I'm retired from racing. Really.

Lunch- 10 of us did the neighborhood loop, then Jim, Eric and I ran to Sam's Club.

Lunch- workout with the guys.  Ran to the lake, then did 5 lap tempo of .86 miles each, no rest.  Laps were 5:12, 4:58 (got sucked out too fast with Jim and Phil), then the rest were 5:10-5:12 for a 5:59/mile avg pace for the workout.  I felt like I was slowing but I wasn't, so that's a good sign.  And by the end, I felt like I could keep doing many more laps at that pace. First speed work of any sort since Mid-Oct.  Finished 11.5 miles in 1:19.

PM- 5 more plus 1 xt.  Had to take 2 pit stops and stomach felt terrible the whole time.  That's what a late lunch will do for you.

AM- 9

Lunch- 8 more on a foggy, drizzly day.  Hungry.  I guess that's what happens when you increase your mileage.  Fortunately it's the holidays to help me increase my eating.

AM- 8

Lunch- 9 on a drizzly day.  I don't think I've run a double in 2 months, and now I've done 3 this week.  I guess we'll find out if cramming for a race works, as that is what I'm trying for next Saturday.

AM- 7 of us met at 6 am (that has to be a record) and we did a rare morning run where we left GE campus onto the narrow, dark roads.  No one died, fortunately.  10 miles.  Very warm and humid (67 deg).

Lunch- 7 miles at an "honest pace" (aka fast) with Phil.  4 days in a row of 17 miles.

AM- slept in a bit, ran 2 easy miles, ate breakfast, went paintballing for 4 hrs, moderated iRunFar coverage of San Fran 50 miler, didn't get pulled in the Western States lottery (not near as disappointed this time as previous years), now I'm heading soon to the church Christmas party.  Pretty good day overall, I'd say.  The most painful part was getting shot in the neck point blank range by a teammate at paintball.  Ouch.  That one's gonna leave a mark.

Lunch- it was a cold, rainy day.  Bonini and I ran 4 miles, then swapped B for Jim for 5 more miles.  Pacing with Jim was about 45 sec/mile faster.  Good practice for the race Sat as it's supposed to be 37 deg and rainy.

Lunch- 6 running, 2 xt.  

Gotta love traffic around work during the Christmas shopping season.  I left my work parking lot and it took me 25 minutes to go one mile to get dinner.  Then, it took me another 30 minutes to go 2 miles to get the church for scouts.  3 miles in 1 hr.  Wonderful.  At least I have the 21-disc "Crime and Punishment" books on tape.  That can keep me busy for a while.

Lunch- ez 6 with the guys.  Goody day at work, which is exactly the best way to carbo load for my race Saturday.

Lunch- busy day at work, so a lunch run was a welcome break.  I really don't remember how far we went- I seem to recall 42 min, so we'll call it 5.5 miles.

Looks like the nice weather this week is ending.  Forecast for Lookout Mountain 50 miler is 35-45 deg and rainy all day.  Should be wet, cold, muddy, and fun.

Quick race report- it was a rainy, cold, wet, muddy, muddy, muddy Lookout Mountain 50 mile.  The first part went well, reaching the mile 22 aid in 3:03, 22 min ahead of pace and tied for 5th, 9 min behind the leader.  Unfortunately, poor course markings saw most of the top 20 runners miss a turn, including my group.  We unknowingly ended up on the 10k course, running a loop we weren't supposed to (I was with Troy Shellhamer, 4 time finisher and 1 time winner, so we did have some idea of where to go).  We found the course eventually but then went backwards for 10 min before turning around.  Lost 30 min in all (most lost people only did an extra mile or so).  Kind of lost my killer instinct at that point and just enjoyed the rest of the mudfest (literally knee-deep shoe sucking mud at points).  Moved up from 30th to finish in 9th overall.  Had a fun time.  Running buddy Barry finished it as his first 50 ever, so congrats to him, barely edging out Jason.  Overall a bit disappointing to get lost, but still had fun in the mud and beautiful mountains.  It would be fun to try this course when it wasn't rainy, muddy, and foggy all day.

Lunch- first run since the race. It had been raining for two days so it was muddy and sloppy everywhere, so Todd, Barry, and I went to MZCS on the XC course, slopping around the water and mud. I kept splashing the guys. I have been getting sick and right after this run really went downhill, with a fever and chills. Spent the rest of the day in bed.

Merry Christmas, to FRB-ers and everyone else wherever you are!

Went to bed at 9 pm last night, my earliest in years. Morning run with Jason and the in-town Justin at Paris Mtn. 28 deg at the start. My stuffy sinuses got pretty unhappy after an hour and started hurting above and behind my right eye bad enough to slow me down. Felt better after a nap and Tylenol. Good to see Justin again. 10.5, 1600, 2 hrs.

Put in my Barkley essay. Find out later this week if I'm in or not. Odds aren't in my favor and the lottery gods haven't been kind to me, but maybe I'm due.

AM- It was 0 deg and foggy in Logan today which means nasty inversion. Fortunately, it was a balmy 31 deg in Greenville when I ran my 6 miles.  Legs were cold but I felt much better than yesterday, minimal sinus pain.

AM- Jim had invited me to run one of the famous road courses around here, Altamont Rd. We met at BOP, ran up and over, then back, plus a bit of off trail adventuring at the end. I'm not in great shape but heard about Jim's recent flight on a private jet to a race. Just under 15 miles and 2200 ft climbing in just over two hours.

Had stomach flu complete with puking yesterday and I was still recovering today, so didn't run. Should be back on my feet tomorrow. I got a plush bathrobe as a Christmas present, and I've worn it every day, almost all day since. I've only left the house twice since Christmas morning. Lazy. Combine the bathrobe with my current fu manchu facial hair, and I look downright white trashy, ala Ben Stiller in Dodgeball.

PM- Barry suggested an end-of-year Paris Mtn run and 6 of us showed up- big crew- including Aaron and Lynn who landed at the airport just minutes before.  Nice temps, lots of fun talking, nice run. 11 miles.  Pushed me over 3500 miles for the year, my lowest mileage in 3 years. Which I'm ok with. Not really sure plans for next year- I have a 15 miler in Jan and Mt Mitchell Challenge 40 miler in Feb, and nothing else. Barkley and Western States lotteries didn't work out, so I'll probably try Massanutten to see if I can get it. 

Happy New Year, everyone.