Bergen Peak

Running up hill in snow is not easy. That is something I learned this morning as I ran Bergen Peak. While I've run this peak numerous times over the years, never had I taken it on during the middle of winter. With Yak Traks in bag, I headed out on a sunny, cool winter morning. I never once put on the Yak Traks and in turn spun my wheels numerous times on the ascent. The snowfall from a few days ago obviously wasn't much as most of the trail was bare and when there was snow, it was packed down oh so nicely.



I have to say, as my first real run on trails during the winter, this was a complete blast. No one to be seen for the entire upper portions of the trails. Made the ascent in 56 minutes from the southern parking lot. Last Memorial Day I ran the peak in something like 50 flat. And that was less then 24 hours after running Durango's Iron Horse 10M. So abit off my faster times up there but I'll take this time in these conditions any day of the week.



The descent was taken cautiously and finished off the run with a nice lap around the lower meadows. Some 11 fun miles in 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Honeymoon Road Trip - Part III

After a relaxing morning hanging out with mom, we hit the road. Destination Laughlin, NV. Why Laughlin you ask? Cause we didn't want to go to Vegas and I had no idea what Needles, AZ had to offer. In hindsight, we choose horribly wrong. I'll get to that later. Another reminder of why I hate Cali so much occurred along I-5 about 3 hours away from the Bay Area. Traffic in the middle of no where! Seriously, there is nothing out in the valley along I-5 in Cali yet there was stop and go traffic for numerous miles. We stopped for lunch at In 'n Out and there might have been 40 people in line ordering ahead of us. So a portion of the trip I thought would go smoothly was painful. After 4 hours after leaving the Bay Area, we got off the interstate and headed thru Bakersfield and towards the CA/AZ border. It was getting dark, and with the help of Matt, we made it to Laughlin some 9 hours after we left. And what a crappy town it was. Old greasy stinky dirty. Yeah the town had a few high rise hotels but nothing about the area was attractive. The Colorado River that carves thru there was equally disgusting. A quick breakfast the following morning and we were on our way on the 29th.

The goal that day was Flagstaff, AZ with a side trip to the Grand Canyon, NP. I'd been once, when I was 8, and Michele and never been. The drive along I-10 was beautiful, calm but long. More so for Michele. She was a trooper though. So many days and miles in a car seat and she was doing great. Finally after some 5 hours we made it the Grand Canyon. The weather held off just long enough for us to enjoy the views of the landscape. Within an hour snow was falling and the weather was turning for worse.



Worse all the way to Flagstaff. We finally got to our hotel late that afternoon and we were both extremely cashed from the back to back days of driving. Snow was falling and temps were cold in Flagstaff, but the Beaver Street Brewery made up for it with some solid food and even better beer.

The 30th of December offered horrible weather. Snow, cold and no views to be had. Made our way to Walnut Canyon National Monument before heading off to Sedona. Apparently snow in Sedona is rare yet it was snowing when we got there. The views were minimal at best which was too bad since Michele had never been here before.



With the weather deteriorating, we headed back to Flagstaff for a nap and some walking around historic downtown. While the day was low key, it was nice to do a lot of nothing.

Finally on New Year's Eve the skies opened up. Beautiful views of the San Francisco Peaks, Sunset Crater and the surrounding landscape.



It was too bad we were heading out of town since the skies had cleared but we were ready to get home with a quick side trip to Durango, CO. Roads for the last few hours sucked due to recent snow fall but around 2pm we made it to Matt's house. Unfortunately Andrea and Adaira were still in Denver so we didn't get to hang out with those two. Honestly didn't stop us from having a great time. Dinner at The Palace and drinks at the new joint and the night, for me, was a drunken mess.



Hung over on New Year's. How I didn't vomit is beyond me. Michele and Matt were doing much better then I was which isn't surprising since I'm a light weight. Finally around noon we were back on the roads for one last 6 hour stretch left on the road trip.

9 days, 3,000 plus miles, 6 states and lots of friends and family. It was fantastic to spend so much time with Michele away from home. Our day to day lives are hectic with work, family and friends and rarely do we get the chance to just do nothing and think about nothing together. It's during these times that I realize how lucky I am to have such an amazing gal in my life. So I guess this maybe not be a lot of peoples ideal Honeymoon but one I will remember for the rest of my life.

