I'm retired from racing. Really.

Lunch- back on the horse.  8 miles.  Ankle is improving, but not perfect.

Got a pair of Hoka's in the mail today.  Not a fan of paying $100 for a pair of shoes (normally $160), but I gotta see what these things are all about.  Counting my 4 other shoes still in the box, I now have 20 pairs of still-active running shoes.  I need help. 

Lunch- 7.  It's been absolutely gorgeous weather for lunchtime running this week- around 50 deg and sunny with a slight breeze.

AM- 14 ez by myself around the house.  Moderately rolly terrain, 1:46.  Cool and breezy, 45 deg (a lot warmer than the 9 deg in Logan right now!).  Now gotta watch TNF50 twitters. 

John Stewart with another excellent clip, this one about bankers and the Fed, explaining it as only he can. 

AM- 7

Lunch-10.  First double in 3 weeks.  It's been nice to sleep in, but lazy time is over- time to start the long ramp up to Umstead 100 in March, with just a few races in between (Harbison 50k, Uwharrie 40). 

AM- 6, including a 5k in 18:18 for a gym competition.

Lunch- 7.5+3xt.  Left for work at 8:15 this morning, got home from work at midnight.  One of those long days. Didn't see the wife or kids at all.  I think I'm going to bed- gotta be back at work at 8 tomorrow.  Technically, today.

Lunch- 10 miles with Jim on a windy, rainy day.  30 min of it was splashing, slipping around some muddy trails.

Lunch- 9 with the guys.  Much nicer weather than yesterday.  

Lunch- 7+2.

Western States lottery is tomorrow.  It's my first time ever applying.  Less than 10% chance of getting in, but here's to luck.  Maybe I'll burn a pair of shoes to the running gods. 

AM- very nice run with Justin and Barry at Dupont State Forest.  It's a wonderful place to run- relatively hilly, nice mix of singletrack, doubletrack, and gravel road, all with a little water mixed in and 99% runnable.  Good weather, too- 30 deg at the start, 50 at the finish- only drank 40-50 oz of water, which I would often drink in about an hour in the summer.  What a great day running with some good guys.  Finished with just over 20.5 miles in 3:21 running time, 3600 ft climbing.  That's one very nice thing about SC- the trails are more or less passable and generally snow-free year round.  We did have a little excitement on the way home when one deer went running full speed right in front of our car, and another one just about T-boned us.  He somehow stopped just in time.

Came home to watch the end of the Western States lottery.  I was among the 85% of entrants who did not get drawn.  Looks like I'll have to plan my schedule for next year now.  I wanted to do some good, competitive races.  With WS out, I'll likely fly to San Fran in a year for TNF 50.  We'll see- still a long ways out. 

AM- 10

Lunch- same, but with the guys. 

Lunch- 8

PM- Just under 11 at PM with Barry.  Talking so much that we missed a turn onto our normal route in the dark, so ended up a bit shorter than normal.  Nice run, a bit chilly.  1:44, I think.

The more I learn, the more it appears that we, as the American people, have a quandry on our hands.  The time is likely approaching that we will need to decide if we want to support freedom and democracy worldwide, or if we want to support the actions of the US government.  Because we can't do both at the same time. 

And, the time is approaching that the American people need to decide if we want to support the US Constitution or support the actions of the US government.  Because we can't do both at the same time.  Just remember- this country and this people are far different than the government.  You can love the country and people but not agree with the government's actions.

Ok, libertarian diatribe of the week is over.  Go back to your lives. [stepping off soapbox] 

Slept through the morning run- way, way too tired.  So Lunch- 9.

My last remaining big toenail comes off tomorrow morning.  I'll be down to 8 toenails max.  Yup, I'm weird like that.  It's causing issues, and this is the year to get it off since we hit our high deductible with Zach's birth.  I'll get another 4 weeks of running with a very bloody and painful toe.  Good times. 

AM- Needed to get in my long run due to my toe surgery today, so woke up early.  19 total miles, including a bit of a medium workout (7 miles in 43:20) with a time of 2:13 (7:01 avg).  Next few days might be spotty, depending on how my toe feels.  I now officially only have 8 toenails.

AM- 4 easy, then 1 all out mile for a work competition- ran a 5:03.  My fastest mile in a long time.  Finished up with pushups, situps, and wall sit.  

Lunch- 8.  The Float 2 shoes bend at the right place such that my hurt toe doesn't get hit so doesn't hurt much. 

AM- wanted to get at least 10, ended up doing 13.  Ran the rolling hills around my house, including finding a little 1 mile dirt section.  1:39 with 800 ft climbing.  Pretty happy with my mileage this week, especially considering I had a toenail removed.  

AM- BW.  10 tinman tempo in just over 61 min as part of a 15 mile,  99 min run.  Toe hurt.

Lunch- 7 more with the guys, who were moving much faster than my tired legs wanted.  Ugh.  Tuckered out. 

