Week ending 17NOV2019

Blur of a week.  Came into it from CT and into ATL.  Did a spin back home for a few days but then ended up back in DC on Sunday.

My Achilles is pissed enough that I'll officially budge and call it an injury.  I took Saturday off from running (biked a bunch instead) but I failed on the discipline on Sunday - as I had to run the Mall again.

MON PM - 7.4 miles

TUE PM - 5.1 miles on the hotel treadmill.  It was raining out and I really didn't have the gear or the heart to do that in the dark.
WED PM - back in CO, 3.7 miles right hitting the door getting home.

Went and played a mic up at 300 Suns on Wednesday night.  Even decided to throw down a bit of Post Malone in the jam circle.

THUR AM - 5.2 miles with Greg and Braun.

Another four and a half in the afternoon after watching Lauren sign her letter of intent to UNLV.  Woot woot.


Friday - stupid to run but I did - 8.3 miles around practice.
Saturday - no running but got in 20 plus on the bike.  Dumbly underdressed and had to bike harder to stay warm enough.
Sunday - 6.2 miles on the Mall.




I’ll have to figure this foot thing out.  It might need time off but I don’t know … meh. 

It might get stupid …

So I ran yesterday.  And the day before that too.  And I ran today too.  These were not fast or long runs.  In fact, they were short and slow with the purpose being to assess the hip.  And I learned pretty quickly that my hip is not a 100% clear of being ache free.  But I also learned that these runs don’t seem to be causing any other harm.  That might be a complete lie to myself but in my personal subjective assessment of it, it could be true. 

So this jogging back on it might be a completely stupid endeavor.  I might crack something outright.  But the desire to get out and enjoy the leaves, the air, the season, and … running … it was strong enough that I put the bike down for a few days and decided to go for it. 

The bike however did leave an impression.  As an old guy I might actually incorporate that game occasionally.  I can see its benefits physically as a complimentary exercise.   I’d love to say that even while running regularly I would do it at least one day a week instead of running but I am pretty sure that is a lie I am not willing to commit to yet.

In more positive news, I continue to be blessed in be a part of the BrHS XC experience this year as a volunteer coach.  On Friday, the girls won the regional meet, scoring 25 points (an incredible score in a multiple school meet) and put six girls in the top 15.  The boys, who were seeded fourth (which would eek them a state qualifying spot), outperformed expectations and got second on 62 points to Poudre’s 55, but beating state contending teams like Fort Collins (basically the 1-2-3-4 predictions went 4-3-2-1!).  What a fun day. 

Today’s observations

I got another 2 hours on the bike today, exploring down to the south east a bit further than I had gone before, again exploring “bike paths” and concrete ribbons of the bike commuter variety.  I found all sort of connecting trails that I had never seen before.  A few observations …

… there a lot of these trails.  Some connect very very well.  Some don’t.
… getting across streams and canals and ditches is no problem .  Getting across rail lines is not an easy trick.  Rail lines are almost always a major intersection crossing (at least “legally”) where a creek / ditch can be crossed almost anywhere.
… there are a lot of folks in parks burning something that creates an “earthy smell.”  As in I don’t think I went through any public park without getting at least a few whiffs … and then a good amount coming from homes bordering the concrete ribbons.
… there is a lot of variability in the “trails” from pretty solid concrete to broken up asphalt that I have to assume at one point was a road.  There is an observable correlation between the trail quality and the “neighborhood quality.”
… I did not know there was going to be an “N” line coming up here for light rail, but that is probably because my eye has been on the ridiculously botched “B” line.
… this was an impressive site today: 
… I might be getting a hair better at this.  I can at least get on a good stretch of time of making the legs ache a tad versus folding like a wet noodle in a few seconds.
… I bike as well in Keen sandals as I do running shoes.
… about 175 miles of biking for me this week.  Monday was essentially a zero though as I flatted out 15 minutes into it.
… I was tempted to run today but I better judgment took hold.  The hip is not fully in the clear but it is progressing.  I am pretty sure if I run on it, I am going to send it back a week very quickly.  So I just need to ride this one out (haha, ride it out, get it?  Good one GZ).  The warmer temps and the longer window I had today made this a pretty easy call.  I am not sure I would have held on another cold rainy day … I probably would have found a grass field to jog.

The Gap Year

The boy went and “dun good” in a recent FBLA competition.  His team got second, and that was good enough to land that team enough shekels that I told JZ that he was buying dinner that night.  Show me the money.



