A few days after we got back from Crested Butte, I had to go to San Francisco for work. The trip was productive from a work stand point, but not to interesting to talk about. During the day I was either attending internal IBM meetings or customer visits. The meetings were productive, and we uncovered several new opportunities during the customer visits. In the evenings, I would go for a run with my buddy Dean, go out to eat, and then go back to the hotel and get caught up on email or watch TV.
The evening runs were the best part of the trip. It’s a great way to see the city. My favorite loop took me from my hotel (Hilton San Francisco Financial District 750 Kearny Street), through the city to AT&T Park, along the Embarcadero, up some - LOTS of stairs to Coit Tower, over to Lombard, and then back to the hotel. It’s a total of about 7 miles with some good hills and great views.
My favorite restaurant of the trip was a German place called SuppenKuche. The main dinning area is filled with large bench tables that you share with other dinners. Its supper loud and you have to yell to have a conversation, but the atmosphere is great and the food was excellent…..of course Dean and the boys loved the selection of beers. We just about closed the place.
And now your moment of ZEN...... Every time I ran down town, all I could think about was the coolest skate move of all time - Search for Animal Chin. I couldn't get the video to upload so you'll have to click the link.
Hannah and I have wanted to explore more of central Colorado for a while now, and we had to opportunity to do that over the 4th of July weekend. The plan was to do some camping, hiking, and mountain biking in Crested Butte It is about a 4 hour drive from hour house and goes through high mountain valleys and steep peaks.
We met Hannah’s folks, Melanie and Stoney, at a camp site just outside of Gunnison right next to the Gunnison River. Melanie and Stoney camped in style in their camper, and Hannah and I slept outside. It’s great to go with someone that has a camper because you can hang out around the table playing games in the evening and when it’s raining, which it did almost every day. Plus it has a full kitchen so you can eat in style. Stoney did all the cooking, so Hannah and I just lounged around. It was great.
The bummer of the trip was that Hannah was sick the whole time, and I think everyone but me caught a bit of what she had. In spite of this, we still had fun and got out for a pretty group ride up by the resort.
Our last afternoon there I got out for an “epic” ride on the Doctors Park trail. I chose this ride because I could start and end at our camp site. The guide book said it started with 7 miles of dirt road, followed by 7 miles of trail and ended with 7 miles of uninterrupted spectacular single track - 14 miles up and 7 miles down.
The climb went up
And up
And up
And up
As I neared the top I was exhausted. My legs were jelly and my lungs were burning, but the views were great and I was having a great time. The trail hits the peak of the mountain and immediately starts descending. 100 yards into the decent the trail makes a sharp right over a log bridge crossing a small creek. The logs were wet and slippery and I hit them going pretty fast. I turned my wheel, but kept going straight. When I hit the other side of the bridge I went over the handle bars and rolled a few times. Luckily the ground was soft so I didn’t get hurt, but my front tire came off my rim. Normally this wouldn’t be that big of a deal but as soon as I got up I was accosted by mosquitoes – the worst mosquitoes I’ve ever encountered, and I’m from Alaska! They were so bad that I couldn’t sit in one place for more than 30 seconds. I had to try and repair my wheel while walking back and forth. To make matters worse I had a few other mechanical challenges, but I was able to sort them out. At one point I thought I was going to have to walk down which would have stunk because the best part of the ride was going down!! Anyway, I got everything fixed and had a great ride down.
All in all, the entire trip was great. We exercised in beautiful country and got away from the daily grid for a bit. We plan to go back this fall to do some more exploring.
One of the tricks I use when I run is to try and let my mind wonder. I try and think about anything other than the pain I’m feeling at the moment. During these times I’ve come up with some of the funniest blog posts ever conceived of….unfortunately when I actually start to type them out they don’t have the flair they had in my mind. I feel like my uncle Parley who once said that he once woke up in the middle of the night because he had dreamed the funniest joke and wanted to get it down on paper. He said “I was going to make the whole world laugh.” Unfortunately for him, upon reading the joke the next morning he realized that it was just gibberish. It must run in the family.
