I'm retired from racing. Really.

HOLY CRAP...

My dive off the deep end of ultra running may now be complete.  I have done something unimaginable even just a few months ago- I applied to the Barkley.  I wasn't one of the unlucky 35 souls who got officially accepted, but I was placed number 13 on the wait list.  And I've already moved up to number 11.  From what I'm hearing, 10-20 people get in from the list every year, which means my chances are very good.  And so, until further notice, I'm training and planning to run the Barkley this year!  Nuts! 

Lunch-10 miles with the biggest lunch run group ever, 10 runners. Quite the herd. Did upper body work after, something that I think will help at Barkley.

Finally caught up on 6 months of blogging, and a bunch of race reports (all except TNF San Fran).  Read here, if you want.  The entire 6 months is shorter than my Bear 100 race report, at least.

2012 Year in Review and a Look Ahead

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about 2012.  For no reason in particular, I don’t felt it was quite as good as 2011.  I ran the most miles ever and was relatively injury free, both positives.  I won 7 races ranging in distance from 1 mile to 50k and set 5 PR’s, including 4 in one race at a relatively-satisfying Umstead 100.  Winning StumpJump was an unexpected highlight.  But for some reason, I think I left a bit on the table.  Not racing Waldo was definitely a mistake, and I had a number of races where my performance range from a bit subpar (Uwharrie, Iron Mountain) to downright abysmal (TNF 50). 

For 2013, I expect myself to improve.  I plan to keep mileage about the same but want to increase the number of Big Workouts (especially hill work), which I feel decreased over the last few years.  Beyond that, I want to keep racing, running, and having fun. 

Planned races:

January- Harbison 50k

February- Mt. Mitchell Challenge or marathon

March- Probably Chuckanut 50k, if I get in the lottery

April- The Barkley Marathons, if I get in from the wait list (I’m number 11).  Yes, this is THE Barkley and is completely nuts.  I plan to train accordingly.  For the record, I never would have imagined running this race even a few months ago and now I find myself strangely excited.  If I don’t get in the Barkley, I’ll do Promise Land 50k

May- recover, or go Massanutten 100 (wait listed) if I didn’t do Barkley

June- nada

July- White River 50 (yup, 2 trips to Seattle for races)

August- maybe Laurel Valley 35, maybe nothing

End of year- plan to do TNF Atlanta 50, then Pinhoti 100, the Lookout Mtn 50.  Might do Georgia Jewel 100 or Grindstone 100 instead of Pinhoti 

Lunch- ab class then 8.5 miles with some of the guys.

Lunch, 5.5 ez with Todd and Aaron. Harbison 50k tomorrow as my first race of the year, basically a warm up. Should be fun.

Quick report- Harbison 50k today in Columbia, SC.  Nice race, almost all singletrack with some technical portions.  Lots of fun.  Felt good and ran well, considering I'm just starting training again and wasn't focused on this. Shaun Pope won it in 3:47, I got second in 3:58, and 4 total runners under 4 hrs.  The old course record was 4:10, so competitive race today.  I wanted to break 4 hrs (my PR is 4:06 as a split at Umstead 100) and win, but 1 out of 2 ain't bad all things considering.  Final stats were 3:58:02 for 31.2 miles with about 2000 ft climbing.

Update 2 months later- finally did a Race Report compilation, including for this race. It's all on my Greenshortsrunning blog.  

Lunch- wow, my calves are shredded.  My right knee is slightly tweaked, but pretty much everything else is ok.  I don't think my calves have ever been so sore, though.  Still limped through 5 miles, then did 20 min of Barkley upper body work.

PM- PM with Barry, Carl, and Aaron. Nice night for a run.

We have some nice weather coming. Fri to Sun will be high of mid 70's, low of high 50's. happy winter, everyone in Utah.

Lunch- 10 slow miles, then 30 minutes foam roller and BUBW (Barkley Upper Body Work).  Calves are finally not too sore anymore.

5 day weather forecast for 3 locations, Idaho Falls ID, Logan UT, and Greenville SC.  See if you can guess which one is which.  Nah nah nanny boo boo!

Lunch- 7.5 miles run and some bike.

AM- first per-work run since before Christmas. 8 ez. New, big TVs at the gym.

Lunch- 7.5 in the rain with the guys, then BUBW.

AM- Met Aaron at PM, and then Justin joined us at the top for part of it.  Nice, warm, very humid morning.  Added on some off-course hills as Barkley work.  I had wanted 3 hrs or so, but my right knee really started twinging so I cut it short.  Finished with 13.5 miles and somewhere over 2000 ft climb in 2:17 ish. 

We have about a week till our baby is due, so if I'm absent from FRB for a few days, that is why. 

Looking at my goals for the year, focused on workouts.  Last year, I did 12 workouts of at least 12 miles plus 5 races in the first half of the year, then 8 workouts plus 5 races in the second half of the year.  I want at least 30 BW this year.

Lunch- 10 miles on a drizzly day, then BUBW.

Lunch- 8 in the rain, mostly by myself.

PM- PM with a crew of 6, a new record.  Barry, Aaron, Carl, Justin, newcomer Seth, and myself.  Usual loop on a rainy, muddy, puddly night, except that everyone decided to run the last 3 miles back on the road.  Except that I didn't really want to, and someone challenged me to run the trails faster than they could on the road.  Game on- had lots of fun dashing and splashing my way down the mud for the last 3 miles at maniac pace, and beat 3 of the 5 guys.  Good times.  I needed a workout, anyways, and my knee felt ok.  Finished with 10.5 miles in 1:50 with 1400 ft climb. 

AM- 5. Tired today.  Not running/legs tired- sleepy tired.  Plus I've got a pretty decent cold.

Lunch- 8 with Phil in the rain.  It rains a lot around here.  We have one of the big 5k's around here this Saturday.  It's the only race I've done every year, and I set my road 5k PR there last year.  We'll see what happens this year.  I know Phil's gunning to beat me.

