I’m so happy when I go to a rock concert. I do it sometimes once a year, at least every couple of years. I can’t explain why I don’t do it more often because I end up having the best time. I feel like a kid again, remembering my first ever concert in San Antonio when I saw Bad Company and the opening act was so much better – Cheap Trick. I went to a lot of concerts in high school and college.

I saw Struts perform at the Mission Ballroom earlier this week with my buddy, Jed. We met for beers and wings at the BrewDog because it’s a short walk from the venue. I highly recommend it for that reason alone, but the IPAs are tasty as well. I have to ding them for charging a $1 for each additional ramekin of blue cheese. I’d let that go but they were smaller than a Dominoes ramekin and only half full. I mean, seriously, blue cheese is a condiment. But go, it was good.

I’d describe Struts as glam rock – which describes the performance more than the music itself, which I’d call pop rock. Struts puts on a good show. They get the audience involved. I’ve attached a couple of videos to give you a feel for them. Go see them if you get a chance. And go to the Mission Ballroom. There’s seating if you want it and a huge floor for standing with quick access to bars galore.

The cooler temps that ended the week have been nice. I ran a really fast 10 miler Thursday, a 9:40 pace which is fast for me, and a 10 minute pace Saturday on a 15 miler. That’s also my longest run since the Colorado Marathon in May. It’s time for me to up my miles to prep for the Boulder Marathon at the end of September. And I think 15 miles is long enough but I’d like to run a couple of 20 milers before then. I could have gone for 20 today. The cooler temps really make a difference.

I learned a cool running tip while watching the women’s marathon in Paris today. Carry an ice pack in your left hand. Blood flows from the heart through your left hand before moving to the right side of your body, so you can cool your blood off early in its circulation. It could be cold in Bandera in January, but it will be humid and that’s just like heat because the sweat doesn’t evaporate effectively.

I have my hydration plan decided now for Bandera. I’ll drink 3 different mixes. One bottle of LMNT with 1000mg of sodium and one bottle of high carb/high calorie SIS Beta Fuel. I’ll drink that for the first loop. I’ll continue drinking the high carb SIS on the second loop but swap out the LMNT for high sodium (500mg) Precision Fuel. PF has a bit less electrolytes than LMNT but is still on the high end while it contains a higher dose of calories, closer to what SIS has. PF is a super good blend of high calories and high electrolytes. Swapping out LMNT for PF will give me some diversity in taste. I’ll be able to drink Tailwind at the aid stations which is another good drink and one I know I do well with.

I have a short list of gels to fuel with, that I know don’t cause me GI distress, and I’ll have a more diverse mix of those. I want to avoid super sticky gels because that really irritates me. The empty packets make a mess out of my vest and hands. SIS Beta Fuel gels and Maurten gels will be on that short list. Maybe Santa Madre, they have a hugely diverse assortment and I like their jelly bars – they’re not sticky and also not as dense as gummy bears which don’t digest easily for me. I’ll eat some natural foods at the aid stations. I’m a big fan of oranges.

I would have run on the track today but Karen and I got in a mountain trail hike instead. The air felt so good up along the Indian Peaks. We got in an hour on the Middle St. Vrain Trail. It’s an area we typically snow shoe, about 45 minutes from our house.

This is me today, running on the track. I intend to run 400 meter intervals for the month of August to improve my cadence and stride length before the Boulder Marathon at the end of September. I ran 4x400s today and I’ll add one more interval each Sunday until I reach 8, which is what I used to run in college, 8x400s.

This was me on the track in college, forty years ago. I don’t expect my stride length to get to where it was then, but a boy can dream.

Today was my first track day in a good decade. I didn’t time myself but I ran a few 400 meter laps at about 80% full speed – resting for a minute interval in between. Running track is hard. My goal was less conditioning and more training to run with a faster form. It felt good. I increased my normal cadence from 170 to 200 steps per minute and my stride length from .9 to 1.3 meters.

Karen took me to Estes Park for a mountain getaway. This photo was taken at the Stanley Hotel. If you look closely, you can see my broken shoulder on the right, stage left. There’s a noticable bump.

We hiked a bit together, and walked around town, but Sunday morning was me time. I got in six miles running up Deer Mountain. I ran slow but felt really good about my trail legs. The trail wasn’t overly steep, a bit rocky in spots, but totally runnable. I’m still a bit gun shy after my tumble on the trail last November, but surprised myself by running strong downhill.

