed the film. Great effects. Good acting. Good story. Interested to see how much they screw up the sequel.

So today I am resting and recovering a bit and will get back out there tomorrow. I felt like I made progress this week. The abs still are bugging me a bit but overall, I feel pretty solid.

~stubert.

Early Fall is good...

2009-09-05T18:57:00.003-06:00

If I played guitar, I'd be Jimmy Page. ~ The Beastie Boys

Just got back from watching It Might Get Loud. Good flick. Really cool to learn more about Jimmy Page, Jack White and Edge and see them interact. If you are a fan of music, you won't be disappointed.

Pete and I jammed down to Denver to see the flick then came back up to Boulder and did a nice little run up the Creek path. Felt pretty awesome and did a few surges. Feeling really strong right now, which is just excellent. Hoping to keep ramping up the mileage and staying healthy.

This week has been particularly busy but I have been able to get out consistently. Did a fun run with Sean last Sunday on and around the Habitrail in Ned. Just a mellow, "long" run that ended up being 1:54 and 9.75 miles. Good to get out and explore some of the new trails in that area. I haven't been riding lately so my normal exploration of this trail system has been lacking. So many variations out there now. Good and bad, I suppose but there are some really fun sections for sure.

Tuesday I ran in Boulder on the Creek path. Surges again but all on pavement since I started on the east side of the path. I was hoping to do my workout on the CU track but apparently it is closed to the public and I didn't feel like getting yelled at (or arrested) so I just did some surges on pavement and called it good after about 50 minutes.

Wednesday was a blast with a fun tempo run in the woods. Feeling pretty great about the amount of distance I can cover when I hammer and am even starting to get faster while running slowly. The leaves are starting to change up here so things are getting a different kind of beautiful before winter sets in. It has definitely been cooling off and the nighttime air has a distinct, fall-esque snap to it.

Thursday featured just a short, recovery run during which I got a little lost and my watch batteries died so I don't really know how far I ran. That was actually somewhat refreshing, to be honest... just out running with nothing to distract me.

Rach and I also checked out Inglourious Basterds on Thursday. Great, fun, fantasy film by QT. One of his best efforts, for sure. Terrific performances abound.

Work has been quite active as well of late and we signed several new clients in the past couple of weeks. All in all, early fall has been great thus far.

~stubert.

WTF...

2009-08-28T19:29:00.005-06:00

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 Señor 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.

Spectating is hard...

2009-08-25T12:49:00.003-06:00

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.

And the trend continues...

2009-08-21T21:03:00.003-06:00

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.

Well that was satisfying...

2009-08-16T18:23:00.002-06:00

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.

Rach is the best...

2009-08-13T21:40:00.004-06:00

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.)

Wild West Relay race report...

2009-08-10T12:18:00.003-06:00

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.

Run all night? Sign me up...

2009-08-05T23:33:00.003-06:00

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.

Rollin'...

2009-07-26T09:22:00.005-06:00

Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself. ~ William Faulkner

The nice thing about being confined to short runs is that they are much easier to squeeze into a hectic schedule. Friends and family in the area make for good times and being able to keep my training schedule is a bonus, for sure.

Friday, I spun a quick 4.5 miles or so on trails and dirt roads near my house. Still feeling no pain but I am having a bit of a plateau where I am unable to get my heartrate down or run as fast as I'd like for the amount of effort required. These things happen and usually one can just roll through them after a few small changes. Overall, I felt great and it wasn't like my average pace was super slow... just took some more effort than I would prefer to keep up the flow.

Friday night I headed to Denver to meet up with the Roach clan. They are in town for the Harley-Davidson Dealer Meeting (they own Palm Springs Harley-Davidson) and after watching soccer at the Hyatt, headed over to Root Down for a very tasty meal. Pretty cool restaurant, Root Down. They converted an old service station into a hip joint and used sustainable building and recycled materials throughout. The floor was salvaged from an old high-school gym and many of the service station features remain intact. They were even playing awesome 70s-era kung-fu movies in the bar. Good stuff. Tough to get a reservation but the food was awesome and well worth the wait.

Didn't get home until super late so slept in a little on Saturday then watched the final "real" stage of the Tour. I must say that Contador rode really well and seeing Lance step back into the fray for a podium finish at age 37 after 4 years away from competitive cycling was quite impressive. I was hoping for an Astana sweep but it was great to see some fresh faces out there giving their all to the sport. All in all an exciting Tour. Once the race was over, I hit the trails again for my longest run in what seems like forever. Wait for it.... 5.25 miles! Look out Tony Krupicka, I'm on your heels. (Congrats to Tony, by the way, for crushing in the White River 50 USATF race with a course record 6:32:09... that's 50 MILES in six and a half hours, people. Awesome.)

Again, felt a little off regarding fitness or whatever is going on but no discomfort in my abdominals so I'll consider it a win. It was fun to be out in the woods for a run so you won't catch me complaining.

Post-run, Rach and I headed down to Boulder to meet up with my pops and his special lady, Donna, at the Sunflower Café for lunch. Good eats and great company. They were in town to visit her son who lives with his family in Broomfield and to go to the Rockies game. Hopefully they had better weather than the last time they hit the ballpark. They were on-hand the day the stadium had to be evacuated due to a tornado warning back in June. Excitement abounds.

Rach and I then headed to Broomfield to help out some bunnies and spent the rest of the afternoon at the shelter. There are some awesome little guys there right now (well, there always are) and I spent the afternoon dolling out pets, watching Rach groom and care for a couple special needs bunnies and cleaning up. I even helped one volunteer break into her car so it was a day where I could flex all my special-talent muscles - the petters, sweepers and grand-theft-auto groups got a good work-out.

All in all, a great start to a summer weekend. Hoping to work on the shed foundation today then get to run again tomorrow.

~stubert.

Tiger and Tony are safe...

2009-07-22T06:22:00.006-06:00

I'm back, baby. ~ Bender

Running is fun. I know that 96.2% of the population would beg to differ with that statement but when you couple the simplicity of the sport (really, what is more natural for a human?) with the interaction with nature and add the pure rush of it all - running really kicks ass. There, I said it and I feel better for having said it.

People ask me from time to time, "Don't you get bored?" The answer, for me, is "absolutely not." Sure, I have some runs that are better than others but I have learned that there really is no such thing as a bad run. I always learn something new and experience the thrill of being outside, enjoying the world around me. When one really gets in the zone, the miles just tic off. Truly a feeling to experience at least once in your life.

So lately, I have throttled down my mileage and so far, this has been a positive move. Sure, I'd like to be able to run longer and look wistfully to the high mountains that surround my home - wishing I could be running among the wildflowers in the thin air of Colorado's highest peaks. Driving through Leadville on my journey to Gunnison earlier this week, I definitely felt the pang of sadness that this year will not mark my return to that great event. But that is what next year is for. My focus now is to get healthy. So far, so good.

Since getting stabbed two weeks ago, I have kept the mileage low - upping the tempo a bit - and have increased my mileage to runs of 4+ miles. Today, I'll spin 4.5 and then continue to slowly build back to my "normal" distances. Taking things very slowly right now in order to ensure that I can run pain-free for years to come. Short term sacrifices for long-term gains. Sometimes a tough pill to swallow but definitely the plan I'll follow.

It's all about the big picture. And I can see it.

~stubert.

[ed.] - Also, I still suck at golf.

[ed. ed.] - Two items of clarification:

1) I didn't get stabbed in the prison-yard, Irish pub sense of the word, but by a qualified physician... in the Prison Yard Irish Pub. (If that doesn't exist, you can't have it. I thought of it first.)

2) That last sentence of the final paragraph rhymes! That wasn't even on purpose but you can have that one free of charge. My next post will be entirely written in iambic pentameter.

Short, sweet...

2009-07-12T11:00:00.003-06:00

Whoopi-ty-aye-oh ~ Gene Autry

Finally able to get back out on the feet and let me tell you... it feels good. Only running a couple of miles to start but I am feeling strong and have not experienced any discomfort while running on either of my recent outings. Yesterday, I cranked out a couple of miles on our road in 16 minutes. Today, I spun the same route in 15:20 something.

