Lunch- apparently pushed myself too hard the past few week, leaving me with some niggles.  And they don't seem too insignificant.  I was debating if I should train through my Harbison 50k this weekend or give it a decent taper and race real hard.  Looks like I'm forced into Option B.  Did a lot of stretching, aided by the great guys at the PowerStation, plus some xt.  Definitely not on top of the mileage board for the year so far!

Lunch- 6 xt and a ton of stretching.  Legs are coming around such that I might run tomorrow. 

Anyone in Iowa or anywhere else with a primary coming up- if you haven't seriously studied Ron Paul, please do so.  I won't tell you to vote for him, but at least give him a few minutes of your time.  Dr. Thomas Woods has a 2 minute summary here of why you should consider Ron Paul:

PM- 8 running.  Minimal pain and less tightness, so that's a good sign.  Gearing up for my first race of the year on Saturday, Harbison 50k.

Lunch- 6 ez.  Legs are feeling better, but now I've got a nasty cold from my kids.  Thanks for sharing, guys. 

Racing the Harbison 50k to start off the year on Saturday.  Per their website, you can follow results live.  Hopefully both my blog followers won't overwhelm the system...

Live updates posted via twitter #harbison50k and Facebook http://on.fb.me/uTAQtl Live finishing results posted on @ultrasignup website. 

Lunch- 3.  Really feeling quite sick.  That's two races in a row where I get sick a few days before.  It's a bad sign when you plan to run 4 but cut it short at 3 due to sickness, but have a 50k the next day.  Anyone think I shouldn't race tomorrow?  As Marci said, it's "only a 50k."

Harbison 50k- DNS.  I had everything packed Thur night and loaded early Fri evening.  Was very hopeful I would start feeling better and be able to run.  Then, I was up much of the night coughing.  Woke up at 2 am and couldn't open my eyes due to yellow crap oozing out that sealed them shut, and could also tell my cough had moved down into my chest.  Race wasn't happening.

Sitting here right now pretty pissed.  I am competitive and don't like getting beat.  But even worse than getting beat is not getting the chance to even try.  I was very determined to do whatever it took to win the race (and that would have come with a nice pair of Salomon shoes), but now I'll never know.  Between my little injury at the start of the week, my sickness at the end, and my DNS, this is a pretty crappy way to start my year.

Sorry- I'm just venting.  I had a lot of time laying awake in bed between coughing fits for my emotions to build.  I even had a dream I showed up 20 min late for the race and still ran, trying to win.

Now my 3 year old just came out and smiled at me and sat on my lap.  At least I get more family time today.  And I can follow Bandera 100k.  I might try to find a race to go kill next weekend, though, so I won't be upset all month. 

PM- 3 miles with Marci and all the kids (2 in stroller, 1 on bike).  70 deg out. 

Teeeebbbbbooooowwww!  Quite the game.  

PM- sick, at home, but pushed the kids around on the bikes a bit in the evening.  Just don't want to be sick anymore. 

Put up a brief review from 2011 with some goals/races for 2012.  Since you were asking, Cody.

Read some interesting reviews of our Liberties as Americans.  America is a great country with great people.  Unfortunately, Washington DC seems to be trying its best to change that and is succeeding at a horrifying rate, even if most people don't seem to know or care.  We, the people, need to say No to DC infringing on our natural and Constitutional rights.  The picture below is sad but true, effective Dec 31, 2011, thanks to NDAA becoming law.

Sick, no run.  This is getting old.  And making me slow.  My year is off to a roaring start.

PM- Finally back running a bit.  6 very slow.  Felt predictably crappy, and Ken and Michael commented afterwards that I looked paler than normal.  But at least I'm moving again.

Lunch- my first run with the guys in a while.  8.5 outside, then 1 ez with my new Altra Instincts.  I'm going to build into them very slowly.  Just my one mile today left my lower legs sore.  Still sick and coughing a ton.

AM- 12 miles with my new Test Shoes.  Working from home today per boss's instructions, till I can stop hacking up my lungs and maybe getting my poor co-workers sick.

AM- considered a trail run, but body wanted to keep recovering and sleep in instead.  Finally got up, ate breakfast with my girls, then went for a run just as the OT marathon was starting.  Finished 2:37 later after 21 miles and 1350 ft climbing.  Felt good the whole time- I think I've finally kicked the cold (other than some stuffiness and a nasty cough, which I'm sure I'll have for weeks).  6.5 miles the first 3 days this week, 42.5 the last 3 days.  Should be back to regular mileage next week.  Now I'm spending the rest of the day playing with my kids, watching the marathon on NBC, then watching to NFL playoff games (go Broncos!)

Lunch- 9+4.

PM- 9 more. 

Lunch 9

With the primary coming up in South Carolina, there's lots of political discussion.  Here's an article by a Baptist pastor on why he will vote for Ron Paul.

Lunch- 10 ez. 

AM- 8

Lunch- 9.  5k race tomorrow. 

