I'm retired from racing. Really.

PM late afternoon 4 miles. Wasn't much but I didn't feel great. I was planning on a solid week or more off after LM. Due to illness, it's ended up being 2.5 weeks with just a couple runs. Based on how I'm feeling, I need it. I put in for Massanutten lottery today, so my lottery fate will be determined by the stock market Jan 10.

belated thoughts on last year:

Highlights- set 50k PR and 5k PR in 2 weeks, very unexpected on 5k

Won 5 races, 3 ultras, plus podium at 3 more

Barkley- most awesome race ever

Good win at TNF Atlanta, plus best 100 ever at Pinhoti

425 miles racing, most ever- 14 races in 6 states

3500 miles total, lowest since 2010. 33% were trails

Lowlights-

Hmm- nothing too bad. Getting lost at LM was a bummer. Being sick before Chuckanut and having it affect me at Barkley. That's all for now.

Lunch- low 40's and rainy, let's go for a run. And, how about 2 guys in the group run with no shirts on!  Yes, we runners are bright, we are. 10 miles, rainy.

Lunch- big group for a Friday. 9 guys. 25 deg, cold. 1 hr.

AM- slept in, went for a run. It was 21 deg, so I wore my running pants, the first time I've worn them on a regular run in 3 years. 8 easy miles in an hour.

AM- 7 ez

Lunch- 10 more. Aaron won the lunch run group No-shave November contest this year, upsetting reigning champ Jason. As an award, Jason shaved his beard and gave it to Aaron in a baggie. Aaron carried the bag with us all run, spreading the beard along the route.  Yes, we are strange, but not abnormally so for a group of distance runners.

A bit chilly, but not as cold as it will be tomorrow. Coldest temps in 20 years. Not near as cold as much of the country, but cold for here. Rumor is Atlanta is colder than Anchorage.

Lunch- 9.5 on a cold day, 5 deg windchill. Aaron ran in shorts and shirt, no gloves or hat.

Kitchen water won't work, maybe frozen pipes. This isn't good. At all.

Lunch- much warmer today, 30 deg when we started. Lake, neighborhood, track, 10 miles. 

Kitchen pipes thawed out at home. Doesn't look like any pipes burst, so that's lucky. Some of our friends had some attic pipe burst and are dealing with major damages. Ouch.

Massanutten 100 lottery is on Friday. Hopefully this one is kinder than the rest- there's 364 entrants for 208 spots, so better odds than Western. Looking at the applicants, if 167 to 175 get in, that's a pretty top-heavy field right there. http://www.vhtrc.org/application/applicantsList.php?race=MMT

Lunch- 5 miles with the guys, then 5.5 more with just Todd. 40 deg, much nicer out.

AM- 10

PM- Mid-afternoon run in a drizzle with Dan. Just under an hour.

AM- Some major rain (i.e. 1+ inch per hour) and constant lightning from 5 am till 7 am. I waited till it didn't seem death was imminent, then went for my run. 10 miles around home, and didn't see another person, strangely. 45 deg and mizzle/fog felt like perfect temps for running. 

Carried my TV upstairs today. Ever since someone built a house behind ours, we lost reception for NBC and Fox, only getting CBS. Yes, only one channel. Anyways, apparently I can get more channels upstairs so now I can watch football on the TV instead of streaming on a tiny screen on my computer. Nice.

The DOW worked in my favor yesterday, so I finally got in a lottery after 2 years of no luck. Massanutten 100, here I come! It should be a very good field, too- Karl Meltzer, PI teammate Nick Pedatella, Brian Rusiecki, John Dennis, Pierre Loic Derange, Jason Lantz, David Frasier, Jeremy Waldrop, Jeremy Pade- stacked.

Finally posted my Pinhoti 100 mile race report. Working on more posts, too. 

AM- 12

Lunch- 9 more. Nice day for a run. Big group of guys- we started with 10, and still had 9 when we got back to GE after an hour. Seeing 9 guys running is an impressively big pack that you rarely see.  Kinda fun.

Lunch 9.5

Lunch- it's Todd's birthday, so we ran to his house and ate some of his chocolate birthday cake. That was a lunch run first. Plus abs class.

PM- missed the lunch run group, but finally got out at 2:30. 11 miles, most of it behind GE on the trails there. They aren't hilly, but it sure beats the road.

AM- 5 on a cold morning with Dan and Todd

Lunch- 9 more. I was offered a free entry to Run Downtown 5k tomorrow, so I took it on a whim. Hadn't planned on this. In the past 3.5 months, I've done 2 speed workouts totaling less than 10 miles combined. Last year, I completely surprised myself by setting a PR at this race and almost broke the 16 minute mark. Not expecting similar results tomorrow, but I'll give it a go.

AM- The Run Downtown 5k is the only race I've done every year in Greenville. I had no intention of running it this year until I was offered a free bib yesterday and my morning church-cleaning commitment fell through. And so, despite having only run 9 miles of speedwork since the start of October, I found myself toeing the line again. It's a fairly big (1400 runners) race with a fast field- winning time was 14:52. It's never flat, with about 200 feet climbing. Temps were cold, mid-20's and breezy. After a long warmup with Dan, we shed layers and were ready to run. I stood next to James Brooks, who was aiming for sub-16 and invited me to do the same. I assured him I would be closer to my slowest RDT than my fastest. His girlfriend, Kim Ruck, was nearby and seemed primed for a good race.

They started us and we surged down the hill, then spread out as we climbed for .8 miles. I found myself in 12th place and the 4th GE runner behind Jim, Phil, and Dan. Mile 1 felt fast yet not labored. I was hoping for a 5:20-ish but the clock read 5:30. Mile 2 is downhill and everyone in front of me pulled away while there was a pack of 4 or 5 runners just behind, pushing me to a 5:22. The pack behind me fell back except for one set of footsteps. Cheering voices told me it was Kim. With extra incentive to not get chicked, I kept pushing hard and held my breathing at appropriate level. The last 1.1 was 5:55, giving me a final time of 16:48, still in 12th place. It seems about the right time given my training. Results here.

Hour long cooldown with a group of 8 GE runners as the sun slowly warmed us. Good race, all things considered. I'm sure I could break 16 minutes if I ever trained for it, but don't think I will. Ultras are a bigger priority, and life is a tradeoff.

AM- 13 miles while watching highlights of the games yesterday. All I can say is, The Broncos are going to the Super Bowl, baby! Boo Yeah!  Awesome. First time since I was on my mission many moons ago. Run- started at 7:30 pace, finished sub 7 pace, 95 minutes.

