Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

One hour on the treadmill tonight. I ran a 20 minute warmup, followed by 30 minutes fast (20 at 6:30 and 10 at 6:00), followed by a 10 minute cooldown. 

Florida v. Vanderbilt was on TV. I chose Vanderbilt because they were the lower-ranked team and they were behind when I started watching. Also, I considered going to law school at Vanderbilt, while you probably couldn't pay me to move to Florida (the state). Stupid refs--my boys got robbed.

Also, Catherine and I went in for our 20-week ultrasound today and confirmed that we're having a little girl. If it were a boy we would have named it Leif, but now we have to come up with a girl's name. As of this morning we're thinking of Elliot. Feedback is welcomed.

I took it easier at the gym tonight because I had an intramural basketball game right after. Two miles walking on the 15 percent grade, followed by 1.5 miles or so of easy running.

Our game went pretty well tonight, even though we lost. It was close, and I had a good night, so I guess I can't complain too much. At this point, I'm hoping we lose our remaining two games, but not by much. That way, we'll go into the playoffs with one tie and four losses, which should land us firmly in the lower division. I have much more confidence in our crew as one of the better "bad" teams than as one of the worst "good" teams.

I have no idea why it's so hard to buy Sudafed. People are still making meth, and now I have to fill out more paperwork than I would to close on a mortgage, just so I can get a decongestant. At least I was able to give a fake address.

I started on the treadmill planning to go 10 miles, but I got bored. When the Lakers game came on, I decided to compromise and run till the end of the first half.

I think I may be coming down with whatever Catherine has.

AM: Four miles at the Cardio Cinema. Twister was on. I saw that one in the theater when I was much younger, but I had no idea it was such a crappy movie. 

PM: Pumping my guns at the meathead gym in Sugarhouse. Afterward, Catherine and I ate dinner at Pei Wei and then caught the end of the gymnastics meet at the U (We got season tickets on Groupon.)

I totally planned to go run a trail today, but with so many other obligations I didn't get to run until after 9:00 in the evening. I didn't have the requisite toughness to strap on  a headlamp and hit the trail, and because the Best Gym Ever in AF closes at 7:00, I ended up driving down to the gym in Orem. Perhaps not surprisingly, it's pretty empty on a Saturday night.

Anyway, I ran a 30-minute, 4-mile warmup (during which I was suddenly hit with the urge to pee so bad that I almost didn't make it to the men's room.) Then I cranked the incline up to 15 percent and cruised slow and steady for an hour (4.3 miles and 3400 feet, according to the treadmill. I was going to finish with another 30 minutes on the flat, but I got bored and stopped after 15.

1:45:00

My brother and I both decided we need new basketball shoes, so we went out shopping this afternoon. Two observations: 1) basketball shoes are ugly, and 2), basketball shoes feel like cement boots. I was looking for new shoes because my old ones are hot, heavy and stiff, but that just seems to be the way basketball shoes are. Some newer ones have addressed the hot and heavy issue, but there's no way around the stiff part. Nike has 95 percent of the market share--why don't they take a chance on a Free basketball shoe or something? 

No run tonight. I slept in this morning because I forgot to set my alarm last night, so I missed my Monday morning pump fest at the gym.

The reason I missed my run tonight is a little more serious. Catherine's heart thing turned out to be significant enough that the cardiologist wanted to see her today. And once he saw her, he wanted to keep her at the hospital for a few days. So I'm here with her, and we're waiting to hear more about what exactly is going on and how long we'll need to stay. For now, all we know is that it's idiopathic ventricular tachycardia, but since we're not doctors we don't know the exact implications. We do know that she may need surgery after baby comes, though. Hopefully not. Anyways, we'll keep everyone posted as we learn more.

We're still in the hospital, but we're a little more settled in now, so I was able to get out for a run. I hopped on the BST right behind the hospital and then ran up Dry Creek until I hit a semi-arbitrary turnaround point that allowed me to make it back just as the sun went down. The run was way too short, but incredibly satisfying nevertheless, and it makes me miss living in the Avenues. I could run that trail all day long (in fact, there's an idea for a long run).

