Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

Rest day.

I didn't have time to run this morning, so I got out for a quick lunch run at Liberty Park. I ran four laps on the cinder track--you could probably call it interval work.

Lap 1 - 8:32 (5:52/mile)
Lap 2 - 10:52 (7:27/mile)
Lap 3 - 8:39 (5:56/mile)
Lap 4 - 10:49 (7:25/mile)
The hard intervals should have been shorter and faster or longer and slower, and I probably should have gone slower on the recovery intervals, too. My original plan was to run two two-lap intervals at a 6:15 pace, but I went out to hard and decided to go with it. I went out even too harder (don't bother calling me on that grammar) on the second hard interval, and I actually gave up at just over a mile. But after about 5 seconds of jogging I felt enough like a slacker to pick it up and finish the lap.

It probably wasn't the most effective workout, but it felt good to get out of the office on such a beautiful day.

I'm afraid I might have shin splints, and I should probably taper for next week's Buffalo Run 50K, so I'm taking things easy this week. Today I got up early and ran easy on the treadmill before lifting some weights. If the weather keeps getting nicer, I'll be able to start running shirtless, and I don't want to be unprepared :)

I did another short, easy run today. From my house to Liberty Park, two laps around the cinder track and then back home. Average pace 7:30.

Another day at Liberty Park. I ran to and from the park, plus two laps on the cinder track. I held an easy pace to and from the park, and ran both laps at 6:12. That was supposed to be a tempo pace, but I felt pretty cooked by the end of the second lap and decided to skip the third, which makes me think that the pace was faster than tempo. I determined the pace by plugging my 15K time into one of those online pace calculators, but I should probably go more by feel. After all, I know what tempo feels like. Then again, 6:12 was my 15K pace a few weeks ago, so maybe I just had a bad morning.

No running today, but it wasn't a rest day. I've been taking things easy because I've been worried about my shin, so today I went to the gym on my lunch break and spent 45 minutes watching basketball on the elliptical. (That is, I was on the elliptical and watching basketball on TV. I wasn't watching people play basketball on an elliptical machine. I'm not even sure how that would workout.)

If past experience is a reliable guide, my calves should be pretty sore tomorrow. But my legs feel pretty good right now.

A friend of mine called me last night about getting back on the bike. It sounds like his team could use a climber on their roster. I used to fit that description, and I still could if I wanted to. I thought I was ready to move on from competitive cycling, but apparently it doesn't take much to make me second guess. I was never afraid of stress fractures on my bike.  

This morning I ran up to the Dry Creek trailhead and took the BST over to City Creek Canyon. From there I ran the BST up the west side of the canyon before dropping down to Ensign Peak and continuing past the capitol and home. It's funny how little average pace actually means on a run like this. According to my Garmin, I averaged just under 8:30 per mile, but it's unlikely that I was ever actually running at that pace.

The run got off to a slow start. My head wasn't feeling as clear as I'd like it to, and my stomach felt a little rebellious. I decided to push on, hoping that I'd feel better as I ran, and while I didn't ever feel 100 percent, I did feel well enough to enjoy the run. In fact, I think I ran faster between Dry Creek and City Creek than I ever have before, although I think that was more because of the improved conditions (there was only a brief muddy section) than because of my improved fitness.

Of course, while I was faster on the first part of the trail, I was considerably slower on the second part. When I go up the west side of City Creek for my morning run, I can run up the 1.2 mile, 700 foot climb in less than 12 minutes. Today I shuffled up it in 14:14. But from the top is was almost entirely downhill back to the house, and I finished with just under 15 miles in just over 2 hours.

Total vertical: 2,600 ft

Average pace: 8:29/mile