Mixing it up...

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.

Bonking and hand-held do not mix...

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...

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.

Another day older, not deeper in debt though...

Still life with coffee cup and Calgary.

There was no time for scholarly details, and, besides, I have always believed that a man can fairly be judged by the standards and taste of his choices in matters of high-level plagiarism. ~ Hunter S. Thompson

Yesterday was windy like it was someone's first day on the job as wind-meister - friggin' rookies... always trying to prove themselves - so I headed to the gym to hit the weights, then the dreadmill and then swim for awhile. Felt okay. I definitely wasn't fast but was on a "cross country" program so I pretty much ran uphill the whole time. My guts weren't bugging me too much, so that was nice. Today is another story, however.

I am still working on a post-Canada report and will try to have that out shortly.

Rach and I saw Slumdog Millionaire on Sunday for my birthday. Great movie. I had heard a lot about it prior to seeing it (which I normally avoid) but was still very surprised by the structure. Great use of flashbacks and the actors did a fantastic job. The film was definitely disturbing on a whole host of levels but worked really well overall. Well worth checking out.

I have actually been watching a lot of movies of late for whatever reason. Here are a few highlights:

New York Doll: Documentary about Arthur "Killer" Kane, the bassist for the New York Dolls. One of those movies that leaves you with some seriously mixed emotions.

The Man Who Souled the World: Another documentary... about World Industries founder, Steve Rocco and his punk rock, DIY asthetic that brought street skating to the forefront in the early 90s.

The Visitor: This sweet film features one of my favorite actors, Richard Jenkins in a story of a widower who befriends two immigrants he finds living in his New York apartment. Really quite a nice, quiet movie from the director of The Station Agent.

Taxi to the Dark Side: Really a grim documentary about the U.S. detainee policies.

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson: Pretty great documentary about the life of Hunter S., one of my favorite authors.

Lars and the Real Girl: This one was really unexpectedly great. Excellent performances and a great story.

More to come.

~stubert.

Feel the burn...

Bad shot of my in-car thermometer on the way home from Gunny.

One. ~ Neal Page

Days 9 and 10: Back from a couple of good days at the Butte. Skied with my pops on Saturday for a bit until he got tired. Then I hooked up with Rossi tele dude, Max Mancini, for a bunch of fun-filled runs. The day was pretty great, lots of fresh, some fun runs open and, frankly, blast-able due to the soft conditions. Twister was skiing like a dream with giant, bump-smashing GS turns and following Max off some of the cat-walk jumps that aren't usually huck-friendly due to the Volkswagen-sized bumps that form up. I am definitely still recovering from Vegas as my quads were screaming at me towards the end of the day. Definitely not back in top form just yet but that is okay. Post-skiing, Dad and I went to see Quantum Solace (could have used some story-line editing but was okay) then hit my favorite restaurant, Donita's Cantina. Go there immediately if you are anywhere near Crested Butte.

Sunday, CB called in 10 so I was super excited for a big pow day but in my enthusiasm, I mis-interpreted that figure and was a bit bummed to find out they really only got about 2 and the other 8 accumulated the previous day. Oh well. It was really cold and I had to go in for more layers after my first run then spun laps on Twister and Paradise. There was some more terrain open (compared with Saturday) but the coverage was still a bit thin to get anything good opened up. I had to take a break a couple hours in to warm up then managed to meet up with Max, Jen and Drew again for some fun nuker runs. We took a break after a few to warm up then spun a few more before calling it a day as it was about 8 degrees out. Not the coldest day I have had at the Butte by a long shot (I recall a -20 day in High School that was particularly chilly) but definitely not warm.

Jammed back home on snowpacked roads. It never ceases to amaze me how many shitty drivers there are out there. Driving slowly in the fast lane seems to be a bad-weather favorite. Jackasses. In any event, it was an enjoyable weekend but I am very happy to be home with my sweetie. She even baked me more yummy brownies while I was away!

~stubert.

Extreme lunch..

I seem to recognize your face haunting, familiar, yet I can't seem to place it. ~ Pearl Jam

I intended to write about this last night but got distracted making fun of Spartacus with Rage. Man, that is one funny movie. For whatever reason we have seen a couple of Tony Curtis movies recently (Some Like It Hot also). Not sure why he made the Netflix list of late but amusing nonetheless. From the really stilted dialogue, to the way the ruling class was portrayed, to the acting style of some of the actors who were clearly cast simply based on their looks (seemed some were chanelling John Wayne) - just a very unintentionally amusing film. We commented on how blatant the gay themes are in the film and how, at the time, these were considered very subtle (see or read Cellulide Closet for more on this) but were reminded about how this just wasn't on the general public's radar back when Sparticus was released. (And continues to fly under the radar for people of that generation.) Reminds me of a story my buddy told me about his dad...

