Monday, April 29, 2013

Cheyenne Mountain 50k




64.
Alarm at 3am.  You decided to get up a half hour earlier than you needed to, to do some exercises.  You’ve been reading more and more about fighters doing REALLY hard workouts a few hours b/f their fight.  Then they have time to recover and when they get into the cage, they are not redlining for the first time that day.  When the heart rate jacks up, they are more comfortable w/ it.  So you go outside on the sidewalk at 3 am and do a hundred down and ups.  You break a sweat, heart rate goes up really high.  People are out walking home from various parties.  You pack up the truck and make the 90 min drive w/ JMP.  She is running the 25k.  Her farthest distance race.  You are excited as you always are on race morning.  No caffeine. 
You get there early enough to take a snooze and walk Roxy and warm up.  You start just behind the lead pack, as always.  You all run up a big climb right from go.  It’s not long b/f you can’t see the leaders.  Alex Nichols was on the start line and he came in 2nd at the Pikes Peak marathon right after Killian Jornet.  There’s serious talent at today’s race. 
You fall into your own pace and chat w/ a few folks.  You hold back and try and conserve energy.  The mountains down here in Cheyenne Mountain State Park and dry.  Really dry.  The temperature is warm right from the start.  You drink as much as you can w/ only one water bottle.  The course is broken up into four different loops.  Well, two loops repeated twice for the 50k-ers.  You enjoy the course, end up running by yourself for a while.  When you are ¾ of the way done, you see JMP, done w/ her race, walking Roxy.  You yell and wave and she yells back and cheers for you.  It fills you w/ excitement and makes the day seem so much more sweet.  You have so much to be thankful for.  Four months ago, you weren’t able to run at all.  But being fired up only lasts so long w/ 21 miles on your legs and the day just getting hotter and hotter.  The last ten miles take forever.  You’re hiking more than you’d like to admit.  You run out of water w/ 5 miles to the next aid station.  When you finally get there you drink down 3 cokes, 1 heed and a bottle of water.  You fill up your bottle and head down for the last 3 miles home.  It’s downhill.  It hurts.  The quads are blown up.  But you did it.  You can see the finish line.  It sends a surge through you and you pick your pace up for the last mile.  Over 4,000 ft of elevation gain.  When you cross the finish line, you put your hands up and your head down.  Your first 50k of the year.  Longest distance so far this year.  And all just a warm up for next weekend.  In exactly one week, you’ll still have another 20 miles to go after the 50k mark.  Collegiate Peaks 50 miler.  Why you signed up for two big races on back to back weekends, you’ll never know…


week b/f Cheyenne Mountain 50k




65.
Work 12.  You listen to at least 6 different podcasts while driving around the back country mountain roads.  The Joe Rogan Experience, Think Tank w/ Ari Shaffir, The Church of What’s Happening w/ Joey Diaz, Smodcast w/ Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier, The Duncan Trussel Experience and the Drunken Taoist.  These guys are your friends and they keep you company on the long drives and the long runs.  You go home and pack up for the weekend.  Go to JMP’s and eat and crash.  50k in the morning!




66.
Your day off.  You don’t feel comfortable really at all at home these days.  So you wake up and pack up for the day and go to the store and get some breakfast and go over to JMP’s and make a leisurely breakfast while she’s at work.  You lounge and let the food settle and then head out for a little 6 mile jaunt along the creek path.  Spend the rest of the day w/ your nose in a book. 
You’ll be moving soon.  In another few weeks, you’ll be moving to Louisville.  It’s much smaller than Boulder but only 15 minutes out of town.  The rent is way cheaper b/c it’s further from the mountains.  You’re willing to compromise.  You’ll be saving so much money in rent and Louisville seems like a great little town and was voted the best place to live in the country three different years.  You’re ready to start the next chapter of your Life.  You’re ready to dump the roommate.  You don’t think you’ll be talking to him after you move.  You hate it but it’s the truth.  You want to stay on his good side in case mail etc. comes to the apartment.  You’ve seen him rip up important tax documents etc. that came w/ his old roommates name on it. 
Uh, he’s an asshole / and he rips it to shreds and throws in out w/ no second thought. 
He’s a dog abuser.  Not much more.  Even now that he’s not taking care of your dog, it’s still considered abuse as far as you’re concerned b/c when you work 14 hour days, he doesn’t check on her, give her water or anything.  And it’s sad but you reckon he’d rather do that than beat her.  Have you mentioned you’re looking forward to starting the next chapter of your Life?