Pouring rain all day, plus a lunch meeting, leads to a 10 mile treadmill run in the late afternoon.  Listened to Crockett's podcast and watched Karate Kid II.  We even have a chance of snow tonight, which would be the first in over 2 years.

Am- 10 ez. The gym has 5 tv's and all 5 were covering Lance and Manti. Usually lance on 3 and manti on 2.

Lunch 8 on the trails by work. I caught a toe and went down hard. In a puddle. Hardest fall in years, bad enough it knocked the wind out of me and I had to sit down for 5 min recovering. Counted blood from 11 wounds and hit my knees so hard I seriously think I bruised my left kneecap. Could hardly walk the rest of the day. All this happened, of course, cause I have a 5k race tomorrow. Of course I do. Should be fun. If I can run that is.

AM- Ran Run Downtown 5k today, breaking my PR by over 20 seconds and taking 5th overall at a very competitive race.  One of the best 5k's of my life.  Good day.  Full race report on my green shorts blog. Race results here.

I have such an ultra-mindset that I don't even put any non-trail ultras on my race schedule (shown at left).  I wonder if that's a bad thing. 

I'm in the mood for some videos after my race yesterday.  The first is a cool animated running man.  The second is Matt Hart's first running video, probably my favorite.  The last is another Matt Hart vid that has lots of Hardrock 100 footage.  All reposts, but what's wrong with posting good stuff again? Bon appetit.

Onwards from AKQA on Vimeo.

Am- planned on a med run. Did 5 miles, then wanted to liven it up so did a mile at 10% grade and 6 mph. Then another mile of the same, and then another, but increased grade at the end to 15%. 1 flat. Mile bored me, so I did 4 tempo miles, then 1 cool down. 14 miles total.

Lunch- very tired and sore from Sat and my morning run. 3 hrs between runs is not enough recovery. 4 with Webster on trails, then 4 xt, then BUBW.

Going to the hospital at 5 am for baby delivery tomorrow. It might interfere with my runs, but that's ok. This is a very special, once in a lifetime experience. Ok, maybe four times in a lifetime.

At the hospital by 5 am today.  Just after lunch, our little girl was born- we now have 4 beautiful children.

Picked up the other kids later in the day and snuck in 6 quick miles before taking them to meet their new sister.  Pretty happy to get in a run any which way.  Tomorrow will probably be similar.  

Everyone came home from the hospital. Ran 10 at the gym in the evening.

Am- 12 at the gym

PM- 10 around the neighborhood on the chilly evening before dinner.  My garmin is wearing out (not beeping anymore and short battery), so I used some prize money from StumpJump to buy a Suunto Ambit, which I've heard great things about.  I wore both today.  I had heard the Ambit measures short, but it said 9.91 miles vs 9.94 for the Garmin- negligible difference.  Garmin said 601 ft gain/loss, Ambit said 591 gain/640 loss.  Pretty close again.  My avg heartrate was 133.

Also, I received a letter in the mail today with the Guinness World Record cert from the Greenville Track Club 100 x 5k we did a couple summers ago.  Guess I'm officially a WR holder- pretty cool.

Lunch- They started school at regular time today and then sent everyone home 2 hours later because of an ice storm. That they already knew was coming. And ended up barely hitting us. Annoying. Anyways, I went for a run around my home in the freezing rain (26 deg and rainy). Ambit said 750 ft climbing as I did some extra hills on the steep parts of the soccer fields. Did I mention the Ambit finds satellite signal in about 3 seconds? 10 miles in 1:22 (with lots of steep, short hills).

Lunch- 20 miles around home in just over 2.5 hrs with 1200 ft climb.  Felt ok, though a bit of a twinge in my left shin. 134 avg heart rate.

AM- 8- wore my Hokas and my shin felt pretty good

Lunch- 9 miles with the guys, plus BUBW.  Didn't wear my Hokas and my shin hurt.  Plus we got kicked off a little stretch of trail near work we sometimes run.  That sucks. 

Lunch- 8 with the guys. Topic of conversation was getting kicked off the trails yesterday.

PM- If it's Tuesday night, it must mean Paris Mtn.  A big group tonight- Justin, Carl, Barry, Seth, and new comer Josh. Wore the new watch which measured 4% shorter than everyone else's, plus a bit less elevation.  Hmm.  10 miles and 1200 ft at a leisurely pace in 1:50.   

Oh yeah, did I mention that it was a very pleasant 70 deg at 6 pm today.  T-shirts (or no shirts) for the entire run tonight.  Quite comfortable. 

AM- Planned on a big workout.  Ran on the GE track with Dan.  It was 65 deg, humid, and very windy.  At 6 am.  In January.  Is this really winter?  Anyways, 4 mile warmup, then started tempo.  I felt pretty good the first 3 miles, then struggled with the 4th, and fell apart the 5th (slowing to 6:30 pace) so pulled the plug.  Cooled down and went inside for some biking.  10 miles total running.

PM- Worked from home today to help out Marci and the kids.  Finally went to the gym in the evening for a 10 mile run.  I don't run at the gym often, but the free babysitting sure is nice.

Pm- 8 around home. Been working from home the past few days, and now the in-laws are coming tomorrow which should help a ton with the 3 old kids and the newborn.

AM- Ran the Bench Marathon trail again for the 4th time since June, starting with Byron and Lester.  Rather cold- 22 deg at the start, 36 at the finish.  I was going to wear my running pants for the first time in 2 years, but Byron showed up in a singlet and shorts and shamed me to strip down.  The goal today was to set a FKT of 4:05, though sub-4 was preferred (fast goal of 3:50).  Ran pretty hard the whole way out, with Byron sticking close, never more than a minute or two behind.  What a great run- I really love this trail.  Hit the bench turnaround in 1:53, and swapped my gear for a couple minutes.  Byron arrived just as I pulled out at 1:55 (previous times I reached the bench at 2:08 and 2:06, so this one was a lot faster).  I've negative split twice, but that's difficult since the second half is net 500 ft uphill.  Anyways, pushed pretty hard (not 50k race hard, but 90% ish), though had a few gear issues (frozen camelbak hose) and pit stop that slowed me.  Finished in 3:53:37, a new FKT.  I figure I can maybe run 3:50 or 3:45, but probably not much faster than that other than a race.  Byron ran like a maniac and finished in 4:07, his fastest bench by a long shot.

