Something NEW

Jogged up to the track yesterday. Nothing really planned. It has just been 2-3 years since I tried to turn my legs over faster than 10 minute pace. The trails and vertical really tend to shorten your stride. I wore a pair of light weight trainers. That's another first in a long time. I have been wearing Hoka One One shoes for shock absorption on hip and back. You have to remember I'll turn 60 in 2013. So just keeping moving is the goal.  I ended up just doing a few strides to try and remember how to move. Nothing blazing fast but some stuff under 7. I was concerned about hpow I would feel last night and this morning but so far nothing out of the ordinary. I'll see how I feel and perhaps start adding strides after most runs.

Snow

More snow on Pikes Peak this week than all of December and January. That will lessen the fire danger a little. The dogs have been getting me up early, 5:30. If I were a morning type person I'd go run. But I've logged too many miles before dawn in my life. I now need coffee and the bathroom before I head out. PM jogging is much more pleasurable.

WOW

I can't believe the last 10K at London today, 31:30. FOR THE WINNING WOMAN. That time would win most road 10K overall! Men and women. This level of dedication to run fast is un matched. I can remember usually beating the lead woman in most of my races. But WOW.
 When you are trying to race as fast as possible the work must be done. Day in Day out no days off. A day off is a 6-10 mile day of easy running. Oh but you have to do your strides after the run. These racers may have gone out this afternoon for a run just to loosen up. Tomorrow will be an easy hour and then maybe that for the rest of the week. But if they came thru healthy they will be back at it in 2 weeks. That is the work it takes. Been there done that. St George Marathon is on Saturday and I remember almost racing 10 miles on Monday. I only got in 90 miles the week after. Then it was back to 105-115 miles a week. And I was just a hack runner back in the '80s. There are no short cuts for running. You must work to improve. If that is your goal. Thankfully I'm still just a hack jogger now.

Dog seed works

It wil be a while until Panda 3 can run with us during a workout but she sure runs all over now. She's learning to walk nicely on the leash. Never to early to start. My running this past week was okay. Got in 16+ miles and looking for a 20 mile week this week. Allergies have still been making life miserable but blowing thru it okay.

Typical

Just a typical week for me at work and running. The plan of 28-20 turns into 13. 13 is infinitely

better than zero so I'll take it. Yesterday Easter Sunday I ran some newer trails in the Garden. It was refreshing to run something different. It was the best feeling run I've had in a while. I think I'll do that route more often. The real news is Eddie Baxter completes the Incline Marathon. That is 13X up and down the Incline. His time of 13:15ish is also impressive given he took a 45 minute nap before trip 9. Let's see how the youngsters do next weekend.

Honk, honk!

The early warm weather is killing me. My allergies have not been this bad since I lived in another state which will not be named. And being the physical specimen I am; I can't take allergy medication. It wires the hell out of me and makes me jittery for days. No please make me drowsy. So the running was ~ 13 miles for the week. Less than a former one day total back in the day.

The big news around the house is the new pup, P3 or cube for short. She is a good girl so far letting us sleep thru the night. She and PJ have been playing up a snow storm and every now and then PJ must show her who is Alpha. That's when the yelping starts and goes on for a few minutes. But all in all things are going well on that end. My end is just staying BIG.

Don't F with CRC

the last week was good. Running probably 17 miles but I'll take it because the freaking pollen has been killing me. Didn't sleep 2 night because I could breathe. The Afrin, nettie pot and alleve got me thru the rest of the week. Running clears my nose up but when you want to stab your eyes with an ice pick it's hard to want to run. It's scary that it's March and my neighbors flowering plum tree is blooming. This summer may be a Beavus and Butthead re-run of 'FIRE'!

The North Colorado Running Company caught a crook Tuesday night. The ass-hole had written $400 worth of bad checks to the Tejon CRC. I did a Google search and found he had outstanding warrants in Pueblo. After trying to call him; I looked up his purchases in our 'Rewards Program'.