They were driving along the 1 north of Santa Monica and got in the vicinity of Will Rogers State Beach when his dad commented how cool it was to see "all the fit guys walking around with their dads." "Those guys are gay, Dad," commented my friend. "No way," replied my friend's dad. Really amusing. In any event. The movie is pretty funny when looked at through 21st century eyes.

See, I got distracted again! Anyway...

I rode the dirt bike over to Idaho Springs to meet Cort for lunch yesterday and decided to ride dirt back home. There is a road that goes up through Apex and then drops over the western side to Tolland from where I can jam back to Rollinsville and home pretty easily. It has been awile since I have done this route but it is a fairly major road so I didn't anticipate any problems. Well, that is what I get for anticipating. When I got close to the top, the road was gated with signs warning about trespassing. Apparelty this goes through private land and they have blocked access in the last year or so. Bummer. Well, I didn't really want to just turn around and found another trail that I assumed would by pass the private land (it is all public up at the top). Wrong assumption.

So I ended up on a smaller trail... I think it was 413, can't remember and so I took it. As it wound its way around the contour of the mountainside, it became snow covered in North-facing spots but I trudged on. Soon, I started seeing landmarks that were somewhat familiar so I kept on following the trail until I was in an area that became more and more familiar. One of the benefits to living in an area for 15 years and exploring the territory extensively. The trail eventually dumped out onto Moon Gulch road and I quickly made my way home. A fun adventure at least but definitely a bit more than I had initially planned.

And our site launched yesterday. Check out the new Relish Studio site and tell everyone you know who you think might need design and development services.

Ok, back to work. I think today is the last day for early voting in Colorado so get out there and get 'er done.

~stubert.

Hard frost...

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter. ~ e e cummings

Tonight saw our first really hard frost of the season with sustained temps overnight in the mid=20s. We have had a few lighter frosts this season already but last night is the first night that we had cold enough temps (for long enough) to really hammer home that Fall is approaching.

At the risk of alerting the valley-dwelling leafers, the aspens are starting their yearly burst into full on color mode and should really get going in the next couple of weeks. Last year, I wanted to organize a run up on the Leadville course to enjoy one section in particular that is just packed with amazing aspen groves. We'll see if that happens this year. Given racing schedules, weddings, lack of running fitness, and buddies in India, it may end up being a solo venture.

I have decided to only bore you once a week with running exploits (doing more of a weekly synopsis as opposed to the daily detailed update) so I'll only mention my daily runs in passing with fuller reports coming at the end of the week. That being said, Caleb and I did a 20-miler yesterday on the Backroads course that was quite fun. Then I went to see Pineapple Express which had moments of goodness but overall was pretty much a trainwreck. Not on my recommended viewing list.

The birds (along with the bears) are going nuts right now and so I need to head to Boulder to get more food for the freeloaders. May check out Burn After Reading while we are down there. I'll keep you posted.

Today's homework: Register to vote if you haven't done so already.

~stubert.

The week in review...

Man, just 'cause it's a theme song don't make it not true. ~ Kirk Lazarus

You read about my debacle last Sunday... the rest of the week went relatively well considering the hurt I tossed on myself. I screwed up by getting off my gameplan a bit in the later part of the week but felt okay most of the time. So I certainly am not going to complain any.

I rested up on Monday then did a "road" loop up by my house with some strides. Since the terrain up here is hilly, sometimes running strides can get a bit tricky. Either up or down, the undulation provides for some excitement. Technically, strides are supposed to be run at 5 or 10K pace. This is challenging enough when one doesn't know their 5 or 10K pace -- toss in a hill or two and things get really exciting. So basically, I just throttle it up a notch or three for what feels like 100 meters and call it good. Repeat, rest, repeat, try not to completely blow up. I definitely was still feeling Sunday a bit on Tuesday but the session went well.

Wednesday I needed to head down to Boulder for a film festival jury session so I went early and met up with Pete for a recovery run. Pretty much the perfect duration and tempo and it was great company. We just ran from his place over to the Boulder Creek path then up to Eben G. Fine (I think it's "G") then back at a steady, conversational pace. Perfect.

I had planned to do a 10-mile aero run on Thursday but the day got away from me then I headed to Boulder on Friday to try to do a make-up run but forgot my bottle, the weather was crap and Rach wasn't feeling well so I bailed and just took the day off. Which left Saturday for fun and/or games. A 4-mile recovery run was on deck but I opted for a 13-mile loop mostly on pavement. This was supposed to be an aero run but screw it, I turned it into just a steady pace run. Push it on downhills to an approximate aero pace then try to keep a low 10 or better uphill. Probably too hard but it was fun. I did the loop at about a 3:40 marathon pace which is encouraging. At least that is what I am telling myself so please, don't let me in on it if I am full of it.