Today's run was a humid (for here) affair and it was nice to be out on a Sunday morning. Birds were singing, no dust to be seen due to yesterday's late-afternoon rain showers... good stuff. I just stayed relaxed, focused on my form and enjoyed the run. Yesterday was much of the same with more dust (pre-rain). Still wonderful to be out if only for 15 minutes.

This weekend featured two big races in Colorado: The Hardrock 100 and the Leadville Marathon. The Hardrock is an incredibly challenging course in the southwestern part of the state that features over 33,000 feet of climbing and tops out at over 14,000 feet. Karl Meltzer won again this year (I think this was his 5th victory) in a course record 24:38. Diana Finkel led the women (and all but two of the men!) to win her race in 27:18. Amazing.

The Leadville Marathon was also held over the weekend with another course record being set. Dennis Flanagan finished up in 3:32. The Leadville Marathon heads up Mosquito Pass and tops out at over 13,000 feet. High altitude madness abounds.

~stubert.

Hardrock underway...

2009-07-10T18:34:00.003-06:00

The sooner you get behind me on this the better it will be for everyone. ~ Rach

I am a little off the ball on this one but wanted to let you know the 2009 Hardrock 100 is underway. Follow the racers here: Hardrock100. Very difficult 100-miler topping out at over 14K feet and featuring about 33K feet of climbing. Good luck everyone!

~stubert.

Long term gains...

2009-07-07T20:57:00.005-06:00

Aaargh! My groin! ~ George C. Scott

Tuesday adventures at BCH... or Boulder Surgery Center... whatever.

Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I expected but less pain than, "Whoa that is a weird way for my body to feel," sorta gig. I jammed down to Boulder for my pre-op at 10:00. Checked in at the front desk. Paid my deductible to the Front Desk Lady who sounded as if she was from Ireland, Scotland maybe, and sat down very briefly to read Wally Lamb's latest, The Hour I First Believed. So far quite good. Mr. Lamb is a very talented writer and not shy to take on tough subjects.

Then the super-friendly nurse parade began with a whole series of very nice staff who took all my vitals and asked me a bunch of questions and made sure I was all comfy and whatnot. My doc, Sonja Stilp, came out to say "hi' and walk me through the procedure and let me know I was up next. Then they took me to the xray room and it was game on.

I am certain people exist who don't get a little nervous at the docs and I definitely am not among that select group. Never really have been - which makes it amusing that I once wanted to do the whole doctor thing. Perhaps that was a career well-avoided. Anyway, I plopped down on a table and I got hooked up to things again (EKG, HRM, BP), got some instructions and talked with the staff about the procedure and how all the stuff worked. Very friendly group of people who seemed to be as interested in my procedure as I. That is a good feeling to have when someone is going to work a needle down into your pubic symphasis.

Now one would think having a hot PA yanking down your pants would be kinda sexy but well... it wasn't. Not with the threat of stabbings looming in the not too distant future. They got me all situated, instructed me to use my words instead of pointing or attempting to assist and fired up the x-ray machine. Dr. Stilp gave me a shot or two of numbing stuff which truly was the most "painful" part of the whole endeavor. The rest was just more of a "that isn't right" sort of sensation as she guided what looked like a pretty big needle (on the x-ray, at least) into my bod. At one point she told me I would "feel some pressure" and man, that was not pleasant. Just a really odd feeling that made me inhale deeply. Then another when she injected the medicine.

Then they cleaned me up, took me to recovery and I spent the rest of the day with an ice-pack in my lap. Really not too big of a deal. The awesome treatment I received from the staff made it a lot better.

They really keep things rolling there and had another patient in and out within 10 minutes of my leaving the post-op area. Kinda cool to see efficiency at work.

So I can start running again on Saturday but have to sit on my ass until then. I may do a little work around the house but won't be getting out for structured exercise until the weekend. Maybe another movie is in my future.

So that is what it is like to get osteitis pubis treated. Now you know and if G.I. Joe is to be believed, that is half the battle. (Though I have always thought that line was malarkey.)

~stubert.

All's quiet...

2009-06-29T18:08:00.007-06:00

Not Axel.

I got a head full of evil thoughts... ~ 50 Cent

...aside from the demons in my head of course. I am not a proponent of cold-turkey in any of its forms (particularly, well... the turkey one) but I must say that running practically daily for 4 months straight then stopping on a dime may not be the best plan for everybody. And by "everybody", I mean "me" since I am so awesome, I might as well be everybody (except for that Megan Fox rose kid, he's got way more game than me).

Anyway, I think that immediate cessation of virtually any activity, Dungeons and Dragons aside, is bad for one's mental state and mine has definitely suffered of late. Pretty much everything either bums me out or pisses me off these days resulting in several soggy, dented ponies and one seriously f'd up Care Bear display. But I am augmenting my lack of running with copious amounts of research on how to be even more awesome once I get back out there. So it's all good.

In any event, lot's of good stuff going on including a two-peat at Western States by Hal Koerner and a very impressive domination of the women's field by Colorado's own Anita Ortiz who came in 9th OVERALL. There was some ass, and she apparently felt obliged to kick it. Congratulations are in order to all finishers and participants who endured Stu-melting heat on a bad-ass course. Not sure if the WS100 will ever be on my agenda but they put on a helluva race and provide some cool site features to let couch-surfers everywhere join in the fun. Where the WS100 site fell short, near constant tweets picked up the slack. Gotta love technology. Except for this laptop which is currently searing my thighs.

So in the meantime, I have been riding my bike, watching movies (Up is good. Doubt was as well. Paranoid Park, not so much.), and chasing down new business leads. I also need to give a special shout out to Dr. Stephen Paul of Boulder Orthopedics. He has helped me out numerous times and is well-acquainted with the inside of my right knee. I had an appointment scheduled with him next Monday and he called me today to let me know that I would be better served seeing one of his partners for my injury vs. seeing him and then followed up by distributing my MRI results for her review and having her nurse call to set up an appointment for me. Gotta love that patient care. If you don't have an orthopedic injury in need of treatment, I recommend jumping off a roof or something in order to have a reason to go see him.

Now leave me alone, I have to go glare at a kitten.

~stubert.

Western States 2009...

2009-06-26T20:52:00.004-06:00

Gentlemen, start your engines. ~ That race starter dude

Well tomorrow it's on - The 2009 Western States 100. Last year the event was canceled due to fires in the area and this year some big guns are back in the mix including 7 start 7-win and current course record-holder, Scott Jurek. Scott is a fellow vegan so I'll probably be pulling for him to throw down another exciting win. Apparently Tony Krupicka isn't going to make it this year due to injuries. Last year, he was all teed up to go for the record then suffered a season-ending injury shortly thereafter.

Read Buzz Burrell's take on the action. And follow the race live.

One day...

~stubert.

Water running, not so fun...

2009-06-26T10:14:00.002-06:00

Success isn't how far you got, but the distance you traveled from where you started. ~ Unknown

Hit the pool yesterday for some low-impact excitement. Well, "excitement" probably isn't the best descriptor but it was low-impact and definitely low on the fun meter. But it was good to keep things moving and to have an outlet that avoids the lightning that has been rolling in every afternoon. Now THIS is the weather Colorado summers are famous for.

Probably heading out for another road ride today and tomorrow. Plus I'd like to see Up soon so may have to put that on the list of to-dos this weekend. Really excited to get out for longer adventures but patience is a virtue, particularly at this stage of the game.

~stubert.

And the winner is...

2009-06-23T17:52:00.003-06:00

You know what this is? This, is a perfectly healthy goat kidney. ~ Rach

It's been a wacky few weeks for sure. I have been feeling really strong of late but am still having ab issues. Seems I can really hammer for several miles then things start to creep up on me to the point where keeping any semblance of a steady pace is not much fun.

So today I headed to the doc for an MRI. Very expensive tube nap.

Results came back quickly and the preliminary diagnosis is Osteitis Pubis ~~- commonly referred to as a Sports Hernia~~ (ed: not true, these are completely different beasts... family docs aren't very well-versed in this stuff, apparently). Not the best news but at least we can move forward with improved confidence. I have an appointment with Dr. Paul in a couple weeks to review options and to learn more about the extent of the injury. The best part is that I thought it would be a good idea to check out the MRI images... like I knew what the hell I was looking at. Rach pointed out that if you showed me a photo of a healthy goat kidney, I wouldn't know the difference. Good stuff.

