Category: running

Very quick one…

RIP Shane McConkey – Graeme Murray/Red Bull Photofiles


I like your style, Dude. ~ The Stranger

I have finally been getting back out consistently, which is nice. Ran 4x last week (1 mile treadmill on Sunday, 3 miles trail on Tuesday, 5 miles trail on Friday and a 10 miler on trails on Sunday) and skied Wednesday, Saturday and Monday. This really put the stomp on my knee but was all fun. I hit Vail yesterday for some big pow turns and am heading up to Eldora in a few to spin a few laps out the gate.

As you may have guessed, we finally got snow after a LONG spell with nothing. It is still snowing now but just a little.

Also, I think that I just found another race to do: Golden Gate Dirty Thirty. Seeing how this is in my backyard, I pretty much HAVE to represent, right?

And on a very sad note: RIP Shane McConkey. He will be missed.

I’ll catch you up with more ASAP.

~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.

I need some Vitamin I…

I don’t like goats. You know, leever, keedneys… goats. ~ Someone with whom Rach went to school

Sorry to get all technical on you but my guts hurt. Still nursing this abdominal/psoas muscle deal and frankly, I am getting a bit sick of it. I guess I am going to need to get the extra large bottle of Ibuprofen and take Caleb’s lead on whacking them down on a regular basis.

Went to Dr. Dave twice this week. I guess we are making progress on it but man…. He put the serious hurt on me yesterday trying to help relieve whatever is going on in there and today I am pretty sore. I see him again on Tuesday and will probably make an appointment with Mark for next week as well to see what can be done. It doesn’t bother me too much while skiing (but definitely puts a damper on things) but is still really bugging me when I run. I did a treadmill workout on Thursday that went okay… not great but okay. Just over 3 miles at a steady, fairly slow pace. Baby steps, I guess. Those are a bit tough when one is used to taking big boy steps.

Rach is continuing her reign on awesomeness, in case you were wondering. I am turning into fat Stu with her cooking and my limited exercise. Must remember to not eat like I am training for a huge race when not actually training for a huge race.

We are getting the Banff Crüe together today for some turns at Eldora (day 25 for me this season). We leave in a week for the trip which should be killer. (The trip, not the leaving part.) Pete, Luke, Seth and I are headed up for a week. Staying in Canmore (thanks for the hook-up, Dad!) and will be skiing all around the Banff area. Seth is an amazing photographer so hopefully we’ll get some good shots out of it. I recently got back on the Patagonia Pro program and am hoping that we can get something for them while up there which might open up some other opportunites. We’ll see how it goes.

Still trying to figure out this season’s event schedule. I am still targeting the Leadville Trail 100 for late August and a double crossing of the Grand Canyon in early May. I am debating between running more or less and think that Ben’s recommendation about just having fun with it is pretty solid. I would like to do a 50K event in March and was thinking about doing the Collegiate Peaks Trail Run but it looks like it is in early May too, so I guess I’ll try to find one in June or create my own adventure run for late June/early July. There is a cool loop around the Indian Peaks that Ben and Luke did once… perhaps that would be a good substitute. I also may try to get into the New York City Marathon in November.

Ok, I’m off to the Rock. Looks like it could be a warm on and so far, no wind…. which is nice.

~stubert.

Where’d the last week go?

Caleb and me at the Basin.

Slipped my mind… ~ Dean

[Ed. ~ So I forgot to post this yesterday or whenever I actually managed to get it written. How much does that rule?]

Apparently, I have been busy as the last week has flown by. I know I have been working a ton and did manage to check out a movie (Milk) on Sunday after cleaning bunny cages at the House Rabbit Society with Rach in the morning. It was quite good. Go see it immediately. I haven’t skied since last Friday though, which is a bit of a drag and today the wind is working overtime up here so I am not sure Eldora will even have the upper mountain open. Plus it will probably be scoured. I’ll keep you posted on that though.

I did break out the trainers on Saturday and hit the dreadmill at the gym. Felt pretty awful after way too much time away from regular running. I did do 5 miles at a moderate (joggy) sort of pace of 9-10-minute miles. A far cry from my standard pacing. But that’s okay. I probably shouldn’t have taken so much time off but I was hoping some of the nagging injuries I have been experiencing would go away in the interim (they haven’t). Still having problems with my psoas muscles and toes. But if these are my biggest problems in life then I have it pretty good, really.

