Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

I got up early this morning and headed to the gym in the rain. I started with my IT band strengthening routine, then I did 30 minutes on the stairs, then ran a mile on the treadmill, and finished with 30 more minutes on the stairs. I'm so frustrated with my knee right now. In fact, I was looking up some 100-mile MTB races this morning as alternatives to ultrarunning.

I spent the rest of the day at school studying for my property final tomorrow. After that I had to make a late night trip to the post office to stand in line to mail our state taxes. You'd think the state would be able to accept payment online by now. I mean, it is 2011.

After taking my (thankfully drama-free) property final, I ate some pizza, spent a few hours studying civil procedure (only one final to go) and then went home to great ready for a workout. I was going to cross train, but there was a break in the gloom and drizzle and I just couldn't resist the chance for a quick trail run. Out and back from Battle Creek to Dry Creek: six miles and about 1100 feet of vert.

I decided to run because my knee felt fine, but it was pretty unhappy by the end of the run. And it was sore and a little stiff all evening. But as I write this (the morning after), my knee feels pretty good. I'm not sure what to make of that. But I do wonder whether I should seize the opportunity to roll my SP50 registration over till next year. I want to race, but I don't want to run if it's only going to be a miserable experience. Thoughts?

46:12

I was up and at the library early this morning, and I was there all day preparing for my test tomorrow. I still don't feel ready. In fact, I feel more intimidated by this test than any other, I think.

Anyways, I limited myself to two easy miles on the treadmill this evening, just so I could say I ran. It felt about as good as you'd expect two miles to feel with a belly full of bean burritos and at the end of a long day with no lunch. But I think my knee was okay.

Speaking of my knee, I've come up with a short-term plan:

Step 1: This week, I will run. (That's right--#*&$ you, gimpy right knee.)

Step2: Next week, I will not run. Nor will I use the stupid stair machine. Instead, I will ride my bike to and from campus every day while I work on the law review write-on. Unless the weather disagrees; which seems likely.

Step 3: Next next week, I will return to running, as triumphantly, invincibly, and sexily as ever. But with a better knee.

Step 4: If step 3 fails, I will defer my Squaw 50 registration and trade my short shorts for my tight shorts, at least for a month or two.

And now to finish with some good news. I will be done with my first year of law school by no later than 11:30 tomorrow morning.

I took my civil procedure exam this morning, a 3-hour, 35-page, 85-question multiple-choice monstrosity. But finals are over. Which means I'm now officially a 2L. Unfortunately, it also means I have to suffer through the anxiety of waiting two months for grades to come out.

Anyways, I drove up to Salt Lake after my test to give Catherine a ride home, which gave me an excuse to celebrate the end of the semester by running my old BST loop in the Avenues. I parked up by the Shriners hospital and ran down 11th Avenue to City Creek Canyon (thus dealing with the stiff headwind on the downhill road stretch at the beginning of the run--smart). From there, it was an incredibly enjoyable run back over one of my favorite trails ever. Conditions where nearly perfect until I reached The Gulch Formerly Known as Dry. Seriously, anyone wondering if there's any truth to all the talk about flood potential needs to head over to there. There's so much water pouring down that thing that I spent as much time navigating tricky water crossing as I did running. And in the end, I still had to splash through the river at the end. Anyways, I had fun, but I wouldn't recommend using the Dry Gulch trail anytime soon.

A little more than nine miles and about 1600 feet.

1:14:08

You'd think that I'd have some free time now that finals are over, but instead I spent the entire morning in mandatory meetings. In the evening, Catherine and I drove up to Ogden, because I'm taking the GMAT tomorrow and we wanted to avoid giving to wake up at 5:00 AM on a Saturday. But I still managed to get in an easy 5-mile run with my brother on the BST.

I took the GMAT this morning with no preparation, because I've had neither the time nor the desire to study. And, as expected, I pretty much tanked on the math section. But I knocked the verbal section out of the park and wound up with a much higher overall score than I thought I needed and a much, much higher score than I probably deserved. I rule.

Anyways, after the test, Catherine and I made up for skipping breakfast by eating breakfast for lunch at Jeremiah's up in Ogden. Catherine ordered two blueberry pancakes, worrying that two wouldn't be enough, but then each pancake ended up being about twice the size of her head, and I don't think she even finished one. Jeremiah's rules.

When we got home, I only had a little time before we were going to Catherine's grandparents' house for dinner, so I headed over to Alpine for a quick run up and over into the Draper trail network. Conditions were fantastic, and I ended up with about 1500 feet and just under 9 miles of very enjoyable singeltrack.

And now I'm going to take the entire next week off from running. My knee sucks.

1:08:35