So until then, we'll play things by ear, see what the plan is and probably start riding more. I talk with another doc tomorrow to see what his short-term thoughts are. Hope to know more in the coming days.

On the plus side, I went over to Gunnison for Dad's Day and just want to go on record to say that the PGA is in no danger of me coming in there and ruining their image. As usual, I am a horrendous golfer. But it was fun to get out with my pops - even if I was an embarassment. I did hit a few pretty decent shots but I don't envision a career on the links in my future. Immediate or long-term.

I did have a relatively decent run while in Gunny. Just jammed out on the street for 11 miles. Felt awesome for 7 or so then things went downhill a bit. I definitely went out too fast but also the ab wackiness kicked in with a vengeance starting shortly thereafter and was in full effect by mile 10. It was fun to go fast again, if only for awhile. Street and dirt are two different beasts.

So I'll keep the reports coming. Keep your fingers crossed.

~stubert.

Rough week...

2009-06-08T05:57:00.007-06:00

RIP Jonny (image from adventurefilm.org)

At the end of life, let them say I truly lived. ~ me

Well this week has been a bit rough. As you have read, my thoughts have been focused on the search for three missing climbers in China. Unfortunately, that search has thus far come to a tragic end. The body of my friend, Jonny Copp, was discovered at about 4000m in avalanche debris on the slopes of Mount Edgar. Words really do not do justice to this loss. The search for Micah and Wade continues.

Jonny and I first became friends while working together at Planet Outdoors. Say what you will about PO (hell, I probably said it along with you) but the people who worked there did become a bit like a family. Sometimes a dysfunctional, scary family, but a family nonetheless. I made some great friends at PO. Those friendships have changed as people have grown up, moved around, had children, married, divorced, married again and some remain stronger than others. Jonny and I, though not the closest of friends, always seemed to come back together in one capacity or another. Whether climbing in Veedavu, plotting a new project, shooting in the backcountry or just hanging out, Jonny was always ready with an awesome story and his infectious smile.

Shot of me skiing courtesy of Jonny Copp (coppworks.com)

After the demise of Planet Outdoors (actually, I believe it is still an active site in some form but without any of its original employees), Jonny and I continued to see each other from time to time. Though I was a vastly inferior climber (who wasn't, really?) Jonny did let me tag along on occasion and always encouraged me with positive reinforcement, no matter how much I was just dangling in mid-air. This was Jonny's way. Always smiling. Always encouraging others to reach for the stars.

When Jonny started work on the Boulder Adventure Film Festival, he contacted me to help out as both a member of the selection jury but as webmaster for the site. We screened hundreds of flims over the years some good, some great, some REALLY bad and laughed through it all. Jonny was one of those people who always put back more than he took out. He inspired others through his athleticism but did not stop there. His thoughts always seemed to come back to wishing to encourage others to love the outdoors and cherish the earth. That was the message of the Festival and Jonny's message to us all.

I was thinking of a quote that best sums up Jonny and really had a tough time finding anything that does him justice. So I started thinking more about how he lived life and decided that maybe that would be the best way to honor him. Jonny really lived. At the end of my life, I hope others will say the same of me.

~stubert.

Pulling for Johann...

2009-06-05T19:16:00.006-06:00

Southeast face of Mount Edgar. Cough 'em up, man!

Throw me a friggin' bone, here. ~ Dr. Evil

My buddy - Jonny Copp - renowned, world-class climber and all-around good guy could use your help. He is usually a pretty independent fella but right now he and his climbing partners, Micah Dash and Wade Johnson could use some support. They are overdue by about 4 days after an attempt on Mount Edgar in the Western Sechuan Province of China.

There are several teams of climbers on their way to the same area but any help you can provide to help fund the trip would be most welcomed. If you would like to learn more, the Boulder Adventure Film Festival website has set up a blog where updates are routinely provided. Or you can donate here.

Thanks in advance. We gotta get Johann Kopenski back home. (Rach is convinced "Jonny Copp" is a fake name and gave him this one years ago.)

~stubert.

Flyin' solo...

2009-06-05T07:43:00.002-06:00

You get your ass out there and you find that fucking dog. ~ Billy Madison

Rach is covering the House Rabbit Society this week while her co-manager, Nancy, is visiting Maine so I am flying solo for the week. Just me and the critters up here at the casa - and quite a few less critters than normal. Rach took down all the critical care guys so the house feels a little empty. I have moved my motorcycle, ski and bike collection in to fill the void and get a little Spring tune-up action going so that is filling the now-empty space. (I kid, I kid.)

On the running front, I am still at it though with ill-definined goals currently. I took Tuesday off to rest and went to see Star Trek, which was entertaining. JJ needs to relax a bit on the lens flairs but it featured an entertaining story, capable acting and good action with just a fine schmear of cheese. And what would Trek be without some cheese?

I ran short on Wednesday and did some surges which got me a couple of thumbs up from passing motorists on the Beav'. I felt great, actually and was able to keep my form solid throughout my run, which is precisely what we are after. So mission accomplished. Short, meet sweet.

Thursday got away from me a little bit with some work wackiness then a quest to find Rach a new headset so that she can actually get some work done while fielding calls at the shelter. I then went to see Sandy to get a little work done on my never-en ading ab problem and by the time I got home, my desire to run had wained quite a bit. I finally levered myself off the couch and just said, "Man, get your ass in gear and go run." And I listened! Go figure. Usually I buck authority.

The first half of the run was decidedly unpleasant. My poor attitude was coupled with really not feeling well at all. It was late (I didn't start until after 7p) and I had wacked down some ill-advised snacks just prior to the run. Plus I was feeling a bit exhausted in general. So I ran/walked up a trail near my house with the ultimate goal of reaching Golden Gate Canyon State Park. Clunkiness continued for about 2.5 miles until I started to feel it. The second half of the run went really well and I turned on the heat to finish up with a total time of 1:04 and 6.5 miles - all on dirt and technical trails. I think this is actually as fast as I have ever done this loop so all's well that end's well. The lesson learned is "get off your couch, jackass... you might be missing your best run ever!" (Not that this was my best run ever per se, but it could have been and I could have missed it, jeez.)

So I am off again today and have to roll down to Boulder for a meeting. I may try to catch another movie... not sure. Tomorrow is the big race that I am not doing (ugh). I am going to volunteer at Aid Station 3 so say "hi" as you run by or just come out to watch everyone else running the Dirty 30. Sunday I volunteer at the shelter and then am shooting some video for the shelter then am going to figure out how to work in an 11-miler. May turn into my first night run of the season. We'll see.

On a less awesome note, I ask everyone to employ their good juju and point it toward the mountains of China for a bit. My buddy, Jonny Copp and two climbing partners are past due returning from a first ascent attempt of Dojitsenga, a 5,700-meter peak in the Kangri Garpo range. They are currently at least two days late. This is not really something new for J to the C but any good thoughts you might send his way couldn't hurt. Read more about it.

As always, I'll keep you posted.

~stubert.

That's a wrap...

2009-06-01T20:45:00.002-06:00

Let the dream die. ~ Captain Ed

Well, I think my shot at Leadville this year may be landing a bit short. Due to my ongoing abdominal problems, I have been instructed to reign it in, which most likely means I'll be on the sidelines in August when the shotgun blast sounds. Or musket. Or whatever the hell they use to start that thing.

So I am out this weekend as well. If anyone wants my Dirty 30 entry, just let me know. The plan is to really cut back the mileage and get consistent, pain-free running in at lower miles then start to work back up. C'est la vie.

I felt awesome today. No pain... did some surges... Janet said I was doing well so that was pretty cool. We'll just play the rest of the summer season by ear and see how I progress. I may get the green light for the Leadville Marathon on July 11th and am kinda secretly hoping to be able to pace someone in the 100. Keep that on the DL.

~stubert.

Sunday run report...

2009-05-31T17:42:00.006-06:00

Bob and Stu go running.

Let it flow. Let yourself go. Slow and low, that is the tempo. ~ The Beastie Boys

And a weekly summary! Whee!

Bob and I hit the trails this morning for what turned into a pretty long run. Long enough that we ran out of water and I, being one who can process fluids like wildfire, got into a little trouble.