Last week I put an item about the new NDAA law that allows the US military to indefinitely detain anyone, even American citizens, without charge.  By human nature, most people may say they are not terrorists, so don't have to worry.  It doesn't matter- the government does what it wants regardless of your innocence.  Just ask an innocent German who wrote his account in the NY Times.  I'm afraid this will become a common occurrence, but this time to American citizens.  They can even choose to kill you without accusing you or trying you in a court of law.  There are no Constitutional protections any more.  Call me an alarmist if you want, but better warned than ignorant.

Race report on my Greenshortsrunning blog.

AM- 10

Lunch- 10 more.  38 deg with intermittent rain, sometimes hard.  Brr.  Glad I had a good group of guys to run with- bad weather is much better with something to distract you from cold hands and chafed nipples. 

AM- 10

Lunch- 10 more.  Rut? 

AM- 8.5

Lunch- 6.  Beautiful day, 60 deg and sunny. 

AM- planned to do a BW, but felt like crap and only did a minute hard.  Slogged through 12 miles.

Lunch- 7

I've been neglecting myself a bit- not enough sleep and not eating enough (such as still being hungry right when I finish my lunch).  So, I ate a ton today.  And plan to sleep tonight.  Hopefully I start feeling more recovered, which would be especially useful for my race next Saturday. 

Lunch- 8 with Jim.

AM- 18.5 mile trail run with Justin that took about 4 hrs.  Yup, that kind of trail.  Ran the course for the Jones Gap 15k in March.  Trail is very technical and extremely steep for much of it.  We also added on a bunch of random trails at the top of the mountain.  Miles 4 and 5 were a combined 2000 ft climbing in 42 minutes- sweet.  Finished with 4500 ft climbing total.  Glad I know the course for the race, now.  Justin even humored me by adding on 2 miles at the end of the run just so I'd hit the century mark for the week.  The run was fun, challenging, and picturesque.  I should have taken my camera- we saw two of the most photographed waterfalls in SC- Falls Creek Falls and Rainbow Falls.

Marci and the kids have been out of town since Thur, so I've been staying busy and not at home.  Today, for example, I was home for less than 30 min out of an almost 16 hour period! 

AM- BW 15 miles with 10 tinman tempo (60:50).  1:38 for the run.

Lunch- 6 more.  Appropriately tired, given the only 3 hr break between runs.  Beautiful, sunny, warm day. 

Lunch- 6 ez.  Planned on 16 today but woke up feeling sick-ish, so slept more and just did 1 easy run.  The nice part of taper week is I can be flexible with my runs.  Excited for my 40 mile race this weekend- feeling in shape, just don't want to be sick.

Signed up for The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 San Francisco in December, the most competitive 50 mile ultra in the US.  Very excited to compete on a big stage again this year.  Still a long ways away with many miles and races before then, though. 

AM- 7

Lunch- 8 more 

Lunch- 5 ez on the most beautiful day.  60 deg and sunny when we ran, with a high of 72, and just the smallest breeze.  Perfect.

AM- 4 ez.  Time to leave for NC to run the Uwharrie 40 tomorrow.  Should be fun. 

Here's the picture of the day.  No articles to argue with Rob about this week.

Full race report on the home of my very muddy green shorts. 

Quick race report- Felt good first 2 hrs, then felt like crap (well, puking, more accurately) the next 1.5 hrs.  Not fun.  Finally recovered and tried to catch the one guy ahead of me.  Made up lots of time but 2 wrong turns and some ill-time pit stops did me in.  Finished in second, 83 seconds behind the very elated victor, Mike Mason.  Well done race with good course.  Course was pretty technical and muddy (by East Coast standards, which are more difficult than Utah standards), moreso than expected, 6k+ ft of non-stop hills, with intermittent rain and chilly temps.  Good workout for Umstead, but not super as a race- I was hoping to be a fair amount faster.  I'll give it a solid "meh"- full race report later.  

A short Ron Paul clip to watch while you wait for my race report.  Warning: humorous, and no mention of the Fed.  Link courtesy of Rob.

AM- went to the gym intending to run while watching SB recap on Mike and Mike.  3 steps into the run- yowzaa!  Knee pain galore.  Ok, some good xt then.

Lunch- knee hurt just sitting at the desk.  No activities. 

PM- 1 mile xt.  Laura also put me through a 5 min ab session.  Ouch- I'm a wimp.

PM- didn't go at lunch cause the drains backed up, flooding the locker rooms and giving Ken a big headache.  So ran in the afternoon.  Good to be running again- and my abs hurt more than my knee, so that's good.  6 miles. 

Is there any difference between Romney and Obama?  Judge Napolitano discusses:

AM- Back to normal running.  8.

Lunch- 8 more.  Got lots of questions/comments about my Hokas. 