San Juan Solstice 50 Mile Run

This morning at 7am, I signed up for the San Juan Solstice 50M. Starting and finishing in beautiful Lake City, CO in mid June. For those of you who know me, this race has been on my to do list for a few years now. Ideally I would have signed up for it last year had an injury not knocked me out of most of 2008.

2010 is lining up nicely for me so far. Now if I can just finish this freakin forecast quarter at work, I'll be able to focus on more fun things like my wife and running.

Also got my nights booked at The Matterhorn Motel. 2 blocks away from the start/finish. Can't get any better then than. Then again I haven't seen the room so who knows what I've signed up for.

Honeymoon Road Trip - Part II

Woke up the 24th of December to one of those rare clear, calm and beautiful days in San Francisco. Lucky for us as I was taking on the role of tourist and taking Michele to Alcatraz. I've been here before a few times and I'll admit it, the tour of the rock is pretty damn fun. My favorite part of the trip is the 1 mile boat ride to and from Alcatraz. Some of the best views of the city skyline, especially on a blue bird day like this.



The evening was spent with the best man at my wedding, Cris Taylor. I've known most of his SFC family for some 18 years now. His uncle and aunt, Cathy and Terry had us over for dinner and drinks at their house in Noe Valley. It was also Carol's (Chris' Mom) Birthday. Also over were the kids David and Joey and the fantastic Aunt Liz and Uncle Norm. Good times had by all and it was nice to spend time with Footer's family since it's been years since I'd last seen any of them.

Woke up Christmas day in good old Brisbane with my parents. Very low key, very uneventful. But that's good cause that's how it's always been with my family. That evening we checked into our boutique hotel in Union Square. Fantastic little hotel with free wine, expensive parking and blocks away from the heart of the city. That night we saw Sherlock Holmes at some crazy state of the art surround sound type teather. I acted as tourist again by letting Michele ride the Cable Car from one of my favorite little bars in North Beach.



On the 26th, we headed off to Napa Valley were Footer's dad Bruce was playing tour guide for us at the winery he works at. Montecello Winery. Beautiful estate and very nice low key tour. It was off to Rutherford Hill, Beringer Winery and finally the Rutherford Grille to close out the day. A day that was overcast and calm and by night time a down pour. The only rain during our stay in the city. Dinner was with Cris and Pam at their home in San Rafel. This would be the last I saw of Footer and his family. Great to look back at the past few months and know that I got to spend a lot of time with such a dear friend. Miss you brother!



The 27th we check out of our sweet little hotel and back home for one last night with the family. The day was spent relaxing and hanging out with mom. Dinner that night was with LISA! and my cousin Esther. Love and so miss good sushi.

The 28th was spent with mom and dad for a few hours before we departed the family and San Francisco. I have to admit I can't stand Cali. The past 10 years in Colorado, specifically the mountains, have spoiled me. However I just love San Francisco and will always take advantage of visiting such a fantastic place. Sucka Free!

Honeymoon Road Trip - Part I

Michele and I decided a while back to have our honeymoon over the Christmas break. Early on there were dreams of hitting Buenos Aires, Argentina. Once we found out how expensive that would be after footing some of the bill for the wedding, thoughts of NYC, N'Orleans and Savannah, GA came to mind. After much conversation, we though a road trip to San Francisco, the wine country and back thru norther AZ and Durango would be the honeymoon. Not the most romantic or relaxing but fun and adventerous.

Trip started out on Wednesday the 22nd with a drive from Denver to Salt Lake City. 7 hours later we arrived to Utah with snow falling. Checked into some hotel downtown blocks away from a beautiful Temple Square. The lighting decorations were amazing.



Cold temps, heavy snowfall and not much mountain love is all we saw in SLC. Leaving early the 23rd, we embarked on the 10 hour drive to SFC. At least it should have been 10 hours. Shortly after leaving SLC we encountered brutal snow drifts along I-80 along the salt flats. Some 200 miles later the weather and brutal wind finally ceased. Lucky for us we ran into some fantastic Sacramento afternoon traffic. Some more traffic near Vacaville, the Bay Bride and 12 freaking hours later we pulled into my parents driveway in Brisbane, CA.

A relaxing Italian dinner with the family was all we could handle that evening. Oh and did I mention the 23rd was my birthday? 700 plus miles driven. 12 plus hours in the drivers seat of the car. 3 states visited. Happy Birthday! At least I had a tasty beer the night before.