Click on the photo to get the full effect. Hawk 1, snake 0.

We headed out from Bob and Lindsay's about 9:30 and did a clockwise loop into the foothills of Boulder. Really a gorgeous day (a little warm for my tastes but I am a great big weirdo - see above). We ran south on Moorhead to the South Campus (or whatever it is called) and then headed up to Big Bluestem. Along the way we stopped for some photos then saw a hawk that had grabbed a snake and was circling above. Cool to see and great for the hawk. The snake... not so much.

It's getting green out there.

We made our way west to the Mesa Trail then dodged hoards of hikers all the way back to Chautauqua. Seems like every third person we passed knew Bob so we had some nice breaks to check out the scenery and enjoy our time in the outdoors.

Once we hit the Chautauqua, we went over the saddle to the Gregory Canyon trailhead then up and over the first ridge of Flagstaff. By this time, I had run out of water and was starting to bonk a bit so we jammed down to Lolita's for a fill up. Bob treated me to a great big Gatorade and then I had to find a bathroom. Finally opted for the Library, which had a cool display detailing the inner workings and history of the Boulder ditch system. Yeah, I did say "ditch".

I saw a lot of this later in the run.

So we meandered our way back to Bob's and my abs started acting up. Coupled with the dehydration, I was only able to run in short spurts. Oh well. 16 miles total with an unimpressive time of 3:40 or something. That's okay though, it's all about time on your feet.

Post run, I had some problems reminiscent of last year's 50-mile race where I feel like I really have to pee but then can't. I have to really start working harder on consistent fluid and food consumption. Gonna see if I can set a timer on my watch or something. Running the marathons last fall got me out of the habit of taking sips every 3 minutes and powering down food at a regular clip. Dargh!

So here are the week's numbers:

Monday: Run, 3.15 miles, 33 minutes
Tuesday: Run, 5.2 miles, 51 minutes
Wednesday: Hike, 8 miles???, 2.15 hours???
Thursday: Run, 4 miles, 35 minutes
Saturday: Run, 6.86 miles, 1 hour 20 minutes
Sunday: Run, 15.9 miles, 3 hours 44 minutes
TOTAL: 43.11 miles, 9 hours 20 minutes

All in all a pretty solid week. I think this week will be fairly mellow leading up to the Dirty 30 on Saturday.

Rach is making origami bunnies right now, which is super awesome. Yet another of her many talents.

~stubert.

Sage Burner update...

2009-05-30T09:38:00.004-06:00

Well I'll be damned. ~ Beavis

So the results have been posted and I ended up 34th overall with an official time of 2:45.11. This put my in 5th place for my division. Pretty sweet!

This week has been kinda nuts but I have been getting out. Monday's run was short but really sweet. Virtually pain-free. It started a little clunky but quickly smoothed out to a really efficient effort. I was able to just get in a zone and go, which just felt great.

Tuesday I went a lot harder and busted out 5 miles in about 45 minutes. I ran sections of trail that up until now this year, I have had to walk. Starting to feel a lot more fit. I went for a hike on Wednesday that ended up being a lot longer than anticipated and then just hammered out 4 miles on Thursday on the roads down in Boulder. That too was a pretty good effort though I didn't feel particularly awesome.

I am going out for a 10-miler today (at least that is the plan) and am hoping to hook up with Bobby T for a long one tomorrow. Still contemplating Leadville but I am rally wanting to do it again this year. As always, I'll keep you posted.

~stubert.

Sage Burner race report...

2009-05-23T19:36:00.008-06:00

Yeah, I finished.

I huuuurt. ~ John D. Roach

Today I ran the Sage Burner 25K in Gunnison. I am hurting WAY more than I should for a 15-miler but I think there might have been one flat spot on that course. It was technical and tough. Good stuff.

The weather report said cold and rainy for the start but the weather was actually perfect. Cool and overcast. Great running weather. I started in a t-shirt and gloves and that was more than enough for this course.

There were about 200 starters, nearly triple the number who ran last year. Being one of the newcomers, I was familiar with parts of the course but definitely found myself just following vs. knowing what to expect around the next bend or steep uphill. Subsequently, I just followed the pace which probably resulted in a better finishing time but man, I was hurtin' by the time I was done.

We started at 8:00 and quickly made our way up, up, up into the Hartman Rocks recreation area. This was my haunting grounds as a highschooler - THE place to ride, hike and (ahem) throw the more than occasional party. The course then followed familiar mountain biking trails (98% singletrack) in a clockwise direction for a nice tour of the Hartman Rocks area.

The pace was pretty quick to start and stayed that way for most of the race. (For me, at least.) The first four miles wound through technical rocky sections and sage brush. I was in decent shape early on, running with a good group, then I stopped to take a leak and found myself running with another group who had someone in it who would NOT shut up. Here I am suffering up steep inclines and she just kept talking. I could have possibly communicated in hand-gestures and grunts at this point so I felt she was adding insult to injury. Makin' a brotha look bad...

So when she and her crew stopped at the first aid station, I just blasted right through with a solid half-bottle to spare. A couple miles later they snuck back up on me briefly, then I put the hammer down on a long downhill section and my ears (and ego) were given a break. Whew!

The course just kept rolling and rolling. After the second aid station (about mile 7.5) I started really feeling it and started trying to focus on staying smooth, with good form. Easier said than done. My abs started really bugging me shortly thereafter so I just tried to settle in and keep up my mantra of "Most Guts". Ironic? Perhaps.

I did manage to pick off a few people in the last 5 miles but things were pretty strung out at that point. I was also passed by one woman who really put on the heat in the last climb/descent. I should feel bad but by this point, I was pretty ready for the finish. The last mile or so featured a brutal downhill (down Collarbone Alley). Not really my idea of good times in the last miles but I wasn't consulted. I blame Wiensie (Dave Wiens, mountain bike legend and all-around nice guy.) I did manage to turn it over pretty well in the last few hundred meters, so that felt pretty good. I finished right in the middle of my desired range of 2:30-3:00 with a 2:45. Not blazing, but I'll take it. My GPS said it was 16.17 miles, for an average pace of 10:15 mpm. Not too shabby.

Afterward, I was really pretty jacked up. I tried to sit in the creek for a bit but my feet were having none of that. Way too cold. I probably should have stuck it out but damn... my toes were unhappy. I took a quick shower and actually thought I was going blind for a bit (yikes!) so I wacked down a thing of Pedialyte and felt much better thereafter but still a lot more hurtin' than I should have been for a race of this distance. I attribute this to a few things:

Fast pace: I really wanted to run a 50K pace but mixing the 25K and 50K participants made that more than a little tough
Electrolyte imbalance: I need to get back in touch with my Salt-Stick habit
Ambitious shoe selection: I am too heavy for flats. The Peak XC is a great shoe but at 180, I am just too heavy to run long distances in this set-up. Hey, I tried, it didn't work for me.
Wicked hard course: As I said before, this course was tough. Not a lot of sustained climbing (like wicked high passes with 3 miles of uphill), but tough nonetheless. Made it tough to get into a sustained groove but hey, that's racing.

I don't have results just yet but will let you know how I did in relation to others soon.

Speaking of not keeping score and comparing myself to other golfers ("Height."), Dad and I hit the links about an hour and a half after I got home from the race. Needless to say, I was a little wrecked at the start but still managed to hit some decent shots. I had some crappy holes for sure but overall, played better than usual. I guess I need to run a boatload of miles before I play. I still logged triple-digits (a completely honest 108 with no Mulligans) but overall, I played much better than normal and considering that was the first time I lifted a club this year, ran 16+ hard miles beforehand, and generally suck at golf, it wasn't too shabby.

Dad and I capped off the day with some killer grub from the always awesome Donita's Cantina in Crested Butte. If you are in the area, get your ass in there. Then be prepared to haul an ass and a half out of there.

~stubert.

Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday...

2009-05-20T21:10:00.006-06:00

Couloir above Lake Isabelle

Hey Ma, get off the dang roof! ~ Cletus

Good end of last week/start of this week, activity-wise. Saturday saw gorgeous conditions in the high-country so I headed up higher to do 13 miles on Rollins Pass. I started above the tunnel and made my way up the old railroad grade. There were still several large sections socked in with drifts so car traffic was virtually non-existent.

