May 13, 2007 |

Heavy heart

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Mrrrrraaaaaaaaaannnnhhh. ~ Samantha


In order to avoid scaring any readers off with continued tales of woe (our beloved kitty, Samantha died yesterday), I will post a few things I learned during yesterday’s productive, 4+ hour altitude run.


The route I took started from my house and ran down the Beav to Coal Creek Canyon. I then headed east to 97 and up to Magnolia. East briefly on Mag to the Blue Dot trail head tail and backwards on the Dots to Ned. Ned to the High School trails, West Mag and a sneaky trail back to Rollinsville. From there, I pretty much bee-lined it back home. I spun my last mile in about 7 minutes. At least I had that to brighten my spirits. Not sure how far I ran in total but I was pleased with the effort.


Here are some tidbits:


  • Jackets with hoods are necessary. In the ever-changing weather of the Rockies in the Springtime, one needs proper protection. My hooded jacket, unfortunately, is still on its way. I should be able to test-drive it later this week.
  • Drinking is a good thing. No, I don’t mean lugging around bottles of fortified wine, but I do recommend creating a system that works for you to stay hydrated. Yesterday, like most, I ran with my trusty Shuffle, and made sure to drink at the end of each song (at least). This seemed to keep me very well hydrated throughout the run. Good stuff. I also experimented with soda and protein drinks. Both of which seemed to do the trick.
  • There’s no school like the old-school. I dipped into the bag of old tricks and went for the old-school solution of PB&Js for my main “meal”. Seemed to work well. I think this is a combination of my getting better used to eating on the go but regardless, I plan to add the old standard to my new regimen.
  • Eat, drink, eat, drink, repeat. I try to start eating no more than 20 minutes into my longer runs. This helps to get me in the habit of ingesting calories throughout my effort and starts replenishing energy reserves immediately. This also helps me to graze vs. trying to choke down a huge meal all at once. Thanks to Luke for the killer Gorp recipe: Almonds, Pecans, Chocolate-covered Espresso Beans, Dried Cranberries, Sunflower Seeds. Good stuff.


Other than those items, I can report that Blue Dot is almost completely clear as are the Highschool and West Mag trails. Gentlemen, start your bikes.



I am not sure what the plan for Monday entails. Probably a run but we’ll see.


Thoughtful strategy. Practical execution.

Clear thinking, honest perspectives, and experience shaped by years of doing the work. No shortcuts, no borrowed opinions, just lessons learned by showing up, solving problems, and following ideas all the way through.

Four hikers with backpacks walking along a rocky mountain ridge under a blue sky
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We are each our own greatest inhibitor. People don’t want to do new things if they think they’re going to be bad at them or people are going to laugh at them. You have to be willing to subject yourself to failure, to be bad, to fall on your head and do it again, and try stuff that you’ve never done in order to be the best you can be. ~ Laird Hamilton Yesterday: Hit Range Balls/Hike – Casa del Critters, 1:15 Today: Run – GGCSP, ~2 hours Tomorrow: Ride – Somewhere singlespeedy, ~2 hours Yesterday, Rach and I took a nice stroll in the woods around our house. The songbirds were going crazy-nuts and surprisingly, we only saw one other person walking his dog. I love where we live – close proximity to fun trails and the ability to get away from it all in just a short walk from our house. During lunch yesterday, I went to the driving range to get a few cuts in before playing a round of golf with my dad next week. I don’t get to play very often so need to brush up on my skills (or lack thereof) whenever I can. I am looking forward to playing with my pops and hope to break 100. I shot a 102 the last time I played so I am within striking distance of the sub-triple-digit score. We’ll see how things go. I usually do okay for most of the round and then fall apart on a couple of holes pushing my score way up. Dad shoots in the low 80s usually (I think). I am not sure I will ever play enough to be that good but it is fun to get out on the course now and again. I also went to see Dr. Paul yesterday for my ankle problem (which seems to have been resolved) and my knee (which is still a bit swollen but has decreased in size markedly over the past several days). The knee stems from my unscheduled nose-dive back in May (see this post for details). The shot some pictures and believe that everything is a-ok so that was good news. I just need to select better places for splashdowns in the future. And today is Luke’s birthday. Age is one place where I will always beat him but visit his blog to congratulate him on trying to catch up. Until next time…
Runner silhouetted at sunset on a rocky trail, mid-stride between hills.
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Progress comes from the intelligent use of experience. ~ Elbert Hubbard Yesterday: Run – Casa del Critters/Flume, 1 hour 15 minutes Today: Ride/Hike/Relax Tomorrow: Run/Hike – Pawnee/Buchanan Passes, 6 hours? Yesterday I ran around the house. Not literally, mind you, but in the neighborhood. It was a gorgeous evening – calm, cool. Perfect. The wildflowers are really starting to take off up here and I was treated with a bold display of color throughout my run. Tons of Columbine lined the trailside as I ran on old mining roads and singletrack trails. It is really fun to see how much differently I am able to handle familiar terrain. I used to have difficulties running this loop and would have to walk major sections. Last night, I ran the entire loop without trouble and was able to moderate my speed to maintain a steady cadence through the run. Good times. Contracting is staying steady. A bit of a drop-off this week given the holiday but I am still managing to put in a decent number of hours. I picked up another new project today and will need to get started immediately to ensure that it gets completed on time.  Tomorrow, we are going to head up Pawnee Pass and loop back around to Buchanan Pass in the northern Indian Peaks Wilderness. This should be a fun challenge as we’ll get up pretty high, have to navigate some snow (most likely) and will be out for quite awhile. I am looking forward to it for sure . Movie time: I forgot to mention Shopgirl, a Steve Martin vehicle, we watched the other night. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but found this to be a charming film about loneliness. It was well acted and would recommend it for sure. The pacing is steady throughout and some might find it a little on the slow side but it was an engaging film that had a lot to say without being overly sappy.
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In case you hadn’t seen these (and also for my friends at Adventure Film ), here are a couple of must-see running movies from Joel Wolpert:  Geoff Roes: Slogging to the Top