i'm in

Signed up for the Ascent this morning. 4:59:59 is my predict.

Also, I hit a milestone on the scale this morning. Under 190 lbs for the first time since I stopped driving a beer truck and started sitting in a chair to earn a living. Almost 10 years. I'm down almost 15 lbs since Jan 1.

st pats 5k

Ran the annual St Pats 5K in downtown COS on Saturday morning. I hadn't run two weeks prior to the race and my head wasn't really into it. Woke up to beautiful weather on Saturday morning and headed downtown. Hung out for about a half hour before the race start and then took a spot in the pack a little closer. I was still amazed by how many people I had to weave past in the first quarter mile that were at the front of the pack and walked right off the line. I left the watch at home and probably ran the first mile way too fast. As we made the turn to head back uphill I felt pretty good but once we past the park again, the wind came out of my sails. I talked myself out of slowing to a walk several times to get my HR down but managed to jog past the second mile marker. After I made the last turn and headed back to the finish line, it was a very slight downhill and I felt a little better. I managed to pick the pace back up and coasted to a 29:13. 6 seconds shy of a PR.

I really felt like I was making all the preparations to hit a big PR but all that slipped away over the past couple weeks with life getting in the way. Only two more months of school left!

oh hey

Almost forgot about this thing. Been REAL busy with work and school which has put a severe dent in my mileage but I'm still getting out sparingly ie one long run on Sunday :|

Sunday 2/21
Incline Club run. Thought about maybe trying to get the Waldo Loop from Memorial Park but it wasn't meant to be. I made it up to the top of the first climb in the canyon before deciding that I had had enough. It was cold and snowy for most of the run but not as bad as the week before. First time I went out with screw shoes and really like the traction they afforded and they don't curl the toe up like Yaktrax do. Got 10.5 miles in.

Sunday 2/28
Was looking forward to getting back on Barr Trail but we had to house sit for my folks and we only ended up with one car over there. I opted for a long run around their hood. Mix of streets, sidewalks, and some trail. The only thing that made it exciting was that it was somewhere I'd never run before. The wind was brutal. At one point, I considered just running to my house and having my wife meet me there, but decided against it since her cell had died the night before. Got 9 miles in.

Work and school (and hopefully a side gig provided my bid gets accepted) will probably be dominating my time for the remainder of the semester but hopefully I can still get a few miles in each week and maintain some fitness.

I'll be back in Manitou on Sunday and then the St. Pat's 5K is the 13th. I'm waffling on Pikes for some reason and I'm not sure if I'm going to make BTMR since my brother-in-law's bachelor party is that same weekend in PHX.

Life goes on...