Lunch- 10 of us again, an impressively large group. 9.5 miles. Hot Dan pushed the pace the last 2 miles to try to stay ahead of my gasseous stench.

AM 8

Lunch 8 more with the guys. I wasn't talkative, which was freaking Jim out.

Lunch- workout with some of the guys on a cold day (25 deg and breezy). Ran to the lake, then did 5x1 lap (~.86 miles each) with ~90 sec rest. I didn't want to run too hard due to fatigue, tightness in hammies, and my race coming up on Saturday. Times were 5:04, 5:08, 4:56, 5:01, 4:34 (Todd convinced me to push him to sub 4:50 on the last one and I finally started feeling good). 10 miles total.

AM- 8

Lunch- and 7 more.

Lunch 4.5 on a cold day. It will be low teens windchill tomorrow for my 15.5 mile trail race. Still might wear shorts.

AM- Another great Go Run Trails race this morning, the Expedition Paris Mtn trail race. They upped the game this year, adding a 15.5 mile option on top of the 10.5 and 5 mile races from last year. It was a very cold morning, 20 deg and windy, with windchill around 10 deg. 10 deg windchill? Let's wear shorts! Actually, between two tops with zippers, I was able to regulate my temp well enough to stay not too cold. 

Had a good crew at the race- Aaron, Lynn, and Seth in the long race, plus Barry and Aly in the 5 mile (Aly's first trail race). I saw David Workman at the start, and he's always good competition. The race ran every trail in the park except the short Firetower and Turtle trails, with three big climbs. The initial climb up Sulfer Springs welt well, with 2 guys ahead in shorter races, and David right behind. The wind was strong from the south and it was much colder whenever we were exposed to it. I stretched it out on the flat SS to the second aid station, then we hit the paved downhill portion- 1 mile with 400 ft descent flew by in about 5:15 and felt easy. Hiker only Brissy Ridge was slow, as always, but I slowly pulled away from David and gained on the one 10 miler ahead. Then it was time for a big circle of North Lake then the climb up Kanuga. Figuring it was all downhill from here (well, mostly), I started pushing it a bit as I started catching the slower 10 milers. Finished first place in 2:00:49, four min ahead of David in second. Lynn got 5th overall, edging out Aaron. I froze for a few minutes, then had to leave for a baptism at our church (I changed but didn't shower first- stinky).

This was another nice race- well marked, gummi bears at the aid station(!), and a well thought out, challengin course. My watch measured ~15 to 15.25 miles with 2200 ft climbing. Fun morning, good win. And I was glad my legs felt good despite this being my highest mileage training week since Labor Day.

Photos courtesy of GoRunTrails facebook page

AM- 10

Lunch- 9.5 with the guys. I don't remember how long the run was, but I think it was 9 or 10 miles. Split the difference. Something I ate last night had me visit the bathroom 7 times between waking up and the end of my lunch run. Marci said the kids had lots of dirty diapers, too. Just in case you wanted to know.

AM- 12 at 6 am with Hot Dan. Cold and windy. Ran all over town in the dark with no headlamp. 

Lunch- 7 more. Lunch meeting got cancelled so I ran into a subway (literally) towards the end of the run for a footlong. It snowed here today, too, which means they shut the whole town down. We'll see if I can even go to work tomorrow. Easier to work from home.

Worked from home today. Got out for an afternoon hour run. It was colder than I thought it would be. 

I put on my ski coat yesterday for the first time in years. Based on the ski passes, the last time I went skiing was February 2007. Wow, 7 years ago. I had no idea it was that long ago. Surprising. Don't tell Jake.

AM- BW, 4 mile warmup, then treadmill temp (13 deg and icy out don't make for good running). I wanted to start at 6:30 pace and increase each mile, but wasn't feeling great so had to back it down from 6:10 to 6:15 for a while before finally kicking it up the last few miles, finishing sub-6. 10 mile tempo in 63:45, then 2 cooldown. 16 total. 

Treadmill miles aren't so bad when watching Seinfeld on Mike & Mike while getting ready for the Broncos in the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Feeling a little under the weather- just stuffy and sniffles. The storm on Tuesday dumped 1 inch of snow in Greenville. They cancelled school Tuesday at noon, sending the kids home early. Then cancelled Wed. And then, despite dry roads, cancelled school on Thursday, as well. If they had this mentality in Canada, the school year would be 2 weeks long.

Lunch- 7. Nice day. Sang a bunch of Weird Al songs during the run.

AM- early morning run on the FHT with Merle. Snow/ice off-and-on during the run, never deeper than an inch. I've had a bit of a cold and have only slept maybe 15 hrs total the past 3 days, so I was pretty worn down. We ran towards the bench and Merle pulled away right from the start. I just ran easy till I saw him coming back, 11.5 miles and 2:10 into the run. Merle was surprised I turned around 1/2 mile before the bench, but I didn't really care. The way back was pathetically slow, a good "tired, bonking, run/walk on dead legs" kind of run. These are no fun during the run, but I've found they help in races. Even added a few detours on the way back. Finished 24 miles in just under 4:40, with 4500 ft climbing (had I gone to the bench, I'd be well over an hour slower than my fastest bench run, one year ago exactly). This is my highest mileage training week since August, so that's good. Painful, yet good run.

Last run with these shoes- I've had them for years and years, at least 3 or 4 years. They are worn out and not feeling too good on my feet anymore. They had a great life, though, including 7 hours at the Barkley and 60 miles at the Bear 100.

Have I mentioned the Broncos are in the Super Bowl tomorrow?

Lunch 10. Still tired.

Computer died today. I haven't backed the info onto our backup drive for 6 months. Oops.

Lunch 7 with some of the guys, then some xt.

Am 10

Lunch ab class, then 10.5 more.

Am 8

Lunch 7.5. Quite the interesting conversation today about science vs religion, creationism vs evolution. Animated conversation.

Lunch 4.5 with Jim to SAMs club and back

AM Time for another good Half Moon Outfitters race, this one at Lake Connestee. I've done 3 of their races in the past, winning all. The promised rain last night didn't happen, so weather was cool but nice. I warmed up on course and found they changed it from past years, definitely making it slower and more technical. Perfect. Started very fast to not get trapped on single track, being in first place within 50 yards. I ran hard and felt good, and all the footsteps behind me quickly fell away except for one, Tim Gibbons, who was within 5 seconds at mile 1. I just kept pushing, though, as best I could with all the turns, trees, and roots. Couldn't see him by mile 2. Crossed a bridge at mile 3 to a cheering Barry, then finished on the very technical, slow new portion. I loved it. Finished in first in 22:31, Tim was 22:50. Cheered in friends, cooled down with Jason, then stayed for awards (HM is very generous) and the awesome door prizes.

