Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

December 22, 2024

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Location:

Provo,UT,

Member Since:

Apr 07, 2010

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

5K - 17:11 (Cougar Run)

10K - 34:35 (Deseret News)

15K - 57:33 (Utah Running Club)

1/2 - 1:22:26 (Mountain View Trail)

50K - 4:22:31 (Sapper Joe)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Sub-2:45 at Saint George Marathon

Win the Antelope Island half marathon

Long-Term Running Goals:

I'd like to run the Angeles Crest 100 at some point. And I'd still like to go sub-4 at a trail 50k. Other than that, I'm open to suggestions.

https://www.strava.com/athletes/4808912

Personal:

I was a competitive cyclist for years. In 2009, after racing in the Tour of Utah, I decided I had plateaued as a cyclist--I could continue to improve, but I wouldn't break through to a new level. So, I started looking for a new challenge.

I thought that challenge would be mountain biking, but I'm a terrible bike handler. I married Catherine in January 2010 and a couple of weeks later I entered the SLTC Winter Training Series with her. A couple of weeks after that I decided I'd like to run ultras, so I signed up for a couple of 50Ks to get started.

Those first races came and went, with varying results. I was looking forward to running more and possibly pushing into the longer distances, but I injured my knee in June 2010 and I've never been consistently healthy since.

I started law school in August 2010, which meant less time for training. In June 2011, Baby Elliott was born, which meant even less time for training. But she's worth it.

Baby Nora joined us in October 2013, with the same effect on training as Elliott (who, incidentally, is no longer a baby).

I (finally) finished school in April 2014 and now I'm an evil corporate lawyer in Salt Lake. I have no illusions that I'll ever get back into the shape that I once was, but I'm perfectly at peace with that. I still have many goals to accomplish and many years in which to do it.

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Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	0.00

Sat, Feb 04, 2012

Total Distance

26.20

Today was my birthday, so I decided to celebrate with a long run. I decided to take another crack at the Canals Loop. Third time's the charm, and today I finally finished.

It's amazing what a difference the weather can make. Much unlike my last two attempts, today was 40 degrees and sunny. Other than some heavy death mud in the last ten miles, some route-finding troubles near the end, and an uncomfortable trip under the Bangerter Highway, I managed today's run without a hitch.

My pace was relatively casual, and I took a ten-minute break at the halfway point to sit on a curb and drink a Mountain Dew and eat a Cowtail. Even so, I felt pretty beat by the end. I guess I'm not really in shape to run this kind of mileage. But all things considered, I'm pleased that I can do it at all.

PM: Catherine pointed out that all I needed to do was run 4.8 miles more to hit the magic thirty on my thirtieth. Despite how exhausted and sore I was, that was tempting, so I went to the gym in the evening. The soreness in my legs and pain in my right foot worked themselves out pretty quickly, but I was fried. After one mile I couldn't imagine four more. I went to the bathroom and felt better, so I went back to try again. But I felt awful right away, so I called it a day and quit.

I have regrets, and I keep second guessing myself. I hate not finishing what I set out to do. But sometimes there's no reason to push too hard, and tonight was one of those times.

MR10 (1) Miles: 1.00	MT110 Miles: 25.20

Weight: 0.00

Comments

From jun on Sun, Feb 05, 2012 at 13:49:18 from 174.23.163.223

Hey, Happy Birthday. I'm glad you got out there to finish the run. It's so awesome. I can't imagine going under Bangerter, you are nuts.

I wouldn't worry about not getting your 30. It's not a race, just some training and it's not like it was a long-term goal to run 30 on 30 (I assume). Anyway, congrats again. I hope you had a great birthday.

From Scott Wesemann on Mon, Feb 06, 2012 at 13:20:00 from 205.158.160.209

Happy Birthday! Sat was a perfect day to do it, although I'm sure the mud was annoying. Going under Bangerter looked horrendous. You get bonus points for that.

From Faceless Ghost on Tue, Feb 07, 2012 at 00:21:14 from 98.202.112.38

Jun--that's exactly what I thought. Still, it would have been cool to do thirty, even if it wasn't planned.

And believe it or not, guys, it wasn't that bad going under the highway. I was much more worried about running across it in the middle of the day. I was afraid of getting rabies from the alleged bats, though. (I saw a bunch of nest things, but no bats.)

Also, I thought the last few miles were a bit of a drag. Do you two think the route might be better in reverse?

From jun on Tue, Feb 07, 2012 at 10:33:51 from 205.158.160.209

You know, reverse might be good. I actually enjoyed the last couple of miles though, but I do think running flatter terrain would be nice.

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