Salida, And then...

Updates - because jt is threatening to do something retarded like refuse to let me live in Manitou if I don't update my blog.

St Patrick's Day weekend. Landed in Denver on Thu, got my car and hit Manitou just in time to meet brownie for lunch and beers at Trinity Brewing Company. I spent the rest of the afternoon tooling around in Manitou prospecting living quarters.

Met $100 at her house and we headed to some divey bar across the road from her house for beers until jt could join us, then on to downtown Colorado Springs for a quickie martini. I tried some Knob Creek thing named the KnobGobbler or some crazy shit like that. I should have stuck to the Gin...

Joe Bonamassa in a symphony hall. Hmmm. Still - show rocked - he always does, but I miss him in his jeans standing 6 feet in front of me and my beers on the stage so I can dance.

Friday $100 and I shopped for a green dress for the Kimchi 150th among other things until we could convince jt to accompany us to Salida. Moonlight pizza here we come! Beers after in a couple of the bars in Salida before we all crashed.

Saturday - Marathon Day! My first mountain marathon! Actually, it's my 2nd marathon ever and the first one was on total dirt trail up at Lake Texoma. This one started later than what I'm used to and it was kinda weird leaving the hotel in actual daylight.

Run starts just outside downtown Salida and takes off up a dirt road. We actually jump on a little 2ish mile section of asphalt, which makes me curse jt. I HATE running on the road. We regain the dirt road and wind upwards - Every turn you see more mountain range and it's all snow covered. By the time we get to the turn-around in Turret they are 3/4th of the horizon. Awesome Sight!

Katie is kicking my ass up teh hill, but at least I can see her most of the time. We leave the last aid station on the way up and make Turret together. She pulls ahead again on the way down, but wait for me at the trail cut-off. The last 9 miles is on single track mtb trail - MUCH more to my taste. Now I'm actually having fun. I was getting pretty tired, a combination of altitude maybe? and 4 weeks off my first 50 miler, but once we hit the trail I felt much better.

The views are stupendous and I have to stop and look on occasion. The weather was perfect. Sun shining, great temps - I'm sweating but not a lot and there's frozen mud and ice on the trail. ha! I think that rocks.

We wind our way down and hit the dirt road again about 1.5 miles out. Now you get to see the finish and town and it looks freaking forever far away. Katie and I are pretty much over it now and she notes how different this is from last year where she was trudging through snow and sleet. Thank god.

6 hours and 17 minutes after we started, jt is handing us a PBR 10 feet from the finish line and we cross with them in hand. The volunteers - mostly an older crowd - think this is hilarious and one older woman comments to me - Dang that beer smells so good! Funny - I could tell she wanted one but said no when I offered.

WHooo hoooo! I sat my happy ass in the Arkansas (?) river for about 15 minutes. I make my way back up the hill and BOB is here! Coooool! He came from Denver to pub crawl with us later.

Moonlight pizza again! Yum! I love that place. Shower, change, drink, and it's off to the pub crawl. There's 7-8 of us and we make the rounds of the bars in Salida. Well, 5 of them anyway. Salida is such a great little town.

When we get to the last bar, Victoria Tavern, there's a really good band playing. The keyboard guy is from Leftover Salmon. Our numbers are down to 5ish and finish the evening dancing and still drinking. Finally everybody but jt is ready to crash so we leave him there and go back to the hotel.

Katie and I are discussing going back after him when he shows up at the hotel. In the po-po car. Apparently they saw him running along on the way to the hotel and gave him a ride. Retard, I swear.

Fantastic day! I said they'd have to really twist my arm next year because of the dirt road part, but apparently I'm too stoopid to retain how painful I thought that was at the time and I'm pretty sure I'll be there next year.