Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

I got up early this morning and went to the gym to pump my guns. I'm so buff.

This afternoon I went back and spent an hour on the stair stepper. Thanks to the scabs on my knees, I don't really know how my knees are feeling, so I'll play it safe for a while. I'll run, just not every day. Anyways, I did two 20-minute threshold intervals today. It was pretty brutal by the end of the second. Fortunately, they were showing Blade on Spike TV. It's not a very good movie, but it's just about perfect for the treadmill. I guess it's like Twilight for males age 18-35. Which is to say it's a crappy vampire movie, but instead of sappy romance you get graphic violence. (Disclaimer: I have neither seen nor read any of the Twilight series, so my synopsis may be inaccurate.)

One hour on the treadmill tonight. I ran a 20 minute warmup, followed by 30 minutes fast (20 at 6:30 and 10 at 6:00), followed by a 10 minute cooldown. 

Florida v. Vanderbilt was on TV. I chose Vanderbilt because they were the lower-ranked team and they were behind when I started watching. Also, I considered going to law school at Vanderbilt, while you probably couldn't pay me to move to Florida (the state). Stupid refs--my boys got robbed.

Also, Catherine and I went in for our 20-week ultrasound today and confirmed that we're having a little girl. If it were a boy we would have named it Leif, but now we have to come up with a girl's name. As of this morning we're thinking of Elliot. Feedback is welcomed.

I took it easier at the gym tonight because I had an intramural basketball game right after. Two miles walking on the 15 percent grade, followed by 1.5 miles or so of easy running.

Our game went pretty well tonight, even though we lost. It was close, and I had a good night, so I guess I can't complain too much. At this point, I'm hoping we lose our remaining two games, but not by much. That way, we'll go into the playoffs with one tie and four losses, which should land us firmly in the lower division. I have much more confidence in our crew as one of the better "bad" teams than as one of the worst "good" teams.

I have no idea why it's so hard to buy Sudafed. People are still making meth, and now I have to fill out more paperwork than I would to close on a mortgage, just so I can get a decongestant. At least I was able to give a fake address.

I started on the treadmill planning to go 10 miles, but I got bored. When the Lakers game came on, I decided to compromise and run till the end of the first half.

I think I may be coming down with whatever Catherine has.

AM: Four miles at the Cardio Cinema. Twister was on. I saw that one in the theater when I was much younger, but I had no idea it was such a crappy movie. 

PM: Pumping my guns at the meathead gym in Sugarhouse. Afterward, Catherine and I ate dinner at Pei Wei and then caught the end of the gymnastics meet at the U (We got season tickets on Groupon.)

I totally planned to go run a trail today, but with so many other obligations I didn't get to run until after 9:00 in the evening. I didn't have the requisite toughness to strap on  a headlamp and hit the trail, and because the Best Gym Ever in AF closes at 7:00, I ended up driving down to the gym in Orem. Perhaps not surprisingly, it's pretty empty on a Saturday night.

Anyway, I ran a 30-minute, 4-mile warmup (during which I was suddenly hit with the urge to pee so bad that I almost didn't make it to the men's room.) Then I cranked the incline up to 15 percent and cruised slow and steady for an hour (4.3 miles and 3400 feet, according to the treadmill. I was going to finish with another 30 minutes on the flat, but I got bored and stopped after 15.

1:45:00

My brother and I both decided we need new basketball shoes, so we went out shopping this afternoon. Two observations: 1) basketball shoes are ugly, and 2), basketball shoes feel like cement boots. I was looking for new shoes because my old ones are hot, heavy and stiff, but that just seems to be the way basketball shoes are. Some newer ones have addressed the hot and heavy issue, but there's no way around the stiff part. Nike has 95 percent of the market share--why don't they take a chance on a Free basketball shoe or something?