Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

Week starting Jul 10, 2011

Previous WeekRecent EntriesHomeJoin Fast Running Blog Community!PredictorHealthy RecipesFaceless Ghost's RacesFind BlogsMileage BoardTop Ten Excuses for Missing a RunTop Ten Training MistakesDiscussion ForumRace Reports Send A Private MessageMonth ViewYear View
Graph View
Next Week
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2010201120122013201420152016
15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

Location:

Provo,UT,

Member Since:

Apr 07, 2010

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

5K - 17:11 (Cougar Run)

10K - 34:35 (Deseret News)

15K - 57:33 (Utah Running Club)

1/2 - 1:22:26 (Mountain View Trail)

50K - 4:22:31 (Sapper Joe)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Sub-2:45 at Saint George Marathon

Win the Antelope Island half marathon

Long-Term Running Goals:

I'd like to run the Angeles Crest 100 at some point. And I'd still like to go sub-4 at a trail 50k. Other than that, I'm open to suggestions.

https://www.strava.com/athletes/4808912

Personal:

<iframe height='160' width='300' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' scrolling='no' src='https://www.strava.com/athletes/4808912/activity-summary/184689bbf831149f2053e60709730c07651232d3'></iframe>

<iframe height='454' width='300' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' scrolling='no' src='https://www.strava.com/athletes/4808912/latest-rides/184689bbf831149f2053e60709730c07651232d3'></iframe>

I was a competitive cyclist for years. In 2009, after racing in the Tour of Utah, I decided I had plateaued as a cyclist--I could continue to improve, but I wouldn't break through to a new level. So, I started looking for a new challenge.


I thought that challenge would be mountain biking, but I'm a terrible bike handler. I married Catherine in January 2010 and a couple of weeks later I entered the SLTC Winter Training Series with her. A couple of weeks after that I decided I'd like to run ultras, so I signed up for a couple of 50Ks to get started.

Those first races came and went, with varying results. I was looking forward to running more and possibly pushing into the longer distances, but I injured my knee in June 2010 and I've never been consistently healthy since.

I started law school in August 2010, which meant less time for training. In June 2011, Baby Elliott was born, which meant even less time for training. But she's worth it. 

Baby Nora joined us in October 2013, with the same effect on training as Elliott (who, incidentally, is no longer a baby). 

I (finally) finished school in April 2014 and now I'm an evil corporate lawyer in Salt Lake. I have no illusions that I'll ever get back into the shape that I once was, but I'm perfectly at peace with that. I still have many goals to accomplish and many years in which to do it. 

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Total Distance
31.70
Road Chain Miles: 33.40MT101 Miles: 12.70
Weight: 166.15
Total Distance
0.00

Another day, another bike commute. I'm experiencing potentially serious technical difficulties with my bike, and the thing only has about 500 miles on it. I hope I can resolve things quickly.


Road Chain Miles: 33.40
Weight: 167.60
Add Comment
Total Distance
4.00

Early morning on the stair machine. I suppose I should be preparing if I'm going to give Speedgoat a try, but I'm still afraid to try running every day, even though my knee felt fine after both of last week's runs.

Weight: 166.40
Add Comment
Total Distance
6.00

I was up helping to feed Elliott around 4:0 0 this morning, and she didn't go back to sleep until about 5:30. So instead of going back to bed for 30 minutes, I decided to go run Grove Creek.

I hit the bench in 26:18 and Indian Spring in 40:42, a couple of minutes slower than last time I ran the trail, but not awful. It's interesting how much the trails change with the seasons. When I first ran up here in the fall, the grass was dry, the leaves were changing colors and the waterfall was low. Last time I ran up here the water was raging and the trail above the bench was a marsh. Now it's a jungle.

Speaking of jungles--I took a bad step less than a quarter mile into the descent and went flying into the trailside foliage (if you're up there, look for the unmistakable impression of my body in the plants). I hopped right up, but as I started running I could feel a burning, stinging sensation all over my right leg. I stopped and rinsed at the first water crossing I came to, which helped a bit, but when I got home my leg was covered in little welts (as were my arms and my chest, to a lesser degree). At first there was some itching, so I was afraid I had fallen into poison oak (does that stuff grow up here?), but at the time I'm writing this I'm back to burning and stinging exclusively, so I think I'm okay.

 

 

Also, there were some people camping at Indian Campground. Actually, they were camping on the trail by the campground, which ruined my opportunity to hang out an enjoy the view before heading back down (it's hard to not feel like an intruder when someone is getting dressed five feet away from you). Hey stupid campers--that's what the campsite is for. I hope they stepped in poison oak on their way back to the car.

MT101 Miles: 6.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(2)
Total Distance
6.70

Night run!

I watched Elliott while Catherine went for her run this evening, and then I headed up to Battle Creek for my run. I think I hit the trail sometime between 9:30 and 10:00. I'm terrible at running on technical terrain by headlamp, so I had to keep my pace mellow. So, so mellow. Even so, I almost fell on my face several times. Good run. 

 

MT101 Miles: 6.70
Weight: 165.80
Comments(1)
Total Distance
2.00

Thirty minutes on the stair-stepper.

Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Total Distance
13.00

I meant to write more, but now I'm two days late, so . . .

Anyways, I had a great morning with Catherine, first at the Run for Mali 5K, then at the Tour de Donut. Despite not eating well in the morning, I decided to head out for my long run at about 5:00. I started at Dry Canyon, ran up and over Big Baldy, then down via Grove Creek and back to the car via the BST 

We can divide this run up into two parts: the good part and the crappy part. The crappy part started near the bottom of Grove Creek when my stomach started acting up. It got so bad that I limped through the flattish final few miles at about 13:00 per mile, with lots of walking. Not cool.

But up until then the run was great, and I'm glad I went. 


Weight: 164.80
Add Comment
Total Distance
31.70
Road Chain Miles: 33.40MT101 Miles: 12.70
Weight: 166.15
Debt Reduction Calculator
Featured Announcements
Recent Comments: