Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

Week starting Aug 07, 2011

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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:

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<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. 

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Total Distance
29.40
Road Chain Miles: 18.00Mizuno Ronin Miles: 4.20Singlespeed Chain Miles: 19.00MT101 Miles: 25.20
Weight: 164.90
Total Distance
0.00

After two "high mileage" weeks (for me this year), I'm playing it safe this week to avoid injuring myself and, I hope, to be ready to run King's Peak on Saturday. So, I rode my bike tonight. My plan was to ride a quick out and back up Suncrest, but I got out late so I had to cut it short and turn around at the subdivision halfway up the climb.

Road Chain Miles: 18.00
Weight: 164.80
Add Comment
Total Distance
4.20

I got out for a short run up Grove Creek this evening. I started a little late and I was a bit dehydrated, so I only went as far as the bridge. Once there, I stopped and sat long enough to tighten my shoes and enjoy the water running by. I really like it up there.

Anyway, it's a great run--about 1600 feet of steady climbing over a little more than two miles. I wasn't wearing a watch, but 41 minutes passed in the clock in my car while I was gone. 

Mizuno Ronin Miles: 4.20
Weight: 164.60
Comments(1)
Total Distance
0.00

I sold an old road bike a couple of weeks ago and bought a new mountain bike last week.


This evening my brother and I took it over to Corner Canyon for a maiden voyage. I wore a Garmin, but I turned it off and forgot to turn it on, so I don't have any stats for the ride. Ten miles seems about right, though. [EDIT: 9.5 miles]

We rode up the fire road (Hog Hollow?) from the Alpine/Highland side, down Ghost Falls, and back up Clark's Trail. I was a pretty bad mountain biker when I took a go at it a couple of years ago, and surprisingly I've gotten worse after taking a few years off. Still, it was fun. And it should be some good knee-friendly cross training. Especially since it's a singlespeed and I'll probably spend a fair amount of time pushing it up the hills.



Singlespeed Chain Miles: 9.50
Weight: 164.40
Comments(1)
Total Distance
0.00

I rode the same route as yesterday, but with no Garmin mistakes. It turns out that it's 9.5 miles. It also turns out that I'm slow.


blah

Singlespeed Chain Miles: 9.50
Weight: 165.00
Add Comment
Total Distance
0.00

Goose egg.

There was a lot to do today, and by the time I got a chance to go out for a short run it was already past 9:00. Since I was planning to get up the next morning at 4:00 to run King's Peak, I decided it was best to just let it go.

Weight: 164.60
Add Comment
Total Distance
25.20

Last year's run up King;s Peak was a bit of a disaster for me. Given how much time I spent lost and wandering, I figured that I would be faster this year no matter what, as long as I could stay on the trail. And I was, but only marginally so. Yeah, I'm out of shape.

I met up with Aaron in the parking lot, as well as Trevor, who we met there. It turns out that he had no idea about the race when he came, but he was happy to join our group.

We set out together at about 8:20, with me setting what seemed like a reasonable pace. The pace was pretty similar to what I ran over the first ten miles last year, and I was encouraged that it felt much easier than it had last time. But as we neared Gunsight Pass, I found myself hiking the steeper uphill sections. Although I was keeping the same pace as Aaron, I felt like my power was lacking.

I finally lost Aaron on the switchbacks to the pass, as he continued running while I settled into a hike. I struggled across the rocky terrain to the summit (I know it's possible to move quickly over the rocks--I just don't know how), and by the time I reached the summit in 2:52 I was twelve minutes down to Aaron. Trevor arrived a minute after me, and he turned right around while I loitered for a few minutes.

The return trip is where things got really bad. I don't think I was much faster descending from the summit than I was climbing (stupid boulders), and I had trouble picking a good line back to the pass. But I finally got there, and I decided to take the shortcut down this year, knowing that although my pace would be slower, the shorter route would save me time.

I caught Trevor at the bottom which turned out to be a good thing, because 1) I enjoyed the company, and 2) I was out of water and he had iodine tablets to share. We filled out bottles in the stream, and then we settled into a steady pace for the final ten miles or so to the car. My legs were trashed (can't run that kind of distance on my training mileage), so our pace was a little slower than 10:00 per mile--slower than our pace on the way up.

Towards the end I started to walk the short uphills, and Trevor was happy to follow suit. But after a while I decided that I could be done sooner if I ran everything, so I stopped walking the hills and opened a gap on Trevor. I finished in 5:47, and he showed up a few minutes later. Aaron was waiting for us in the parking lot, understandable stoked after beating us by nearly an hour.

Anyway, not much of a run for me this year, but I'm still glad I went. I'll be better prepared next year. Third time's the charm, right?


Blah

MT101 Miles: 25.20
Weight: 166.00
Comments(2)
Total Distance
29.40
Road Chain Miles: 18.00Mizuno Ronin Miles: 4.20Singlespeed Chain Miles: 19.00MT101 Miles: 25.20
Weight: 164.90
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