67.
After work, you and Roxy run up Mount Sanitas from the trailhead.  It’s only about 3.2 miles but the vert slows you down a lot.  24 minutes up and about 14 down.  Tappering back a little for the Cheyenne Mountain 50k this weekend.




68.
13.5 hours of work doesn’t leave much time for exercise.  B#2 is in jail for a couple of days b/c he punched some dude in January.  It’s nice to have the place to yourself, even if it is just for two or three days.  JMP makes some fantastic stuffed peppers and you don’t hold back. 



69.
You listen to the audiobook Look Homeward Angel while working today.  You hope you’ll still find everything you loved about Thomas Wolfe when you’d first read all of his stuff nearly a decade ago.  After just a few chapters in, you are convinced.  He stands as one of the greatest writers of all time.  His novels are pure poetry.  You’ll never, ever get over Thomas Wolfe. 
JMP needed some help straightening her landlord out after you get off work today.  It’s a pleasure. 
Gym:
45 minutes of easy weights, stretching, foam rolling.
3 miles.  1 @ 8, 2 @ 7
One hour of Vinyassa Flow yoga. 
And you came home to a quiet apartment.  Ahhh…




70.
Slow start to the day.  You take Rox to the park, eat breakfast, eat lunch, have some caffeine.  All of this b/f you finally get out for a run.  It’s a lackadaisical 10 miles.  You have a beer afterwards in the trailhead parking lot. 




71.
It’s Saturday.  It’s supposed to be your day off but you volunteered to go in and help out.  You bike it in.  15.5 miles each way.  You only work a little over 3 hours. 
It’s the loneliest day of your Life.  You talk to no one.  No one talks to you.  During the week you drive.  In the PM, you train.  On the weekends, well…you train and work.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

drama



72.
Today you ate:
3 bananas, 1 pear, 2 zucchini (raw), 1 bag of baby carrots, 2 apples, some PB and honey (on one of the bananas) and a protein shake.
Today you worked:
11.5 hours
Today you drove:
235 miles.
Today you ran:
9.8 miles w/ 640 ft (around Boulder while the college kids were out partying).




73.
You and JMP drive up to Brainard and snowshoe through the mountains.  When you get up to the lake it's about 80 mph winds and freezing.  It's over a couple hours to get 6 miles.  The snow up there was anywhere btwn 4-15 feet high.  Beautiful day!

 



74.
Up at 3 am for work.  You had gone to bed at 10 and as soon as you got to sleep, the tv came on and B #2 and Millan were watching Django Unchained at full volume.  You lay in bed listening to the whole movie.  You ended up w/ an hour of sleep or so.  Then work.
11.5 hours driving through snowstorms in the mountains. 
As tired as you are after work, there’s still a few hours of daylight.  You change and leash up Rox and head to Chat.  You run up Green Mountain.  6.5 miles and 1,745 ft.  About two hours of work.  Beautiful day.  You stop at JMP’s and the grocery store but wearing your cold, wet running clothes isn’t doing you any favors.  You get an extreme chill.  Hurry home.  Shower.  It’s been a long day.  You spend the rest of the night on the computer.  Some writing, some time wasting…






75.
Your work day is short.  You come home and change clothes and leash up Roxypoo.  Out the door and straight up to Mount Sanitas from the apartment in a snow storm.  10 miles w/ 1,355 ft.  It feels fantastic.  When you get home, B #2 is home.  You and him haven’t spoken in almost a week. 
Sup / he says.
You don’t say anything.  He left for the weekend w/ his mess everywhere.  He’s been smoking cigarettes in the house.  You have nothing to say. 
You know / he says / --I think I’m just gonna give you your 60 day notice.
You’re evicting me?
Yeah.  60 days. 
On what grounds?
I don’t need any grounds.
Oh, so you’re gonna be an asshole about it. 
Don’t call me an asshole!  You’re the asshole! / he completely losses his mind here / --you’re the one who walks around here and doesn’t say anything to my friends, you just walk around like a sullen teenager!
Ummm, ok.  Loud and clear then.  60 days, I’ll be out / he doesn’t know you’ve already been looking at other places and just secured an OUTSTANDING apartment today.  Cheap too!
You walk to your bedroom and he’s cursing the sky / Come into my house and don’t say hi to me…
You are proud of how calm you remained.  It must be b/c your body is coursing w/ endorphins.  You take a shower.  Your 60 day notice was magically slipped under your bedroom door when you were in the shower.  He says Roxy sheds too much, you used his bathtub to clean her, you leave dishes in the sink and some other lame stuff.  Really?  Ok.  You’re both getting what you want here.  No sense making a big thang…
You go over to JMP’s and you both laugh your asses of at his 60 day notice.  He texts you and tells you he needs you to sign it. 
No prob / you reply.
Thanks / he replies back. 