As for Catherine. We've now figured out that we're here so they can keep an eye on her during a loading phase for her medication. At first we thought we might get to go home today, but then they decided the medicine they gave her wasn't working, so they decided to try something new, which means we'll be here for at least another night. Sigh.

Right now it looks like Catherine is in the clear, so we're mostly worried about Baby Girl. They tell us the medicine should be safe, but they also say there aren't enough studies to really know about effects on pregnancy. We're hoping for the best.

1:00:41

We're out of the hospital now, thankfully. It will be nice to sleep in our own bed, and without nurses coming in all night to draw blood and measure vitals. Anyways, Catherine has to be on a special heart medication until baby comes. We've been assured that any risk to Baby Girl is minimal, but it's still scary. Also, Catherine has to wear a heart monitor for the next 30 days, and she may need heart surgery after giving birth. Fun for her!

I was pretty beat all day. Something about not getting enough sleep. Still, I managed to drop by the gym tonight for four lethargic miles on the treadmill. I feel the need to maintain some consistency no matter what, just so I don't lose the habit forever.

31:45

Not much to say about today. With Catherine our of the hospital, things are pretty close to being back to normal, or at least as close as they'll be until the monitor comes off. I only have two classes on Thursday, so I woke up an hour later than normal and spent most of the day catching up on my reading. I managed to fit in an hour on the gym tonight. Forty minutes of tempo/threshold stair stepping, with 10 minutes of easy cruising on either end.

I got in a very short run at about 11:30 tonight, just to say I could, but that doesn't mean that today was so busy I didn't have time to work out. Running just wasn't a top priority. I woke up early and headed to the gym to do some lifting, and then I spent the entire day over at the law library. Catherine picked me up at 6:30 or so, and we grabbed dinner before running a few errands on our way home. Then we had to turn right around because I had an intramural basketball game at 10:00. As usual, we lost. And as usual, it wasn't really that the other team was that good. Of course, they did have a tall guy kind of like me but way, way better. I slowed him down a bit, but I didn't manage to stop him. Which is too bad, because he was pretty much the team. Anyways, I was hungry, sore and tired after the game, but I still got my miles in like a good boy.

24:02

I finally managed to get out of bed and on to the trail by a reasonable time today. I started at Grove Creek and then ran an out-and-back to Orem on the BST. It's a very nice run. When we do the Big Baldy loop, the BST looks pretty flat in comparison to the major climbs, but in reality it's a continuous series of short climbs and descents. The ground was frozen when I started, and all of the horse footprints made footing difficult. On the way back the ground had thawed and all the mud made the footing very sloppy. I guess you could say it almost felt like spring.

Anyways, so ends another low-mileage week. Really, my training volume isn't as low as it seems, because I don't count many miles for my hour-long stair stepper workouts. But I think I may be paying the price and getting out of shape. I bonked pretty badly on the return trip today, and what should have been a nice, easy cruise turned into a bit of a slog. I can point out that I didn't eat much yesterday or sleep much this week, and that may explain things (after all, I did feel fantastic on Tuesday), but a more plausible explanation may simply be that I'm not training enough and therefore I'm losing fitness. At least I still have 6 weeks or so to whip myself into shape for the Fubfallo Run (not a typo).

1:49:17

On the treadmill. Alternating between half a mile at 8:00 and half a mile at 5:27. I was going to run six miles, but I dropped by phone on the treadmill at about 5.25 miles. It was sitting just by the belt, and I had somewhere to be, so I figured it was a sign that I should pull the plug.

In addition to running, I did my weight lifting in the morning and I went to play some three on three with my brother and some of his friends.

36:20

More treadmill miles. Nice and steady, for the most part, but I did throw in a couple of six minute miles. 

1:00:00

Three days in a row of actual running--the first time in a while. I think I should probably cross train tomorrow, because I don't feel like my knee is out of the woods. Tonight I ran very easy on the treadmill for ten minutes, then I cranked the incline up to 11 percent and spent 45 minutes at 12:00, then I finished with an easy five on the flats.

