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.

Decembrrrr...

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...

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.

Screw shoes rule...

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.

Back and forth...

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.

Deja vu...

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...

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.

No business like snow business...

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...

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.

Three feet high and rising...

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.

An even dozen...

Stormin'.

A person shall not drive a motor vehicle in the passing lane of a highway if the speed limit is sixty-five miles per hour or more unless such person is passing other motor vehicles that are in a nonpassing lane or turning left, or unless the volume of traffic does not permit the motor vehicle to safely merge into a nonpassing lane. ~ CRS 42-4-1013

Day 12 was the best thus far. Snowing all day. Lots of great, untracked pow. Tomorrow is going to just be fabulous. And no... people still haven't learned how to drive.

~stubert.

First flakes...

A watched pot never boils. ~ Some doofus who apparently never watched water boil

Turn your back for a few minutes and POW -- the snow starts to fly. After several near misses, it is finally coming down at the Casa. I'm sure it will be gone by Monday but the fact that it is there now is enough to make me even more excited about ski season.

~stubert.

Bring it...

Let it snow. Let it snow. Let it snow. ~ Sammy Chan and Jule Styne

Current temp: 25.7 degrees
Visibility: 100 meters and falling

This could be the day snow finally falls at the Casa.

~stubert.

[Edit] I spoke too soon. Typical Colorado style, it is now bluebird out. Less than an hour later. Gotta love it.

Let it snow (repeat x3)...

Don't mess with the fantasy, okay? ~ Gary Wallace

Yesterday: Beer Festival
Today: Run - Towards Ned, 1.5 hours
Tomorrow: Off

Ever have a hot chick drive by and ask you if you want a ride? Normally I don't just hop into cars with strangers, no matter how smokin' they may be but today it just felt right. Plus she wasn't a stranger. Rach had come to rescue me. But I thought I'd string you along for a little while there.

So I left my car in Ned yesterday so I could take the bus down to Denver. Today's mission... run to Ned to pick the bad boy up. One minor complication -- it snowed about 6 inches overnight. This makes for good times.

I headed out about noon towards Ned. Mostly sticking to main roads, I slogged through the slush fairly quickly though I still can't seem to keep my heartrate down to normal levels. I am guessing this is a double-whammy combo special of still being fatigued from the race and sitting on my butt for the past 6 weeks. In any event, I actually felt okay today. Not great but okay.

Shortly after passing through Rollinsville, I headed west along a fairly well-established trail. This eventually hooks up with the WestMag trail system from which I can just head down to Nederland. Not today, however.

After following the trail for about a half a mile, it cuts into the woods. This is the point at which Senor Trail and I parted ways as it was impossible to find it with the fresh snow and tight trees. So I stumbled around for about 45 minutes -- crossing several fences, dodging cattle and generally not knowing where the hell I was. Eventually I jogged into a clearing just west of Kelly Dahl park and jumped back on the Peak to Peak roughly 1/2 mile from where I left the pavement. Awesome. At least I knew where I was finally.

I jogged along the highway for another mile or so until I was propositioned by the aforementioned hottie and jumped in Rach's warm Subaru for a ride on in to Nederland. All in all a good day in the woods. Or close to the woods as the case may be.

Once home, I got some work done and should be able to launch the Lion Equity site on Tuesday.

All in all we got at least 6 inches of snow and it continued to fall all day. The temperature is dropping now so we should see some additional accumulation overnight if this keeps up. I am sensing an A-Basin outing in my near future. Wednesday, anyone?

Rach spent the day in a significantly more productive (and charitable) manner wrangling critters at Bleating Heart Animal Sanctuary. This is a yearly event (that always seems to coincide with the first major snowstorm of the year) during which volunteers catch sanctuary bunnies, goats, turkeys and other assorted critters; make certain they are in good health; and release them back to the sanctuary grounds. Good stuff. This is the second or third year Rach has participated in the round-up. She has mad critter catching skills.

Movies:

Last night, we took a trip down memory lane and watched Do the Right Thing. Still a decent flick. I had forgotten that Martin Lawrence was in it. There are some classic lines in this one. Good stuff.

Your homework for the next few days: Go play in the snow.

~stubert.

We'll count it...

No fair! You changed the results by measuring it! ~ Professor Farnsworth

Yesterday: Lumberjackin' - Mi casa, 1 hour
Today: Run/Hike - GGCSP, 2 hours
Tomorrow: Golf - Winter Park, 5 hours

I didn't notice right away with the gale-force winds we are experiencing today, but last night we received our first dusting of snow this season. Actually, as I look out the window, it appears to be snowing lightly now though this may be just residual flakes that have somehow managed to cling to the trees. Not sure how they are doing that but good for them.