Leg didn't hurt, which is good and a reflection on how good it is to run on dirt.  24 miles, 5000 ft climbing.  Wore the Suunto and it worked well, though the HR monitor doesn't work with a camelbak (chest strap messes up the HR sensor).  It agreed with the Garmin on distance with .1 miles, and almost the same on elevation, too.  Anyways, fun morning.  Now the inlaws come for 10 days so I better go clean the house. 

Am- 12 miles while watching recaps of the Super Bowl.

Lunch- 10.5 with the guys. Then 20 min of BUBW.

AM- Working a second shift test today, so slept in a bit and did a BW after a morning meeting.  Ran to the soccer fields and did laps on the .8 mile, paved trail.  It was about 40 deg, and the trail is moderately hilly and there was a brisk headwind on the side that is uphill- looking at my heartrate data, my HR was about 140 on the downhill sides and 160 on the uphill sides.  3 miles warmup, then started the workout with splits of 6:18, 6:32, 6:31, 6:20, 6:16, 6:21, 6:21, 6:13, 6:26, and 6:22.  About 6:00 pace on flat terrain, and the pace variations were generally related to which laps I had 2 uphills vs 2 downhills.  Felt pretty good overall, much better than last Wednesday.  Finished 16 miles overall in 1:49:35.

Hoped to be done with work at 8 pm to sneak in an evening run but testing took forever at work today and I didn't get home from work till 11. Going to sleep now.

AM- 10

Lunch- 10 more with the guys.  Rather tired and slow, unsurprisingly. 

Skipped the morning workout with Dan on account of very little sleep last night thanks to some daughters. Ran a while in the rain at lunch with the guys, then a bit of biking. Signed up for Paris Mtn 10 mile trail race on Saturday, which Justin and Barry are doing. First ever race on Hike Only Brissy Ridge, the roughest trail in the park. Should be fun.

Lunch- too little sleep for morning run again, so ran 6 with the guys at lunch and 4 behind GE.

AM- Expedition Paris Mtn 10 mile trail race.  Nice cool morning to do a beautiful trail race.  Saw Barry and Justin at the start, plus a few other fast folks like David Workman who beat me last year at Shut In run.  This is the first race I've seen that ran the most technical trail in the park, Hike only Brissy Ridge.  Race started decently fast, with a few people ahead of me.  After 3 miles, the 5 mile runners turned off, leaving only one runner ahead of me as we went up Sulphur Springs.  I caught him just at the top and pushed hard down Kanuga to build a gap on the guys behind me.  Then we hit Brissy Ridge and slowed quite a bit with all the root-covered steep ups and downs.  I'll admit, though, I struggled less on this steep section than I expected and was able to run almost all of it.  I could still see 2 runners within a minute or so of me at the road crossing at the top but I guessed I'd have an advantage the last 3 miles downhill since I know the trail so well.  Finished in 1:10, David was 1 min behind, and Barry and Justin were also pretty close.  Great morning on a run on a nice race (even had mile markers, rare for a trail race).  Ambit put the race at 9 mile and 1400 ft climbing.

I might get out on a run later today- we'll see.  I wanted 100+ miles this week but missed 2 runs due to lack of sleep/family. 

Update 2 months later- finally did a Race Report compilation, including for this race. It's all on my Greenshortsrunning blog.  

Am 8

Lunch 10 in a drizzle plus BUBW

Am- BW with Dan. Ran on GE track, 3 x 2 miles (well, 2.05 or so is 3 laps of the track). Times were 11:51, 11:39, 11:19. Going for memory. 16 miles total.  Definitely fastest miles on a workout in a long time, 5:48 to 5:40 avg.

Lunch- 7 of us went very slow for 6 miles.

AM- Had to be at work at 5 am, so finally got out for one run at 9 am.  Calves were very sore from yesterday and I'm tired from running and not sleeping, so I wanted to run as far as felt good then xt.  Ended up running 7 miles, then biked for a while.  Running was bearable only because of the Hokas.  Those things are a miracle on sore and recovery days.

Am- planned 10-12, ended up with 14 ez. Felt very good.

Lunch- 8 miles with the guys. Just a high mileage, easy recovery day.

Lunch- slept 8 hrs last night, it was heavenly.  Ran with a group of 5 at lunch around Shannon Lake (couldn't do Oak Grove lake cause the tunnel under the freeway was closed due to a fatal accident- scary).  8 easy miles.  BUBW.

Doing a nutso trail run as training for Barkley tomorrow.  Probably 5 hrs and as much vert and nasty trail as I can find.  It's supposed to be below freezing and rainy/snowing.  Like I said, Barkley training. 

AM- Pretty epic trail run today.  I was gone for over 8 hrs.  Goal for today was 20+ miles with as much vert as possible as Barkley training.  I normally don't like Jones Gap as it's too steep and technical, so it fit the bill for today.  Picked up Justin and he modified the plan by starting at Oil Camp Creek.  Temps were about 38 and none of the rain/snow predicted to start at 6 am- looks like the weather would be great.  We ran up .5 mile to Pinnacle Pass trail and ran up and over it (plus up and over and up and over- lots of ups), then very steep down to Jones Gap.  Then we ran up the steep Hospital Rock trail, climbing 1700 ft in less than 3 miles, half in one mile.  We then ran along Cleveland Connector.  It started snowing a bit at this point and we were excited- the most snow we had seen in a two years.  Little did we know that it would change from a touch of snow to huge flakes that quickly accumulated, just as we descended the most technical trail of the day (including several roped sections) to Rainbow Falls.  This 2 mile section dropped over 1600 ft and was quite interesting with tons of snow-covered rocks.  By the time we reached Jones Gap trailhead 40 minutes later, about 2 inches of snow had accumulated.  We decided that running back up Pinnacle or Rim of the Gap trail would be crazy, as they have some exposed, off-camber portions that are bad enough when dry, much less when snowy/icy, so decided to run the 4 miles back to the car.  It ends up the park was closed, too, due to the trecherous conditions.  We ended up hitch hiking with a guy in a gator, so I had a fun (cold) ride back.  The total run ended up at 16.5 miles (Ambit- 15.2, Garmin- 16.4, Sporttracks- 16.5) and about 4300 ft climbing (Garmin put it at 5600 ft) with 4.5 hrs running time and just under 5 hrs total time.  Didn't get my 20 miles, though.

