Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

I needed to get to school early this morning to finish writing a paper, so last night I set the alarm on my phone for 5:00 and then left the stupid phone in the kitchen. Obviously, I didn't hear the alarm go off, which made for a stressful morning. Fortunately, I pulled everything together, and as soon as class was over I decided I needed to head for the hills to decompress.

I drove up to the Y parking lot and ran the Slate Canyon-Slide Canyon loop. I felt very good (maybe because of all the extra sleep I got last night), so the effort up Slate Canyon felt easier than usual. Or maybe I was just going slow--I didn't have a watch, so it's hard to say.

The descent was beautiful, as usual. There's a lot of snow up near the top, and if I hadn't already been up there so many times I probably would have lost the trail. I guess that means I won't be able to run the route much longer, but I hope today wasn't my last chance before the winter.

AM: I had a hard time getting to sleep last night. Then I got it into my head that if I couldn't sleep, I may as well get my early run in late and sleep in in the morning. So, I grabbed my headlamp and headed out the door. On the road at 11:59 for an easy four miles.

29:17

PM: Afternoon run on the Little Baldy-Dry Canyon Loop. I felt a little light headed early on, probably because of my sleepless night, but I felt better as the run progressed. No watch today--no shirt, either--but according to the clock in my car I was out for about 94 minutes.

AM: Slow, easy run around the Towne Centre. No watch.

PM: BST out-and back. Like last week, my brother and I ran it with Catherine, but Amy couldn't make it. This week, we ran it with Amy, but Catherine couldn't make it. Maybe next week we'll have the whole crew. Like last week, we took it nice and easy. The only difference was that this week I bombed the descent back to the car.

It's sad that it gets dark so early these days.

AM: Another easy run around the Towne Centre, with a couple of pick-ups to keep things interesting.

PM: I was going to run up Rock Canyon to the campground, but I ended up running to the Squaw Peak summit instead. It's a very cool trail to a very cool summit, and I didn't even realize it was there (the trail, that is). About 3,000 feet of vertical, according to the world wide internets.

1:13:54

I'm sitting in terminal 2 at the Salt Lake Airport waiting for Catherine's flight, which is apparently going to arrive an hour early. Result!

I stopped in Orem on my way up and ran a little five-mile loopy thing up to the Altar and back. It was supposed to be an out-and-back, but yes, I got lost and wound up taking a different trail back to the car. Running in the dark can be tricky. But at least I learned a new route.

Anyways, I was pretty tired, so I took it easy on the climb. On the way back down I got ahead of my head lamp and crashed pretty hard. Nothing too serious, other than some broken skin, so I guess I got off pretty easy. I've never been so happy to have been wearing a shirt and gloves.

Jun and I ran the Grove Creek to Dry Canyon loop I ran last weekend. It was just as good the second time. In fact, it may have been better, because this time I knew where I was going and we were able to avoid getting lost in the maze of dirt roads between Battle Creek and Dry Canyon, which shaved about a quarter mile off the distance.

Anyways, I highly recommend this route. Of the 15-16 miles, about one is on a dirt road and the rest is singletrack. Elevation gain is about 4500 feet over two major climbs, every step of which is runnable. And love it or hate it, the plunge down Dry Canyon is worth trying at least once.

I forgot my Garmin this week, but because I love visual aids, I've posted the map and the elevation profile from last weekend.

I had planned to run at the gym this morning, but the weather looked good enough, so I decided to run outside instead. I got hit with a steady drizzle right away, which turned into rain a little later, but it was never uncomfortable. Just a little soggy.

1:15:46

I'm trying to figure out how to fit in longer daily runs without giving up any study time, so today was my second day of waking up earlier than I'm used to and getting it done. I ran past Seven Peaks and up to the Y parking lot, then over to Rock Canyon Park and then down to the temple for a couple of laps. I was way overdressed, because it wasn't nearly as cold as I thought it would be.

1:19:40

AM: Short morning run on the treadmill. I didn't have a specific plan, so I ended up running one mile on the flat, then two on a 15 percent grade (12:00/mile), then a final half mile on the flat. I wanted to go farther, but it's seemed like the outside of my knee (the tendon?) has been acting up a little the last couple of days and today I could tell it wasn't just in my head, so I cut my run short. I guess what I should do now is back off and use the elliptical or something for a couple of days.

Also, maybe I should retire the Launches.

PM: Catherine wanted to try a spin class tonight, so I decided to try it with her. It's a good workout, so I'll probably do more throughout the winter (after all, we may as well get our money's worth for our gym memberships). Still, the scene is weird. Kind of like a hot, sweaty, discotheque. But not hot and sweaty in a good way. And full of people who say things like, "Yeah baby, feel the burn!" Also, I almost broke my foot trying to do the one-foot pedal thingy. Which isn't surprising, since I hated that workout on a real bike.

After the class I ran a couple of miles on a treadmill. I haven't commented on the Cardio Cinema for a while, which is just as well. The quality of movie selection seems to be declining lately. Unless you're into chick flicks, in which case the movie selection gets better every day.