AM- 10 plus 5 min ab session

Lunch- 8 

Jun, I have no idea why you say you can't see the trail in my race photos from Sat.  It's plain as day.  Besides, it's not the leaf strewn trail you have to worry about.  It's the rocks hiding under the leaves.  You just kind of hope you're landing on dirt rather than rock, and you get used to twisted ankles.  See, take a look:

AM- Ran with Justin and first run with Jeremy Waldrop, in town from NC for a week.  We ran the Blue Wall and Poinsett Passage sections of the Palmetto trail.  I had never been on this trail and found it quite nice, plus it was only 45 min from home- pretty close.  Had a good mix of climbing (800 ft in mile 4, 1800 ft in 3 miles), flat, technical, and smooth.  Chilly and windy, with a few minutes of light snow flurries (first time I've seen snow this winter).  Legs felt better than I thought they would post-race, except for the thorn scratches hurting a bit in the shower afterwards.  Fun time.  Hope we can do it again, guys.  Finished with 20 miles on the dot, just under 3.5 hrs and 4400 ft climbing (SportTracks and Garmin Connect actually agreed for once).  Even carried the camera, hoping to see a bear eventually.  Didn't see one, but a few pics below.  14 miles Mon thru Wed, 54 Thur thru Sat.  Full mileage next week.

AM- Treadmill BW- 3 mile warm up, then tinman tempo- started at 6:07 pace, then slowly increased pace to 6:00 by mile 5, 5:53 by mile 9.  Felt great today.  During BW, I normally feel ok yet am working hard, but today it felt easy.  When I finished the run, there wasn’t even any sweat that had dripped on the treadmill. In fact, the faster I went, the better I felt.  5:50 pace felt easier than 6:05 pace.  Decided to add an extra mile to end of tempo with rapidly increasing pace, finishing at 5:00 pace for the last 200 yards, still feeling great.  I wanted to keep going but knew I should be cautious.  2 mile cooldown.  16 miles total in about 1:42, with 11 tempo in about 66 min.  Good start to the week.

Lunch- 7 more.  Tired and sore now- feels like I almost ran a marathon.  3 hrs between runs is never enough. 

Here is some interesting info.  If you want to know who a candidate will favor if elected, just look at what companies contribute to them (well, the employees).  For Romney: his top contributors are Wall Street, banks, investment firms, etc.  And their contributions are huge $$$$  For Ron Paul: his top contributors are military members.  It looks like our military members like Paul's ideas of bringing the troops home and not fighting in costly, dangerous wars overseas.  So, Romney = more bailouts and favoritism towards banks/Wall Street.  Ron Paul = bring troops home out of harms way, which they support.

AM- 10

PM- 10.5 with Justin on a chilly night at PM.  Tired and slow- 97 miles in my last 5 days of running, which is obviously a lot.  Trails are always nice.  But definitely slower when it is dark.  Hardly anyone out- maybe saw 6 people the whole time. 1200 ft climb, 1:56.

AM- 6.5

Lunch- 7+2.  Knee is hurting again, ever since my BW on Monday.  Probably cause I've run 113 miles over the last 7 days. 

AM- Little workout.  First time I have had 2 workouts in the same week in years, probably.  And first time I have done any workouts other than long tempos in forever.  Did 3 warmup, then 3x2 mile with 2 min rest (splits were 5:46, 5:46, 5:42, 5:42, 5:39, 5:34).  12 total in about 80 min.  

PM- 6 ez.  Tired. 

PM- 5 miles behind GE.  Beautiful day outside.  Unfortunately, I'm at work for 14 hours of it and counting- gotta love big projects.

AM- Met Dan and Jim downtown for a run on the Swamp Rabbit and around Furman area.  21.5 miles on a beautiful morning.  Legs felt appropriately fatigued by the end given my mileage this week, but still moving well.  Miles 14-20 were all sub-7 pace, with most 6:25-6:45.  21.5 miles in 2:35 (7:14 avg).  Good week- 3 more like this as the last of my training, then taper for Umstead.

AM- 12

Lunch- 9 

This is one of the key times of the year when my Greenshortsrunning blog gets tons of hits... from people searching for Green Running Shorts, or St. Patricks Day green shorts, etc.  Rather humorous to see where they all come from. 

AM- 9

Lunch- 7 + 3 + 10 min abs

Boring, I know.

AM- BW.  3 mile warmup, 4 mile tempo, then had to stop to change shoes (looks like my 5 year old Tangents are finished), 6 mile more tempo, 2 mile cooldown.  60:25 10 miles, 1:38 total.

Lunch- 6 more. 

AM- 9 around GE on a gorgeous morning.  High today was mid-70's, and low is in the 60's tonight.  And I saw bushes flowering.  Spring has sprung.  Of course, it's supposed to be mid-30's tomorrow night, but still nice this time of year.

I finished my Green Belt certification at work today on the last day it was due (18 months after hiring on).  Very glad to have it done- been working a lot of late nights trying to finish it.  Now I might actually see my family and sleep. 

