Jon Teisher's Posts - Pikes Peak Sports2024-03-29T09:17:57ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/browniehttp://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2797449485?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://pikespeaksports.us/profiles/blog/feed?user=1w6qvz9xpg6bp&xn_auth=nothe coin of shametag:pikespeaksports.us,2016-08-22:5021591:BlogPost:7250982016-08-22T16:27:17.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>I wish I only had to write about the Ascent. Had a great day there. Going into the race I thought my fitness would allow for a 3:29 and I would have been really happy with that. So I was ecstatic when I got a second wind above Barr Camp and shuffled my way to a 3:12.</p>
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<p>The good vibes continued on Sunday, where another 3:29 up goal was met with a 3:17. I felt great, and I was prepared for the bomb back down the hill. The first mile of that downhill went…</p>
<p>I wish I only had to write about the Ascent. Had a great day there. Going into the race I thought my fitness would allow for a 3:29 and I would have been really happy with that. So I was ecstatic when I got a second wind above Barr Camp and shuffled my way to a 3:12.</p>
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<p>The good vibes continued on Sunday, where another 3:29 up goal was met with a 3:17. I felt great, and I was prepared for the bomb back down the hill. The first mile of that downhill went great.</p>
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<p>Just past the one mile to go sign I twisted an ankle and went down hard. Felt something tear, and in hindsight I should have quit right there and headed back up for donuts and a ride back to town. But I've never been accused of being the smartest guy out there, and I felt I could hobble 12 miles back down the mountain just to get a finish.</p>
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<p>Took me an hour to get from that point down to treeline where I received expert medical attention (a buddy of mine gave me a beer), then another two hours to get to Barr Camp. The real medical folks there taped up the ankle, but it was another hour plus to get to Bob's Road where I could finally call it quits. I would have loved to finish, but I was dealing with quite a bit of pain and the realization that at my current pace I wouldn't have finished before the sun went down, which would have been a pain in the ass for race management.</p>
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<p>While at Bob's I got to chat with the Search & Rescue folks, and I cannot say loud enough how awesome those guys are. Most runners see them out there, maybe say thanks as they pass by, and don't think much beyond that. While eavesdropping on their radio chatter, I can tell you that those guys are all over the mountain, all weekend long. Long before the gun shoots on Saturday morning, and long after the final finisher on Sunday. Great folks, and they do so much more then put together the world's greatest high altitude kazoo orchestra!</p>
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<p>Right before I got a ride down Bob's Road to the highway, I mentioned to the SAR guys that I had hoped to go my entire life without utilizing their services. They laughed, and one of the guys gave me something to remember the ordeal:</p>
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<p></p>Dirty Kanzatag:pikespeaksports.us,2016-06-17:5021591:BlogPost:7180112016-06-17T14:49:32.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p><a href="http://www.rebeccarusch.com/" target="_blank">Rebecca Rusch</a>, a well known figure in the endurance biking world, was giving a short talk the night before the Dirty Kanza. She was speaking about the self doubt some of us would face the next day. She told us of a "friend rule" she follows for whenever the voices in her head start telling her she sucks. Whenever these voices pop up, telling her she should quit or she's a loser or she is a lousy athlete, she asks herself, "Would I…</p>
<p><a href="http://www.rebeccarusch.com/" target="_blank">Rebecca Rusch</a>, a well known figure in the endurance biking world, was giving a short talk the night before the Dirty Kanza. She was speaking about the self doubt some of us would face the next day. She told us of a "friend rule" she follows for whenever the voices in her head start telling her she sucks. Whenever these voices pop up, telling her she should quit or she's a loser or she is a lousy athlete, she asks herself, "Would I speak to a friend like this? Would I tell a friend she's a loser?" After the talk I had to laugh, because I treat my friends much worse than I treat myself.</p>
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<p>The Dirty Kanza is a 200 mile bike race that starts and ends in Emporia, Kansas, an eight hour drive directly east of Colorado Springs. 99% gravel roads, the course winds all over the Flint Hills. Over multiple beers at some point last year, some friends and I thought it would be a great challenge and we all agreed to sign up. I followed through, they didn't. Jerks.</p>
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<p>But instead of bailing, I decided to give the DK a shot. Training hadn't gone nearly as well as I'd have liked, mostly due to the late winter we had in the Springs. I hate biking long distances in the cold, so I just didn't put in the miles. I got in two rides of 65ish miles, and the rest of my riding was to and from work. My commute home often takes me up Cheyenne Canon, which is nothing to sneeze at, but at 20 miles it's nowhere near the work I should have been doing.</p>
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<p>I talked with lots of folks about the ride, and most of the advice I got was along the lines of "just keep pedaling and you'll be fine." In reality that's all you have to do to finish any bike race, but when one finds themselves in the middle of nowhere on a hot day, dead tired from a ton of miles rode and having to ride a ton more miles, that advice ain't quite so easy to follow.</p>
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<p>The first leg, leaving Emporia and traveling 48 miles to the tiny town of Madison, went well for me. Due to a brief but powerful thunderstorm a few hours before the start, there was a lot of water and mud over the first few miles. I would later hear that 150 of the 1000 who started the race had to drop during the first 10K due to mechanical issues. I took note of quite a few very expensive bikes on the side of the road during this stretch. I was riding my Salsa El Mariachi hardtail 29er, which can handle anything, and it was eye opening to see some bikes costing five times as much as mine tanking less than 3% into the race.</p>
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<p>To finish, you need to average 10mph, and I came into the first aid station well ahead of schedule. I thought about skipping this aid station to pick up some more time, but at the last moment I decided to stop and fill up on water. I didn't know it at the time, but this was one of the few good decisions I would make all day. Left the aid station and started the 55 mile leg south to the town of Eureka.</p>
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<p>Things started to hurt on the second leg. My speed had slowed as the day started to get hot. Nothing on this entire course is considered technical mountain biking, it's all about putting your head down and continuing to move forward. But now, besides dealing with the heat, we were dealing with a steady and demoralizing wind. And then, with about an hour left to go until I hit the aid station, I ran out of water. I couldn't believe it, as I tend not to need a lot of water at these longer distance events, and I was shocked by the fact that I had consumed three liters over 45 miles and needed more.</p>
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<p>I limped into Eureka, mile 103ish, in just under eight hours. I wasn't in terrible shape, but I sensed that things were about to go bad very quickly. This was the farthest I had ever rode a bike, and I still had to ride farther than that to finish. I realized the second half wasn't going to be as easy as I hoped. </p>
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<p>The third leg was a 59 mile ride back to the town of Madison. I left just before 2PM and the heat was brutal. Just a few miles out from the aid station I started suffering badly. I kept trying to join up with a pace line, but with my heavy bike and thick tires and lack of conditioning I just couldn't keep up. So I was left to deal with the race by myself. I kept replaying the "just keep pedaling" mantra in my head, but that was getting tougher and tougher as I was being crushed by the sun and the wind and the rolling hills. The thought of quitting definitely crossed my mind, but even that would have been difficult. First, I would have needed to find cell service. Then, I would have needed to communicate where I was, no simple task from the middle of nowhere where all I had been looking at for 12+ hours was a gravel road and endless fields of grass. So while I fantasized about dropping I kept cranking out the miles. </p>
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<p>And then, with about two hours to go until the next aid station, I ran out of water again. I didn't panic, but I was definitely worried about this situation. In Colorado, I sometimes justify drinking out of a stream by telling myself "look how clean and fresh this stream looks, it can't possibly be bad water." There was none of that in Kansas, and my only option was to drink from a stagnant pool that had lots of cow patties around. But I had a choice to make: don't drink the water and quit the race, or drink the water, finish the race, and sit on the toilet for a few days. As I filled my Osprey bladder, I realized this was probably one of the grossest things I had ever done. (note: I didn't get giardia!)</p>
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<p>Finally, after what seemed like forever, I slowly rolled into the final checkpoint. I was not doing well, but I knew if I could just get out of this aid station I would finish. I took my only big break of the day here, taking 30 minutes to eat hot dogs and pull myself back together. And drink whiskey.</p>
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<p>Physically I started to feel better after leaving Madison. But just when I thought the finish was a done deal I added some drama to the equation. I didn't think this race would take me so long, so I didn't think I would be riding at night for more than an hour or so. I had packed my tiny commuter light, which I knew could last an hour but I had no idea if it could last the three hours I'd need light. So I got to stress out about that over the final 30 miles, but that might have helped by taking my mind off how much pain I was in.</p>
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<p>After what seemed like a week, I returned to Emporia. The town was still hopping despite my 12:30AM finish. I have never been so happy to get off a bike before. They give you a pint glass for finishing, and my wife and I immediately headed to <a href="http://www.mulreadys.com/" target="_blank">Mulready's</a>. It was a great scene, with the majority of patrons covered in sweat and dust and celebrating their finish. The bartenders were more than happy to allow us to use our new pint glasses.</p>
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<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806521709?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806521709?profile=original" class="align-full" width="720"/></a><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806521596?profile=original"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806521596?profile=original" width="643"/></a></p>
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<p>And now my long distance biking career comes to an end after one race. I'm glad I was able to finish this, and especially glad I can wear the t-shirt in front of all my friends who chickened out, but there were very few parts that I thought were fun. I'll keep my biking to linking up local trails with breweries.</p>Here We Go Again...tag:pikespeaksports.us,2016-03-29:5021591:BlogPost:7063492016-03-29T21:00:00.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>Turning 40 has not been good for my running. </p>
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<p>I made a last ditch effort to go sub three at Pikes last year, and once again came up short. I lost motivation, got injured, had a disaster of a race at NYC in November (3:30, off a 1:30 first half), then quit physical activity for two full months. By far the biggest break I've ever taken from running since I picked up the sport almost three decades ago. I used all that extra time to drink beer and eat lots of junk food, packing…</p>
<p>Turning 40 has not been good for my running. </p>
