Video: Pat Benson

ARC’TERYX presents: The Season 2 from Fitz Cahall and Bryan Smith on Vimeo.

After a year of hard work, Bryan Smith and I present The Season 2, five stories from a whole new set of athletes. This 22-episode web TV series following five athletes through the course of a year is available first at arcteryx.com and then as a download from iTunes. Visit theseasontv.com to subscribe and find information about the songs and download the cuts. The series begins in earnest Tuesday, September 6th.

Those are the nuts and bolts. A release is always a crazy moment in my life. I dread them up until the moment they happen. There are so many details to be worked out that it can be difficult to sleep, remember to turn the stove off or keep track of what day of the week it is. It is consuming. The reward is obvious. You — the community — makes this all worthwhile. Your feedback, both good and bad (but always thoughtful), is deeply appreciated. When Bryan and I started out on round 2, we had you in mind. How do we make The Season better? The answer was clear- feed off the energy you all put into the first installment. So we invested time and money. And committed to spending more time with each athlete and more time in the field. We feel we’ve achieved our goals. I hope you are pleased with our efforts.

Rise up. Become legend. Welcome to The Season 2.

More info at: http://www.theseasontv.com

Andy B
twitter.com/outsideallday

I’m not gonna lie, The Aspen Backcountry Marathon kicked my ass. This is hands down the hardest marathon I’ve ever run.

Highlights:
- Most beautiful single track I’ve ever run.
- Got stung by a bee at 10,000 ft.
- Endless climbs with endless descents
- Amazing weather
- The town of Aspen is UNREAL
- Well organized and marked race course

This isn’t a bucket list race, it’s an every year race. My buddy Mike Porter got 12 overall, I got 94. Very hard day for me and the lat 3 miles were demoralizing, literally. I was actually mad at the last 3 miles of the race. My fitness was average and the only reason I survived was due to Emergent Fitness. Thank you back squats.

You can see my race day photo’s at:
http://www.zazoosh.com/events/searchPhotos/466?bib=202

Can’t wait to do it again next year!

Andy B
twitter.com/outsideallday

Sorry for the down time folks, the site was hacked and taken down for quite a while. Back up and in business.

Thanks!

Andy B
twitter.com/outsideallday

Not that I would ever catch 40 ft of air, but in general, going that fast on something that powerful is zero interesting.

Yikes!

Andy B
twitter.com/outsideallday

Not the greatest trail run of my life. The weather was hot, I got lost, hot spot’s on my feet and overall average energy. The trail composition at Bobcat Ridge is rocky and loose. Every step requires you to plant on unstable terrain which wears you down over time. Good to get a long run in but I’m hoping for better performance next time out.

Looking forward to getting SHELLED at Emergent Fitness tomorrow, just kidding.

Strength: Power Cleans

Conditioning: 21-15-9

Deadlifts (185/135)
One Arm Thrusters (40/30)

Rest 60 sec

4 rounds
Run 400m
10 Knees to Elbows

Ouch!

Andy B
twitter.com/outsideallday

Today’s CrossFit and Emergent Fitness Workout.

Stretch
Warm-up

Workout of the day:
Run 400m then…

4 rounds of:
- 6 Deadlifts (65-70% of 1 RM) #165
- 12 Push Ups
- 12 Pull Ups

…Run 400m

Final time: 13:33 – I’ve been off for 2 weeks, I’ll take it.

My sissy hands didn’t like the pull-ups much and I have 5 blisters to prove it.

Gotta love it,

Andy B
twitter.com/outsideallday

The last 3 weeks have been hectic. Eating like crap, no training, lot’s of airports hectic.

Kicked off Sunday on trail with Jobe. Hot and dusty run requiring lot’s of Cytomax consumption.

This week’s plan:
Monday – CrossFit at Emergent Fitness
Tuesday – Short trail run
Thursday – CrossFit at Emergent Fitness
Friday – Short Mountain Bike ride at Bobcat
Sunday – Long run, location TBA

Also starting a food log again with a Whole 9 eating mindset. Need to jump start accountability.

Let’s do this thing mang!

Andy B
twitter.com/outsideallday

Next up for me is The Aspen Backcountry Marathon on Saturday, August 27.

Click below for an interactive map of the course:
http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/30226514

Looking forward to EVERY part of this experience. Being in Aspen, racing in Aspen, stopping in Vail, Glenwood Hot Springs, etc. It will be such a fun trip with the family, Aunt Ali and Baby Grant to one of the most beautiful locations I personally know of. Also looking forward to racing this course for the first time, really love discovering new trails. 3,400 ft of climbing and descending will be a challenge in the heat of the summer.

Plus, you never know, maybe Lance Armstrong will be in town

More info at: www.aspenbackcountrymarathon.com

After that, the Run Rabbit Run Steamboat 50 in September. Lot’s of CrossFit in the next 2 months at Emerfit will be needed to make this all happen.

Andy B
twitter.com/outsideallday

I have a feeling this is true

Diet Soda Is Why You’re Fat
By Ariel Schwartz
June 30, 2011

Whoops. Diet soda might have no calories, but that doesn’t keep it from growing your waistline. A new study finds that diet drinkers might be even worse off than regular soda drinkers.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Uggghhhh, I love aspartame with all of my heart…

Andy B
twitter.com/outsideallday

Race info at: http://www.bighorntrailrun.com/50K/index.html

Quick race report…
- Most beautiful race I’ve ever done.
- Running downhill for 6,729 ft was harder than I ever expected.
- The weather was beautiful.
- Interesting dynamic to have 100 mile, 50 mile, 50k and 30k racers on the course all at the same time. Makes you feel like the low man on the totem pole.
- Feet/shoes were SOAKED for the entire race. 25 streams, mud, 5 snow sections, crazy WET! Could not avoid water.
- Cytomax is an amazing electrolyte.
- Due to life, I really wasn’t ready for this race and paid the price. I blew up miles 21 – 24. Lost 30 minutes from this.
- My wife doesn’t want to me do this race again due to how far away it is from Fort Collins, but I REALLY liked it.
- So fun to have my wife, kids and mom with me on the trip.

Overall, raced as well as I could have, the blow up hurt but I was happy in general.

Final time: 6:30:43

Photo gallery at: http://thebrazeltonfamily.shutterfly.com/3707

Back to CrossFit at Emergent Fitness this week, enough eating like crap and being lazy

Next up:
Bent Rock Trail Race – 15 miles – July 17
Aspen Backcountry Trail Marathon – 26.2 miles – August 27
Run Rabbit Run – 50 miles – September 17

Andy B
twitter.com/outsideallday

Good Times!

There’s a few things with my health I’ve figured out and even more that I haven’t.

Stretching is a BIG gap in my fitness. I stretch and focus on movement twice a week at Emergent Fitness for 5 minutes. Sometimes when watching TV with Julie I’ll grab the yoga mat and do some light stretching. Other than that, I’m an inflexible old man. Most of the day I walk around feeling stiff and and bulky.

There’s hope. I’m found a blog dedicated to the power of stretching.

It’s called, The MobilityWod.

This blog is intended as a jump off point for athletes to systematically begin to address their nasty tissues and grody joint mobility. Use at your own risk and stop if you think it’s gonna hurt you, your spine is going to come out your throat, or your face goes numb. But, understand that you should be responsible for your own business. Don’t wait until you need a new knee. Pony up.

Kelly Starrett, the founder of the site, provides descriptions and video’s to get you loosened up.

This tutorial focuses on improving hip flexion. I NEED THIS!

Book mark this sucker!

Andy B
twitter.com/outsideallday