Thankfully, February marks the end of my lease at The Golden Nugget Apartments. When we (my girlfriend Sabrina and I) moved from Illinois to Colorado six months ago, the only two solid requirements for our place to live were a cheap price and an immediate opening. So Golden Nugget, at Broadway and Belleview Avenue in Englewood, it was. At $555/month and less than two miles from Arapahoe Community College (ACC), it seemed close to perfect.
In May, two months before I eventually moved out to Colorado, I had visited the property and meet the manager. She offered to waive my application fee since I was going to be a student at ACC, which seemed nice but also gave me a pretty sales'y vibe. When I came back in July, she told me that they "can't do that anymore." Ah, sharky sales at its finest.
But I had the money so I payed it. Sleeping in my backpacking tent was getting old for Sabrina. And a place other than the car to keep food was necessary so we could stop eating all of our meals out.
We moved in on July 20th.
By August 20th, we had seen just about every person in our building intoxicated -including our landlady Suzanne. By September 20th, I had seen two people get arrested on our complex.
None of that bothered me in the slightest, but getting bit every night by mystery bugs got a little annoying -they turned out to be bed bugs in case you haven't read my other post about my living conditions. Other than those funny, living-with-the-under-class events, there were dozens of random events that happened almost too quickly to notice how strange they were.
One night a hideous, leather skinned, 40'ish year old woman that we were somewhat familiar with (we'd seen her most nights drinking and smoking in the courtyard) knocked on our door at around 7:00 pm. She stared at me for about five seconds before telling me that she must be at the wrong apartment. Yeah. Sorry. no drugs here.
One of the most quintessential fixtures of the Golden Nugget is the people who sit on the steps all day and night (smoking) and try to make you feel bad for asking for a way past them. There's the woman that came to our door, but also another woman who wears exclusively black pajama pants and a hoodie and sits on the staircase we use most often. Worse even than the smoke, is her backside. Presented to every person bold enough to walk down the stairs past her is her dark, dirty, cellulite clinging, ass crack.
Unfortunately, not all the people are totally benign. Take a minute to read this article, as sad as it is: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_19073450 -Deer Creek, where the body was found, is my favorite place to run. And I've been living here for six months without knowing any of this. I suppose the area turned around a bit after the Englewood Police "established a presence" at the Golden Nugget. -Score one for the good guys.
The worst thing I've had to put up with since moving here has been Suzanne's (my landlady's) male "friends." Just this morning I had a 30-some year old intoxicated man, he said his name was Bull, wanting to come into my apartment to show me where I must be leaking water into the room below me. As it turns out, it wasn't even his room, and he doesn't even live here. He was just there visiting a friend while Suzanne got some work done, and in his drunken mind he felt the need to show me the water dripping into the room below me instead of talking to maintenence about it.
The water was coming from a busted pipe -not my place. And, in my assumtion, the reason his friend, the one who was living in the drippy room, hadn't complained about it earlier is because he couldn't speak english. ...
Anyway, despite all the antics the reason where moving is mostly to get a better location. We're too far from the mountains, too far from work, and too far from our grocery store, and they're all in the same direction. So we're moving to Lakewood, Colorado in a month and I couldn't be more excited.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
The Lake Arbor 5k, a brief race report
Breakfast:
>half a BumbleBar w/peanut butter and virgin coconut oil
>Tazo Awake Tea with 5 drops of Grapefruit Seed Extract and a piece of ginger
The race started with me remembering what it felt like to go fast. We came through the first mile in 5:45. -I never race with a watch but the guy next to me told me. That seemed perfect for me, not as fast as I'm used to, but about where the pace should be considering my training for the last few weeks.
I passed around four people in the second mile but none in the third and got passed by no one after the first mile. So it was a pretty uneventful race. Apparently there was a course map at the sign-up table which would have helped some since I wasn't real sure where we'd be running and, more importantly, where the finish line was. That made for a long last mile.