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<p>I made a last ditch effort to go sub three at Pikes last year, and once again came up short. I lost motivation, got injured, had a disaster of a race at NYC in November (3:30, off a 1:30 first half), then quit physical activity for two full months. By far the biggest break I've ever taken from running since I picked up the sport almost three decades ago. I used all that extra time to drink beer and eat lots of junk food, packing on 20 pounds by the time new years eve rolled around. I had a lot of fun over the holidays, but I was quite the disgusting human being by the end of that break.</p>
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<p>At the Rescue Run 5K I was unable to answer the challenge from my 12 year old female neighbor over the final half mile of the race, and I started thinking about getting back into shape. That's been rough for me, as I'm not a fan of any temperature below 60F, but I'm getting there. Still dealing with some foot injuries, but I can manage those issues pain free if I stay around 40 miles per week. Much lower mileage than what I'm used to, but I've been biking a lot with the extra time and I feel that's helping the fitness. At the very least, I'm trending in the right direction, and I should be back to pre-binge weight by the time the Tortoise & Hare 5K rolls around.</p>
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<p>I've decided to make one last ditch effort to run a 2:59 ascent at Pikes. That barrier has now been mocking me for ten trips (six ascents, four marathons) since I first ran the race in 2005. I know I shouldn't be trying for PRs at an age when my body is starting to fall apart, but I truly don't feel I've had an outstanding race there yet. This HAS to be the year, because I'm not getting any younger, and I'm definitely not getting any faster.</p>
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<p>I will post updates from time to time on how training is going. Have some other good stuff along the way - I'm hoping to finish the Dirty Kanza, a 200 mile bike ride through the sticks of Kansas on gravel roads, as well as a return trip to the San Juan Solstice after a disappointing DNS there last year, shortly after breaking some ribs in a bike crash. Going to be a challenging spring and summer for me, hopefully capped off by taking care of some unfinished business on our local mountain.</p>Pb100 biketag:pikespeaksports.us,2014-08-13:5021591:BlogPost:5843932014-08-13T16:00:00.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>When I signed up for Leadman back in January, I knew the wild card for me would be the hundred mile mountain bike race. I wasn’t a bike rider and I had never done a bike race before, and suddenly I was registered for one of the most famous mountain bike races in the world. I projected nothing but confidence, telling anyone who would listen that if I could run 100 miles then biking 100 miles would be cake. But inside I was really worried I had blown $850 and had given all my friends a…</p>
<p>When I signed up for Leadman back in January, I knew the wild card for me would be the hundred mile mountain bike race. I wasn’t a bike rider and I had never done a bike race before, and suddenly I was registered for one of the most famous mountain bike races in the world. I projected nothing but confidence, telling anyone who would listen that if I could run 100 miles then biking 100 miles would be cake. But inside I was really worried I had blown $850 and had given all my friends a chance to make fun of me for years to come.</p>
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<p>All I really did to train for this was change my lifestyle from driving my truck to work to riding my bike to work. In the mornings I’d make the quick 15 minute commute straight down the Midland Trail to my downtown office. After work, two or three times a week, depending on the weather and how much time I had, I’d either ride an hour home via the Santa Fe and Sinton trails, or two to three hours up Cheyenne Canon and back via all the fantastic trails we have in the Stratton/Bear Creek/Red Rock Canyon area. My staple long ride? 25 miles up to the Pikes Peak Brewing aid station for a few pints of Elephant Rock IPA, then back home. Would this be enough? </p>
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<p>The start and the first few miles were by far my least favorite part of the entire thing. About 1500 riders started the race, we rolled out of Leadville at 30+ mph, and I felt like every single biker was less than an inch from me. As a rider who would much rather be riding his bike slowly from pub to pub, this was a bit intense. It’s not speed so much that I have a problem with. It’s crashing while going fast that I like to avoid. And a crash at this point would have hurt. Most riders dread the climbs at Leadville, but I was relieved to arrive at the first climb to let the crazy pace settle down a bit.</p>
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<p>Most of the advice I got about the race dealt with getting to the first cutoff, Twin Lakes, in time. You had four hours to go forty miles, which included a rough climb up St. Kevins, the climb up Sugarloaf, and the dreaded Powerline descent. I heard stories of strong riders barely making that cutoff, or missing it altogether and having their day end early. So I went as hard as I could for those first 40 miles. Survived the start, pushed hard up St. Kevins, held 35+ mph, way out of my comfort zone, down the Kevins road descent, went hard up Sugarloaf, and nailed the Powerline descent like a champ. The next 20 miles after Powerline I pedaled with everything I had, not giving a thought as to how I’d make it another 60 miles if I got to Twin in time. Never took a break to eat or drink. My goal to Twin was 3:45 with a dream time of 3:30. If I could hit either of these times I really thought I could finish the race. So I was pretty stoked when I rolled through at 3:20. </p>
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<p>With a combination of relief and physical exhaustion after leaving Twin, I definitely backed off the rest of the race. The climb up Columbine went well, but I just went with the flow of folks I was around at the time, even though I felt I could have been going faster. And I was super safe on the descent, not taking any chances with a flat tire or wreck even though it felt like tens of thousands of riders were passing me.</p>
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<p>Taking my foot off the gas for the final 60 miles allowed me to take in the sights and sounds of the race. Definitely like nothing I’ve experienced before. The aid stations were incredible, the huge crowds yelling and screaming right up in your face like the stuff you see on the Tour de France. It was also nice to get to talk with some of the other riders and learn that despite what runners will have you believe, not every single person who can ride a bike is a type A super competitive asshole douchebag. There were definitely some of those out there on Saturday, but most of the folks seemed to be out there for the same reasons I was - pushing yourself and having fun.</p>
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<p>But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Good mountain bikers will tell you the Pb100 is not a technical course, but I’m not a good mountain biker. I needed full concentration and lots of beginners luck on any downhill section to keep from ending up in the hospital. Two days after the ride, my legs are fine but my arms and shoulders are still sore from trying to control my bike down all the hills. I know I annoyed some riders with how slow I went down some of the hills, as it was tough to pass at some points. But hey, don’t blame me if you suck so much you’re behind a runner during the later stages of a bike race.</p>
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<p>The race is actually 104 miles, which brings about a horrible feeling when your garmin ticks over the century mark and you’re pretty far from the finish line, but the last six or so miles were lots of fun. Easy, fast dirt road riding up the famous boulevard and into town with tons of folks cheering for you. Definitely better than finishing the hundred run so early in the morning when nobody is awake. I crossed the finish line in just under eleven hours. Nothing world class, but not worried about the 12 hour cutoff. My wife and I hit the beer garden for a few PBR’s and then took off for Buena Vista to finally get away from the sea of spandex. For the record, I counted three other riders not wearing spandex, and two of those were wearing cut off jean shorts and riding a homemade tandem fat bike.</p>
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<p>The experience was definitely something I’ll never forget. And definitely something I’ll never do again, as those first few miles were way too serious for me. But it was nice to get out of my comfort zone and try something different.</p>
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<p>Unfortunately, the summer isn’t over just yet. I’ll have a whole new set of challenges to deal with this weekend with the final Leadman event, the hundred mile run. Excited for that, but also looking forward to getting it all over with so I can concentrate on my favorite late summer activity – attending beer and music festivals. Good luck to everyone at Leadville and on Pikes Peak this weekend, the Super Bowl for us Springs folks. </p>Learning to Ridetag:pikespeaksports.us,2014-06-05:5021591:BlogPost:5626132014-06-05T03:55:29.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>So far the hardest part of Leadman training has been finding the time to squeeze it all in. For some reason, work still expects me to put in at least 40 hours a week despite my quest, and the wife still expects me to do stuff around the house. Hell, my dog won't even give me a pass on taking her out for a walk at least twice a day. Despite that horrible oppression, for April I got in 34 hours running and 28 hours of riding. May saw 43 hours of running and 25 hours on the bike.</p>
<p>My…</p>
<p>So far the hardest part of Leadman training has been finding the time to squeeze it all in. For some reason, work still expects me to put in at least 40 hours a week despite my quest, and the wife still expects me to do stuff around the house. Hell, my dog won't even give me a pass on taking her out for a walk at least twice a day. Despite that horrible oppression, for April I got in 34 hours running and 28 hours of riding. May saw 43 hours of running and 25 hours on the bike.</p>
<p>My first big bike ride came back at the end of April when my buddy Marc threw down a challenge he was sure I'd decline. His plan was to ride up to Left Hand Brewing in Longmont, roughly 110 miles away, for the Hops & Handrails Beer Fest. I only agreed because I figured he'd bail. But judgment day came and neither of us wanted to be the wus, so after work on a Friday we started pedaling north from Red Leg Brewing. We made it to Dry Dock Brewing in Aurora and had enough pints that we weren't afraid to stealth camp just outside of Cherry Creek State Park. Hobo living at it's finest!</p>
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<p>We woke up early Saturday morning, and after a breakfast of bacon cheeseburgers at the Denver Diner we were off to Left Hand. Marc is the worst navigator ever, but eventually we arrived at the brewery just in time to drink a ton of Colorado microbrews. 5.5 hours in the saddle both days, a huge breakthrough on the bike for me. Luckily, all the beers on Saturday and the hangover on Sunday made me forget all the pain from the rides.</p>
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<p>Shortly after the Tour de Left Hand I entered a stretch where I ran the Cheyenne Mountain 50K, the Collegiate Peaks 25 miler, the Quad Rock 50 miler, and the Colfax Marathon. Way too much for me, but I made it through that month uninjured and now feel I've come out stronger. I've definitely put in the work for the run, but the bike events for Leadman keep giving me nightmares.</p>
<p>Last week I took my first stab at the hundred mile distance on the bike. I went up to Douglas County for the Sunrise to Sunset race, an eleven hour ride around the eight mile loop at Greenland Open Space. Ended up surprising myself and hit the hundred mile mark in just under nine hours. The best part of the day wasn't when I crossed the century mark, it was at lap three when I found out that one guy had gone one lap and headed home. I was super stoked to know I wasn't going to finish in last place! I wasn't too sore from racing, but the act of sitting on a bike seat all hunched over for that long beat me up pretty good. Still feeling pretty rough the next day, but I had another good ride at the Elephant Rock 100K. So maybe there's hope for me against that looming twelve hour cutoff at the LT100 bike.</p>
<p>And that's about it for training. The Leadville Marathon kicks off Leadman on June 14. From there I'll just try to stay healthy and injury free until mid-August. I'll start running less and biking more since I feel way more confident about the running events. Wish me luck.</p>
