Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

We had a long, late day in the car last night, and we didn't arrive here in Pinecrest until well past midnight, and we probably weren't in bed until sometime after 2:00. So we slept in a lot, only getting up to feed and change Elliott when she needed it. I think we got out of bed around 2:00. It was nice to catch up on our sleep.

I just ran an easy 2 miles tonight. Still feeling pretty beat after Speedgoat.

I ran around Pinecrest Lake twice today: clockwise in the morning, counterclockwise in the evening.

Two more laps around the lake. One in the morning, one in the evening. Both clockwise.

The second was after dark. Very tricky on the trail.

I've really settled into a groove here--one lap around the lake in the morning, another in the evening. The trail is almost entirely flat, with a few sharp little climbs thrown in along the way. It's only four miles, but it's super technical. With all the rocks and roots, sometimes it feels like there's more running sideways than forward. I really enjoy it.

We're leaving bright and early tomorrow morning, so I decided to try a new route on our last day here. This morning I ran around the lake counterclockwise, but rather than crossing the dam near the end, I descended a trail into the little town of Strawberry (really just a collection of cabins). By the end of that I was only at 4.5 miles, so I threw in a road loop to pad the mileage a bit. If I feel good later, I may try to get out for one last lap around the lake this evening.

No running today--12+ hours in the car with an infant can have that effect. 

Instead of writing about today's run, I'll point out that I did get out to run again yesterday. Twice--once on the trails, to Cleo's Bath with my brother in law (the water is insanely high this year) and once on the road with Catherine--pushing my daily total to over 21 and my weekly mileage to just under 50. Both are about as good as I've seen on a non-race day or week this year.

Now I'll back off and try not to hurt my knee--King's Peak is starting to look like a possibility this year.

After two "high mileage" weeks (for me this year), I'm playing it safe this week to avoid injuring myself and, I hope, to be ready to run King's Peak on Saturday. So, I rode my bike tonight. My plan was to ride a quick out and back up Suncrest, but I got out late so I had to cut it short and turn around at the subdivision halfway up the climb.

I got out for a short run up Grove Creek this evening. I started a little late and I was a bit dehydrated, so I only went as far as the bridge. Once there, I stopped and sat long enough to tighten my shoes and enjoy the water running by. I really like it up there.

Anyway, it's a great run--about 1600 feet of steady climbing over a little more than two miles. I wasn't wearing a watch, but 41 minutes passed in the clock in my car while I was gone. 

I sold an old road bike a couple of weeks ago and bought a new mountain bike last week.

This evening my brother and I took it over to Corner Canyon for a maiden voyage. I wore a Garmin, but I turned it off and forgot to turn it on, so I don't have any stats for the ride. Ten miles seems about right, though. [EDIT: 9.5 miles]

We rode up the fire road (Hog Hollow?) from the Alpine/Highland side, down Ghost Falls, and back up Clark's Trail. I was a pretty bad mountain biker when I took a go at it a couple of years ago, and surprisingly I've gotten worse after taking a few years off. Still, it was fun. And it should be some good knee-friendly cross training. Especially since it's a singlespeed and I'll probably spend a fair amount of time pushing it up the hills.

I rode the same route as yesterday, but with no Garmin mistakes. It turns out that it's 9.5 miles. It also turns out that I'm slow.

blah

Goose egg.

There was a lot to do today, and by the time I got a chance to go out for a short run it was already past 9:00. Since I was planning to get up the next morning at 4:00 to run King's Peak, I decided it was best to just let it go.

Last year's run up King;s Peak was a bit of a disaster for me. Given how much time I spent lost and wandering, I figured that I would be faster this year no matter what, as long as I could stay on the trail. And I was, but only marginally so. Yeah, I'm out of shape.

I met up with Aaron in the parking lot, as well as Trevor, who we met there. It turns out that he had no idea about the race when he came, but he was happy to join our group.

We set out together at about 8:20, with me setting what seemed like a reasonable pace. The pace was pretty similar to what I ran over the first ten miles last year, and I was encouraged that it felt much easier than it had last time. But as we neared Gunsight Pass, I found myself hiking the steeper uphill sections. Although I was keeping the same pace as Aaron, I felt like my power was lacking.

I finally lost Aaron on the switchbacks to the pass, as he continued running while I settled into a hike. I struggled across the rocky terrain to the summit (I know it's possible to move quickly over the rocks--I just don't know how), and by the time I reached the summit in 2:52 I was twelve minutes down to Aaron. Trevor arrived a minute after me, and he turned right around while I loitered for a few minutes.

The return trip is where things got really bad. I don't think I was much faster descending from the summit than I was climbing (stupid boulders), and I had trouble picking a good line back to the pass. But I finally got there, and I decided to take the shortcut down this year, knowing that although my pace would be slower, the shorter route would save me time.

I caught Trevor at the bottom which turned out to be a good thing, because 1) I enjoyed the company, and 2) I was out of water and he had iodine tablets to share. We filled out bottles in the stream, and then we settled into a steady pace for the final ten miles or so to the car. My legs were trashed (can't run that kind of distance on my training mileage), so our pace was a little slower than 10:00 per mile--slower than our pace on the way up.

