Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

My first run of 2012 was a mixed bag. On the one hand, I got to run outside on one of my favorite trails on an absolutely beautiful day. On the other hand, I felt awful, and calling my pace slow would be an understatement. 

Despite plans for something longer, "one of those nights" with Elliott meant that I slept in later than expected and as a result I ended up with time for a quick run up Grove Creek. I ran the same route [almost?] exactly one year ago and I was postholing after just over a mile. Today the trail was bone dry all the way to the bridge.

I'm not sure if it was the lack of sleep last night, the car time this weekend, or the high [for me by today's standards] mileage last week, but I was not feeling good. I hit the bridge in 27 minutes and change, which I think is more than 4 minutes slower than the last time I was up there, maybe a couple of months ago.

Still, I'm glad to have gotten out to run some vertical before a new semester starts tomorrow. I've set some goals for myself this year, and although they're ridiculously low, they're realistic for my current situation. As embarassing as it is to say it here, I'll go ahead and tell everyone that I want to run at least 30 miles per week all year long in 2012.

Yep, that's it. And the sad thing is that I wonder if I'll be able to do it. But hopefully things will get better in the summer and I'll be able to get back to some real mileage before the next school year begins.  

I went over to the gym this evening to meet my minimum daily mileage quota. There are a lot of people there lately--clearly, I'm no the only person with plans for the new year.

Anyway, four miles in 31:25. Basically, I ran at an 8:30ish pace, with a quarter mile at 5:30 or so at the end of each mile. 

Day three of sticking with the new plan. Four (nearly) midnight miles on the treadmill, three super easy and the fourth not so much. With any luck, I'll put in a lap up the south face of Big Baldy tomorrow. There's no snow there, so someone may as well run it. If anyone's interested in 3200- feet over two miles, let me know ASAP and we'll see if we can coordinate our schedules. 

I went to "run" Big Baldy, as planned, but I got a late start, so instead of going to the lightning rod at the false summit, I ended up turning around at the false summit before the real false summit. I had a headlamp with me, but that's just not a trail I want to run in the dark. 

<iframe width='465' height='548' frameborder='0' src='http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/139226172'></iframe> 

By the way, when I try to upload my Garmin files online, it freezes mid-upload or, even worse, crashes my browser well over half of the time. I use Chrome, but I've had the same problem using Firefox and even [shudder] Internet Explorer. Opera doesn't support the necessary plugin, so no luck there. I've had the problem on three different computers, so my computer isn't the problem. Has anyone else deal with the same issue? If not, maybe my watch is the problem.

Weak effort today. But it was a long day, and by the time I made it to the gym I was tired and hungry and my legs were sore from Big Baldy the day before, so I did 3 easy miles and called it good.

Yesterday, Jun invited me to run Lake Mountain with him and his brother today, so at about 6:30 I staggered out of bed to meet Jun. As I was heading to the basement to find some clean clothes, I noticed a text from Jun saying that the new baby had had a rough night and he wouldn't be able to run. So, I staggered right back to bed and slept for another three hours or so. 

Once I finally dragged myself out of bed for real, I realized that there was snow on the ground. I thought about trying to hit Big Baldy, but at the last second I decided that the trail was too steep to be good under the likely conditions. So I decided to head over to Saratoga Springs for a solo run up Lake Mountain.

I've read lots of reports of runs up the mountain, but I've never been there myself, so I was looking forward to a new adventure. I was especially interested in the climb because it sounds like it stays runable all winter long, and I'd love to have a semi-local option for legitimate year-round vertical (treadmills are great for climbing, but you really need the descents to prepare your legs for the trails).

It was cold and windy at the trailhead, but as I entered the canyon the wind died down, only to be replaced by fog and light snowfall. the amount of snow on the dirt road built gradually as I climbed, and by the time I was about 2.75 miles up, I was having some serious traction issues. I figured that I was slipping because the tread on the shoes I was wearing--road shoes--had become packed with snow. But at about 3 miles my legs slipped out from under me and I went down hard on my side. I brushed away the snow on the ground and discovered a thick layer of clear, bulletproof ice underneath.

I picked myself up and continued climbing, but things didn't get any better, so at about 3.6 miles I finally decided to turn around. The descent was a killer--traction was nonexistant, and despite my 14:00/mile shuffle, I went down three times, each harder than the last, and had several other close calls.

Eventually I made it back to where the traction was passable, and the rest of the descent went without a hitch.

I was disappointed not to make it to the top, but I'll have several more chances throughout the winter. I think I may need to invest in Microspikes first, though.

So, this concludes my first week of the new year, and I've already failed to reach my minimum mileage of 30. I'm not worried about it, though--the reason was to ensure a minimum amount of training, not miles. I managed to sneak in three good climbing days this week, so the mileage is a bit deceptive. After all, 6200 feet of climbing in a 26 mile week is respectable.  

There's not much to say about tonight's run. I hot out late, ran a few easy miles on the treadmill, and that was it. Better than nothing, for sure.

