I'm retired from racing. Really.

Lunch- 2nd half of the year is here, so it must be time to get back to work. 8 miles with the guys, then 2 miles on the trails. Rained a while, then was just humid but not too hot. What a rainy spring/summer.

PM- Paris Mtn on a relatively cool but humid evening after some thunderstorms.  Usual loop of 10 miles in 1:43 with Merle and Jason.  As surprisingly good as I felt yesterday after my rest week, I felt equally as bad today.  Just slow and tired- got dropped several times.  Oh well.

Lunch- 8 with Fedor.  Super sluggish again.

No run. Instead, spent 16 hrs traveling, including 9 hrs on airplanes with 4 kids, 2 of them lap children, to reach Oregon. The kids were actually well behaved. It's kind of fun to have your 22 month boy sit on your lap for 8 hours. Needless to say, we didn't watch any fireworks.

Am- 13 mile run in 1:41. Headed west from West Salem into some beautiful, very hilly farm country full of Christmas trees, blueberries, and wineries. And I didn't miss the heat or humidity at all. 1600 ft climbing.

AM- 21 miles on the very hilly roads around Salem. 4 or so miles dirt road, the rest pavement. Felt super sluggish and terrible the first 2 hrs but then felt much better the last hour. Probably started at 9 min pace but had some sub 7 and even sub 6 sections by the end. Milked 1 gu and 1 bottle for the entire run. 2500 ft climbing (like I said, hilly) in 2:50 or so. It's nice to feel good at the end of a run.

AM-12 on the beach in Oceanside, OR. Nice beach to run on, though not much vert other than the 200 ft trail from the house. Plus running on the flat, soft surface sure strains my calves a bit. Think I'll head into the woods next.

AM- 12 very slow miles winding around the neighborhoods trying to find trails wherever I could. Saw 2 deer within 10 to 20 ft. Ran to a lighthouse then down a huge cliff to the beach. Enjoyable run, if slow. 2000 odd ft climb, 12 miles in 2 hrs. Cool and very foggy.

AM- headed up into the hills above Oceanside on the logging roads today.  Most of the roads I ran were nice dirt/gravel roads, but some were long abandoned and overgrown with weeds.  Saw 3 deer and only 1 guy in a truck.  As bad as I felt yesterday, I felt great today- even ran some sub-6:30 miles at the end, basically doing a 4 or 5 mile tempo.  Kinda cool running through some deep, dark woods where you almost need your headlamp, then through some clear-cut sections with nice views of the Tillamook valley and the ocean.  Nice day.  13.5 miles total with 1800 ft climb in 1:50.

AM- ez 9 miles or so. Mix of road, dirt road, and beach. Plan on long run tomorrow.

AM- 21.5 miles on the logging roads around Oceanside. Enjoyed myself and felt good. Saw 6 adult elk, then later saw a spotted baby elk by itself. Also found the way to the tower at the high point on the peninsula. 3300 ft climbing, 3:05.

AM- I rarely run the day after a long run so wasn't sure how I would feel. Ended up ok, if sluggish. Last run in Oregon, so I tried to find new stuff. Ran single track to the lighthouse and beach, then ran down the closed highway (landslide in Jan took out a section). On the far side, I found a dirt road that led to a state park where I ran 2 miles on the beach before turning around. On the way back up the dirt road, I found another single track that I followed a ways till it turned the wrong direction. After following a game trail and then 20 min of bush whacking (good Barkley training?), I was back near the lighthouse for the run back. Very slow run with lots of detours, technical terrain, and stops. 13.5 miles with 2300 ft climbing in 2:25 or so.

This was my highest mileage week in 2 months. I only had 6 runs but that totaled 12 hrs 20 min running, so generally fairly long runs.

Lunch- 10 with the guys.  Back to the heat and humidity of SC.  We arrived home after 2 am this morning, after a 16 hr travel day.  Bleh.  At least the kids were generally well behaved on the flights. 