Enjoyable day. This was my third race in fourth week, with another race, the infamous and challenging Mt Mitchell Challenge 40 miler in two weeks. It's not often I run this hard on technical trails, so it's nice to mix things up.

Results http://go-greenevents.com/resultsdetail/id/1568

New race report. Now I'm only 3 races behind. http://greenshortsrunning.blogspot.com/2014/02/getting-lost-lookout-mountain-50-mile.html

AM 12 while watching the Olympics

Lunch10 miles. Tied a record with 13 guys running. That's a huge group barreling down the road. In the cold rain, no less.

It might snow tomorrow so they already cancelled school.

AM BW while watching cross country skiing at the Olympics. I enjoy watching that sport for obvious reasons. Anyways, 4 mile warmup, 10 mile tempo in 62:13. Started 6:20 pace, finished sub 6. Not in A+ shape right now! just passable. 16 miles total in 1:47. Then foam roller. That's the only stretching I do with any regularity.

Lunch- I talked the group into running the muddy, snowy trails behind GE. Enjoyable in the snow, a rarity around here. 6 miles. Probably have to work from home tomorrow.

AM the whole city is shut down due to snow, so I'm working from home. Fedor lives nearby, so we ran 50 min on the snow packed, empty roads in the snow and wind. Then I added on extra. 14ish miles. Good practice for Mt Mitchell Challenge next week.

Lunch- working from home. We ended up with 4 or 6 inches of wet snow, and it's now 40 deg and melting fast. My run was an absolute slush fest. Not sure when my toes have been so cold. It will be a hard slog next week if they are this cold in the race. Ran to the soccer fields, the tried my MicroSpikes for the first time. They worked well for traction but the weight was more noticeable than I hoped. Finished with 9 miles.

Lunch uneventful run, other than slush and all the stopped cars due to wrecks backing up traffic onto all the side roads. Faster to be on foot today. 8.5+1.5

Lunch- helped someone move, then met Lynn and Aaron at Paris Mtn. I have way too many trail shoes, but I didn't have any in my car in a day they were actually needed for snow, ice, and mud. We ran into Joe VanLeeuwen and he joined us for most the run. Didn't do hike only sulphur springs and couldn't get to lower Kanuga due to ice, so ended up doing an out and back on BR and upper Kanuga. 94 min, 9-ish miles. Taper now for Mt. Mitchell next week.

Lunch- nice 7 mile run with a big group. Did 4 laps of Mt Zion Christian School XC course.

Lunch- ran to the lake, then did 2x1 lap repeats (.85 miles each). Times were 4:56, 4:39 (5:45 and 5:25 pace). 6 miles total. 

Not sure what the race conditions will be like Saturday. Snow, ice, warm, mud, rain, cold, wind? Maybe all of the above.

Lunch- 5 miles with Phil.

Lunch- 3. Feeling very tired and just Blah this week. Not how you want to be feeling pre-race.

Lunch- ez 3.5

RD just said we're running on trails all the way to the summit tomorrow, so it looks like my Microspikes will come in very useful!  I wasn't sure if they are worth carrying for 40 miles, but I figure I will.

Quick report- placed 3rd overall at Mt Mitchell Challenge. Had felt a bit "blah" all week leading up to the race and was worried it would carry over. It did, a bit. Legs felt flat on the initial 3 road miles, but then I found I could climb ok once on trail and I moved from about 10th to 4th by mile 13, well behind the lead pack of 3 runners. The Toll Road was muddy and had lots of flowing water but minimal snow.  Then we started towards Mt Mitchell on a trail with intermittent snow- I had a bit of a low patch and tried to just stay relaxed, moving, and save my energy for the downhill. The last climb to the summit was nuts- it was 900 feet up in 1.4 miles over technical trails that are most comparable to an ice skating rink. Seriously icy- took me 30 min. Paul flew by me here. I summited and enjoyed the views for a minute, then ran down the road back to the Blue Ridge Parkway (normal singletrack path closed due to ice). I was surprised to see previous race leader Jason Bryant just ahead - he started walking down the road, never a good sign. I then played leapfrog with Paul for the next 2 hrs, battling it out for the final podium spot- I passed him, then stopped for a pit stop, then passed him again but he stayed just behind me. I yielded again with another pit stop at mile 31, then pressed hard to catch again, finally passing him at mile 34 just after the 23% grade paved road leading into Montreat. I put a few minutes on him in the last 5k. It was fun to race against him, though- it's been a long time since I had such a back and forth battle for an entire race. I finished the 37.5 miles with 4800 ft climbing in 5:24. Dane finished in CR 4:46, Shaun Pope was just under 5 hrs. Even if I had felt better, I couldn't have caught either of them.

Had a good time eating food and talking to some of the great runners before heading home to my supportive wife and kids.

I've been awake since 3:45 am and it's almost 10 pm. I'm going to bed now. After some ice cream, of course.

I really should change the name of my FRB page...

Legs are pretty sore today, not surprising given I ran 20 straight miles downhill (not often you do that), with 9.6 of it being paved. No running, no way. Did a 45 min yoga class and some foam rolling.

Got a little press. http://t.co/J2l81zDWOf

PM- did some cross training and foam rolling while watching Olympic skiing. Should be go for running tomorrow.

Lunch- 15 min abs class, then 6 easy miles running with the guys. Rolling green loop.

Lunch- 8 with the guys. Then foam rolling. I really like foam rolling. Feels so good after a hard downhill race. Ok, it hurts. But that's good, right?

Lunch 10, inc 3 behind GE. Everyone is doing Reedy River 10k tomorrow. I got them a discounted entry. They all think I'm doing it too. But I'm not. Oh well.

Feeling good this morning but only had an hour for a run, so went to the soccer field and did fast-ish loops around the .8 mile, hilly loop. Laps were 5:00, 5:06, 5:04, 5:04, 4:58, 4:48 (6:00 to 6:20 avg pace). Felt relaxed and good, definitely could have done a lot more. Total run was 1:02:20. 9.5 miles.

AM- 10 with Dan and Seth.

Lunch- 10 in the rain with the guys.

AM- BW. 3 mile warmup, then did 2 MP miles 6:12 pace or so, then 1 mile at 10 % grade at 10:00 pace. Repeated 2 more times, increasing flat pace each time and incline 1 percent. Added one last sub6 mile at the end, then cool down. So ended up with 7 miles in under 43 min and 30 min climbing. Not too bad, but tired after.