AM- 8 

Lunch- 7.  It was 75 deg out.  I was sweating and everything. 

AM- Long run/Big Workout with Justin.  Drove to Croft State park.  Beautiful morning- 35 deg at the start, 50 at the finish.  We ran an 11-mile loop on the Southside trail as warm up.  Then we started a tempo on the flat part of the course- there is a stretch just under 3 miles long that only has 3 very small hills and is otherwise as flat as you'll ever find.  It is soft singletrack that is constantly winding- almost no straight stretches.  I was immediately working as hard as during my 6:00 road tempos, though my splits were 7:00 to 7:30 (Justin fell behind a bit after a few miles).  The last 3 miles were a harder sub-7, with a final mile of 6:25 and some 5:45 stretches on straight portions, including some extra incentive of trying to run down a mountain biker (which I did).  Total for the BW portion was 10 miles in about 71 min.  Finished with 22.5 miles in 3:11 with about 800 ft climbing.  Felt good and got a great workout, though definitely have some sore hips, knees, feet, etc.  Now rest for another few big weeks.

PM- Just got in trouble for eating the entire dinner planned for the whole family as an afternoon snack.  How was I supposed to know that was for dinner?  Actually, I didn't eat the entire pizza- just 5 of the 6 pieces.  According to the box, I ate 1600 calories.  So I'm still way negative for the day on food.  I mean really, if the pizza is small enough that I can eat it myself, should they be advertising it as a family dinner?  Should be advertised as a small, post-run snack if you ask me.  It's not my fault that standard serving size doesn't account for ultrarunners and 100+ mile week appetites.  Right, Jake?

AM- 5 ez, then 1 in my Altras.  Still adjusting.

Lunch- Big group of 8 out for the run.  Too bad I felt terrible and was absolutely dragging.  But I somehow outlasted everyone for an even 10.  Even if I was half a mile behind at some points. 

Lunch- 8

PM- 12 at PM with Barry and Justin (first time ever with 3 people).  Nice run with lots of talking.  Barry is just starting up again but did awesome for the first 90 min, after which we had to slow down.  They are putting in some new trail and taking out old, which resulted in some detours and confusion in the dark.  Finished with 12 miles in over 2 hrs and 1500 ft climbing. 

AM- Aborted medium workout due to fatigue, plus no need to kill myself while feeling down and having a race on Sat.  3 mile warmup, 1.25 MP before pulling the plug, long cooldown with some xt.  13 miles in all.

Lunch- 6 more.

Feb was only my 3rd 400-mile month ever.  The other two (Aug 09 before my TOU marathon PR and Aug 11 before UROC) both saw good results the next month.  And hitting 400 in the shortest month of the year is extra sweet, though I definitely needed leap day to get there. 

Looks like I'll have to work hard to not get chicked this weekend.  The 15k is the 2nd race in a series, and Amber Moran (Inov-8 runner) won the first race straight up last week by 7 minutes over 17k.  That's awesome.  The last time I got chicked at a regular race (other than when I ran sick/injured) was probably Des News 2009, so it's been a while.

Lunch- 6- hot, high 70's today.  Beautiful.

PM- They were having a team competition at work with 1 mile run, 100m dash, 50m dash, jump rope, and obstacle course.  It was hot- 79 deg at the race start.  Some of my coworkers are great at short/mid distances, so my strategy was to build a lead quickly and hold them off.  I sprinted right from the gun and figured I was going fast enough when my hands and arms were tingly/numb within 60 seconds.  Built a 5 second lead by a quarter mile and pretty much held that the rest of the race as we went around the .68 mile GE running trail.  Finished in 4:59 feeling tired but good.  I'm not sure when my last sub-5 mile was, but it's been a while- I ran a 4:59 at Des News 10k, but last honest/flat sub-5 was probably college track in 1998, 14 years ago!  2nd place was seven or so seconds behind.  Then watched co-workers run sprints, then our team won the obstacle course and took home the overall trophy with 18,000 points (no, I have no idea how they did points).  Finished with 3 Panera Bread bagels.

Looks like it will be warm and wet for the race on Sat- low of 61 Fri night.  And that's some strange weather Friday that you'll not often see out west- low of 61, high of 63.  Gotta be humid for that to happen.

Signed up for Waldo 100k yesterday.  Good thing I didn't try to wait till after work- it filled in under 5 hours.  Last year it took over a month.  Such is the popularity of trail running this year.  It's a lot of money and a long ways to travel from just one race, but it's a classic and I want to have fun and do well.  Plus, top 2 go to Western States.  Looks like I'll be running ultras in NC, UT, CA, TN, and OR this year.  Travelling man.

Lunch- 4 ez. 

Full report posted.  Had a fun time at a very technical trail race that was threatning to be cancelled due the the crazy thunderstorms.  Pulled off a win and enjoyed the day in the great trails of SC.  10 mile race with 2200 ft climbing/descent on very rocky, wet course.  Not sure when I've ever won two races in the same week before.  Now 2 more hard weeks before the taper for Umstead.