Stopped by the store on the way home to buy some wool gloves for Barkley, as I was reminded today that fleece gloves are cold when wet!  Then played and went sledding in the snow with my kids!  Here's a few pictures of the adventure:

Some of the off-camber exposed rock to cross.  Weather looked very nice. 

Nice vista from Pinnacle Pass 

We would drop down to the left and ascend the ridge across the valley 

Just starting to snow- can hardly see it 

Descending the snow-covered-rocks with rope assist 

Rainbow Falls visible in the background 

 Snow everywhere

AM- 10 ez

Lunch- 8 more with the guys.  Pretty nice day for a run.  Although I did a mile by myself on the trails and got chased by a turkey. Several times, for a quarter mile or more.  He was pretty ticked at me for running in his territory, I guess.  First time for everything.  I found it humorous but was also willing to kick him or grab a stout stick if he got much closer (he pursued from anywhere from 20 ft to 40 yards back).

AM- Planned on 12 but was tired so I slept in a bit.  Still ran 12 miles, with 6 at increasing tempo (6:07 to 6:03 to 6:00 pace).  

Lunch- 6 ez

My race this Saturday is Mt Mitchell marathon, the shorter race of the Mt Mitchell Challenge.  The Challenge goes to the top of Mt. Mitchell, the highest mountain east of the Rockies.  All trail, lots of vertical, and lots of snow/cold.  Last year, for example, it was 8 deg at the start, well below 0 wind chill on top, and they had big issues cause all the water at aid stations froze.  After relatively little precipitation this winter, a lot of snow has fallen there the past few weeks.  Hopefully we can still run the race.  Here's a picture from earlier this month on the race course.

Lunch- 8.5 miles on the track and roads

Lunch 6 miles on a nice day.

PM- 4.5 ez with my dad in the drizzle.  Parents are in town this weekend to see the new granddaughter.

The marathon tomorrow should be interesting.  Freezing rain may require reroute, so that should be fun. 

Quick report- ran the very enjoyable, surprisingly technical Black Mtn marathon today.  Lots of mud, rocky trails, some ice, and cold rain.  A good time was had by all.  Full report later (today?).  Finished 2nd place, pretty happy with that.  Hard to beat a nice trail marathon.

Update 6 weeks later- finally did a Race Report compilation, including for this race. It's all on my Greenshortsrunning blog.  

AM- Legs are a lot less sore than I thought they would be, except when foam rolling.  As part of Barkley, I hopped on a stairmaster for 45 min, then ran 6 miles.  Feels strange to run after stairs.

Lunch- 8 more ez.  Definitely feel better than usual after a hard marathon, so that's a good sign.  My quads are still amazingly bombproof.  Still have to go easy to not risk injury, though. 

PM- Had to take my parents to the airport this morning, so no run.  Did make the Paris Mtn run for the first time in a month with Justin, Seth, Josh, and Barry.  13.5 miles on a chilly, foggy night after a long day of rainstorms.  It's somewhat mystical and eerie running through fog at night, very quiet.  We practically had the whole place to ourselves- only saw 4 people.  2:20, 1600 ft climb.

AM- 6 running plus 30 min stair climber.  Legs are still definitely recovering from the marathon.

Lunch- 10 with Jim and Dan.  Pretty nice day to run out, as opposed to the last 2 days when it was very cold and rainy (2 inches of rain in 2 days). 

Am- 11 Lunch- 8 more with the guys. Combine insufficient sleep with my highest mileage of the year, and I'm feeling downright worn out. Blah. Heck 2 of the past 3 days i didnt get home in the evenings until 9 pm. But taper for Chuckanut 50k starts next week, and that will lead into the Barkley, where I have moved up from 13 on the wait list to 3. At this point, I'm assuming I'll get in it.

I ran 378 miles in Feb.  If it had 30 or 31 days, it would have been in the 400's, which I've only done a few times. 

AM- First time my legs haven't felt sluggish all week, so I did a little workout.  3 miles warmup, 7 miles MP in 42:30 or so, then 1 cooldown.

Lunch- an hour plus BUBW

Ultrarunning magazine just came out with the 2012 Year In Review.  I heard I was in it, so asked Crockett to email me a page (thanks, Davy).  Sure enough, there I was on the Top 100-mile times.  Number 22 in the country.  Pretty cool.  I still think I have a 14:30 in me, although I don't think I'll ever run a fast 100 again.

PM- Today is my lovely wife's 30th birthday.  We woke early and drove the Columbia so she could attend the temple, then drove home and opened presents.  I snuck in a quick 8.5 mile run here.  Then went to dinner and came home to a surprise birthday party, where 10 of her girlfriends kidnapped her for a night of partying.  I've just got the kids in bed and plan to hit the sack soon as I'm very tired and definitely getting sick with a sore throat, stuffy, etc.

I'm finding myself thinking more and more about the Barkley. Less than 4 weeks away, so time to get serious. Should be fun. How much fun, you ask? This much fun...

 That's last year's winner.

AM- 8 miles plus some stair climbing and BUBW.  I moved up again on the wait list to number 2!!!  Crazy.  Just 2 more drops and I'm officially in the Barkley marathons, something I never would have even dreamed of applying for 6 months ago.

PM- 8 more by myself. 

Lunch- 6 ez

Planned to go to Paris Mtn but I've been feeling increasingly sick with a cold, with even my voice almost going out this morning.  My lunch run wiped me out much more than it should have, so I bagged the evening run.  I don't want to risk worse sickness the week before a big race. 

9 years ago today, Marci and I were married. Man, it's gone fast and been fun and crazy.