Lunch very slow 7 with the guys on a cold, windy day. 42 miles in 2 days.

AM- 10. 

Lunch- 8 more. 

My mileage so far this week is 60 miles. All of last week I ran 39.5. Now, what's the 10% rule again?

Lunch- 8.5 ez on a cold, windy day.

Today is Marci and my 10th anniversary. We made reservations at a very nice local restaurant... but then ended up having to take our 1 year old with us due to some babysitter confusion. A quiet, romantic dinner for 2 ended up a noisy, squawking, not at all romantic dinner for 3. I'm sure we'll have some memories from this one. A lot different than our 5th anniversary, when we spent 2 relaxing hours at Melting Pot.

AM- 7

Lunch- 5.5. It was upper 30's and breezy, but the rain stopped just as we started so it actually was kind of pleasant.

AM- Ran Palmetto trail/Hogback mountain with Aaron, Lynn, and Joe. Aaron was real tired and we kept waiting for him, and he sent us ahead at mile 5. Joe turned around at 9. Great weather for a run, with some light snow on the trail in spots. Saw a big group of turkeys. Perfect time of year to run this- no thorns or stinging nettle yet. I ran easy to stay with the others until mile 13. Felt good, strong. Wish I had felt this way during Mt Mitchell. 4100 ft climbing, just under 20 miles, in 3:25 running time. I need to come do hill repeats on the initial climb, which ascends 1400 ft in 1.8 miles.

First 100 mile training week since August. Hope I can string 2 more together the next 2 weeks. Daylight savings will make Monday morning's run fun.

AM- 12

Lunch- 10.5 with the guys. Quick pace the last half. Great weather- around 60 deg, sunny. High is upper 70's tomorrow.

AM- BW on the GE track. Nice day for running- 50 deg with a slight breeze, not humid. Warmed up 4 miles with Hot Dan and Seth, then did the workout solo. Workout was 4x2mile (actually 2.05 miles, being 3 times around the GE track) with 2 min rest. Wasn't feeling perky before so knew I would ease into it. First one was 12:34 (6:07 pace), then 11:52, 11:46, 11:35 (5:39 pace). I'm not in top speed shape by any means, but always good to do some faster stuff. 3 mile cooldown on the trails. 

I rarely listen to music on a run but did today to ward off track boredom. I found it appropriate that Johnny Cash's "Hurt" came on mid-way through the last repeat. "I focus on the pain... the only thing that's real."

Every shoe I own makes the right shoe with the forefoot narrower than the left shoe. Either that, or my right forefoot is wider than left. I'm going with the former.

AM- had a lunch dentist appointment to fix a chipped tooth, so my 2-easy runs became 1 morning run. My calves were very sore when I woke up- too many Fastwitch miles. My legs were still very tired. My body was tired due to 3 very short nights. The only people running were Dan, Jim, and Todd, and Dan had said they would go fast. Nothing quite like running sub-7 miles on tired legs in the dark and rain. Yeah, it was a painful run. 12 miles in 1:24.

Lunch- 7. Tired, didn't even try to join some of the others for a workout.

PM- Supposed to run in the mtns but everyone bailed and I wasn't feeling great, so I just ran on the trails behind my work. Did one 6 mile loop, then was headed out again. At the 7 mile mark, I stumbled onto 4 turkeys. 3 ran away, but the male puffed up and strutted. I backed off, but he charged me. I hurdled a fence and ran down the trail, with the turkey in hot pursuit. For 3 full minutes- seriously. He chased me for half a mile. I snagged a 4 foot branch along the way, and had to take a few swings to keep him off me. Finally, he stopped his pursuit.

At that point, I decided to circle way around through the trees and thick, thorny undergrowth back to my trail. After about 4 minutes of carefully picking my way... "gobble gobble!" Thomas the Ticked-off Turkey, the Spawn of Satan himself, was just meters away and in full pursuit. I had no choice but to run full speed the other way, using my arms to shield my face from the thorns as best I could. I somehow stumbled into a herd of deer who scattered, but the turkey followed for another 200 yards. He finally left me alone. I found a .75 mile section of trail to run back and forth on the rest of the run, with my heartrate finally slowing after several miles.

Post-run, I can count at least two dozen scratches on my legs and my shirt is snagged and torn in at least 10 places. 

In related news, turkeys have now moved above mosquitoes and canadian geese on my "least-favorite animals" list. I've had a few run ins with this turkey, but this was by far the worst. I hate turkeys. Just wait till Thanksgiving.

Finished with 12 miles. And yes, I'm counting some of it as speedwork.

AM- 7. Not near as exciting as last night's run. No animal incidents.

Lunch- 7 with Barry and Aaron. Ran the turkey trails from last night but no sign of the culprit. I was hoping to see him again, with company this time. Had a few other people recount their own turkey tales.

AM- Quick easy run at Croft State Park, site of the upcoming Blind Pig 100. 17 miles in 2:45 or so and 1500 ft climb or so. Arches/PF are both bugging me a bit and I was predictably tired supposing this is my highest mileage training week since 2012. Listened to a few running podcasts and the last of Oct General Conference. 

AM- 14 steady and easy.

Lunch- 8 with the guys on a rainy, windy, 35 deg day. Although the rain stopped shortly after we started, so it wasn't too bad. Either way, I was dressed warmly enough.

AM- Poor weather outside, so did a treadmill BW (with several running buddies also choosing to run alongside). 4 mile warmup where my legs felt tired and made me doubt my plan. But once I cranked the pace, I felt fine. 10 mile tempo in 60:57, starting at 6:11 pace, increasing to 6:00 at mile 9, then more increases in the last mile till 11 mph at the end. 2 mile cooldown. 16 miles total in 1:44 or so. Hungry now.

Lunch- 6 ez. Lunch run topics today included Goonies, Back to the Future, pirates, Barney, and teletubbies.

Lunch 8 with the guys

PM- PM run with Aaron and Lynn. 11 miles, 2:48 or so. Fairly empty trails. 1300 ft climb.

AM- very tired 12 miles. Slow.

Lunch- 8 with Scott and Jim. Legs felt better after a few miles. Great weather out, upper 50's, but I wore a warm fleece shirt to try and get some heat tolerance in case any upcoming races are hot.

Lunch 7.5 ez with Webster and Aaron. Then a bit of biking.

