Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

I planned to run during the day, probably an out-and-back from our house up Grove Creek to the bench, but we were  busy with other things and by the time I got ready to go it was late enough that I was afraid of running out of daylight while on the trail. So, Catherine and I set about unpacking more boxes, planning to run at the gym that night. But it turned out the "best gym ever" closed at 7:00, so I wound up bundling up and hitting the road a little after 7:00. I got off the road as soon as possible and ran an out-and-back on a bike path near our house (packed snow) followed by a loop around the temple for 9.1 slow and steady miles. Once I got going the run was actually quite enjoyable, although my elbows were painfully frozen by the time I was done. It's strange--I've frozen just about everything at least once of the past few years (part of training through the winter, I suppose), but this is the first time I've frozen my elbows.

One hour on the treadmill this evening. I ran 45 minutes on the 15 percent grade. The mileage is lower, but for my goals, I think vertical is more important. After five minutes I stopped my treadmill because I thought maybe the incline wasn't steep enough, but it felt the same when I switched to a different one. Maybe all the treadmills at the gym are sandbagger treadmills, or maybe I'm just getting stronger. Whatever the case, I bumped the speed up to 4.7 mph for the 40 minutes on the second treadmill, while throwing in two 5-minute reps at 5 mph.

More treadmill vert tonight, but slower so I don't fry myself. I ended up putting in 65 minutes, 45 of them on the 15 percent grade. I spent the first 30 minutes at 4 mph, and after about 10 I thought I was through--I just wasn't feeling it. But I kept going and kept feeling better as I went. I never came around to 100 percent, but I did feel well enough to finish with 15 minutes at 4.3 mph before cooling down on the flat.

My mileage is lower this week, but I believe I've gotten over 5,000 feet of vertical so far.

There were so many things wrong with this run--I didn't feel well at the beginning, two different treadmills broke while I was using them, and then the employee responsible for restarting the movie in the Cardio Cinema didn't, and I was stuck watching the DVD menu for Stomp the Yard for 10 minutes. Also, I guess Stomp the Yard was wrong with the run. I thought it was supposed to be about break dancing, but instead it was about competitive "steppin'," which made about as much sense to me as a cricket match. As far as I could tell, it's some form of hip-hop patty-cakes performed by guys in faux military outfits who grunt and yell a lot. Also, you win by sliding on your head, but only if it's in response to the guy from the other team spinning around really. really fast. Or something.

Anyways, I cut out early, with nothing more than some flat, easy miles.

50:00

I was planning on doing a second run this evening, but there was no time for it, so I wound up with just my out and back to the bench up Grove Creek. The snow is getting deeper, and the last half mile is mostly suitable only for walking rather than running, both for convenience and safety (I never noticed when the canyon was dry, but there are a few places where you could go for a real ride). Anyways, the two-mile, 1600-foot climb took 32:38 today, compared to 27:28 last week.

Also, I ran into a fellow FRBer at the parking lot who had run up from the valley. I can't remember his name, though, but it sounds like I'll be seeing him at the Buffalo Run.

51:55

More treadmill miles this morning, and it was a better experience than my last trip to the gym. I watched TMNT (Ninja Turtles, baby) in the Cardio Cinema, which was better than I expected. At least as far as treadmill movies go. I'm not sure I'd ever just sit down to watch it. Now I kind of want to go back and see the live-action movies from when I was a kid.

As for the run--10 minutes to warm up, followed by five reps at 6:00 with five minute recoveries, followed by a short cool down.

65:00

Anyone who's read this blog for a while has probably noticed a pattern of me deciding to do one thing and then doing something else. I'm just saying . . .

Anyways, last night I decided that I would run indoors today, no matter what the weather was like, because the inversion was so bad that I couldn't see how it would be a good idea to run outdoors. But this morning I woke up thinking I really should get away from the treadmill, so I bundled up and headed out into the murk.

I followed the bike path near our house up to the mouth of AF Canyon, then I followed the path (and later a fire road?) along the foothills to Grove Creek Canyon. I started up the Canyon, but I felt terrible after less than a quarter of a mile, so I turned around and continued along the foothills to Kiwanis Park at the mouth of Battle Creek Canyon. From there I ran down into Pleasant Grove, headed north along the irrigation ditches, and then ran down the road back home.