76.
You aren’t able to sleep at your house anymore b/c there is no peace there.  He doesn’t clean up after his parties and leaves it for you.  You don’t clean it up so it sits all weekend.  It’s Sunday.  You run Roxy 4 miles.  Then you go to the gym and lift weights and do pull ups until you have no muscle left in your arms.  Then you do 4 more on the elliptical. 




77.
You initially met B #2 at the dog park right by your apartment.  He’d had some crazy x-roommate stories of his own.  He had a heroin addict for a while there.  He called the cops on him and the guy started shooting a sling shot at the cops cars from his bedroom window.  You promised him you didn’t do heroin and weren’t schizophrenic.  He was looking for a hefty price but you got the master bedroom.  You both agreed. 
Everything was perfect.  My house is your house, my food is your food etc.  B #2 was much more normal that B #1.  The neighbors had warned me that B #2 likes to drink. 
Like, what…drink a lot and destroy the house?
No, just drink a lot and slur his speech and argue.  And he has one of those blow thingies in his car.
That I can handle / you thought / --especially after B #1.  This will be cake. 
You drank w/ him a few times.  You both went to Cosco to stock up on food and cleaning supplies.  Split the price down the middle.  Stopped for a burger and beer afterwards.  This guy was going to be alright. 
Problem is, you work a lot.  Roxy is home w/out you a lot.  He had said he’d help out.  He had said, let’s feed the dogs at the same time and keep them on the same schedule.  Well, he doesn’t work.  He is a trust fund baby and doesn’t need money.  In fact, the enormous rent you’re paying him just goes to his liver.  He is home all day w/ nothing to do.  It’s not long b/f he feels like he’s taking care of your dog and holding every second of it against you. You always make sure Roxy is taken care of b/f and after work but in the mean time, it’s out of your hands.  He would take them to the park most days.  On your weekends, you’d take both dogs on some big runs or monster climbs.  They’d get 5-7 hours of exercise if you had a day off.  It seemed like a fair trade off. 
But then you started training.  You stopped drinking w/ him.  You started eating better.  You went to bed earlier.  This seemed to cause some resentment w/ him.  He started treating you differently.  You could feel the hate.  Suddenly the neighbors were all conspired and thought you’re such a bad dog owner b/c you work a lot (none of them work, all trust fund babies that drink too much).  His parties went later and later, even though you had to get up and train in the morning.  He started making rules for Roxy.  She has to stay in your bedroom while you’re working.  She can’t rough house w/ Pepper b/c they’re wrecking the floor.  You can’t use the bathtub to wash Roxy b/c it clogs up and needs to be snaked.  All the rules were new and opposite of how it was when you moved in. 
The other night when you came home, full party in swing and he wouldn’t even acknowledge you.  You said hi to everyone.  Went to your room.  It was 10 pm and you had to be up at 5.  You closed the door, hoping for rest.  The music got louder.  The laughing got louder.  You put on headphones and finally fell asleep around 2 am.
Yesterday, you followed his orders to lock Roxy up in your room when you went to work.  You came home 12 hours later and he had never even checked on her or let her out.  She had a dry water dish and was excited to see you.  He had spent the day partying in the house, playing poker and drinking.  He now smokes in the house too. You can only be SO nice.
AM:
Run JMP’s LSD Saturday run.  15 miles at 10:00 min/miles.