AM- 10.  Right quad is slightly sore, otherwise feel fine from the race.

Lunch- 11  

Finally got up a race report for Saturday.  Fun race. 

Lunch- 8

PM- PM with Barry and Justin, running a few non-standard trails (like the slow, twisty, technical Brissy Ridge).  10.57 miles in 1:53 with 1500 ft climbing.  Bonked, so Barry was kind enough to give me a gu he had.  Feeling a bit tired, worn down, and borderline sick.  So went to bed at 10 and slept 7 hrs.  Oh yeah, did I mention it's our 8th anniversary today? 

AM- Bread and butter BW.  14.5 miles with 10 MP (6:03 avg).  Felt pretty good today.

Lunch- 8 miles with the guys, followed by a full 20 min of core work and leg strengthening. 

AM- 8

Lunch- same, followed by stretching.  Man, are my eyes tired and sore today. 

Lunch- 4+4.  I got almost 8 hrs sleep last night and felt a ton better.

AM- Run on the rolling hills around my house.  Ran 14 miles, including 6 at tinman tempo effort.  Then had to go home since Marci is going out of town with some friends.  Took the girls to the gym and did 6 more.  20 miles total in about 2:25.

Only one word for how I feel right now- exhausted.  Plain tired and beat. 

Here's a nice picture from the Mind Over Matter 15k website, showing the female winner crossing one of the log bridges.

AM- 8

PM- 6 plus 1 Altra.  Stomach wasn't happy with something I ate over the weekend. 

AM- For the life of me, I honestly can not remember if I did 6, 7, or 8 miles this morning.  I think that must be a little-known result of high mileage.  We'll go with the middle number.

Lunch- 8+3. 

Looks like the high is 83 tomorrow, and in the 70's and 80's for the next 10 days.  Springtime. 

Lunch- 8 on the first 80 deg day of the year.

PM- Paris Mtn with Barry, Justin, and Paul.  12 miles in about 2 hours on a warm evening.  I usually buy dinner on the way home but didn't tonight, forgetting that shopping day is tomorrow.  Scrounged together a hodgepodge of  ramen noodles with fried eggs, mandarin oranges, and chocolate milk.

Lunch- 5+3 on a warm day

Up way too late last night for a morning run.  In bed at 11, but didn't sleep till 1:30 am.  We're trying to potty train our 3.5 year old and she held her bladder for 15 hours, refusing to use the bathroom!  Finally took a leak at 1 am, but wouldn't go again today.  Determined kid. 

Lunch- Tapers are strange, cause I feel like trash with dead legs for the first while, even though I'm running fewer miles than before the taper.  Today was the first day this week I felt fairly decent.  Ran 6 miles easy by myself on the GE track in 80 deg temps.  5k race tomorrow.

Won a race (my third this month), set a road/off-road 5k PR, and had an overall great time at the Milliken Earth Day run.  And wore a leprechaun hat the whole time- really.  Good times.  Who says you have to do speedwork to set a 5k PR- I think you should just train for a 100 miler!  Race report here.  Even broke out my oldest shoes for the first time in 5 years- go NB 800's (the precursor to the NB 101's).  Must be lucky.

AM- 5 ez.  Gotta love taper.  Well, not really- starting to go stir crazy and think I'm over-tapering.

AM- 3 warmup, 8 tinman tempo, 1 cooldown.  Did the whole thing wearing my UA Cold Gear- trying some last minute acclimatization to be ready in case next week is as warm as this has been (85 deg highs every day).

Lunch- yoga 

PM- PM with Justin and Barry.  11 miles with 1400 ft climbing.  Uneventful, other than Justin's foot almost falling off and Barry calling Papa John's from a few miles out so we got some nice pizza delivery just after finishing, which we ate while watching the Western States movie, Unbreakable.  Fitting.

Lunch- 6 with Phil and Jim, then 5 min abs.  Nice weather today with even a brief rainstorm.

Lunch- 6.5 run with Jim, then an In It To Win It obstacle course.  Got beat by a coed team.  Again.

Looks like they updated the entrants list for Umstead.  Got a lot more competitive.  2011 winner John Dennis, 2011 runner up Serge Arbona, 13:18 100 miler Mike Morton, Rocky Raccoon 100 mile champ Liza Howard, Troy Shellhamer, and others.  Fun.

AM- Camped out last night with my 5 year old, which may not have been the smartest thing since I hardly slept and since she was coughing on me all night.  Felt terrible when I woke up and my run we appropriately terrible.  Almost quit at 2 miles, slogged it out for 8.5 in 1:13.  Felt absolutely horrid.  Hopefully this is the bottom of the taper and my legs will start feeling perky next week.  They better, cause the big race is in 1 week.

PM- Now I'm sick with a fever.  Hmm, this wasn't in my taper plan. 

No run, sick.  Legs are weak such that I can barely walk up a flight of stairs.  Good thing the 100 isn't today.

