bobbycurtis-blog

[bobbycurtis-blog]

An Inside Joke

Photo by Ben St. Lawrence. Round Valley, CA. Guetapens: pronounced: (get'a paw) definition: ambush, snare or trap. Last Tuesday morning, I heard the word guetapens for the first time. Like many, I learned of this word after seeing a 14 year old girl from San Diego spell it correctly to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee. That same morning, I drove down to Bishop, CA with Pat Smyth, Ben St. Lawrence and Collis Birmingham. We did a workout in Round Valley. Like we've done in previous weeks, we went to lunch at Black Sheep Coffee Roasters. Along the way to Black Sheep, a challenge emerged: could one of us order a fictitious espresso based drink named a "guetapens" and pass it off as a real drink to the skilled baristas (seriously, they are very good) at Black Sheep? In the the age of the cortado, flat white, forte, piccolo, and double ristretto we thought we had a chance with guetapens. We concluded paper/rock/sissors would best decide who would be ordering a guetapens, in the end Collis lost, he would be ordering the fake drink. We collectively decided a guetapens would be composed of chilled espresso and sparkling water. Here is Collis' dialogue with the baristas at Black Sheep: Collis: Hi, yes, I'll have 2 cappuccinos and a double guetapens thank you. Barista 1: Got it, 2 caps and a...what was that? Collis: A double guetapens please. Barista 1: I'm so sorry, but what is that? (Enter Barista 2) Barista 2: It's kind of, like a, uh...(he's posturing like he's heard of it before, which is impossible) Collis: It's a double espresso over ice finished with sparkling water. Barista 2: Yeah, like a...(confirming he knows the composition of a drink that doesn't exist) Barista 1: Oh, okay I've never heard of that. Collis: Yeah, it's a very popular drink in Australia. Barista: Okay cool, I'll have to remember that! The barista wasn't lying, she did remember! In fact, a "Sparkling Black" is now a speciality summer drink at Black Sheep.

Although, it would have been funnier if they kept the original guetapens name, we still laughed that a drink we made up 1 week ago, that everyone agreed tasted terrible, was now prominently featured at a local cafe. Thanks for reading, @BobbbyCurtis

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Mammoth Lakes Training

I've been training in Mammoth Lakes, CA for the last 3 weeks. Joining me at 7700ft has been @cjbirmingham, @bennysaint and @PatrickGSmyth. We've been getting in some great training, having a few laughs and generally enjoying all that Mammoth has to offer in the summer. Lately, my training has been coming along very nicely. My weekly volume has been down slightly, but I've been able to get in some quality sessions. Below is my last week of running, I hit about 100 miles: Monday: 1 hour in the AM, 40 minutes in the PM, slow Tuesday: 20 minutes warm up, 10x1k off 1 minute rest, reps 6 & 8 hard. Splits: 2:56, 2:51, 2:55, 2:53, 2:55, 2:43, 2:55, 2:43, 2:55, 2:53, 20 minutes warm down, 40 minutes PM Wednesday: 1 hour in the AM, 40 minutes in the PM, slow Thursday: 20 minutes warm up, 30 minutes tempo and 3x20 second sprint after, 20 minutes warm down, 40 minutes in the PM Friday: 1 hour in the AM, 40 minutes in the PM, slow Saturday: 20 minutes warm up, 5x800 meter hill, 20 minutes warm down, 40 minutes in the PM Sunday: 2 hours solid through some hilly and sometimes sandy terrain And a few photos from the trip:

Garry Henry marveling at Inyo-Mono South Crater. We hiked down to the bottom and went for a dip, it was awesome.

Pat Smyth was the only member of our group courageous enough to swim to the middle of the crater. We were certain he'd be scalded to death when magma contacted ground water and caused an explosion (again).

Ice bathing at Horse Shoe Lake, frigid. Thanks for reading, @BobbbyCurtis

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Fans

#1 Negative Letsrun.com Guy “Maybe you should train harder instead of blogging all the time, Africans don’t blog.” #2 Family Member “You came in 15th at the New York City Marathon? That’s great!" (even though it's not) #3 Intense High School Coach “When you say 1 minute rest, is that jogging or standing?” #4 Laid Back High School Coach “So, do you get to do any sightseeing while you travel all over the world?” #5 Lively Young Woman at Road Race "I’ve never heard of you, but you’re like really fast, do you know Ryan Hall?" #6 High School Girl “You raced in Paris? Wow. What was it like, the city…?” #7 High School Boy "Woah, you've broken four, that's legit"