Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

I woke up just before 6:00 to go do an hour of intervals on the treadmill, but when I arrived at the Central City Rec Center I learned that the fitness room doesn't open until 6:30, so I went home and slept some more before going to work.

After work I went back to the rec center to run for an hour. By then my motivation had changed, and since I have no structured plan, I did what I wanted to, which was a 20-minute block of tempo-ish running:

• 20 minutes at an 8:00 pace
• 20 minutes at a 6:27 pace
• 20 more minute at an 8:00 pace

I drove up Parley's Canyon in the snow for some skate skiing this morning. Three easy laps on the Main+Mitten loop for a total of 6.3 miles. I'm not sure how long it took (I should invest in a stopwatch), but I wasn't skiing very fast. It must have something to do with my being tired, the new snow on the ground, and the lack of wax on my skis. I felt a little lightheaded halfway through the second lap, probably because I didn't sleep well last night, but it felt good to work my legs while giving them a rest from the pounding they get from running. We'll see how tomorrow's intervals on the treadmill go.

I was back on the rec center treadmills this evening for a little interval work. A quick 15-minute warmup at a 7:30 pace, followed by four 3-minute intervals at a 5:30 pace (the last two were at a 5:27 pace--soooo much faster) with 5-minute recoveries at an 8:00 pace. I finished it all off with 13 minutes at 7:30 and a 5-minute cool down. Then, it was off to cry about the blister on my right foot. At least I remembered to bandage my boobies, so today's run was free of the nipple-related chafing that has plagued my last two.

Easy day tomorrow. 

I did an easy run on the treadmill today to help the legs recover from yesterday's workout. I'm "racing" a 5k on Saturday, so I don't want to overdo it. Not that I ever want to overdo it, of course. It's just that now would be a particularly bad time to overdo so.

Also, I didn't wash my shorts after my last run, and they smelled really, really bad. Really. It was pretty embarrassing. So, I picked up a couple of new pairs of shorts tonight. Consider it a long-term investment.

I decided to run early this morning to give myself plenty of time to recover before the 5k tomorrow. I was on the treadmill again, so I put in about 30 minutes at a mellow 8:34 pace, with two 3-minute intervals at my 5k pace. That should be enough to keep my legs lively without wearing them out for tomorrow.

Despite being the same model and size as my other shorts, both pairs of shorts I bought last night were too big, so I had to run in track pants. Boo to loose manufacturing standards. 

My goal was to break 20 minutes this morning, so my time of 18:51 was a success. The funny thing is that a part of me is disappointed. I'm not new to endurance sports, and I'm used to being on the sharp end of things, so finishing nearly three minutes behind the race winner kind of annoys me. Obviously, I've only been running regularly for two weeks. And the last couple of months have pretty much been off months with very little structure (or volume) to my training. But I know that I could be running much faster than I am, even though  it's unrealistic to expect to do so so soon. Sometimes I get impatient.

My only real problem with today's race has to do with my choice of breakfast--Grape Nuts. Talk about a boneheaded mistake. I know better than to eat right before running, especially before a hard effort. And I also know that a 5K doesn't require much in the way of stored energy. But I didn't like the idea of running at 10:00 having not eaten since the night before, so I set my alarm for 6:30, ate some breakfast, and then went back to sleep for an hour. Normally, three hours is plenty of time to digest a meal, but Grape Nuts are about as digestible as lead. As I was warming up I could feel my breakfast sitting in my stomach like a brick, and I knew I was in trouble.

I went out too hot from the start, but I felt okay for a little more than a mile, after which I felt like I was going to poop, puke, or both. As you can imagine, I started going backwards pretty soon after that. From that point on, all I could do was settle into a manageable pace and hope that everything stayed in my stomach.That's no way to race, but I've learned my lesson, and I won't repeat the mistake.

Not only did I met my goal, my wife, Catherine, met hers, so we count this morning as a success. Next up is the 10K. My goal for that race is be able to run at today's pace or better, so I'd better stick with the training.

I spent the afternoon assembling bookshelves for our new apartment, and in the evening I went skiing at Mountain Dell. Conditions were good, and because I didn't start skiing till after 8:00, I had the place to myself. Me, my iPod, and a (disappointingly obscure) full moon made for an incredibly relaxing workout. I skied 4 laps on the Main+Mitten loop (total of about 8.5 miles) in a little less than an hour, and then I picked up a pizza on my way home to finish off a pretty decent day.