As I said earlier, Rach hasn't been feeling so hot of late but she is such an awesome pants that she went into the shelter today to help with a bunny massage class and meet with some volunteers. Someone accidentally locked her keys in her car so I jammed down on the cycle to unlock her car for her and then was just able to make it to a screening of Tropic Thunder. Pretty funny, I must say. Not the best movie ever by any stretch of the imagination but if you want to just kick back and be entertained for an hour and a half, I recommend it.

Tomorrow we head back to the shelter to clean runs and then will probably come back up to the hills where I'll try to throw down a 15 miler. I may head to the dirt for this one or just head over to Mag or Rollins Pass and do something on the less technical terrain they offer. Haven't decided yet. As always, I'll keep you posted.

Today's advice: Don't punch anything harder than your hand. (That doesn't relate to anything, I'm just sayin' is all.)

~stubert.

Wish I'd written it...

But my fellow Americans, whatever your political beliefs, I ask you: If we can’t come together over a cute fucking robot, what chance do we have? ~ Sean O'Neal

You may have caught my WALL-E rant the other day. This guy did a much better job of detailing the idiocy of some of the arguments being made about the film. Read it.

~stubert.

Did you watch the movie?

World Ocean impact map courtesy of Nature.com

Out there is our home. Home AUTO, and it's in trouble. I can't just sit here and do nothing. That's all I've ever done! That's all anyone has ever done on this blasted ship. ~ Captain

So there has been a lot of backlash from certain groups surrounding the magnificent film, WALL-E. Apparently, many of these people paid their $9.50 (or whatever movies in their area cost these days), bought their $6 tub of corn and $5 soda, selected their favorite place to sit and completely forgot to watch the moving pictures being projected on the massive screen in front of them.

Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD.

Now I can understand that some of these groups have misguided ideological mindsets that prevent them from rational thought regarding such notions as human impact on global resources, environment, etc. (c'mon, guys... if you have ever looked at a landfill, or say, Los Angeles, it is pretty obvious we are making our mark upon the planet) but the latest group to take offense at the message contained in WALL-E apparently, consists of the overweight. Gawker has a summary.

So this community of fitness-challenged individuals claims that Pixar has made a film that demonizes the community as a whole for being slovenly and contributing to the demise of the planet. So much so that humans are forced to leave earth and send down cleaner robots (WALL-E units) to help tidy things up so that stuff can actually grow and thrive on the surface once more.

Here is where I start to take offense with their criticism as the film make it abundantly clear using several very obvious and specific examples that the largeness humans have attained in space HAPPENED IN SPACE, not on the earth as these groups maintain in their complaints. Sure, Pixar is trying to demonstrate that our current love affair with throw-away products and super-sized, fat-laden "meals" has contributed directly to the state of the planet in which it has become uninhabitable but by no means have they stated that the morbidly obese are solely (or even at all) to blame.

Example number 1: The evolution of the Captain - In one scene, the ship's captain looks back at headshots of all his predecessors and realizes that they get progressively more obese as time progresses (started out slim, got fat while in space, get it?)

Example number 2: Fred Willard, not so chubby - Now I am not going to say that Fred Willard is the poster child for fitness but any person with functioning eyeballs can see that he is not obese and according to the movie, he was running the show when humans finally had to abandon (earth)ship. So therefore, one can surmise that there were still some skinny people in charge when the proverbial shit hit the fan.

Example number 3: The back-to-earth instruction manual - This document clearly states (and is backed up by known science) that the humans' bones may have atrophied during their extended sodjurn in space and this may contribute to their no longer being able to walk in a normal-gravity situation. This would lead us to the fairly obvious conclusion that they got this way while in space instead of pre-departure.

Yes, the characters are all slovenly, and obese, and more interested in television than what is going on around them, and seemingly addicted to Super Big Gulp servings of liquid meals but they redeem themselves and all seem more interested in living (a much more difficult) life on earth than being waited on hand and foot in outer-space. The message of the movie is to wake up, get off the couch and find your fucking dog. (Actually, it is to stop spending all your time in front of the boob tube, stop being wasteful and become a steward of the planet instead of a slave to consumerism. Stop buying plastic shit and oversized meals being foisted upon you by big-box, mega-mall shopping centers and fast food joints.) The larger of the human species are not to blame per se but we may all end up floating around on motorized couches and eating our meals through a straw if we don't get off our asses and do something about the exponentially escallating impact we are creating on our natural resources.

</rant>

~stubert.

Exhausted...

Ben in the backcountry above Brainard. Badass.