One thing about feeling awful at Grove Creek--I've felt terrible twice this week, during my only two outdoors runs. I'd like to blame the inversion, but that feels like an excuse. Does anyone know whether the crappy air can have an immediate and noticeably detrimental affect on performance?

2:21:00

AM: A quick five miles on the treadmill to start the day. There was a frozen puddle by the gym entrance. I saw a woman slip and fall on it as I was parking my car before the run, and some guy slipped and fell as I was leaving the gym after my run. Also, my first treadmill shut off ten minutes into the run. I didn't crash into the controls as hard as I could have.

38:00

PM: more vertical on the treadmill. I ran a pretty typical workout--10 minute warmup, followed by 45 minutes on the 15 percent grade, followed by a cooldown. I ran most of the vertical at 4.5 mph, but I bumped it up to 4.8 mph once I was inside the last 10 minutes, and finished with a minute at 5 mph. I think that puts me at just over 2500 feet for the night.

I was watching the Oregon-Auburn game because I was told it was not one to miss. I have no connection or loyalty to either school, so I chose to cheer for Auburn. That violates my general cheer-for-the-lowest-ranked-team policy, but sometimes the state of Oregon bothers me because of its surplus of smug. Plus, I see a lot more people running around in Oregon attire than in Auburn attire, so I thought I'd cheer against the team with the (seemingly) more cultish following.

Oregon fans, don't take any of that personally.

Unfortunately, I left at half time. I wonder how the game will turn out

61:00

Eight miles on the treadmill in a little under an hour. We ran late tonight, so I felt a little off at the start, but I came around after 15 minutes or so. I passed the time by throwing in assorted half-mile intervals. Or interval-like-thingies.

AM: Forty minutes on the treadmill before school. Five minutes to warm up, 30 minutes on the 10 percent grade (10:00/mile) and 5 minutes to cool down.

PM: Very little time this evening, so I just through in a quick 20 minutes on the treadmill. I'm starting to feel some protests in my left knee, and it makes me nervous. So far it's nothing to worry about, and I hope it stays that way. Still, I think I'll be cross training for the next couple of days, then I'll see where I stand on the weekend.

The reason I had so little time this evening is that I've joined an intramural basketball team with some guys from the law school, and we had our first game tonight. I didn't know what to expect before, but I do now--we're terrible. In fact, I don't think I've ever been beat so badly in any sport in my entire life.

I guess it will be fun :-l

As promised, I stayed away from running today and used the stair stepper instead. (Obviously, then, my miles aren't actual. But as I've said many times before, the stair stepper is the one form of cross training that I do count in my miles, given it's direct relation to mountain running). One hour at a steady pace (after slowly ramping it up for the first five minutes or so). 

AM: More stair stepping at the gym. This time, I alternated between two minutes easy (about 150 watts) and two minutes not so easy (about 350 watts).

PM: Even more stair stepping. Sigh. This time, I just kept it nice and steady for an hour. According to the computer, I climbed 320 floors (compared to about 420 in an hour last night), but who knows what any of that actually means?

Tomorrow I plan to try running again. I think two days is enough to keep my knee from getting injured, but just in case, I'll be at the gym so I can bail at any time (see how just gave myself an excuse to stay inside where it's nice and warm?). Also, I'll wear my little tendon strap thingy. I don't know if it really works, but I think it does give me a mental benefit.

I've said it before and I'll say it again--I like treadmills. Which is why I spent two hours on one today. (Also so I could bail out at any moment if my knee felt like trouble.) The workout was pretty straightforward. For the first hour, I alternated between ten minutes easy on the flat (8:30-9:00 pace) and ten minutes on the 10 percent grade (10:00 pace). For the second hour I ran 10 flat, 20 incline, 10 flat, 10 incline, and 10 more flat, with the last two minutes at a 6:00 pace. After that, I thought I was done, but I still had to wait for my ride home so I ran a flat mile at a 12:00 pace. I read that that was Meltzer's average pace on his cross-country adventure, and ever since reading that I was wondering what it would feel like. The answer--slow. Still, I can see how it would be very enjoyable to cover long stretches of back roads at such a pace. Also, I imagine you'd start to feel it after 10 hours a day for 40 days. Yikes.

2:12:00

Today is a holiday, which means I meant to get an early start but instead wasn't out the door until sometime after nine. It's so hard to get out of bed when you don't have to.