In the comp, they had to come up with a local business problem, define how they were going to resolve it, define the business prop (as in how they would make money on it), etc.  JZ’s team decided to create a local job board on the web for teens, allowing local businesses to post jobs and teens to search for them based on various criteria.  JZ took on the web site creation, and his prototype was pretty cool.
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JZ also finished the XC year in the league meet this past week.  He was pretty focused on PR’ing one last time and breaking a number barrier that would get him the varsity letter standard.   It was going to be close to do that, and unfortunately the weather was uncooperative … almost maddeningly so … it was cloudy and overcast for the period just before the races, the clouds broke for the races and the temps slipped into the mid 80s … and then as the races finished, the clouds came back in again.  I was bummed for him, but he kept perspective:  he is happy with the season he has had, he can see the gains he has made with some dedication, and he has eyes on what he can accomplish in the future.  His formal season is done but he is saying he is likely to continue training with the XC varsity squad (who is prepping for state) to see if he can bring together a solid fall race.

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The hip is coming around.   Or at least I think it is.  Maybe the discomfort in it is becoming less or maybe I am just getting used to it.  Given it has been a slow heal (almost two weeks now), I am thinking that it is probably some sort of stress fracture.  Or I don’t know – maybe not. 

I am not really interested in heading to get it imaged to tell me that … that just sounds like shelling out bucks for an expensive picture that will a.) tell me it is a fracture and that I need to rest, or b.) be inconclusive and I still can’t really run anyway.

With the slightly better feeling to it, I am very tempted to run on it but I recognize I ought to sit tight a while longer.  Which means probably another week or two of the bike. 

The bike.  I sort of dread it but I am also thankful for it.  I dread it because it is not my thing … I am not good at it, I have nearly killed myself by nearly taking out prairie dogs that decide to bolt in front of you on the trail when you are buzzing at a good clip, it makes my neck hurt, I don’t think I am getting the same sort of workout from it, and I have gone through three tubes in the past two weeks because of damn goat heads. 

Based off the reaction of folks who have seen my ride up close, I am doing some sort of “old school” thing.  Here’s a vid of the setup:

Here is a shot of the 6k and the 8k.

Despite the dread there is an appreciation I have for it.  It gets me outside, and I have been able to get to see some stuff that I don’t normally get to.  It gives me the time I usually appreciate in running to reset and reboot.  It can make me breathe hard and make my legs ache.  I have been enjoying exploring the various strips of concrete ribbon that connect towns together along drainages.  Until they stop for no reason …

… but it is fun looking for the connections, and seeing how far I can get along a stretch before I need to find something else.  And trails I have never heard of … like “Hall Grange.”

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So as I have noted here before, KZ is in a program that has brought her to Germany for a year.  She started there in June, has been in a German language immersion school, taught some English at a camp, been in a German HS, and soon will start a program of various internships.  In short, it is a “gap year” program, meaning that she is taking this path rather than a “traditional” path from high school directly into college.

I put “traditional” in quotes because a.) I am not sure that a path from HS to college is truly traditional and b.) I am not sure if KZ will follow that so called traditional path anyway.   Her gap year is providing her an opportunity to explore Europe, learn some (specifically the German language) and figure out what she wants her next steps to be. 

It dawned on me the other day that I too am having a gap year of sorts.  I have left a corporate job of nearly two decades, and am in the midst of getting a new business off the ground with my partners.  It is not “rocket surgery” to own your own business, but there are big differences than working for someone else.

My running has taken a back seat as I have worked through (and am currently working through) a couple of injuries that are probably outcomes of age and decades of bouncing on a tilted frame. Mileage is lowest it has been, racing is the least it has been, and days off are the highest they have been in probably 10 years.  2015 left me skidding at its end and it took me a bit to get back on track in 2016 … and I might not be on track yet. 

I have become heavily involved in the local high school cross country team as a volunteer coach, and spent more time helping out with my son’s Scout troop. 

In a similar fashion to KZ, I am exploring, learning, and figuring out what the next steps will be.  Of course there are significant differences between our “gap years” other than location, but I do see some similarities.

Mark Plaatjes

Mark Plaatjes, the 1993 World Champion in the Marathon (Stuggart) came and spoke to the BrHS XC team today. 

Mark spoke to the kids about the championship mindset.  It dawned on me that most of the kids didn’t know the amazing part of his story and the adversity he faced with Apartheid, the ban against athletes from South Africa to compete in the Olympics, his becoming a US citizen and what it meant for him to win that race. 

It was a cool, misty day today.  I don’t think it broke 50 degrees but it felt cooler than that because of the wet.  I biked for a couple of hours but I was freezing.  Not pee on your hands freezing like I have heard some talk about but pretty cold for a bike.  For running it would have been majestic.

A Wee Day Out

Two and half hours on the bike today.  I learned the bike is called a rockhopper.  I took some video so you can see how it went.

Victor Pack Burro Race 2016

I have never done the Victor Pack Burro Race.  And even though I went down there yesterday and covered the entire course, I still have not done it.  I headed down with Bob (who raced Alice) and I cycled the course while the race took place. 