And I'm spent. ~ Austin Powers

Post L.A. things didn't really improve for me fitness-wise. I did those two 9-mile runs and felt pretty crappy then followed up a week later with a fun (but somewhat frustrating) run on the 3rd. Bob and I started from his place in Boulder, ran up Flagstaff and back down to Boulder Canyon (down the back side of Flag). I really enjoy this run most of the time. The section from the top of Flag down to the canyon is frequently filled with interesting fauna and this time was no exception. Bob and I saw 9 turkey (turkeys?) in a group on the side of the trail. We stopped to watch them for a bit and then continued down the hill. We did spot what appeared to be big kitty tracks and then were pleased to be able to confirm that yes, bears do in fact shit in the woods.

While heading back down Boulder Canyon, I started to fade a bit and really started to suffer going back up and over the shoulder of Flagstaff. Just feeling really weak, somewhat nauseated, etc. We made it back to Bob's in under 3 hours (~14 miles) and I started feeling worse and worse. Just pretty much limped home (drive) and called it a day.

On the following Monday, Ben and I went out to ski Mt. Toll. More of the same, really. It was quite warm but I was really, really slow. I didn't even make it up to the top. By the time we actually were skiing, I felt like hammered crap and was again nauseated and just spent. Oh well. It was a gorgeous day, in any event, so that was nice. Ben and I were a bit late and the snow had turned to mush by the time we were skiing but it was a lot of fun. Feeling like ass aside.

So post that adventure, I made the decision to take a couple of weeks completely off. I will allow myself to hike a little, maybe play some golf. That's it. One week down now and another to go (at least). I think I am just mega fatigued from this Spring's events. Whatchagonnnado?

New ride.

In other news, I bought a new motorcycle. So far, I really like it a lot. It is a DR650 and is geared for dual-sport riding. I am going to set it up for dirt adventures and have found thus far for the bike to be quiet, smooth and light. Certainly compared to the Beemer I sold in April.

I also have watched a few good flicks of late. Iron Man was quite good as was American Gangster. We watched Long Way Round again which is really entertaining. I recommend all three. Go see Iron Man in the theater. It has incredible special effects and Robert Downey Jr. is great (as usual).

Other than that, just laying low, getting some work done, and resting. Good times.

~stubert.

Training day(s)...

I'm hungry and tired and my clothes are smelly. ~ Homer Simpson

So where were we? Oh yeah.... this week.

This was a hectic week. Lots of work stuff, meetings, and yes, skiing. I also went to see Shirley and she either: 1) Took it easy on me for whatever reason, 2) I am much tougher than I look, 3) I wasn't in quite as bad of shape as I thought, 4) Some totally whacked combination of the above. I am going to go with #4 just because it allows me to hedge my bets. And you know how much I love hedges.

Monday was spent in meetings in the glorious metropolis of Denver. Glad I don't have to drive down there every day. In fact, I am pretty friggin' glad I don't have to drive anywhere every day. The one thing I miss least about having a "real" job is the commute. But you probably could have guessed that.

Tuesday was more of the same with more commuting to meetings. Not good times but necessary. I then went to get tenderized by Shirley (see above) and then headed home for who knows what. I have learned my lesson (the hard way) about trying to go for a run.ride/whatever after being Shirley-ized so just took it easy post massage.

Wednesday I was a bit off, way off, actually. From the start this was just a wacky day as my brain just couldn't keep up with anything that was going on. I was late to meet Luke at Eldora because I somehow managed to lose my keys in-between my house and my car. Then he left his boot liners at home so that was a bust anyway. (I found my keys in my boot, incidentally. No clue how they got there.)

Then we met with Ben and Dan, the lung brothers, for a Brainard ski. It was windy as hell and in addition to my brain taking a vacation, I was having some physical issues as well. I injured my shoulder lifting several years ago and it still creates problems for me on occasion. Wednesday, apparently, was one such occasion so my right knee (tweaked in January) decided to join in the fun and/or games. It really wasn't too terrible but I decided not to push it and headed back to the car before getting in any real skiing. We skinned up past Lake Mitchell then skied down some heinous wind-slab monstrosity (and I say "monstrosity" given the pitch was maybe a regular blue and all of 3 normal turns). It was actually a lot of fun to be out. The wind was howling but that made crossing the frozen lakes a blast. No pun intended. Luke, Ben and Dan skied the Flemish Giant in Rabbit Cages while I used the gale-force winds to my advantage on the skate back to the car.

Thursday I was off as well. and don't even remember what I did so it must have been a laugh-riot. Pretty sure I just worked.

Friday, Rach had to get up super early to go to the House Rabbit Society because 9News was coming in at 6:00 or some gawd-awful time to do a special on why getting a rabbit for Easter on a whim is a bad idea. Apparently the spot was supposed to air on the morning show but was preempted by the shocking news of snow in the mountains. (SHOCKING!!!) Have I mentioned recently how much I can't stand the MSM? So I'll let you know when it actually shows up on their site.

