The Devil and The Angel

I have been building miles for a while so it was time for an easy week.

Monday, February 13th 2012: It was pouring rain and just miserable outside. Would you like to know exactly how miserable? I ran 5 miles on the dreadmill. Admittedly, it wasn't too bad. While I ran I watched the movie Forks Over Knives. It's about diet and health in our country. I thought it was interesting. Have you seen it?

Tuesday, February 14th 2012: I celebrated love by eating a pink frosted sugar cookie the size of my hand. These things are slightly dangerous. I often say I'll eat half now and half later. And then before I know it....the whole thing has evaporated.

Wednesday, February 15th 2012: 18 miles @ 12:24 minutes per mile. This run was, in a word, miserable. Eating cauliflower while listening to a duet with Michael Bolton and Celine Dion in my bedroom would have been more enjoyable than this run. On a scale of 1 to 10 for how awesome this run was, I'd rank it .0073.


Another 3,000 foot elevation gain run in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve accompanied by a hefty supply of wind, rain, mud, and a dash of snow. It was unrelenting. There was no break. I was happy to find a little cave to get out of the rain for a few minutes.


As amazing as the trails are around here, they are torture not very fun when wet. It's not your average mud. It is two inches of modeling clay on the bottom of your shoes. No use trying to get it off because it will pile back on with the next step. It is like trying to run on a sheet of butter. Hence my embarrassing pace which doesn't even take into account the times I stopped to shake my fists at the sky and beg it to stop raining while I tried to hold back tears take a picture.

It wasn't just the weather's fault though. I just couldn't get the juices going. I thought my Garmin watch was broken because the miles were dragging by so slowly. Many sections of the trail were great for exploring but not really fast for running. For example, the times I passed through dry river beds:


I had an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other shoulder shouting at me the entire 18 miles. The conversation went something like this:

Devil: You have got to be kidding! This is insanity. I want to go home.
Angel: Suck it up! Are you a man, or are you a Muppet?
Devil: If your family saw you out here, they would commit you to a mental institution.
Angel: Wow, even with warm gloves you have an uncanny ability to develop corpse fingers when it's cold outside! Very impressive!
Devil: Trying to run 18 miles on butter is just plain useless and dumb.
Angel: Mmmmmmmmmm. Butter.

My only saving grace was a new water-proof jacket I just bought. I was still cold and miserable but at least the top part of me wasn't drenched.


I don't mean to complain. I'm sorry. Nobody wants to hear whining. In retrospect I should have just run on the road and saved myself the hassle. But the scenery really was beautiful. And maybe this really crappy run will be good training for races in the future.

Thursday, February 16th 2012: Rest.

Friday, February 17th 2012: Our family went on a hike in Confluence Park. This hike is just a few minutes from our house but most neighbors don't even know it's here. We had a blast.


We took Ace and he seriously thought he had died and gone to heaven.


Jackson was throwing rocks in the river and I caught this splash:


We wanted to stay longer but we were trying to beat the sunlight so we wouldn't have to hike home in the dark. We'll definitely be back again.


Saturday, February 18th 2012: 11 miles @ 10:58 minutes per mile. This run totally made up for the misery earlier in the week. I ran on an easy dirt road instead of technical trails. I gained 1,023 feet instead of 3,000. And best of all.....it wasn't raining! I felt good and I think I could have gone farther or faster but I decided I'll save it for another building week next week. If schedules work out I'll plan to get in a 30 miler.

Seen any good movies lately?
Forks Over Knives was the first I've watched in a while, courtesy of Netflix.

Can you think of anything worse than eating cauliflour while listening to a duet with Michael Bolton and Celine Dion?
Seriously. I want to hear your best "Worst Thing Imaginable" comments. Winner gets 87 bonus points which aren't redeemable for a single thing. Speaking of winning, only a few more days for the giveaway.