2012 Goals

Way overdue as our 2012 running year is October 2011 to September 20012. Given my age (44) and years running (4) it seems this could be my peak running season. So thus the goals. After this post the (boring) details of running will be over on a separate blog (Galloping Goose in honor of my favorite trail, the Galloping Goose on Vancouver Island)

General
Win lottery
Buy a house
Be in B.C. in June to celebrate the Vancouver Canucks Stanley Cup



Miles
Chris > 2,000
Hudson > 500

Last year I did 1,180 and Hudson did 332. However, this year we are already at 488 and 171 respectively. That's right - Hudson is 34% to his goal with only 25% gone. However, he is not a hot weather runner and hot to him is 60 degrees or above. As you can see below in Santa Fe this past July



Elevation Gain
Chris > 50 miles (> 264,000')

Did not keep track last year and will not keep track for Hudson. This year at 72,388' so far - on track

"Race PRs" (Goal / Current)
5K = 19:59 / 21:15
10K = 39:59 / 42:37
Half Marathon = 1:39:59 / 1:42:25

It's all relative. I could - if needed - drive to Seattle for a better shot at these. And maybe I will

Run "PRs" (Goal / Current)
1-mile = 5:59 / 6:36
Last attempt at this PR I injured myself. Clap clap clap

Green 5.3M 2,344' (Saddle/Sign/Gregory) = 69:59 / 75:16
Bear 5.6M 2,381' = 1:59:59 / 2:25:12
Mt Sanitas Ascent 1.4M 1,357' = 19:59 / ?
Mt Sanitas 3.4M 1,357' (clockwise) = 39:59 / 45:57
Boulder Creek Trail 4.5M 333' = 34:59 / 36:07
Doudy Draw Trail 6.8M 560' = 50:59 / 56:46

Races
16 Races
2 > Half Marathon

Race 1 is tomorrow is a 10K in Colorado Springs

Some good candidates for the races longer than 13.1-miles include Collegiaate Peaks (25-miles) in late April (unlikely), Greenland Trail (25-km) in early May and Imogene Pass (17.1-miles) in September. I would add Mount Evans Ascent, a 14-mile road race, but I'll be busy in Vancouver celebrating

Mountains
5 > 13,000' (with 2 > 14,000')
1+ Mountain Pass

I would love to say more but these are all day commitments. Last year did 2 14'ers (Quandary and Evans) and 2 13'ers (South Arapaho and Audubon). No mountain passes. I'd love to do either Buchanan Pass or Boreas Pass. There are a couple of cool looking ones near Georgetown as well

Other
100 Sit-ups
100 Push-ups

At one time, not in total. These are to strengthen my "core" to minimize injuries. 2010 and 2011 were generally injury free aside from this Thanksgiving and December (2 hamstrings, back, shoulder). More important is stretching / flexibility / yoga. I guess I could add "10,000 minutes of stretching" but I'll skip



Ass Kicking of Mountain Biker
A 6-pack has been bet for a race versus Dan at Walker Ranch. Never run it yet but it is a 7.6-mile loop with 940'

Mount Falcon (Last Run of 2011)

Strange weather - yesterday winds hit 81 MPH. Today it was 62F and sunny. Perfect day for a good trail run, aside from mud

Went to Morrison, the town where Red Rocks Amphitheatre is, and ran Mount Falcon - about 8.7 miles and 1,875' of gain. It was a bit of a mellow run at times with stops at the summit as there were several historical areas

Views from the trail head - looking East to Denver



Looking south



Red Rocks Amphitheatre (somewhere there)



At the summit area of Mount Falcon is an old fire watch tower



I was using another camera we have and forgot how good it is. I can zoom to 40x



This used to be the summer cabin for the Denver businessman Frank Kirchhof



Views



The Walker Home ruins. John Brisben Walker was a magazine publisher and automobile entrepreneur who bought 4,000 acres on Mount Falcon. Sadly, his castle burned after being hit by lightning



Maybe 3/4 a mile away John tried to build a "Summer White House" for the President in 1911. Fundraising wasn't successful. Per Deb Stanley in the Denver Hiking Examiner:

John Brisben Walker made a fortune on land speculation in West Virginia and his purchase of Cosmo Magazine. He bought over 4,000 acres of land in what is now Jefferson County. Walker built a beautiful stone castle for himself and his wife.