I headed up to the Basin to get in some Enduro training. The pass was closed so I had to go around the long way but it was worth it. They called in 6 inches but it was more like 10 and I started spinning laps an hour later than I had planned. Man, that was some good snow.

I rolled two laps on the Enduro course (down Standard) then headed to the car to swap skis. I have been trying to ski on my Hippy Stinx more lately to get used to them but Friday was definitely a day to bring out the big guns so the Hell Bents got the nod. Now we're talkin'. Good times were had by all.

I basically just rolled laps for most of the day, averaging just about 5 per hour not really trying that hard. I was just enjoying the pow and trying to find challenging lines to ski. I dropped into Dud's (there is a scary mandatory air into that line) and found a bunch more rocks to drop. Even fell off this hairy line in West Turbo Luke showed me a couple of weeks ago. Kinda funny, actually. I got on the thing and as I scootched down to get to my launch pad, all the snow just fell off the rocks. I started to rotate forward and then just said, "The hell with it, now or never," and went for it. Sprawled for the most part but it was funny.

After lap 15 or 16 I started to get a little tired so I just switched to alpine turns for the most part and really started to pick up the pace. After about 20 laps I ran into Pinsey who is the Basin master when it comes to mountain knowledge and had him show me a few lines with which I was a little less familiar. We spun about 8 more laps, hit the Christmas Trees last run down Pali and then went over to Exo for one last cruiser. 10-4:15, about 28 laps. Not too shabby, really. The Enduro is going to be really tough but I am fairly confident 50 laps is doable and 60 may be within our reach. I need to spin a full day up there really charging to be sure but Friday's effort made me slightly less terrified.

Today I am a little sore from yesterday's push and am planning to just take it easy. It is gorgeous up here, however, so I may go for a run this afternoon. We'll see. Maybe just a hike.

Seems like I have been flailing on the movie reporting of late. I can say that The Wire is vastly overrated. Do not bother with it. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was okay. They had to cut so much out from the book that it fell a bit flat but at least the acting is getting marginally better. Extras is amusing. Frank Zappa: Baby Snakes is interesting but pretty weird and Easy Rider actually still holds up pretty well for being as old as I am. The Passion of Joan of Arc is pretty amazing given that it was filmed in the 20s and Zodiac was slow but well-acted.

That's all for now, faithful readers. I'll have more for you soon.

Enjoy.

~stubert.

Off the couch...

March 1. 60+ degrees. Stu out getting dumb.

Holy smokes, you need booze! ~ Dr. Nick Riviera

I think I overdid it a wee bit yesterday.

I decided at some point that I wanted to go for a run. Other than that, my options were fairly wide open seeing how it was about 60 degrees up here. Well, not so wide open but at least not excruciatingly cold or anything. Plan A (ride the motorcycle to Boulder, run Mesa) didn't go so well as my battery was dead so I opted for Plan B: Run a half marathon, at altitude, probably in snow off the couch. Note to self: have someone else make up the plans from now on.

I actually felt pretty great to start. Took it fairly easy (though my heart thought otherwise) at a leisurely 12 minute pace. I ran pretty much everything on the way up to Panorama Point via Gap Road (and a sojurn through Meadow Lake) and was just cruising. Once I made it up to the Racoon Trail cutoff, it was decision time and being a dork, I chose to do the loop.

After post-holling for a bit the trail finally packed up and was runnable down to the low-point. Actually a lot of fun just humming along downhill through the snowy woods. Once I reached the bottom, the fun began and I had to alternate run/walk cycles due to the steepness of the trail and the sloppy conditions. No biggie, I've been there before. I quickly made it up to the top then began the slippery, mushy descent back to the cutoff.

Once I made it back to Gap, I decided I only had to log a few more miles to get the half marathon. This is where I started to question my judgement as I had to walk on several occasions because stuff was starting to hurt. I made it back to my road feeling okay but then realized I needed to tack on another mile and a half or so to get the full distance. My options were: 1) head uphill now and get a nice downhill finish or 2) run downhill past my house and then back up for the bonus miles. I opted for number 1 and suffered up the hill. Not my best performance and really horrible on the scale of what constitutes a good 1/2 marathon time but whatchagonna do?

Today, I was pretty sore despite having stretched a bunch last night. We cleaned bunny cages at the COHRS and then I headed home. Turns out the high today was about 30 up here and we got about a foot of snow. I considered going to the Rock for a few turns but decided that I had work to accomplish and that my legs needed some rest. Tomorrow, though...

Here are a couple of shots from last week's adventure. Hope to get out more and not ski like a total Fred.

Luke ripping it up. | Me trying to make it look mean. Shots courtesy of Jonny Copp.