<p>Speaking of luck, good luck to everyone not in the 35-39 age group running the Garden this Sunday!</p>Leadman 2014tag:pikespeaksports.us,2014-03-27:5021591:BlogPost:5457242014-03-27T19:02:02.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>My luck finally ran out at the Hardrock lottery this year. Despite being in the old timer’s category and thus being a near shoe-in, I now sit far enough back on the wait list that I won’t get into the race. Instead of moping around feeling sorry for myself I decided to try a new challenge: Leadman.</p>
<p>If you don’t know, the <a href="http://www.leadvilleraceseries.com/leadmanleadwoman/" target="_blank">Leadman</a> is a series of races that all start and finish in Leadville. The…</p>
<p>My luck finally ran out at the Hardrock lottery this year. Despite being in the old timer’s category and thus being a near shoe-in, I now sit far enough back on the wait list that I won’t get into the race. Instead of moping around feeling sorry for myself I decided to try a new challenge: Leadman.</p>
<p>If you don’t know, the <a href="http://www.leadvilleraceseries.com/leadmanleadwoman/" target="_blank">Leadman</a> is a series of races that all start and finish in Leadville. The Leadville Marathon, the Silver Rush 50 mile mountain bike and run, the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike, the 10K, and the Leadville Trail 100 mile run. Stretching from mid-June through early August, the events offer a great way to fill up the summer schedule without having to travel very far.</p>
<p>When I started leaking the plan to friends, they all had the same response, “Do you even know how to ride a bike?” Technically the answer is yes, as I ride to work most days, the bulk of that three mile commute on the paved Midland Trail that takes me from my house to downtown. Now, do I know how to race over technical terrain with hundreds of other riders all up in my personal space? I guess I’ll find out.</p>
<p>The running portion shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve never done the marathon or Silver Rush 50, but from what I hear these shouldn’t be too big of a deal for me as I’ve run harder courses in the past. I’m also a three time finisher of the 100 mile run and I tend to do pretty well on that course. I have a lot of friends running the hundred this year, and despite the beating I’ll take during Leadman the plan is, as always, to crush them all so I retain bragging rights the rest of the summer.</p>
<p>So the big question is how will I fare at the Silver Rush 50 and the Pb 100 mile mountain bike races? I have no idea. I’ve done one mountain bike race in my life, which was a two day run/ride event called the Epic Mountain Challenge down in Pagosa Springs. I was destroyed on the bike, finishing very close to last in both bike events. In my defense, I’m pretty sure I was the only guy there who didn’t have any sponsorship deals and wasn’t interested in chasing prize money. I was so out of my element there that people looked at me funny when I lugged a pounder of PBR on my bike for the final ride, a two mile time trial straight up a big hill. I finished second to last on that ride, pushing my ten year old Klein past some guy whose bike fell apart in the last half mile. At the top of the hill someone actually commented on how I carried 24 extra ounces on my bike and how that slowed me down. Competitive cyclists are so weird.</p>
<p>So obviously I have a lot of work to do on the bike. Which I’ll get started on, as soon as the weather warms up a bit. My wife even green-lighted the purchase of a new bike for this pursuit. That, along with the cost of entering the series ($860), definitely put the pressure on to finish this thing so I don’t ever have to go back.</p>
<p>I’m excited for the challenges this change brings, of not knowing whether or not I’ll be able to pull this whole thing off. I’ll definitely miss Hardrock, and I’ll go back someday, but after five finishes I know exactly what I need to do to prepare for that race and I know exactly how I need to run the race in order to finish. I have no idea what I’m doing for the bike portions of Leadman. Don’t know how to train on a bike, and I certainly don’t know how to race on a bike. And I’m not really interested in learning how to do all that, since I find talking to cyclists about those topics bores me pretty quickly. So I’ll head into spring with one rule on bike training: ride my bike as much as possible. What could possibly go wrong with such an awesome, simple plan?</p>Hardrock 2013tag:pikespeaksports.us,2013-07-19:5021591:BlogPost:4774742013-07-19T19:53:20.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>For a few tense minutes we weren't sure we would even get to Silverton for the start of Hardrock. Shortly after leaving Old Colorado City and heading up the pass towards Woodland Park, we were greeted by a three foot wall of mud and water and sticks and rocks and other cars. Scary stuff. You can see my award winning documentary on the flood <a href="http://youtu.be/yrZG6qL1Nks" target="_blank">over here</a>.</p>
<p>We were hit by another car but escaped with only minor damage. Three…</p>
<p>For a few tense minutes we weren't sure we would even get to Silverton for the start of Hardrock. Shortly after leaving Old Colorado City and heading up the pass towards Woodland Park, we were greeted by a three foot wall of mud and water and sticks and rocks and other cars. Scary stuff. You can see my award winning documentary on the flood <a href="http://youtu.be/yrZG6qL1Nks" target="_blank">over here</a>.</p>
<p>We were hit by another car but escaped with only minor damage. Three hours later we pulled up to <a href="http://bierwerks.com/index.php?page=home" target="_blank">Bierwerks</a> to settle our nerves and were already laughing about the whole incident. We had only planned on driving to Gunnison so the delay wasn’t as bad as it could have been.</p>
<p>Luckily, that was the worst thing that would happen to me all weekend</p>
<p>I was up for my fifth finish of Hardrock this year. While this officially makes me an old fart, it would also greatly increase my chances of getting into the race in future years, should I decide to go back. Plus I'd get a free coat that I could wear to piss off my ultrarunning friends, most of whom hate me since they haven’t ever been able to get into this race.</p>
<p>I felt pretty good heading into this one. I’d been running about 300 miles a month since March, finished three 50 milers since May, had been doing a lot of hiking with our dog, and I’d even thrown some mountain biking into the mix (don’t worry; I’ll never wear spandex). While I know there are a million things that can go wrong on the course, I was pretty confident about my chances of at least finishing. The big question for me was whether or not I would finally get that 33:xx finish time I’ve been chasing since I first ran this loop in 2008.</p>
<p>The race started at 6AM on Friday and the tone for me was set during the first 100 meters when someone behind me yelled out, “It’s like Christmas in July!” There might have been a few low points during the night when I would have liked to slap that guy, but for the most part I just had a really great time running and hiking through the San Juan Mountains. Here's a shot of me heading into the first aid station, using all that slackline training I get from <a href="http://www.climbcityrock.com/" target="_blank">CityRock</a>:</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806502105?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806502105?profile=original" width="720" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>I was one of the lucky ones able to out run the really crappy weather. I got lots of rain, but every time I’d look back over my shoulder I’d see nasty looking storm clouds and feel bad for the runners caught in the mess. I remember heading up to Engineer Pass, roughly the halfway point of the race, and glancing back towards Handies Peak. I had been on top of Handies a few hours earlier and it was clear. Now there were black clouds and lots of lightning. I knew there were runners caught in that crap and I felt horrible for them. Kudos for the bulk of those guys for toughing it out, as the race ended up with a 76% finisher rate.</p>
<p>I ran into Ouray, mile 55-ish, only a bit behind schedule. I was pretty tired and beat up by this point. But I got a huge boost from my Hardrock tradition of chowing down a bacon cheeseburger, courtesy of <a href="http://www.kingschefdiner.com/" target="_blank">King’s Chef Diner</a>, and chugging a PBR at this aid station. I’ve now done that routine five times and it has never failed to bring me back to life.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806502515?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806502515?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>I picked up a pacer out of Ouray, <a href="http://shadmika.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Shad from Boulder</a>, and we headed off to face the night. Shad has paced me here before, and we have an ongoing agreement that no matter how much of a crybaby/whiner/a-hole I am during the run, we will remain friends after the run is over. Nighttime is typically my downfall at these events. I usually loose too much time due to fatigue and lack of sleep. Not tonight though. Shad was cracking the whip pretty hard and he kept me moving. Even after waiting an extra 20 minutes at the Governor Basin aid station, mile 65ish, for a storm to pass we made great time though the dark hours. By far, the most ground I've ever covered at night.</p>
<p>Shad and I left Telluride as the sun was rising. I knew that in a few hours I would get a second wind and I’d be able to finish. The problem was that there was still the climb out of Telluride to deal with. Normally this is one of my favorite parts of Colorado, but after running for 24+ hours straight I hated this place as it was sucking the soul out of me. But misery loves company, and besides Shad I now got to share the pain with Neal Taylor, whom I had caught up with. Here's us at mile 74ish:</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806502715?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806502715?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>And here's a shot of me continuing the climb. I'm pretty sure it's about one million miles from Telluride to Oscar's Pass.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806503156?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806503156?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>After what seemed like FOREVER, we finally got to the top of Oscar’s. There were two more climbs and 20 more miles to go, but the worst was definitely behind us. It was a little before 8AM when we got to the top of Oscar’s, and I was starting to feel good again thanks to the daylight. I had to finish by 4PM to run sub 34 hours, and I started to think it was still possible. Normally, having eight hours to run 20 miles wouldn’t worry me, but it shows you just how different a race this is.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806503523?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806503523?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>I crushed it (for me) over those last 20 miles. This meant I was able to average roughly 23 minutes per mile from mile 81 to mile 95. And then, for the final five downhill miles, when I felt like I was channeling Steve Prefontaine because I was pushing so hard and seemed to be going so fast, I averaged 13:58 per mile. Boom! Some of that may have been due to an illegal pacer I picked up at mile 98. My dog got sick and tired of me having all the fun and she decided to join me on the home stretch. Here she is behind me, threatening to bite my calf if I didn't pick up the pace.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806504488?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806504488?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>And soon enough I was kissing the Hardrock, ending my 100.5 mile journey. Officially finishing in 33:45:04. Almost 2.5 hours better than my previous best time, and nine hours faster than the first time I ran this race.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806504869?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806504869?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>Thanks go out to Katie and Shad, as well as all the volunteers and friends out on the course, including the other runners. It truly does feel like "Christmas in July" for me getting to undertake such a great journey with so many great people. I am currently retired from Hardrock, as I am after each and every time I run it, but talk to me again once the lottery opens in November...</p>Hardrock splitstag:pikespeaksports.us,2013-07-05:5021591:BlogPost:4688282013-07-05T16:32:24.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>While most locals are currently worrying about the upcoming Summer Roundup, I've had longer things on my mind. On July 12th I'll have the pleasure of shooting for my 5th finish at Hardrock. The pressure is on, as Brandon Stapanowich just crushed it at Western States and I need something to bring up when he starts droning on and on about his stupid cougar belt buckle.</p>
<p>It's a long journey but I won't be making it alone. A good friend from Boulder, Shad, will be pacing me. Shad paced…</p>