I’m looking forward to a good summer of trail running. I thought losing weight would make me faster and it hasn’t. Running is certainly more comfortable at 170 pounds. I hope to learn how to run fast again. My next two planned events are the Boulder Marathon in late September and the Bandera 100K in January.

When Margot said, “Let’s go for a walk,” she didn’t mean in the stroller. She meant walk.

Margot walked by tons and tons of flowers that were taller than her.

Margot walked by blue flowers.

Margo saw flowers in trees.

And she walked by flowers in the neighbor’s garden.

Her favorite flowers were the roses.

My most nostalgic memories and feelings hit me in a Southern rain. I know it can rain hard in the South, but my memories center on the softness of a Southern rain. I moved to Texas as a boy in the mid-seventies and for the first two weeks it rained non-stop for 14 straight days. They said it was a record at the time. I got into running and spent countless hours running in the rain. I remember those runs as always so comfortable.

I ran a final time in Ashville today around the Hard Times Loop Trail. I ran for a mile or so with another man about my age. My pace dropped from 11.5 minutes to 9.5 uphill. We had a good chat. Afterward, Karen and I hit the Malaprops Bookstore. She picked up a mystery and I found a couple of reads that I enjoyed later on our porch while the rain came down. Nothing better than sitting in a Southern rain.

Pick your path in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Any path. There are countless, tree-covered paths to run through the woods and hills around Ashville, NC. Nearly everyone Karen and I bothered for conversation mentioned how Ashville reminded them of Boulder, Colorado. Guess where we’re from, we would respond in unison, just like when our kids ask us anything. We’ve been married too long.

I ran the Hard Times Loop this morning, about 15 minutes south of our stay at the Cedar Crest Inn on Biltmore Ave.

I have to say, flowers were few and far between all the greenery. The trails around Ashville are green. This loop with graceful slopes was completely covered by a canopy of trees the entire six-plus miles. It had a magical quality to it. I felt spoiled running there. These daisies were surrounded by 500 hundred meters of greenery in every direction.

The Lyreleaf Sage was equally secluded. I only saw a few plants over six miles.

The Mountain Laurel was just as lonely. I would see a tree every mile or so, except near the trailhead where they lined the trail for a short while.

I saw one orange mushroom on the entire run. I’ve always wished I knew my mushrooms. Seems like a writer should know his poisonous plants. One of these days I’ll read a book on mushrooms.

I hope to run some more trails this week. This loop was merged with the Mountains-to-Sea Trail for a ways. If I can, I’ll make it to the Appalachian Trail. The AT. That’s on my list. It’s not far from here.

I could run under these trees forever.

The pic above is of me emerging from the tunnel around the first two miles or so of the Colorado Marathon. Only 24 miles to go. I felt great at a 9 minute pace. I didn’t know it was a 9 minute pace, I had my watch set to monitor my heart rate. I didn’t know my pace until completely afterward. It felt fast.

I maintained that pace for the first 13 miles. Well, I had a 4 minute wait to pee at 11 miles. It felt like I was there for 15 minutes. My heart rate was entirely rested and I’d given up on any goals. Of course, I didn’t know mile 11 was at a 13 minute pace until after the run. I simply ran how I felt after that. I ran comfortably. While waiting in line, I took off my vest to switch my alpaca long sleeve for a tank. That maneuver likely would have taken me 3 minutes on the road, so theoretically, I could subtract those 3 minutes from the 4 minute pee stop. Whatever the time series math, I felt so much cooler. It was a smart gear swap.

I slowed down to a 10 minute pace for the 3rd 10K. I got used to people passing me. From a people-watching perspective, I have some good stories. I no longer saw pacer signs and wasn’t monitoring a chronograph, so I was temporally lost. I enjoyed people-watching. I took a photo of some horses running in a field. I focused on my training plan for the 2025 Bandera 100K. I fueled per plan, which is triple what I normally consume in either calories or hydration. I was able to confirm my discovery during the Desert Rats 50K – which brands my stomach could tolerate. That was a big win. And I kept myself out of both a calorie deficit and electrolyte debt. I never cramped, not even afterward.

I even picked up my pace a bit for the finish. I’d been running an 11 minute pace for the 4th 10K but dropped back down to 10 for the last two miles. Not sure I’ve ever done that. A bystander near the finish, a man who could not have been much younger than me, shouted out, “Way to represent us older runners.” That didn’t sit well with me. Still doesn’t. Whatever, I’m running slower now but ran perfectly to my pace expectations and it was awesome training for my pending ultra where I’ll need to run slow.