It's hard to say whether it's all in my head or not, but I'm really worried about my knee. I felt a few warning signs on Monday and Tuesday, so I decided to back off for a bit starting yesterday. This morning I went to the gym for some cross training. Unfortunately, my options were surprisingly limited. I wanted to use a stair stepper, but the local Gold's only has three--two ghetto, old-school contraptions in the Cardio Cinema, and one of those stair treadmills that absolutely terrify me. So I decided to use the elliptical. But the ellipticals are set up so that I bash my knee on them every minute or so. After about fifteen minutes of that, I decided I wasn't doing my knee any favors there, so I stepped on a treadmill. Instead of running, I set the incline to 15% and started walking. The first mile in 15 minutes was more work than I expected. I held that pace for a little more than 20 minutes, than I switched to intervals. Two minutes easy (19:00-20:00) followed by one minute hard (12:45-13:15). And those hard minutes were very hard. It's interesting, because I could run that pace for miles. But I guess at that speed, walking is much less efficient and much more difficult.

Anyways, I don't count cross training miles here because I only want to see my running miles, not fake equivalent miles. But I do count walking miles like today's, because I figure that hiking up steep hills is part of mountain running. If anyone disagrees, please call me on it.

According to the little computer display, I made it up Mount Treadmill once and then up to the first switchback on the second ascent. According to the readout, I climbed 2,376 feet over three miles, averaging 15:51 per mile.

I started with four miles on the treadmill this morning. One slow, one fast, and then a quick recovery before running three quarter miles at a 4:55 pace, with a quarter mile of recovery in between. My knee felt fine, I think. There was a point when I thought I was in trouble, but by now I really think it might be in my head--normal aches and pains amplified by my concern and attention. I'll probably try a longer run tomorrow and see what happens.

After running I spent 30 minutes on a stationary bike. Whoever designed those things with such wide seats probably never spent much time on a bike. Also, no toe clips. What's up with that?

The problem I've had all week is that I've been fixated on my knee, convinced that there's something wrong with it. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to tell if the twinges are real or made up. So, this morning I decided to try the hit-it-and-see-if-it-breaks test. The good news is that my knee seems to have held up. The bad news is that the rest of me didn't.

There was nothing wrong with the route. I ran from the same trailhead as I have the last two weeks, but instead of continuing on the BST to Grove Creek, I ran up Battle Creek Canyon. That was my first time up that way, and it was worth it. The climb is stiff (2.2 miles, 2,000 feet), but the canyon is full of waterfalls. It may even be cooler than Grove Creek.

At the top of the canyon the trail hits the Great Western, which is part of the route we ran last week. From there, I basically ran last week's route in reverse, taking the Great Western over to Indian Springs and then running down Grove Creek and back to the car on the BST.

So, it sounds like a great run, but my body wasn't there. I think I can relate to how Jun felt last week, because I had nothing. I walked more than I should have up Battle Creek. By the top I felt like I needed a gel, but both of mine were frozen, so I chose not to eat. Bad idea. Plus, it was there that I realized that my beanie had fallen out of my jacket, so there was nothing I could do about my frozen ears. By the time I got back to the BST, my ears were frozen, my stomach was upset, and my lungs felt shallow. In fact, on the hills I felt like I was drowning. I don't have any reason or excuse--in fact, I was surprised because I felt so good last week and I took it so easy this week. I guess some days are like that.

Anyways, I continue to be impressed by the running options on the west side of Timp. I think next week I may try Battle Creek to Grove Creek, then halfway up Grove Creek to Trail 51, which will dump me out in the lower half of Dry Canyon. I'll take a broad guess on the stats and say 15-20 miles and 4500-5500 feet of climbing. Plus enough awesome to last a week or more. Of course, whether the run happens depends on several things, like my knee not blowing up, me finishing my writing assignment for school, and Mother Nature not dumping snow all over everything in the next seven days. If you're interested, let me know.

2:33:23

Easy morning run with Catherine. Nice.

23:38

I think the twinges in my knee are unrelated to injury, but I'm still not certain enough to just jump back into things. So, I think I'll continue to cut my running miles this week while filling in the gaps with cross training. I hope to make it out for a long run on Saturday and finish the week somewhere in the 40-50 mile range.

This morning, I ran a quick two miles on the treadmill (13:00) before jumping into another spin class (a little more than 50 minutes). This one wasn't nearly as loud as the last one, and there was less focus on upper body strength. It's not my scene, but it still seems like a good way to pack a hard workout into a short time.

My plan was to run 45 minutes this morning, but after a little more than half of that I started to feel like my knee wasn't cooperating, so I hopped on an elliptical to round out my time. 3.2 miles in 23 minutes, plus 22 minutes on an elliptical.

I went to the gym this morning for more crosstraining/running/playing it safe. I figured I would run until my knee hurt, then finish on an elliptical or a bike. But I made it to the gym later than expected, and there was a spin class about to start, and there was an empty bike, so I decided to hop in. This was my third class, and my third completely different experience. A very estrogen-loaded class ("Good job, girls! And guy."), although there was one other male (some kid who was in the class with his mom). It was easier than the other classes, too, which was fine with me since all I really want to do is ride the bikes. Anyways, class was 45 minutes, and after that I hopped on the treadmill for 3.3 miles in 20 minutes, since I was all warmed up. No problems with my knee, so maybe I'll try to run my whole workout tomorrow.