Still sick- really couldn't sleep last night, coughing all day. Did 15 min abs and did a little 30 min run. Felt tired. Gotta get better within a week.

At home sick, so no run. First goose egg since dec 19. At least I'm getting lots of rest for my taper!

Feeling a modicum better so I went to work.  Didn't even take running clothes so I would tempt myself.  Still hoping to get better.

After work, I walk in the door to see a beautiful homemade meal sitting on the table- chili soup, cornbread, corn on the cob, chips and homemade guac.  Then I hear my 4 year old in the bathroom crying, so I walk in to see her sitting on the pot.  She looks up at me and starts puking, so I naturally try to catch all of it in my hands.  Welcome home indeed.  Then, after washing my hands, my wife dashes to the bathroom and starts puking herself.  We figure this came from my 1 year old, who was throwing up all Wed night.  So, dinner was just my 1 year old, my 6 year old, and me, eating the food.  Now I hope I don't get the stomach flu on top of my cold. 

I was planning to taper this week, but figured I'd have 75 miles, rather than 30.  Oh well- most important is to recover.  Mileage is irrelevant for both Chuckanut next Saturday and the Barkley at the end of the month. 

It's been a few crazy days with me sick plus a puking wife and 3 kids. I think I've finally turned the corner a bit though. 5.5 easy miles- didn't feel great but it was nice to be moving again. Gotta get better for Chuckanut in 7 days. Definitely had more taper this week than planned.

Lunch- 5.5 easy with a big pack of guys.  Really not sure if I'm getting better or not.  Going to test myself on a 90+ min run tomorrow, and maybe a few fast miles on Wed.  If I don't feel on top of it, I won't go to Washington.  This is the first time I've been sick in a while and I'm pretty tired of it.  

PM- PM with six guys, including newcomer Jason. I was using this to see if my legs got fatigued after an hour but they felt fine. Normal loop, 10 miles.

Lunch- 8 with 9 guys.  Main topic of conversation was planning Aaron's wedding, since he just got engaged.  I felt pretty crappy.  I'm going to do a bit of a hard run tomorrow and decide if I go to Chuckanut based on how I feel.  Right now, 60% chance I go.

Am- wanted a workout to see if I should go to Seattle. Did a little run with 3 miles MP and felt ok. Not great, but good enough. So I'm going, but with low expectations. Heck, I even went to the doctor today cause now I have an eye infection on top of my cold.

In other news, I was invited to join Team PI, one of 20 ultra runners sponsored by Pearl Izumi. The team includes Nick Clark, Nick Pedatella, Dylan Bowman, Scott Jaime, and many others. I'm very excited. My singlet arrived today, so I'll be wearing it this weekend. My days of wearing greeny green shorts and my SGRC red singlet are over.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/b23ecxkqmh7v5fj/IMG_8847.jpeg

Ran the beautiful Chuckanut 50 k. Had low expectations and just wanted to enjoy myself. Mission accomplished. Nice course, wet and rainy, nice people, fun weekend with David Nelson and many other runners. Finished 20th overall. Technically my second fastest 50k race ever, somehow. More later.

Update 2 weeks later- finally did a Race Report compilation, including for this race. It's all on my Greenshortsrunning blog.  

Got home at midnight. Spent 24 hours and 6000 miles traveling and was away from home for 65 hours, all to run a 4 hour race. What strange creatures we are. Thanks to David Nelson for a fun weekend and being a great host.

And, 64 hours into the trip while cruising at 34,000 ft, I officially was notified that I'm in the Barkley. Oh nuts. To putti in perspective, that means I will spend up to 60 straight hours running.

Got home from Seattle after midnight, woke early for work, and had a lunch meeting.  Plus I ran a 50k on Saturday and I have the hardest race in the world in a couple of weeks, so recovery is important.  In other words, no run.  My calves are a tiny bit sore, and I'm definitely tired, but I feel good other than that.  Run in the mountains tomorrow.

PM- Paris Mtn with the biggest group ever, 7 of us.  Justin took us adventuring onto some new trails, while Carl was kind enough to let me pester him with Barkley questions.  Again.  And give me some gear afterwards.  Wore my new Pearl Izumi Emotion Trail N1 shoes- liked them.  10 miles with 2k or so climbing based on Justin's watch, as I didn't wear mine.

I'm now 4 or 5 race reports behind again.  Apparently going from 2 to 4 kids in 18 months was the breakpoint for having enough time to do good race reports.  And with Barkley preparation needing all my time for the next 11 days, I'm not sure I'll ever do a report again! 

Lunch- easy 5 mile run.  At least it should have been easy.  Apparently I'm still really not recovered from Chuckanut and from a 2 hr run yesterday, cause it felt more like 15 hard miles.  Ugh.  Plus abs and BUBW.  Just over a week till the big day.

Still feeling run down and tired.  Had meetings till 2 pm, then headed to the gym to do some cross training, as I wasn't feeling up to a run.  Unfortunately, I discovered I hadn't put a pair of shorts in the car, so I was SOL.  No workout today.  Oh well.

Lunch- fitness assessment at the gym.  Happy to say all my upper body workout has helped since my last test in Dec- my situps improved from 40 to 60, my pushups from 32 to 41, and even my VO2max inched up a bit, while body fat stayed around 8%.  Now if only I can feel a bit better for next week.  Finished off with some biking.

Lunch- 8 on a cold lunch run.  Biggest group of guys ever- 11 of us.  Quite the crew.  Feeling better, except I've got a nasty sore throat and possibly swollen glands at the back of my throat?  I packed 20,000 calories of food to carry with me during the Barkley last night, and have another 10,000 more for in camp.  That's a lotta grub.

If you want to follow the race on Saturday (as best you can), follow @barkleymarathon on twitter, search for #barkley or #bm100 on twitter, or go to barkleymarathons.com and read the updates on the right.   There's also an unofficial facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TheBarkleyMarathons?ref=hl.  All of this is unofficial, of course, cause the Barkley Marathons doesn't even have it's own website!