That's about it for now. I did see Persipolis last week, which was good. And watched Big Fish yesterday while stretching. I also checked out Into Great Silence and Frank Zappa: Baby Snakes. Extras is also quite amusing if you haven't checked it out. Quite the mish-mash if I do say so myself.

Take your vitamin I.

~stubert.

Day 38...

I'm trying to work on my karma. Do you know what karma means? It means that she owes me one. ~ Richard Swersey

Quick and dirty. Today, I slept in. I think there may be a carbon monoxide leak in my house as I just couldn't get my sorry ass out of bed. I finally managed to attain a vertical position and then did some work around the house and headed out to the Rock late.

I got to Eldora in time to spin a few non-stop laps on Salto before Ski Patrol shut it down. I missed the gate going up by mere seconds. Oh well. The snow was good and I was skiing fairly well so I certainly am not going to go around complaining. Tomorrow, I am hoping to actually get moving a lot earlier and head up to the Basin. Missing that place a lot right now. I may head to the Butte on Wednesday. Will have to play that one by ear.

So Rach and I finally got out to see There Will Be Blood yesterday. Great movie. Definitely a bit of a toss-up for me between that and No Country for Old Men but I think I will have to give my nod to Country. Just a different style of movie. More subtle. You should see both if you haven't already.

We also watched It Happened One Night which holds up surprisingly well given that it was made in '34 or something. It is definitely not modern but I usually find movies of that era particularly annoying and actually quite enjoyed it. We also watched Me and You and Everyone We Know which was good but a little disturbing. Really a lonely film.

That's all I have for today, boys and girls. More to come.

Shake your booty. ~stubert.

Bunnies and break-thrus...

Gentlemen... welcome to the Rock. ~ John Mason

Today was our regular day to clean cages at the Colorado House Rabbit Society. Aside from being half asleep, everything went splendidly and we were able to get things done without delays or distractions. Aside from the little monsters, that is. But they are always distracting a person. With their cuteness and their fuzziness. All contrived, mind you.

Post adore-a-fest, I got some things done around the house then headed up to Eldora for some late-afternoon turnage. It was snowing when I pulled into the lot and I quickly made my way back to Corona, braving the man-made "snow" the snowmaking crew has been blowing for the past 6 weeks. Seriously, someone smoked breakfast because most transition runs on that mountain are like yellow skating rinks right now. Really bad snowmaking.

Fortunately, once the good stuff opens up, I stay primarily on the steep stuff, onto which no man-made has fallen. Or splashed, as the case may be. I spun a few laps on Salto, getting progressively better, until my final run I felt like the old me. Apparently, I forgot how to drive my uphill hand and once I got that back under control, started making fairly worthy turns. I am still no Luke but getting there. Now that I know what was going on, I think I will be able to get things moving in the right direction again.

Other than that, we have been watching LOST: Season 3 which is at least as annoying as season 2. It is a bit of a train wreck but mindless entertainment when that is required. I also watched 300 which is definitely not gay at all - for a gladiator movie - which makes it still pretty gay. The effects were pretty special, however; and I did like the way they treated the whole film in sepiatone. And the Queen had great boobs. There. I made it at least 20% less gay.

Ok. Have fun. Take chances.

~stubert.

(Sorry for the lack of photos... I keep leaving my camera in the car.)

Tic Tac Toe...

Got up. Got out of bed. ~ The Beatles

I didn't intend to ski today. Really, I didn't. But Luke and Nichole rang me up about 8 this morning to see if I could at least meet them so that Nichole would have something to strap to her feet. On Thursday, we stashed the quiver in Holmsey as Luke didn't really want to have to climb back up on top of Kevin's rig to tie his skis to the top. In any event, I figured if I was going to Ned anyway, I might as well get in a few runs. So that's what I did.

Today was cold. And windy. Pretty typical for Eldora. I had a business meeting at 11 so we didn't stay too long but did manage to get some turns made. Always a good time. This was day 12 for me, so that is a pretty solid start to the season. We are finally getting some snow but between the brutal grooming and Eldora's reluctance to open much up, it is still pretty slim pickins up there. Pete went to the Basin yesterday and said it was most excellent. At least they are turning Pali now and have opened up some tougher terrain. Which is nice.

Other than that, I am just keeping busy. As you noticed, I picked a new template for the blog. Figured it was time. We have watched several movies in the past couple of days. Here's the run-down:

Movies:

• Children of Men: Not great. Not terrible, but nothing to rush out to see. Essentially a chase story about the demise of the human race once something undetermined makes us all sterile.
  
• Charlotte's Web: Cute pigs, not much else going for it. Dakota Fanning is really annoying.
• Superbad: Crude, but funny.
• Porco Rosso: Not Miyazaki's best effort but still pretty amazing.