Trip to Utah
A few weeks ago Hannah and I flew out to Utah to attend her sister Sunny’s wedding reception/bbq. Due to my work schedule the trip was a bit rushed, and I was afraid that it was going to feel that way, but trip was actually quite relaxing. Stoney picked us up from the Airport and we went straight to American Fork Canyon for a bit of exercise and sight seeing. When Hannah and Stoney learned that I had never been to Timp Cave, they chastised me (I’m sure David would have as well) and told me that I was taking the tour. The cave is about a two miles up from the canyon floor. The views from the trail is beautiful and very distinctly Utah. The cave itself was amazing.
The rest of the trip was spent going to the bbq, playing with Jack and Lily, visiting with family, and relaxing. It was perfect.
Races
We got back from Utah Sunday night. Monday morning Hannah and I woke up early and drove to Boulder for my first race of the season. The Bolder Boulder is a 10k that winds its way through the streets of Boulder. This year 55,000 people participated. It’s not a serious race for most, but I really enjoy it. People run in costumes, people run with their kids, Boulderites line the streets playing music and offering runners everything from burritos to beer bongs to greasy bacon. It’s a great time.
Two weeks after the Bolder Boulder I participated in a sprint road triathlon (500 meter swim in the pool, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run). My goal for the race was to have fun, practice transitions, and practice going at racing effort. Again, I had a blast. Road tri’s are a lot easer than Xterras! Two weeks after the road tri, I did Xterra Buffalo Creek (1 mile swim, 20 mile mountain bike, 5 mile trail run). Last year I didn’t finish this race because I was kicked in the head during the swim. This year the swim was the best part of my race. The bike and run were ok. I have some work to do for future races, but I gave it all I had so I’m happy about that. The real bummer of the day was that Hannah wasn’t there. She was taking her LEED certification test (which she PASSED!!), and couldn’t make it. The race wasn’t the same with out her.
Next week Hannah and I are meeting up with Stoney and Melanie at Crested Butte for a fun filled 4th of July. I also have one more Xterra in August and I’m thinking about participating in two more. Don’t really have much else to say. Kind of boring to write about, but life for the Petersen’s is great.
And now your moment of ZEN…..
Hannah riding Stoneys recumbent bike. To learn about what type of person rides a recumbent, check out what the “Fat Cyclist” has to say. The whole article is pretty funny if you’re a cyclist.
I wanted to make a quick post about our trip to Fruita CO last week end.
I’ve had the hankering to go camping ever since spring started to….spring, so Hannah and I packed up the Subaru and headed to Fruita. Fruita is about an hour and a half East of Moab and has the growing reputation of being another mountain biking Mecca.
We drove down early Friday morning with the intention of finding a camping spot then doing some riding. When we got to the only camping site I knew of, it was full. I knew there had to be other camping around, but it was getting late and we wanted to get a ride in before it got dark, so we decided to ride first and find a camping spot later.
The plan was to ride a two loop trail system that was moderately technical and had great views of the Colorado River (Mary’s Loop and Horse Thief Loop). I wasn’t really expecting too much, but was really impressed. The trail is super fast, fun, and the views were spectacular. Hannah really stepped up her riding and was taking the steps and drops like a pro. I was really proud of her.
After the ride we were both tired and the only places we found to camp were scrub brush fields, so we opted to get a hotel. We stayed in the over priced LaQuinta Inn, and I got flea bites all over my legs. Never again. Oh well, we had a good time anyway.
The next day we went rode the Western Rim trail which is a 20 mile lollypop trail (out and back with a loop at the end). The out and back wasn’t too exciting (still fun though), but the rim was amazing. (Stoney, we kept saying that you would love this ride). After the Western Rim, we drove back to Denver, and got home at about 10:00.
All in all the trip was great, and well worth the drive. We are planning on doing a few more trip this spring and some more in the fall.
Here is a video of one of the obstacles on the Western Rim. As always it looked scarier from the top :)
And now your moment of ZEN…..
This little gem came from an awkward family photo web site that my buddy The Doze found. The picture is funny, but the comment under the picture “Wilford Chivalry” kills me.
Humm…..lets see my last post was in November of 08 so it’s been about six months.I’d say it’s time for another post.
