12 wins, 5 CR's, plus four 2nd, five 3rd, 4th, 4th, 5th, 5th, 9th, 16th, 20th, 28th, 38th, and 62nd place, with 1 DNF
Short-Term Running Goals:
Goals
Enjoy running, stay fit (and maybe lose a few pounds). Play ultimate frisbee.
4 year coach of Langston Middle School- love it
Long-Term Running Goals:
Unretire at some point
Run a sub-6 hr 50 miler
Win a 100 mile ultramarathon
Personal:
I have five cute kids. And I have some rockin short green racing shorts- I wear them mainly because it embarrasses my wife so much. I like ultimate frisbee, trail running, reading, and cheering for the Denver Broncos! And I have the absolute best wife in the world. And I used to run for the now-disbanded national Team Pearl Izumi- Ultra!
Have a small niggle in my foot, so rest. No need to start pushing anything yet. Just play with my kids, do yard work, and watch General Conference instead.
After a few week reprive, here's some disturbing food for thought about a topic that could be a matter of grave importance to us all soon (though hopefully won't affect us).
PM- 12.5 miles at Paris Mtn with Barry, hearing all about his 8th place finish at StumpJump 50k last weekend. Unsurprisingly, my legs felt equally tired and sore as at lunch- actually, moreso. Especially sore calfs. Already cancelled BW for tomorrow, might xt instead. Tired. But always nice to run with Barry on the mtns, especially now that the weather is pleasant.
AM- had wanted a BW. Way too tired. Decided to xt- could only manage 30 min. Pretty tired. And I'm dropping weight, for some reason, even though I think I'm eating the same but running less. I guess I'm not recovered from UROC, and 90 miles this week was too ambitious.
Lunch- wasn't sure I felt up to a run, but decided to try it out. Ended up with 6 ez miles- didn't feel superb, but felt a ton better than Wed/Thurs. Plus, found out this week that 2 of my lunch run buddies are expecting babies (on top of one who had it this week!).
Early AM- Ran with Justin Cole for the first time today- he's a recent college grad and collegiate runner, just getting into road marathoning and trail racing. We did a shuttle and ran the last ~20 miles of the FHT (70 miles from my house, so a bit of a drive). Nice run- did the Burrell's Ford, Chattooga River (where they filmed Deliverance), and Cheohee sections- I stopped my watch accidentally, but Justin had his (though it seemed to be measuring a bit short). Finished with about 19.5 miles in 3:43. The best part was the temps- 50 at the start (my hands were chilly and we could see our breath for a bit) and 70 at the start. I think I only drank 60 oz the whole time, about half my normal during the summer. Nice meeting and running with Justin, too- and glad to complete the entire FHT for my record attempt next month. Felt pretty good- knees were achy on the downs, and tired by the end, but much better than Wed/Thur. Not sure elevation since I stopped my watch, but it was somewhere around 3500 climb/4600 loss. Saw some wild boar, first time for that. No east coast bear, still (only time I saw bear on a run was a bear cub up Waterton Canyon in Denver.
AM- Med workout in the breezy rain with Jason, Dan, and Jim. About 4 warmup, then tempo. First mile was 6:17 (ease into it), then chasing Jim got me a 5:54 and 5:49. I didn't want to go sub-6 even though the pace felt ok, so backed off. 6:04, 6:08, 6:03, 6:03, 6:01. 12 miles total.
Lunch- 6 by my lonesome. Nobody here does doubles.
Supposed to have the GE 6k race this weekend. We got bumped by the park last week due to schedule conflict. So the RD found a new park... and they also discovered they had to bump us last night. Poor RD- it's her first time being RD, too. Race is cancelled, or at least delayed for a while.
PM- 13.5 with Barry at PM. Only a few PM runs left till the park closes earlier due to daylight savings. Found a new trail today. Pretty dang sore and tired by the end. 2:09 or so.
AM- 5+3. My ultra friends would say I should run 33 miles today. However, I have neither the time nor the inclination to do so. Plus it really doesn't fit in my training plan. Still a great day, nonetheless. Thanks for the well-wishes.
AM- 6. Then spent the whole day with the family, much of it in the Blue Ridge Mtns looking at the nice autumn colors. Even ran with my daughters on the Shut In Ridge trail, too.
AM- Had a little extra weight from the weekend, so I figured I'd start the week off right with a BW. 15.5 miles with 10 tinman tempo (60:30 or so). About 101 min total.
Lunch- felt tired pre-run, but better than expected during the run, so went further than planned. 8 with the guys. 86 deg high today- should it be that warm in the middle of Oct? 86 degrees?
I hit 3000 miles for the year today. My highest mileage year ever was 3357.5 in 2009, but didn't hit 3000 till after Thanksgiving. So this is my earliest ever by over 5 weeks. Hope to keep it going and finish up my year strong while giving myself a good start on next year.
Lunch- 6 mapping the trails around GE. Foot felt ok during the run, a bit sore after. I'm going to skip the Sat long run to rest it for Mountain Masochist- rather be slightly under-trained than slightly over-injured.
AM- 10. I only ran 11 miles in 5 days, trying to rest the niggle in my right foot. I run again today, and it hurts more than ever- every step, rather than just after the run. But, my other foot also hurts, and more than the right one. What the HAY?!? Figures.
Lunch- 8 more. Both feet hurt. Maybe turning 33 made me get really old and injury prone...
PM- PM with Barry for one last time this year (park closes at 6 pm after Daylight savings). Enjoyable, as always. 12 miles, 2 hrs.
My credit card number was somehow stolen, and a $400 Lego Death Star was shipped to someone in SC, who unwittingly was supposed to forward it to Russia (along with 12 other packages he got). Fortunately, his BS detector went off and he called the cops. Lovely.
PM- Long couple of days at work due to some testing and hardware issues. Got a quick 5.5 after work before heading to Trunk-r-Treat at our church. This is the 3rd day this week I didn't get home until after 8 pm. Long week.
Now it's full taper time for Mountain Masochist. You know it's a good race when there is even a shoe named after it!
AM- 7 before the wife had to leave. Today is the big marathon/half marathon in Greenville, and the weather is pretty much perfect- it rained last night, weather is 40 and overcast. Hope they all do well.
Lunch- 8. I run with a pretty good, fast group of guys from work at lunch most days- 2 of them placed first and second at the local marathon this weekend, running 2:39 and 2:49. And another ran a 1:30 for his first 1/2. Awesome.
Interesting article about what could happen if Ron Paul were elected.