View east from Rollins Pass

Unfortunately, I felt like hammered crap and my abs were really, really angry with me all day so I didn't turn over the miles as quickly or painlessly as I had hoped given the past week's progress. It was good to be out, however, and I have learned that there is no such thing as a bad run so though I felt a little discouraged by the set-back, I took it in stride.

Sunday I stuck close to home as one of our foster bunnies was at the end of his journey. Rach does an amazing job giving these special guys a loving home but it is still very hard to see them go. Louis was not an old bunny but had a terminal condition that required additional care and attention so he and his friend, Bruscetta, came to live with us. Rach paired them with two other great bunnies, Sidney and Peanut, then Homer was added to the group for a really cool fivesome. Louis will be missed but Bruscetta can now stay with her new friends, which makes it easier on her for sure.

On Monday Luke, Ben and I headed up to the Brainard Lake area to do some skiing. We got a fairly early start but an inversion made it incredibly warm up high and we were met with breakable crust conditions on the hike in and sloppy, punchy snow on the bootpack up towards Isabelle Glacier. It was a gorgeous day (albeit warm) but the going was much slower than we expected. We decided to ski a protected coulior but I bailed about halfway up to get home to get some work done. I actually felt great. I was a little slow but was being really cautious as every time my right leg postholed in the weird conditions, my right knee would become very grumpy.

I apologized for calling him "Snotter".

On the way back out, I was treated by a river otter playing in the freshly thawed far-eastern edge of Long Lake. He was playing in the shallow water near the tip of the lake and even posed for me a bit while I took photos. River otters were recently declassified as endangered and are now listed as a threatened species so getting to see the little fella (actually, not that little) was really cool.

Tuesday I ran up near my house. Just kept a steady, relatively slow pace and ran a fun figure eight in the woods. I hit up some of my favorites: Tupperware, Funky Boss, Diver Down and power hiked the steeper sections. Felt okay, actually. I didn't push the pace really at all and was able to just stay relaxed and comfortable.

Today I doubled down and did a quick run in the woods on some pirate trails (actually got a little off track due to early-season conditions) and then did a fun exploratory moto ride with Luke. We jammed up Rollins Pass to see how much snow had melted in the past three days of seriously intense heat (for May, at least) then went up Mammoth Gulch (which is still pretty socked in) and then checked out the Fourth of July road, which is open and clear all the way to the trailhead. Luke then stole my motorcycle. He has a knack for swiping people's bikes. (Hey Pete, if you are reading this, your moto is in my garage.) It won't be long until Luke is kicking my ass in yet another activity but for now, I'll relish not having to chase him around.

I head to Gunnison on Friday to race the Sage Burner Saturday morning. Since my abs are still being jerks, I am just going to do the 25K event with explicit instructions to take it easy. I'll let you know how that goes.

She's just a bean.

And here is a shot of Molly for your viewing pleasure.

~stubert.

Saturday morning video...

2009-05-16T09:13:00.001-06:00

...through the... courtesy of Fred's two feet... ~ Flintstones theme song

Who needs cartoons when you have this?

UltraRunning from Matt Hart on Vimeo.

Enjoy,

~stubert.

Where was I...

2009-05-15T19:52:00.004-06:00

Hills are speedwork in disguise. ~ Frank Shorter

Somehow another week has blown by. That seems to happen a lot lately.

Spent the week working, getting some fun runs in and trying to get healthy. I feel like I succeeded on all counts. Nothing too major on the running front, just staying consistent. I took Monday off, then ran a hard 5 on Tuesday and felt awesome. Wednesday I went to see Janet for coaching then did short runs on Thursday and Friday. Starting to really feel it and think I am getting more fit every day and figuring out the new running mojo. Good times.

Hoping to do a high-altitude run tomorrow then maybe squeeze in a morning ski on Sunday. We'll see how it goes and I'll keep you posted.

~stubert.

Two in a row...

2009-05-10T16:59:00.003-06:00

The greatest pleasure in life, is doing the things people say we cannot do. ~ Walter Bagehot

Nothing better than two solid runs in a row. Well, except for three, or seventeen, or twenty-eig.. SHUT UP! I'm writing this post.

So I have now logged two good efforts in a row and I am pretty excited about it. I have been seeing another awesome Physical Therapist who is helping out a lot. If you are having problems that you can't seem to figure out, call Sandy Bertrand. She's great. Thursday's run was good as well but only about 40 minutes so I am not going to count that one but Friday was fun and amazing. Hit the trails around the casa which are now mostly free of snow. There were a few sections I had to put on my trudging hat but for the most part they were clear. Did a fun, 8-mile loop with only minor ab discomfort and finished strong. Good stuff. Was able to hammer up the hills and just felt really solid throughout the run.

Saturday I took "off". By "off" I mean Luke and I rode dirt bikes for something like 6 hours so there you go. I put the DR through its first real tests and it rode like a champ. A LOT heavier than the Husky (which is kindof a pig itself) but I managed to make it up some pretty hairy stuff (for me anyway). Only dropped it twice. Nice! Really had a good time and explored some fun terrain between Rowena and Rollinsville.

Today the weather was kinda crap so I went to the gym and ran on the dreadmill for a bit. I felt awesome and super strong, which was refreshing. After a warm-up, I put the hammer down for an hour then ran laps on the track for another 30 minutes. I am definitely getting there and am pretty psyched. Really figuring out this new stride and think it is helping me a lot.

I am going to continue to wait until the end of the month to decide about Leadville but am feeling more confident every day. Excited to see how I continue to improve in the next few weeks. My first race is in Gunnison on the 23rd and I am hoping to do the full 50K but may have to back that down to 25K. I'll keep you posted on that.

~stubert.

The wind, it blows...

2009-05-06T17:32:00.005-06:00

This speech is my recital. I think it's very vital. To rock a rhyme that's right on time, It's tricky is the title. Here we go. ~ Run. D.M.C.

If you close your eyes, take a deeeeep breath and relax, you can practically see all the awesome shots I have taken over the past few days of skiing and running. Just picture the most amazing photo and video ever produced, then up that by 23% and you'll be in the ballpark. Unfortunately, this is the best I can do for you at this point, since I donated my camera to the Brainard Lake wilderness on Sunday afternoon.

Yes, I have been busy training. Even did a 15-miler on Friday in the Boulder drizzle. Luke and I went out Sunday afternoon in gale-force winds to hit up the north-facing chutes on Niwot Ridge. Did I mention the gale-force winds? Yeah. We dropped down D2 (funky snow but fun) then jammed back to the RockShot pitch in the Rabbit Cages. Really funky snow in there. Wet slab conditions prevailed. At some point between the bottom of D2 and the parking lot I lost my faithful camera. The shots on it are award-winning.*

*Proclaimations of awesomeness are contingent upon the discovery of said camera at which point the author can not be held responsible for any lack of photographic awesomeness. But until the camera is found, the author is sticking to his story that the author composed and captured the best images ever created in the history of digital (or non-digital) photography.

Tuesday, I ran 8 miles north of Boulder. Seems the theme for the week is huge headwinds that suddenly die once they become tail winds. I put in the time on Foothills Trail then transitioned over to the trail system west of the Res. Didn't feel great but after Sunday's 6-hour trudge and a short, recovery run on Monday, that was to be expected. Stus and heat still don't mix.

Luke and I headed back out this morning to an abandoned attempt to ski one of the couloirs off of Audubon. Today's wind made Sunday look like a crappy Nichole Kidman/Billy Zane movie. The weather station at D1 said 80mph gusts and I believe it. It took us an hour to get up to Brainard where we decided that we just weren't into getting blasted off the Audubon ridge and headed back over to the Cages. Dropped RockShot modified (hit the really steep drop in) but conditions were like Cold Medina with a slippery top layer of relatively fresh on top of a weird crust layer with slush underneath. Tricky.

As I said, it is good to be out there regardless of the munkiness of the skiing and bead-blaster conditions. Figuring out the rest of the week but I suspect it will be more of the same. Good times.

~stubert.

I think I may have met Yo...

