Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

We drove up in a wild snow storm yesterday, and it continued overnight, leaving us snowed in by this morning. So, instead of skiing we spent the morning shoveling snow. By the time we were ready to ski, I decided it didn't make any sense to buy a lift ticket. It turned out to be a good choice, as my brother and sister went over, only to come back because of ridiculously long lift lines.

Instead of skiing, I went snowshoeing with Catherine, my mom, and my brother in law. It was wet and windy, and the snow was deep, but we had a good time. I think I may have to do it again sometime.

No running today, but my legs are worked.

About half of the mountain is closed, so the entire crowd is concentrated in a pretty tight space. That meant we spent almost two hours waiting in different lines before things got going. At first I thought it would be a wasted day, but by mid-morning my brother and I found a groove running laps on Lincoln Mountain. My quads were fried by lunch, but we still got out for a few more hours in the afternoon. Not a bad day, especially considering the crappy start.

More snow last night, more skiing this morning, and more fried quads tonight.

After we got home in the evening, Catherine and I went down to my old high school to put in a few soggy miles on the track just to get the legs moving. The lower altitude must make a huge difference, because my easy pace was much quicker than it is in Utah.

20:00

This morning I ran the roads down into the valley, then up a fire road to the top of the mountain on the other side, then back home for a total of 3,000 feet. It's been a while since I've been up the fire road, so I made several wrong turns before finding it, adding about 3.5 miles to my run. And that's fine, because if I hadn't gotten lost the route would have been shorter than expected.

Anyways, it was a good run. The top of the mountain was buried in a cloud, so I couldn't enjoy the view, but the weather was great and it felt good to be out running again. On the way back down, my legs reminded me that i haven't run down a hill in a long time. I'll have to remember not to do all my miles on a treadmill this winter.

For those who are interested, the actual climb was 1,700 feet over 2.8 miles, and I covered it in 32:20. Tomorrow, Catherine, my sister, and I are going out for the traditional Sacred Heart run. Stay tuned for details.

2:04:05

Today was the traditional Sacred Heart run, so named only because the route goes up a hill past the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy. The tradition started years ago, when my sister and I ran the route over Christmas break one year (I was not a runner back then) and then the next, and the pattern was formed. Unfortunately, I haven't joined her for the past couple of years, being too busy on my bike, so this year was something of a return for me. Also, it was Catherine's first time coming along.

The pace was nice and relaxed, which suited me fine, because my lower legs are insanely sore after yesterday's run, and I couldn't manage much more than a stiff hobble. But the run is more about spending time together (and avoiding oncoming cars) than it is about training, and I'd say it was a success.

I was going to run 3-6 miles on the track. Six sounded nice so that I could get 30 miles for the week, but I felt tired, stiff, and hungry as I started (mostly just kind of out of it in general), so I decided that 30 miles didn't matter. I felt better as I went on, but I stopped at 5. 

Later we found out that my sister's 6-month lab doesn't like water. We knew Tigger doesn't, but we also found out that somehow he's kind of forgotten how to swim. I almost had to jump into the lake for him after I threw him in.