<p>While most locals are currently worrying about the upcoming Summer Roundup, I've had longer things on my mind. On July 12th I'll have the pleasure of shooting for my 5th finish at Hardrock. The pressure is on, as Brandon Stapanowich just crushed it at Western States and I need something to bring up when he starts droning on and on about his stupid cougar belt buckle.</p>
<p>It's a long journey but I won't be making it alone. A good friend from Boulder, Shad, will be pacing me. Shad paced me to a PR on the course last year, so he knows what he signed up for. His most important job is to keep me moving forward during the night hours when I'd rather be sleeping. I'm fairly notorious for falling asleep on the trail, so Shad has his work cut out for him. Shad is also responsible for providing the victory cigar and PBR at the finish line.</p>
<p>I'll also have my wife, Katie, and my dog out on the course crewing for me. I'm pretty low maintenance when it comes to this part. I'll see the crew three times during the race, two of those at the towns of Ouray and Telluride. So Katie's job will be to tire out the dog with long hikes during the day and then get to Ouray to heat up my traditional supper of a bacon cheeseburger from King's Chef Diner. </p>
<p>Cigars, beer, and bacon cheeseburgers. Such a healthy sport.</p>
<p>So when you're at work next Friday, think of me. I'll start running at 6AM and hope to be finishing around 4PM on Saturday. </p>
<p>Here are my predicted splits for those who want to follow along. The <a href="http://hardrock100.com/" target="_blank">Hardrock website</a> provides live updates of all runners during the race. You can also root for locals Julian Smith and Neal Taylor.</p>
<p></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Aid Station Split Time of Day</span></p>
<p>Cunningham 2:30 8:30AM Friday</p>
<p>Maggie 2:00 10:30AM</p>
<p>Pole Creek :50 11:20AM</p>
<p>Sherman 2:00 1:20PM</p>
<p>Grouse 4:00 5:20PM</p>
<p>Engineer 2:00 7:20PM</p>
<p>Ouray 2:00 9:20PM</p>
<p>Governor 3:00 12:20AM Saturday</p>
<p>Virginius 2:00 2:20AM</p>
<p>Telluride 2:00 4:20AM</p>
<p>Chapman 4:00 8:20AM</p>
<p>KT 3:00 11:20AM</p>
<p>Putnam 3:00 2:20PM</p>
<p>Silverton 1:39 3:59PM</p>
<p>Miner's Tavern :20 4:20PM</p>
<p></p>
<p>A bit aggressive but I need to get a sub 34 before I get too old. A 34 hour finish puts me roughly at the front of the middle-of-the-pack folks. And it's a great time to finish since you don't have to run through yet another night. My heroes of this race are the slower folks who keep moving forward through two entire nights in a race to beat the 48 hour cutoff.</p>
<p>Good luck to all those running the Summer Roundup (unless you're in my age group) and at the Barr Trail Mountain Race. And a special shout out to my sister, Jes, who can't read this because she's currently out thru-hiking the 211 mile long John Muir Trail in California's Sierra Nevada mountain range.</p>Jemeztag:pikespeaksports.us,2013-05-28:5021591:BlogPost:4496272013-05-28T18:21:07.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>A gaggle of us Springs folk took advantage of the holiday weekend to head down to Los Alamos, New Mexico for the eighth annual Jemez Mountain trail run. Jemez is a tough race run mostly through the Santa Fe National Forest and the Valles Caldera National Preserve. Runners are treated to all kinds of fun – technical singletrack, rough jeep roads, lots of steep climbs, some true cross-country, and beautiful views of the Jemez Mountains.</p>
<p>Jemez has become somewhat of a tradition for me,…</p>
<p>A gaggle of us Springs folk took advantage of the holiday weekend to head down to Los Alamos, New Mexico for the eighth annual Jemez Mountain trail run. Jemez is a tough race run mostly through the Santa Fe National Forest and the Valles Caldera National Preserve. Runners are treated to all kinds of fun – technical singletrack, rough jeep roads, lots of steep climbs, some true cross-country, and beautiful views of the Jemez Mountains.</p>
<p>Jemez has become somewhat of a tradition for me, providing some solid training as I prepare for Hardrock. I was able to grab my fourth finish at the race, crossing the line in just under 13 hours. Not quite as fast as I was expecting, but definitely some good time-on-your-feet training. Maybe “race” isn’t the correct way to describe the effort, as you can see from this action photo taken at the unofficial mile 14 aid station:</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806499198?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806499198?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>While my day was little more than a long walk in the park, huge kudos go out to two local ladies who successfully completed their first 50 milers. Amanda Ewing and Lauren Johnson didn’t pick an easy first 50, but they both rose to the occasion despite the hard course and high temps. Here is Lauren approaching the finish line, trying to outsprint her four year old daughter:</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806499916?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806499916?profile=original" width="640" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>I should point out that I wasn’t the only local Hardrocker out there putting in the miles. Julian Smith got in a nice long run as well. It's looking like Julian and I will be joined by Neal Taylor at the start line in Silverton, as Neal is pretty high up on the wait list right now.</p>
<p>Another weekend, another race in the books. It’s been a great season so far and I feel pretty good about my fitness. Now that the warmer temps are here I’ll start to focus on the real fun part – getting in the altitude training.</p>Catching Uptag:pikespeaksports.us,2013-05-21:5021591:BlogPost:4485442013-05-21T15:38:31.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>After a disaster of a 2013 Pikes Peak Ascent, Tim has brought me back on board for the 2014 PikesPeakSports.us Triple Crown Team. You can <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/profiles/blogs/is-this-thing-on" target="_blank">go here</a> to see my intro from last year. Since I can’t figure out how to run the Ascent without getting embarrassed, I’m just going to settle for a full weekend of throttling from the mountain as I signed up for the Double.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Of course, there’s a…</p>
<p>After a disaster of a 2013 Pikes Peak Ascent, Tim has brought me back on board for the 2014 PikesPeakSports.us Triple Crown Team. You can <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/profiles/blogs/is-this-thing-on" target="_blank">go here</a> to see my intro from last year. Since I can’t figure out how to run the Ascent without getting embarrassed, I’m just going to settle for a full weekend of throttling from the mountain as I signed up for the Double.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Of course, there’s a little race in mid-July that I need to worry about first. Hardrock prep is going well. I’m trying to get my fifth finish there, the magic number that makes you an official old fart. It also increases my chances dramatically in the lottery, should I ever want to go back. Every year around 3AM, with 21 hours on my feet and another 15 or so hours to go, I promise myself this will be the last time. We’ll see if that sticks this year.</p>
<p></p>
<p>You can’t tell it by looking at Pikes Peak, but spring is finally here. I know this because when I ran the Horsetooth Marathon in Fort Collins the first weekend of May, the trails were covered in so much snow and ice we were afraid the race would be cancelled. Two weeks later at the Quad Rock 50 miler, that same area had exploded in color and the trails were in great shape. Yes, we needed that late snow with all our water issues around here, but hot damn am I glad winter is finally over!</p>
<p></p>
<p>This past weekend some friends and I headed up to Denver for the Colfax Marathon. Such a great way to explore the Mile High City, something I don’t do nearly as often as I’d like. My plan going in was to run with the 3:15 group for the first two hours, a solid workout for me, and then back off the pace. Executed well, running with that group through 15 miles before stopping at a pub on Colfax to wait for some buddies. Ended up finishing in just under four hours off a 1:35 first half.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Overall the training is going great. I’ve been posting faster times on courses I’ve run before with pretty easy efforts. If I don’t overdo it I should be in good shape to run 34ish at Hardrock and then shoot for a sub eight Double, which would hopefully include finally getting that sub three Ascent. Because as I’ve shown in the past, in order to fail miserably you need to have huge goals beforehand…</p>Beer and America's mountain. Mostly beer.tag:pikespeaksports.us,2013-04-23:5021591:BlogPost:4388592013-04-23T19:35:33.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>Katie and I were recently given a late wedding gift that was about the most awesome thing ever:</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806502133?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806502133?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>A buddy of mine swiped this off the wall of an Old Colorado City pub some 20+ years ago. The sign hung out collecting dust in his basement until he decided I could give it the proper respect. I sent a picture to Matt Carpenter, implying that if…</p>
<p>Katie and I were recently given a late wedding gift that was about the most awesome thing ever:</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806502133?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806502133?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>A buddy of mine swiped this off the wall of an Old Colorado City pub some 20+ years ago. The sign hung out collecting dust in his basement until he decided I could give it the proper respect. I sent a picture to Matt Carpenter, implying that if they had a category for “best vintage Pikes Peak memorabilia that included yellow beer” I would own him. But in yet another story of Matt’s competitiveness about the mountain, he immediately sent me this, which hangs on a wall in his home:</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806503284?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806503284?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Have to give him the edge in this one, as his poster is three years older. Definitely the closest I’ll ever come to challenging Matt on anything Pikes related. But he better stay on his toes, as I’m always on the hunt for one of these:</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806503445?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806503445?profile=original" width="132" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>As a yellow beer connoisseur I can tell you that it’s tough (though not impossible) to find classy beers such as Old Style and Rainier here in the Springs. But if this post makes you want to have a brew while dreaming of a snow free Barr trail, head up to Pikes Peak Brewing where they currently have the Ascent Pale Ale on tap.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On a different note, last Sunday I had the pleasure of running the inaugural Horsetooth Marathon in Fort Collins. It’s been a tough couple of weeks for the Fort Collins Running Club – they’ve already dealt with a fire near some of their favorite trails, they had lots of locals running Boston (including the RD of the race), and then they got a few feet of snow dumped on the race course. But the show went on, and the Fort folks did a great job and put on a quality event. They were unable to run the original course which had included tons of singletrack trails, but we still got about 15 miles on dirt before eventually joining up with the half marathoners and finishing at New Belgium Brewing. The start included 26 seconds of silence in honor of Boston, and then the feel-good moment ended abruptly as we began a four mile climb up and around Horsetooth Rock. Nice to get that disaster of a week in the rear view mirror.</p>Carolina Vacationtag:pikespeaksports.us,2013-03-01:5021591:BlogPost:4218462013-03-01T17:45:27.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>Two of the bucket lists I’m working on as I stumble through life are the <a href="http://www.50statesmarathonclub.com/" target="_blank">50 states marathon thing</a> and the 49 state highpoints. I realize there are actually 50 state highpoints, but I read too much about folks losing fingers or feet or their life up in Alaska so I’ve decided to skip The Last Frontier. Anywho, a few years ago I read about a race called the <a href="http://jager66.wix.com/mitchellsplash" target="_blank">Mt.…</a></p>
