A Lean and Hungry Look

First day after Tuesday's back disaster that I felt strong enough to do something.  Still worried about my SI joint, I decided to ski instead of run.  Since we got some snow this week, I decided to head to SR 65 by Little Dell.  Tried skating first, but the new snow wasn't packed down enough to make conditions very good.  Turned around after 5 minutes or so and went back to the car and switched to classic skis.  Went up to "Original Trail" sign and turned around.  I wanted to go all the way to the top of Big Mountain, but I had to leave for St. George and ran out of time.  Trail was pretty soft, but someone else had broken a classic trail up to my turnaround point, so it was great.  There was about a half-mile stretch where a moose had also found the trailbreaking helpful and had weaved in and out of the ski tracks, but other than that the trail was pretty pristine.

Injury report: Back didn't bother me skiing, although it was tight afterward.  (Driving 4 hours to St. George didn't help.)

I decided to try running for the first time since my back injury last week, but didn't want to risk reinjury by starting too hard and fast.  Quick 4-mile loop around Holladay with a stop at The Store to buy some bread to make lunches for the kids.  It's surprisingly hard to run uphill with a loaf in each arm.

Injury report: I didn't notice any back pain during my run but did get a couple of very brief twinges of some kind of nerve activity.  I'll pay close attention throughout the day before deciding what to do about tomorrow's intervals.  I did planks and some other back exercises following my run.

I woke up with a sore back this morning and then had to shovel snow, so I skipped my run and decided to ski after work.  Since we've had some snow recently, I thought the decision was even better.  I left work early after seeing the grooming report for SR 65 at 4:29 p.m. indicating that it had just been groomed to the top.  It was snowing pretty hard in the canyon and I was almost out of gas but I was not to be deterred...until I went to change into my ski stuff and realized that I had packed everything I needed except my ski boots.  Completely dejected, I drove home and had dinner, since I wouldn't have made it back before dark if I'd tried to go home for my boots.  On the bright side, I did not run out of gas--barely.

Injury report: Back is not exactly painful, but I can definitely feel where it was killing me last week.  I spent 15 minutes or so doing planks and other core exercises before going to bed.

Tomorrow is another day.

After last night's debacle trying to ski on the freshly groomed SR 65, I made sure to get up there before work.  I was surprised by how hard it felt until I realized (1) I haven't waxed my skis in about 6 weeks, (2) the temperature was around 5 degrees, which, when combined with the fact that there was fresh, ungroomed snow, made the conditions sticky, and (3) I hadn't been out on the skate skis for about 3 weeks.  Once I got into a rhythm it felt a little better, but I was still sucking wind all the way up.  As I was nearing my turnaround point for the day (Affleck Park), I saw another skate skier flying down the hill toward me.  I pulled to the side so he could go by but he stopped to let me know that there were a bunch of moose up the hill and around the corner.  That was enough to persuade me to turn around there.  The return trip felt much better.  Funny how gravity can do that.

Injury report: I didn't feel any back pain or even tightness while skiing.  The fact that it felt so hard may be enough for me to justify spending more time on the skis and less time pounding the pavement, at least while skiing conditions are good.  I'm starting to think that my body just doesn't like running fast the way it used to.  It seems like it does just fine when I'm running purely for enjoyment, but that the second I switch to training mode my back starts to rebel.  I guess I'll find out more as my marathon training progresses.

Skate-skied to the top of Millcreek Canyon.  Gorgeous day with snow falling and lots of powder on the portion above Elbow Fork.  Felt pretty gassed up to the Elbow but got into a groove after that.

Injury report: My back was thrilled with the decision to ski instead of run.  No pain whatsoever.

I had limited time this morning so I took Maja out for a short run before work but after getting the teenagers on their way.  Poor dog hasn't been running for a few months and has put on a few pounds and lost several steps in terms of fitness.  She gutted it out though and didn't slow me down too much until the final hill up Kentucky Ave.

Injury report: even though it was a slow, short run, my back (left SI joint and environs) is still bugging me a bit.  I'm having serious misgivings about training for Ogden, since the back seems to be okay only as long as I'm not actually trying to train for anything.

I brought my running gear to work so I could run home.  However, after checking the TUNA grooming report and finding out that SR 65 had been groomed earlier in the afternoon, I couldn't resist and took off early from work.  Skate-skied to the top of Big Mountain and back.  Conditions were pretty soft and the grooming ended about 1/2 mile from the top, so it was a little dicey at times, but it was fabulous.  It was my first time making it all the way to the top (I always run out of time), so the ride back down was pretty fun.

Injury report: My back loves skiing.  No pain or soreness.

Holladay-Holly Lane Loop.  Rainy and around 45 degrees.  Bizarre.

Injury report: Back felt fine during the run but tight afterward.  I was to stretch it somewhat with a deep glute stretch at work, which seemed to take care of the soreness for the day.  I'll have to experiment with that.

Still 45 degrees outside.  Since the snow has probably turned to slush in my favorite skiing spots, I decided to run again this morning.  Although it was an easy run, I felt sluggish in the final 2 miles.  Probably just one of those days.

Injury report: No noticeable back pain during the run.  I'll try to stretch it throughout the day to see if that helps keep the pain away.

Took my two little kids up to Brighton for ski school, then drove down to Solitude and skied up and back, with a couple of detour loops along the way.  Even at that altitude the temps were so high that it was like skiing on mashed potatoes.

I decided to run home from work and take the long way to add some mileage.  I thought it would be close to 7 miles, but nope--just over 5.  Ran straight up through Millrock to Wasatch, which was a painful way to start, but it's a great route after that.  Next time I may have to keep going on Wasatch instead of turning down 45th.

Injury report: It's actually Tuesday morning now and I've got some pain going down my left leg.  Clearly the back issues are not getting better.  Pain is minor but definitely there.