Then he decided to build a summer home for the Presidents of the United States on a ridge to the east of his home. Thousands of school children in Colorado each donated 10 cents to Walker's dream. A marble cornerstone with the words "Summer Home for the Presidents of the United States, gift from the People of Colorado, 1911" was laid out and construction began.

But America got involved in World War I and due to a lack of money the project near went very far. Then Walker's wife died and his own castle caught on fire.

Christmas Week

Christmas in Boulder







Skiing at Eldora near Nederland



Me with my beautiful Vancouver Canucks sweatshirt. Just over 5 months until they are in the Stanley Cup Finals



Christmas lunch was here - egg nog milkshakes and fresh donuts



Monday I did my first run with my Boulder Trail Runner club - an hour in the dark with headlights. It was a good time

Tuesday Hudson did his 3rd summit of Green Mountain (the shorter route from Flagstaff) and he was quite pleased. Later that evening the curmudgeonly Leadville Chuck and his patient witty wife Melissa came up from Denver for cocktails - my choice was Soy Nog with Gibson's whiskey

Today I ran Bergen Peak in Evergreen. It's a tough run, a 9.4-mile round trip with 1,800' of gain to 9,685'. Today was a bit challenging with very strong winds - knocked 3 trees over the trail in the two hours I was there and kept covering trails with deep snow drifts nearer the top. Here is a short video from the top



Longs Peak Not sure - maybe Mount Evans et al



Pikes Peak



Evergreen

Christmas Eve

Hudson had no desire to join me Friday morning. It was cold



Cold. I looked over to the left and saw a group of drummers on a hill



I decided to leave it was so chilly and come back later. On my way out, though, I saw "The Man" running in. Anton Krupicka.

I turned around and ran for an hour



Friday night was drinks with friends - including festive egg nog and Canadian whiskey - and a fortune telling yak at a Nepalese restaurant run by a Sherpa



It was cold again this morning - Christmas Eve morning. I was going to join my first outing as a member of Boulder Trail Runners and run Green Mountain - but couldn't get out in time for an 8am start. I ended up going at 10am instead



Merry Christmas!

Hudson Krupicka

Krupicka as in Anton, a local legend who has won the Leadville 100 a few times. Hudson was a stud today, doing 5.7-miles and 2,344' - almost half a mile longer than my normal route due to a "No Dogs" section (can't figure out why)

His problem-solving was excellent. On one steep rocky section he ran away maybe 25' so he could turn around and use a running start to make it up







The summit



The summit log. Yesterday the cap was frozen (it was 10F). Odd no one has signed in 6 days



Another storm is coming tonight. Anywhere from 3" to 8"



First try at our summit pic was apparently sabotaged by ghosts



Next try good enough. Hudson is staring at a salmon snack

Ha! Ha! Ha!

Hey Microsoft - fuck you! Hahahaha! I recovered my photos you deleted last night - thanks to the good people at Remo Software...

Seriously - Windows 7 sucks (sucks = irritating changes)

Here are pics from yesterday - Longs Peak





So...it was a casual run only to Goblin's Forest (1.2 miles out)...but will try to get back over the holidays





Heading into Estes Park. Always a good time

Christmas Vacation Begins

Vacation started off great. Work wrapped up nicely and injuries healed

On Mount Sanitas



Saturday went with Hudson to Chautauqua and we ran around at sunrise









Later in the day I had a good fast run - first time since Thanksgiving - at Eldorado Canyon







Unfortunately a rcok climber fell and had to be transported to a waiting helicopter



Sunday went with Hudson and we went up the 1st / 2nd Flatirons Trail, a short steep rocky icy trail where the rock climbers and elite runners go. Hudson did great - we did turn around 600' up when the trail became a 25' rock climb









Sunday afternoon we went up to Estes Park and stopped off at Longs Peak for a short 40-minute run. No pics of Longs Peak or Estes Park because later that night Windows 7 decided to f*cking wipe out my camera's memory card. Technology is really bumming me out this month...