I know I keep repeating this, but it has been so wet here.  Greenville averages 4 inches of rain per month and 48 per year (pretty consistent).  In the first 2 weeks of July, it rained 20 inches at the airport here.  That's after one of the wettest June's ever, too.  It's nuts!  20 inches of rain in 14 days.  My grass has never looked so good but I'm not sure I can ever cut it because it's always too wet. 

Lunch- 6 miles with Barry, then 5 by myself on the dirt/mud.  Hot and muggy.  The blackberries are finally ripening by Sam's Club so I stopped and ate 30 or so.  Delicious.  11 miles total.

 I highly suggest popping over to Justin Cole's FRB today.  Looks like someone is learning and reflecting... 

Lunch- it was a warm one today.  10 miles with the guys.  Started with a group of 9, so pretty big group.

Lunch- ez 6 win the guys

PM- Paris mtn with just Jim. Hot and humid. I'd almost say it's summer. Jim hit his head on a branch and had blood streaming down his face for a while. I took a fall near the end and dirtied myself up. I'd say it's the dirtiest I've ever gotten from a fall, partly cause it was on soft dirt and I was soaked with sweat. Both knees, both hands, my right arm, and somehow my entire back from shoulder to mid-butt (guess it pulled my shorts down some). We passed by a campground a mile later so I tried to wash off in the bathroom but it was futile, till I realized there was a shower. I hopped right in and cleaned up quite a bit, then finished the run. I was already soaking wet, but that was definitely my first mid-run shower. 12 miles and 1400 ft climbing in 1:55.

AM- 8.  Fresh fruit Friday in the gym, so I pigged out.  Yummy.  Felt bad the first mile of the run (tired/sluggish) but managed to keep going the full hour.

Lunch- 8 with the guys.  Stopped by the blackberry bushes, too.  Very hot/muggy- after the run, we all pretty much collapsed next to the fruit table.  I think I ate 5 or 6 watermelon slices, plus other food. 

AM- drove to Rocky Bottom to get in some good hillwork.  Ran FHT up Sassafras, then decided to go down the trail towards Caesar's Head rather than Table Rock to see what that was like.  I only made it a mile, which was slow due to excessive undergrowth even though it dropped almost 800 ft.  Decided to go back to regular FHT rather than bushwack.  Got back to Sassafras, having traveled a whopping 6 miles in 1:45 (17:30 avg pace).  Most of the steep climbing for the day was over, though, as I had already climbed 2600 ft and had probably 2/3 of the walking done.  Cruised down the FHT towards TR, which had relatively few spider webs even though I only saw 5 people all run.  Decided to go all the way to Bald Knob overlook, 10 miles from the car.  Felt generally good after about the 2 hr mark and was glad to get in some nice heat work, hill work, and a good long run.  Finished with just over 22 miles (almost 22.5) and 5800 ft in 4:48.  I'm also getting my summer hydration plugged in- I only drank 110 oz and 3 S-caps, and didn't take any leaks after the first hour (as opposed to previous, where I drink more and keep stopping every hour).  No need to run over-hydrated since I'm only going a few hours.  85 deg at the finish and still very humid, with me just beating the afternoon thundershowers.  Finished with a dip in the creek and drove home, arriving at 3 pm, over 8 hrs after I left home.  Solo run meant I got through 6.5 hrs of ultrarunning podcasts, too.

If I ever had ultra buddies visit, I'd either take them on this run or on the Bench Marathon.

AM- early morning run with Jim and Dan.  Wasn't too warm or humid, relatively speaking.  Quads had soreness of maybe 1 out of 10, so that's something.  It means I did at least a little bit of good pounding on Sat.

Lunch- 10 more with some of the guys.  A bit more tired and slow, plus warmer.

Lunch- longish lunch run. Even picked some wild blackberries again. 12 miles or so. Not as hot or humid today.

AM- wanted to get in my first workout in forever. 3 miles warmup, then 8 mile tempo. Started easy at 6:30 pace, then steadily increased the pace to sub 6 by the end.  12.5 miles total in 1:22 or so.