78.
When you first moved to Colorado, you didn’t know anyone.  You scoured Cragslist for potential roommates.  You finally found someone who lazily said / No, the room hasn’t been taken yet / and you set something up to go and look at it. 
The apartment was nice.  The roommate was ok too.  He was a young college kid.  Seemed like it would work out just fine.  Until a few weeks later when you were moving your things into the apartment.  Bad omen #1:  Roxy hated him.  Roxy loves everyone but she would not stop barking at him.  Bad omen #2:  Your first conversation was about aliens.  Bad omen #3:  Your second conversation was about conference calls.  He was weird.  There’s lots of weirdos in Boulder.  Nothing to worry about, you told yourself.  But as the days followed, the eccentricities came out.  He seemed very uncomfortable w/ you there.  So you treaded lightly.  Spent time in coffee shops and elsewhere.  He wasn’t friendly w/ Roxy at all.  One day you came home and he was pointing a crossbow out the window at all the people in the dog park.  You questioned him on it but he didn’t have much of an answer.  He stopped taking care of himself.  Stopped washing.  You politely told him he smelled ripe.  He took a shower and seemed to think nothing of it.  Then he started talking to himself.  At first, it was just laughter.  He would be up all night, laughing at himself.  For hours.  It would wake you up and freak you out.  Then he started talking and laughing to himself when you were in the other room. 
What’s so funny? / you asked.
Oh / B #1 became uncomfortable right away / --just laughing at old stories…old funny stories.
Oh yeah, I crack myself up all the time dude / you blew it off so he wouldn’t feel uneasy.  He would occasionally try to talk to you about religion.  He seemed to want to pursue some sort of religious calling.  You suggested some of the eastern religions.  When someone like him gets a hold of Christianity, all sorts of people usually end up shot, unfortunately.  You suggested meditation. 
One day you were leaving for work and he was in his underwear on the couch w/ his eyes rolled back in his head and he was drooling on himself. 
Are you ok? / you asked.
He half snapped out of it and replied:
Oh yeah, just tired.
That day at work, you called his dad and told him you were worried.  He said that he was too and wanted to talk. 
You explained everything you saw and told him you aren’t a doctor but it sure seems like schizophrenic behavior to you.  His dad opened up and told you of a whole host of problems and conditions B #1 had been diagnosed w/ since he was a kid, schizophrenia being one of them.  He’d been hospitalized.  Medicated.  Through treatment and they thought he was cured.  He’d gone back to school and gotten stellar grades.  But your moving in had disrupted him and he’d stopped taking his meds.  His dad got a court ordered document stating he needed to be hospitalized.  Cops came and got him.  He was non-violent.  Blamo.  You’ve got the apartment to yourself. 
It was nice at first.  No one knew when he’d be back.  Probably a few days.  You cooked food in your underwear, played music loud and play-wrestled w/ Roxy.  Life was good. 
Days turned into weeks.  He was very ill.  He could be gone a long time.  A month went by.  Two. 
Then you got a phone call. 
Brian escaped the hospital and we expect him to come home to you.
It was the night b/f the Boulder marathon and I desperately wanted rest.  As soon as it got dark, you heard him scrambling up the second floor balcony.  He tried the door, you had it locked.  He knocked.  You didn’t answer.  He knocked some more and eventually just sat down on the balcony.  You called the cops.  
My roommate just escaped the loony bin and he’s here trying to get in my house. I think you guys are looking for him. 
Cops came and took him away.  You heard it all from the other room.  All he wanted to do was sit down on his couch.  He wanted it more than anything.  Cops wouldn’t let him.  They took him back.  You had the place to yourself again.  Glory!
There was word of him getting out soon.  He’d been locked up for three months.  You found another roommate, one who’s not schizophrenic.  Just alcoholic.  You were sure the alcoholism would be much easier to deal w/ than schizophrenia, right?  Ha! 
Today:
Work 11.5 hours
Run 4 miles hard.  100 push ups, 100 squats, 100 crunches



79.
Day off from work.  You gear up and get ready for a day in the mountains.  Your plan is to run the entire way w/ no hiking.  That plan quickly changes to just time on your feet.  You are not feeling it today.  You cut the run short and get about 13.5 miles.  1,700 ft of gain.  Nothing special.  Just some muddy miles. 
You spend the rest of the day wandering around town and hanging out in coffee shops and looking at apartments.  You have no place to relax.  Your roommate is bound and determined to hate.  He beats your dog.  And his dog for that matter.  You counter it w/ love.  Or at least you try.  It’s your job for him to see love and compassion in your eyes.  You get so angry and you just want to react.  But then you remember to breathe.  So you keep Roxy away from home as much as possible.  No place to relax.




80.
You can’t sleep so you got up early and go to the gym.  100 down and ups, 100 crunches, run 4 miles.  You only have an hour to kill so you squeeze everything out of it you can. 
You spend the day praying and meditating and fasting.  Your living situation is quickly becoming toxic.  You and JMP want to move in together anyhow.  The next month and a half may be ugly.  You give your worries up.  You give them back to God or the universe or whoever gave them to you.  You don’t need the stress.  It’s all just a test.  What would Jesus do?  What would the Dali Lama do?  Love. 




81.
Rest day.  Roommate drama.  Looking at apartment listings.  Stress. 

Monday, April 8, 2013

4-8-13




82.
150 push ups, 150 squats, 200 crunches, 50 down and ups, leg extensions, leg curls, shoulder press, bike 21.4 miles and run 1 mile.
2 Hummus wraps, 1 pint of ice cream.



