Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

Out for a "run" up Grandeur Peak this morning. I hit snow after a mile, and shortly after that I was trudging through 6-8 inches of powder. I wasn't the first person up that way, so I was able to follow a trail through the snow until just past two miles, when the footprints disappeared. By then I was up to my knees in the snow, so I decided not to break a trail the rest of the way to the summit.

Obviously, my plan to run the loop was out, so I turned around and headed back down. Snow, slush, mud, and slippery rocks made for a slow, sketchy first mile of the descent.

For those of you who may be running the Squaw 50 next week, here's what the Wasatch looks like at 8,000 feet. Have fun at 10,000 :)

Because my run this morning was shorter than planned, I decided to get out for a quick couple of miles this evening. All I did was check out a little loop of the Dry Canyon BST. After that I ran 6 repeats up the big stairs at the bottom of Dry Canyon (about .05 miles and 50 feet). I can tell that my knee does not like running around downhill switchbacks.

I was too tired to get up for a quick run this morning, which was probably not a bad thing since I've been feelings all kinds of trouble in my right knee lately. Not an injury--yet--but it feels like I'm on the cusp.

After missing my morning run, I thought I'd play it safe and cross train at the gym tonight, but the weather convinced me otherwise, and I ran the out and back up Grove Creek to Indian Springs. Absolutely stunning. If you haven't been there this year, go now. The best part is that despite the storm this weekend, the trail is in better condition than it was last week.

My knee hurt early in the climb, and it was acting up enough at the top that I decided not to extend the run into a loop through Battle Creek. But on the way down all trouble went away, and as of now it feels pretty good. I'm sure the soreness will come back in a bit, but for now I feel encouraged.

Anyways, I've been thinking of new routes in the area, and I think I have one for Saturday if  my knee and the weather hold. Jun, I'm telling you--do what you can to un-busyify your schedule for a few hours on Saturday. You won't want to miss this one.

1:01:51, 2300 feet.

AM: Quick jog on the bike path around the neighborhood for about 2 miles.

PM: Good news! I think my knee really is injured. So, I'm going to take some time to cross train. If the weather stays dry I guess I can use this opportunity to put in some miles on the bike. If I remember correctly, my knee healed pretty quickly last year once I stopped trying to run on it. Hopefully the same thing will happen now so I can put in decent block of training before Speedgoat.

The downside to the injury (no, it's not all fun and games) is that I didn't get to run up Grove Creek tonight. Instead, I did the next best thing and spent an hour on the stair stepper at the gym. Hooray! 

More time on the stairs. My knee still hurts.

I had a pretty funny experience on my way out of the gym, though, which I wrote about on my other blog. That's right, I have another blog. Sometimes I write on it, too. But despite my best intentions, if you're hungry for Eric updates, you should probably look here first.

So, backing out of the Squaw 50 was the right call. First, I injured my knee. Then, the director changed the course because of the snow. And now, Catherine is in labor.

That's right, Baby is on her way a couple of weeks early. We went to the hospital yesterday because Catherine's blood pressure was pretty high, and the doctor said it was preeclampsia. She was admitted early yesterday evening and they induced labor shortly after.

So far it's been slow going. But the doctors think Baby could be here sometime tonight. Check back for details.