AM- Ran one of the Corporate Shield races in Gvl today, the Milliken Earth Run. It's a 5k run all on the beautiful arboretum of the Milliken campus. It's rolling hills on a mowed-weeds course, very lumpy and bumpy with some roots- pretty much a high school XC course. In other words, I love it. I won it two years ago but knew there would be some competition in the field of 600, plus my legs were tired from the end of a 100 mile week. My family came, which was great, and we enjoyed the nice, 50 deg and sunny weather.

Warmed up, then started the race side by side with Jim. In fact, we led right from the gun- no high schoolers darted off the front or anything. Jim and I ran step for step the first mile in 5:11, then he pulled ahead and had about 2 second on me a few minutes later. There was one set of footsteps behind us, but eveyone else was way back. We hit a gradual downhill and I caught and passed Jim. I thought he might come with me but I gapped him and kept extending my lead. Mile 2 was 5:29, then the last 1.1 was 6:06. Final time was 16:47, slower than my 16:30 win a few years ago. Jim finished 17:09, Ashley 10 sec was behind him, then there was a gap before a slew of GE guys came in. Jim hadn't felt good all race, but a group of us cooled down. Seeing my win excited my girls, who then insisted on running a little ways with me, too. Fun race. 

Third 100 mile week in a row is over, now it's time for a very easy taper to Leatherwoods 50 mile next week. Should be competitive, with Brian Rusiecki and Shaun Pope battling for the prize money. Then it's recover and a little more training for Massanutten 100.

Unfortunately, 3 of my kids are sick and Marci's starting to get sick, too. This only happens to us the week before a race. Which means, I'll start feeling bad the next couple of days. I hate it when months of training goes down the tube thanks to a poorly-timed virus.

Lunch- 45 min easy. We'll call it 5.5 miles. I have a lot more free time while tapering.

Lunch- chilly out today. 6 with the guys. Feeling excited for the race. Weather is supposed to be rainy and cold on a course known for being muddy and slippery. Jason lost his shoe 3 times in the mud last year and said traction was an issue. And it's horse trails, so they get all chunked up. Sweet.

Lunch- it snowed yesterday. It was 44 deg out with a cold wind blowing. I saw white things everywhere and figured it was small flower petals or something. Then they started hitting my windshield and melting. Wow- snow in SC at the end of March. 5 minutes later, it was gone.

4 miles today, with 4 strides. I barely feel like my run has started and it's already over. Short.

AM- 2.5 miles.

Pm 2 ez. Driving to race now. Predicting rain and thunder all day.

Quick report- ran, without a doubt, the muddiest, sloppiest race of my life today. Fun, painful, challenging. Finished a distant second to Brian Rusiecki in 8.5 hrs. Rain, rain, mud, water, and more mud. My left knee is absolutely jacked up, too, probably from all the slipping and sliding. Great course with lots of climbing, good aid, perfect markers. 77 starters, 43 finishers.

Lunch- knee is improving but still noticeably sore, so there is no way I was going for a run, even though it was a gorgeous, 75 deg day outside. Did some elliptical and a bunch of foam rolling (quads are sore, not much else). 

Enjoyed following the Barkley on twitter, cheering for Jared to his finish. Congrats to him. As @runwicked said, “Jared Campbell is going to do well when the zombie apocalypse happens.”

Q: I'm debating what races to do later this year. Registration for Grindstone and JFK 50 open tomorrow. I've also considered TNF San Fran again, or Hellgate. Opinions?

Picture from Saturday:

PM long day at work, finally got out for a run at 5. Did 42 min on the trails behind GE. Knee didn't hurt at all, yeah. Small muscle soreness, but lots of muscle fatigue. It was very, very slow. Which is just fine. We'll call it 5 miles.

Lunch- I'm assigned to a new project at work, and it's rather hectic. I fear it may cut into my running. I got out for a late lunch run, just as Jim was wrapping up. He ran 40 min with me, then I went behind GE by myself. Just as I was turning around to get back for a meeting, I found Tom the Turkey behind me. Sure enough, he gave chase again, which was very painful on still-tired legs. I circled around a loop and lost him, then headed back to the gym. 8 miles or so in an hour.

Lunch- 10 miles, including a few with Jim behind GE hunting the turkey. Hot out- mid-80's. The temp jumped 30-40 deg from last week so feels very hot. I got my first sunburn of the year today.

Lunch 12. Uneventful. Very thirsty by the end.

AM- slept in a bit, then went for a run around home. Jason was going to come, but backed out with some lame excuse about his wife going into labor. **Priorities**  Anyways, today is the first run I felt some spring in my steps. First bit was easy, then picked it up and the rest was 7 min pace or faster. 13 miles in 1:35 on rolling roads. Mid-50's, nice run.

AM- Pouring rain and 45 deg out led to a TM BW. 3 miles warmup, 10 miles tempo slowly increasing pace in 60:30, 1 mile cooldown. Sweaty, lots of grunting. 14 miles in 90 min.

Lunch- very rainy, chilly run with the guys at lunch. Forgot bandaids, so actually had to take off my shirt when I started getting some bad nippage. I had arm warmers, though- so arm warmers and no shirt. My knee, which hasn't hurt since last Tuesday, really started hurting again. Bummer. And my calves and Achilles. Looks like I did a bit too much this morning. 6.5 miles run, then a bit of eliptical.

Lunch 10. Knee is improving, Achilles hurt. Not so much that I didn't do. A full run, though. No speed work for a while.

Lunch 11 miles in 84 min, inc SAMs club with Jason and Jim.

Lunch- 10. Went into the hilly Huntington neighborhood for the first time in a couple of years. Finished with a mile on trails. Not much else to say.

Lunch- Right at the start, Paul saw the turkey abotu 30 yards away from the track, the closest I've ever seen him. He puffed up and strutted around, but didn't chase us. Paul agreed with me that he is a huge turkey, puffed up or not. Once Aaron and Rob showed up, we decided to chase him to put some fear of humans back in him, but he quickly disappeared into the woods. Jason, Paul and I ran to Sam's club, then Jason and I ran to the tunnel. Then I did some xt. 9.5 miles run, 26 min xt (1:38 total).

AM- Perfect morning for a run, 50 deg. Met Jason and we ran around the Georgia Rd area at a descent clip over hilly roads. Saw 4 runners, 0 bikers. Ran 19 miles in 2:15 with 1200 ft climbing. Felt good, lots of 6:45-7 min miles. Avg HR 139 (rare for me to wear the monitor). Lots of people in SC own big dogs.

Barry and I are working the aid station this evening at the Blind Pig 100, the first 100 miler ever in SC. Should be fun. It's a loop course, 11 loops, so we'll see lots of runners.