I did get in day 20 up at A-Basin on the 2nd with Caleb. Pete and Edy came up for a few runs too. I was feeling pretty tired and beaten up at the start but got way better as the day went on and by the time we had to leave, I was skiing really pretty well. Dropping the cornice, then top rocks and even flowing a tricky little rock feature mid-way down the mountain. All in all, I am skiing pretty well.

So given today’s conditions, I may hit the gym for my lunchtime adventure instead of braving the wind at the Rock. We’ll see how things go.

~stubert.

Day 6 on the stix and a weekly summary…

Remain calm. All is well. ~ Chip Diller

Finally getting some snow up in the zone. We got a couple at my house but it pretty much hammered the whole time we were at Eldora today so that was refreshing. In typical Rock fashion it was blowing about 7 billion miles an hour too so that made it extra special. Fun day on the boards, though with Pete, Edy, and Caleb. Pete was feeling super sexy as he donned Edy’s underthings for the day and borrowed my goggles because apparently his ski bag isn’t big enough or something. Not sure what made him feel sexier, the goggles or the frilly undergarments. I am guessing the goggles.

Ok, so I have flailed on the weekly updates for a bit. My apologies. Things have been a little funky and I have been remiss about updates. Here are the last two weeks in summary:

  • Sunday (11/16): Half a good road run in Boulder, 17 miles, 2:13ish. Well, I was awesome for about 13 miles then got stopped by a light and pretty much blew up. I did the first 13 at an 8-minute pace. Up the creek path to the end, back to 4th, over to Kalmia and down to the Foothills path. Good stuff as this isn’t very hill-free. Really suffered for the last 4 but overall, I felt pretty good about the effort. Need to work on the “finish strong” thing a bit.
  • Tuesday (11/18): Sanitas adventure, 6.5 miles, 1:30. Hit the trails with my buddy, Stephen. He showed me a cool, back way to the Sanitas summit. Really steep in spots so I had to walk a little bit but it was nice to be on trails. We descended the west route and my right knee started feeling a bit bunk from the steep drops and lack of miniscus. We then headed back up the valley trail and I called it at the top and ran back down in near darkness down Dakota ridge. Overall a fun run.
  • Wednesday (11/19): Abandoned Broomfield run, 6 miles, 00:55. Well, I had every intention to run about 12 miles but did not feel well at all so I bailed about half way through. Super sore from the day before and my knee was bugging me so I thought it would be best if I bailed instead of pushing it.
  • Thursday (11/20): Swim, 00:30. Hit the pool to see if that would make my knee feel any better. It didn’t really.
  • Friday (11/21): Recovery run with strides, 4 miles, 00:31. Hit the track for a bit then swam. Felt okay during but not super afterwards.
  • Saturday (11/22): Supposed to do a 6 mile race/run but wasn’t feeling it so I skied again.
  • Sunday (11/23): Was supposed to do a 17-miler but took the day off instead.
  • Monday (11/24): Ski
  • Tuesday (11/25): Track run, 7 miles with strides, 00:54. Fast track run. Felt a bit wonky but was able to spin some fast laps. Swam afterwards.
  • Wednesday (11/26): Ski
  • Thursday (11/27): Ski
  • Friday (11/28): Track run, 5 miles, 00:38. Did some strides and kept a steady pace throughout. Actually felt pretty solid, which was nice.
  • Saturday (11/29): Ski

Overall, I am feeling pretty beaten up right now but that is getting better. I am going into full taper mode at this point and am even going to bail on some of my scheduled training to see if I can get feeling injury free by next Sunday. The plan for this week is to do a short run tomorrow (probably about 5 miles), a short run with a serious effort on Tuesday (7 miles or so with 3 at super max effort), rest Wednesday-Friday (well, I will probably have to toss in a few laps at the local slopes but rest is relative). I fly to Vegas on Saturday and will probably try to get in a 3 miler then game on Sunday at 6:00 am.

As always, I’ll keep you posted.

~stubert.