Category: run

Back on my own two feets…

Time is an abstract concept created by carbon-based life forms to monitor their ongoing decay. ~ Thunderclese

Hmmm…. I seem to have misplaced a day there.

Rach and I spent Sunday morning volunteering at the Colorado House Rabbit Society cleaning bunny cages. For those unfamiliar with the wonderful world of bunnies, this is an organization that connects long-eared critters with new owners. Hilarity usually ensues.

The Broomfiled chapter is currently home to approximately 150 little guys and girls looking for good homes. Rach spends quite a lot of her time working with COHRS: Linking up prospective families with critters, caring for and feeding the little munchkins, cleaning cages, coordinating volunteers and educating the public about how to care for their critters. The little guys seem to appreciate it.

Post bunny-excitement, the rest of the day was spent procrastinating my ride which was then cut short by a standard afternoon thunderstorm. I should know better than to wait so long to get out on the bike but somehow the day slipped away. Luke and Nichole then hosted a kickass bar-b-que which featured great company and a mean game of horseshoes. Luke still throws like a girl in case you were wondering.

Monday, I took the day off as I had meetings galore scheduled and today I am just about to head out for a lunchtime run. Bob and I are planning a Cirque de Bear Mountain run with Luke tomorrow post-work and I am hoping to hook up with the Boulder Trail Runners on Thursday for a night run. I have been really itching to get back out there and feel like this is the week to do it. The ankle is feeling better (so far), I haven’t really been running for a couple of weeks now and Leadville is looming.

See you out there.

~stubert

Edit: Just got back from a short run and man, my heartrate was up there. Not sure what was going on but even on the downhills I was clocking about 170bpm. Yikes. Plus it is friggin hot outside. How can 80 degrees feel so boiling?

Edit2: So I just found out that my cousin, Tyler, is doing a 2500 mile bike tour this summer. He and a couple of buddies are starting in Montana and riding to the Mexico border on trails along the continental divide. Read all about it.

The trend continues…

You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. ~ Bob Dylan

I seem to be the bringer of precipitation of late. Yesterday, I finally got motivated around 2:00 for a 2-hour run and shortly after heading out the door, it began to snow. No big deal, I came prepared with my new Marmot Precip Jacket – which, incidentally, I like very much. But running in the cold definitely is a different beast than in more moderate temperatures and I would not consider this to have been a particularly “good” run. We ended up with about 3 inches total accumulation. Springtime at 9000 feet.

It was definitely beautiful out. I explored the trails around my house, did some maintenance, and felt better for having dragged myself off the couch for a couple hours of training. Generally speaking, people don’t like to run. I find this is a significant contributor to the blank stares and quizzical looks I receive whenever people learn of my Leadville plans. I have found that there is a definite period of time one must invest in the sport before it becomes something enjoyable. And this time varies from person to person for sure. Running hurts. Make no mistake. But once you develop a small level of fitness, you get past this pain to understand why thousands of people enjoy this sport. You see more, experience more and the world slows down around you. It can be a peaceful endeavor. One to which I have grown quite fond.

On Tuesday, I managed to get in to see Mark Plaatjes, 1993 World Marathon Champion and winner of the 1991 LA Marathon. Mark now lives in Boulder and is a Physical Therapist who has now helped me get back on the trails on several occasions. Mark did some work on my still-swollen left knee and tweaked right ankle. I am definitely still feeling both but anticipate that his efforts, along with some stride modifications, will help me get back to form in short order. It is great to be able to go see someone who has experience in sport. I always feel better knowing that my healthcare providers can sympathize with the frustration of not being able to perform at one’s peak due to an injury.

On a completely unrelated note, if you didn’t know already, I tend to watch a lot of movies. Not as many as I once consumed but more than the average viewer. Currently, most of these are viewed at home on DVD but I still get a lot of pleasure watching film. As an added feature to runsturun, I’ll start posting what I have recently watched. I may even review a few of them for you. (I used to write for Filmthreat – a few of my reviews are still up there if you search hard enough.) So I’ll catch you up on this past week’s screenings and then try to keep up on a regular basis from now on:

  • May 12 – Confessions of a Dangerous Mind: I often re-screen movies and this is one I have seen several times. Sam Rockwell was awesome and this is perhaps the only movie with Julia Roberts that I would ever recommend.
  • May 13 – Inside Man: I actually enjoyed this film quite a bit. It is Spike Lee doing not Spike Lee. Not that Spike Lee doing Spike Lee is a bad thing.
  • May 18 – Casino Royale: I am not a Bond fan but was told by several people that this was the antithesis of the standard Bond movie. It was okay. Cut out a ton of the Venice segment and it would have been a lot better. I would say that Daniel Craig did a decent job walking in Sean Connery’s boots.
  • May 22 – Amelie: Again, another repeat viewing. This is a beautiful film. Watch it immediately. An interesting note, this film contains lots of sexual situations, references and some nudity and was marketed as a family film in the EU. In the US, it received an “R” rating. Just another example of how screwed up this country is. (Casino Royal, filled with violence and scenes depicting torture, got at PG-13.)
  • May 23 – Volver: Almodovar is pretty amazing. His films are typically snippets of time and feature severely-off-camber themes. This is no exception.
  • May 23 – Pan’s Labyrinth: Another repeat and a beautiful/horrible film. This one is not for the squeamish and was marketed as an adult fairy tale. This film is incredibly well done and is an example of all that is wrong with Hollywood. I find foreign film to be more willing to take chances and push the envelope than domestic endeavors. Pan’s is no exception.

That’s it for today, ladies and gentlemen. I plan to ride the Singlespeed at lunch or post work if anyone is interested in joining in the fun and/or games.

See you out there.

~stubert

Edit: And I just stumbled across this gem celebrating the death of the Hummer. Good times (and that says a lot considering the behemoth I drive).

Why…

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go. ~ T.S. Eliot

Yesterday, I was asked on at least two separate occasions why I planned to run 100 miles. The quote above sums it up best. I see this as a challenge of mind, body and spirit and want to see if I am up to it.

I have had many break-throughs and let-downs during the course of my training. I have come out of 2-hour runs feeling like this was going to be impossible and have finished 4+ hour treks feeling confident and inspired. I am sure there will be more of each as I get closer and closer to the event and that I will go through a whole range of emotions during the race itself. I am excited to know how I will deal with the challenges during that long day in August.

My main goal is to finish – that much I know. I am still trying to establish intermediate goals and will know better what to expect of myself as I continue to log longer and harder training runs. I have always thought of 25 hours as the ultimate goal. After listening to Dean Karnazes’ book Ultramarathon Man, I am starting to think that I should really push myself, to better understand what I am really capable of achieving. Depending upon how training is going, I may push for a sub 24-hour finish – 100 miles in a day. I’ll keep you posted on that.

Yesterday, Luke, Brad and I went for a Singlespeed ride. We left Brad’s house for a quick jaunt up to Betasso. We pushed pretty hard the whole time. I had a hard time keeping up on the descents but was able to hang on the climbs pretty well. My Singlespeeder is fully rigid right now, making descents high on the excitement scale. I may have to put a shock on there but for now, I’m going to run it old-school.

Today, I am not quite certain of the plan. I may go for a run at lunch and may do a hike post work. Tomorrow, the weather is supposed to be crummy but I am sure I’ll be out there doing something. Just have to keep moving.

~stubert

Short but sweet…

Ouch! Quit it. Ouch! Quit it. ~ Bart Simpson

Still recovering from Tuesday’s debacle. Luke and I ran a variation on the Foothills Trail yesterday at lunch. Just a quick jaunt to get things moving again. I am hoping this doesn’t set me back too much.

Sam is hanging in there but really doesn’t feel well at all. Rage is being awesome and taking care of Sam’s medical needs along with giving her lots of pets, which she loves. Siamese cats are a bit odd – they are so vocal normally, you don’t really know when they are feeling lousy. They kind of fuss all the time anyway. Part of their charm.

On the way in to work today I saw a fox running down the sidewalk with some dead thing in his mouth. There was a woman walking the opposite direction who freaked out when she saw him and took an immediate left to try to get away from him. Of course, he went right. Hilarity ensued.

For those of you trying to actually find some substantive information about running Leadville, I pinged the Boulder Trail Runners Group yesterday to get some advice on what lights work well for the night segment of the race. The consensus seems to be the Gerber LX3. I have not yet tried this out myself but plan to give it a whirl shortly. I have been using headlamps but a lot of the feedback I received indicated that one gets better results from a hand-held light while running trails. I’ll let you know.

For those of you looking for something fun to do this weekend, you should check out the Boulder Adventure Film Festival. This is an annual event that focuses on outdoor, adventure and environmental film. Screenings are held at the Boulder Theater and this year it features a filmmaker’s seminar on Saturday. Check it out!

For today’s “training”, I am hoping to hit some golf balls at lunch and then go for a Singlespeed ride post work. Ping me if you have an interest in attending either of those events.

See you out there.

~stubert

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