Possible 2014 challenge in the works

Still pondering if I am going to take part in this challenge or not due to some personal shit going on but just in case I do jump in I started another blog over here to track it, http://shadsyearofbeer.blogspot.com/.  Go over there and check out the challenge.  If I do decide to go live with it I will link it on the side under "Other Places to Find Me". 

Came across this article and love it! http://www.t-nation.com/powerful-words/merry-christmas-bob .  It is about weight lifting but could easily be applied to any activity.  Quote, "I think he's just stuck in a rut, and as the saying goes, the only difference between a rut and a grave is depth. The way out of the rut is to make major changes in your life, most of which won't be too pleasant in the beginning."

On that note HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my awesome little sister whom I call GG!  I love ya sis!

2013 Solstice Slog

Report of yesterday's stupidity. http://georgezack.blogspot.com/2013/12/solstice-slog-122113.html

GZ writes it up much better than I ever could.  I will add links to any other reports that go up in the next few days.  This run has me pondering doing something similar in Boulder with some peak summits thrown in.  Enjoy.

Meet Punisher

Picked up a new 29er mountain bike after all the fun I had at Greenland Gravel Grinder with the idea of doing more of these events in the future.  I named her Punisher because that is what I feel like she does to me every time I ride her right now with my lack of cycling fitness.  Hopefully that will change over time if I can ever gain any mountain biking skills. 

She is a 2013 Foundry Broadaxe B2 carbon fiber bike that weighs in at 24.1 pounds with peddles on her.  I thought about upgrading more parts of her to push her closer to 20 pounds but figured it would be a lot cheaper just to lose a few pounds from my fat ass.

You can see all the details on her at this link if your that kind of bike nerd- http://foundrycycles.com/bikes/broadaxe

30 Day Challenge: Cold Shower Therapy

I came across this article earlier last month and have really been pondering giving it a shot.  I mean, what do I have to lose?  I feel like I have become mentally weak this past year with the lack of challenges that I have laid out for myself.  The one challenge that I did layout to do, Pikes Double, I wimped out because I had a bad day on the Ascent and was not feeling well.  Yes I am still beating myself up about it even though I said I was ok with it, I am really not looking back at it.  Since then I have not done much of anything and have been in a deep self pity funk.  Starting today I am going to try and work my way out of this funk and one of the tools I am going to use to help me,  30 days of cold showers.

Why you ask?
Because it is uncomfortable and it will be mentally challenging to make myself do this.  Plus according to the linked article above and some other sources I have looked at it is good for you too.  At least that is what I am going to keep telling myself as I freeze my balls off.

Day 1:  First cold shower at lunch.  Just jumped right in at the showers at work after a 8 mile run over lunch break.  Lets just say I could not cry yelp due to being at work but damn it was hard to breath.  It really took my breath way for the first 4 1/2 minutes.  This is going to be interesting considering that there are times when I take 2-3 showers a day due to lifting, running, working in the yard, ect.

Here is a short 10 min video that really hit a nerve with me and pushed me into the yes column to do this challenge.



Are you going to join in my stupidity?

Rambling Thoughts.....

Been really thinking about how I have been feeling since my bailout at the Pikes Peak Marathon.   As some of you may or may not know I did the Ascent in subpar time and bailed on the marathon the next day due to not feeling/recovering from the Ascent.  I lost 9lbs in a 13 mile run that day, that is not right. Just burnt out and sore all the time.  Even now 3 weeks later I go out for an easy flat 6 miles only to feel like shit for 2 days.  I am not sure what to think about it anymore, it makes me want to give up running for awhile with the hope that it will come back in a month or two.

Came across this article this morning and makes me think that I should just keep on pushing until I break through.  I know it sounds like I am feeling sorry for myself but that is not it.  I am trying to figure out how to solve how I have been feeling so I can move on.  Ok, rambling over.

5 Things Mentally Tough People Don’t Do (by addicted2success.com)

5 Things Mentally Tough People Don’t Do

By Justin Sua

1) They don’t feel sorry for themselves

They understand that complaining doesn’t make the situation better.
They know that people won’t treat them they way they want to be treated, circumstances might not be ideal, and they will experience adversity; however, rather than complain about the negative aspects of their situation, they focus on what they want to happen and what they’re going to do about it.