Before yesterday, I had never even been to Victor.  It essentially sits on the west side of Pikes Peak, a touch south of Cripple Creek.  You have to burn a bit of time and fuel to get to this place that appears to be a cross between Ward, Idaho Springs and forgotten America.  The location is beautiful, but the town seems to sit more as a movie set in the mountain west than a recovering mining town.  Unlike the Triple Crown events that parley their burro races with a weekend fair, their was nothing else really going on in town.

I decided to continue to rehab my hip and not run.  I asked if the course was bikeable and I was given the nod on that so I decided I ride the course and get some pics while the regulars like Bob and Justin and newbees like Matt Curtis raced with the donks.  Jack went with one of the Wann children.

About a half mile after the start, a runner lost his burro and it bolted ahead of him.  I chased it down on the bike, helped collect it and then got it back to the runner.  I made my way back up to the front of the field to watch that part of the race.  On a steep climb up Beacon Hill I lost contact with the lead group because I had to go to hike a bike (wheels were spinning under me on the loose gravel).  As I crested the hill I could see across the way the lead group was heading into the woods but being chased by some horses!  I have never seen that in a burro race!




I was biking a lot of stuff above my ability and probably my 25 year old bike.  There were no long ups and downs but there was plenty of steep and technical stuff.  This course was no joke for burro racers (apparently only 12 of the 30 something field actually finished).

After swing back up into town I could see the leaders coming from a little out and back leg.  Fairplay winners Courdkamp and Mary Margaret had a slight lead over Vincent’s mini contingent.  Bob and Matt were about a quarter to half mile back.    I circled around them and as we came back to the road with about 2 miles left there was confusion about the course.  I could see the three leaders coming back up at me from town, and then Bob and Matt coming from behind me.  There was a volunteer showing up.  The guys coming back from town were pissed as they knew they missed a turn and had headed back into town and this now had allowed Bob and Matt to catch back up.  The volunteer pointed them to the trail through a nearby trail access parking lot, but there was tape heading back up another road up a hill.  The teams took to the parking lot and the trail, but after about a minute the volunteer could see a guy at the top of the road hill calling for the runners.  I called all the teams back and they were none to happy about the misdirection.



Once we got them on course, as I was now ahead I decided to buzz up to scout if there were any other possible places where they could get off track.  I waited at the last couple of turns into town to direct them and five teams came in essentially together for the last quarter mile.

Here is some video from the finish.  It was unclear to the racers where the finish line was and the volunteer at the finish was not able to declare a clear winner.

My phone video suddenly became a way to determine who had won, but apparently a tie was declared.  There was a bunch of back and forth conversation, debate … and then out of the blue JT showed up on his fat bike.  I am still kicking myself for not getting a picture with him.  Always a crazy day at a burro race even if you are not racing it.

Another couple hour bike ride for me.

Hip update

I have not run since Monday.  On Tuesday I had the school trainer do a few tests to determine if I had a stress fracture.  While not definitive, he did not think his tuning fork or ultrasound tests indicated as such.  There is still some discomfort in the hip but it sort of so-so seemed like it was getting better. 

Beautiful fall day out … and so I decided I’d see if running on it had changed significantly.  In the midst of my ride today I did a mile on a HS track I came onto.  I had the added fun of going from the bike to the run, aka the so called brick – a feeling I am not regularly working through. 

The bad news is the pain and discomfort hip is about the same.  The really bad news is that I can run on this thing meaning there is some pain, and I know something is jacked.  But I can run without gimping.  I am left wondering if I just treat this like any other ache or pain and run on it until something actually stops me from running on it …  or it goes away.  It should be an easy decision but it is one of those classic head / heart things.

2 hours on the bike again.  About 120 and change miles on the bike in the last six days.  When the weather changes I might be regulated back to the rec (wreck) center for a while.

Post script update from Monday – so it seems it feels a bit worse today.  It sort of does not matter if it is a stress fracture or not.  I need to treat it as such and just wait to run until this thing is in the clear.  Race plans are pretty well scrapped for now and I will focus on trying to get a regular couple of hours on a bike or equivalent a day.  I will need to look into a rec center option for the changing weather and the option to go early in the day.

Thursday 06OCT2016

Love the debate with himself as to if he should go for the RT as he crests at the North Rim.

Some video highlights from the Shootout. 

2 hours on the bike.

Sunday’s time lapse and stuff

There are also a bunch of good photos here.

The most exciting ultra news I have seen a while:  Walmsley sets a FKT on the R2R2R.  Mind you there are about 5000 people who find that exciting.  Maybe 10k.  That is not even how many people that attend a HS football game in TX on a Friday night in some parts.

Good podcast by Magness on “Mimicry vs. Mastery.”

