Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

I usually run early in the morning--before 5:00. But last night Nora had a terrible night and I was up with her until about 3:00, which means that even after skipping my run so I could sleep an extra hour, I got less than three hours of sleep last night.

When I got home, I for some reason thought it would be a good idea to run before dinner, since I knew it would be a bad idea after. So I put Elliott in the stroller and went out to do mile repeats. Even though I hadn't properly eaten throughout the day, and even though I hadn't slept the night before, even though my legs were trahsed from Saturday's run, and even though it was over 90 degrees once the sun came out.

Anyway, the run went as poorly as expected. In fact, it was even worse since I don't know how to pace myself. My schedule called for 5 repeats at about a 10K pace. I decided that today's run would be self-deprecating rather than aspirationa, and I planned to target a 6:30 pace. But I ran the first mile in 5:40 (oops), and when I tried so slow down for the next I still ran it in under 6:00 (double oops).

I ran the third in 6:30, beause I was trashed, not because I got any better at targeting my pace, and half way through the fourth I pulled the plug.

By that point, I was trashed--bonked, dehydrated, whatever. Fortunately, I had Elliott around to keep my company, and we managed to limp the last few miles home.

At the end I felt a lot like I do at the end of an ultra. That's not a good wayt to feel after four miles on a bike path :-).

Six easy miles, out and back on Carterville. My average pace was just under 7:30, which felt mellow enough, but my legs are still beat up and I'm feeling some effects of yesterday evening, so it was not as easy a run as it probably should have been. 

The training plan called for 800s and 400s today, so I went for a run up Rock Canyon, which is pretty much the same thing, right?

Actually, I think I already mentioned it, but although I'm using the same training plan I used for Ogden last year, I'm using it very loosely. Basically, I use it as a guide for mileage and to tell me whether I should be running hard or easy on a given day. I'd like to run some sort of trail race in August or September before shifting to full-time road training. So for now, if the schedule calls for a track workout, or something along those lines, and I'd rather run off road, I'll just make sure to include some climbing and call it good.

Today's run was good. Short, but good.  

I overslept by a little bit so I only ran four easy miles instead of the scheduled easy six. That's what I was supposed to do tomorrow, so maybe I'll run today's six then.

This was yesterday's planned run. I felt pretty good. Probably better than I would have felt yesterday.

I went to bed at 11:00 last night, and about 3:30 this morning Nora decided it was time for us to have some daddy-daughter time. So when I started my run this morning, I was a bit more tired than I would have liked. But even so I had a pretty good time.

I ran the Slate Canyon to Y Mountain loop, which was one of my regular routes during my first year of law school, and is still one of my favorites. Back then, I could run the loop in something like 80 or 90 minutes. Today, it was a touch over 105. That's significantly faster than I was last time I ran the same route, for what it's worth.

My "accomplishment" today was that I was able to run ("run") every step of the Slate Canyon dirt road, even if I was moving slowly. And to be clear, I use the term road loosely. As rugged and ridiculously steep as that road is, you'd need a pretty specialized vehicle to drive up it.

I planned to walk the final singletrack pitch when I got there, and that's exactly what I did. It was still a beast. If I recall correctly, it climbs at a rate of 1200+ feet per mile, which puts it in the same level of steepness as the west route up Grandeur Peak.

The descent was fine. There'a  lot of debris on the trail up high because of winter avalanches, and a lot of hikers on the trail down low, because today is Saturday and eveyone hikes the Y. Both things slowed me down, but not as much as I slowed myself down.