Okay. Your homework for today is to do something you have never done before. Go!

~stubert.

Pllllltttt...

Too much, too soon. ~ Referee - Slapshot

These past few weeks have been crazy. In the past week alone, I have been over to Gunnison twice, logged day 9 on the slopes, super busy with work. Generally frantic.

So I'll just jump right in...

Skiing:
We are finally getting some snow. Much needed and appreciated. Rach reminded me of an old Eldora maxim - STBG (Stop the Brutal Grooming) - which was in full effect today. We pulled out Luke's stash of Big Dogs for a full-frontal assault on some tasty pow but were disappointed to find that Eldora slope-control had groomed the hell out of everything. Good times were still had but damn. Hook a brotha up. We have received another 6-8 inches at my house since getting home around noon today so perhaps a quick run up the hill will be in order tomorrow to see if the heinous grooming continues...

Running:
To be honest, Leadville has been haunting me a bit since the race. I am pretty confident that I gave it everything I had last summer but think I am going to give it another try in '09. Too much going on right now to take another stab this year but I think that I'll be able to tackle it again in a couple years. I may do a 50-miler this summer (Collegiate Peaks Ultra) and would still like to pace if I can find a good match. I haven't been running much at all and now, with the snow, am probably going to have to find different ways of logging miles. I really miss it, though, so think that is a good sign.

Work:
We have been hard at work these past weeks and have continued steady progress on the Quintess site. We launched McLean Forge a couple of weeks ago and have a steady stream of project requests. Good stuff.

Movies:
I have been taking time to watch a lot of film of late. Here is a run-down of some of the titles:

• Before the Devil Knows You're Dead: Pretty amazing performances in a severely mediocre film.
• Blades of Glory: Quite amusing. Watch this one.
• Three Kings: Fairly straightforward narrative but great execution.
  
• Flirting with Disaster: Another David O. Russell vehicle. Funny stuff.
• End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones: Decent rocumentary about a great band.
• The Bad Seed: Hilarious. Unintentionally so.
• Curse of the Golden Flower: Not so good.
• Waiting for Guffman: Not Guest's best effort but really amusing nonetheless.
• Secretary: Pretty awesome.
• Fargo: It has been awhile since I have seen this one. Still really great.

So that about covers it for now. Peace.

~stubert.

Six of one...

If a frog had wings, it wouldn't bump its ass a-hoppin' - Nathan Arizona

Ok. I have been super lame about updates and for that, I apologize. I have been working a ton, skiing a bit, getting some runs in here and there. Generally doing well. I'll try to catch you up...

So there are quite a few reasons why I am not the world's biggest fan of this time of year. Two items jump immediately to mind and, coincidentally, they both involve recently deceased creatures being tied to the roof of some jackass' car.

Hunting season is the worst. I had the misfortune of driving over to Gunnison during the heart of the season and it seemed like every redneck in the tri-state area was out slaying Bambi. I saw trucks literally filled with freshly slaughtered deer, elk and ATV's, the redneck triple trifecta. It makes me a little ill.

Quick on the heels of our annual shoot-em-up comes my second least favorite reason to get out the bailing twine and head to the hills - the yearly tree-gathering that prompts idiot city-dwellers to dust off their trusty chainsaws and head to my neck of the woods to chop down the cutest tree they can find, strap it to the roof of their Porche Cayenne and head home to set the damned thing back up again in their living room only to toss it out with several gigantic trashbags full of wrapping paper a mere six weeks later. Wait one year, repeat. Let's all rush out and kill some trees for Jesus. Hallelujah! Don't even get me started on the turkeys.

</rant>

On the lighter side of my brain, I have now logged a half dozen ski days with my latest hop/skip/jump to the newly opened Eldora Mountain Resort. Only one real run open but it was fun to be able to be out the door and skiing within 20 minutes. I am planning to make regular visits to our local area and am hoping the new snow we have received over the past couple of days continues.

I have also been running a bit and am feeling pretty spry, which is nice. I have a loop I do on a fairly regular basis that is probably about 7 miles (not sure). I managed to crank it out in an hour six the other day, which was pretty cool. That pretty much matches my record for the loop. It was fun to just go out, get in a rhythm and be able to keep it up for an hour plus.

We also are set to launch another site within the next couple of days. As soon as it is live, I'll post the link for you.

Movies:
I have been watching and listening to a ton of movies of late and have started going back through our collection and playing them in the background while I work. We also went to see two fantastic films in the theater: The Darjeeling Limited and No Country for Old Men. I highly recommend both but would caution that Country is not for the squeamish.