2010 Race Schedule

Usually every year, I set myself a list of races I would love to run. This year is no exception. So my list is as follows:

Deserts R.A.T.S. 25M in Fruta, CO. 16 April 2010: Still up in the air with this one as it comes during a busy time of year at work. If I do run the race, I'll be leaving late Friday, running early Saturday and back home by Saturday night. So we'll see over the next few weeks.

Jemez Mountain Trail Runs 50K in Los Alamos, NM. 22 May 2010: Registered. This has been a race I've wanted to run for some time now. Can't wait to run the course.

San Juan Solistice 50M in Lake City, CO. 19 June 2010: Again another race I've always wanted to run. It would also be my first 50 mile race. I've run the San Juans so many times while living in Durango and just the thought of getting down there to run these trails excites the crap out of me.

Leadville 100M in Leadville, CO. 21 August 2010: So we'll see how I feel mentally AND physically after the San Juan 50. I'll be honest here, the town of Leadville doesn't interest me much. The coure, mountains, other then Massive, and river valley are just boring to me. However logistically it works perfectly. I can train here often and can get some friends to help pace and crew me. I'm also on the fence with a 100 mile race too. However the ultimage goal isn't so much to run 100 miles but rather to qualify and run Hardrock 100. Running Hardrock would be a dream of mine!

Bear 100M starting in Logan, UT and ending in Fish Haven, ID. 24 September 2010: Now this course and location interests me much more then Leadville. However, logistically, it's remote and I'll be all alone with little to no crew and pacers. Is that a big deal? Not sure since I've never taken anything on like this before.

Run Rabbit Run 50M in Steamboat, CO. 18? September 2010: If the 100Ms fall through, then taking on this race would be great. Love the area and Steamboat will be low key crowd wise as it celebrates Oktober Fest near the finish line. Beers at the end of a long run? Hell Yeah!

Babies in 2010: With my busy work days and Michele taking on both grad school and work, it sounds scary and daunting. But how much fun would it be to have a child!

2009 Running In Review

To sum up the year of 2009 in terms of running, I would say it was fantastic. Especially considering that 2008 was plagued by a nasty Patellar Tendon injury that wiped me out for damn near 6 months. So my races were:

Boston Marathon - 20 April 2009: 3 hours 19 minutes 19 seconds. By far my slowest marathon that I actually trained for and a good 23 minutes off my PR. But so what. I hadn't ran this far or this long in over a year. At one point in 2008, I wasn't even sure I would ever be able to run again. So yeah, I was really happy with the result.

Narrow Gauge 10M (Durango, CO) - 24 May 2009: 1 hour 8 minutes 43 secounds. I was something like 5th overall on what I feel is a tough course. Felt great and it was the first time in over a year that I felt I was finally back into a running groove.

Joe Colton 10M (Rollinsvile, CO) - 13 June 2009: 1 hour 10 minutes 01 seconds. Signed up the day before and ran this as my easy weekend run. Didn't care for the race much but solid competition up there. How I didn't crap my pants is still beyond me. I almost stopped 5 different times to relieve the cramps in my stomach.

Pikes Peak Marathon - 16 August 2009: 5 hours 04 minutes 57 seconds. I didn't break 5 hours but I felt like I ran a very solid race being I was a first timer. 3hrs12mins up was way to slow and something I can improve on. Will I do this race again? For sure since I had a blast running it.

Breckenridge 1/2 Marathon - 6 September 2009: 2 hours 11 minutes 08 seconds. Another race I signed up for the day before. Michele was out of town, it was a long weekend and I love the high country. Legs were feeling alright but not in race shape. Too be expected with PPM ran a few weeks earlier.

Blue Sky 50K (Ft. Collins, CO) - 4 October 2009: 5 hours 24 minutes 30 seconds. First time ever attempting this distance and I loved every second of it. Hooked actually. I never felt fast during the race but the past month I had been slammed by work. I'm sure I could knock off a solid 45 minutes if I ran this race again.

Bear Creek 10-Spot (Littleton, CO) - 21 November 2009: 1 hour 18 minutes 07 seconds. A fun cross country type course. Lots of fun. Lots of mud. Lots of competition.

Loveland Turkey Trot 5K - 26 November 2009: 18 minutes 38 seconds. No clue what it feels like to be fast anymore but who cares. A first place in age group gives me a perfect record on Turkey day within my age group.