Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

I wanted to go mountain biking today, but more mechanical issues put a stop to that. Instead, I rode the Alpine Loop in the afternoon. I climbed the American Fork side--the first time I've ever done that, believe it or not--and descended into Provo Canyon. Traffic is pretty bad up there on the weekend, but despite that I still had a good ride.

After the priesthood session of conference I went out for a short run with Catherine and Elliott. I think that puts my weekly total over 15. High mileage, baby!

On the plus side, my knee feels fine. Nothing cures runner's knee like not running. 

I got my mountain bike back today, so I decided to go for a quick ride on the Dry Canyon Loop. I wanted to see how my time measures up. Not great, it turns out--51:xx isn't slow, but it's not even remotely fast. Of course, I could easily gain a few minutes by 1) not getting lost, and 2) not starting with an empty bottle and stopping on course to fill it. And  I could save even more time by not sucking on the descents. But I do suck, so there's no reason to worry about that. For now I'll just worry about getting those first few minutes back.

Also, I almost ran over two guys wearing camo and carrying guns on Trail 51. I saw another similarly equipped guy at the bottom of the Pipe. It makes me nervous to think that there are hunters up there. Even if I am usually wearing bright colors.

Another day, another three miles. I miss long workouts and high miles. On the other hand, my knee doesn't hurt, and I'm feeling comfortable at a relatively high pace. I think I really will be okay by the time I can get back to real training. 

My brother and I went up American Fork Canyon early this morning and rode the Tibble Fork loop. About 10.5 miles and 2300 feet of climbing. Despite some hike-a-bike on the climb, the route was great. Conditions, however, not so much. Because of the recent rain, parts of the trail looked a lot like something I'd expect to see in Elliott's diaper--very slippery. At one point, my tires collected so much mud that both wheels jammed against the frame or fork and stopped rolling. 

It got cold and wet overnight, so instead of running outdoors I decided to go the gym for a treadmill workout. For the first 30 minutes I held a steady 15:00 pace on the 15 percent grade, with a one-minute interval at 10:00 every ten minutes. I finished with ten minutes on the flat, super, super easy at 10:00, but I threw in a 5:00 pace for the last minute. One minute at that speed isn't any trouble aerobically, but my legs are not used to that kind of turnover. For the entire 60 seconds I was wondering if I was going to fly off the back of the treadmill in front of the entire gym crowd. 

Just one, just to say I did.

I've been sick all day, so I wasn't going to run at all. But by midnight I was feeling well enough to give it a go for consistency's sake, so I headed out for an easy mile around the neighborhood. It's cold and wet out there. 

I had a chance to get out for about 90 minutes after Catherine's run this afternoon. I had to decided between mountain biking, running outdoors, or the treadmill. I chose mountain biking, and what a poor, poor decision that was. 

I rode up Hog Hollow, intending to ride a loop in Corner Canyon. On the way up, the trail felt a little sloppy, but mostly fine. But on the fire road at the top, the soil composition must have changed, because the mud was so thick and heavy that it jammed my bike up completely. I ended up having to walk back to the creek, clean my bike as best I could, and ride back to the car with mud and rocks flying into my face the whole way as they broke free from my tires. All in all, I rode about four miles, even though I was gone for as long as it should have taken me to ride my planned ten-mile loop. And now I have to clean my bike again (at least it's a single-speed, so I don't have to worry about derailleur cables.)

I made partially made up for my lack of a long workout by sweating out an hour on the rollers before going to bed. Better than nothing.  

More treadmill time. I started on the incline, but after a couple of minutes I just didn't feel like climbing, so I leveled the treadmill and sped it up. I ended up running for 30 minutes, with a 15-minute block of tempo-ish pace.

Just a 45 minute ride on the rollers. I was going to go an hour, but it was late and I didn't want to. Wah.

Catherine suggested that I run outside today because it was such a beautiful day. That seemed like great advice, so I headed up to Grove Creek and ran up to the bench. An out and back with a 2 mile, 1600 foot climb, I think it just might be the perfect short run. It's certainly my favorite.

Anyways, I wasn't time trialing, but I pushed the pace harder than I have the past few times and made it to the bench a little more than a minute faster than usual, which I think is respectable. Up in 23:57, one minute at the top to catch my breath and enjoy the view, and down in 14:27. 