Both Hannah and I have had a lot going on.Mostly good stuff, but like most people we seem to fill up all of our available time with activities/projects of one kind or another.Below are some of the highlights:
City Garden Commercial Design
The biggest news on Hannah’s side is that she finally started her own business.I’ve been urging her to do this for a while, but the timing has been off.The timing is still off, but we figured that if she didn’t do it now, she’d never do it.If you don’t know what she does, check out her web site.www.citygardenco.com She is off to a great start and I know she’ll do great.
No More School for Eric
My news is that I FINALLY graduated!Good Grief!If I were in high school someone would have written in my year book “what a long strange trip it’s been,” but I’m not in high school and the trip hasn’t been strange just long – really long.I’m glad to be done.The fist few days after I finished my course work, I didn’t really know what to do with my extra time.I would sit around thinking that I had something to do, but I didn’t.It was weird, I couldn’t relax.I soon got accustom to it though, and as I said above, it didn’t take long to fill in my time.
New Bike
I also got a new bike!We started out looking for a new bike for Hannah, but I ended up getting one instead….poor Hannah.Sometimes I’m sure she regrets marring me.I’ve had my eye on the 29ers (29" wheeled bike vs. a traditional 26" wheeled bike) for a few years, I could never make up my mind.The cons are that the bikes take more power to get up to speed (larger wheel to turn = more power needed).The pros are that once those wheels get up to speed they have more momentum.The larger wheel also has more traction and rolls over obstacles better.A 29er seemed to be a good fit for Hannah so we had her try one.I tried one at the same time, and two minutes after I was on it I was trying to think of how I could justify a purchase for me too.Long story short, I got a great deal on a used frame and new components through a friend of mine, and I’m going to sell my old bike, a set 26 inch wheels, and some other items.I think I’ll come out a little less then even.I took the bike to Moab earlier this month and I’m completely converted.I love it.I’m riding better then I ever have.Just so everyone knows Hannah is still getting a new bike, she hasn’t made a decision as to which one she wants.I’m really trying to steer her towards at 29er...Hannah speaking now....Eric spent all my money! I only weigh 10 pouds (inside joke between David Petersen and us). I can't afford a new bike now so I will keep on riding my old bike and wear my tattered clothes.
Moab Trip
I attended the annual Moab guy trip again this year and it was fantastic.Due to schedules we had to go a little earlier this year so the weather was a bit cooler than normal, but it worked out just fine.As usual I went down a few days early and camped.I tried to get Timmy to come with me, but he was bogged down at work and couldn’t make it.On Monday I got up early, hit the pool for a quick swimming session, and then drove to Fruita, CO which is about a 3 hour drive.I had a conference call for work that I couldn’t get out of , so I had to hang out in town (due to cell reception) for about two hours, take the call, and then hit one of the local trails – Chutes and Ladders was the trail I rode.The riding is very different compared to Moab, but it’s a lot of fun – very fast.I took some pictures but they aren’t very good, so I found this video on uTube of the Chutes and Ladders trail.I found a great camping site that night, woke up early the next morning and started the drive to Moab.I got there at noon (I took my time).The rest of the gang wasn’t due to get there until late that evening so I went to Arches National Park and hiked to Delicate Arch and then Klondike Bluffs.It was really good to get some solid Eric down time.It was one of the best days of the trip.The rest of the trip was spent riding some Moab favorites.I won’t bore you with the details, but it was great.
Chutes and Ladders:
Mark Plumbs Wheel - this needs some explanation. Mark got a flat tire on a trail and like all good friends we took off and figured he'd catch up when he got everything fixed. When we got back to the van he hadn't caught us and wasn't at the van. We figured he road back to the condo. We decided to got to lunch. During lunch, Mark called and was at the trail...He had gotten two flats and didn't have any more tubes. He taped his tire to the rim of his bike and was able to ride about 3 miles leaving only 5 easy miles for him to hike. He hitched a ride to the restaurant. Moral of the story is - never trust your friends to wait around....your on your own!
Finally the pro of the group... Vincent taking a fall. Unfortunately I didn't get any video of him making it.
Well that’s about it, I’ll post something else in another six months:
For Hannah’s birthday I offered to take her to Maui. I thought it would be win/win because she would get a Hawaiian vacation and I would get to see the Xterra World Championships which just happen to be at the same time. To my surprise she wanted to go camping in Moab with her folks – I love this girl.