Rumor has it there's also going to be a New York Times article on the Barkley on Thursday or Friday, so keep your eyes open. 

Lunch- late lunch run with Phil, Jim, and newcomer (and only 19-year old) Kyle.  8 miles, maybe a bit more.

Lunch- 7.  I was running late but guessed the right route the big group take so met some of them halfway through- is that I sign I spend too much time with them?

 Packing for Barkley Marathons tomorrow and leaving either tomorrow night or Fri morning.  McKinley got sent home from school with a fever, so I really hope it doesn't happen to me.

In related news, the New York Times published an article on the race today.  Cool- I guess it's officially mainstream now.   

This photo is from the Art of Manliness website and seemed appropriate given the task I am undertaking this weekend.  

What better way to spend your life than to live it to the fullest, rather than shirking and simply wearing out... 

Am- 4 ez. Packed and leaving now. Next report will be post-Barkley.

Awesome. More later, after sleep. The coolest, toughest race I've ever been at.  Report coming soon- in the meantime, I finally caught up on 4 months worth of race reports, available on my Greenshortsrunning blog.  Barkley report will be next.

Update- my Barkley race report has now been posted. 

I haven't done a single minute of exercise since the race.  I'm wrapping up the Barkley race report and it should be posted within a day or two.  It's picture and word heavy, fitting for a race of such epic-proportions, and hopefully enjoyable.  In the meantime, I'll let you ponder this quote Joe Grant posted on his blog the other day:

"Mountains are the means, the man is the end.  The goal is not to reach the tops of mountains, but to improve the man."

- Walter Bonatti

Well, I've finished my Barkley race report, right up until the point where I quit.  But at the Barkley, just quitting can be a multiday ordeal, so I won't be able to post for another day or two.  It will be worth it. 

Lunch- some xt.  First workout in 10 days.

It's that time of year again.  I mean, springtime is just rough in South Carolina.  Brutally nice.

15 hr day at work, so no working out and no blogging.

The waiting is over!!!  My Barkley race report is finally posted.  It's the longest race report I've ever written or hope to write.  I hope it's enjoyable, interesting, and entertaining.

Ultimate frisbee at work. Love this game. Even wore my soccer cleats from 10 years ago.

AM- I hadn't planned to. Run this morning, but both Jason and Justin wanted to go, so I joined in. 10.5 miles around home. Jason is moving into a neighborhood near mine, which will be nice

PM- ran a mud run with my wife and another couple. Had an absolute blast and was covered in mud. 3.5 miles, 30 obstacles, 53 min, and tons of fun. Muddiest I've ever been!

PM- Had a lunch meeting so didn't go to the gym for a run till 2:30 pm.  Consequentally, I was on a treadmill watching 5 tv's when the news started coming in about Boston.  Didn't seem real at first.  What a simply tragic event.  So sad.  Violence is never the answer.

Lunch- 6 miles with the guys

PM- 10 miles at Paris Mtn. Almost 80 deg, so warm and sweaty. 5 of us out there, 3 even went for a swim midrun. Nice to get in a PM run, first in a month.

PM- mid-afternoon run due to my training during lunch.  I can tell my two weeks off has affected me- I was pooped right from the start today, and it never got better.  80 deg temps didn't help.  At least it was on the dirt trails behind GE.  I saw 2 deer, a turkey, and a snapping turtle the size of a dinner plate... and almost no people.  That was nice.  9 miles.

Some good thoughts on Boston from a runner... 

Lunch- Todd led us to a new little trail he found in Devenger neighborhood.  Always nice to be on some dirt.  9 miles in all.  Felt a lot better than yesterday, but still sluggish.

Lunch- 9.  Going camping with my 2 oldest girls right after work today.

PM- 6 by myself.  Feeling a bit sick- need to get to bed before midnight.

Lunch- ran 10.5 miles with some of the guys.  Gorgeous, mid-60's, and sunny weather.  Unfortunately, sick kids and lack of sleep appear to have caught up with me.  I've been feeling a bit under the weather but found myself absolutely drained after the run and haven't felt better since.  I think I have a fever, plus a cough, runny nose, sore throat, etc.  Blah.  Going to bed now.  I'm finally ready to get back to real training now, after almost 2 months of pretty low mileage, so would really like to get well and get running.

Home sick, so no run today.

AM- feeling substantially better today, which is good because I have a test I am running 2nd shift at work, so have to go in no matter what.  Got another good night sleep, then went for a nice morning run wearing some demo Smartwool compression socks and some new Hokas.  The hokas are probably a half size too big, but that's how I'm buying my shoes these days- tired of too-small shoes.  Plus my foot felt like it had a bruise near the arch so I wanted the extra cushion.

Officially withdrew from MMT 100 today.  Not in any kind of shape to run it, and was only staying on the wait list to increase my lottery chances next year.

AM- 6 ez this morning.  Beautiful weather this time of year, esp for morning runs.

Lunch- and the weather is also beautiful for lunch runs.  Just gorgeous.  10 miles with the guys- 6 of us at the start, I think, just Jim at the end. 

Unlike in Utah where Hokas are everywhere (**cough cough Karl cough**), I have only seen one other wearer here.  I sure get comments on them. 

AM- Dupont with Justin and Aaron.  Upper 40's at the start, low 50's at the finish, and overcast with threatening rain.  Rain must have kept everyone home cause I only saw 4 bikers and no one else the entire time.  Did 12 miles with the guys, then they went home while I did a while more by myself.  Given my sickness and out of shapeness and purposeful lack of calories, I knew it would be a slog.  It was.  What I didn't expect was my left ankle to seriously hurt on every single step.  It was quite painful, even though I can't recall twisting it and it's not swollen or anything.  Will monitor that.  Got the run done, though.  20.5 miles, under 3.5 hrs, 2500 ft climb.

At home on a rainy day with 3 vomiting kids.  