<p>Two of the bucket lists I’m working on as I stumble through life are the <a href="http://www.50statesmarathonclub.com/" target="_blank">50 states marathon thing</a> and the 49 state highpoints. I realize there are actually 50 state highpoints, but I read too much about folks losing fingers or feet or their life up in Alaska so I’ve decided to skip The Last Frontier. Anywho, a few years ago I read about a race called the <a href="http://jager66.wix.com/mitchellsplash" target="_blank">Mt. Mitchell Challenge</a> which would kill two birds with one stone. It’s a lottery event, and after missing out in 2012 I was lucky enough to get picked for the 2013 race.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The Mount Mitchell Challenge is a 40ish mile (it was actually only 36 miles this year due to parts of the trail being closed due to ice/snow) run from the town of Black Mountain, North Carolina, to the top of <a href="http://www.summitpost.org/mount-mitchell/150539" target="_blank">Mt. Mitchell</a> and back down. Mitchell is the highest point in the USA east of the Mississippi River at 6,684 feet above sea level (about 400 feet higher than the much more well-known Mt. Washington in New Hampshire).</p>
<p></p>
<p>Our first order of business after landing in Knoxville, Tennessee, was to head straight to the Appalachian Trail. I had heard of a pub where you can get a great burger and a cold <a href="http://www.yuengling.com/" target="_blank">Yuengling</a> that was actually on the AT - The Spring Creek Tavern in Hot Springs, NC. The bartender informed Katie and I that we were now officially section hikers, since we had hiked about 50 feet of the AT going from the parking lot to the bar. Maybe someday we’ll return to hike the remaining 99.999% of the trail.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Race morning greeted runners with a steady rain. I went into the race just hoping for a finish after a recent back injury due to wrestling a bear (OK, I actually jacked it up shoveling snow, which makes me sound 80 years old). After taking the first three or so flat road miles super easy, we hit the trail and began to climb. Quite the slopfest, living in Colorado makes one forget that in some places it can actually rain for more than ten minutes.</p>
<p></p>
<p>From mile three to mile 13 (which brings you to the Blue Ridge Parkway and is the turnaround for the Black Mountain Marathon, which runs along with the Challenge) you run a gentle slope up some beautiful east coast mountain trails. Lots of rocks, lots of mud. It was pretty foggy all day, but at times things would clear up and you’d get a great view of the surrounding Black Mountains.</p>
<p></p>
<p>For the 2013 event, Challenge runners hit the Parkway at mile 13 and just ran up the paved road another five miles to the top of Mount Mitchell. Very empty at the peak. No loudspeaker announcing your arrival, no Dave Sorenson to instantly post your time to the interweb, and no photographer to immortalize your accomplishment. When I got there, just under four hours after I started, I couldn’t see 20 feet in front of me due to the fog, so I just hit the top and turned around.</p>
<p></p>
<p>You went back down the same way you came up. I ran the five miles down the road pretty fast, but once I got to the trail I ran super conservatively. Lots of mud and uneven rocks, I didn’t want to risk hurting myself any more than I already was. On the one hand I accomplished my original goal – I had wanted to break seven hours for the Challenge, and I ended up finishing in 6:50. Of course, the course this year was four miles shorter and considerably faster due to all the asphalt in place of the technical trails. The most important thing for me is that I spent seven hours in motion with wet feet, and hopefully that pays off at Hardrock this July. The Challenge was my 17<sup>th</sup> state marathon and 15<sup>th</sup> state highpoint. Katie and I would hike <a href="http://www.summitpost.org/sassafras-mountain/152371" target="_blank">Sassafras Mountain</a> in South Carolina the next day to bag highpoint number 16.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The big question for the locals here is how this race compares to Pikes Peak. I didn’t exactly throw down a big race effort at the Challenge, but I don’t think it’s as hard of a course as the Pikes marathon. I guessed Mitchell to average about half the steepness of Barr Trail. Of course, if I or anyone says any race is easy, they didn’t run hard enough. But Mitchell could definitely prove a worthy adversary if someone really wanted to get after it on the course. I also have to point out that the 2013 event had great running weather, which I hear is pretty rare.</p>
<p></p>
<p>After the race Katie and I spent the day exploring the town of Black Mountain. After we found every joint that served Yuengling, we headed out to Pisgah Brewing. The next day we took a nice drive down to South Carolina for a bit, then explored Pisgah National Forest (pisgah seems to be a very popular word in Carolina) before heading to Asheville, NC. I have to admit that I was initially leery of Asheville being named “Beer City, USA,” but after spending some time there I gotta say I’m a believer. Oskar Blues and New Belgium agree with me, as both Front Range beer makers are opening new breweries there soon. </p>
<p></p>
<p>All in all, a great vacation to a great area of the country. Definitely something to consider if you’re one of those weirdos who loves running 40 miles up and down mountains in poor conditions and then drinking a ton of beer afterwards.</p>Fat Ass Resultstag:pikespeaksports.us,2013-01-20:5021591:BlogPost:4104362013-01-20T16:30:00.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2749337663?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2749337663?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="400"></img></a> Results from the Ponderous Posterior Fat Ass trail marathon. I'm guessing about half the field didn't bother to write their time down.</p>
<p><strong>Photos:</strong> <strong><a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/photo/album/show?id=5021591%3AAlbum%3A410257&xg_source=activity" target="_blank">Start of the Ponderous Posterior 50K</a> ** Video,…</strong></p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2749337663?profile=original"><img width="400" class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2749337663?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="400"/></a>Results from the Ponderous Posterior Fat Ass trail marathon. I'm guessing about half the field didn't bother to write their time down.</p>
<p><strong>Photos:</strong> <strong><a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/photo/album/show?id=5021591%3AAlbum%3A410257&xg_source=activity" target="_blank">Start of the Ponderous Posterior 50K</a> ** Video, <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/video/start-of-the-ponderous-posterior-50k-the-final-in-the-fat-ass" target="_blank">Runners hit the trail at sunrise</a></strong></p>
<p>Incredible January weather with temps in the mid to upper 50s. <a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/263882159" target="_blank">Long course</a> was approximately 25.4 miles, with the JV route clocking in around 18 miles. The course showed off some of the better trails in the region: Red Rock Canyon, High Drive, the Chutes, the Columbine Trail, Gold Camp Road, Buckhorn, 666, Section 16, and finally the beautiful Midland Trail.</p>
<p>Thanks to <a href="http://www.teamcrud.com/" target="_blank">Team CRUD</a> for all the help in putting this event on.</p>
<p>Men:</p>
<p>Scott Spillman 3:45</p>
<p>Jay M 4:01</p>
<p>Bryan Williams 4:09</p>
<p>Rocque Venzor 4:16</p>
<p>Nick Clark 4:18</p>
<p>Scott Jurek 4:20</p>
<p>Nick Pedetella 4:20</p>
<p>Corky Dean 4:33</p>
<p>Jeff Mohrman 4:40</p>
<p>Harsha Nagaraj 4:44</p>
<p>Ted Z 4:50</p>
<p>Richard Bennett 4:50</p>
<p>Paul Sullivan 4:50</p>
<p>Adam Wade 4:51</p>
<p>Cory Leppert 4:56</p>
<p>Adam M 4:57</p>
<p>Slow Aaron Marks 5:04</p>
<p>Carson Rickey 5:09</p>
<p>Ryan Krol 5:10</p>
<p>Marc Pevateaux 5:16</p>
<p>Chris Boyak 5:29</p>
<p>Jaime Yerba 5:30</p>
<p>Jesse Grizzle 5:34</p>
<p>Thomas Dinwoodie 5:34</p>
<p>John Gardner 5:37</p>
<p>Garry Harrington 6:00</p>
<p>Phil Goulding 6:15</p>
<p>JT 6:44</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>Women:</p>
<p>Jenni Leppert 4:56</p>
<p>Amanda Ewing 4:59</p>
<p>Rachel Garcia 4:59</p>
<p>Elisa Sundhall 4:59</p>
<p>Katie Robinson 5:19</p>
<p>Hillary Allen 5:30</p>
<p>Lisa Purel 5:39</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>JV Loop:</p>
<p>Amy Perez 3:05</p>
<p>Wes Thurman 3:20</p>
<p>Sean O'Day 3:20</p>
<p>Brooks Williams 3:30</p>
<p>Louise Kriel 3:35</p>
<p>Val Zajac 3:35</p>
<p>Kerry Page 4:34</p>
<p></p>Hardrock 2013tag:pikespeaksports.us,2013-01-04:5021591:BlogPost:4066162013-01-04T00:00:00.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>My 2013 running schedule was laid out recently when I was (un)lucky enough to have my name pulled in the Hardrock lottery. I’ve been picked five out of six times now and have become the subject of various conspiracy theories on how I continue to beat the ever increasing odds of running that race. I’ll never share those secrets.</p>
<p>But I will share what goes into getting ready for a race like that. It’s a pretty huge undertaking for a mediocre athlete such as myself. Hardrock is a 100…</p>
<p>My 2013 running schedule was laid out recently when I was (un)lucky enough to have my name pulled in the Hardrock lottery. I’ve been picked five out of six times now and have become the subject of various conspiracy theories on how I continue to beat the ever increasing odds of running that race. I’ll never share those secrets.</p>
<p>But I will share what goes into getting ready for a race like that. It’s a pretty huge undertaking for a mediocre athlete such as myself. Hardrock is a 100 mile run through the San Juan mountains. The course changes directions every year, and this time we’ll run from Silverton to Lake City to Ouray to Telluride and back to Silverton. The loop tops out just above 14000 feet as you run up and over Handies Peak, and then I think there are nine other mountain passes that hit 12,900 feet or higher. It’s a doozy, and I’d like to run it in about 34 hours this year. </p>
<p>There are several Hardrock alum in the Pikes Peak area (Harry Harcrow, Paul Smith, Jason Koop, Neal Taylor, and I’m sure I’m missing one or two) but none that got into the race this year. I am rooting for Neal to get in off the waitlist this time. It would be nice to get that five time finisher jacket with him.</p>
<p>Just like the New York Road Runners Club, I haven’t been doing much since the NYC marathon was cancelled in early November. Short runs here and there when the dog gets restless, but that’s about it. It’s been a nice break. But if I want to have a good shot at finishing number five this July, it’s time to get to work.</p>For once, it really wasn't my fault I failed to meet a goal...tag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-11-27:5021591:BlogPost:3993112012-11-27T17:07:21.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>By now everyone has heard that the New York City marathon was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy. Yes, it sucks to train your ass off only to have your goal race kiboshed at the last minute. But I suppose it would suck a lot more to have your house destroyed or a friend killed, so I can’t complain.</p>
<p>I’ve been waiting to post this until I could say what I would do for 2013. I loved New York and definitely want to go back. I’d like to know if I get an entry into the ’13 race since this…</p>
<p>By now everyone has heard that the New York City marathon was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy. Yes, it sucks to train your ass off only to have your goal race kiboshed at the last minute. But I suppose it would suck a lot more to have your house destroyed or a friend killed, so I can’t complain.</p>
<p>I’ve been waiting to post this until I could say what I would do for 2013. I loved New York and definitely want to go back. I’d like to know if I get an entry into the ’13 race since this one was called off. But it seems that quick decision making is not a strength of the New York Road Runners. Race day was three weeks ago and nobody is sure what’s going on. Runners seem fairly pissed off, not so much at the race being cancelled, but by the timing of everything. The race was not cancelled until Friday evening, so everyone from all over the globe had already arrived in the Big Apple. I was at a bar when ESPN announced the race had been cancelled, and I immediately ran over to the race expo to pick up my schwag. I was in line right ahead of two women who had just arrived from Ireland. They were so excited to be there, talking about how hard they had trained for the past six months and how much loot they had dropped to get to the race. I politely informed them that the race was cancelled. They both started crying immediately, and one of them actually fainted.</p>
<p>But our little Colorado contingent still made the most of the trip. Toured Manhattan, which was not the mess that Staten Island was. Took a boat ride on the Hudson River. Rented bikes and rode over to Brooklyn. Checked out lots and of local pubs. And we really feel like we got the total Sandy experience, since our hotel had neither power nor hot water the entire time we were there. I tried to sell Katie on the idea that things were romantic since everything was lit via candle, but the cold showers killed that idea.</p>