It's sad to see my mileage so low for the week.

Meh.

More treadmill miles. I started with a slow (real slow) warmup, and then I cranked up the speed, but since it was late in the day I wasn't feeling so hot. So I went back to real slow and played around with the incline for a while. But my knee didn't like that, so I rounded out the hour watching Mexican soaps on a recumbent bike. 

Catherine ran with Melody this morning, so I had her drop me off at the gym in Orem so I could use the stair stepper. I counted the miles, because as far as I'm concerned they're the indoor treadmill of a very steep hill. Of course, the machine I was on said I did about eight miles, which seemed unreasonable, so I cut it in half.

I started with 45 minutes of intervals: 3 minutes off (180 watts), 3 minutes on (370 watts). It felt pretty easy at first, but I had to slow down for 90 seconds in the middle of the last interval, so I think I got the intensity just about right. After the intervals I finished with 15 minutes steady at about 215 watts.

What a day. My final project for my legal writing class is due at 8:00 on Monday morning. Last night I decided I'd rather turn it in today. I started working this morning, and I went to the library and turned it in at 10:00 tonight. It was a long day, but after almost a month it's nice to have that project finally out of the way.

Of course, to make sure I got my writing done, I had to skip my Saturday morning trail run. I guess that was going to happen anyway, thanks to my knee, but it's still a bummer. I just felt antsy and lazy at the same time all day long.

After turning my paper in, I went to the gym. My plan was to run for as long as I could before my knee told me to stop, and then move over to a stair stepper or into the pool. I started out running 6:30 miles, thinking maybe I could bang them out for an hour, and for a while it looked like I might get away with it. But then my knee started protesting, so I slowed the treadmill way down, cranked the incline up, and started hiking. That seemed to feel okay, so I started running again and did a 12 minute mile at 15 percent. But by the end of that my knee was protesting again. I had no motivation to do anything else by that point, so I jogged an easy mile on the flat to cool down and then went home. Six miles in about 47 minutes to finish my lowest mileage week since my last knee injury. At least my knee waited until the weather turned before betraying me.

I spent 45 minutes in the pool this evening going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth . . . You get the idea. Boring as something. Anyways, I'm trying to give my knee a couple of days with no running or anything like it. St. George should be good for some time on the bike. 

More time in the pool before class.

Catherine and I drove down to Saint George yesterday afternoon to stay ahead of the blizzard that wasn't. Because we got here early, we were able to go to the temple this morning with my two cousins, both of whom are going on missions soon and were going through for the first time. After that, we went to lunch with family and friends at the Pizza Factory, and then Catherine and I followed my uncle over to take a look at his law office. 

By the time we got back to the hotel, my parents had already arrived from LA, so I went out for an easy road ride with my dad. It was much more enjoyable than swimming laps in the pool, but it was also super windy and my hands were undergloved. Circulation returning to the extremities is shockingly painful.

More cold miles on the road bike in the morning, food in the afternoon. Not a bad day.

More cycling today. Fortunately, it wasn't nearly as cold as it has been for the last two days.

My dad and I rode up to Zion National Park, where we met up with Catherine, my mom, my sister, and my brother in law. We ate lunch in town before heading into the park. We didn't have much time, but my brother in law had never been to the park, so we decided to walk up to the Weeping Wall. Unfortunately, the trail was completely iced over and people were falling everywhere, including my dad. We had to take him to the Instacare for 10 stitches in his elbow.

After that, Catherine and I went to the temple to watch them turn on the lights. The lights were pretty weak, but it was worth the trip because that's where I proposed to her last year.

AM: I decided to try running this morning, and I think my knee held up well, so I may try to get some more miles this evening. For now, I settled on a quick out and back on the bike path down to the Bloomington Country Club. Other than crashing and burning on an icy bridge, it was a good run.

29:44

PM: I ran six easy miles on the treadmill to push myself into double-digit mileage for the week. Afterward, I did the leg exercise Jun recommended a couple of days ago. I had to do that exercise during every therapy session this summer, and I probably shouldn't have stopped.

So far, my knee seems to be holding up.

49:45

Catherine and I made it to the gym by 5:00 this morning, but it took about ten minutes for someone to turn on all the treadmills. Later, someone turned on the heater half way through our run. I guess it wasn't the best morning at the gym, but I think we're both glad we got up early and went.

I ran just over five miles, almost all fairly quickly, with a few faster bits thrown in. There was one mile at about 5:15, as well as a couple of quarter miles at 5:00. There's not really any structure to my training right now, so I just do what feels good. Interestingly, my knee seems to feel fine at 5:00 or 10:00 per mile, but I feel twinges in the 7:00-8:00 range.

35:10

I ran for just over an hour on the treadmill, rotating between 2 minutes at 9:00 and three minutes at 6:20 for most of it. I finished with two minutes at 5:00, and for a little while I thought I might fall off the treadmill.

1:05:40