Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

I went out for a morning road ride--up Emigration Canyon, down the back of Little Mountain and then back the way I came.

My knee seems to be feeling better. Not well enough that I plan to race Speedgoat or anything else significant this year, but well enough that I plan to start mixing some running in with my cycling this week, probably starting tomorrow.

PM: Catherine and I went to the track at Highland High after work for speedwork with the Salt Lake Track Club. I was supposed to do 3x1600, but because I was afraid of my knee (and because I've lost my edge in my convalescence) I wimped out after two. I was trying to go easy--my plan was to run conservatively in the 5:45 range--but I wound up with 5:19:xx (my fastest ever, go me!) and 5:33:xx.

I think I'd like to finish this week with about 15 miles, plus whatever I do on the bike.

I went out for an easy run with Catherine and a friend from church this morning. Although I felt some twinges coming down through Memory Grove, my knee mostly felt fine, though I wonder how much of that was because our pace was so slow.

Edit--We weren't running slow because of Catherine.

This is my last month at work before I go back to school, so I have some vacation time to burn. As a result, I have every Wednesday in July off, and I plan to use them for long rides (since my knee probably won't allow long runs). Today I rode a loop around the Oquirrh Mountains through Eagle Mountain and then Tooele. I had a bit of a bonk around mile 110, either because I haven't built up my range this year or because I was fighting a headwind from 5 Mile Pass to Saltair. Or both. Either way, I was fine after a couple of gels, and except for that and a flat tire at the very beginning it was a good ride. 

5:45

I went to the gym after work with Catherine and ran three miles on the treadmill. My legs are still pretty fried from yesterday, but my knee is holding up well.

Catherine and I ran up to Virginia Avenue and then over to 5th South for a preview of the Deseret News 10K course. My knee held up well enough, and now I'm at 15 miles for the week. Baby steps, right?

Catherine is getting much faster, and it's fun to be a part of. I think she'll have a great run on the 24th.

I was hoping to ride up Big Mountain with Fritz this morning, but I'm in the process of taking one bike apart and putting another together so I wasn't ready to roll today.

Since I couldn't ride, I decided to run. My knee has been holding up lately, so I thought it might be time to try a trail, so I headed up to Grandeur Peak. The climb, brutal as always, went well. I pretty much hiked the entire thing, steady pace, no stopping. I hit the summit in 61 minutes--almost 10 minutes slower than I did when racing, but not bad all things considered. 

After a breather at the top, I had to decide whether I'd head back down the way I came or run down the back side and continue the loop through Millcreek Canyon, and I chose the latter. The descent into the canyon is more gradual, so I thought it would be easier on my knee. Even so, I was cautious. My run was more of a jog, and I walked down the steep, technical parts to spare my knee. Even though I was running slowly, I missed a step in a rock garden and wiped out hard. First time for everything, I guess.

After the descent, I washed my wounds in the stream and continued along the Pipeline trail. It's dead flat, and I appreciated being able to cruise along without worrying about my knee. I hit the turnoff to the game trail that climbs over the ridge back to the trailhead, but I turned back around after about 100 feet. The trail is very overgrown right now, and since one of Catherine's coworkers has poison ivy, I was afraid to take my chances in the foliage. So I continued along Pipeline thinking I'd simply run out the canyon and back to my car on the roads.

Unfortunately, I missed a turn somewhere and ended up having to bushwhack my way down the mountain and through someone's back yard. It was slow going, but I eventually I made it back to the road and then to my car.

I wasn't wearing a Garmin, so I don't know how far I went, but the race loop is 10 miles, so I assume I did about that. At 2:35, it was very slow, even though I was taking it easy. Of course, it would have been quicker if not for the off-trail adventure near the end. For now, I'm just glad to be back on the trails.