<p>So now it’s my least favorite season, and I’ll try to stay somewhat in shape during the Colorado winter by doing a bunch of local races. The Rock Canyon Half, the Super Half, the Rescue Run, the PPRR Winter Series, the Front Range Fat Ass series. Need to do something to keep me from getting too fat before taking on Mt. Mitchell in February.</p>Big Apple Updatetag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-10-12:5021591:BlogPost:3796742012-10-12T20:05:27.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>Sure has been a while since I’ve updated things here. The upcoming New York City Marathon has taken a back seat to some other recent developments in my life. I’m still super excited to be headed to the Big Apple, but anything near a PR is out the window.</p>
<p>Took five days off for a Phish show last month. One of my favorite bands, and it was my first time seeing them live. The show was only three days long, but it took another two days to recover from the experience. Taking nearly a…</p>
<p>Sure has been a while since I’ve updated things here. The upcoming New York City Marathon has taken a back seat to some other recent developments in my life. I’m still super excited to be headed to the Big Apple, but anything near a PR is out the window.</p>
<p>Took five days off for a Phish show last month. One of my favorite bands, and it was my first time seeing them live. The show was only three days long, but it took another two days to recover from the experience. Taking nearly a week off during the crux of a marathon training block isn’t recommended very often. And then there was that whole marriage road trip thing. Ten days, lots of hiking, but not much running. My current marathon PR of 2:53 is pretty much the limit of my abilities, and to get anywhere close to that takes me three or four months of super high intensity. And that just hasn’t been there. </p>
<p>Complicating matters even more is the fact that I got into a race called the <a href="http://www.blackmountainmarathon.com/" target="_blank">Mount Mitchell Challenge</a>, a 40 mile trail run up and down North Carolina’s highest mountain. Can’t wait for that one, and lately I’ve found myself wanting to run in the mountains and on the trails instead of hitting the roads or the track, which is where I should be spending time if I’m gearing up for a road marathon.</p>
<p>So I’m armed with all kinds of excuses. But I’ll still be ready to throw down on November 4<sup>th</sup>, and I’m going to run as hard as I can for as long as I can. Poor fitness won’t give me the luxury of a taper, I’m just going to train hard right through race day, and then hope for a miracle. And when the gun goes off, I’m going to run sub three pace as far as I can make it. Hopefully that distance is 26.2 miles.</p>Bike Thieves Suck!tag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-09-05:5021591:BlogPost:3672022012-09-05T14:40:12.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>It is with a heavy heart that I report the loss of an old friend.</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497665?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497665?profile=original" width="720"></img></a></p>
<p>On September 4, between 7:30AM and 4PM, someone entered my house, through the garage, and was able to make off with a laptop computer, a half full (or half empty) bottle of cheap gin, and my beloved fixed gear bike. Luckily the dog was able to scare the intruder off before they could…</p>
<p>It is with a heavy heart that I report the loss of an old friend.</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497665?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497665?profile=original" width="720" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>On September 4, between 7:30AM and 4PM, someone entered my house, through the garage, and was able to make off with a laptop computer, a half full (or half empty) bottle of cheap gin, and my beloved fixed gear bike. Luckily the dog was able to scare the intruder off before they could touch my world class growler collection. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Nobody makes fun of bicyclists and their behavior more than I do. I'm a runner, and everyone knows we're just so much cooler than our dork cycling friends. But truth be told, I used my bike to get around quite a bit. At least once a week to work. And whenever I went drinking, which had the added community benefit of keeping a drunk from behind the wheel.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I'm not holding out hope of finding the bike. I'll search craigslist for a few days, maybe drop by a pawn shop or two. But it's pretty rare that a stolen bike shows up. My wish is that as the thief rode away from the house, he picked up a lot of speed before realizing he had no idea how to ride a fixie and definitely had no idea how to stop. Hope the wreck hurt, jerk.</p>my big, fat road trip weddingtag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-08-30:5021591:BlogPost:3634172012-08-30T21:32:54.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>I held out as long as I could, but it was bound to happen sooner or later...</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497794?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497794?profile=original" width="703"></img></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>I’ve lived with Katie for the past three years in a great house on the west side, near an endless amount of trails and fine drinking establishments. She has always signed off on my goofy adventures, often crewing and pacing during races or driving and hiking a…</p>
<p>I held out as long as I could, but it was bound to happen sooner or later...</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497794?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497794?profile=original" width="703" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>I’ve lived with Katie for the past three years in a great house on the west side, near an endless amount of trails and fine drinking establishments. She has always signed off on my goofy adventures, often crewing and pacing during races or driving and hiking a different route to set water and food out for some of my longer slogs. My crew chief, as we would say in the ultra world.</p>
<p></p>
<p>We finally decided to make it legal. Game over, right? But in one last desperate attempt for a good time, I scammed Katie into having the wedding in Vegas. With lots of driving/hiking/camping before and after. Instead of going through the hassle of a typical wedding, I told her a road trip theme would be a lot more fun. We’ve always had a draw to the Colorado Plateau, and we came up with a plan to incorporate that into a ten day trip. The schedule:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sept 20th (Thurs) – Leave after work, hit Moonlight Pizza in Salida, car camp at the UFO Watchtower in Hooper, CO.</p>
<p>Sept 21st (Fri) – Drive to Flagstaff, AZ. Lunch at the Durango Diner and El Rancho Saloon.</p>
<p>Sept 22nd (Sat) – Hike Humphries Peak, the state high point of Arizona. Then drive to the Grand Canyon.</p>
<p>Sept 23, 24, 25 – Chill out at Havasaupai Falls, including the 14 mile hike out and back to the Colorado River.</p>
<p>Sept 26<sup>th</sup> (Wed) – Drive to Vegas. Report immediately to the happiest place on earth, the Double Down Saloon.</p>
<p>Sept 27<sup>th</sup> (Thurs) – Wedding day, tying the knot beneath the Fabulous Las Vegas sign. She even agreed to a late ceremony so I could check out Red Rock Canyon that morning.</p>
<p>Sept 28<sup>th</sup> (Fri) – Hike the Narrows in Zion Canyon.</p>
<p>Sept 29<sup>th</sup> (Sat) – Morning hike of the Below the Rim trail in Bryce Canyon. Afternoon hike in Canyonlands.</p>
<p>Sept 30<sup>th</sup> (Sun) – Hang out in Moab.</p>
<p>Oct 1<sup>st</sup> – Head back to a place cooler than anything listed above, Colorado. Hopefully the dog remembers who we are.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To my surprise, she not only agreed to this, but seems pretty excited about the whole thing. Which is amazing, since most of the trip will have us either sleeping on the ground or in the car. Not exactly the wedding most women dream about.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We will have friends and family joining us for parts of the trip. Some hanging with us for the whole thing, some just taking advantage of an excuse to visit Vegas. All of them thanking us for not making them dress up or blow a wad of cash at some bed, bath, & beyond register type place [side note – I tried to register at Cheer’s Liquor, but the clerk gave me a weird look and said they didn’t do that].</p>
<p></p>
<p>Not your typical post for this site, but I'm sure the places mentioned above will make most of you jealous. The post-Pikes depression is over and NYC training has started, though most training plans don't include a ten day break with a little over a month before race day. Of course, if I stink up the Big Apple anything like I did on our mountain, I'm going to blame it on marriage.</p>
<p></p>Next time I will solicit donations for my walk-a-thon...tag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-08-20:5021591:BlogPost:3605702012-08-20T22:00:00.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>Back to the drawing board. Once again, Pikes handed me my ass on race day. I’ve run up the mountain faster when I lived at sea level in Austin than I have the last two years.</p>
<p>I was on pace through No Name Creek, but I knew from the moment the course turned onto Ruxton that I wouldn’t be able to execute. Really struggled between No Name and Barr Camp, and I hiked it in from Barr Camp. 3:28 and change, once again failing miserably in my effort to join the sub three…</p>
<p>Back to the drawing board. Once again, Pikes handed me my ass on race day. I’ve run up the mountain faster when I lived at sea level in Austin than I have the last two years.</p>
<p>I was on pace through No Name Creek, but I knew from the moment the course turned onto Ruxton that I wouldn’t be able to execute. Really struggled between No Name and Barr Camp, and I hiked it in from Barr Camp. 3:28 and change, once again failing miserably in my effort to join the sub three club.</p>
<p>Trying to figure out why this mess happened. Don’t think I’m still hurting from Hardrock, but I wonder if a three week taper and two weeks off afterwards causes a huge loss in fitness. Definitely lots to think about for the 2013 plan of attack.</p>
<p>Luckily I didn’t have too much time to dwell on my lousy race. Off the mountain and out to Leadville, I crewed and paced for a friend of mine and watched lots of other locals battle it out at the Leadville Trail 100. Lots of inspiring efforts, lots of heartbreaking defeats. And just to top off my endurance fix, I bolted back to Manitou to watch the Marathon finishers. Other than my crappy race, it was a fantastic weekend watching so many of my friends getting after it.</p>
<p>Next up is a switching of the gears as I attempt to run a fast fall marathon. I’ve never been to New York City, but I think the best way to tour the Big Apple would be to run the marathon. And I wouldn’t mind celebrating a PR with some Yuengling. I’ll continue to post here from time to time in case anyone is interested in following along.</p>almost theretag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-08-09:5021591:BlogPost:3559512012-08-09T19:00:09.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>Finally getting over my post-Hardrock funk. Took a full week off, and since then I’ve had some trouble getting back into things. Damn inertia. Last two weeks have had a few quality workouts though, so maybe I can still salvage a good performance at the Ascent.</p>
<p>I went to lovely Reedsburg, Wisconsin (near Madison) over the weekend to visit my girlfriend’s parents. Besides drinking a ton of New Glarus and eating my weight in cheese, I managed to prove that every dog has his day. We…</p>
<p>Finally getting over my post-Hardrock funk. Took a full week off, and since then I’ve had some trouble getting back into things. Damn inertia. Last two weeks have had a few quality workouts though, so maybe I can still salvage a good performance at the Ascent.</p>
<p>I went to lovely Reedsburg, Wisconsin (near Madison) over the weekend to visit my girlfriend’s parents. Besides drinking a ton of New Glarus and eating my weight in cheese, I managed to prove that every dog has his day. We found a 6K not too far away, in Rock Springs (population 364). A strong field of 18 showed up, two of whom were pushing baby strollers, and I managed to cruise to a win in just over 24 minutes. Just goes to show, sometimes it’s not about how fast you are, but how slow everyone else is. Despite an easy course at sea level, my time was actually slower than the Paint Mines 6K a week earlier, when I failed miserably in my attempt to run with Gerald.</p>
<p>At the post-run celebration in a local pub, the entire packed bar (which had a much larger field than the race despite the fact it was 10AM) was hooting and hollering for Galen Rupp as he kicked down the field for a silver medal. Once every four years normal people care about track & field, glad to see Galen take advantage of that. Nice to see some impressive races by the US distance squad, hopefully the good performances continue through the marathon.</p>