2009-04-30T20:45:00.001-06:00

Keep your god damned hands off my wife. ~ H.I. McDunnough

Recently, I started visiting a running coach, Janet Runyan, in an effort to see if changing my form could help with my abdominal problems and make me a more efficient (and subsequently less injured) runner. I found out about Janet several weeks ago when she hosted a seminar about "running with injuries". I liked what I heard and signed up to have her take a stab at improving my steeze.

Janet won a bunch of prestigious ultradistance races including Leadville in 2001, and is the current record-holder for Masters Women in that event with a finishing time of 21:47:44. Pretty amazing. So far, she is really helping me a lot and today's short run was a huge improvement in the pain department over anything I have experienced since some time in early October. Not pain-free by any means but a marked improvement over the past week's runs for sure.

She has also helped me run "lighter" and so it feels at least like I am able to go the same speed at a decreased effort. That isn't to say I am looking like a gazelle out there but I am starting to feel a lot more efficient. Good times.

Today, I took a little time to goof around on the 'net and looked up Janet's bio just to see what she had accomplished. Along with her race prowess, she is a music teacher with a performance degree in piano. She also was (or still is) a member of Divine Madness.

For those of you unfamiliar with Boulder running, there is a group of distance runners here called "Divine Madness" that has made quite an impression on the Ultradistance community. Their influence has dimmed a bit of late but in their heyday they were frequent podium finishers in many of the sport's toughest races. Five-time Leadville champ Steve Peterson comes from the DM camp. They have been likened to a cult by some circles and if one believes the stories, practiced some definitely untraditional methods to achieve their running successes.

Their leader, Marc "Yo" Tizer, is an interesting character (or worse) and has been accused of some pretty heinous behavior. There is quite a bit of information out there that details the DM lifestyle and allegations but this article by Michael Finkel is probably the most thorough. I actually read this several years ago when researching ultradistance running and wondering about Divine Madness and their influence on the sport. Funny how things come full circle.

So anyway, I was meeting with Janet last night and her housemates were cooking dinner. One of them looked suspiciously like Yo. He was wearing a towel. Given what I have read, that sounds just about right.

~stubert.

Consistency is key...

2009-04-27T17:37:00.003-06:00

To avoid situations in which you might make mistakes may be the biggest mistake of all. ~ Peter McWilliams

I have been running fairly consistently of late with days off Wednesday and Sunday. Mixed it up a lot in between. Last Thursday, I ran down our road and back (about 8 miles in 1:10) then did a loop in the neighborhood on Friday. That was supposed to be "easy" and I suppose it was in a mountainous sort of way.

Saturday, Bob and I headed out with Lindsay and their new pup, Leah then carried on to the BoboLink trail and back over to South Boulder Creek and around to their place. Ended up being 12.5 or so and we did it very slowly. Just soaking in the cool, Spring conditions and enjoying the run. I hit the gym today and logged 4+ on the track.

Overall, I am feeling like I am getting there but my abs are still a problem. Hoping that with consistent training, a lot of stretching and some gait guidance, I can get it cleared up in time to feel more confident about tackling Leadville again this year. Right now I am vacillating but am actually really fired up to do it. Giving until the end of May to make my final decision.

Tomorrow I'll be down in Boulder for an 8-miler if anyone wants to go for a fun run in the early afternoon.

~stubert.

Here's the skinny...

2009-04-23T16:38:00.005-06:00

I have misplaced my pants. ~ Homer Simpson

Two VASTLY different approaches to minimization:

How Barefoot Runners Are Shaping the Shoe Industry

Enjoy.

~stubert.

Lil Grandad...

2009-04-22T10:43:00.004-06:00

That's what she said. ~ Michael Scott

Here's some video Pete shot of me in the Grandads at A-Basin. This looked a lot bigger from above.

~stubert.

Humor is funny...

2009-04-21T08:32:00.005-06:00

Why "Pinto"? ~ Larry 'Pinto' Kroger

I posted a clip from this series the other day. There are others that are equally amusing. Check them all out. Also, if you didn't see women's Boston Marathon finish, you really should give it a look.

Amazing.

~stubert

Three feet high and rising...

2009-04-18T16:45:00.010-06:00

That pile is Rach's car.

I didn't even have to use my AK. ~ Ice Cube

Yesterday was pretty sweet. Pete and I met fairly early at Kermit's to get in some pow turns at A-Basin. Turns out we were ahead of the major cluster that eventually closed I-70 but a little behind on the first chair action. That was okay, however as we still got in many hours of great skiing. AND managed to make it home without getting stranded (though it did take Pete 6 hours or so).

So the conditions were prime after 16 inches of snow overnight and more consistently throughout the day. It was seriously puking snow up at the Basin and the locals were out in force. Even Gary made the scene after suffering some sort of back injury that kept him out most of the year. Pete and I rallied on Pali all day in search of the goods and fun stuff to drop. The wind was doing its weird wind thing (out of the Northeast again for some reason) which made seeking the best snow a little more of a challenge (it usually loads up with winds out of the West) but we managed just fine. Pete worked on sticking the drop off Mini Kong and I finally stomped Little Grandad. Sweet!

The drive home was slow going and Pete's car was seriously buried by the time we got back to Kermit's. Once I got home, I was greeted with a couple feet of snow in the driveway (and a rather large pile of munge from the plows). I had mowed the driveway prior to heading up in the morning so this was all accumulation during the day. I mowed again (while it dropped at least 4 inches an hour) then once more before bed. We also lost power, which was pretty awesome but the best was the jackassery that went down during the course of the evening.

Since we had no power, entertainment became watching people try to deal with the heavy snowfall. First, some guy drove down the road, backed up WAY back up the road, then came back down and for some inexplicable reason tried to do a 30 point turn-around in front of our house only to get stuck in our driveway as his truck died. Apparently there was some marital tension going on as well and I think that at one point keys were tossed into the snow bank but I am not certain. In any event, they finally got the truck rolling again only to reappear two hours later in a different car, which they stuffed into the snowbank at the edge of our driveway, did another 13-point turn around and went on their merry way. There were also many snowmobilers racing up and down our road which always is good for a laugh.

So our power came back on about 10:45 then we went to bed. When I got up, the road crew had deposited a pile of snow and road munge 4 feet tall at the end of our driveway. Disappointed. I spent much of the morning getting that moved out of the way then the rest of the day getting the truck out and able to roll. All in all, we got over 3 feet in about 36 hours and it is still snowing lightly as I write this. Springtime in the Rockies... gotta love it.

~stubert.

Slog...

2009-04-16T17:36:00.004-06:00

When in kitty country, you don't have to be the fastest, just not the slowest. ~ stubert.

Sometimes one has to just get out there and churn. That is pretty much what I did yesterday with a VERY slow run from my house, up through GGCSP and back. Ended up being just over 9 miles in a couple of hours. Lots of stops to readjust, take in the scenery and enjoy the run.

I kept a fairly steady pace and was definitely slowed by snowpacked and icy trails. Lots of slick mud in spots too but all in all, it was a blast. I kept the heartrate down WAY low and just tried to implement all the goodies that I picked up during Tuesday's session. The abs still hurt but there were periods where I was able to run absolutely pain-free, so that is encouraging. A lot to think about and adjust... reminds me of when I was first starting to tele ski and every time I play golf. I think I will need to pick one item on which to focus at a time then add as I get individual things dialed in. We'll see how that goes. Right now I am thinking of: hips forward, loose lower legs, roll off the feet, flat back, lean forward, everything behind the vertical line, and long through the core. Yeah. And I thought chewing gum was tough.

I'll leave you with an amusing clip:

~stubert.

And you think I'm nuts...

2009-04-15T09:51:00.003-06:00

Sliiiiiiiide. ~ Marla Singer

The Marathon of the Sands is a 6-day race across the Sahara where competitors must carry all their gear and the only real support is rations of water and tents in which to sleep at night. Amazing.

Speaking of racing, I met with Janet Runyan yesterday for the first of several sessions scheduled to help with my running form and to get some training and racing advice. She is a past winner at Leadville and National Ultradistance Champion so I am very excited to see how she can help my performance and help me get and stay injury-free. She recommended some posture adjustments yesterday that really seemed to help and I am planning to go out today to see how much "sticks". It is fairly warm up here today so as long as it doesn't rain, I should be okay. She did think that the first 50K I have scheduled was a bit aggressive so I will probably scale that back to the 25K event.

