Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

Last night I decided to run on the treadmill today, and when I woke up this morning I was glad I did. Stupid snow.

Anyways, I ran for one hour on the treadmill. Two 20-minute intervals at a 6:35 pace with a 5-minute jog between them. 

On Wednesday I misjudged the weather and wound up running in the snow wearing nothing more that a short-sleeve shirt and shorts. Today, I misjudged the weather again and wound up running in relatively warm temperatures wearing long pants, long sleeves, long underwear and a hat and gloves. That happens a lot in the spring.

I decided to run up the west side of City Creek, which I could tell was a bad idea from the start. I didn't feel like myself on the run up to 11th avenue, but it wasn't until I started the actual climb to the ridge that I decided to change my plans. I was going so slow on the lower climb that I knew I'd be doing too much walking up top to make it worth the effort, so I turned around and followed the singletrack further into the canyon. I'd never been on that section of trail before, but it looks like it might go a long way, so I'll have to go back and check it out sometime. It's still a climb and it's still work, but it's nothing like the climb out of the canyon.

Anyways, today's relatively short and easy run kicked my booty, so I'll probably take it easy on my long(ish) run tomorrow. Or maybe I'll just split the day into two mid-length runs.

It's conference weekend, so I Catherine and I both decided to do two shorter runs today instead of one long one. I ran 7.25 miles before the morning session and 7.35 miles before the afternoon session. All easy, because yesterday's run convinced me I still need some recovery from last weekend. And all on the treadmill, because . . . well, just because.

Rest day today. After conference, my little sister and her husband came over for Easter dinner with Catherine and I. We ate ham and such, and then we played a few rounds of Monopoly Deal. I won the first two, continuing my long-standing winning streak, but then Kelsey won a round, then Catherine, and then Garth. Curses!

I've been feeling pretty tired and my head has felt a little cloudy for the past couple of days. After Friday's botched trail run I've been consumed with the idea that something might be wrong with me, to the point that I planned to scrap this morning's trail run in favor of some easy miles at Liberty Park. But it seems like I'm always afraid something might be wrong with me, and usually nothing is. My legs felt good when I woke up this morning, so I decided to hit the trails.

I ran the west side of City Creek. My time up what I consider the official climb from the canyon to the ridge was a little slow (but in the normal range) and I had to walk a couple of sections, probably because I ran the initial hills a little faster than normal. I thought about turning around and repeating the climb, but I decided it would be better for me not to. (Plus, Catherine started her new job today and I wanted to make sure I was home before she left.) Instead of repeating the climb, I took a short jog south on the ridge to the viewpoint above Ensign Peak before returning the way I came.

I usually take it easy on the descent, but since there would be no second climb today I decided to hammer it. I almost fell off the trail and into the woods on one of the lower switchbacks, but other than that I had a good time.

The splits on a climb and descent illustrate the effects of gravity nicely: 13:10 (11:04/mile) on the way up, 7:17 (6:09/mile) on the way down.

Average pace - 7:55/mile

Total vertical - 1,558 ft

I had an early appointment this morning, so I got up earlier than usual to run. Despite the snow that fell last night, it wasn't very cold, and the early time and the new snow made this morning's run quiet and pleasant.

Easy effort today. Two and from Liberty Park plus two laps on the pavement, with a few quick efforts thrown in throughout.

Average pace - 7:37/mile

AM: Short treadmill run at a steady 8:00 pace. Six 2-minute intervals on a 10 percent grade with 3-minute recoveries on the flat.

PM: Went to the track at East High with Catherine. Ran six 400s: 83, 81, 78, 76, 76, 78. I was shooting for 80-85 seconds, so I need to work on my pacing. I finished with a one-mile barefoot jog. I like shoes.

Catherine and I woke up early and went to the gym before work this morning. I ran a very easy five-mile recovery jog on the treadmill. I'll probably go pretty easy tomorrow, too, as we may go down to Orem for a 5K trail race on Saturday.

I've felt pretty awful this week. I don't know if I'm sick, suffering from allergies, or not recovered from the Buffalo Run. Maybe it's none of the above. Either way, I'm pretty much taking the weekend off and I'll see how I feel on Monday. 

I don't want to push anything right now, but something is better than nothing, so I went over to the middle school near our house and jogged a mile barefoot this evening. Nice and easy.

I'm still taking it very easy today. I walked (yes, walked) up to 11th Avenue, ran down Bonneville and back (at about 9:00/mile), and then walked back down the hill and home. My heart rate was mostly in the teens and twenties, and my legs felt fine, but my head hurt and my eyes were heavy, kind of like I was ready to go to sleep.

I'll be off completely tomorrow, and I hope I'm back to normal on Monday.

One more rest day today. Catherine and I went for a walk on the trails around Memory Grove this afternoon, but mostly I took it easy. I'll be back to normal tomorrow. Or I won't, in which case there's no point in worrying about it.

I decided to get back to running today. My head still hurts and my breathing was a little labored, but after the rest I took I think I can rule out overtraining. This seems to happen every year in April or May, so it's probably allergies or something. I'll just push ahead and trust that I'll feel better at some point.