<p>This is such a great time of the year to be a runner in the Springs area. Most of us are either headed up (or up and down) Pikes or worried about Leadville splits. Lots and lots of hard work, but that’s done now that taper time is here. One last heroic effort and we can all chill for a bit. Good luck to everyone!</p>Hardrocktag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-07-25:5021591:BlogPost:3502142012-07-25T19:01:26.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>Another successful Hardrock is in the books. For those unaware of this event, here’s the story in picture form:</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806496955?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806496955?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a></p>
<p>Due to some property issues near Telluride, the course was a whopping 102.5 miles long this year, the farthest I’ve ever ran, and hopefully the farthest I ever have to run. The fastest guy ran just under 25 hours. The slowest runner showed up about…</p>
<p>Another successful Hardrock is in the books. For those unaware of this event, here’s the story in picture form:</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806496955?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806496955?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>Due to some property issues near Telluride, the course was a whopping 102.5 miles long this year, the farthest I’ve ever ran, and hopefully the farthest I ever have to run. The fastest guy ran just under 25 hours. The slowest runner showed up about ten minutes before the 48 hour cutoff. I was somewhere in between, finishing in just over 36 hours. 98 of the 140 runners who started finished the big loop that takes you from Silverton to Telluride, then to Ouray, then to Lake City, then back to Silverton.</p>
<p>There are lots of stories out there about all the suffering that goes on in this race, but this isn’t one of them. This was my fourth finish at Hardrock, and I’m starting to get the run dialed in to a point where I can train my ass off all year, then enjoy a great adventure with the minimal amount of misery required for a 1.5 day run/hike through the mountains. I treat Hardrock almost like a reward for not sitting around and getting fat and lazy all year.</p>
<p>It wasn’t all roses though. We had a nice bout of hard rain about 25 miles into the race. Some of the climbs are so long and so steep that no matter how slow you’re going, or how easy you’re trying to take it, life sucks. And trying to climb up and over Handies Peak, a 14er, after skipping a nights sleep isn’t my favorite thing to do.</p>
<p>As usual, several beers were consumed on the course. An old Austin friend of mine was running Kroger’s Canteen, an isolated aid station at mile 35ish, and he surprised me with a can of Lone Star (the National Beer of Texas!). I had my traditional meal at the Ouray aid station, approximately halfway through the run, consisting of a King’s Chef bacon cheeseburger and a PBR. I also had a surprise brew from some dude who had parked his van on top of Engineer Pass. It was nighttime and my new $65 flashlight was failing, so that brew really helped me deal with a lousy situation.</p>
<p>I picked up a pacer at Grouse Gulch, mile 55, and abused him until the final aid station, Cunningham, at mile 90. He kept me moving pretty well during the last few hours before sunrise, usually the worst part of a race for me. I stayed somewhat awake by telling him how I was never going to run this race again, something every runner says at some point. I also had a fantastic crew consisting of my girlfriend and our dog. I saw Katie several times during the run, and she was always ready with some food or some dry socks or whatever I needed. The dog just slept all day, which made me insanely jealous, but it was still comforting to see her.</p>
<p>Big shout to Jason Koop and Harry Harcrow, two other Pikes Peak area finishers. Local ultrarunner Carson Rickey was out there cheering us all on, and put together this video:</p>
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<p><iframe width="500" height="281" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/45898508" frameborder="0"></iframe>
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<p><a href="http://vimeo.com/45898508">Hanging out at Hardrock 100 - 2012</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user4639201">Carson Rickey</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
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<p>So Hardrock training finally comes to an end, and I can finally have a life again as the Ascent and NYC marathon, my two remaining races for 2012, won’t require so much time. Now that a few days have passed since the race, I’ve decided not to quit forever and will be throwing my name in the lottery for next year.</p>
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<p>BONUS RACE REPORT!</p>
<p>I found myself in Boulder the Thursday after Hardrock. And the Boulder Road Runners were having an all-comers track meet. So I checked it out, and before long I was signed up for the mile and the 3000 meter steeplechase. I’ve run the mile as a race hundreds of times before, and managed to bull out a 5:21, not too shabby so soon after a hundred miler. I’ve never run the steeple before, and I’m pretty sure I won’t be allowed back after my 14:15 debacle. This pic pretty much sums up the race:</p>
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<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497224?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497224?profile=original" width="720" class="align-full"/></a></p>going longtag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-07-12:5021591:BlogPost:3455982012-07-12T22:54:48.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>Despite Ryan Hafer out leaning me at the tape by just over a dozen minutes, it wasn’t a bad day at the Roundup. I went in hoping for a decent but controlled effort, and figured that would net me a time in the low 58s. Ended up crossing the finish line in just under 54 minutes (really thankful for that new fancy styrofoam chip timing thing, as my watch read 54:01). Pooped at the end, but I felt I had another gear I could have gone to had an Olympic birth or a date with Jessica Alba been on…</p>
<p>Despite Ryan Hafer out leaning me at the tape by just over a dozen minutes, it wasn’t a bad day at the Roundup. I went in hoping for a decent but controlled effort, and figured that would net me a time in the low 58s. Ended up crossing the finish line in just under 54 minutes (really thankful for that new fancy styrofoam chip timing thing, as my watch read 54:01). Pooped at the end, but I felt I had another gear I could have gone to had an Olympic birth or a date with Jessica Alba been on the line.</p>
<p>Tim is paying me the big bucks to write about all things Triple Crown related, and I’ve had two solid efforts there so far, but in reality my mind has been focused on Hardrock for quite some time. For those who don’t know, Hardrock is a 100+ mile trail run that starts and ends in Silverton and takes you through Telluride, Ouray, and Lake City along the way. It’s in the San Juan mountains, so there are some hills here and there. I’m three for three at the run, and feel like I’ve never been more fit for the course, but I don’t take anything for granted. It’s going to be tough and I hope I’ll be able to respond. So no whining about your long run this weekend – I’m hoping to finish in 33 hours but will be prepared to be out there for the full 48 hours if needed. To put it another way, I’m going running on Friday morning, and might not finish until Sunday.</p>
<p>But I’m certainly not giving up on my sub three hour dream on Pikes. As soon as I get back home from Hardrock, I’ll be spending lots and lots of time on Barr Trail. An entire month of running nowhere else. So for all those folks just behind me in the age group standings, you’ll still need to put in some work if you want to pass me.</p>Holy [insert long list of expletives here], did that really happen???tag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-06-29:5021591:BlogPost:3420602012-06-29T17:47:10.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>What a week it’s been. My heart goes out to all those affected by the fire, especially those who lost their house. Really puts my problems of finding open trails to run on this weekend in perspective. And of course a huge kudos to all the first responders who are just kicking ass and taking names. Can’t imagine how horrible this fire would have been without those guys and gals out there working their tails off.</p>
<p>I first heard about the fire on Saturday while down in Lake City,…</p>
<p>What a week it’s been. My heart goes out to all those affected by the fire, especially those who lost their house. Really puts my problems of finding open trails to run on this weekend in perspective. And of course a huge kudos to all the first responders who are just kicking ass and taking names. Can’t imagine how horrible this fire would have been without those guys and gals out there working their tails off.</p>
<p>I first heard about the fire on Saturday while down in Lake City, shortly after finishing the San Juan Solstice 50 miler. Early rumors, I heard 100 acres and 10,000 acres and other numbers thrown around. I then bolted to a campsite high on the mountains, far outside of cell phone range, and kind of forgot about the whole thing.</p>
<p>Until driving home on Monday afternoon. On HWY 50 just outside of Canon City. That’s how far away I was when I first saw the smoke. Then my parents called, from Pennsylvania, asking if the house was still standing. It finally started to sink in that the fire might actually be a big deal.</p>
<p>Looking at it now that things seem to have settled a bit, the closest the fire got to our westside house was about two or three miles. But on Tuesday and Wednesday when everything was blowing up, those flames sure felt a lot closer. Such a horrible feeling, wondering if and when to retreat, possibly losing just about everything you owned. But at least we were home, unlike the three evacuated runners we took in as strays (one a big enough prick that he passed me in the final 50 meters of the last 5K we ran).</p>
<p>Life goes on. All the “community” goodwill out there now will soon be replaced by attention paid to the windbags blaming Obama/Romney/the Forest Service/Jesus/Satan/Bach/smokers/hunters/mother nature/global warming/whoever/whatever for the fire. That’s just how the cycle goes with these disasters, which seem to be happing all too frequently. But the type of folks who visit this website, a fantastic community regardless of whether or not there has been a disaster, will soon be getting back outside, perhaps with an even larger appreciation for this great area than before. Not sure when I’ll be able to run Waldo again (months? years?) but I’ll be there, excited to see that trail again and crushed to see the damage. And I also find myself worrying about the bighorn sheep that hang out in Queens Canyon. Sure hope they’re alright, and hopefully there is some good news next time folks are allowed to explore that area.</p>
<p>Tough to think about right now, but the racing continues. Looks like the Summer Roundup is still on. Hardrock is in two weeks. And, of course, the Pikes Peak Ascent/Marathon looms. Hopefully these events can help everyone get past this lousy situation.</p>in defense of musictag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-06-21:5021591:BlogPost:3405832012-06-21T16:54:41.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>I remember my first visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (which for some weird reason nobody quite understands is located in Cleveland) and I saw a t-shirt that said, “If it’s too loud, you’re too old.” That t-shirt is what comes to mind whenever somebody complains about music. Like when my parents called my beloved Pearl Jam and the whole grunge thing garbage, but which they said was totally different from when my grandparents said the same thing about the Beatles and Led Zeppelin and…</p>
<p>I remember my first visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (which for some weird reason nobody quite understands is located in Cleveland) and I saw a t-shirt that said, “If it’s too loud, you’re too old.” That t-shirt is what comes to mind whenever somebody complains about music. Like when my parents called my beloved Pearl Jam and the whole grunge thing garbage, but which they said was totally different from when my grandparents said the same thing about the Beatles and Led Zeppelin and Woodstock. But I digress, as these days most of the local complaining I hear comes from folks whining about the use of headphones while running.</p>
<p>I love music, and I listen to it the majority of the time I’m out running. Covering huge distances on limited talent and skill, I often need something to take my mind off the pain and suffering. Sometimes I find myself on very popular trails, and I’ll be so zoned out I’ll forget there are actually other human beings in the world, and I’ll get in their way. This leads to snide little glances and comments from the non-headphone crowd, as if to say I’m a horrible person since someone’s descent from the top of the W’s will now be a whole two seconds slower. I don’t own the trail, so I don’t expect everyone else out there to abide by my personal preferences. Sometimes that might be too much to ask in return, I guess.</p>