Lunch- 5 with Mike on a beautiful day in about 36 min.  Felt much better today, almost back to normal.

Got a free pair of Saucony Fastwitch in the mail yesterday.  First new lightweight trainers in a long time.  I got them since they don't make Tangents anymore but I didn't want to go as light as Kinvaras.  My last pair of Tangents lasted 5+ years, so we'll see how long these last.  I only wear them for road racing and a few workouts, so not much these days. 

Lunch- 5 with a few strides.  Felt pretty sluggish and bad again.  Hope I really start feeling better in the next few days.  

Weather forecast for Sat is shaping up to be about 60 deg in the morning, high of upper 70's, with 50% chance of afternoon showers. 

Lunch- 3.  Felt tired and worse than yesterday.  Blah.

Quick Report- ran a decent Umstead 100 and had a good time.  Placed 4th overall while watching the amazing Mike Morton set a CR and 2 previous winners DNF chasing him.  Final time of 15:19 is 16th fastest ever on this 19 year old race.  Set my 50k, 50 mile, 100k, and 100 mile PR, so can't complain about that.  Marci and the kids were there cheering the whole time, and I had the most awesome crew and pacers that kept me from quitting at mile 50 when I felt terrible and weak (gotta stop racing when sick).  Good weekend.  

Full report now published.

Run?  Ha- yeah, right.  I did walk up and down a few flights of stairs today, though, and even mowed my lawn.  Hips and right ankle feel much better than yesterday.  Still sore, but better.  Forcing myself to take at least 1 week entirely off.

Preliminary results are posted.  Looks like I was over an hour behind 2nd and 3rd place, but then had Troy and Chris just behind me.  Knowing they were back there gave a little extra incentive at the end.  Full report soon.

30 min yoga.  Stretching sure felt nice.  I feel much better than I should- pain is only a 1 out of 10, with some additional tightness/stiffness.

Donated blood.  It's a good way to make sure I don't talk myself into a run this week, even though I feel no soreness.

Lunch- 15 minute of abs.  Holy crap, my abs are sore!  Apparently running 100 mile really works the core- I'm hurting each breath after that workout.  They are also having a competition at work where you bench press 75% of your body weight and then run a 5k.  Each bench rep subtracts 30 seconds from your 5k time, up to 15 min.  I haven't lifted since college but was hoping for 10 reps.  Nope- 5.  5. Pathetic.  Upper body weakling, that's for sure.  Finished with a bunch of biking.  Legs feel recovered.

Race report is finally published for Umstead 100.

Lunch- 6.5 ez.  Hammy was tight and definitely felt sluggish everywhere, but no other pains.  Finished up with some good weightlifting to try and improve my bench press strength.  Get swoll or die trying.

Lunch- 2 miles running, 30 min yoga, 15 min abs.  Arms sore from lifting yesterday.

PM- PM with Nick, Barry, and Justin.  Felt much better than expected.  Slow pace, 11 miles on a nice day in 1:53. 

Lunch- 5.  Longest run yet in Altras.  My already-high cadence is slightly higher in these- 188 steps per minute or so.

Lunch- 15 min abs, 1 hr run, weight lifting.

Lunch- a quick 6 by myself on the track.  One guy just left my group and I took over all his work, so I'm very busy now.

Last day of my reverse Umstead taper.  Ended up not running.  It was glorious to sleep in and lounge around all morning.  In the afternoon we cheered Marci running the Mud Run.  They did awesome.

Lunch- 9.5 around the lake and the bamboo forest run.  Calves were a bit sore after this run- longest run in Altras by 30 min.

Looks like the expected carnage at Boston.  Fun times.  Shadley seemed to have a great race, though. 

Lunch- 5 with Jim discussing Boston marathon.

PM- PM with the guys.  Talked the normal stuff- food, government rants by me (surprise), and Justin's upcoming 50k, his first-ever marathon or longer event.  While running across the dam at North Lake, Justin just threw down his bottle and jumped in.  Barry followed.  I did too, eventually.  Water was surprisingly nice.  12.2 miles in 2:12 with 1500 ft climb.  Ordered pizza on the run and he arrived a few minutes before we did- oops. 

AM- 5.5

Lunch- 8+2 

AM- 5.5+2

Lunch- 10 with Aaron and Jim 

Lunch- warmed up 2 miles, then tried the pump and run.  I have felt increasingly crappy all week due to big bump in mileage and not enough sleep but was still hoping to run a sub-17 time (Jim did 15:45 on Wed- yes, treadmill is a bit faster).  Managed 10 bench reps (an improvement from my 6 reps two weeks ago, but still tied for the lowest), then started the run.  Felt ok at 11 mph for about 1/2 mile, then just felt bad to worse.  Finished in 18:44.  Blah.  Not a great showing- my speed is very slow to come back after a 100, that's for sure.  2 xt after.

