Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

Awful, awful run tonight. I felt good enough for about five minutes, but then I just started to feel bonky. I stopped for a drink of water after two miles and then hopped back on the treadmill, but then an ad for McDonald's hot chocolate came on, so I decided to go home and make my own hot chocolate. Good call.

Today was the last day to register for the Buffalo Run at a reduced price, so I went ahead and registered for the 50K. This will be the third year in a row I've run it, and the third year in a row it hasn't made any sense for me to do so. But I still think I can PR this year by simply not being stupid. Last year I remember seeing Byron Powell heading to the turnaround about 20 minute behind me. An hour or so later he went cruising past me as I staggered around wishing I was dead somewhere along the backside of the course. I think his strategy was better than mine. 

Anyway, more with less is the name of the game this year. I spent a little more than 30 minutes on a treadmill tonight, and I think I made it count. One very easy mile to warm up, followed by 1.25 miles in 15 minutes on the 15 percent grade, with some more easy running to round off the last mile and cool down.

Also, I can't remember if I mentioned this or not, but word on the street (and by that I mean word from customer service at Running Warehouse) is that the New Balance Minimus 00 will replace rather than complement the current Minimus Road. Apparently Five Fingers types and indigenous Mexicans are happy about that, but I'm not. The current Minimus is as close to a perfect shoe as I've found, and it's only been out for a year. Why kill it so soon?

Just in case the rumors are true, I'm looking to stock up. If you see any for sale cheap, let me know.  

More running at the gym, more feeling not so good. But there was a Clippers game on, so I stayed longer than I would have otherwise. One of those miles was on the 15 percent grade--the rest were on the flat at a mellow pace. 

More treadmill miles. There really wasn't a theme to this run. Some of it was slow, some of it was fast, some of it was in between. 

I didn't get out early today, and by the time I had time to run, I didn't want to. I convinced myself that it was much colder than it was, so when I finally went out the door I was dressed like an Eskimo. It was a pretty uneventful little run, and by the end I was too hot.

Today was my birthday, so I decided to celebrate with a long run. I decided to take another crack at the Canals Loop. Third time's the charm, and today I finally finished.

It's amazing what a difference the weather can make. Much unlike my last two attempts, today was 40 degrees and sunny. Other than some heavy death mud in the last ten miles, some route-finding troubles near the end, and an uncomfortable trip under the Bangerter Highway, I managed today's run without a hitch.

My pace was relatively casual, and I took a ten-minute break at the halfway point to sit on a curb and drink a Mountain Dew and eat a Cowtail. Even so, I felt pretty beat by the end. I guess I'm not really in shape to run this kind of mileage. But all things considered, I'm pleased that I can do it at all.

PM: Catherine pointed out that all I needed to do was run 4.8 miles more to hit the magic thirty on my thirtieth. Despite how exhausted and sore I was, that was tempting, so I went to the gym in the evening. The soreness in my legs and pain in my right foot worked themselves out pretty quickly, but I was fried. After one mile I couldn't imagine four more. I went to the bathroom and felt better, so I went back to try again. But I felt awful right away, so I called it a day and quit.

I have regrets, and I keep second guessing myself. I hate not finishing what I set out to do. But sometimes there's no reason to push too hard, and tonight was one of those times.