Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Feeling Barf-tastic and Molly's Nipple

I was jealous of thought about all my fellow running friends who did the Western States 100 this past weekend. I love this funny quote by Mary Gorski: "I think the Western States trail is one of the most beautiful places that I have vomited." 

Monday, June 18th 2012: 4 miles @ the track. This was the first real speed workout I've done in probably 8 months. (Anyone who has read this blog longer than a week is thinking "No duh", because my paces are less than Olympic caliber.) I brought my kids along with me and they joined in a bit of the running:

I actually don't mind the track. The 800s weren't too bad. We went in the evening so it was still pretty hot outside. By the time we left, I was just a little barf-tastic.





Wednesday, June 20th 2012: 18 miles @ 12:14 minutes per mile. I headed to the Diamond Ranch Academy dirt road for a long run. It's a great place to run on dirt that isn't overly technical.

A few days before, I had admired the cannon ball skills my kids had at the swimming pool. I thought to myself: "Self, maybe you could try a mid-run cannon ball." Here is what Self came up with:

(Dear Self: maybe you could be a little faster if you didn't stop along the way to take a canon ball picture.) The sun was throwing some pretty cool light as it started to come up:

I decided since I was in the area that I would run to the top of Molly's Nipple. The total run climbed 2,600 feet but most of it is pretty gradual. This is the area leading to the steeper climb up Molly's Nipple (pretty easy to see in the background):

The view from the top is incredible. One thing I noticed on this trip was the shadow of Molly's Nipple in the foreground:

I also found something that I hadn't seen during any of my previous trips: a geo cache capsule. I ended up spending about 20 minutes at the top reading through the log book which dated all the way back to 2001! This was one of my favorite entries (largely because it mentions Twinkies):

I wore some shorts that I got from the Dogtown Half Marathon last year. They are too short to wear around the neighborhood without feeling self-conscious, but they're perfect for secluded trails where you never see a solitary person:

It's pretty safe to say that nobody has ever looked at me and thought "Wow, he must be using steroids."

Friday, June 22nd 2012: 5 miles @ 10:22 minutes per mile. Boring, early morning pre-work run.
Saturday, June 23rd 2012: 20 mile bike ride with Mel. We plan to go on more of these dates together. Good times.

Speed workouts: Love them or hate them? Don't mind the track, hate tempo runs.
Twinkies: Great snack food or the greatest snack food? Great, right behind Donettes.
Upcoming Summer Olympics: Excited? Can. Not. Wait.

13 comments:

  1. What a great week of working out! I love the variety. I'm thinking those shorts are pretty cute! I would wear them.
    We have watched a little of the olympic trials stuff going on now and it's getting me excited for the actual games. Yes we will be watching in this household.
    I need to learn from your example to take more photos when I'm out and about on my runs. Beautiful photos as usual.

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  2. First off, those shorts are money, baby! I rock the short ones, and I say, "The shorter the better!" Secondly, you live in an incredible area! Those trails are sweet. I loved the cannonball and the geo cache. Keep up the good work!

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  3. Wait, aren't Twinkies primarily steroid-based?

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  4. I got a pair of those shorts this year. Sadly, I wish they were shorter. Yeah, you heard me right. ;)

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  5. Ya know, I don't really mind track stuff because they're over really quick as those longer 15-20 milers go on for so long.

    Those shorts don't look as short as some I've seen guys wear. I've seen wayyyy too much in my racing days :)

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  6. If there was an award for most creative blog posing title, you'd have that in the bag! I always love your photos. Speed work is a love/hate relationship for me. Training for a 5k now, so it's mainly a hate relationship as each workout seems to be a run until you want to puke kinda thing.

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  7. I HEART THE OLYMPICS!!! seriously counting down the days:) also. im trying to love speedwork. really trying;) what a great week you had! sounds like some great runs! i am reading pam reed's autobiography right now and talks about all the times she has run badwater. i thought immediately of you and how you should run that some day:)

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  8. I love speed on the track, especially with the whole family in tow! So much fun.

    I'm super, duper excited for the Olympics!

    I don't think those shorts are that short.

    And I had my first twinkie in a few years last week, and it wasn't as good as I remembered it being. I was totally disappointed. Lesson of that day, never stop eating twinkies.

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  9. I have absolutely no idea how you train through the heat in St.George. That has got to build some character and pay huge dividents in building mental strength. Great week of training and I absolutely love that picture of your kids at the track. I really love that you incorporate your family into your training as much as possible. Very cool!

    I hate speedwork and love tempos. :)

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  10. You might be faster without the mid-run cannon balls but your pictures would be way more boring. If you've seen one many running in the dessert, you've seen them all.

    Nice photo of the golden grass. The lighting is just magical.

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  11. I think your muscles and my muscles might be related.

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  12. Great quote!
    The pictures are wonderful, artistic, fantastic!

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  13. I love your pictures, and that's a great quote.

    Could you have worked "Molly's nipple" into this post a few more times? I don't think you said it enough. :)

    I actually kind of like speedwork. Pushing hard for a short time isn't so bad. I don't like Twinkies (sorry). I don't usually watch the Olympics. More about the doing than the spectating.

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