Darjeeling is Wes Anderson's latest effort and was just splendid. I am sure that the average movie-goer wouldn't like it as Anderson is never afraid to leave storylines unresolved or to leave much of the backstory to be supplied by the viewer's own imagination but I find this refreshing in the era of film spelling everything out. Darjeeling is a visual masterpiece and features apt work from all three principals: Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and co-writer, Jason Schwartzman. This is a must-see in my book.

Country is the long awaited return of the Coen Brothers being the Coen Brothers. Their last two efforts (Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers) were both extremely sub-standard fare from the duo who brought Miller's Crossing, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and other classics to the screen. Country is a return to their heyday with amazing dialog; slow, brooding pacing; and quirky characters. Javier Bardem is outstanding and Josh Brolin turns out a solid performance as well in this highly violent film set in rural Texas. Really one of the best films I have seen in some time.

Here is a brief run-down of other flicks that have been in circulation these past weeks:

• What ever happened to Baby Jane? - Selected to see just how bad it really was. Bad. Really bad. This thing won awards.
• Boogie Nights
• Miller's Crossing
• The Big Lebowski
• Raising Arizona
• Blood Simple
• The Hudsucker Proxy
• The Man Who Wasn't There (we went on a Coen Brothers bender after seeing Country)
• Bullet in a Bible
• Westway to the World
• The Essential Clash
• Trainspotting
• Being There
• American Beauty
• Best in Show
• Stop Making Sense
  
• etc. etc. etc.

Aaaaaaand today marks our first (of probably many) vicinity guest forays into the creek. Seems that several times every year some dipshit decides it would be a good idea to test the depth of the creek that runs past our house. Usually this involves hooking a left when a right is recommended, or, as tonight's hero demonstrated, simply continuing straight. For the past hour and a half our driveway has been occupied by any number of emergency vehicles, gapers etc. and we have endured a steady pulse of red/blue, red/blue, red/blue. Hopefully no one was injured but damn, people.... if you are unfamiliar with a road and/or it is covered with a solid layer of snow and ice, how about trying to keep it at or below the speed limit, okay? Just another helpful reminder from your friendly neighborhood...

~stubert.

Nada mucho...

Well, I certainly wouldn't want to fool around with him if I were alone. ~ Townsman

Things are moving right along in Stuville without much change. I did get out for another run last week and have been trying to focus on improving my pace, stride and efficiency. Not sure that I am making tons of gains but it was a fun, exploratory run in the woods near my house during which I found the remnants of an old trail that may hook up with a newer section of unfinished singletrack to make a nice, alternate loop. Good stuff.

It has been unseasonably warm here and Eldora is supposed to open in 10 days. I am thinking that isn't going to happen since it was nearly 60 up here over the weekend. Not good. It cooled off a bit yesterday and I froze my butt off riding down to Boulder to see Dr. Dave and to meet with a contractor about doing some work. I definitely didn't dress right for the nighttime ride back up the canyon but kept telling myself on the way home, "Only 12 more minutes." "You have been colder than this before." etc. to keep from being a total pansy. Funny thing about pushing your limits, it gives you a totally different perspective when you approach them during subsequent trials and/or tribulations.

This past weekend was pretty relaxed. I built a storage shed for our snowblower and chopped down some more trees. Getting pretty close to having that project completed for the year, which is nice. My chainsaw is acting up now so I need to take it to the shop to see what's up. That may cramp my ability to finish up. We'll see.

And a special shout out goes to my buddy, Caleb. He ran the NYC marathon over the weekend and finished in 3:02:46 (or something). That put him in the top 2000 finishers out of over 34000! Super cool.

Movies:
I have been watching a lot of movies of late. Here is the Cliffsnotes recap:

Naked States: This is a documentary about a photographer, Spencer Tunick, who shoots nudes in public settings. He is most famous for his shots of large groups of nudes (18000 in Mexico City). I actually like his work and it can be seen here (NSFW). This film focused on a project during which he captured at least one shot in each of the 50 states. The documentary itself was interesting. Not great, but worth a watch if you are interested in this sort of stuff.

The Outlaw: This is a terrible western directed by Howard Hughes that ran up against Hayes Codes in the 40s. What was interesting about this movie is a) how tame it is by today's standards and b) how thoroughly gay it was and how this didn't set off the censors more than
Jane Russell's ample bosom. So funny. We watched the whole thing even though it was really, really bad. In any event, you really don't need to go out of your way for this one.

Hmmm. I guess I haven't watched as many movies as I thought. Gotta get on that. I am psyched for the new Coen Brothers vehicle, No Country for Old Men, possibly American Gangster (I can't decide on this one... Denzel Washington almost always just seems to be playing Denzel Washington these days) and the Darjeeling Limited. I have also heard good things about Lars and the Real Girl so I'll probably throw that on the list too. Rach and I are going to try to hook up a double feature next week.

Okay blog readerinos, that's all for today.

~stubert.

Getting back out there...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~stubert.