Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

I was exhausted last night, so I thought about sleeping in this morning but decided against it. When this morning came around I reconsidered, but I didn't want to fall off the wagon after less than a week, so I got up, although a little later than planned. I also ran less than I have the past few days, but that was planned. Tomorrow I'll do a "long" run.

I finished my week with long(ish) road run. This has probably been my best week of the year based on consistency alone, and I hope to have many more like it. I was a bit worried about my left knee today, but I had to keep reminding myself that I smashed it rock climbing yesterday and that the pain had nothing to do with running injuries.

Catherine and I may take Elliott out for a hike this afternoon. I'll update this accordingly if we do.

PM addition: Catherine and I took Elliott to hike Grove Creek with my brother and my cousin. I first ran that trail almost two years ago, and ever since I've been wanting to take Catherine up there, so it's nice that we finally did it. It was a beautiful day to be on the trail, and Elliott did great, except for one time when I accidentally pushed a small branch that snapped back across her cheek. Understandably, she was not happy about that.

It's a lot of work hauling a little baby up there. I hope it helps me regain my climbing legs. Anyway, I count those miles, and I believe that makes this my highest-mileage week of 2012.

I accidentally slept in this morning, but I realized my mistake and was up and on the road within 30 minutes of when I was supposed to be, so no harm done. My legs were heavy and stiff this morning, kind of like I had recently done a long run. I'll take that to mean my plan to build climbing strength by hiking with Elliott will work. After all, if my makes my legs sore, it will make them stronger. Or something. 

I slept in again, probably because I was up too late last night, but I still went out and did my daily run. I'll re-adapt to this routine eventually.

Today is Elliott's first birthday. Can you believe it's been a year already?

I woke up an hour late again, but I also went to bed an hour late again, so I suppose it balances out. After two days of soreness, my legs felt back to normal this morning. But my stomach was mildly upset, probably because dinner last night was cake and ice cream. 

Another day of running, same as the day before. 

A nice, short, easy run with Elliott. Some days it's just great to be outside. Today was one of them.

Since I'm working on the consistency thing, it should be no surprise that this week was substantially similar to last. This morning I went out for my 10(ish) mile road loop. I didn't feel so great. Either my stomach is sick of all the leftover burthday cake or I'm having some kind of allergic reaction to something (there's a lot of sneezing and mucus and a rash on my leg to go along with the unhappy intestines). Or maybe both. Even so, my comfortable pace ended up at about 7:30, so it wasn't a bad run. 

I'm hoping to get out for a hike with Catherine and Elliott this evening, and I'll report back if I do.

UPDATE: Alas, no evening hike because of the scary strong winds around here. Also, my IT band has been pretty sore all day. If I'm injured again, it may be the last straw. Because if I can't even run this kind of mileage without injury, then there's no way I can build any meaningful fitness by running.  

Despite my worries on Saturday, my knee felt pretty good this morning. In fact, all of me felt pretty good. It was a nice day, and I was glad to be out for a run. Maybe I'm finally adjusting to this morning thing. 

I've been doing this run primarily without a watch now that I know the mileage. The last time I was running 6-7 miles a day was during my first semester of law school, and I was running at an average pace of about 6:4x. A couple of weeks ago my mellow pace was closer to 8:00. In another week or two I'll start wearing my watch again. I'm curious to see how my pace will have changed after a few weeks of running consistently without worrying about my pace.  

Last night was a late night and Elliott woke up early this morning, so no early run for me. The worst part is that I didn't finish what I stayed up late to finish, so I'll be up late again tonight. Which will interfere with tomorrow's run. Sigh. 

Anyway, I ran 3 miles in the evening with Catherine and Elliott. And I went out later for a quick 2 miles to break up my late night and to pad my mileage. I felt like garbage on the last run, so yes, I think the early morning runs are better.

I was up late last night finishing one project that's been kicking around for a while, which meant I slept in this morning, which means I was out for a late run tonight. So yeah, I'm back to my old tricks, unfortunately. I think I'll be running at night again tomorrow, but hopefully I can get back on the morning routine on Friday.

The run was okay. Swimming with Elliott this afternoon was better.

Tonight's run was almost exactly like last night's. Except I was a tiny bit faster.

So, I didn't sleep in today, but then I didn't go for a run. Instead, I got some work done. When Catherine and Elliott woke up, we all went for a run together. It was nice.

The usual weekend run up through the golf course to American Fork Canyon and then back home along the highway. I felt fine the entire way, but I wonder if my knee will give me trouble later like it did last week. Even if it does, I guess it's okay as long as it stops by Monday.

I'm hoping to head up Grove Creek withe Elliott later today. I'll update if I do. 

UPDATE: No hike today. Elliott and I needed haircuts.

Back to my morning run routine for the first time since last Monday. I felt a little sluggish at first, but it was a pretty good run overall. The weather is just about perfect at 6:00 AM these days.

This was a bad one. In fact, it was more of a walk than a run. I didn't eat enough throughout the day, apparently, because after two miles I found myself wobbly and lightheaded and walking most of the way home. Do you know how I know it was a bonk and not something else? The whole way home I couldn't think about anything other than what I was going to eat when I got home. 

I went for a short hike with Elliott this evening up Grove Creek Canyon to the switchback. That's a workout.

I was a little gun shy after my crappy Tuesday run, but I went out to tonight to run the same route at the same time anyway. It turned out to be worth it. The run was just okay. But Lake Mountain is burning, and I had an impressive view for most of the time I was out. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a good picture.

Catherine and I ran the same route that we ran last Friday. Maybe this is our new routine. No knee pain for anyone, either.

It was very hot, so we should have gone earlier. But it's good that we went as early as we did. The Lake Mountain fire is dumping smoke everywhere, and it will probably be hard to breathe this afternoon.

This morning we ran a relay at Allie's 5K. I don't think either of us was prepared--I haven't run even remotely fast in about a year--but I think we did okay, all things considered. I ran 7 laps, Catherine ran 5.5, and we ended up fourth with a time of about 19:20. Most of all it was fun to meet other FRBers.

And of course, congratulations to Allie and Fiddy.

This evening we hiked in Dry Canyon with Elliott and my brother. My legs felt like jelly. 

Against my better judgment, I headed out for an early run with my cousin in law(?) Aaron. I met him years ago through cycling, but now it turns out our wives are cousins, so I'm sure we're related somehow. 

Anyway, I felt awful almost from the start. There were ups, but there were more downs, and I planned to quit or stop short at least twice. But somehow I wound up on the summit, and I'm glad I did.

As for the run, I had a great time. I need to spend more time on the trails with friend. Aaron and Jun have both invited me out many times this year. I just need to manage my time better so I can join them.  

Two very slow, very sore miles. I had a good back-in-the-day story to highlight how out of shape I am now, but I decided to keep it to myself.

Anyway, I'm actually surprised at how good I feel. Yesterday's run was the first time I've run down a hill since April. I think my legs have held up nicely. 

So, here I am catching up at the end of a very bad week. The simple reason is that on Tuesday I decided to accept a spot at the Marriott School, which means I'll be a student for one more year and I'll finish with two degrees (JD/MBA) instead of one. More is better, right?

The effect of that is that I've had to finish some online prerequisite courses, and since I work during the day, the only time to do them is at night. Which means I'm back to my old late-night running routine. Which means I run less or feel worse. Or, as was the case every night this week, both. Fortunately, I had Sunday's Timp run to pad my mileage somewhat.

Anyway, the lack of sleep and such from throughout the week carried its effects over till today, so even my weekend run was super short. I figure sometimes it's just best to let go. I can relaunch my comeback next week. Morning runs, of course.