Listened to ATC yesterday while on the bike.  I sort of hate the bike over running but I do appreciate the getting out it provides to me.

They hit on a variety of side topics that I find more interesting than V02 max, stretching and hormones.  Like Mars.  Check out the Elon Musk presentation on how we are going to get to Mars and how Elon’s presentation completely sucks. 

They also touch on the presidential election as well, well … without touching on it.  Lucho reflects a general disgust that a lot of us have I think, which I think is how people have put discussion of this election at the front of everything they talk about.  Like it has to be in your face sort of thing. 

It bothers me that so many people know more about these folks who are selling a snake oil of how you have been wronged, victimized, and set back and how those people can supposedly correct it – while most of us probably don’t know our own mayor, council people, governor, state house or senate rep, US congress person or senator.  

I was considering this for the umpteenth time in my life on my ride yesterday.  I got a flat tire.  I happened to be near the Louisville Cemetery.  I was not really sure that is where I was, but then it was really really really clear.

I came across the Finding Mastery podcast, and this interview with Assaiante is excellent (there are a few hokey moments in but it is still good). 

About 2 hours on the bike yesterday and today.

Friday 13MAY2016

News stuff

• Latest Lucho and Tawnee show
• I had no idea that surgical steel made folks possibly go deaf and that this impacted Patrick Rizzo.
• Update on Slattery coming back.
• Good interview with Robbie Simpson (he took third at S-Z last year and ran 2:15 at London).
• KZ informed me that it is like this in the house whenever she is there alone. 

Ever notice when you ask people how they have been the answer is almost always, “busy”?  It feels busy here.  Getting going with a new business, getting ready for KZ’s graduation, finishing up the school year for JZ, helping with track, yard projects, donkey projects, prepping for a kid going to Germany for a year … and that is just the stuff I mention here.  Point is – it is pretty easy NOT to run.  But I am much crappier a person and less effective in doing those things if I don’t do some regular endurance something or other.  Or at least I tell myself that and it then becomes true to some degree. 

Yesterday as I pulled up to the house this large red tail was finishing lunch on my neighbor’s lawn.  Left some scraps too.

Some recent shots of various randomness..

I noticed that Strava has flagged some of my rides.  I am not sure if these are automatically flagged by the system because they default as an uploaded run or if because someone has changed them … but I get no notice of it.  I change them to rides of course, but I found it interesting that flagged events give no notification.

Biked to the farm, ran 3 and a half with Jack and then I biked home. 
Beautiful day.  Saw this craziness.

Spent the evening at the St Vrain Invite with JZ watching it as a “last chance meet.”  Lot of kids fighting to preserve their spot or to get their ticket to the state meet.  On top of it there were several elite events in the meet.  This just improved the overall quality and tone of the meet.  There were guys vaulting near 18 feet, and then these dudes tried to crack 4 in the mile. 

They went out in 57, split 1:57 and then reality struck.  3 flat at the 3/4 mark and then 4:05.8 for the finish.  Pretty amazing to watch guys crushing that pace though.

Thursday 12MAY2016

21 miles of cycling in the afternoon, including a check in with the burros.  My butt seems to hurt a bit less these days but I do still cramp up a bit in the neck.  But as I took a donkey kick to the thigh today my neck issues were less of a concern. 

The ride today took me out on the Rock Creek to Coal Creek trails.  After I checked on the boys in the meadow I headed over past the Avista Hospital and took up the 36 trail and cut back up to Broomfield slipping over the RR tracks near Hunter Douglas.  Pretty day today, and was enjoying the warmest day we have had in a bit.

Bob and I managed to connect in the later afternoon and get Jack and Boog out for a short jog.  It was a bit of a test for all of us as Boog was going with a saddle for the first time, Jack was in new territory (but was his usual consistent self) and I was testing the still not completely happy Achilles.  3 miles of running but a success with getting the donks out for the first run (with Jack) of the season.

News stuff

• So the Russians and the Kenyans not at Rio (at least that is what this is shaping up to be).
• Listened to the Laura Thweatt interview on HOR today during the ride.  Entertaining story in there on her meeting of Wetmore.

Wednesday 11MAY2016

News stuff …

• If it were not for the scale presented by some folks standing near it, I’d probably not think this was an RC model.
• Good recounts of Zatopek.
• Contemplating the question will you ever never be a national class marathoner?

Got up early and headed to LVR with Bob first thing.  We brought Jack down here to the local area, giving me lots of opportunities to run with him.  We left him with Boog and Ellroy to get him acquainted with his new meadow home, but then I checked on him a bit later in the afternoon.  This gave me the chance to bang out a quick bike ride.  I tacked on a little later while Greg jogged at practice.

JZ in the evening at his spring HS band concert.