I'm pleased with how this week turned out. I wanted 100+ miles, but my knee was achy enough on Monday that I scratched the remaining doubles. To still get 80+ miles on singles is acceptable.

AM- 10

Lunch- 10 more. It's spring break here, so not as many people around. I did the last 20 minute by myself, heading behind GE. Guess who I ran into? My good friend the turkey. He chased me, again. When I got near the track, I stopped to keep egging him on, curious how far he would come. He approached me on the track, so I went into the parking lot. He kept coming, about 50 yards into the midst of cars. He's a brave, stupid turkey. Only an arriving pickup scared him back. He then tried to scare a group of 3 guys on the track. I told them it was too bad none of them had a shotgun. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I'm going to keep heading back there alone until spring is over- this turkey is too annoying.

Lunch- 8-ish miles on a rainy-ish day with a couple of guys. Slow-ish and tired-ish.

PM- PM with Barry and Seth. Very tired, slow, and light-headed the first 30 min, then started feeling a bit better for the rest of it. Typical loop, 10.5 miles or so in 1:40-something.

I'm all about generalities today.

Lunch- 12. Cold and sunny and windy today- mid 40's. Looked as warm as last week, but it wasn't. Tired and slow, still. Need to sleep more.

AM- plodded through 13 miles in 97 min. Started to wonder mid-run if I was doing too many normal runs (possibly junk miles?) and should cut back mileage to be able to get some meaningful speedwork. Thoughts?

Lunch- Legs were pooped before I started, whole body is tired and achy (I really think I'm getting sick, plus 3 of my kids are sick), and ankle really hurts. Decided to start a run but wasn't sure I'd make it more than a mile. Ended up plodding through the full 9 miles.

One good thing about sick kids- my two oldest were in bed at 7:30 (~90 min earlier than usual- and this is spring break week), my 2 year old was down by 7:50, and the 1 year old by 8:15. Marci is gone at a church activity. It's 9:14 pm and I'm going to bed. Might be my earliest bedtime in 5+ years. I need it.

Lunch- 10. When Jim is out of town, I always end up doing the last 10-20 min alone.

AM- Everyone was busy, so it was a solo Sat long run. My ward boy scout troop backpacked in to Virginia Hawkins falls on the FHT, so I figured I'd go visit. It was supposed to be cold, windy, and rainy, but ended up not so bad- the rain sstopped just as I started and it was 50 deg. As bad as I felt Tue-Thur this week, I felt fine today. It took me 75 min to go 7 miles in to the troop, where I stopped and chatted a few minutes. They told me it had rained hard all night. I kept going on the FHT till just before the NC border, then turned around, catching the troop half way back, walking with them for a few minutes. A few older boys who are on the track team and wanted to beat me had left the rest behind earlier. I caught them with several miles to spare- not really a fair fight, with them carrying backcpacks. It started raining just as I finished. 21.5 miles and 3600 ft climbing in 3:42. Everything felt fine during the run but my fickle knee really tightened up after and is still sore. I'll definitely have to milk this through MMT.

The most notable item of the run: with less than 400 yards to go, I was steadily running up a hill, just looking ahead, grinding up. Suddenly, "wham!" I was brought to a complete stop and almost leveled with a blow to the head that jarred my teeth and hurt like the dickens. Unsure what had just happened, I looked up and observed a 4-inch diameter branch crossing the trail at hairline height that I had completely missed. It was just high enough to not be in my view as I looked down, and just low enough to contact my noggin. I think my visor is the only thing that prevented blood, though I do have a bit of a bump. That may be the hardest I've ever run head-first into something on the trails.

AM- 9

Lunch- we did a late lunch run so we could watch Meb kick some trash at Boston. Now that was a good race- exciting, and he held off everyone at the end. Watching Shalane before that, I was hoping she would tuck into the pack, but she pushed hard and died. Lots of fun following the FRB'ers and other friends. Fun the see Seth Wold surge up with the leaders for a few miles, too.  Boston is to runners as March Madness is to basketball fans- streaming webcasts rock. Anyways, it was a Phil run, "an honest pace" as he would say. In other words, started at 7 min pace and just got faster from there. Jim and I did 80-some odd minutes, 11 or 11.5 miles. We'll round down this time.

AM- Brilliant morning for a run, 50 deg and beautiful. 11 miles, mainly around the GE track. Took Rob's advice and did a bit of fast stuff, ended up doing 4x 1 min, as fast as I could, with 2-4 min in between. Kind of a fartlek of sorts. Good stuff.

Lunch- 10. Warm.

AM- 6 on the track. Wanted more, but my knee was bugging me. Ever since Leatherwoods, but especially the past week, my knee has felt... off. Loose, somehow, not stable. Sometimes painful and weak, like standing up or going down stairs. It's a bit worrisome seeing as I have Massanutten 100 in 3 weeks. Probably time for some good R&R. Trying to milk it through the race, then I plan to take off at least 2-4 weeks entirely from running.

Lunch- skipped lunch workout due to my knee and being very, very busy at work. I'll be glad when this week is over, as I'm responsible for a very important document that has to be completed on Friday.

Lunch- skipped morning run due to knee and fatigue. Lunch run was nice, if a bit warm. 74 min.

AM- 10 with Jim and Jason. Nice temps, though Jason still soaked through his shirt and shorts.

Lunch- an hour. Jim agreed that 3-4 hrs between runs is really not enough time to recover much.

I finished a huge document at work that I've been working on for a year and was due today. Just in time. Nice to have it off my plate. In other news, the whole family signed up for a 5k next Friday- we'll push the jogging stroller with the youngest 2, and the rest of us will run/walk.

0. Proving once again that if you don't get in your run first thing Sat morning, it probably isn't going to happen. That's ok- it was a very busy day, and my knee needed the rest. I'm officially in taper time, anyways.

AM- 12

Lunch- 9. My left ankle is really bugging me, which is a new thing on top of my balky left knee. Not sure what is causing all these issues. I think I'm going to cancel most remaining doubles and just do singles till MMT 100, after which I'll take 2-4 weeks entirely off running.

Lunch- 10 miles. The weatherman was predicting severe thunderstorms all day but it never developed. Nice.

PM- Our Boy Scout troop has been doing the Personal Fitness merit badge, which includes a mile run every 2 weeks. Today was the last day so I agreed to run it. We even offered I would buy pizza if any of the boys could finish within 40 seconds of me. The loop was actually about .93 miles and I ran 4:53, while the next boy was 5:55. No pizza. Good hard mile, though.

