Tucson Marathon

Despite having a partially-swollen ankle, I tried the Tucson Marathon this weekend (Sunday, December 7). My buddy Josh was a bit unsure about his ankle too. Josh and I (like the geniuses that we are) thought it would be a good idea to do an easy 11-miler in the hills (Phone Line Trail in the Sabino Canyon area) the day prior to "see if we could make it through the full" the next morning. Everything went well--so we both agreed we were good to go. I went into this race the following morning short of sleep (had to get up at 4 AM after going to bed not much earlier than midnight) and without the appropriate nutrition. Partying it up the night prior probably wasn't a good idea either. I broke down shortly over halfway through (~14 miles)--having to walk most of the remaining distance. This put me across the finish line in ~5 hours (too pathetic a time to commit it to memory). Josh suffered a bit--but still managed to rock it with a ~3:15:00 time. I had no preconceived expectations for this race and went into it just to complete it--considering it nothing more than a training run. In hindsight, I learned a few more things about myself by attempting this race under the circumstances. The marathon course (see below) was not that exciting IMHO. I enjoyed our 11-miler of trail running much more the day prior.

The weather was nice (maybe mid 40's in the morning and warming up to ~70 when the sun came up). It was nice to throw on the flip-flops in December! I wasn't ready to come back to Colorado after that!

Next up is the Rome marathon on March 22, 2009 (also my birthday). I'm coming back with a vengeance and gonna rock this one! Hoping to have a Boston Qualifier by the end of 2009 and running Boston with the rest of the crew in 2010.

From the finish line:

The starting line is on the left:

First IC club run of the new season

11/30/08 - 8 AM - 95 in attendance:


Matt Carpenter in the front. I'm in the back with JT, Christoph Zurcher, Chad Halsten, and others.

San Antonio Marathon

Picking up race packets (Ken, Matt, Karen, Josh):

Race morning:


The course (according to my GPS):

On the River Walk (Matt, Ben, Karen, and Josh):

At the airport (Matt and Josh):

6-hour layover (Karen and Matt sleeping in a deserted DFW):

~3:41:00. Tucson marathon in 2.5 weeks...

Nuff said...

Pikes Peak Road Runners Full Moon Run

Tuesday, 10/14/08:

The Pikes Peak Road Runners Full Moon Run started near Beckers and Manitou by the ball field. JT and I extended the "long route" for ourselves to 5.2 miles. Man, it is gettin' chilly out there--I better get used to it because I'm not letting up!

Bring on the fall...

Sunday, October 5 - Fall Series Race #1 - finishing time 29:51 - 37th OA:




Saturday, October 4 - Olivia, Christoph, Sean, and Patrick's Housewarming Party:

Oliva and Matt:

Jenn and Olivia:

Gina:
Christoph and Olivia:

O-Face and Sean:

Saturday, October 4 - Pikes Peak Red Dress Hash - A-to-A - Dublin House:


Monday, September 29 - DIM hash:

My buddy Charlie, Bill, and Weasel hared the second-to-the-last DIM hash of the 2008 season. We started at the new Trinity Brewing Company, went through portions of Ute Valley Park, and finally ended at Bill's place.

At the first beer stop (we spent quite a while there drinking PBR--until the sun went down to be exact):


Saturday/Sunday - September 27-28 - Cripple Creek Crawl:

Herb Tanzer and I decided to do this "Muddy Buddy" style taking one mountain bike with us. I started out on foot and Herb started on the bike. The objective: Every 9 miles or so, the biker drops the bike and takes off on foot. The previous runner picks up the bike and leap-frogs the runner and so on. This was working well until the front bike tire went flat. Since we weren't with the rest of the group and I had no spare tire, I ditched the bike and ran the rest of the way to Cripple Creek. Herb and I were the only two to run this event. Due to the bike problem, I ended up running a ridiculous ~32 miles. Herb took the wrong way at one point and ran all the way through Victor and up to Cripple Creek. Man, we have issues!

Patched the tire in Cripple Creek the following morning and rode back with the rest of the gang. Awesome time!

Leaving Cripple Creek on Sunday:


Cripple Creek from up the road:

Dead cow on the way home:

Racing and hiking weekend...

Friday, September 19:

This was V.I.P. night at the new Fujiyama Restaurant located a few doors north of their old location. Sonterra Grill bought Minji's old location for expansion and she moved to a larger building--win-win for both establishments. Public opening for the new Fujiyama was last Saturday, September 20.

Olivia and Matt (deer in headlights):

Jenny:

Sonny:


Saturday, September 20:

After much partying on Friday night (Fujiyama and V-Bar), I hit the road for Buena Vista--destined to run the half marathon leaving from the city park at 8 AM. I blew into BV at around 3 AM and slept in the back of the 4Runner just outside the city park.

The next morning we were shuttled 13 miles into the mountains. The race ended back in the city park. This course was not too difficult (not much uphill)--but was very scenic! I ran this one in 1:33:00.

Part of the half marathon course:

Near the starting line:

Dude with an orange in his mouth:

JQRC runners:

Homemade baked goods:

Me and Carla. She was the top female runner for this race (time: ~1:35:00):

More JQRC runners:

Look, a "short bus":

Sunday, September 21:

Sunday morning I woke up with a cold. Despite feeling like total crap, I crawled out of bed in the early AM (like 4 AM) and met with a group of friends to hike up to the top of Pikes Peak. We weren't setting any land-speed records on this hike--but we did make it up there shortly after lunch. We arranged to have vans and beers waiting for us at the top.

Trying to keep warm in the van at the top (Sean, Angie, Donovan, Olivia, and Matt):

Close to the top (near the start of the 16 Golden Stairs):

JQRC committee dinner...

Thursday, September 18:

Some of the JQRC committee met at Jack Quinn's for our committee dinner. Can't beat free Irish food!

Sarah/Charlie's birthday and Kremmling Roadkill Half Marathon...

Thursday, September 11:

We took Charlie out for his 27th birthday. We went to Landry's Seafood House in Denver, CO. Afterwards, we went to the Baker Street Pub for a few drinks...

Angie and Matt (Baker Street Pub):

Juliet and Matt (Baker Street Pub):

The gang at Landry's:


Saturday, September 13:

Tungsten and I did the Kremmling half marathon. Due to bad trail conditions, they had to make a last minute course change which shaved off 1.1 miles of this half marathon. So, it turned out to only be 12 miles. I ran it in 1:28:00--which is about the same average pace as I did the ADT half marathon in.

...and I did the whole thing in flip-flops:





We hit the hot sulfur springs on the way back to Colorado Springs! Ahhh...good stuff!

Saturday night, September 13 and Sunday, September 14:

Sarah's birthday was the 13th and Charlie's was the 14th--so we did a joint celebration for the two of them starting at Phantom Canyon--eventually moving to Oscar's and Jack Quinn's after that. Some of us met at the new Purple Castle for brunch on Sunday.

The girls at Oscar's:

Oznur and Matt (at Oscar's):

Sarah on the dance floor:

Matt and Sarah (at Oscar's):

Matt and Angie (at Oscar's):

Ryan and Stacey:

Matt, Rolf, and Harold: