Hoooooray!!

Not sure how it happened, but Angela managed to talk herself into signing up for the Triple Crown. That means, not only is she coming out for the Bolder Boulder, but I get my running buddy back for certain three more times during the summer. Of course, now I have to figure out how to help her train for the Peak while living in Nebraska. The biggest hill I saw there was a speed bump. I'll have to get her a copy of the Peak training guide for her as soon as they are out. At any rate, I'm just stoked she's coming back to CO a bunch.

IC Sundays

Not sure how I managed to crawl out of bed this Sunday, but I did. Beautiful day on the trail, if a bit cool. I can't believe that I'm actually looking forward to the snow melting off. I feel like such a non-skier right now. It's terrible. I had decided that I was going for a shorter run because of the distance I did on Saturday. Instead I ended up going longer than planned, but at a somewhat slower pace on the down-hill.

Location: Barr Trail
Total Distance: 9.00 miles
Time: 2:16:19
Time to No Name Creek (4.42 miles): 1:20:30
Turn Around (4.5 miles): 1:23:01

Holy crap!

It's been a long time since I've felt this worn out. Non-stop, from morning to night. I had my longish run this morning, followed by a Hash this afternoon in which we all got lost on trail, and then 2 hours of bellydancing at the Caspian. I'm crawling in right now... Food, shower, sleep. Mmmmmm.. :)

Just like I thought...

Always better afterwards. I took it nice and easy. I'd planned on 10 miles, but I felt so good that I kept going. :)

Location: Santa Fe Trail
Distance: 20k (12.4 mi)
Time: 2:15:05
Pace: 10:54

Rough start.

Blah. I just don't feel like running today. I know I'll feel a thousand times better afterwards, but I'm having a hell of a time getting out the door this morning. I miss Angela. She was an awesome running buddy. Even when neither of us wanted to run, we managed to motivate each other. Not quite as easy to do on your own. Well, here I go....

Dancing tonight!

Woohoo! Dr Maya, a dance instructor who is only in Colorado Springs for a year, is starting an eight week technique intensive. So I'm back in classes for the next eight Mondays. I'm stoked to be able to take some more lessons. I've been fairly limited in my growth as a dancer ever since I stopped taking classes with Izzy. I wish I could keep taking classes with her, because she's so f'ing amazing. But Pueblo is a long drive to make on a weekly basis for a college student who can't afford the time or the gas money. Finding Dr Maya is such a fantastic bit of good fortune! The best part of this is that I don't have to change my schedule at all. The girls I normally rehearse with on Monday nights are all taking the class with her, too. :)

www.drmaya.com

IC Sundays

After scraping 4-5 inches of snow off my car and locating my Yak Trax at 7:30 this morning, I rushed over to get to the incline club knowing that I was going to be plowing my way up Barr Trail through fresh snow. It was a beautiful morning and the Peak is simply gorgeous with new snow. Of course, the snow turned my "run" into more of a plod, hike, and slip up the trail. Down is always easier for me, but today it was an exercise in not falling on my ass.

Location: Memorial Park to No Name Creek and back
Distance: 8.77 miles
Time: 2:19:45
Time to No Name: 1:29 (so slooooow)

P2H4 - middle of f'ing nowhere hash

The further east we went, the greater were my doubts about the location of the trail. As it turned out, AFT's backyard was perfect. It was a nice, medium length trail through terrain a lot like Palmer Park. Thanks to NIPS we know the trail was either 4.5 miles at the beer check or a total of 4.2 miles.

I hate moving.

It's good of Dani to remind me how much it sucks to move. I hate packing, moving everything, unpacking, reorganizing everything. Of course, since I have to do it next year, that gives me one year to get rid of as much stuff as possible. Already sold my dining room table and chairs. Woohoo!!

CKH3 Green Dress 08

So I missed most of the hash, but I managed to find the end. That's what I get for playing with non-hashing friends instead of showing up extra early to the on-before.

Tits on the Ritz
Late-comer downdown w/straight Jamo
Snared hare!

In rare form..

St. Patty's Day always brings out some craziness. This year it brought my TK out again. I love this chick. She's completely nuts and so much fun to play with. Somehow, we managed to survive the night of Car Bombs and Long Islands. We even dragged a couple of my other friends down with us. It was a blast. Now, hopefully I can get her to skip work more often.

Me & TK
Car Bomb #1 with AL
Downdown #1
Car Bomb #2
And the night keeps rollin'....

Incline Club

These guys rock. I've only been twice, but I love it. Tough trails, amazing runners, and encouragement for us newbie trail runners.

http://www.inclineclub.com/

Trail: Out & Back (Soda Springs Park to Hwy 24) via Ute Pass Trail
Distance: ~8 miles?
Time: No idea!

This morning...

Yesterday I felt like complete crap. I barely managed a single mile before I gave it up. To make up for it, I got up early today and ran a 10k before I went to run the 5k. I actually feel pretty good about it.

Distance: 10k
Location: Santa Fe Trail
Time: 1:03:45
Pace: 10:17

Now it's time to go get my green dress on and get ready for the 5k!

Imogene Pass

The moment I think I've signed up for the craziest run I'll ever try, Brownie finds something else for me. Check out this 17.1 mile run from Ouray to Telluride: http://www.imogenerun.com/

A picture from last year's run.

That I'm even considering it shows exactly how nuts I've become. But the wanker's got a point. It's only 3 weeks after the Ascent. If I'm in shape for the first one, I should be able to pull off the second one...

I'm in!!

Well, barring any disaster with the registration process, I am running the TCR this year!! I'm so excited! :)

Nerve wracking

Waiting for 8am is really annoying. I should be studying for the Biochem exam I have later this morning, but instead all I can do is watch the clock. This is the morning that I get to register for the Triple Crown of Running. The TCR includes 3 awesome runs: Garden of the Gods 10 miler, the Summer 12K Roundup, and the Pikes Peak Ascent. The biggest problem is that if you wait even 5 minutes too long once registration opens, you won't get signed up for the Ascent (very limited spaces). So I'm sitting here watching the minutes go by...

Web site

Coolest website for someone putting new workout routines together: www.crossfit.com

Colorado Runner Magazine (Online)

I got my ugly (sweaty) mug in the March 2008 edition of the Colorado Runner's online magazine. It was even in the email they sent out. Woohoo! The picture is from the 3rd race of the Winter Series.

"Susan Mopper of Colorado Springs shows off her Jack Quinn's Running Club shirt. Jack Quinn's Running Club is one of two running clubs that meets at an Irish Pub. The other is the Irish Snugg Running Club in Denver."

I'm sure there's a down-down in my future for this. :)

A calorie is a calorie??

To quote from a healthy diet forum...

"I TOTALLY agree with this post! a calorie is a calorie...it really doesn't matter what it comes from."

Crap like that kills me. Some foods (especially the overly processed kinds) are much harder for your body to use. So how can people think that it doesn't matter if they are eating garbage as long as they don't eat more than their "daily calorie allowance?" I wonder if people like that bother to figure out what a good daily allowance is for them specifically or if they just go with the USDA standards.

Aside from that, I feel like I'm living proof that they are wrong. Lately I've been paying a lot more attention to the crap that I've been putting into my body. Just having improved the quality of what I eat, I dropped ~12lbs in 2 weeks without any major lifestyle changes and I feel a thousand times better. Though I've always kept an eye on how much I ate, watching what I eat has made a larger difference than I would have thought.

Of course, Brownie will say I'm full of shit. He's on the beer and bacon cheeseburger diet and I'm sure he'll say it works well for him. If I tried that, I would drop dead of a heart attack.