I'm retired from racing. Really.

PM- 7 miles, with 2 MP.  Also did a bunch of situps, pushups, and wall sit as part of a fitness activity at work.

Lunch- full up taper time.  5 ez on the GE trails. 

They might be posting mid-race updates for my Saturday race here http://eco-xsports.blogspot.com/

And... uh oh, hopefully I haven't just been jinxed this weekend. 

Lunch- 3 ez.  Not feeling great, thanks to some sick kids who like to share.

AM- 2 ez.  Packing up to leave.  We'll see how tomorrow goes.  Should be fun.  Mountain Masochist Trail Run 50+.

Quick report- Sick enough Friday to almost turn the car around and drive home, but ran anyways.  First 18 miles were ok, last 33 were not quite so much.  Still had a lot of fun and enjoyed the day, despite abject physical suffering (in other words, my day was typical for most mid-pack ultra runners).  Good times.  

Full report is now posted. 

Lunch- 30 min of foam roller, stick, stretching, and a little cross training.  Ankle, arches are achy.  Slight soreness in knees, hips, and quads.  Feel good other than that (well, except for overall fatigue).

The sun was setting as I left work.  I don't really care if the sun comes up late in the morning, but sunlight in the evening is nice.  Why can't we just stay on daylight savings year-round? 

Full race report from Saturday is now posted. 

Lunch- wasn't planning to run till Thursday, and only a few miles then, but felt good so ran 5 miles.  Good times- not too sore.  Feeling better about trying the FHT attempt Thanksgiving week.

Here is an interesting article.  It is the best explanation I have ever seen about why Greece is in trouble, why it affects others, and what they can do. 

Lunch- 6.  Feeling ok.

Cool article in Running Times focused on my alma mater and their cross country team.  The coach started just as I was graduating, so it's neat to see the success they have had since I left.  And yes, I ran up the Lookout Mountain many times in practice, both on the paved road and on a singletrack trail. 

Lunch- 8 miles with a big group of guys- 8 of us in all for the whole time.  Lots of random conversation and leaf catching.

AM- nice run on the streets around my neighborhood on a brisk Sat morning.  12 miles, 1:33.

AM- 4.5 ez. 

PM- 9.5 ez.  Getting a bit of a sore throat/cold. 

Threw my hat into the Western States lottery today.  Less than 20% chance of getting in, it seems, but lightning may strike.  Find out in a month if I'm in or not.

Lunch- 6.  Cut the run short and cancelled evening trail run with Barry due to sickness.  Ugh.

Heard a shocking statistic today.  Best estimates are that about 700,000 Iraqis were killed in the war, on top of the 4000 American soldiers.  That is sad and a true tragedy.  And, if you add up the cost of the war, the military essentially spent $8 million for each Iraqi killed.  That means, the government spent or borrowed $13,000 for every American citizen for that war.  Morally AND fiscally, we cannot afford this.  

Then, I watch in horror as the Republican candidates debate Saturday night, and most of the leading candidates openly discuss starting a war with Iran.  I repeat, morally and fiscally, our country cannot afford this.  As a citizen and as a human being, I hope each person will seriously look at Ron Paul, the only candidate who is truly against war, in favor of saving innocent lives (regardless of nationality), and for fiscal conservativism.  Our future, your kid's future, and millions of other lives around the world are depending on it.

Sick at home, no running.

Lunch- back at work, feeling much better.  8 ez.

Follow up article regarding possible war with Iran that was discussed on my blog on Tuesday.

Lunch- 3.5 ez, 2.5 xt.  6k race tomorrow, then FKT attempt on the Foothills Trail. 

AM- GE 6k at Connestee Park.  Great weather (40 deg), nice course with about 1.5 mile pavement, 2+ miles singletrack trail.  I knew I wasn't going to be speedy fast, between lack of recovery from my 50 miler, being sick, and being slightly undertrained.  Ran about 6th to 9th place the whole race- worked pretty hard, but definitely didn't go all out.  First mile on pavement was 5:33, then 2-6:20's on the trail, then a 6:00 on trail/pavement to the finish..  I knew my speed wasn't there, so I wasn't going to kill myself- my bigger priority is Monday's trail run.  Really enjoyed running on the nice trails, though, and seeing a little carnage- I think 4 or 5 of the top 10 guys fell, including 2 guys right behind me (no injuries, though).  GE team ran strong, with 4 of the guys finishing ahead of me, including Jim for the overall win.  I think I finished 7th place, but not sure.  23:37 (6:06 avg) for the race- interestingly, that is the exact same pace as the February run I did at the same location, though that race had a slightly different course and was slower thanks to lots of water/mud.  Given that I wasn't 100% today, I guess it's good that I ran as fast as last race.  Thanks to Laura, the PS staff, Todd, and everyone else for doing a great job.

Now rest for my 77 mile trail run on the Foothills Trail on Monday.  The record is 16:52, and only 13 people have ever completed the run.  Hope I survive! 

Ran the entire 76 miles, rugged, remote, wonderful Foothills Trail in NC/SC.  Was going for my first finish and to break the Fastest Known Time of 16:52.  Run went well, aided by my crew Dad and 3 AWESOME pacers.  Was stymied by lots of water on the trail that reduced us to a slow, slow walk whenever descending the (literally) thousands of stairs or rocks due to extreme slickness, but still completed it in the second fastest time ever.  Hot day- 2 deg off record high plus humidity had us in T-shirts and sweating all day.  Sore and tired (up at 4 am, run 18 hrs, sleep at 4 am), but had a great time.  Full report to follow later, maybe after Thanksgiving.  76 miles of trail plus a mile run in and out.  ~17000 ft climbing, 16000 descending over sometimes brutal terrain leave me the sorest I've been since at least the Bear 100 last year. Missed the record by an hour, but was told I'm only the third or fourth person to finish the trail on their first attempt (the DNF list is twice as long as the finisher's list).  Fun, hard day with lots of help from some great people.  

Full report up on my blogger. 

Cool little running video someone made:

Onwards from AKQA on Vimeo.

It's funny how you can relate to a little stick figure running.  I like the title, too, cause the word I kept using during the recent Mountain Masochist to motivate myself was "Onwards." 

AM- 5 ez.  My right ankle is still very sore to run on, but at least it's not swollen to twice its normal size like earlier this week.  Muscle soreness is pretty minimal now, but definitely fatigued still.  I'll just go easy next week, then start ramping up again.  Next key race is Umstead 100 in March, with Harbison 50k and Uwharrie 40 as training races.

My highest yearly mileage was 3331 in 2009.  Obviously already past that this year, with probably several hundred more to come.

Full report for my FHT run last week is now posted. 

Lunch- 8 in the rain.  Supposed to rain 4-6 inches in Greenville today, a notable amount even here.  That would be about 3-4 months worth of rain in Logan.

Lunch- my ankle is still hurting, esp. after yesterday's run.  Well, I'm no longer sure it is my ankle- seems more like a tendon along the top of the foot near the ankle.  Either way, xt today.

 Any ultrarunners should enjoy Geoff Roes' preview of TNF50 this weekend. 

PM- 5xt.  Yawn.