2) They don’t give people power over them

They are not people pleasers.
They are relentless in their pursuit of their passion and aren’t worried about what other people think.
They give power to what they focus on, and if they waste their time focusing on the opinions of others, they lose sight of the things that will make them truly successful.

3) They don’t avoid change

They are always looking for ways to evolve. They believe that if they continue to give their best, their best will continue to get better over time.
With the competition continuing to get bigger, stronger, faster, and smarter; it’s important to have the mindset to improve by learning from successes and failures.

4) They don’t play small

The mentally tough swing for the fences and know that it might mean striking out a few times (or many times). Their purpose for achieving greatness casts away their fear of failure. They refuse to tip-toe through life, they intend on creating a legacy for the future by making an impact in the here-and-now.

5) They don’t focus on things they can’t control

They refuse to waste time focusing on things they can’t control because there is nothing they can do about it!
They understand that the less control a person feels the more susceptible they are to making poor decisions, falling into bad habits, and crumbling under pressure.

The Big Weekend Is Here

In years past I would normally be sitting here at work this week sweating the Leadville 100 and trying to stay within my own head.  Not this year.  This year I signed up for a different challenge, the Pikes Peak Ascent on Saturday and the Pikes Peak Marathon on Sunday which is known as the Pikes Double.  It should be interesting to see how it all plays out, I really have not done the training that I wanted this year.  It has been a lot less structured and more of "What do I feel like doing today?" type of approach. 

Here is where I stand year to date:






What stick out to me on these numbers is the 258,594 feet of vertical so far this year.  I have been trying to make sure that I do some vertical every weekend on at least the Boulder Peaks if not going higher into the mountains.  Speaking of the Boulder Peaks here is where I stand year to date on those hills too.








Hope this will play to my advantage this weekend.  For those family members and friends who actually read this blog and don't know what the Pikes Peak races are there are some cool videos that you can watch if you click here (no I am not doing the mile race that first video shows).

Best to luck to all my buddies out there either running Leadville, pacing, crewing, and/or doing either one of the Pikes races.  GO GET THEM!!

July Numbers

Another good month in both the training and in racing this month but I do feel like I am flirting with burn out so I have to keep an eye on that.

Here is how the numbers shook out.  You can click on the photo to enlarge it.

Not quite where I wanted to be mileage and vertical wise but that is ok.  I even took off  2 days of this month and a bunch of short days just to make sure that I don't go over that so called "line" which I feel like I am flirting with due to all the shorter faster races the past 2-3 months.

Positives of the month-  Got in 2 races listed below and I also got in 2 14er summits.

• Scartop 12K 7/4 (50:40 for 4th overall, 1st age group)  
• Pacing Hardrock 7/12 (Good times!)

I also got 5 new Breweries this month.

 Avalanche Brewery (Silverton)
 Ouray Brewery (Ouray)
 Ourayle House aka "Mr. Grumpy Pants" (Ouray)*
 Mountain Sun (Boulder)*
 Big Choice Brewery (Broomfield)

So overall I it was just an ok month and I seem to be stalling in my fitness a little.  Not much I can do about that now.  I am actually thinking that I might start an early taper for Pikes.  I will decided that based on how my runs go this weekend.


Next up- Pikes Peak Double.  This is going to hurt.

Hardrock Pacing

Last weekend I got the honor of once again pacing JT through the last miles of the Hardrock 100 in Southwestern Colorado.  This has become one of my favorite things to do every summer.  I actually put pacing at Hardrock in front of my own races just because I love this course so much.  This year I got to see 35ish miles of the course that I have not seen before.  

I paced JT from Ouray to KT aid station.  Here is the GPS tracks for that section: (awesome profile huh?)   http://app.strava.com/activities/67125878

I am not going to rehash all the details but you can read JT's race report here.  Pretty much I just stuffed him full of No Doz and kept him moving through the night.  Of course I think I took just as many No Doz as he did.

Here are some of photos I took throughout the weekend.  They are in order that I took them, from the race start to JT's finish.  Of course there is none from the night because I did not want to blind him with the flash.