PM- Didn't get out for my lunch run till 3 pm.  These mid-afternoon runs are tough as I'm tired from my day at work and haven't eaten much.  But I've pretty much figured out the first 30 min feel terrible, then I start feeling better.  Today was that way, too.  Did 11 or so miles on the mud behind GE (a weekend of steady rain left everything very sloppy and added to the enjoyment).  Good times.  Tired legs are to be expected since I'm trying to force my body back into shape and have a lingering cold.

Lunch- 6.5 run, then some bike.  Great weather.

PM- PM with Barry, Aaron, and Carl.  Wore another of the new Pearl Izumi shoes, this time the Trail N2.  Great shoes.  And I got them appropriately muddy to break them in.  10 miles, 1:40-something, 1300 ft climb. 

AM- 15 slow before heading to work at noon. Tired, and ankle kills

PM- 5 ez. Felt a bit more energetic. At work till midnight.

AM- 8 miles on a misty, foggy, wet morning.  Felt pretty good, much better than yesterday morning.  I'm trying to pack in the miles Mon-Fri this week because I'm taking my 2 daughters to crew Justin on the 77 mile Foothills Trail this weekend.  He starts running at 3 am, we crew him starting at 5:30 am, and will go at least for 18-20 hrs, and maybe 24+ hrs.  It should be fun but, needless to say, I won't get in any runs.

Lunch- 10 with the guys.  Heard about Dan's 5 min PR marathon of 2:43 last weekend in Ohio.  Rainy still.  

Lunch- 8 on another wet day.

Heading out now for a day or two in the mountains with my daughters, crewing Justin on the 77 mile Foothills Trail.  They just put out a flood warning for tomorrow due to expected heavy rains- that should make it fun (especially the trail portion along the known-to-flood Chatooga river).  Justin is going to do great. 

Slept 1 hr, then crewed Justin on the FHT as he completed his epic adventure till midnight. Home at 1:30 am, tired. Epic rainstorm with cold and 4-6 inches in 2 days, but Justin still finished. It was a fun, tiring weekend with my daughters watching Justin's toughness. Some hiking, a bit of running, too.

PM- late afternoon run, but Jim came so I wasn't alone.  11 miles or so.  Nice weather- you wouldn't have known that it rained 4 inches over the weekend.

Lunch- 10 on a nice day

PM- PM with just Aaron.  Nice temps, muddy, and rainy off and on.  Of course, more rain.  It really started raining hard after we were done.  My new shoes are now very muddy and wet.  Usual route, no garmin, 100 min. 

It's rained 6 inches in the past 10 days, and it's raining hard again.  Crazy, this weather. 

AM- 9. Felt good.

PM- 8. Felt very tired and slow. Very tired. Ran on the trails behind GE again.  My new Hoka Stinsons are definitely no longer white after all the mud-inducing rain we've had the past week. 

AM- perfect morning for a run outside- a cool, crisp temp at the start, just warm enough to not freeze and cold enough to not sweat.  6 muddy miles with only 2 deer for company behind GE, then 2 miles with 6 or 8 long striders.

Lunch- 8 more with a good group of guys.  Nothing exciting other than finding a copperhead snake on the side of the road just as we were about to step on it, causing several screams and frantic jumps.  We realized on the way back that it was actually dead- it might provide a whole summer of excitement.

Lunch- Went further than planned, ended up around 11 miles with the guys on a hot, sweaty day.  Got some good enjoyment with the copperhead snake from people who weren't with us yesterday.

AM- too tired to get out of bed for my trail run, so slept in an extra 90 min, then read the happenings at Transvulcania.  Left at 7:30 am on my run on a warm morning.  Only had one piece of chicken for dinner last night and ~10 almonds for breakfast, so figured I would be nice and carb depleted.  Tried to maintain an even pace- wore my HR monitor and it stayed around 140 most of the time, finishing at 145.  Hilly course with lots of roadkill (lots of poisonous snakes smushed on the road).  Nice to get out in the country- not many cars, though saw tons of road bikers training.  Definitely slowed down the last 30 min, esp. the last 2 miles.  Saw the family garage sale shopping so ended up pushing the youngest two home.  21 miles, just under 2:40, 1200 ft climbing.

I've been curious if my Suunto Ambit actually had the 15 hr battery life the company claimed, so I put it to the test.  I charged the watch fully and then immediately put it outside with a clear view of the sky.  I came back the next day and it was dead, so I downloaded the data.  It looks like the watch lasted for 14:25, which is pretty close to 15 hrs.  In that time, the watch says it moved .34 miles and climbed 30 ft.  I expected the position and elevation uncertainty to add up to more than that, so I'd say overall I'm happy with the watch performance in my test.

PM- planned on morning run, but sick 4 month old screaming all night only resulted in about 4 hrs of sleep for me and less than an hour for Marci (happy mother's day, indeed) so I turned off my alarm.  Still pretty tired at work.  Finally got out for a mid-afternoon run, doing about 11 miles behind GE.  Saw the deer and turkey and actually saw 2 people, too.  Felt good, especially considering my stomach was filled with chicken fajitas.  One of these weeks I'll do a double on Monday.

AM- new test shoes.  Cold this morning- 42 deg.  Ran 4 miles behind GE with my deer and turkey friends, then did a bit of fast speedwork on GE track.  5 laps with about 440 meters of each lap almost all out (times were between 1:22 to 1:25).  Haven't run that fast in a long time.  Good to get the legs moving.  8 miles total.

Lunch- 11 more. Wore a black, long sleeve for extra heat training but still didn't sweat much.  I just don't sweat.

AM- 10 miles on the trails behind GE.  Nice morning for a run.

PM- Paris Mtn with Aaron, Jason, and first time with James.  Hottest day of the year, 89 deg, but I didn't really notice it too much.  Did the normal loop but added HO BR.  Also jumped into the lake halfway through so ran the rest of the way with squishy shoes.  12 miles, 2600 ft climb, 2 hrs. 

AM- Ran 5 miles behind GE.  The male turkey charged and chased me again several times and got close enough that I had to grab a branch and charge back at him, yelling.  Twice.  Kind of funny.  Then 3 miles on the track- planned to do some speed, but my bum ankle hurt so much I could barely run by the end.