AM- The month of Marci continued with her 1/2 marathon.  After seeing the play Les Mis last night, we only got 4.5 hrs sleep prior to wakeup.  She ran great, beating her goal.  Zach and I ran 7.5 miles cheering for her.  Nice job, babe!

Was supposed to run more with Eric Grossman, but he had a change of plans.  Probably a good thing- my right foot started hurting yesterday- feels similar to the beginning of a stress fracture.  Probably from increase in miles plus no sleep.  Rest- might even take a few days off next week if necessary.

Rest the niggle.

Lunch- yoga, lifting, abs, and xt.  Basically, everything except running.  Once I get up to speed again, it's running all the way till Waldo 100k in Aug, then still on till TNF 50 San Fran in December.  So I've got a long haul ahead and am enjoying my post-race/recovery month.  Besides, I have to give Joe and Cody a chance at Logan Peak, don't I?

Lunch- 8+2.  Felt good.  Foot didn't hurt, and I didn't feel sluggish after a few days off.   

In case you're wondering, that really is 19 pairs of shoes listed above.  And I have 2 more still in the box.  That's a whole lot of rubber and cloth sitting around my house.  Assuming each shoe lasts 500 miles, I've got 5500 miles left- almost 2 years.

Lunch- 4 with Jason and Phil.  Almost stopped at 4 miles when they both did- felt bad, very hungry, tired, etc.  But kept going and ran strong, even if I never felt better.  Went another 6 miles on the trails behind GE.  10 total.

AM- 7 and some bench

Lunch- 7 more.  Humid and warm.  Summer is coming.  Maybe someday I'll have a car with air conditioning.  It sure would be nice in South Carolina... 

AM- really behind on sleep this week, so my trail run plans went the way of my 5:30 snooze button on the alarm clock.  2 hrs later, finally got up and eventually went running on the rolling hills around home.  Finished a rather tired 2:48, 1800 ft climbing, and 22.5 miles later feeling fatigued but still running well.  Humid, but only mid-60's.  2 dog incidents- sigh.  Part of living in the south, I guess.  I've gotten used to sometimes running with rocks in my hands or a large stick.

I'm going to start recording what time I go to bed each night in hopes it will motivate me to sleep more. 

Next 10 days in Greenville: Avg high of 87, avg low of 63.  And it's just the start of May.

AM- 8

Lunch- 10 on a hot day, though I seemed to sweat a lot less than the rest of the guys.  Not sure what that means. 

AM- 3 mile warmup, 2 miles hillclimb at 12% grade (definitely sweating a ton), 1 more

Lunch- 10.  Warm.  Then abs and weight lifting. 

Lunch- 6 on a hot day, faster than I wanted for a recovery run but that is what happens when you run with people.

Lunch- 9

PM- Paris Mtn.  Justin joined me for the first 3 miles, recounting his first ultra last week.  Then I was on my own for the rest of the way.  Felt good for about 10 miles, then just tired.  Didn't eat enough, and it was the end of a 23 mile day.  Even took a digger.  Hot and tired run, but trails are always nice.  14 miles in 2:10 with 2300 ft climbing. 

Heading to Savannah, GA tomorrow for a nice little weekend trip.  Should be fun. 

AM- 8 around the neighborhood before packing for Savannah.

AM- 10 mile run in Savannah.  Found a nice, deserted road with swamp/forest on both sides.  Did the last 4 miles quite a bit quicker than the rest.  Felt good.  Then spent the day around Historic Savannah and the Tybee beach.

AM- Hilton Head.  Ran 4.5 miles on the beach, then took to the roads.  Actually, the bike paths- almost every road in this town has a separated bike path running near it.  Very nice.  I'm jealous.  Anyways, felt good so ended up doing a progressive run of sorts, with a fair amount of 6-ish miles and a few 5:30-ish at the end.  Good day- really felt strong.

Lunch- 9 with Todd and Mike

PM- PM with Barry and Justin.  13 miles in just over 2 hrs, 1500 ft climb.  Mid-70's, so much nicer temps than last week. 

Went to bed early at 10:30 last night... and ended up tossing and turning till 2 am.  Only 4 hrs sleep.  Man, did I feel bad today- my eyes were killing me all day.  Ugh.

Lunch- 7+3 

It ends up my eyes were killing me for a reason- I have a nasty infection in them (well, hopefully- it could also be an amoeba).  Can't see anything and light causes intense pain.  Ouch.  No running today, no work, just sitting in a dark room with a towel over my eyes.  Fun times.

Eyes are much improved today, though still blurry and very light sensitive.  Doc said it will be a gradual recovery during the follow up appointment today.  Definitely cannot go outside and can't read much... so Marci took me to the gym for a nice indoor treadmill run.  Felt good to be doing something.  12.5 miles.  Might go again later today or go outside after dark.  Definitely no hilly trail run in the mountains tomorrow, though.

PM- 5.5 after dark around the neighborhood.  I sure have great night vision right now courtesy of my dilated eyes. 

