Ran 12 trail miles yesterday.  No running today.

I am heading to a funeral for a dear friend who lost her 5 year battle to breast cancer.  Her oldest daughter ran XC for me and her youngest daughter was our XC team manager for 4 years.  She was our scorer for our home dual meets and was a real inspiration to everyone she met.  She was told 5 years ago that she wouldn't live a year.  She made it her goal to see her son graduate from HS, and he did this past June.

Live you life to the fullest, and don't ever let anyone set goals for you.

Spent a couple hours with Mandy on the trails at Blue Mounds yesterday. She's a good trail partner, very enjoyable.  Heading out now, somewhere and I'll decide on the fly as it's gonna be heating up around here so I better get moving.

AT- tough day ahead.Celebrate her life as best you can.

boyjame-- I want to hear the rant.

Morning all,

AT - Sorry to hear about the passing but good to hear about her life.  Sounds like an inspiring individual.

I've been a little MIA this past week and I haven't been running.  Yesterday I did a 100k bike ride...here's a brief race report...it was a spectacle worth sharing.

The 100k bike ride is something I got roped into from work (they know I'm a "marathon runner" (I've never run a marathon...details)).  The event is a charity ride put on by an electrical contracting company that we work with.  My company donated a bunch of money and they asked us to put a team together.  There were 4 of us signed up to do the 100k.  Team member 2 was dropped by the RD to the 25 mile ride because he was going to be riding a rental bike (turned out to be a mountain bike...wise decision RD).  Another one showed up on a mountain bike...no helmet (team member 3).  The race officials found him a helmet.  We were all lined up to start when the 4th member of the team came driving up.  They delayed the start so that he would have time to put on his clothes and get started with everyone.  The 4th member also brought 4 friends (not work related).  Team member 3 (mountain bike/no helmet guy) ended up crashing into a guardrail at the bottom of a hill (good thing they required the helmet) and got 20+ stitches on his face.  Team member 4 ended up riding the wrong way at mile 6 and went 6 miles off course and 6 miles back.  He ended up making it to the 3rd AS before dropping (probably did ~45 miles).

I ended up riding with team member 4's friends who took it really nice and easy, spent a lot of time at AS and rested after each climb.  It took us 6.5 hours to complete the ride.  I would estimate that we took about 2 hours worth of breaks.  I survived the day and was actually in pretty good shape.  I used my hydration vest, perpetuem, and general ultra fueling strategy which was a huge leg up on the others in our group.  My butt hurts today from all the saddle time, but I really don't have any sore muscles.  The ride was tough...no flats, lots of climbing.  The majority of the climbing came in the last 10 miles, but the whole course was uphills and downhills.

I am not a cyclist.  I'm pretty sure I could have finished in about 5 hours if I had done it on my own...also pretty sure that I would have ended up sore from that effort.  I would compare the effort I put in to a half marathon distance training run that had lots and lots of hills...the kind of training run where there is no urgency to get anywhere and you rest whenever your heart rate goes up a little bit.  The real difference was the time that we spent on the course (which required some fueling knowledge).  All in all, not particularly challenging even though I was a fish out of water.

Hope you enjoyed reading about a real shit show.  I'm sure my words do not do justice to exactly how bad and unprepared our team was...it was a spectacle...like "hey everybody...get a load of these guys".  I hope this doesn't become an annual event for our company (it will).

jamezilla - nice story.  I was watching the Tour de France last night (I must really have been bored) but it intrigued me a bit.  They were doing a mountain stage - essentially just climbing, climbing, and more climbing.  I was tired just watching them.  But what struck me as odd was the fans that lined the mountain road - they are crazy.  Some get dressed up in costumes, they are hovered over the road, waving things in the faces of the riders, and some sprinting a bit with the riders.  I am just glad we don't have that in trail racing.

Speaking of biking - hope watoni had a good Leadville 50 this weekend!

Hello all.

SRD for me and the dog today after a good weekend in the high country.

Went to Taos Ski valley for the weekend with my wife and DS.

Dog and I got in 24 miles with a bit over 7000 ft of elev gain up and around Wheeler peak(13,161ft) on Saturday. Lots of climbing, Bighorn sheep and high mountain lake swimming for the dog. It was a great run that I didn't want to end.