Another day at the treadmill. Tonight I ran an easy mile to warm up, then three at 6:40 (tempo-ish), then another easy mile to wrap things up, although I finished with a quarter mile at 6:00. I ended up with 5 miles in 35 minutes flat.

Have I mentioned that my right knee is starting to act up again? Take a look at my mileage over the last four or five months. Seriously? 

Five late miles at the gym, mostly mellow, with a quick half mile thrown in near the end.

I showed up with two minutes left in the 4th quarter of the Clippers game and stayed till the end of OT. Great game. I love seeing the Clippers not suck. 

Not the best run of the week. I planned to run five miles, alternating between 9:00 for the first 2/3 of each and 6:00 for the last 1/3. But after two of those I was feeling bonky and unmotivated, so I just cruised a very easy mile and change and called it good.

This happens all the time, unfortunately. I'm not sure if it's what I eat, when I eat, or how much I eat, or even some combination of the three. Back when I was cycling I was very on top of my nutrition, and bonking was still a constant issue. I'm not sure why I seem to think now that I can ignore my nutrition and expect to perform well. 

Yet another long day (aren't they all lately?). I was on the road by 6:30 so I could take Elliott to her grandma's house in Bountiful before I went to my internship in Salt Lake, and by the time I finished there, picked Elliott up, visited my grandma and drove home it was pretty late. But I still headed over to the gym for a quick four miles, and in a pleasant break from the pattern of the last few days, it wasn't too bad. 

I'm hoping to run on dirt tomorrow, because word on the street is that winter is coming next week. 

What a difference a week makes. I headed over to Lake Mountain again this afternoon with all my cold weather gear in the car, but I ultimately decided to leave my hat, jacket, and microspikes in the car, going instead with my shorts, some tights, a long-sleeved shirt, and some light gloves. I definitely didn't wish I had more. In fact, I ran all the way to the summit without my shirt (that's right--in the middle of January in Utah).

I felt pretty good on the way up. Not great, but I was able to sustain a pace that I would describe as comfortably pushing, walking a couple of steeper pitches because that's how I roll these days. There were a few icy patches along the way, but nothing even remotely similar to what I encountered last week, and I never once wished for my spikes.

It was windy at the top, but I hung around for a few minutes to enjoy the view of the valley.

On the way down I ran into Jun and his son Tyler, who were on their way up. It was funny that we ran into each other, because we had tentatively planned to run together today, although we gave it up when each figured the other couldn't make it. We chatted for a bit and then I finished my run, throwing in a quick out and back on some dirt road to round out my weekly mileage,

50:46 up, 30:09 down (not counting the time I was chatting with Jun). 

I hadn't decided on my running plans for the day when I woke up this morning, but after looking out the window I decided that Corner Canyon was my best option if I wanted to run trails. It's nice to stay as close to civilization as possible when the weather looks like it could get nasty.

I ran up Hog Hollow, down Ghost Falls, and up Clark's. There was some harsh wind on the initial climb, and some treacherous patches of ice on all of the descents, but it was a good run on the balance. I didn't see a single person until I topped out on Clark's and found two hikers looking at the map. I don't think I've ever seen those trails so empty.

Today was my second run in the MT110s. I'll need more time in them before I can pass final judgment, but so far I'd say that despite a few flaws, they're easily the best trail shoes I've ever worn. Thanks to these and the Minimus Road, it looks like I won't be jumping on the Altra bandwagon anytime soon. My apologies to the local brand.

PM: I went out for a late 1.6 miles, just to see if I can get back in the habit of the occasional double. I ran short because I was tired and sore. I ran 1.6 instead of 1.5 because I like seeing round numbers for my mileage.

Four miles on the treadmill at the gym, mostly easy, with one at 6:30.

Three miles at the gym. The middle one was at 14:00 (finishing faster) on the 15% grade. The miles on either end were pretty mellow. 

Great Clippers game tonight. Those guys are on a tear. 

It goes without saying that I was on the treadmill again tonight. It felt pretty good to run on the incline last night, so I decided to do it again today. I ran two miles at about 15:00 on the 15 percent grade, with an easy mile on either end to warm up and cool down. I'll take it pretty easy tomorrow, because Fridays are my days with the least time, and with any luck I'll be on the trails on Saturday. Even if that means slogging through a foot of snow. 

One very easy mile just to keep the legs moving.

Grades came out today, and surprisingly (given everything going on last semester) they didn't suck. In fact, they in terms of GPA they were my best yet, although I did lose one place in the class ranking. I'm still pretty pleased with the results, so I'll celebrate with a long run tomorrow. 

As of today, I'm 0 for 2 on Crockett's canals loop. 

My first attempt was about two years ago--you can read about it here.  

Anyways, I decided yesterday to celebrate grades from last semester with a long run. Jun had mentioned that he was looking to go long, so I asked him if he was interested in joining me. He was, so we made plans to meet at the start near Camp Williams at 6:30. Since weather was a concern, we decided we would each look out the window at our houses before we left. If either of us saw something troubling, we agreed to call the other person and abort the mission.

So of course, when Jun told me it was windy and rainy at his house this morning, we abandoned the plan and decided to meet at the start anyway. When we got there, the wind was blowing in our favor, and the only precipitation was a light drizzle, so we decided to have a go at it.