I sent him a email letting him know he had hit the rewards cap and to come in to claim them. Emailed the staff with his picture and warned them about what to do. So the idiot shows up with his wife(?). Rachel calls the cops. She is the real hero here. Takes the cops 45 minutes to show but she keeps them entertained. Not that it was that hard they were very stoned. Cops come arrest him but can do nothing for her. She gets in her car to leave and it runs out of gas in the freaking parking lot. She walk in King Soopers. I get the idea to go tell them not to take her check. When I see her she has on the shoes that were purchased with the bad check (account closed). Me "I want my shoes" Her "What" Me "You purchased those with a bad check, give me my shoes" Her " Then I'll have to walk barefoot" Me "SO" and off come the shoes. Can't sell them but we may frame his picture and copies of the bad checks and hang the shoes under them. The arresting cop had the line of the night. " in this neighborhood if it looks like shit and smells like shit; it is! Call us."

St. Pat's week

Last week was a pretty good week. Vacation was good and I was as happy as a sane person could be to get back to the grind. I was fairly productive at work just trying to get caught up. With the time change it was easier to get out and run after work. I messed up and only got in 13 miles for the week. Normally my running weeks are Monday - Sunday. But now that I am using the Nike tool to track miles and heart rate it records Sunday- Saturday. This week started out well with a 5.25 mile run and ave. HR of 130. Not bad for a hilly Garden of Horse Shit (or Gods) run. This is only March and already there is so much horse shit on the trails it's scary.

Hello again.

I'm not Lionel Ritchie but I've been gone a long time. So much has happened over the past year plus. I have just not had the desire or time to pay any attention to this blog. But I'm semi-back. I'll try and blog something once a week. Trying to come up with more than that is too challenging for my small brain.

A quick summary of last year:

Lost 2 'family' members Panda and John Walsh (also known as HADD)

Cindy is back and healthy.

Work is still there and growing.

Running at 6800' is not any easier.

I'm still fat and even older now.

There you have it.

Running goal for the month is 18 miles a week.

You think it's cold!

Colorado finally got some winter this week. The temps didn't get above ZERO for more than 48 hours. And a few more days to above freezing. Now 20 degrees seems down right balmy. I know other parts of the US are under Old Man Winters siege and all I can say is stay warm and remember all your complaining come summer. And Damn it was cold. One morning we woke up and saw 46 degrees in the HOUSE. The city digging up our utilities played havoc on our radiant floor heating. Too much pressure too little pressure may have finally got it correct. And ofcourse this is another week for my back to scream at me. I worked out once this week. CRC has been a bit on the stressful side. I need to find an assistant who can take a bit of my plate. And I need to become more productive when I get the chance. Case in point An overnight order for a swim meet had not shown up even thou it was shipped Tuesday. WTF it's Friday! There goes 3 hours of my day. Gotta keep plugging and figure something out. Next week will be much better!

Waiting is a drag

You know I'm full of shit! No surprise there. But I hate it when my shit even backs up on me. So here I sit waiting for the RotoRooter guy to come clean the pipes. The road to the house is really messed up as they are replacing all the utilities. Could this be the problem? The crew has busted the main water line a few times and has my driveway blocked off to do some work(?). A real pain in the butt.

My fittness? I've found a routine that is allowing my old beat up body to do something. The snowboarding has me sooo tiiiiight that I'm having to use the Grid roller to stretch out every part of the bod. My goal is to be able to run the last 10 miles or so with the 'G' at her first 50 mile race. I've got till late June. Peice of cake, right?

1-1-11

Winter could be here

It is and has been up in the mountains. This is the first Sunday I haven't been on my snowboard. I'm sorry but I beat myself up too much last weekend. Even a week later I'm only at about 75%. My lead leg and hip are just really banged up. Thursday i was able to walk/jog for 2.5 miles. Same with Friday and Saturday. Sunday the 'G', pups and I went jogging over to rainbow (graffitti) falls. We did 3/1 on the uphill way there and just had fun on the way back. The 3/1 were telephone poles. So the poles were random distances. HEY it worked.
I'm sitting in my chair watching clouds rollover the Peak and hearing the 80 mph gusting winds. This has been a strange winter so far. No real snow or cold weather. Has global warming changed to just global change?
After the boarding last Sunday we stayed up and saw Weezer in concert. Having not paid any attention to them I was surprised at how much I liked them. The warm up band was even better. They just played a bunch of Led Zeplin I and II. 'G' is always amazed I can remember all the words to songs I haven't heard in 30+ years. But in high school I didn't watch TV; I just listened to music while playing pool. Need to do more of that.