83.
AM:
Hike Mount Sanitas.  3.3 miles w/ 1,400 ft of gain. 
Today is your last day working at the Boulder Running Company.  You hug it out w/ everyone and say your goodbyes.  All great folks that you hope will keep in touch.  You plan to make it a point to visit them often. 
PM:
Run Mount Sanitas.  3.3 miles w/ 1,400 ft of gain. 
27 minutes to the top.
14 minutes down. 
Total time—41 minutes 10 seconds.  Picnic table to picnic table.  You run up and down faster than you really ever have.  Just to get a feel for it gives you such a high.  The endorphins help, of course.  You feel great about this run all night.  B #2 cooks pork chops, rice and broccoli.  Afterwards you’re still starving.  You eat 2 more gigantic hummus wraps and a half bag of Doritos.




84.
Busy day.  After work you barely have time to do 100 push ups, 100 crunches, 100 squats and run Roxy 1.5 miles.  That’s it. 




85.
After working a long day, you just want to go to the gym, run 8 miles on the tready and do 100 down and ups and 100 crunches and call it a day.  But that’s impossible when your roommate is having another party.  Now granted, the man can cook, especially when he’s drinking.  So it’s nice that they have steak, rice and salad ready for you when you get home from the gym.  But bed is something that’s not going to be happening for a while.  At least not tonight…



86.
You have a full day of trying to get your finances together and find ways to save money.  You make a lot of phone calls and by noon you are full of green tea and angst, so you put some shorts on and hit the trails.  You run up Green Mountain and back.  It’s about 10 miles w/ 1,900 ft.  Couple hours.  You return home, feeling better.  You finish your calls and end up feeling good about your day.  JMP calls and says she feels like margaritas.  You are done exercising for the day and after finding out just how broke you really are, you could use a drAAAnk.  You both have the three margarita limit and walk home.  You are both happy and scream:
Here we are world!




87.
Work 10.5 hours.
After work you go to the gym.  You rush to get 10 hard miles on the bike and a 1 mile brick run.  Not much but it’s all you have time for. 
You’re tired.  You have nothing else to say…




88.
Work 11.5 hours.
REST.  No exercise today.  Now that it’s April, it’s time to up the ante.  In March, you did over 1,500 push ups, over 1,500 squats and ran a little bit too.  In April, you are going for 100 push ups a day.  100 squats a day.  100 crunches a day.  And run everyday after today’s rest day. 




89.
Mondays are relatively easy for you.  Work is only about seven hours.  Afterwards, you have enough daylight to leash up Roxy and head to Mount Sanitas.  It’s about a ten miler from the apartment w/ 1,400 ft of gain and just as much descent.  You climb the east ridge which you’d never done b/f.  The run feels really good.  You feel strong.  The legs take a while to respond but when they do, they do so nicely. 
At night you find out some bad news.  You owe the IRS a lot of money.  You don’t know what you’re going to do.  Should you stay up all night worrying?  Eh, maybe tomorrow…




90.
You bike half way out to Estes.  JMP and Nica meet you for a picnic.  It’s Easter and everyone has the day off.  You hate Easter.  A few years back, on Easter weekend, you were up all night putting the final touches on one of your books.  You wrote almost ten thousand words that night.  Your plan was to print up that draft and then you’d have a hard copy to correct.  You hit the print button and all 350 pages of the book disappeared right b/f your eyes.  It was suddenly nowhere on the computer.  You pretty much had a nervous breakdown right then and there.  It was as close to losing a child as you’d ever come.  You cried for days.  You had family over for Easter that year and it felt awful.  You wanted to die.  You’d never been so sad. 
You and JMP and Nica have a few beers at Oscar Blues and they give you a ride back.  Only 25 miles for the day.  What a failure.  You get home and there are people at your place and everyone is drinking and playing cards.  You join them.  The day quickly falls through your fingertips…




91.
Work for eight hours.  One of the team members has cancer and it has spread throughout his entire body.  He is a little older.  Nice gentleman.  Has traveled and lived around the world.  Just bought himself a 29er mountain bike w/ big aspirations to do some racing.  It’s pretty sad.  We can go at any time.  You know that.  Others are confused.  They cry and ask / WHY? / and you wonder if they think about death at all.  Why?  Well, because ALL of us are going to die.  You think about it all the time.  Friends, dead.  Family, dead.  Call it morbid but everyone is going to die.  That’s what you were born to do.  There is 100% chance.  It’s just part of Life.  It’s just as beautiful as Life.
After work you run a few laps around the lake.
You go home and go to the gym.  Weights, core, elliptical, stretch and roll.  You go home and there is a very loud party going on.  They are all walking black outs.  You go to JMP’s house and sleep on the hard floor.