Flat, easy road run. I didn't feel so good.

That's it. 

I took Elliott in for portraits this morning, but before that I left her with my sister so my brother and I could go for a quick ride on the Dry Canyon Loop. Mountain biking is still fun. I'm still bad at it. 

I ran up Grove Creek to Indian Spring a lot in the late spring and early summer, and several times I thought about running up and over into Battle Creek. I never did, because although I was familiar with all the trails the run would cover, I didn't know how long the entire route would be or how long it would take me. 

Anyway, I finally got out to run the route this morning. Just under 8 miles and about 2500 feet of climbing. With better fitness and trail conditions, it should easily be a sub-80 minute route.

Of course, it wasn't today. For whatever reason, I was feeling pretty sluggish on the climbs and flats and awkward on the technical descents. But it was a beautiful day to be out in the mountains, so I simply settled into a mellow pace and enjoyed myself.

Today's run puts me over 20 miles for the week. It seems like it's been a while since I've done that. 

Another super late-night run, and another night of not feeling so hot. I should sleep more.

I got out earlier tonight, and I felt better, too. Maybe there's a connection. Anyways, there's not much else to say other than that it was another short, flat road run. I picked up the pace a bit and averaged about 6:45. I wonder if that's why my calves are a little sore. I kind of thought I was past that by now.

Another short run after midnight. 

An even shorter run, still after midnight. 

This one puts me in double digits for the week. I remember when I used to have more miles than this by Monday morning. 

I was up late once again, and I just didn't want to go out for another exhausted and sleep-deprived road run. Instead, I went down to the basement to ride the rollers and watch That 70s Show on Netflix. I was going to ride for an hour, but I was pretty bored and antsy, so I decided to cut it down to 30 minutes. In the end, I didn't even do that, and I was done after 15.

This semester is feeling like a slow descent into out-of-shapeitude. 

I decided to try riding in Corner Canyon today. Good call. 

The weather was perfect, and so were the trail conditions. I rode at a solid, steady pace the entire time, and finished just as strong as I started. Leaving out all of the little connector trails here and there, my route was as follows: Hog Hollow, Jacob's Ladder, Ghost Falls, Clark's Trial, Rush, Canyon Hollow, Hog Hollow.  

I had it in my mind that it was a two-hour ride but I ended up almost half an hour short. That's a good thing--next time I budget for two hours, I get another lap on Rush or Ghost Falls. Bonus.

Another short run at night.

Same as yesterday.

I finally got around to my workout at a little after 1:00. That's just too late; any obstacle, and I'm just too tired to persevere. I was going to ride the rollers for 30 minutes, but I was done after 10.

Pretty pathetic. 

My running this week has been pretty dismal, even by my current standards. I tried to do a little to make up for that today by taking advantage of the last bit of daylight to run up Grove Creek to the bench. I haven't washed any running clothes for a while, so I had to make do with basketball shorts and a short sleeve shirt. It was pretty cold up there, but it was beautiful. I wish I had more time for the trails. 

Stair-stepping at the gym. It's been a while, and I forgot how much I like it as a cross training option. 

I caught. the last few minutes of the BYU game while I was there. Kind of a bummer, but I loved it when Riley high-fived the ref. I used to walk him to school when he was in kindergarten. I don't think I've seen him since, but some of the coolness still rubs off on me, right? 

I went mountain biking in Corner Canyon this morning. Essentially the same route as last week, with the order mixed up a bit to take advantage of what I think is the more natural flow of the trails.

Last week: Hog Hollow to Jacob's Ladder to Ghost Falls to Clark's to Rush to Canyon Hollow to Hog Hollow. This week: Hog Hollow to Jacob's Ladder to Ghost Falls to Canyon Hollow to Rush to Clark's to Hog Hollow.

Did you catch that difference? I thought this weeks route would add a little distance and vertical, since it goes all the way to the bottom twice. I didn't expect the difference to be as big as it actually was, though--2 more miles and 300-400 feet of vertical. Nice.

Anyway, I felt better last week, but I still had a good ride today. I even crashed on Rush--my first crash on this bike. (I actually went down in almost the same spot last week, but not hard enough to dignify the incident by calling it a crash.) 

I ran my three-mile loop tonight, but I did before midnight for a change. It was a good call--it's amazing how much better I feel when I run before I'm exhausted.