Sunday the dog and I hit Gold hill(12,711ft) for 9.8 miles with ~3400ft of climbing. Another awesome run in some beautiful country! Legs were tired on the climb but felt pretty solid on the descent.

Then finished off the weekend with a hike up to Williams lake, carrying DS in the backpack with my wife and dog.

I am amazed at the awesome trail running available at Taos Ski Valley, I'm pretty sure it ranks right up there with the best in the world. It was nice to roll out of bed, walk across the parking lot and start heading up the mountain on sweet trails. I may have to sell all my belongings and become a run/ski bum in Taos....

AT- sorry for the loss. Pretty amazing how people are able to hang on to see an important event and then slip away peacefully. Sounds like she was a great lady.

Jamezilla - shit show for sure! haha Sounds like fun though. I find that running fitness transfers pretty well to the bike, except for the sitting on the seat part.

sugnim - sorry the HM didn't go as planned. At least you finished it and hopefully enjoyed it a little bit.

boyjame- that is crazy how wild the spectators can get! I can't believe there are not more crashes going through that madness.

Hope everyone has a good Monday!

12 miles this morning, it was very hot and humid. I ran out of water and food, and my ankle started hurting quite a bit, so I called it a day.

This ankle is really giving me a headache, it seems I can't run more than 10 or 15 miles on it - don't know how to handle those long runs, and I am very worried looking ahead to the 100-miler in October. It has been hurting for many weeks now, and doesn't seem to get any better.

AT: Sorry to hear about your friend. I hope the family will get well through the tough time ahead, and remember her with love.

Jamie: Nice morning run. Are the gnats also that bad in your area?

Harrier: Sounds you had a nice run with Mandy and her dawg.

Mandy: Sounds you had a nice run with Harrier and your dawg.

Zilla: What a bike ride! I feel sorry for the guy who got his face all torn up - hope it will heal up well.

sugnim: It's the bad races and runs that we learn the most from. Take it with a grin, and move on.

O2: Sounds like a wonderful weekend. Great runs!

Chnaiur: Kids with jetlag can be very exhausting... been there, done that - hope you'll (they'll!) get through it soon.

No QOTD yet? Here's one:

QOTD: How bad are the gnats/deer flies/mosquitoes/ticks now in your area? How do you deal with them?

Me: Very bad here, especially around swampy areas (and most of my trails are quite humid and swampy right now). On my runs, I often inhale or swallow 3 or 4 gnats, and I constantly have to wave my hands around my head to prevent the deer flies from eating me alive. Insect repellant helps just a bit, but half an hour into my run, the sweat has washed it off already. Only remedy: Keep running and waving!

jamezilla - nice story.  I was watching the Tour de France last night (I must really have been bored) but it intrigued me a bit.  They were doing a mountain stage - essentially just climbing, climbing, and more climbing.  I was tired just watching them.  But what struck me as odd was the fans that lined the mountain road - they are crazy.  Some get dressed up in costumes, they are hovered over the road, waving things in the faces of the riders, and some sprinting a bit with the riders.  I am just glad we don't have that in trail racing.

Speaking of biking - hope watoni had a good Leadville 50 this weekend!

Thanks, Jame! Speaking of biking? I ran the Silver Rush 50 (or what passes for running when you cannot breathe at 11-12,000 feet). If you were watching the TdF yesterday, it would have been the climb to Mont Ventoux, perhaps the most mythical climb in all of road cycling. The other climbs on the stage were minor (Category 3/4 by tour standards, but Ventoux is "beyond category"). I have ridden it perhaps half a dozen times the way the TdF ascends (via Bedoin), but the Malaucene approach is just as difficult. Since it is in Provence it can be unbearably hot, freezing with mistral winds or a combination of both. The middle 10km of the 22km climb average over 10% and are relentless. And yes, the fans are insane. Just wait for the double ascent of Alpe d'Huez later this week.

I got up just after midnight to drive from Leadville to Denver, take a 6am flight to San Francisco and am at work now ... tired. SRD, or perhaps an easy spin.

Yes couch - gnats are bad here.  Just keep moving - that's the best remedy so I suppose they help to some degree?!?