We left Denver Thursday morning and drove the 300 miles to Moab in about 5 hours. The drive was great. We snacked on red vines, cookies, talked, listened to Dickens’s “Great Expectations.”
Stoney and Melanie arrived in Moab before us, and found a great camping spot next to the Colorado River. That night we ate bratwursts and steamed vegetables and played games in the camper.
Friday morning was spent playing around by the river and lounging in the sun. In the afternoon we road Slick Rock and went out to eat that night. Saturday we did a short hike through “Wall Street” in Arches National Park and then drove home.
I’ve been heads down trying to bust out my last few classes (only 3 months to go!!), so I haven’t had much time to BLOG, but I thought I post a few before and after pictures of our landscaping project.Hannah did a great job.I’ll post some more pictures in the spring when things have started to grown in. Not only does the yard look 10 times better, but we have twice as much usable space and 1/3 the lawn to water.
With the last three posts, I felt like I was kind of on a roll.I had taken a break from school, and we had some fun things to talk about.August 1st came and I started school, Hannah started a new job, and my job became really busy.The last thing I wanted to do was come home, get on the computer and BLOG…..but I want to keep in the habit, so I’m going to post some random items – hence the BLOG title.
Food
One of the things that Hannah and I decided we could do to improve our fitness level is to eat better.We eat alright, but we could do a lot better.We decided that we would plan out our meals and only buy food items related to those meals.We’re still not perfect, but we’ve gotten a lot better.I found a couple of food BLOGS that are pretty good and have been getting some ideas from them - like grilling vegetables.One of my favorite dinners is fish tacos with mango salsa.I took a picture of it, but it’s difficult to make food look good in a digital format so I decided to skip it.Here is the recipe:
Fajita size tortillas (we use the whole wheat kind)
White fish (halibut is best, but tilapia is much much cheaper and still tastes ok)
Mango salsa:
- 1 Mango cubed
- 1 Avocado cubed
- Juice from 1 lime
- ¼ c finely chopped cilantro
- Salt to taste
It’s best if the salsa sits for at least an hour, but it’s good any time.
Training
As I look back on last years training schedule, I learned a few things.First I think trained a bit too much – rather I trained in the wrong way. The over all volume was good, but I would stack difficult workouts back to back and sometimes three and four in a row.My body never had adequate time to recover.Next year I will plan things out better.I’m think of joining a virtual training site that will out line the types of workouts I do and when.
Second, I need to do more brick workouts.A brick is doing two specialties back to back.For example: bike / run, swim / bike, lift / run.Stacking workouts really helps to train you for the fatigue of a race.Hannah and I did one on last Saturday.We swam and then biked home from the pool.We took it easy, but it was really fun.
Memories
I like to listen to music when I work out, and don’t want to listen to the albums time after time, so I’ve been listening to some mixes.My friend Jon is a huge music buff and has made me two fantastic mixes, and I recently made one I’m enjoying.I like it because each song invokes some sort of memory.Some of the memories are very specific and others are references to a block time in my life.Below I’ll list the songs and the associated memories.*Note – it is somewhat embarrassing for me to admit that I like a few of these songs….but I do…..there I said it, I’m out of the closet.**Note – keep in mind that these are song that I run to, and I need to run to up beat music.
1.99 Luftballons (Nena) - This was the fist music video I ever saw and Tim showed it to me.
2.Come on Feel the Noise (Quiet Riot) – Playing video games at Bullwinkle’s pizza
3.Rock you like a Hurricane (Scorpions) – watching John Unzicker and Cory McPherson play guitar with their way cool mullets
4.Round and Round (Ratt) – Dustin Jacobson turned me on to this song after his trip to Seattle
5.Owner of a Lonely Hart (Yes) – going over to the Eakins house.Mark played this song for me on his brother Bob’s record player
6.A New Level (Pantera) – coming down from snowboarding in Derrick Jensen’s van with this album blasting the entire way.We waited 15 minutes to make a left across traffic, and everyone was getting really upset because some of us had to work that night.We finally had an opening, and Derrick popped the clutch and stalled the car.He was so mad he let out a string of profanities and punched the windshield…it shattered….Derrick was REALLY upset then.Brad leaned over to me and whispered “whoah, Derrick is pissed……but that was SO funny.”