Lunch- 7.5 run plus 1 mile equivalent as part of a obstacle challenge at work.  Yes, I have no upper body strength, Ken.  But as much as I know doing some core work and strength training would help me, I just can't convince myself that it would help more than spending the time running, given my limited time.

PM- 11.  Very tuckered out, now.  Getting the body used to 90+ mile weeks is tiring, especially when you don't sleep enough. 

AM- 9

Lunch- only wanted 6, ended up being dragged into 7.5 with the guys.  In the rain.  At least it wasn't too rainy or cold, and we enjoyed splashing each other some.  Yes, we're immature and we know it.  You should hear our usual topics of conversation...

AM- 8

AM- 6.5+3.5. 

AM- Supposed to run trails with Justin, but a sick kid and stressed wife left me needing to do a quick run from home and get home 3 hrs earlier (sorry, Justin).  Ran some of the back country roads near my house.  I did find a nice ATV trail for a mile or so, though.  A few observations:

• There's a lot of empty beer cans on the side of all the roads
• Watching the sunrise over the hills is awesome.  Some hilly, beautiful terrain around Greenville.
• People really need to control their dogs.  I had a dog charge me and kept snapping and growling, while the owner stood right there and LECTURED me about how the dog was acting that way cause I stopped running (rather than run into it), so it viewed me as weak prey.  She never grabbed the dog, so I had to slowly make my way for 100 ft till the dog turned around.  CONTROL YOUR ANIMALS, people.  No, it doesn't make the runner feel any better to tell them, "He's a nice dog.  He won't hurt you."  Especially if the dog is growling with his hair standing up as you say that.  Next time, I'm just gonna kick the dog.  Hard.  If you won't grab your dog, I'll take care of it for you.  The situation would have been better if the owner wasn't there, cause then I would have dealt with it myself rather than trying to talk to the lady while fending off her dog.

Finished with 19 mile in about 2:20 with 1200 ft climbing and loss.  Pushed pretty hard the last 6 miles, with the last 4 sub-7 and some sub-6 pace stuff.  Good run.  My highest mileage week since before Labor Day.

Merry Christmas, everyone!  Hope you and your family have a wonderful day.

AM- 9.  Nice morning out.  First run in my Hokas, and I'll admit that I really liked them.  Looking forward to trying them on real trails- I was on mainly road with just a bit of dirt this morning.

PM- 14 splendid miles on the sometimes twisty, sometimes hilly, sometimes rooty, otherwise flat, smooth, and gorgeous singletrack of Southside Park.  Beautiful day for a run.  100% singletrack.  Saw about 6 mtn bikers in the first 20 min, then didn't see a soul the rest of the time- very peaceful.  Great place to run- there's a wonderful, almost smooth 2 mile section that I may have to do repeats on for my speedwork for Umstead.. 14 miles with about 1700 ft climbing (?- Garmin connect says 700, Sporttracks says 1800- definitely more than 700) in just under 2 hrs.  Shorts and t-shirt weather.  

AM- 38 deg and rain/windy out, so went to the gym for the first time ever.  15 mile run with 9 tinman tempo (~6:05 avg).

PM- 4.5 ez. 

Lunch- 3 days of high mileage, little sleep, and too little/crappy food caught up to me.  Drove to Croft/Southside again for a nice trail run.  14 miles, though the last half was a slog with a few sitting spells.  Still, trails are always nice- saw some deer, and just 6 people.  Muddy thanks to 1.5 inches rain yesterday.  2:13, ~800 ft climbing.  

Bought Unbreakable (about 2010 Western States 100) and watched it last night with Marci.  Awesome story.  Marci couldn't believe I was making her watch it, but she was really into it by the end (especially since she didn't know who won). 

AM- 8.  28 deg out- I think that is my first freezing temps run since last Jan/Feb.

PM- 5 ez. 

 AM- 6 ez, followed by 2 fun hours of ultimate frisbee, the first time I've played in 3 years.  Good times.  10 total. 

I just did a new post on my blogger about the ultrarunning gear I use.  A bit late for Christmas, but hopefully useful. 

AM- Met Justin at Dupont state forest.  16.5 miles at a generally easy pace (2:50) with 2500 ft climbing.  Perfect weather, especially at the finish with about 50 deg temps.  Didn't see anyone for the first 2.5 hrs of the run, having the whole place to ourselves.  The river crossing at mile 12 was exciting, too, as Justin **just-about** went into the drink on the very mossy rocks.  I still don't know how he stayed up.  Good run to finish up the year.

This ends a strong year for me- I'll do a full wrap up later.  This week is my 5th highest mileage this year, and I finish with 395 miles in December (2nd highest of the year- within spitting distance of 400, and 70 miles higher than my prev Dec record) and ran a total of 3769.75 miles for the year, beating my 2009 record by over 430 miles.  That means I averaged more than 72 miles per week and basically ran from Key West, FL at the SE tip of the US all the way to Neah Bay, at the very NW corner of Washington State, plus running an extra 120 miles back.