I hate the internet

Well maybe just my provider or maybe just my laptop. Many times I have written a post and cannot publish it because my service has been interupted. And I can't seem to be able to post from my i-pad. Now I am computer illiterate but come on. On the fittness front all is well as in almost ZERO. I will try and get in something tonight but it will be no more than 45 minutes. I'm staying away from wheat products so my breathing is improved. Now I just need to not be so sore from snowboarding so I can work out.

S'up

Not my fitness! But that IS going to change.

It's unbelievable to see so little snow on Pikes Peak yet the snow in Summit County is great for early season. The 'G' and I spent Turkey Day morning @ Vail. The snow was great. And I learned opening a new store does absolutley nothing for boarding muscles. My quads wear almost in a state of cramp after 2 runs. Trying the new 'non-stepin' bindings were good but I used bunches of ATP just getting buckled up. May go back to the old bindings.

Do you know why it;'s called 'Black Friday'?

Working till 2 Saturday then back up to the mountains.

Fall/Winter

The weather can not make up it's mind. Maybe there is something to this global warming shit.
The liars have called for temps in the high 60's today. It's freaking Halloween! Where's my snow.
Well the new store has been open 3 weeks. It's been a bunch of work and I know it will pay off. But the cost as I knew has come from my health and fitness. All the construction dust and eating poorly has lead to sinus infection.The wind ain't helping my sinus either. The nette pot has helped me delay the infection but alas I feel like someone has attached a snot gun to my head and fires at will.
But today is a new day and I'll take the PJ out for a run/walk. I'll report later. Maybe much later!

A new dawn, the same ole day

Been a while. Lots going on. The Colorado Running Company #2 is opening Friday. I've been doing most of the construction myself. It's fun but trying to do that and run Tejon is hard. Jillian has been doing her huge part but thebuck stops here! Things are on track not like my body. Hence the running is once again taking a seat behing my ever growing ass and belly. Speaking of asses I know I am but what are you?
'G' and I had a great vacation in Monterey,CA. Food, ocean, running and sleep were just what I needed. 'G' felt so good she relapsed and took another week off work. I could almost move back. Running was like butter. I swear (and I never swear) I was breathing thru my navel.
I'll post a bit more later just because.

A nice gift.

Yesterday was my birthday. I am happy mom and dad got together in bed 57 years and 9 months ago; don't know about you?
Met Jonathon, MC and Jared at the Loop Sunday afternoon for a small quiet dinner. That was the extent of the celebration. My run yesterday was NOT. For some reason my right foot decided to develop a knot in my arch. Could it be the new Birks? Anyway I though a walk with the pups and Super G would be better than hurting myself further. And today the knot has not made an appearance. With age comes.... more ugliness.

Old School

My watch/HR band broke Saturday. I'm not in a big hurry to get it fixed. And I'll have to send it back to the manufacturer. So I've just been looking at the kitchen clock before I go for a run and looking when I get back. Just like the old days! My 45 minute run was 65 minutes and last night my 30 minute run was 50 minutes. Maybe it is just the cooler weather but not looking at a watch during the run has made me run longer. I don't dread the minutes slowly, ever so slowly ticking past. I'm gonna keep with the no watch scenerio for a bit.
Writing of cooler weather there was white stuff on Pikes Peak yesterday. Who cares if it was hail or snow; it was white. And I'm calling it the first snow of the season! So take that!

Surprise

Got in my 5 days this week. But for me the big news was Friday. Usually I walk with Ted in the am then try and run later. Try being the key word. For those who don't know Ted; he is a very accomplished runner. Like me he was a sprinter in HS and later ran the marathon the graduated to Ultra distance stuff. Ted was still placing in his age group and kicking some young ass until ~ 20 months ago. He had surgery to replace his hip. No more running was what he was told. But about 2 weeks ago he went in for his last checkup. His Doc told him he could run on the treadmill. But as an untra guy Ted doesn't take to the 'mill. Ted asks if he can run trails and softer stuff. YEP was the reply. So Friday Ted starts running during our walk. WTF I asked? Then the story is told. Nothing like ruining a good walk with a run. I'm so happy for Ted.