Lunch- 10 miles. We were supposed to have severe thunderstorms for 2 days now. Nothing. I won't complain.

AM- We're doing some testing at work and I was supposed to cover 1 pm till 1:30 am, so I slept in a bit and then drove to Paris Mtn for a run. First time I've been there in a while- in fact, only my 5th run there this year. Way below average. Nice day, lots and lots of hikers with tons of dogs, plus 2 school groups, but not a single biker. Watch was having GPS issues, but it was a pretty standard loop of 10.5 miles in 1:37 and 1400 ft climb. Good day.

When I arrived at work, they had testing issues so the test was cancelled. I had to stay at work till 8:30 just to get in my hrs. The last few hours were pretty boring.

Running the Swamp Rabbit 5k tomorrow with the family (wife, oldest 2 daughters, then double jogger). Haven't decided yet if I'll run fast, then run it again to catch my family, or just go with them the whole way. 5000 runners, so not a small race.

Lunch- no one wanted to run at lunch due to the race this evening, so I ran the neighborhood loop by myself. 6.5. Nice weather today, low 70's.

PM- Ran the wonderful race of Swamp Rabbit 5k. It's only $6 and is huge- 5000 registered runners. You get a shirt, 5 aid stations on the course, typical food after, plus all the hot dogs and chips you want, a live band, bouncy castles and tons of giveaways for the kids. Not bad at all. We decided this would be a good race for my daughters to experience, so all 4 of us registered, with the youngest 2 in the jogging stroller. I figured I'd run with the fam, but Marci told me to run fast to get points for GE, then run the course again to catch up with them. I wasn't feeling great before and had a new ankle pain, but figured it would work itself out. It did. Started off in 7th to 8th place for the first mile, not too far behind the leaders. 2nd mile is very hilly and slow, but I passed a couple guys just before the 2 mile mark (11:11), then one more in the last mile on the bike trail. Finished in 5th overall, 17:08 (10 seconds slower than a few years ago), and 1st in my age group. Not bad for a race of 5000 runners.

Grabbed some water, then ran it again. Caught the walkers before mile 1 and proceeded to pass 2000 of them in a mile (literally), finally catching Marci just before mile 2. Had fun running in with them. They had started in the very back with the strollers and had also passed 2000 runners (it took them 6 min to cross the start line in a 5k) and had a chip time of 42:30. Not bad for a 5 year old, a 7 year old, and a mom pushing 2 kids. Way to go, guys! Then we ate lots of food while the kids bounced on the castles and I talked to lots of runners. Didn't get home till 10 pm.

AM- nice morning for a run. Felt like I was really slogging but was around 7:30 pace. Right ankle was sore off and on. Not sure what to make of it. Mainly ran around the soccer fields watching the tournament games. 13 miles.

Lunch- I probably should have started this a week earlier, but I started my heat training today. On the warmest day of the year (record high of 91 deg), I ran at lunch with a t-shirt, a black long sleeve, and another long sleeve. Wowzers was it hot!!! That was pretty miserable. Ran a full 10 miles. On the drive home after work, I turned on the heat as high as it would go, cranked the fan, and even put the air on recirculate. By the time I got home, I was drenched in sweat and could not take my keys out of the ignition cause they were so hot. I'm honestly guessing they were 140 deg or higher. Remind me to never do Badwater.

Lunch- it was a bit hotter today and I wore even more warm clothes, but was better hydrated and was not as uncomfortable than yesterday. Still hot, though. I don't normally suggest wearing a fleece top, a long tech top, and a t-shirt in 83 deg temps. Anyways, ran 7 miles and then did a bit of xt.

PM- Paris Mtn with Merle, first time we'd run together in a long time. He had already run an hour before and it was high 80's temp, so the pace was pretty easy. Usual route, 10.5 miles.

Lunch- 8 miles somewhat slow. Mid-80's. Only wanted 7 but Jim's back and talked me into an extra mile.

Evening- How come all the adventures with kids only happen when their mom is out with her friends? #justcalledpoisoncontrol #noseriously

Lunch- ran with everyone to the lake, then Jim and I did 2 faster miles (5:40-ish pace, which actually felt real easy- we were even talking back and forth some- I guess that's what a taper will do for you) with Bart tagging along for one lap. 6 total miles, maybe a bit more. But I'll round down.

Going to a church Father-Son campout tonight. It will be Zach's first, and I'm excited. We'll see how he does.

PM- 6.5

Lunch- 6 with the guys. Experimented with my sun arm sleeves that supposedly cool you when wet. Tried them on and off- not sure it makes much of a difference. It would if you could fill them with ice, that's for sure.

Sometimes before races I'm excited. Sometimes I'm determined to win or place high. Sometimes I have a pit in my stomach (not sure why... but those races usually don't end up well). Sometimes I'm ambivalent, indifferent. I'd say the last one is how I'm feeling this time. I think it's how I felt before Pinhoti, too, and is somewhat a reflection of increased racing experience. 

Lunch late run with Webster and Barry. Went behind GE and, sure enough, ran into the turkey. He even chased us for 20 seconds or so. They agreed that he is a very large, intimidating bird. I hope someone shoots him soon. 5 miles or so. Feeling ready for Massanutten this weekend, though I haven't started packing.

Lunch- ran with Aaron and Paul, mainly hearing about Aaron's recent vacation to Norway and Sweden. Sounds like a great place. 4.5 miles with 4 short strides at the end.

They are predicting 2-5 inches of rain between now and Fri at the race location, complete with flash flood warnings. But the race weather should be nice- low of upper 40's, high in the upper 60's. So good air temps but wet feet.

You can follow along with the Massanutten 100 live at this site: http://www.vhtrc.org/mmtlive/

I am bib 5, and the race starts at 4 am Saturday morning.

Work all day and pack, no run

AM 3 ez w 4 strides. Leave within an hour.

As you're waiting for updates tomorrow, read Dakota's thoughtful race report. http://www.irunfar.com/2014/05/dakota-joness-2014-transvulcania-report.html

Report later. Crazy, absurdly rocky race. Ran 95 miles with Jason Lantz, really enjoyed having someone to talk to for 20 hrs. Wet the whole time from record rainfalls and extreme flash flooding, washing out bridges and rerouting the race. Did I mention it was ridiculously rocky? Massanutten ROCKS!

Lunch- first workout since MMT. 15 minute ab class, then 30 minutes arc trainer.

No working out today, but I did donate blood. I'm O negative and CMV negative, so they are always asking me to donate. As a bonus, I didn't pass out this time (unlike 2 previous times...).

