I'm retired from racing. Really.

AM- 12

Lunch- 9. My left ankle is really bugging me, which is a new thing on top of my balky left knee. Not sure what is causing all these issues. I think I'm going to cancel most remaining doubles and just do singles till MMT 100, after which I'll take 2-4 weeks entirely off running.

Lunch- 10 miles. The weatherman was predicting severe thunderstorms all day but it never developed. Nice.

PM- Our Boy Scout troop has been doing the Personal Fitness merit badge, which includes a mile run every 2 weeks. Today was the last day so I agreed to run it. We even offered I would buy pizza if any of the boys could finish within 40 seconds of me. The loop was actually about .93 miles and I ran 4:53, while the next boy was 5:55. No pizza. Good hard mile, though.

Lunch- 10 miles. We were supposed to have severe thunderstorms for 2 days now. Nothing. I won't complain.

AM- We're doing some testing at work and I was supposed to cover 1 pm till 1:30 am, so I slept in a bit and then drove to Paris Mtn for a run. First time I've been there in a while- in fact, only my 5th run there this year. Way below average. Nice day, lots and lots of hikers with tons of dogs, plus 2 school groups, but not a single biker. Watch was having GPS issues, but it was a pretty standard loop of 10.5 miles in 1:37 and 1400 ft climb. Good day.

When I arrived at work, they had testing issues so the test was cancelled. I had to stay at work till 8:30 just to get in my hrs. The last few hours were pretty boring.

Running the Swamp Rabbit 5k tomorrow with the family (wife, oldest 2 daughters, then double jogger). Haven't decided yet if I'll run fast, then run it again to catch my family, or just go with them the whole way. 5000 runners, so not a small race.

Lunch- no one wanted to run at lunch due to the race this evening, so I ran the neighborhood loop by myself. 6.5. Nice weather today, low 70's.

PM- Ran the wonderful race of Swamp Rabbit 5k. It's only $6 and is huge- 5000 registered runners. You get a shirt, 5 aid stations on the course, typical food after, plus all the hot dogs and chips you want, a live band, bouncy castles and tons of giveaways for the kids. Not bad at all. We decided this would be a good race for my daughters to experience, so all 4 of us registered, with the youngest 2 in the jogging stroller. I figured I'd run with the fam, but Marci told me to run fast to get points for GE, then run the course again to catch up with them. I wasn't feeling great before and had a new ankle pain, but figured it would work itself out. It did. Started off in 7th to 8th place for the first mile, not too far behind the leaders. 2nd mile is very hilly and slow, but I passed a couple guys just before the 2 mile mark (11:11), then one more in the last mile on the bike trail. Finished in 5th overall, 17:08 (10 seconds slower than a few years ago), and 1st in my age group. Not bad for a race of 5000 runners.

Grabbed some water, then ran it again. Caught the walkers before mile 1 and proceeded to pass 2000 of them in a mile (literally), finally catching Marci just before mile 2. Had fun running in with them. They had started in the very back with the strollers and had also passed 2000 runners (it took them 6 min to cross the start line in a 5k) and had a chip time of 42:30. Not bad for a 5 year old, a 7 year old, and a mom pushing 2 kids. Way to go, guys! Then we ate lots of food while the kids bounced on the castles and I talked to lots of runners. Didn't get home till 10 pm.

AM- nice morning for a run. Felt like I was really slogging but was around 7:30 pace. Right ankle was sore off and on. Not sure what to make of it. Mainly ran around the soccer fields watching the tournament games. 13 miles.