AM- thanks to an overcast day, I found myself heading outside for a run (can't do it if sunny).  Waited till the family left for a bday party, though, so it was a late, 11 am start and getting warm.  Didn't want to be far from home in case the sun broke through, so ran multiple laps of the soccer complex, McCall Rd, Kilgore Farms, etc.  Got my 5 year old on her bike after 2 hrs, and she rode along for 4.5 miles, then my 3 year old joined for a few hundred yards.  Finished feeling good with 23 miles and 1300 ft climbing at about 7:30 avg pace.  Not too bad a finish for the week supposing I missed a day fearing I might be going blind.  87 miles in 5 days is a good haul.

AM- 6

Lunch- 9 more.  We tied an all time record (set a few weeks ago) of 9 people during our lunch run.  What a crew. 

Lunch- 9.  We were stinky.

PM- PM with Barry, Justin, and (for the first time ever) Aaron.  12.5 miles with 1800 ft climbing.  Justin took us out of the park and up the roads to the true summit of Paris Mtn.  My first time up there.  Good climb. 

AM- 6

Lunch- 8.5.  Warm out.  Felt tired. 

AM- 6 warmup, then did my pump and run- bench 12 times (improvement from 6) and ran 17:34 5k, then cool down.

Lunch- abs, then planned to do 6 mile run. However, right calf/Achilles have been bugging me for a week and it was very painful today. Ended up running 1.5, then xt. Hope I can fix this.

Leg still hurts, and an easy recovery run is about 1/1000th as valuable as being healthier for my long trail run tomorrow, so 4 xt as rest.

AM- Met Justin at Blue Wall on the Palmetto trail, same place we ran in Feb.  Had a good run- lots of climbing the first third past fresh bear scat, lots and lots of overgrown plants the second third (stinging nettle, briars, thorns- very painful on the legs), and beautiful singletrack the last third to the turnaround just before 10 miles.  2 miles before the end, I turned around and added 1.35 more miles climbing and 1100 extra feet climbing- I ran all of the uphill and felt strong, then ran down at a good pace.  Not sure I'll do this route during the summer, though, since it is so overgrown- Justin and I alternated yelping in pain and growling at all the prickly plants.  Tick infested, too- pulled 9 off me, 1 off Justin.  Finished with 22 miles and 5500 ft climbing.  Pictures on Justin's blog.

AM- 8

Lunch- 10.  Legs were surprisingly sore today, the first time I remember being sore in a while.  Saturday's run caused some DOMS, I guess. 

Lunch- 8 + abs

PM- PM with Barry, Aaron, and Justin.  Not many people on the trails thanks to intermittent thunderstorms.  Cool, humid, thundery, and rainy.  Getting ready for the PM 11/12k on Saturday.  12.5 miles, about 2 hrs.  Barry is leaving on a 3 month leave-of-absence to ride his motorcycle across the US, even visiting Alaska.  What a trip. 

AM- little workout- 3 warmup, 8 tempo in 48:30, 2 cooldown.  13 total in 86 min.  I was sweating buckets for some reason today, whereas I usually hardly sweat.  My clothes were drenched halfway through the run and sweat was flying everywhere.  Not sure what was different today.

Lunch- meant to do 6, ended up with 8 with some of the guys on a very humid day.

Lunch- 15 min abs, then 6 miles behind GE with Dan-yuhl and Aaron.

Lunch- ez 4 before the 12k trail race tomorrow.

AM- Paris Mtn 12k trail race- quick report.  First year of the longer course (used to be 11k).  Finished under old CR pace, but so did the reigning CR holder who beat me by 28 sec.  I was happy to hold of a hard-charging young buck by 10 sec, too.  Race was 7.3 miles in 51:11 with about 1100 ft climbing on my normal PM stomping grounds with semi-technical terrain.  Good times, lots of friends, definitely the fastest I've run in a few months.  Full report later- going on a date with the wife to see Avengers right now.

Full (short) report:

Short race report- Paris Mountain 12k was a nice local race. CR holder Trent Humphreys started very fast and put ~30 seconds on me in the first mile. I was in second and then third during the steep climb, but pulled away as soon as the hill mellowed out.  One of the young bucks, James Brooks, stayed in contact behind me for most of the race, and was right behind me as we flew down the switchbacks after the aid station. Definitely the fastest I’ve run on trails in a long time- lots of 6 min miles on technical terrain. Not wanting the race to come down to a sprint, I pushed as hard as I could with 1.5 miles to go and was able to open up a small but adequate gap. Trent won, I was 29 seconds behind, and James was 10 more seconds back. All 3 were under the old CR pace (but not CR time, since the trail reroute had lengthened the race from 11k to 12k). Lots of food at the finish, and lots of making new running friends while recounting the race with Barry, Justin, and Aaron. Nice, low key race that is super cheap- can’t beat that.

Garmin data from the race.  Nice climb for a few miles.