Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

My knee felt fine during Saturday's run, but it was acting up shortly after, so I've decided to spend this week primarily cross training. I'll plan on getting out for a longer trail run on Saturday (in St. George this week), and I hope to make a run up Grandeur Peak tomorrow morning, but otherwise it'll be more time on the stair stepper for me.

I'm also hoping to up the volume a bit past where it's been for the last few months. I think 75 minutes per day should be a good start, plus one longer workout on Wednesday and another on Saturday. Aerobically, that should be similar to about 10 miles per day, which for me I think is plenty. At least for now.

Which brings me to today. I have some externship training on campus from 9 to 5, but I wanted to see Catherinebefore she left for work, so I got up at 4:10 and did my 75 minutes. Fortunately, I have more time available as of Friday, so I was able to get to bed early enough last night that getting up early wasn't too bad.

At the gym, the Bin Laden story was everywhere on TV. I kind of expected it to be on Sports Center, too. I guess I'm surprised they got him, because by this point I kind of assumed they never would.

My schedule didn't end up allowing for a Grandeur Peak run this morning, but after a full day at the office, I decided I needed to hit the trails. When I left my house the sky was gray, the wind was howling and a little rain was starting to fall. I prepared for the worst and grabbed my gloves, my beanie and my jacket. But by the time I reached the trailhead the sky was blue and it was warm enough that I considered going shirtless. I ended up having a great little run to finish a busy day. And the best part is that two hours later my knee still doesn't hurt.

I was going to cross train tonight, but the weather was so nice that I just couldn't resist getting out for a run on the Draper trails. The good news is that my knee felt fine. The bad news is that my calves are killing me. This transition to a midfoot strike may take a while.

Speaking of which, I got some advice from Aaron K via email today, and it turns out I am supposed to stay off my heels even on the technical descents. So that's just one more thing I have to work on, and one more thing that makes my calves hurt. But I'll get it figured out.

Against my better judgment, I went for another run today. I got a late start, so I had to cut it very short, but I think that was a good thing, as I know my knee isn't quite ready for a full return to running. Still, it was nice to get out. I'll just take tomorrow off and let my knee recover, so I can maybe get a run in on Saturday.

As for today's route, I ran up Grove Creek to the top of the big switchback, then I went north on a trail I've never run. It was a great little trail, looks like it keeps going a long way, so now I need to get back there and explore further. West Timp is the gift that keeps on giving.

No miles today. My knee feels okay right now, but I'm afraid to push things so soon, so I decided to take a rest after three days on the trail. Instead of running, I got back to the gym to pump my guns, because I've been neglecting my meathead-itude since finals started. I could feel that, too. I'm not back to square one, but I have lost some ground over the last few weeks.

Anyways, to make up for the lack of an interesting report today, I've decided to share the following linguistic issue I've been puzzling over.

Would the result be a moofallo or a buffamoose?

I'm in St. George visiting my grandparents with Catherine and my brother, Sean. We got into town last night sometime after 11:00, and we weren't in bed until sometime after midnight, so this morning's “early” start wasn't until about 7:00. I drove out to Hurricane and parked at the trailhead up on the mesa. From there I ran about 4.5 miles up the highway toward Polygamyville and Gooseberry Mesa and then picked up the JEM trail. I stopped there for a few minutes to shed some weight (if you know what I mean), eat a gel, and sign the trail register.

The JEM trail is a gem, in my opinion. I've ridden it on my mountain bike several times, but today was my first time running it. The trail rolls and swoops through the desert, a gradual descent almost the entire way with a few short climbs and some steep drop-offs along the way. Because the sun was low in the sky, the temperature was fantastic and I ran with my shirt off for about an hour.

After five miles, the Hurricane Rim trail intersects the JEM trail. This trail connects the JEM trail to the parking lot where I left my car, about seven miles away. Hurricane Ridge is a different beast. Although it's no mountain, there are a couple of small but sustained climbs, and a lot more rocks and technical sections along the way. My brother and I rode the trail last year at Thanksgiving, and I crashed three times and broke my saddle, thanks to my dismal bike-handling skills.

Anyways, it was here that the wheels started coming off today, too, so to speak. First, I saw a sign with what looked like a picture of a snake on it, and it made me start worrying about snakes. I freaking hate snakes. Also, the sun had started to come out, and although it was only in the mid-80s, it was much hotter than anything I've run in this year. On some of the later climbs, I started to feel dizzy and nauseous, and I had to walk a few short stretches—pretty lame, given the relatively mellow nature of the climbs.

Anyway, I made it back to the car without incident, other than almost not being able to find my keys, which I had hidden a little too well along the cliff. I ended up finishing just under 17 miles in 2:15. Sadly, my longest run since the Buffalo Run, and my second longest run of the year. I could have run the Gould's Rim trail rather than the highway up to the JEM trail, but I'm glad I decided not to. Given the heat, I would have needed to start earlier than I did, and I don't think my leg would have enjoyed the extra three miles.

Speaking of my leg—I wouldn't say my knee hurt, but I felt enough twinges to know it wasn't happy. Seventeen miles is probably about five too many right now, and I expect I'll be pretty sore this evening. I've swallowed a handful of ibuprofen preemptively, and I'll ice the knee a little later. Hopefully it won't keep me from running next week.

By the way, the Grandeur Peak Fun Run is next week. If you're in Salt Lake next week and you run mountains, you won't want to miss this one.  

http://sites.google.com/site/mrcultra/granduer-fun-run