<p>Anyhow, the Garden is in the rearviewmirror, and the summer racing season is really heating up now. We have some locals running the Western States 100 this weekend, good luck to Wes Thurman and Chris Rozmarin. Also have a bunch of guys from Team CRUD headed down to the San Juan Mountains for the Lake City 50. Lake City will be my last big training run of the season, soon I’ll have to drop the training excuse and actually put up with some misery during races. Thankfully, I’ll have my music to take some of that suffering away.</p>daily racing and awesome facial hairtag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-06-11:5021591:BlogPost:3345392012-06-11T21:25:40.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>Such a fantastic weekend of running! With all due respect to the winter sports crowd (I hate being cold and don’t even like to get out of bed if there is snow on the ground) this is by far the best time of the year to live on the Front Range.</p>
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<p>Friday after work I made the short drive up to Lewis-Palmer high school for an all-comers track meet. My first track race in over 15 years, I attempted the 1500m/3000m double. Forgot how painful racing on the track can be, but now…</p>
<p>Such a fantastic weekend of running! With all due respect to the winter sports crowd (I hate being cold and don’t even like to get out of bed if there is snow on the ground) this is by far the best time of the year to live on the Front Range.</p>
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<p>Friday after work I made the short drive up to Lewis-Palmer high school for an all-comers track meet. My first track race in over 15 years, I attempted the 1500m/3000m double. Forgot how painful racing on the track can be, but now that I’ve recovered I’m thinking I had a lot of fun running around the oval. Ran 4:48 in the 1500 (roughly equal to a 5:08 mile) and 11:01 in the 3K. Big thanks to Coach Chris and his High Altitude Running Team for putting this on. Rumor has it there may be more meets this summer, and just in case that’s true I’ve started working on my Steve Prefontaine moustache. </p>
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<p>On Saturday I entered my dog in her first race, the Ruff Life two miler. The dog was much more interested in making new friends and playing in the creek than she was on throwing down an impressive race. Started three minutes late, then the dog took another ten minutes goofing off in the water, and we crossed the finish line in just over 26 minutes. Post-race celebration was at every dog’s favorite pub, Kinfolk’s.</p>
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<p>Of course the main event of the weekend was the Garden ten miler. Sunday morning I woke up still sore from the track, so I took an easy 2.5 mile warm up jog along the Midland trail to the start. I raced smart the first half, hitting five miles in 35:20. Gave it everything I had over the final five miles. I knew I was running as hard as I could when, at mile 7.5, I passed a good friend/hated rival of mine and could barely muster enough breath to make fun of him. Ended up crossing the finish line in 67:48, real good for me, especially given the windy conditions. As good as I could have hoped, and it sets me up nicely to make a run at a Triple Crown age group award. Hard work only gets me so far, so now I have to hope that the New Mexico runners well ahead of me at the Garden don’t show up for the Summer Roundup. I’m also counting on Tommy Manning to grab an overall award, pulling him out of age group contention. If none of that works, I’m just going to get Peter Maksimow’s beard to run the Ascent wearing my bib, and that would ensure total domination.</p>
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<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497467?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497467?profile=original" width="720" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p></p>Run To Worktag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-06-06:5021591:BlogPost:3305772012-06-06T22:56:04.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>June is when Colorado celebrates National Bike Month, and June 27<sup>th</sup> marks bike-to-work day in the Springs. That’s the one day of the year I'll pull my mountain bike out of the garage. There isn’t much I won’t do for free food, even if it means seeing the mayor in spandex.</p>
<p>A lesser celebrated alternate form of transportation is the run to work method. Over the past two years I’ve made this my preferred way of travel to and from work at least once a week. No free…</p>
<p>June is when Colorado celebrates National Bike Month, and June 27<sup>th</sup> marks bike-to-work day in the Springs. That’s the one day of the year I'll pull my mountain bike out of the garage. There isn’t much I won’t do for free food, even if it means seeing the mayor in spandex.</p>
<p>A lesser celebrated alternate form of transportation is the run to work method. Over the past two years I’ve made this my preferred way of travel to and from work at least once a week. No free breakfast, no special day or month, but it has cut my gas bill by 20%.</p>
<p>I live about five miles from my office. Sometimes, if I can get out of bed early, I’ll add a mile or two to the morning run, usually taking about an hour to get to work. The trip home is when it gets fun, as I can easily cut over to Bear Creek Park and hit Section 16 and Red Rock Canyon before arriving home.</p>
<p>Some weeks I’m on top of things logistically, and I’ll bring my clothes to the office a day early. But the usual routine is to just throw everything needed for the day into a backpack. I just tell myself that the extra weight is good training for some fastpacking trips I’ve had on the back burner for about ten years now. </p>
<p>Luckily there is a shower in the office, so I don’t smell any worse than normal. Which is good, since going without a car, even for one day a week, has already made me the office weirdo. Folks who read this website understand, but for the majority of people out there going without a vehicle is something they can’t fathom. Never mind that the work day here always starts off with everyone bitching and moaning about traffic. But as soon as I mention that my run commute was smooth and relaxing my co-workers start dropping Unabomber jokes or asking what it’s like to be Amish.</p>
<p>Anyhow, looking forward to the Garden. I just ended a 30 day period which saw me cover two marathons, two 14ers, a 50K, and two 50 milers, so it will be nice to have a short distance weekend. I think I have a decent shot at a sub 70. Even though I can’t remember the last time I ran a seven minute mile, I run in the Garden so much I know all the good shortcuts. </p>
<p>Good luck to everyone getting ready to throw down this weekend (unless you’re in my age group)!</p>Salidatag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-05-30:5021591:BlogPost:3273632012-05-30T03:10:27.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p><span>Oh, Salida. My favorite mountain town in the world, except during races. </span></p>
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<p><span>I always sell myself on the need to get to town the night before a race. You know, it makes things less stressful on race morning. They have a fantastic hostel that's still pretty cheap. It's nice to get out of the big city for an extra night. I have all kinds of justifications, but as soon as my girlfriend hears any of them she just rolls her eyes, knowing that the…</span></p>
<p><span>Oh, Salida. My favorite mountain town in the world, except during races. </span></p>
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<p><span>I always sell myself on the need to get to town the night before a race. You know, it makes things less stressful on race morning. They have a fantastic hostel that's still pretty cheap. It's nice to get out of the big city for an extra night. I have all kinds of justifications, but as soon as my girlfriend hears any of them she just rolls her eyes, knowing that the fastest I'll run all weekend will be from the hostel to Moonlight Pizza (which now brews their beer, on top of having the best pizza on the planet). And then down to Benson's, to hang with the locals. And, of course, just one good luck drink at The Vic. Needless to say, I've never raced very well in Salida.</span></p>
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<p><span>This weekend was no different. Arkansas River Bluegrass Marathon, a flat, scenic two loop run on dirt roads that starts and ends at a town park. Hit the first half in 1:44, then fell apart and finished in 3:50. Yuk. Good suffering practice though, which is what I tell myself after every bad race (bad races account for about 90% of my races, FYI). I pitied my performance for about ten seconds after I finished, then I remembered I had nothing to do the rest of the day except enjoy the bluegrass festival that was about to start. I can also report that I continued my tradition of trading my finisher medal to the bartender at The Vic for a PBR. </span></p>
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<p><span>Training continues to go well. Made my first trip up Pikes today (Tuesday). Ran to Barr Camp, then hiked the rest of the way to the donut line. 3:47 up, 6:15 round trip, not counting the half hour I spent goofing off on the summit. Pretty happy with the ascent given the lack of effort. Struggled pretty heavily above 13,000 feet, so I'll be looking to visit the high country as much as possible over the next few weekends.</span></p>Is this thing on?tag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-05-23:5021591:BlogPost:3256842012-05-23T05:49:08.000ZJon Teisherhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie
<p>The disappointment over not being picked for the Kenyan Olympic marathon team (it was political!) has been eased a bit by my selection to the PikesPeakSports.us Triple Crown Running Team. This will be my first time running the full series, although I've done each race in the past so I know what I'm in for.</p>
<p>The Triple Crown races are a huge challenge for me in a different way. I'm currently training for my fourth <a href="http://hardrock100.com/" target="_blank">Hardrock</a>. Within…</p>
<p>The disappointment over not being picked for the Kenyan Olympic marathon team (it was political!) has been eased a bit by my selection to the PikesPeakSports.us Triple Crown Running Team. This will be my first time running the full series, although I've done each race in the past so I know what I'm in for.</p>
<p>The Triple Crown races are a huge challenge for me in a different way. I'm currently training for my fourth <a href="http://hardrock100.com/" target="_blank">Hardrock</a>. Within the past month I've run a 100K in Kansas, a road marathon in New Jersey, and two mountain 50 milers - Quad Rock in Fort Collins and Jemez Mountain in Los Alamos, NM. Sounds impressive, but at the Triple Crown folks expect me to average under 15 minutes a mile. That's some crazy track speed compared to the glorified hiking I spend most of my time doing. I once passed out for four hours at a Hardrock aid station. I don't think that would go over too well at the Garden.</p>
<p>It might sound like I race a lot. While I do go to a lot of races, rarely do I throw down an actual race effort. I don't have the discipline to do the long runs I need for the ultra stuff, but after I've paid big bucks for an event I can usually count on showing up and finishing. "Time on your feet," as they say, and for me all the garbage miles eventually pay off. The plan this year is to race three times - Hardrock, Pikes Peak, and the New York City Marathon. I'll give a decent effort at the other Triple Crown races so Tim doesn't yell at me, but other than that it's all about being outside and having fun and adding to my huge collection of running t-shirts.</p>
<p>The training I'm currently doing should set me up for a good Ascent. I've been shooting for a sub three on that mountain since 2005, when I dropped a 3:29 while living at sea level in Austin, TX. I figured 2:59 would be cake once I moved to Old Colorado City in 2006, but things haven't quite worked out that way. I've run well at the Garden and Roundup in the past, but for some reason Pikes continues to put me in my place.</p>
<p>Big running weekend coming up. Good luck to everyone headed to the Boulder Bolder, one of my favorite races. I once finished that 10K on the wrong side of two hours and later got a post card saying, "congratulations, only 38,000+ runners beat you!" I'll be with a group down in Salida for the Arkansas River Bluegrass Marathon. Sounds rough, but when your #1 goal is to conserve yourself for the post-race bluegrass festival the day gets a little less scary.</p>
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