Someone built a fence across the canal road right at the beginning, so we had to crawl under it, but other than that there were no obstructions along the route. And I should mention that this really is a unique route--essentially, it's a dirt road through farmland that happens to be right in the middle of a city. Along the way, we saw horses, geese, donkeys, and even a herd of bison (including a very large albino). If I hadn't been expecting rain, I would have brought a camera.

Anyways, we set into a mellow pace and arrived at the turnaround with no problem (other than my taking about 6 pee breaks in the first hour). After a quick stop at Maverick we headed south, and the weather quickly joined us. The wind and the rain picked up dramatically, and soon we were soaked to the core. 

I actually felt much better than I usually do under similar circumstances, and I think I would have been fine all the way back to the car. But just because I could didn't mean I wanted to, so when I started to notice that Jun was looking like he was in bad shape I let him know that I wouldn't be offended if we bailed early, and then I reminded him continually. Eventually he succumbed to the power of suggestion, and we retreated to the shelter of a Napa Auto Parts on 12300 south and called for a ride. 

It's a great route--one of these days I'll make it through the whole thing. 

More treadmill miles. I'm coming up with a running schedule that I think will work well throughout the semester, but I won't share any details until I've tested it out. 

Anyway, tonight I ran five miles and change: two at 8:30 to warm up. two at 6:30 to make me less slow, and almost one at 9:00. At the end I decided to kick it up to 5:00 for 0.2. I might have kept it up longer, but I was afraid I might fall off the back of the treadmill.  

Score one for Gold's Gym in Orem.

After hearing Catherine tell me about the new treadmills with their extreme incline I knew I had to check them out. And they're everything I've ever wanted and more, at least out of a treadmill. The key feature is that the incline ranges from -3 to 30 percent. That means I can log some Grandeur-style vertical and train my legs to run downhill, all indoors. Sweet.

So, for today's workout I jogged a mile at 8:30 to warm up, then I put the incline through the paces by cranking it up to 30 percent for a mile. I tried to do the whole thing at 3 miles per hour, but that was pretty rough, so I slowed down to 2.5 for a tenth of the mile near the end.

For the record, I really am excited about these treadmills. They'll make it a lot easier to stay in shape for the mountains in the summer. Now we just need to get a few of them at the gym here in American Fork. 

Thirty minutes on the treadmill with fifteen minutes of tempo thrown in,

Another thirty minutes on the treadmill, tonight with about 20 minutes on the 10 percent grade.

Looking back, it was a long, busy, stressful day. So I guess that when I finally got a chance to run aroundmidnight, I had a hard time talking myself into heading out into the cold. But I did go, so I guess there's that.

I ran my Corner Canyon loop this morning.I felt pretty sluggish the whole time, thanks to poor eating yesterday and poor sleep last night, but I still had a good time.

I decided to bring my microspikes with me, and it was the right call. There were sheets of ice covering most of the lower portions of Hog Hollow, and plenty of snow and ice on the Draper side. The traction with the spikes is incredible. Unlike a couple of weeks ago on Lake Mountain, when I kept falling even when I slowed to a walk, I was able to run fast and easily across pure ice--very cool. But I'm still going to return the spikes. 

The problem is that they pull in on the toe box of my shoes. Since my run, all of my toes are blistered, and the middle toenail on each foot is blacked out from where the chain on the microspikes rests directly on my toes. I've been going around barefoot because it's too painful to wear shoes. So while I love how the microspikes work, the cost is not worth it. I'm not sure what I'll do for icy runs, but it will have to be something else.  

Awful, awful run tonight. I felt good enough for about five minutes, but then I just started to feel bonky. I stopped for a drink of water after two miles and then hopped back on the treadmill, but then an ad for McDonald's hot chocolate came on, so I decided to go home and make my own hot chocolate. Good call.

Today was the last day to register for the Buffalo Run at a reduced price, so I went ahead and registered for the 50K. This will be the third year in a row I've run it, and the third year in a row it hasn't made any sense for me to do so. But I still think I can PR this year by simply not being stupid. Last year I remember seeing Byron Powell heading to the turnaround about 20 minute behind me. An hour or so later he went cruising past me as I staggered around wishing I was dead somewhere along the backside of the course. I think his strategy was better than mine. 

Anyway, more with less is the name of the game this year. I spent a little more than 30 minutes on a treadmill tonight, and I think I made it count. One very easy mile to warm up, followed by 1.25 miles in 15 minutes on the 15 percent grade, with some more easy running to round off the last mile and cool down.

Also, I can't remember if I mentioned this or not, but word on the street (and by that I mean word from customer service at Running Warehouse) is that the New Balance Minimus 00 will replace rather than complement the current Minimus Road. Apparently Five Fingers types and indigenous Mexicans are happy about that, but I'm not. The current Minimus is as close to a perfect shoe as I've found, and it's only been out for a year. Why kill it so soon?

Just in case the rumors are true, I'm looking to stock up. If you see any for sale cheap, let me know.