Updating my "crappy blog"

Pictures from my first trip up Barr Trail two weeks ago. This past Tuesday I climbed it again and cut my time down to 6:45 including my stop at Barr Camp to pick up a shirt and filter water. I'm a lot more hopeful that I'll be able to actually complete the Ascent in the time allotted. So, in keeping with these hopes I'm on my way to the top of the peak today to run a 3-2-1 from the top. On out.

Starting out

16 Golden Stairs

Made it!

Up top with Al

Taking it in

Boredom.

I can't wait for school to start again. After last semester I didn't think I'd be looking forward to school again. But I'm getting bored not learning anything. I've kept very busy and it's been nice to have some time off from classes, but I think I'm ready to get back into school mode. I'm started in 2 weeks. It's a short, summer course on Environmental Analytical Chemistry. Should be really tough. But it sounds neat. I think we're doing chemical analysis of soil samples. All new techniques for me. Whee. :)

Pikes Peak

First ascent of Barr Trail yesterday. Kicked my ass, but it was fun. I have a lot of work to do in the next couple of weeks to make up for training time lost to RA in the past two months. The last three miles really whooped my ass. So this weekend I'm going back up to the top to run a 3-2-1, starting at the top and running down & back first 3 miles, then 2 miles, then 1 mile. That should help get me more familiar with those killer last three miles. Whee!

RA sucks.

I missed the BTMR because of a crappy flair up on Sunday. I woke up hardly able to walk. I didn't figure I'd get very far up the trail that way. Took drugs and went back to bed. The worst part of it was that most of the pain and inflammation had gone down by about 2:30 pm. So if we could just have started the race then I would have been able to play. I hate RA. Hopefully I'll feel better about missing the run tomorrow when I hike the peak.

12k Summer Round Up

When I started car shopping yesterday, I never imagined that I would be at it for over 15 hours and that it would keep me up until after midnight. Coughing like crazy kept me awake most of the night. I dragged my sorry carcass out of bed at 6:00 this morning thinking that the race started at 7:30. At 6:34 I decided to check the website, just to make sure. Good thing I did. The race began at 7am. Oops. Grabbed my crap, couldn't find my Garmin, and ran out the door. I made it to the start with 3 whole minutes to spare. :) I don't think I've ever felt so unprepared for a run in my life. I don't think I'll try that routine again.

So with my knee still slightly swollen (at least it's no longer the size and consistency of a grapefruit) and 3 hours of sleep I ran my crappiest race of the summer so far. I hate walking during races, but I promised myself that no matter what I was finishing this run. I did. I think my time was 1:34ish. SLOW. But, hopefully the run helped stretch out my knee and work through some of the soreness. We'll see. BTMR next week! Woo hoo!

All in all, a good morning! My only real worry is that I didn't see my Angela out there. I hope she made it. :(

New Car

Well, I started shopping at 7:30 am yesterday, only had one break for Sushi with Angela (aka Nibbles 'N' Tits), and didn't finish until 11:45 pm. I could have curled up and gone to sleep on the desk at the car sale. On the upside, I did finally get a car. Not the Highlander that I want, those are a bit too pricey for me as of yet. I got a 2001 Toyota Camry that has less than 33k miles on it. Pretty car with a big enough trunk to haul some gear. Now all I need is a roof rack for skis, kayaks, etc and a trunk rack for bikes and I'll be set. Another plus, much easier on the pocket book at the gas pump. All in all, I'm fairly pleased with how things turned out.