Lunch- played 45 minutes of ultimate frisbee. Between donating blood yesterday, the sprinting, and the heat/humidity, I was pooped. Seriously, 5 seconds of sprinting reduced me to a standstill for a minute. Pretty sorry. Fun game, though. 2 guys wore GPS and said they went 2.5 miles. Good enough for me.

Lunch- big group of 12 guys. I did 6 miles and felt terrible. It was good to be running again.

Hey SLC runners- I'll be getting a ride to SLC with Cody the evening of July 13 and flying out July 14 at noon. I have a cousin near the airport, but was thinking it was worth asking if anyone is interested in putting me up and taking me on a little trail run that Monday morning before I go to the airport (I won't have a car so would need a ride if I don't stay at my cousin's house). Anyone available and interested? I figured a chance to crash with FRBers and trail run in SLC should never be missed.

No run- went to a party at my first grader's school instead, where I proceeded to accidentally dislocate my 16 month old's elbow when I picked her up. Fortunately, it went back in after 20 minutes, just before we were going to the doctor.

Lunch- 8 miles on a humid day in the high 80's. Hot. Legs felt pretty darn tired, though a bit better than Monday. I have a month to get myself in shape before heading to Colorado to run the Hardrock 100 course and then maybe crew or pace during the race.

AM- Working noon till 2 am tonight, so slept in a bit today then took an easy morning run. Well, it was supposed to be easy, but instead it was slow and super hard/painful. I couldn't have run an 8 min mile if my life depended on it today.

Lunch- 9.5 miles with the guys. Felt pretty crappy until the 1 hour mark, when we started discussing inflation and the fed. That gets me fired up, ranting, so we picked up the pace and I forgot about feeling tired.

AM- 10.

My mileage this week was right where I wanted it to be. I would like to steadily increase 20 mpw for 3 weeks, then have a bit of an easy week before the Hardrock week, where I expect to run 100-150 miles in the San Juan mtns, which would be a doozy of a week.

Lunch- home with redeye (it had been infected and itchy for a few days, but my very late work night Thursday night set it off such that it's bright red now), but there's no reason I can't go running. Did 10 miles by myself on a fairly warm day (86 deg and humid). Legs are incrementally getting better, less fatigued.

Lunch- small group of guys today. 10 miles.

Lunch- 11 miles. Lots of discussion on gun control, war, and related topics. I didn't start it.

PM- new shoes. Ran at PM for the first time in a while with Aaron, Joe, and Jim (Jim's annual trip when his family is out of town). I felt bad the first third, still bad but used to it the second third, and then kind of ok the last bit when we're going downhill. Always nice to run trail. 10 miles, just over 90 min.

Lunch- 9 with the guys. Discussed Iraq, TV shows... I don't remember what else. Lots.

I finally joined the 21st century today- I got an iPhone. We'll see how Ting works.

I signed up for a race tomorrow for some reason. I kinda wish I hadn't. I'm in terrible shape, I don't like the race, it starts at 6:16 am (meaning I have to wake up at 5 am), it's a road 8k, and my infected eyes have been itchier than they have ever been in my life this entire week- and I'm sure waking up early won't make them happy. Anyways, I'll run my best but am not expecting much. I'm normally not this grumpy going into a race. Oh well.

AM- 10th overall at Sunrise run, probably better than I deserved. Will write more later- gotta go shower for a date with my wife now.

Ran the 8k this morning. Given that I'm just starting training again, I wasn't expecting much. I ran a 28:01 last year in what was a bad race, and was honestly expecting 30-33 min. Woke up early (race starts at 6:16 am, sunrise), warmed up, then started a few rows back. Intentionally didn't wear a watch cause I didn't want to know my time, just run based on how I felt. Started somewhat slow (for a race) and felt I maintained a decent pace. I was in 11th just before the first mile, then passed 2 guys and was passed by 1 in turn. That put me in 10th, where I would stay the rest of the race, though I had a guy within 5-10 seconds behind me all race to keep me honest. When I turned towards the finish line, the clock read high 28's and I tried to keep it within a minute of last year. Finished in 29:01, though I guess the clock was off and actual time was 29:06, and I was third GE guy. Either way, I was happy all things considering. Cooled down with Phil and Jason. 

My get in shape push continues next week with a planned 80 miles, then 100. One month from now I'll be at Hardrock, where I estimate I'll run 120-140 miles at high altitude. That should just about kill me if I don't die.

Lunch- pretty darn hot and humid today, so not too fast, either. 10 miles.

Lunch 10 miles. Hot and humid, like usual. Mid 90s this week.

Lunch- 6. Hot

PM- PM with the Honnette's and Joe. It had rained, so very humid. Not much to say, other than Joe made the best of a pretty classic looking digger. 10.5 miles in 1:45. Or something like that.

Lunch slow 8.5 on a hot day. Everyone else stopped, so I went into the gym and watched a little World Cup while biking.

AM- 8 with Jason.

Lunch- 6.

AM- Dupont state forest with Jason and his friend Gordon. Left ankle/achilles was ok, but not great. 3:10, 2200 ft. Nice day for a run, good temps for the summer (65 deg and very humid), muddy. I fell crossing a river, that was a first, but it was only 6 inches deep or so there. Got a nice picture of a copperhead on the trail, too. Just a little bugger, less than 18 inches.

AM- 8. Felt very good.

Lunch- 10 more. Felt the opposite of very good.

AM- 7

Lunch- 10 more. Only a few lunch runners today.

Am 6

Pm 8+2

Lunch 6 in the gym while watching the first half of soccer. 

PM PM with Aaron and Lynn. Typical 10. I felt pretty dang tired during my lunch run and feared that would bode poorly for my evening run. But, my legs actually felt great tonight- lots of energy, best in weeks. Funny how it is.

AM- 9

Lunch- 6.5. Glad it's Friday. Tomorrow I'll do a short run, watch my kids for a while, follow Western States, do some shopping, and moderate Western States. Happy Statesmas.

I ran doubles every weekday this week. I might have done that once or twice in my running career, but it's not often. I wanted to hit 100 miles this week but had trouble getting up for long morning runs, so instead did lots of short morning runs.

AM- Met Jim, Hot Dan, and Roundhouse Rob in Simpsonville. 13 miles down into Fountain Inn and back, then some more with Jim at the end. Legs were definitely telling me they aren't use to this mileage. But I achieved my "kick myself in shape goal" of 40-60-80-100 miles. Slightly exceeds the 10% rule... Now an easy week before 120 mile at Hardrock in a week.