Lunch- Got my gait analyzed at the gym.  My leg length difference affects my stride (right is .5 inch shorter), but I've always known that.  Ran a bunch, too- 9.5 miles total.  Rather hot and sweaty out today.

Pretty tired by the end, especially the last mile.  I realized I've done 110 miles in the last 7 days.  That's about as high as I ever go. That's almost Jake mileage, minus all the sub-5 min workouts.  Looks like I'm even on top of the mileage board, though a lot of that is cause most the Utah runners were racing today.

Lunch 6

PM- last Paris Mtn run with Justin before he leaves for New Hampshire. Met him, plus Aaron and Lynn, at BOP, then ran into the park to meet Barry and Josh. Ran up SS and the Brissy Ridge to upper kanuga, which we rarely run. By sheer luck, we ran into Jason, bringing our group to 7. Ran down to the lake. We could see some dark clouds and lots of lightning but no rain yet. Justin took us on some crazy route after the lake, mainly off trail on a sewer line with quite a few thorny bushes. At least a front moved through, dropping the temps 10 degrees. Finally ended back on BR and ran down. With about 2 miles to go, the skies opened up in typical SC torrential rainstorm. The trails flooded almost instantly, and we were soon running in ankle deep water. And deeper- it's nuts how hard it can rain. 70 deg and a hard rain can be quite enjoyable, splashing and singing. Ran to Barry's truck and hopped in the back for a ride back. Then went to Five Guys for burgers and brownies. Good run, enjoyable evening. I'll really miss him. Finished with 12.5 miles in 2:15, 1700 ft climb, 1900 ft loss.

128 miles the past 7 days of running.

AM- 4.5 ez and slow. then water park and blueberry picking.

I ordered some Smartwool gear from their website Mon night and got 5-7 business days shipping. It arrived Wed. Guess they don't have huge demand for their warm gear in July. Especially going to South Carolina.

AM- very last run with Justin before he leaves to NH for grad school. Drove to DuPont through a thick fog with thunder rumbling. This being this summer, the skies opened up for a while and we got soaking wet and ran much of the run with ankle deep puddles and mud. I still cant believe the severity of these storms. Even had to reroute a few times due to dangerously flooded streams. No rain the last two hours. But being wet isn't really bad when it's 75+ degrees out. Finished with 19 miles and 2200 ft climbing in 3:19, going from memory. Now to clean the house, help a guy move all his stuff out of his house and into my garage, then have a party for 2 families moving next week. Busy day, all on 4 hrs sleep. Good to get one last Justin run, though. It's been a fun two years and he'll have fun at grad school. I'm just never going to call him Doctor, that's for sure. By sheer coincidence, looks like I hit 2000 miles even for the year today. That is all.

With Justin after the run 

AM- 11

Lunch- typical lunch run- started off with 7 guys, then pared it down until it was only Jim and I by the end of 10.5 miles.  That happens most days.  Jim and I inevitably do 2-4 laps around the track at the end for extra miles (each lap is .68 miles).  Legs felt real good today.  Going to try a workout with Hot Dan in the morning. 

AM- BW with Dan, similar to Feb 12 workout.  Long repeats on the GE track, 3 laps each = 2.05 miles per repeat with 90 sec recovery.  2 miles warmup, then first interval was 12:21.  I then took a pit stop and joined Dan for 2 laps in 7:59, then 11:55 for 3 laps.  Dan stopped here but I did one more repeat in 11:41, plus added on a makeup lap of 3:46.  Pretty good workout considering how I feel.  Avg pace was 6:01 at start and improved every repeat till last was 5:32 pace.  Finished with about 4 miles cooldown.  I think 14 miles total in 90 or 95 min.

 Lunch- 6.5 ez with Rob and Todd. 

AM- too tired to get out of bed at 5:30 am

Lunch- 12 miles.  Started with 9 guys, winnowed down to just Jim by the end.  Like usual.  

Headed up to Scout Camp tomorrow in the Smokies.  Plan to run the famous Art Loeb trail through Shining Rock Wilderness, which I've never seen.  Looking forward to it.