I am not a big fan of the wind. Last year we experienced some amazing storm cycles which characterized themselves by depositing large amounts of snow in the area (feet) then quickly following these most welcome dumps with triple-digit windstorms which cooked the fresh pow into something that resembled set concrete. (By the way, it is snowing now. Good stuff!) Hopefully this season, we'll see more of the dumpage and less of the windage. But I am not complaining.

I didn't do much yesterday aside from working. I did get out briefly to shuttle some logs to my neighbors as the trailer was hooked up and Joe had some time to help me unload. They have twin boys who are about 18 months old now which makes life interesting for them, for sure. Joe had just put the critters down for a nap when I called to see if he had a spot where he would like for me to put the logs so I got some help unloading, which was awesome.

Today I have a couple of meetings and have a bunch of work to push through. Getting it all figured out, though. September was nuts and I have a couple of outside projects which I am hoping to start in October so it will probably be nuts too. As long as I can get things to settle into a steady rhythm by ski season, I'll be happy.

Gotta run to prepare for this call. Don't you go changin'.

~stubert.

PS ~ I have the WORST friggin' song in my head right now and I fear it will drive me insane. I am not even sure how it got there unless it was some evil little seed planted by the IMDb. I think it was Julie Andrews' birthday yesterday (or the day before) and now I have that damned yodeling song from The Sound of Music spinning loops in my brain. Hopefully now I have given it to you so it will leave me alone (or at least torment someone else so I can share my pain). Enjoy.

Big shoes...

Rub some dirt on it and get back in there. ~ Coach Sanders

Yesterday's run was interesting. I definitely learned a few things:

• Running in headwinds and rain takes it out of you
• Sticky mud = very big shoes (I knew this already but it was reinforced nicely last night)
• I need a new jacket - preferably one with a hood
  
• I need to practice running at night - MUCH slower than in the daytime
• I have a great crew

So after a few stumbles, Luke and I finally started running at 5:00. The first few miles were on pavement/bike paths and went quickly. Easy 10-minute pace. We ran on trails here as much as possible but had to spend a bit of time on the hard stuff, which is not really what either of us enjoy. Once we hit dirt, the wind kicked up and it started to rain. This would be the standard off and on for the remainder of our run.

Pete tried to hook up with us out by Boulder Res but we somehow missed him and just kept rolling. We had to walk anything remotely steep as the trails out this way are mostly clay and were pretty slick. We were getting tired from having Gene Simmons shoes and I was trying to stave off the fatigue by pounding yummy humus burritos Rage made.

Several miles later, after running down the Sanitas Valley Trail, we looked up ahead to see our favorite black-haired crew member trotting down the trail towards us. Brad had braved the crummy weather to come join us for a brief section of the run. We shuffled into Eben G. Fine Park and met up with Nichole and Pete just before dusk, roughly 30 minutes off pace but still feeling okay.

Nichole, Pete and Brad practiced crewing (Brad holds a mean apple if you are ever in the need of those services). After a quick shoe change, some dry clothes and refilling our food and water stocks, we were off into the night to run up the first part of Flagstaff on our way to the Mesa trail. This is where things started to fall apart a bit.

I could tell that Luke was not feeling particularly well on the climb up Flag. Usually he is the one pushing the pace but last night, he was experiencing some knee pain that was holding him back. I wasn't feeling just red hot myself and we decided to take a short break once we got to the Ranger Station. At this point, Luke decided it would be best if he were to call in the cavalry to give his knees a much needed break. I wanted to push on a bit so that I could increase my longest distance and time active and headed out Mesa solo planning to catch the car at NCAR.

I was definitely a bit slower on this section than I had hoped. I also lost my ear buds somehow and, though I searched for several minutes, was unable to locate them in the dark. I must have stepped on them while putting on my jacket or something. So we can add that to the list of needs: New headphones. I finished up at NCAR about 4:45 after starting and estimate my total distance to be ~20 miles. Pete was gracious enough to come pick me up and Luke and Nichole donated a shower. I got home sometime around 11:30 after driving through a pretty good Spring snowstorm to roughly 6 inches on the ground. Spring in the Rockies... gotta love it.

So today, I plan to recuperate - watch some movies, maybe go for a short walk later and let Rage drive the car back and forth over my legs for awhile. Tomorrow I am cleaning cages at The House Rabbit Society in the morning and may do a short run in Boulder in the afternoon or perhaps skin up Eldora for a few turns. Comment if you would like to join me on either or if you have a preference.

~stubert