Archive for May 31, 2010

Road Trip Day 1: Bishop Castle

image After the Bolder Boulder we headed for the Great Sand Dunes. Todd took us on a minor detour without telling me where we were going. I was not expecting what I saw on the side of that hill. A radically anti-government guy named Jim Bishop has been building a giant castle out of big rocks and wrought iron on his property since 1969… by himself. The top of the tallest tower stands 160 feet up! And yes you can go all the way up there on rough hand-built steps. It was really nerve wracking. He built a metal dragon head on the peaked roof that will be capable of spitting fire 30 feet! Unbelievable.

In the evening we watched the sunset over The Great Sand Dunes and the whole San Luis Valley from our lodge room porch. What a view!

Check this out: Jim Bishop’s Story
More info: Bishop Castle on Wikipedia

Vacation Workout 1: Bolder Boulder Sprints. Time: 53:17

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Running the Bolder Boulder CrossFit Style

This year I decided to run the Bolder Boulder 10k Race like a true CrossFitter. I started with a 30 second sprint. Every time I crossed under a Kilometer marker I sprinted all out for 30 seconds for a total of 10 sprints. I sprinted the last one up the Folsom hill and through the stadium. In between sprints the original plan was to slow way down and fully recover yet still maintain a pace that would at least put me under an hour. The CrossFitter in me wouldn’t let me slow down as much as I had planned. About halfway through I realized I was making pretty good time overall and picked it up a little. I don’t know my time yet but I will be surprised if I am more than a couple minutes over last year’s time of 52:05 when I ran 5 days a week for three months in preparation. I have only run once for 15 minutes since March!

Posted from iPhone. I am on the road!

UPDATE:
Last year’s time: 52:05
This year’s time: 53:17

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