I ran an out-and-back from our house up Grove Creek. It turns out the trailhead is a little more than 5 miles from our house, not 4, as I had thought. Anyway, there was much less snow on the trail than last time, which I expected, but there was also even less traction, which I did not expect. Basically, it was too warm, and the consistency of the snow was such that I felt like I was running in a Slurpee. I quit after half a mile, reconsidered, pressed on, and quit again after another half mile. It was just too much work and too frustrating to be worth it, and my head wasn't in the game. Even without the climb, it was a great start to the week.

1:45:13

So, my knee is definitely acting up again. I'm not quite ready to say I'm injured, but I'm definitely walking the line. Stupid IT band. And, for the record, I'm not stretching it, strengthening it, or using the roller on it. So really, stupid me.

Anyways, I was going to skip running today and cross train, but when it came down to it I didn't want to, so I ran. I'm sure some of you read that article a while back (on irunfar?) about creating narratives about injuries, and I'm definitely good at that. I think my problems have something to do with running too much vertical. So I'm going to try to run more flats, and limit myself to a couple of climbing days per week between now and the Buffalo Run. If I do that, maybe my knee will get strong enough to handle more vertical between the Buffalo Run and Squaw Peak.

As for today's workout, one hour on a treadmill. Fifteen minutes flat, fifteen minutes walking on the 15 percent grade (I said I think running too much vertical is the problem), fifteen minutes flat, and fifteen more minutes walking on the incline. According to my imprecise measurements, my heart rate was in the low 130s during the walking parts. And if I'm not mistaken (unlikely), I think I got somewhere in the neighborhood of 1400 feet of vertical.

If you asked me what my least favorite body part is right now, I'd tell you it's my knee. Or maybe my IT band. Whatever. Tomorrow I'll wander into meathead territory, short shorts and all, to do my little lateral strengthening exercises. It really annoys me not to run as much as I'd like to.

Speaking of meathead territory, I've decided to get back to strength training this year. I used to lift five days a week, but when I started cycling seriously I thought I should lose every pound I could, and I've been skinny ever since. (Who am I kidding. Other than a brief flirtation with 180 lbs, I never really managed to break past 175. Which is not much when you're 6'5". In the bodybuilding world, I think I'd be the equivalent of the guy who runs 100 miles per week for 5 years and still can't run a sub-20 5K.) But I'm not racing for anything other than my own satisfaction these days, so I may as well have a little muscle, right? I've taken a before picture, and maybe I'll post it when I have an after picture to go with it. I'm only going to lift twice a week, but I figure I should be able to resemble the Incredible Hulk in a month or two. Green skin, purple shorts and all.

Today I spent 40 minutes hiking on the treadmill at a 15 percent grade, followed by 20 minutes on an elliptical. Followed by about 10 minutes on a rowing machine, because I just found out the gym has one and I couldn't resist the novelty.

AM: I'm going to be better about taking care of my IT band, and I started this morning by doing my strengthening exercises. After that, I went for a quick run on the treadmill. Four miles in 27:30. Two miles at 6:20, and half a mile at 5:30, with the rest at a fairly relaxed pace. My knee felt fine during the run, but a couple of hours later it's feeling about the same as it did yesterday. I'll be cross training tonight.

The Cardio Cinema movie of the day is Harry and the Hendersons. Whoever picks the movies at the AF Gold's Gym needs to be fired. Out of a cannon. Absolutely no idea as to what makes a good treadmill movie.

PM: More stair stepping, followed by the strengthening thingies. On the stair stepper, I went for an hour on some random intensity program. A little more than 400 floors.

Yesterday we all got an email announcing that grades would be released today, and I had a hard time not worrying about it between then and 4:20 today, when I actually got my grades. I did well enough.

As for my workout--Catherine and I got a late start, but we made it to the gym this evening. I pumped my guns for 30 minutes or so, then I spent another 30 minutes on the stair stepper doing intervals, alternating between two minutes easy (170 watts) and two minutes hard (390 watts).

I had an intramural basketball game this morning. For civility's sake, I won't say much. But one could argue that some of those student employees are unreasonable in their enforcement of the honor code. Next time I'll draw a chalk circle around her.

Despite playing half the game short one man, we tied. Definite improvement.