The run was in the evening. This morning I got up early and went to the gym to work on my b-ball skillz for 45 minutes or so. There's only one more intramurals game left, and I'd like us to win at least one before we get shipped off to the lower division playoffs.

1:00:00 

Continuing my running streak to four days in a row. My knee doesn't feel invincible, but it doesn't hurt, either, so I'll take that as a good sign. One hour on the treadmill, super easy pace.

Goose egg. But I did get a chance to lift weights in the morning.

There's a lot to say about today, but not much of it running related, so I'll leave it out. Let's just say it wasn't the best of days.

I did manage to squeeze in a couple of hours on the treadmill tonight. Basically, I ran at a steady 10:00 pace for the entire time, except for the last six minutes, over which I slowly ramped the pace up to 6:00. My workout went like this: 10 minutes flat, 50 minutes at 10 percent, 15 minutes flat, 30 minutes at 10 percent, 15 minutes flat. I ended up running 8 miles on the 10 percent grade, which I think puts me somewhere in the range of 4,000 vertical feet. Not too shabby.

It's too bad I was unable to run yesterday, as I might have broken 40 for the first time in way too long. At least I was able to run every day rather than cross train. 

I'll try to stay on top of the blog this week.

Six miles on the treadmill this morning. I've decided, at least for this week and last, that Monday will be speed work day. So, I did today's run alternating between half a mile easy and half a mile hard. The easy halves were at 8:04. The first hard rep was at 5:27, the second at 5:00, and the last four at 5:45 (although I did crank it back to 5:27 for the last minute or so of the last rep). It felt like a pretty decent Monday morning run. This evening I'll be back for a little weight lifting, and then I hope to get down to Oremville to play basketball with my brother. 

I had a bit of a runny nose last night when I got home from basketball, but when I woke up at 5:00 this morning I had a runny nose, a sneeze, and a sore throat. I hopped back in bed for another hour or so, and miraculously the sore throat had mostly gone away when I finally got out of bed. But I was still sick all day. I blame the bowling yesterday. Sticking my fingers in all those holes--who knows what else has been in there?

Anyways, tonight's run was one of those do-it-to-say-I-did-it runs. Just nice and easy, no need to make myself feel any crappier. I started out at 9:00 per mile, and I was at 8:00 per mile by the time I finished. I think the whole run lasted 39 minutes. I remember that because I finished the minute, the half mile, and the song on my ipod all at the same time. Score!

I'm still feeling like garbage, so today was another just do something day. And I did make it through the run this morning, thanks to another crappy selection at the Cardio Cinema (10,000 BC. How did the Egyptians build the pyramids? With woolly mammoths and child labor, that's how.)

Anyways, I'm going to a water aerobics class with Catherine this evening, and then I have my final (pre-playoffs) basketball game tonight. Then I go to sleep. I hope I feel much better when I wake up.

40:00

Catherine picked me up after school today and dropped me off at the gym while she went to get a pedicure. I decided to spend 75 minutes on the treadmill, although I wasn't sure what the plan was as I got started. After two minutes I decided to get some vertical, so I cranked the incline to 12 percent and settled in for an hour at a 12:00 pace. According to the treadmill I logged 3199 feet and climbed Mt. Treadmill a little more than one and a half times. I finished up with about a mile and a half on the flat and called it an evening.

Long day, but I had time for two quick workouts: weights in the morning, and laps at the track at night.

35:45

It's weird how long it's been since I logged 40+ miles in a week. I thought this week would be the one, but today was a busy day and other priorities meant I didn't get to run as much as I wanted to. I ended up at the Gold's in Orem at 10:30 PM. I hoped to get some vertical, but because my late dinner was sitting heavily in my stomach, I settled for 10 easy treadmill miles instead.

1:18:00

A whopping 6.4 miles in 75 minutes. The 30 minutes I spent on the flat were pretty mellow, but I also threw in 45 minutes on the 15 percent grade. I wasn't feeling too hot (although I felt much better by the end), so I kept the pace at a mellow 15:00. Still, I think I logged some decent vertical.