18:29 and 8th place is a bit embarrassing, but I finished ahead of the people I knew I should have and right behind a guy I figured I'd finish right behind, so I'm not sure to make of it. And being sick this week left me a little less confident than I'm used to, so who knows how much faster I could have run. On top that, I've been overreaching with my training for sure (six weeks straight at 80) so anything sub-6:00 is good enough for now. Next month's five miler should be at almost the same pace with decent conditions.
For now, back to training. I'm going to inject 10-15 miles at sub-6:00 into random runs over the next month which should help me get my heart used to the harder effort and put me around 32:XX for the five miler.
Pictures if I find some
>half a BumbleBar w/peanut butter and virgin coconut oil
>Tazo Awake Tea with 5 drops of Grapefruit Seed Extract and a piece of ginger
The race started with me remembering what it felt like to go fast. We came through the first mile in 5:45. -I never race with a watch but the guy next to me told me. That seemed perfect for me, not as fast as I'm used to, but about where the pace should be considering my training for the last few weeks.
I passed around four people in the second mile but none in the third and got passed by no one after the first mile. So it was a pretty uneventful race. Apparently there was a course map at the sign-up table which would have helped some since I wasn't real sure where we'd be running and, more importantly, where the finish line was. That made for a long last mile.
18:29 and 8th place is a bit embarrassing, but I finished ahead of the people I knew I should have and right behind a guy I figured I'd finish right behind, so I'm not sure to make of it. And being sick this week left me a little less confident than I'm used to, so who knows how much faster I could have run. On top that, I've been overreaching with my training for sure (six weeks straight at 80) so anything sub-6:00 is good enough for now. Next month's five miler should be at almost the same pace with decent conditions.
For now, back to training. I'm going to inject 10-15 miles at sub-6:00 into random runs over the next month which should help me get my heart used to the harder effort and put me around 32:XX for the five miler.
Pictures if I find some
Friday, January 6, 2012
Stapleton XC CMRA Colorado State Championship
As usual the CMRA put on another great race.
I've been excited for this one. Everything I found and everyone I talked to said it would have a 'true cross country' feel. So I've been anxiously waiting to be able to wear spikes and get dirty.
-Breakfast
>BumbleBar with peanut butter and coconut oil
>a small chunk of a caffeine pill (~25 mg)
I got to Stapleton Central Park at around 9:15. The sun was shining by then but it was still below 40 so I kept all my layers on for my warmup. Before heading out of the car, I drank my last mouthful of water and took about 100 mg of caffeine (half of a pill).
The race started in an open field, which backed up their 'true cross country' claim. As everyone jostled for positions I stayed relaxed and focused on keeping my form perfect and not stumbling or wasting energy in the 5" of snow that covered this stretch. -That move paid off more than anything else during this race. At the half mile mark I was in about tenth place.
Once we got to the first hill the snow thinned out and I started my race. After a few more small, rolling hills we hit the mile mark and I had moved up to 8th place. Miles two through three were on packed snow over single track trail which made passing much harder, and after almost getting hip-checked off a boulder during the back stretch while trying to pass someone I decided to wait it out again. Once we hit the end of the first loop (6k; half way done), we headed back into the powder and I passed another three people in the next half mile and started feeling like a real competitor. Over the rolling hills of the next mile I caught the guy in fifth and passed him on a turn, then the guys in third and forth shortly after in the powdery back-stretch.
As I came around the final turn I saw the second place guy ahead of me but it was way too late to catch him. Still, I kicked as hard as I could thinking maybe he'd trip or run off the course alowing me to make up the ground. Obviously that didn't happen.
But a 3rd place finish is good enough for now, and I was only 50 seconds behind the guy in first -a guy who's 5k PR is probly more than a minute faster than mine.
Can't wait to hit the training for a few weeks before the (road) 5k on January 7th.