By the time I got to work out tonight, we were running short on time. Which is fine, since my knee isn't getting any better (on the other hand, it hasn't gotten any worse). Ninety minutes on the stair stepper doing three minutes easy, three minutes hard. If the computer is to be believed, I climbed about 570 floors. While watching The Matrix. That's a good treadmill movie. And it's funny to watch on TV--it's been a while, but I'm pretty sure the characters in the original didn't say things like "oh, shucks" and "jeepers creepers!"

Who rocks? I rock.

Pool time today. I think my knee is feeling better, but I'm going to play it safe for a while and do a lot more cross training than I used to. I'd hate to blow my race schedule before it even starts.

I shared a lane with Catherine. I tried the water jogging thing, but I just wasn't getting it. Maybe a four-foot-deep pool isn't deep enough for me. Or maybe I'm just incompetent. Either way, I'm not sure if I'll try it again. If I do, I'll have to watch some of the videos Bonnie linked to first.

I ended up swimming for 30 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of kicking (Catherine wanted her goggles back). Now I smell like chlorine.

This morning we were late to the bus stop, so Catherine dropped me off and I ran over to get on the bus before it left, but I tripped as I ran over the snow bank between the parking lot and the loading zone. I stumbled, and because I was carrying an unbalanced load I couldn't steady myself and I hit the deck. Hard. I skinned my knee, bruised my hip, cut my hands and tore my jeans. And now I can't tell if my knee is sore from running or from falling on it. I think it's the latter.

Then, when I went to Subway for lunch I slipped and fell on my butt as I was leaving the law school. Stupid fake Sanuks have less traction than a pair of banana peels. I still love them, though. But seriously, kind of a bad day for Eric.

Anyways, I spent 75 minutes on the stair stepper at the gym tonight. For 60 minutes I did 3 minutes on, three minutes off. Then I kept a steady pace for 12 minutes, cranked it to the maximum level for 2 minutes, and cooled down for 1 minute. Also, I was watching Glee.

I was hoping to watch the BYU game at the gym, but they didn't have the right channel, so the best I could manage was to watch the score updates at the bottom of the screen on ESPN. Looks like a good game. Unless you like SDSU.

As for the run, I just put in an hour, with 20 minutes tempo-ish in the middle (about 6:40).

I came up with a new variation on the stair stepper for my hour tonight. Four minute blocks--Three minutes easy (180 watts for the first ten, 160 watts for the last five), one minute at the maximum level (430 watts). The first few reps weren't so bad, but I was feeling it by the end. I was drenched in sweat, too.

While I was going, I watched some alarmist "news" report on Spike TV about gangsters in the army--you know, the kind where the narrator explains that the problem may seem small, but shows how big it really is by speaking in a menacing voice about an isolated event or two. Journalism at its finest, yo.

Late night, and I didn't even hit the road until just before 11:00. By then there was no spring in my step, and I just kind of slogged my way through. Also, I stepped in a mud bog up to my ankles. My trusty Launches aren't so pretty anymore.

50:43

A late night last night meant a late morning today, and by the time I'd done some other things that needed doing, it was past 2:00. Energy levels were low, but  ran up the bike path to American Fork Canyon, throwing in five repeats on a short but brutally steep golf-cart road, and then followed the highway back home.

My miles suck lately. Unfortunately, the time isn't there as much as I'd like it to be. Plus, I think my knee is still tweaked, although it's hard to say what I can attribute to my tendon and what O can attribute to my skinned knee. Either way, the fear of injury really screws with my motivation. The Buffalo Run could be ugly this year, but I hope I can pull it together before then.

1:25:36

I got up early this morning and went to the gym to pump my guns. I'm so buff.

This afternoon I went back and spent an hour on the stair stepper. Thanks to the scabs on my knees, I don't really know how my knees are feeling, so I'll play it safe for a while. I'll run, just not every day. Anyways, I did two 20-minute threshold intervals today. It was pretty brutal by the end of the second. Fortunately, they were showing Blade on Spike TV. It's not a very good movie, but it's just about perfect for the treadmill. I guess it's like Twilight for males age 18-35. Which is to say it's a crappy vampire movie, but instead of sappy romance you get graphic violence. (Disclaimer: I have neither seen nor read any of the Twilight series, so my synopsis may be inaccurate.)