I did get out for some turns at the Basin on Sunday. Luke and I pretty much tore it up and Pete and Edy were up as well. Pete joined us for a couple of fun runs. The conditions were a bit funky but REALLY good turns were to be had if you explored a little. We got into some really good stuff up on East Wall and did a run out the Steep Gullies which was pretty great.

I ran Betasso on Monday evening and it was more of a slog than anything to write home about. Felt pretty poorly throughout but did manage 3 laps before calling it a night. Hoping I can get my psoas issues resolved very soon.

~stubert.

Now I've done it...

2009-04-11T19:40:00.002-06:00

Gentlemen, start your engines. ~ That guy who starts car races

Just signed up for two races: The Sage Burner in Gunnison on May 23rd and the Dirty Thirty in Golden Gate Canyon State Park on June 6th. Both are 50K events that I'll be treating as training races for the potential big event, Leadville. Still haven't pulled the trigger on that but am feeling more and more confident that I'll be able to commit to it soon.

This past week saw several more ski days (up to day 52 now) and some great runs. Still haven't eclipsed the 2 hour mark but am guessing that will come very soon. I did three runs this week: Sanitas on Tuesday, Crazy Snow Woods Run on Thursday and Green Mountain on Friday. I am not feeling super strong but my knee isn't bugging me at all, which is a plus. Now I can just focus on resolving the psoas thing and be back on track.

I bailed on skiing today, just wasn't in the mood, really and stayed home with Rach to hang out and watch movies. Just what the doctor ordered. I may head up tomorrow to either catch Eldora's final hoorah for the year or see what other plans can be hashed out for Sunday shenanigans.

As always, I'll keep you posted.

~stubert.

Take Grandpa skiing...

2009-04-02T13:28:00.003-06:00

Keep your ugly fuckin' goldbrickin' ass out of my beach community. ~ Malibu Cop

Day 49 featured a late start, great snow and lots of obnoxious, drunken college kids at the Basin. Luke, Nichole and I headed up late (post conference call with Renewable Choice Energy, one of our clients) and immediately started spinning laps on Pali in search of our favorite spots and good snow. Both were in large supply with forays into the Black Widow, Mini Kong, Waterfall, West Turbo and more. Deep and fluffy at the bottom of 2nd too... just thinking about it makes me inclined to get back up there ASAP.

Anyway, the mountain was virtually empty save for a rather large pack of heavily inebriated co-eds and hangers on. I guess April Fool's Day brought out the riff raff but seriously, if you can't stand up in the lift line, you really shouldn't be on the hill. Fortunately, they were pretty easy to dodge but I felt bad for the lift ops who were being berated left and right. Anyway, I suspect more of the same will be in order this weekend with the beach being in full effect.

I didn't ski particularly well but had a great time. My knee was giving me grief for whatever reason and my abs are still a mess. Seeing yet another doctor about that next week. I have to get that resolved else my racing plans for this year are going to be in jeopardy. Hopefully this guy can help out.

Other than that, we've just been jamming on work stuff and staying busy with the critters. I am planning to attend a running injuries seminar tomorrow night so maybe that will provide more insight into how to prevent and treat.

~stubert.

100K...

2009-03-30T18:03:00.002-06:00

Robert "Raven" Kraft - Photo courtesy of ravenrun.net

Can't touch this. ~ M.C. Hammer

Now that's dedication. This guy has been running 8 miles a day for the last 34 years. Just logged his 100,000th mile yesterday.

~stubert.

Apparently, I didn't get the memo...

2009-03-30T08:25:00.003-06:00

One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it. ~ Oogway

A new study has taken a look into "the perfect running pace" and determined that though this pace is unique for each individual, the average optimal pace to travel 1 mile for males is 7:18. It does sound as if the study took into account only traveling a single mile so it would be interesting to know what the pace would be for those traveling greater distances. Anyway, that is my running link for the day. Enjoy!

I took Saturday completely off in an effort to recover a little bit from Thursday and Friday's skiing excitement and drove down to Boulder on Sunday to do some really sloppy trail running. It was beautiful out, a bit breezy at times and the trails were wet and muddy. Good stuff.

I started out at Eben G. Fine park and made my way under Canyon Blvd to Prospect Park. My heartrate spiked pretty much immediately (gotta work on that) as I made my way up and over the hogback and on to Sanitas. I ran/walked up the gut of Sanitas , enjoying the scenery and perfect running weather then dropped off the top toward 4th.

This trail was SUPER muddy and very slick at points. I fell once but managed to get a hand down to keep from being coated in sloppy, wet clay, so that was a plus and eventually made it down without further incident and on to the Wonderland Lake trails.

This section was very wet but at this point, it didn't really matter so I just tried to keep a sub 12-minute pace and let my legs spin. Unfortunately, my abs were really acting up and so I am sure I looked less than graceful. I ran North across Lee Hill road, up to the top of the hill and turned around for the return journey.

The only complication came while climbing back up the muddy access to Sanitas - just slow-going. I was pretty bonked by the end as well and man, my guts were killing me. Only 9.5ish miles, which took me about 1:45. Not stellar but given that I haven't been running at all really, I am nursing two injuries, and it was only my second time on major hills/trails since who knows when, I'll go easy on myself.

So the great experiment of running marathons over the fall months seems to have only really resulted in my having a nagging injury (abs) and less improvement in the efficiency department than expected. I'll keep working to get the ab problem resolved... perhaps that is what is holding me back. The knee had several "twingey" moments but overall was okay. I definitely wouldn't want to run 50+ miles on it right now.

Given the lingering injury situation, I have decided to postpone the double traverse until the fall but am looking at a few options for 50k races in May/June. The first, the Sage Burner, is in Gunnison on May 23rd. It follows a lot of the Rage in the Sage course which I used to race/train on heavily when I raced Mountain Bikes. This course has a hometown feel for me so it would be a fun one to do. The second upcoming event is also a "home course" kind of deal - The Golden Gate Dirty Thirty. This race is on June 6 and is run on the trail system near my house where I spent a lot of the last two summers training. Should be a lot of fun.

I am going to take today mostly off (will probably head to the gym later to lift) but am hoping to start ramping things up, move skiing more to the backcountry and start to feel better soon. At least that is the goal.

By the way, if you ever have electric motor repair needs, go see the guys at Boulder Electric Motor. They are awesome.

~stubert.

Lovin' Lost Lake Laps...

2009-03-27T13:32:00.003-06:00

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

Ok. So good I had to just do a brief post...

Luke and I grabbed first chair (well... 15th) at the Rock this morning and made about 3 turns down Ambush on our way to Corona where we were the first to drop Salto, which was nice. Then we headed out the gate for three AWESOME runs in the Lost Lake Chutes. We were spinning 45-50 minute laps even while slogging around in the woods breaking trail trying to find the good traverse line. Left, Hourglass, Left of Left. Quite a bit of sluffing but only a little evidence of fracturing on heavily loaded areas. Man, it was really good.

Luke took first turns in Left and skied it all the way out to the lake making only a few huge, sweeping turns on the face. I followed suit, straight-running the pinch.

We then lapped it back up and Luke jammed down Hourglass to the lake. I came FLYING out of the bottom of the 'glass grinning ear to ear.

We then rallied one more lap and I took first tracks down the left edge of Left where it was still really deep and pointed it out the bottom. Luke aired into the left notch for the day's boldest line. Great stuff.

We spun the 4 laps and were back at the car by noon. Amazing morning of great skiing.

~stubert.

Very quick one...

2009-03-27T07:26:00.003-06:00

RIP Shane McConkey - Graeme Murray/Red Bull Photofiles

I like your style, Dude. ~ The Stranger

I have finally been getting back out consistently, which is nice. Ran 4x last week (1 mile treadmill on Sunday, 3 miles trail on Tuesday, 5 miles trail on Friday and a 10 miler on trails on Sunday) and skied Wednesday, Saturday and Monday. This really put the stomp on my knee but was all fun. I hit Vail yesterday for some big pow turns and am heading up to Eldora in a few to spin a few laps out the gate.