Despite the problems, today's run was a good one. I felt a little clunk at first (it's amazing what just a couple of days off can do to you), but I quickly settled into a groove on my way to Liberty Park. At the park I ran 5x2 minutes at an intended 5K effort (but, as usual, a little harder than intended) with 3 minute recoveries, and then I ran home at an easy pace.

Average pace - 7:12/mile

It's definitely spring--warm and clear yesterday morning, grey and drizzly with snow on the ground this today.

The slush on the road was a bit of a hassle, especial when cars drove past, but I still had a good run this morning. I run up to 11th Avenue via Virginia before swinging down to City Creek, running up the canyon about a mile and returning through Memory Grove.

Average pace - 7:05/mile

PM: Did a little more than a mile of barefoot jogging in the grass with Tigger while Catherine was out running. Then I went home and made a rockin' spinach lasagna.

Steady run this morning. To and from Liberty Park, plus three laps on the cinder track. It was a beautiful morning, but much colder than I expected and my hands were numb by the end of my first mile. I should have worn gloves. 

Average pace - 7:12/mile

PM: More barefoot jogging at the middle school.

I was back on the trails this morning for the first time in more than a week, and it felt good. I did my usual run up the west side of City Creek, but with a few variations. First, instead of heading out the door near 2nd Avenue and straight up E or F Street to 11th Avenue, which is a fierce little climb and a poor warmup, I ran to the trailhead via Memory Grove. Also, before hitting the actual climb from the canyon to the ridge, I stopped for about a minute to let my heart settle down a bit. As a result, I didn't walk any of the pitches and I completed the climb in 12:04, by far the closest I've come to breaking 12 minutes.

I'm still not sure how I feel about pausing before the climb, since it obviously allows me to climb faster. On the one hand, it feels like cheating. On the other hand, you can't really cheat if it's not a race, and I probably get more benefit from hitting the climb fresh and fast. For now, I'll probably continue taking the breather on my weekday runs until I can break 12 minutes easily and consistently. Then I'll work on breaking 12 without the rest.

Average pace - 7:49/mile

Total vertical - 1,474 ft

Somehow I got the idea that I should do tomorrow's long run on the track. Fortunately, I came to my senses, but just to be sure I decided to do today's recovery run on the track. I have a blister on my heel from where the lining on my Brooks Launch wore through, and it's gotten pretty irritated. I bandaged it up before running, but the bandage slipped after about three miles. After that, it was too painful to run in shoes so I took them off and finished barefoot.

Hoping for sunshine tomorrow. I need to work on my tan.

Today was a great day for running, but not a great day for me. I ate a bowl of cereal and drank a glass of orange juice less than an hour before my run, and I could feel it in my stomach as I headed out the door. (I ate Life, but I'll call this Grape Nuts Incident 2.0 for convenience. And coolness, because 2.0 is what all the cool people say. And  I don't want people to think I'm not cool. Even if I am off topic.)

Anyways, I wasn't worried as I headed up through Memory Grove and on through the neighborhoods above the capitol, but as I hit the Ensign Peak trail I could tell my stomach wasn't emptying. And it never did. As as result, I never found my stride. I ended up walking more than normal and running slower than normal when I did run. It was disappointing, but it's just one bad day at the end of a very good week, so I'm not worried.

Even with my poor performance, it was a great day on the trails. After Ensign Peak, I climbed up to the next ridge, dropped down into City Creek and then took the BST back to Dry Creek before returning home.

There were a ton of people using the trail today because of the beautiful weather. I was pleasantly surprised to see about 30 trail workers, too. Unfortunately, the pleasantness of the surprise didn't last long, because my ratio of trail use to trail work is about 100 to none and I felt like a major slacker. Despite my guilt, I appreciated that they were doing a great job. Trail volunteers of the world, I salute you!

Also, today was my first good chance to run shirtless this year. I've been looking forward to it for a while, after so many years of cyclist tans. I figure if I start now, I should be ready for the next "100 Sexiest People" issue of People magazine. In fact, I'll probably get the cover.

Average pace - 8:35/mile

Total vertical - 2640 ft

Rest day. Catherine and I took Tigger for a walk at Liberty Park. Lots of interesting people hanging out.

Despite a night of fitful sleep, I woke up before six this morning ready to run. Down 2nd Avenue to Memory Grove, then up the road through City Creek to the utility station (or whatever that is up there in the canyon). I think that's my new favorite road run. It's quiet, cool and scenic, with a nice gentle grade the entire way. And with the sound of the birds and the stream, there's no need for an iPod. If I had had more time, I would have run all the way to the amphitheater at the end of the road. 

Average pace - 7:37/mile

Same run as yesterday. I was tired and my legs felt a little heavy, but without pushing it my pace was the same as it was yesterday.

Very easy run at Liberty Park this morning. With about a lap and a half to go, I slowly overtook a woman who was running in front of me. When I caught up to her she sprinted until she was about 50 feet in front of me. When I caught up again, she sprinted ahead again, this time about 20 feet. I caught up again (running at a steady pace the entire time), and she sprinted ahead again. This continued until I left the park to run home. It was very awkward for me--kind of like having a stranger tuck into my draft in the middle of a bike ride.