I've been excited for this one. Everything I found and everyone I talked to said it would have a 'true cross country' feel. So I've been anxiously waiting to be able to wear spikes and get dirty.
-Breakfast
>BumbleBar with peanut butter and coconut oil
>a small chunk of a caffeine pill (~25 mg)
I got to Stapleton Central Park at around 9:15. The sun was shining by then but it was still below 40 so I kept all my layers on for my warmup. Before heading out of the car, I drank my last mouthful of water and took about 100 mg of caffeine (half of a pill).
The race started in an open field, which backed up their 'true cross country' claim. As everyone jostled for positions I stayed relaxed and focused on keeping my form perfect and not stumbling or wasting energy in the 5" of snow that covered this stretch. -That move paid off more than anything else during this race. At the half mile mark I was in about tenth place.
Once we got to the first hill the snow thinned out and I started my race. After a few more small, rolling hills we hit the mile mark and I had moved up to 8th place. Miles two through three were on packed snow over single track trail which made passing much harder, and after almost getting hip-checked off a boulder during the back stretch while trying to pass someone I decided to wait it out again. Once we hit the end of the first loop (6k; half way done), we headed back into the powder and I passed another three people in the next half mile and started feeling like a real competitor. Over the rolling hills of the next mile I caught the guy in fifth and passed him on a turn, then the guys in third and forth shortly after in the powdery back-stretch.
As I came around the final turn I saw the second place guy ahead of me but it was way too late to catch him. Still, I kicked as hard as I could thinking maybe he'd trip or run off the course alowing me to make up the ground. Obviously that didn't happen.
But a 3rd place finish is good enough for now, and I was only 50 seconds behind the guy in first -a guy who's 5k PR is probly more than a minute faster than mine.
Can't wait to hit the training for a few weeks before the (road) 5k on January 7th.
Thoughts Going Into The Lake Arbor 5k
Well, I'm not exactly fast right now -after not taking a single fast stride in over a month. And to add to it I've been sick for a few days now and today has been the worst so far. Thinking about running hard when standing up makes me dizzy is rough. I rarely get sick: running generally helps the immune system, but 27 miles in a day will turn the tables a bit.
Despite all that, I'm really excited for this one. I've run 80 miles a week for six weeks in a row now and I'm starting to get hungry for a race. Also, recently my running dreams have been reaching further than ever. I'm feeling the need get out a see how I do against runners that I've idolized. I'm slowly getting ready to take my heroes off their pedestals and put them in my dust (at least at the 50k distance). Also 2012 is gona see a new 5k PR for me.
Since junior year of high school I've been running almost the same pace at every 5k I've run and I'm sick of it. Since chasing the 50k more seriously, my mental game has gotten exponentially stronger. When I race my self-talk is always positive: in my mind every difficulty the course throws at me hurts everyone else more. When I'm hurting, the guy next to me must be ready to quit. So this year it's about time to see myself running sub-16:10 for the 5k... even if I never do short speedwork again.
As far as this race however, I'm just looking to place well (there're going to be plenty of people faster than me here) and have fun.
Despite all that, I'm really excited for this one. I've run 80 miles a week for six weeks in a row now and I'm starting to get hungry for a race. Also, recently my running dreams have been reaching further than ever. I'm feeling the need get out a see how I do against runners that I've idolized. I'm slowly getting ready to take my heroes off their pedestals and put them in my dust (at least at the 50k distance). Also 2012 is gona see a new 5k PR for me.
Since junior year of high school I've been running almost the same pace at every 5k I've run and I'm sick of it. Since chasing the 50k more seriously, my mental game has gotten exponentially stronger. When I race my self-talk is always positive: in my mind every difficulty the course throws at me hurts everyone else more. When I'm hurting, the guy next to me must be ready to quit. So this year it's about time to see myself running sub-16:10 for the 5k... even if I never do short speedwork again.
As far as this race however, I'm just looking to place well (there're going to be plenty of people faster than me here) and have fun.
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