(not a good joke)
So I haven't written anything in a while. I have a lot to write about, but I just haven't found time to sit down and write, which is a good thing.
Last weekend I volunteered at the Boulder 100. While I find the course rather uninspiring, I find the runners remarkable. I'm no stranger to the Boulder reservoir. I've spent several hours running around it, but I can't imagine running around it for 100 miles. And it isn't just the fact that it's a loop course: I have ran around in circles for a 100 miles, which I found perfectly pleasing. But of the three 100 mile races that these guys put on, the Boulder 100 is the flattest, least aesthetically pleasing course. But that doesn't make the race or racers any less incredible. I worked one of the aid stations, the main aid station, from 9pm til 2am. I met some great folks, including a guy who claims to be too fast to race Badwater, a bunch of great volunteers, and runners. In addition, I was able to meet up with a few friends who happened to be watching GZ on his first 100 mile attempt. Congrats to all who finished!
The day after that I was lucky enough to partake in a beer mile with a good group of Denver runners. I've never done a beer mile before, although I've wanted to do one for a while. Patrick posted a note about it and I jumped at the opportunity. I showed up a few minutes early so that I could warm up not realizing that was against the rules. Upon learning that was verboten, I decided I'd warm up the other way: I crack a beer and relaxed. Over the next 10 or so minutes around 30 people showed up to run. I was expecting 5 people...maybe 10 people to show up. So it was a really large group, but that made it more fun. Around 5:30, there was a count down followed by a lot of chugging. I chose to drink Coors original, and it went down like cool mountain water. The first lap was fine, the second beer was a little harder to put down which made the second lap harder. I found out at this point that burping as much as possible during the first 100M or so of the lap really helped calm the stomach. The third beer and lap was uneventful and the fourth was by far the hardest. I chugged the beer. And by 'chugged' I mean took large gulps of beer as quickly as possible. A tip for beer mile virgins: use warm beer because cold beer is hard to chug. I finished the beer and took off. Several meters into the run I had a burp and a few chunks of food started up come up. I slowed, swallowed it down and continued. A few more burps threatened to force me into a 5th lap, but I kept it down. When it was all done, I finished in 7:30 and felt great until I realized I drank 4 beers in around 6 minutes and that I would soon be drunk. Drunk ensued. And I met a bunch of nice people who are good runners from the area. All in all, beer mile = fun.
This weekend, I went running with Aaron Marks and the Weasel up in Aspen and then Buena Vista. It was great: we ran a bit and spent a lot of time hanging out. We tried to do the 4 pass loop on Saturday, but the weather was ominous and very cold. We abandoned that and did a two pass run - Buckskin and West Maroon out-and-backs. On Sunday we ran along the CT for a bit. I was tired so I crapped out after a little and went and sat by the river and drank beer. Not a bad way to spend a weekend, especially since it will be the last weekend that I can get up to the mountains for running.
Last thing, I wanted to put you on notice for a new game that Aaron, the Weasel, and I started that we're calling "ultra-fantasy." You'll be able to play when we flesh out the rules. More details later. A cliff-hanger...