PM: I did a quick barefoot jog on the treadmill and then read while Catherine finished her run.

Six miles the treadmill with Catherine this evening. Most of it was at a pace ranging from easy to very easy, but I threw in a few bits anywhere from fast to not slow. Community was on, followed by 30 Rock, so it wasn't too boring. 

Easy jog before work today. Racing tomorrow.

This weekend Catherine and I went south for the Red Mountain 30K in Ivins. Unfortunately, we didn't get to my grandparents' house in St. George until just before 10:00 on Friday, so we woke up at 4:30 on Saturday feeling pretty tired.

When we signed up for the race a couple of months ago I registered for the 50K. But because the Buffalo Run 50K took a little more than a week for me to recover from, I decided it would be better for me to race the 30K this weekend and train through it. Right now I need to build my mileage consistently. And if I'm going to trash my legs, I'd rather do it at a larger race and just use these smaller ones for fun and training.

And this race was small. According to what one of the directors told us in the morning, there were 50 or 60 runners in the 50K and only 16 in the 30K. I'll take him at his word, since it didn't occur to me to count, but there may have been even fewer runners in our race. But I like small races. They're casual and friendly, and lots of fun.

Of course, a small race usually means the field isn't highly competitive, and this was no exception. In fact, I took off at the start and after about a mile I never saw anyone again. I ended up finishing nearly half an hour in front of the second place runner, and he even missed a turn near the end and cut a little more than a mile off the course.

My plan was to treat the race like a long tempo run, and in that respect it was a success. I had hoped to run under 2 hours, which for a 30K should have put me just under 6:30 per mile. Even though the course was half a mile longer than 30K, I met my goal comfortably, finishing with nearly 2 minutes to spare.

My pace of 6:11 per mile was a little faster than my pace at the SLCTC 15K a couple of months ago, and I think I set PRs along the way at 5K, 10K and 15K. It's hard to say how much faster I've gotten, though--with 1,500 feet of elevation lost and only 500 gained, the course was certainly fast, and no doubt all the descending played a huge role in my overall pace.

Still, I'm pleased with how I ran the race. I finished feeling like I could have gone longer or faster, and I was able to bang out the last (mostly flat) mile at a sub-6 pace, so I feel like I was running strong. And because I didn't trash my legs (although they are sore now), I'll be able to get back to training on Monday.

The race itself was well run. The organizers and volunteers were friendly and helpful, and the aid stations were plentiful and well stocked. And the course was beautiful, starting just west of Veyo and descending through the canyon past Gunlock and into Veyo. I've ridden that road countless times on my bike, and I loved running it just as much. All the race needs now is more runners. Catherine and I will both be back next year. Hopefully others will join us.

Today was a rest day, as my Sundays always are. My legs are more sore than I expected after yesterday's race.

I decided to get right back at it this week. I wanted to run the Bonneville Shoreline Trail this morning, but my legs were still sore enough to make me reconsider. Instead, I ran to Liberty Park and ran 4.5 easy laps. My legs felt stiff and clunky, but my easy pace for the day turned out to be 7:45. Hopefully I'll feel well enough to his the trail tomorrow.

My legs are still sore, so I'm still taking it easy. That probably means I won't make it to the trails until the weekend, because I don't want to do anything to mess up my recovery.

I ran a new route this morning. Down 2nd Avenue past the Conference Center, than over and down to 200 West. From there I ran to Beck Street, then up around the capitol and home through Memory Grove.

PM: Easy 1.5-mile jog on the treadmill,

My legs felt good this evening, so I ran the Bonneville Shoreline Trail from Dry Creek to City Creek. Even though I kept the intensity mellow, I ran it as fast or faster than I have in the past, averaging 8:22 per mile with approximately 2,000 feet of elevation gain. To spare my legs some pounding, I stopped my run on 11th Avenue and walked back down to 2nd.

AM: Easy out and back through Memory Grove. My legs are a little stiff after yesterday's evening trail run.

I took the day off so I could be with Catherine during her surgery this afternoon. That meant I had the entire morning to do as I pleased, and it pleased me to go for a longish run on the BST. I ran up to the Dry Gulch trailhead (question--does anyone know if the official name is Dry Gulch or Dry Creek? I hear it both ways.) and then took the trail over to City Creek. From there I ran up the West Side of the canyon, down past Ensign Peak, and then down to the Church Offive Building, where I ran into Catherine and walked her home from work. Unfortunately, the run didn't go nearly as well as I had hoped.

For one thing, my stomach was bothering me. I didn't eat much, but I did eat less than an hour before I started my run. I've learned many times that doesn't work, but I keep thinking I can get away with it. But I can't, and by the time I reached City Creek I felt like I needed to throw up. 

The second problem was the trail conditions. I was good for the first nine miles or so, but by then it seemed like someone had covered the trail in chocolate pudding. It got so bad that by the top of the west side of that canyon I could barely walk, let alone run. Which would have been convenient if it wasn't so frustrating, since my stomach meant I was in no condition to run by then, anyways.

Oh well. With any luck, tomorrow's run will be better.