Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

One hour on the treadmill this evening. I ran 45 minutes on the 15 percent grade. The mileage is lower, but for my goals, I think vertical is more important. After five minutes I stopped my treadmill because I thought maybe the incline wasn't steep enough, but it felt the same when I switched to a different one. Maybe all the treadmills at the gym are sandbagger treadmills, or maybe I'm just getting stronger. Whatever the case, I bumped the speed up to 4.7 mph for the 40 minutes on the second treadmill, while throwing in two 5-minute reps at 5 mph.

More treadmill vert tonight, but slower so I don't fry myself. I ended up putting in 65 minutes, 45 of them on the 15 percent grade. I spent the first 30 minutes at 4 mph, and after about 10 I thought I was through--I just wasn't feeling it. But I kept going and kept feeling better as I went. I never came around to 100 percent, but I did feel well enough to finish with 15 minutes at 4.3 mph before cooling down on the flat.

My mileage is lower this week, but I believe I've gotten over 5,000 feet of vertical so far.

There were so many things wrong with this run--I didn't feel well at the beginning, two different treadmills broke while I was using them, and then the employee responsible for restarting the movie in the Cardio Cinema didn't, and I was stuck watching the DVD menu for Stomp the Yard for 10 minutes. Also, I guess Stomp the Yard was wrong with the run. I thought it was supposed to be about break dancing, but instead it was about competitive "steppin'," which made about as much sense to me as a cricket match. As far as I could tell, it's some form of hip-hop patty-cakes performed by guys in faux military outfits who grunt and yell a lot. Also, you win by sliding on your head, but only if it's in response to the guy from the other team spinning around really. really fast. Or something.

Anyways, I cut out early, with nothing more than some flat, easy miles.

50:00

I was planning on doing a second run this evening, but there was no time for it, so I wound up with just my out and back to the bench up Grove Creek. The snow is getting deeper, and the last half mile is mostly suitable only for walking rather than running, both for convenience and safety (I never noticed when the canyon was dry, but there are a few places where you could go for a real ride). Anyways, the two-mile, 1600-foot climb took 32:38 today, compared to 27:28 last week.

Also, I ran into a fellow FRBer at the parking lot who had run up from the valley. I can't remember his name, though, but it sounds like I'll be seeing him at the Buffalo Run.

51:55

More treadmill miles this morning, and it was a better experience than my last trip to the gym. I watched TMNT (Ninja Turtles, baby) in the Cardio Cinema, which was better than I expected. At least as far as treadmill movies go. I'm not sure I'd ever just sit down to watch it. Now I kind of want to go back and see the live-action movies from when I was a kid.

As for the run--10 minutes to warm up, followed by five reps at 6:00 with five minute recoveries, followed by a short cool down.

65:00

Anyone who's read this blog for a while has probably noticed a pattern of me deciding to do one thing and then doing something else. I'm just saying . . .

Anyways, last night I decided that I would run indoors today, no matter what the weather was like, because the inversion was so bad that I couldn't see how it would be a good idea to run outdoors. But this morning I woke up thinking I really should get away from the treadmill, so I bundled up and headed out into the murk.

I followed the bike path near our house up to the mouth of AF Canyon, then I followed the path (and later a fire road?) along the foothills to Grove Creek Canyon. I started up the Canyon, but I felt terrible after less than a quarter of a mile, so I turned around and continued along the foothills to Kiwanis Park at the mouth of Battle Creek Canyon. From there I ran down into Pleasant Grove, headed north along the irrigation ditches, and then ran down the road back home.

One thing about feeling awful at Grove Creek--I've felt terrible twice this week, during my only two outdoors runs. I'd like to blame the inversion, but that feels like an excuse. Does anyone know whether the crappy air can have an immediate and noticeably detrimental affect on performance?

2:21:00