Outdoor Colorado

Shooting coyotes

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:15:59 -0700

I blame coyotes for the disappearance a few years ago of a beloved pet. But I blame someone else, too: me. I'm the one, after all, who let down my guard and let our two cats out on that March morning that seemed so warm and sunny and carefree.

Midwinter fly fishing escapism

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:54:28 -0700

I just can't take my eyes off a good porn flick. Wander into a ski shop or bar and there it is on the screen: skiers flying down impossibly steep slopes and hucking huge air. Or in the kayak shop: paddlers dancing through one big gnarly drop after another or screaming down a waterfall.

The many races of winter

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 23:39:50 -0700

While Lindsey Vonn was making her mark at the World Alpine Ski Championships in France, Colorado ski races were attracting hundreds of amateur competitors over the weekend to at least three venues.

A free lift ticket for lovers

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:46:55 -0700

When it comes to finding ways to ski or snowboard free, the most unusual has to be the one coming up on Valentine's Day at Loveland. And this year it falls conveniently on a Saturday.

A virtual Outdoor Retailer trade show tour

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:08:13 -0700

I wasn't invited to the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2009 trade show that concluded a four-day run in Salt Lake City over the weekend. Too bad; I love looking at new gear. But I did manage to get a taste of some of the new outdoor products in the pipeline through the show's daily digest.

What would the doctor say?

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:39:12 -0700

I had a fun race, but I'm paying a price by being slammed again by a bug that had seemed to be slowly dissipating. So if you've ever asked yourself, should I run, ski, exercise when I have a cold? The answer this time at least should have been an emphatic NO!

Running and thinking

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:03:48 -0700

Maybe it was the annual January arrival of the mail-in application form, but something put my mind on the Leadville Trail 100 as I went for a jog Tuesday. Mostly I was thinking about how differently I feel about cold-weather running now than I did four years ago as I began training for the race.

Ringing in the New Year on skis

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:15:31 -0700

The Rocky landing on your doorstep this morning is full of suggestions for New Year's Eve. Most involve bars and entertainers. Backcountry skier Pete Swenson has a different idea; Put on skis and a headlamp and climb 1,200 feet through the snow.

Over the hill and through the halfpipe

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 23:53:12 -0700

While the TV cameras were focused on the pros in the Winter Dew Tour's debut at Breckenridge on Saturday, just over the mountain at Keystone a bunch of citizen racers braved a cold day to kick off the Teamski season.

Winter heats up

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:05:36 -0700

I launched my personal opening day of the ski season Friday with a trip to Copper Mountain and a lesson from my favorite racing coach, Ron Emery.

Between running and skiing, a little browsing

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:50:00 -0700

In this 'tweener season, I've been bouncing back and forth between running and skiing - doing a little of the former and planning for the latter. Now that some real snow has fallen in the high country, I'll soon reverse that formula.

A time to kick back and pray for snow

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:24:36 -0700

Fall is a great time for winding down. The road and trail races are done and skiing hasn't really started yet. Except for the diehards, of course: For runners there's the Winter Distance Series or some other event to train for, and the skiers and boarders are already carving tracks on artificial snow.

But I prefer to wait for more of nature's flakes to pile up and to give my body a chance to heal from the micro muscle tears and other stresses of marathon running.

From California to New York on foot

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:22:30 -0700

Just a few hours before an eagerly watching nation and world would learn Tuesday night that Barack Obama had been elected the next president of the United States, another milestone was reached much more quietly. Idaho Springs resident Marshall Ulrich, 57, completed his run across America.

Is it harder to run? Or harder to quit?

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:03:32 -0700

I was feeling pretty pleased with myself for running two marathons in two weeks, but then I checked on Marshall Ulrich and his Running America 08 quest. Ulrich has been running the equivalent of two-plus marathons a day, and doing it day after day after day.

Running two marathons in two weeks

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:02:33 -0700

On most levels I have nothing in common with Kenyan Jynocel Basweti. He's an elite runner who won the Denver Marathon on Sunday in 2 hours, 22 minutes, 13 seconds. I'm a plodder who finished the same race in 4:29:15. Basweti's pace of 5 minutes, 25 seconds per mile was nearly twice the speed of my 10:16 pace. He's 21; I'm 60.

But we do have this in common: We both ran marathons close together - three weeks apart for Basweti and just two weeks apart for me.

Click here to see a video of the marathon.

Click here to view a slide show of the marathon.