Towards the end I started to walk the short uphills, and Trevor was happy to follow suit. But after a while I decided that I could be done sooner if I ran everything, so I stopped walking the hills and opened a gap on Trevor. I finished in 5:47, and he showed up a few minutes later. Aaron was waiting for us in the parking lot, understandable stoked after beating us by nearly an hour.

Anyway, not much of a run for me this year, but I'm still glad I went. I'll be better prepared next year. Third time's the charm, right?

Blah

I picked Catherine up at work this evening and we headed over to Primary Children's Hospital to visit Jun and his family. For those who don't read his blog, his two year old is in the hospital awaiting a few operations. He's not a happy camper, and who can blame him--it looks like he'll be in the hospital for a couple weeks more. Obviously, that's rough for Jun and the rest of the family, too. Catherine and I are hoping for the best for them.

On Thursday I rode the Clark's TT in an embarrassing 12:34. Despite my lack of training in general and even greater lack of MTB training, I was sure I could do better. So after we got home from visiting Jun I spandexed up and headed over to Corner Canyon with the single speed. Tonight I posted a much more respectable 10:37--not too shabby, all things considered. I'll be comfortably under 10 minutes by the end of September.

I love my new bike. Right now I just want to take it over to Corner Canyon and ride my little loop every day. After last night's time trial, I kept this evening's effort pretty relaxed.

Short run outside. It was an out and back on a bike path, but I still got lost. There's a construction site in the middle of the route, and when running without a light it's easy to miss the right turn.

54:01 

I feel so busy right now. Last year it seemed like the week before school started was the worst and that things actually slowed down when classes started. I'm hoping for more of the same this year, but I'm not counting on it.

In between my work on the law review and my work on the treatise I was hired to help edit this summer, I managed to sneak in a quick 2 mile jog. Then I stayed up till 1:45.

Quick run in the evening.

I got out for a nice little (but longer than usual) mountain bike ride in Corner Canyon. Lots of fun exploring the trails.

Today was my first day of classes. I had heard repeatedly that the first year of law school is the worst and that things settle down afterward. What a load of crap--this is going to be a very busy semester.

On my mission, I woke up early to do pushups and situps every single morning for two years, excepting only Sundays and a couple of sick days. The point wasn't so much to keep me in shape as it was to keep me in the habit of exercising. The plan worked, and i didn't miss a beat once I got home and had access to a gym again. I think I may have to treat my workouts the same way this year and just do enough to maintain my habits. In that spirit, I went out for a quick three miles in the evening. 

I didn't have class today, and I'm not starting my externship until Thursday, so I snuck out in the morning for another ride in Corner Canyon. I broke my routine a little, and instead of riding down Ghost Falls I went down Rush, which reminded me what a crappy bike handler I am. Not that it's too scary or technical or anything--I just can't rail those tight berms well enough to maintain any kind of rhythm.

On the climb back up, I started a halfhearted time trial effort on Clark's but I abandoned it about halfway because I felt slow and had no motivation to push through the pain. Even after finishing slowly, I was about a minute faster than the first time I timed myself, so I guess there's that.

I wish I had more time for mountain biking. Or the trails were closer. Or both.

I've been slacking for the past few days and haven't updated this blog. Rather than writing for each of the lost days, I'm just posting the mileage. Three days, three miles each. I'm settling into a routine or a rut, depending on how you view it. But I figure that if I let this be my baseline, I'll retain at least a small degree of fitness. Even more if I can work in some longer efforts here and there, although those will likely be on the bike. Who knows, this may be good for me. After gradually building my legs through consistent low mileage, when I return to high volume I may be able to do some cool things. Like not getting injured every other week.

Elliott ran her first 5K this morning.

It was a family affair, and Catherine has more details over on her blog. (I don't know what my placing was since I never bothered to check. But it wasn't really 99th, since there weren't 99 people racing.)

As for me, I had a good time running with my two favorite girls. This was the first time I've run with the jog stroller, and it was pretty tricky at first but I got the hang of it. Elliott was a great little passenger, and she even slept through the last half mile. Yeah, she was working that hard. 

Anyway, Elliott's blessing is tomorrow and I've got a ton of homework. Today is looking to be very busy. Still, I'm hoping to get out for a short ride this evening. If I do, I'll update later. If I don't, this is it.

UPDATE: I did get out for a ride. Awesome.

After the reception following Elliott's blessing, my brother sent me a text asking if I wanted to join him for a mountain bike ride. Since it had rained so much last night and the trails were sure to be tacky, I couldn't say no. We rode up Hog Hollow, down rush, back up some other trail to Ghost Falls, then back down the Ghost Falls trail to BST and up Clark's. Unfortunately, it was about there that we ran out of daylight. Needless to say, our descent through Hog Hollow was significantly slower than usual. Still a good ride.

It was one of those days. And on Catherine's birthday, too. I seriously considered skipping my run. But then I thought better of it and went out at 11:00 to run my three-mile loop.

Busy day today. By the time I got out for my little three-mile run, it was already past midnight. Which means technically I did today's run tomorrow. Or something. Talk about time-travelling awesomeness.

I extended my short nightly run just a little today and headed up around the temple. I'd say it felt nice, but it didn't. I was still running at about midnight, and I think the lack of sleep (and possibly the lack of food, because I think I might not be eating enough) were finally catching up to me.