Lunch- Planned to run 10-12 but quit at 3 due to ankle.  Then some xt.  My internet self-diagnosis is Peroneal Tendonitis.  Anyone ever had this?

Pm a bit of ez cross training to rest the ankle. They did have fajitas, fruit, bagels, and cookies at the gym so I probably wasn't calorie negative. Ok, definitely wasn't.

AM- Drove to Jason's house, then went to Oconee to run the entire Chattooga 50k course we are racing next week.  It rained very hard on the 90 min drive but stopped just as we arrived.  Temps were around 70 and very humid the whole time.  At least there weren't too many spiders- I hit maybe 10 webs the whole time.  We started running 3 miles down a road and, after several false starts, found the race trail.  We ran up the Cherry Hill campground, down Big Bend trail to Chattooga River and the FHT, then along the FHT to the turnaround and back to the car.  21 miles with 3500 ft climb in 3:45.  A huge husky was on the trail and decided to join us for 4 or 5 miles of the run- not sure who owns him, but he was nice enough.  I also caught a toe and took a digger, and it appears I literally jammed the knuckle on my middle toe in the process- it's rather swollen and sensitive.  Also had 2 ticks and felt pretty good, though my ankle was still complaining loudly and regularly.  I'll do my best to rest it for the 50k next weekend, then milk it through the trail 14k in June before a longer rest.

Like I said, very humid and wet.  Running in fog...

What a green, lush location.  Beautiful, with soft pine trail.

Lots of downed trees and stream crossings

Jason on the banks of the Chattooga River.  Run if you hear banjos... 

PM- Wanted to rest the ankle, so just a little easy spinning. Ankle doesn't hurt at all when I walk, so it's hard to tell how it's doing. I'll try a run tomorrow to see how it feels.

Lunch- 9 with the guys.  Warm day.  Ankle was improved but not great.  Well enough to run the race this weekend, at least.  Should I be worried that I now discount 50k's as not that far?

PM- got out for a late afternoon run. Rained on me, starting and stopping same time as me. 8 miles.

I gave an hour long presentation to a Boy Scout troop today on lessons for life from ultra marathons. First time I've done anything like that. It was fun, and a good excuse to look at way too many pretty mountain pictures.

Lunch- 10 miles with the guys.  Ankle didn't hurt at all, good sign.  Included 20 min on the mud.

PM- Ran 35 min to Sams Club, then 2 laps on the track with 5 or so strides.  Ankle was bugging a bit but it should be well enough for tomorrow.  The low tonight is 43 degrees- much colder than normal this time of year.  I might even have to wear gloves at the race!

Quick report- won the scenic, challenging Chattooga 50k, edging out Jason by 5 min. Only one of 4runners ever to go under 5 hrs. Very tired now.

Full race report up on Greenshortsrunning blog. 

No official run, but went to a church picnic and played a bunch of volleyball and ultimate.  Definitely some running there.  Soreness isn't too bad, so I'll try a run tomorrow.

PM- Paris Mtn with Justin.  He's just starting again after FHT and I'm post-race, so we did some upper loop miles.  65 min, so I'm calling it 6.5 miles.  Not too hot, and good to get caught up, plus Justin gave me all the borrowed clothes.  Not that I'll be needing warm gloves, pants, and shirts for a while.  Bumped into a bunch of runners after in the parking lot so we chatted for a while.  Runners are such nice people.

2 pm run with Brandon for 50 min and Jim for a full 1:22.  Pretty warm out today.  Ran the lake neighborhood loop then to Sams Club.  Feeling pretty good, though my ankle is still painful as is my bruised rib (ouch- that one is a first for me).  I'm not sure what I'd do if I didn't have any niggles- maybe doubt if I was still alive.

Lunch- ran some with the guys. Ankle hurt real bad. Stopped early to xt rather than hurt more. What a pain.

Ankle hurts like H-E-See-Kay, so I didn't even try running.  Xt instead.  This is getting frustrating- I might have to shut it down for a while, maybe even before my 14k in June.

I do find it interesting that I don't feel like I ran much this month and don't feel in A shape, yet still ran 341 miles, my second highest May ever.  Most years, I was 200-300.  Shows how much my mileage has increased and my mileage has changed the past 3-4 years. 

Just posted my race report from my win at Chattooga River 50k last weekend.  Only a week late, I'm getting quicker at posting!

PM- Back at it to see how 3 days rest treated my ankle.  Ran on the TM so I could stop anytime.  Felt no pain for 5 miles, then started bugging again.  Probably should have stopped at 7 or 8, but pressed on for the full 10 miles I had planned.  I think I'll be able to carry on a few more weeks till my 14k, then take a week or two off.  But I'm skipping the speedwork I had planned on doing to prepare for the race (other than an 8k race this weekend).  Not that speedwork will help me much against the likes of Bobby Mack, anyways.

Lunch- didn't think my ankle would feel good after yesterday, but it didn't hurt at all.  Go figure.  Ran about 45 min with Joe, Phil, and Eric, then ran to Sams Club by myself through the mud.  Good times.  10 miles in all.

AM- Meetings all day, so ran on the GE track this morning.  Wanted to do some speed, my first time in many weeks.  Warmed up about 4 miles, then started doing 6 x 1 lap (~1100m per lap).  Last time I did this was 3x3 laps, with avg pace 3:46-3:57 per lap.  I didn't think I'd be that fast, especially when the warmup was slow and tiring.  First repeat was 4:05, so I hoped that was shaking off the cobwebs.  Second was 3:59, then a pit stop.  The last 4 were better- 3:56, 3:55, 3:53, and 3:48.  Felt good by the end, if not in great top-end shape.  I guess we'll find out on Saturday at the 8k race.  8.5 miles or so.

AM- it started raining yesterday afternoon and has now rained more than 3 inches. Wow. Anyways, ez 6.5 miles in the rain today before going to school for my kindergartener's last day.

PM- 10 on the tm.  Didn't feel like getting rained on. 

AM- only had time for 8 this morning, plus lunch meetings so no other runs.  8k race tomorrow morning, my first one since college.