7.Hunting Humans (Misfits) – no specific memory to this one, but anyone that can sing those lyrics in the voice of a crooner gets extra points in my book.
8.Mannequin (Firehose….not FireHOUSE) – Brad Hartman…..how does he find these cool bands?Brad was always ahead of the curve on that kind of stuff.
9.State of Love and Trust (Pearl Jam) – again no specific memories, just a time period in my life.
10.London Dungeon (Misfits) – This is one of my top 3 favorite snowboarding albums.I never get tired of it.I probably listened to it every time I went to Brighton in 93.
11.C’mon C’mon (The Von Bondies) – This is a recent memory.Jon told me about these guys, and I remember being surprised at how much I liked them.
12.Corduroy (Pearl Jam) – Hanging out with John Unzicker in the middle of winter at his and Noah’s cabin in Juneau.
There are more songs on the mix, but I’m usually done running at 12.
Here is a random photo of our trip to the dinosaur exhibit at the natural history museum.
And now your moment of ZEN….
Since I was waxing nostalgic I decided to post my favorite Alaska Airlines commercial.
I didn’t do a race report for Xterra Buffalo Creek (too much was going on and I bombed anyway), so I’m going to do one for Xterra Indian Peaks.
For those that don’t know, during the swim at Xterra Buffalo Creek I was kicked in the head, and didn’t end up finishing. I probably could have, but I got in the race marshal’s boat to recover and that’s a disqualifying move - c'est la vie.
Indian peaks’ lake is pretty small, so it’s a staggered swim. Ranked on anticipated finish times, racers go into the water every 5 or 6 seconds. The result is a nice even group of swimmers rather than one big frothing mass.
Despite the staggered start, there is a tendency to clump up. I swam with the same group of about 8 or 9 swimmers most of time and only had one incident. Towards the end of the swim, I put on a small burst of speed and caught the person in front of me. My head was about even with his waist, and I was right next to him (he was on my right). During the freestyle stroke your arm makes an arch in the air, enters the water in front of your head and shoots forward. Because of my position relative to the guy in front of me, my arm made the wide arch and speared the guy right in the neither region between his legs. I breathe on my right side, so I saw it as it was happening, but due to momentum I was powerless to stop. All I could do was go push forward and get lost in the crowd. Luckily with wet suits, swim caps, and goggles, it’s hard to tell who’s who. For some reason, after that happened, the song “strangers in the night” kept running through my head.
After the swim, we had to run 600m to the transition area. It was all up hill, and seemed much farther. I slipped out of my wet suit and donned my bike gear. As I started the bike, I realized that I forgot my sunglasses….to late now. The course is on the nordic ski trails of Eldora ski area. The trails are short, so the course zig zaggs up one trail, down the other, back up the first, down another, across one, back across another, and so on. It was well marked, but hard to tell how far you’ve gone.
The course is shorter than Buffalo Creek, so I was expecting it to be easier….it wasn’t. The course was steep and very technical. I was burned out by the end.
Not only was the bike course harder, the run was much harder as well. There isn’t a flat bit of ground on the thing. About 100 yards out of transition the trail goes up for awhile. At the top of the hill my quads were starting to cramp, so I pulled my foot up behind me to my butt to stretch them out….my hamstring cramped up so bad I didn’t think I could straighten them out again. The rest of the run was a blur.
Despite the fact that I really underestimated the course, I had a great time. There were lots of pro’s there, the weather was great, the trails were really fun, and I finished. My friend Jason did really well (he was with Hannah at the end of the run as I was coming in. He yelled, “dude, I’ve already eaten my lunch…hurry up!).
I don’t have anymore races scheduled for this year, and that feels pretty good. I’m going to concentrate on work, school, and exercising for fun!
P.S. Regarding the pictures - there all of me…sorry. Hannah had the camera. Also, I’m probably going to jail or at least going to get fined for using some of the race photos with out buying them. I would have bought them but they don’t offer a digital format. They only offered large print for $40.00, and there is no way that’s going to happen.
And now your moment of ZEN…..this is my favorite Easter cartoon. I was cleaning up my picture folder, and didn’t want to wait a year before posting it.
While I’m at it, I also found this old Monty cartoon that I always laugh at (you'll have to click on it to read it).