As you may have guessed, we finally got snow after a LONG spell with nothing. It is still snowing now but just a little.

Also, I think that I just found another race to do: Golden Gate Dirty Thirty. Seeing how this is in my backyard, I pretty much HAVE to represent, right?

And on a very sad note: RIP Shane McConkey. He will be missed.

I'll catch you up with more ASAP.

~stubert.

Wear your helmets, kids...

2009-03-18T18:37:00.002-06:00

Wow. Sad news: Natasha Richardson dies after ski accident

~stubert.

Buh-OING...

2009-03-18T18:21:00.002-06:00

So nice, so nice... I got you. ~ James Brown

Hit Eldora this morning for a few test runs which turned into several non-stoppers down Salto. I would say that I am about 80% but not much pain and though I was a bit tentative on the steepest sections, I felt pretty solid. That is good news. Tomorrow, I may hit the trails (which probably means it will snow tonight). Getting better. Good stuff.

Also, Flight of the Conchords is funny.

~stubert.

More of the same...

2009-03-15T11:37:00.002-06:00

Another week on the recovery train. Not too much exciting to talk about. I have been spinning and swimming and lifting and not much else. I did try to ski on Wednesday with poor results. The knee is just not really ready for that kind of abuse. After 3 weeks, I am getting pretty sick of it. At least the conditions have been terrible with very warm days in the high-country so I am not really missing much. It is about 45° up here today. Just wrong.

Unfortunately, all this warm weather and lack of snow means that the trails are probably pretty open which is just stoking my running Jones. I have been able to trot around a little bit but not much more. I guess I will keep up the rest and spinning until my head explodes from boredom.

I did get out with Pete yesterday to see Watchmen. Decent movie. Pretty true to the book, which was cool. I wasn't thoroughly impressed but thought it was entertaining. It was good to see Pete again too as he has been working too much.

Other than that, I have just been working, getting organized, doing taxes for the biz, reading a lot, and enjoying my new office set up. The new MacBook Pro is awesome as is the Apple 24" Cinema Display. Good stuff.

I read a couple of good books recently: Devil in the White City and Never Let Me Go. I would recommend both.

Now I guess I'll head to the gym again to get my spin on. Hopefully more interesting stuff soon.

~stubert.

Data dork...

2009-03-08T22:43:00.002-06:00

NUUUUUURRRRRDDDSSS!!!! - Fred "The Ogre" Palowakski

Finally got around to downloading my Vegas Marathon data. I kinda fell apart after mile 18.

Check it out.

~stubert.

Spin, swim, repeat...

2009-03-07T11:27:00.003-07:00

You know what you two need? A little comic strip called "Love is." It's about two naked 8-year olds who are married. ~ Homer Simpson

I have been laying pretty low the last couple of weeks - mostly just rehabbing the knee which seems to be getting a lot better but with the snow conditions the way they are, I am not pushing it. It has been unbelievably hot up here, reaching the upper 50s a couple of days ago. Just not right at all. No snow either (go figure) so no real need to go out and get all banged up for nothing.

So I have been swimming, spinning, lifting and generally going a bit nuts because I can neither run nor ski. Bummer. I have been crazy busy with work stuff as well, so that has kept me occupied.

And it is official, Rach has put up with me for 18 years. What a trooper. She is the best.

Hopefully, the knee will continue to feel better and I'll be able to get back out there soon. Apparently, there is a big storm brewing that is supposed to hit tonight. It is looking really gray out there right now so as long as it doesn't rain, we'll be in business. (Actually, it just started to snow 4 seconds ago.)

~stubert.

Ice meet knee...

2009-02-22T12:31:00.004-07:00

Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you. ~ The Stranger

This past week was relatively active with work and play-packed days. I ran 6.5 miles in an hour on the treadmill on Thursday then headed to Crested Butte early Friday to ski with my dad and cousin, in visiting from Oklahoma. We spun a bunch of laps on the North Face lift and good times were had by all. Funnel was in good shape as well, always a good way to end the day.

I started trying to step it up with both the speed and aggressiveness and managed to work up the steam to drop a few rocks in tighter terrain. Definitely wasn't flowing things quite yet but being able to toss air in the trees was a definite move forward for me. I was also charging several areas which usually cause me troubles so all in all, I was slaying it.

David, Dad and I grabbed a drink at the base post skiing and were treated to a really tasty Marg. Here's the recipe: 3 parts Tequilla, 2 parts Rose's Lime, 1 part Triple Sec, splash of Sprite. I highly recommend it. Dad and I then hit Donita's for dinner. Still one of my favorite restaurants. Great food and awesome service. Plus the owners, Kay and Heli are always willing to sit and talk with us for a bit... which is pretty cool.

Saturday, I headed back up and immediately headed out to one of my favorite circuits: Teocalli Bowl to Third Bowl. Lots of hiking = a sweaty Stu but it is usually worth it. The conditions on Saturday didn't disappoint and I dropped a couple of big rocks in Teo then rallied Third to the bottom of Big Hourglass where the Extreme Championships were being held. This is some serious terrain and is an area never open to the public. I watched the final Juniors go then stayed for most of the ladie's event before I decided to go spin more laps.

I worked my way back around the mountain for a Headwall lap then up the NFL again and into Fredo's which is a cliff section at the top of the North Face. I kinda blew my drop in but then skied the rest of Phoenix really well and hucked a couple of other big drops. Well, big for me. By the time I got back down, the men's event was in full swing and those guys are just sick. Rallying down Home Depot and tossing BIG air in the trees, over huge gaps, all in terrain with VERY serious consequences if one were to fall... really amazing skiing. I watched the event for awhile then decided to go back up and redeem myself on Fredo's. I dropped in and was skiing really well. Stuck my landing off a decent sized diving board then headed back over to Phoenix.

My second time off a pretty good drop proved to be it for me for the day. I am not really sure what happened but I landed on some rocks which rotated me forward a bit and my knee immediately started hurting. I was able to ski out, making alpine turns and having some pain on initiating right hand turns. My right knee immediately started to swell up and by the time I finally made it all the way back down to the base, it was really unhappy with me. Lots of swelling and pain. Bummer. That's the cost of going for it sometimes though.

So I iced it all the way home and am continuing treatment today. No skiing for awhile, I'm sure and running is probably out too. I'll try to get in to see Mark on Monday to see if he can help get me back up and rockin' ASAP. Given the amount of pain, I am thinking it is probably a strain vs. a tear but we'll see what the experts say.

Even with the injury, days 40 and 41 were a blast. Crested Butte has some killer terrain and is still one of my favorite areas. Get over there if you have a chance.

~stubert.

Give me a three! Give me a nine...

2009-02-18T22:35:00.003-07:00

Never try to tell everything you know. It may take too short a time. ~ Norman Ford

Day 39 was pretty damned good if I do say so my damned self. Gale-force winds made the hike out exciting but created Etch-a-Sketch conditions in the Lost Lake chutes. Really, really amazing skiing. Ben and I did a couple fairly quick laps then met up with Luke for another. Skied the circuit (Right, Left, Members) then I had to bolt to get some work done and keep the right side of my face from freezing again. The air temps weren't that low but the wind was howling. Bare faced Stu made for a bad combo and I got a little frost nip. No biggie.

Our first run was in Right which was super consolidated and filled with at least a foot of untracked blow-in. Overhead, blinding face shots all the way down to the Nose and Bowl which were also untouched. We then scampered back out to nail Left, which was even better. A little less consolidated (sluffy) but way deep and just a killer run. Members was also just killer skiing. A great day all around.

I came home to get some work done on proposals, some marketing stuff and whatnot. Sometimes I wish I was more irresponsible. Oh well. I have bunnies to feed. Speaking of bunnies, Rach brought Aaron home to be pals with Skipper and Nigel. He is a cutie. So is Rach.

I may have to go back out tomorrow for a short jaunt. Feels so good to get out in the wilderness.

~stubert.

Buttery...

2009-02-16T23:25:00.003-07:00

Rinse, repeat. ~ Back of my shampoo bottle

Etch-a-Sketch day in the Lost Lake Chutes. Fresh turns in Right, then more fresh in Left. With the wind the way it was, I am sure that Right would have been fresh again by the time we got back around.

Good times with Pete and Caleb.

~stubert