Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

One more rest day today. Catherine and I went for a walk on the trails around Memory Grove this afternoon, but mostly I took it easy. I'll be back to normal tomorrow. Or I won't, in which case there's no point in worrying about it.

I decided to get back to running today. My head still hurts and my breathing was a little labored, but after the rest I took I think I can rule out overtraining. This seems to happen every year in April or May, so it's probably allergies or something. I'll just push ahead and trust that I'll feel better at some point.

Despite the problems, today's run was a good one. I felt a little clunk at first (it's amazing what just a couple of days off can do to you), but I quickly settled into a groove on my way to Liberty Park. At the park I ran 5x2 minutes at an intended 5K effort (but, as usual, a little harder than intended) with 3 minute recoveries, and then I ran home at an easy pace.

Average pace - 7:12/mile

It's definitely spring--warm and clear yesterday morning, grey and drizzly with snow on the ground this today.

The slush on the road was a bit of a hassle, especial when cars drove past, but I still had a good run this morning. I run up to 11th Avenue via Virginia before swinging down to City Creek, running up the canyon about a mile and returning through Memory Grove.

Average pace - 7:05/mile

PM: Did a little more than a mile of barefoot jogging in the grass with Tigger while Catherine was out running. Then I went home and made a rockin' spinach lasagna.

Steady run this morning. To and from Liberty Park, plus three laps on the cinder track. It was a beautiful morning, but much colder than I expected and my hands were numb by the end of my first mile. I should have worn gloves. 

Average pace - 7:12/mile

PM: More barefoot jogging at the middle school.

I was back on the trails this morning for the first time in more than a week, and it felt good. I did my usual run up the west side of City Creek, but with a few variations. First, instead of heading out the door near 2nd Avenue and straight up E or F Street to 11th Avenue, which is a fierce little climb and a poor warmup, I ran to the trailhead via Memory Grove. Also, before hitting the actual climb from the canyon to the ridge, I stopped for about a minute to let my heart settle down a bit. As a result, I didn't walk any of the pitches and I completed the climb in 12:04, by far the closest I've come to breaking 12 minutes.

I'm still not sure how I feel about pausing before the climb, since it obviously allows me to climb faster. On the one hand, it feels like cheating. On the other hand, you can't really cheat if it's not a race, and I probably get more benefit from hitting the climb fresh and fast. For now, I'll probably continue taking the breather on my weekday runs until I can break 12 minutes easily and consistently. Then I'll work on breaking 12 without the rest.

Average pace - 7:49/mile

Total vertical - 1,474 ft

Somehow I got the idea that I should do tomorrow's long run on the track. Fortunately, I came to my senses, but just to be sure I decided to do today's recovery run on the track. I have a blister on my heel from where the lining on my Brooks Launch wore through, and it's gotten pretty irritated. I bandaged it up before running, but the bandage slipped after about three miles. After that, it was too painful to run in shoes so I took them off and finished barefoot.

Hoping for sunshine tomorrow. I need to work on my tan.

Today was a great day for running, but not a great day for me. I ate a bowl of cereal and drank a glass of orange juice less than an hour before my run, and I could feel it in my stomach as I headed out the door. (I ate Life, but I'll call this Grape Nuts Incident 2.0 for convenience. And coolness, because 2.0 is what all the cool people say. And  I don't want people to think I'm not cool. Even if I am off topic.)

Anyways, I wasn't worried as I headed up through Memory Grove and on through the neighborhoods above the capitol, but as I hit the Ensign Peak trail I could tell my stomach wasn't emptying. And it never did. As as result, I never found my stride. I ended up walking more than normal and running slower than normal when I did run. It was disappointing, but it's just one bad day at the end of a very good week, so I'm not worried.

Even with my poor performance, it was a great day on the trails. After Ensign Peak, I climbed up to the next ridge, dropped down into City Creek and then took the BST back to Dry Creek before returning home.

There were a ton of people using the trail today because of the beautiful weather. I was pleasantly surprised to see about 30 trail workers, too. Unfortunately, the pleasantness of the surprise didn't last long, because my ratio of trail use to trail work is about 100 to none and I felt like a major slacker. Despite my guilt, I appreciated that they were doing a great job. Trail volunteers of the world, I salute you!

Also, today was my first good chance to run shirtless this year. I've been looking forward to it for a while, after so many years of cyclist tans. I figure if I start now, I should be ready for the next "100 Sexiest People" issue of People magazine. In fact, I'll probably get the cover.

Average pace - 8:35/mile

Total vertical - 2640 ft