They all can't be "easy" runs.

GreenBrier River Trail Marathon. This went way better than expected. Given the lack of training because I was sick for almost 2 months (among other life obstacles), and the forecast of a heavy downpour for the entire weekend, I thought this was going to be a disaster. (It never rained on race day.) The race started a half hour late, because they had to clear a tree from the path. Absolutely stunning race course along the river. Running over the river on the long bridge was fantastic. Running through Sharp's tunnel was unique. My legs felt fine immediately after the race, and now the days after. 

I did some different things than I normally do in a race. 1. I stopped at all of the water stations and drank 2 cups every time. (Recently, I have noticed that races are putting out 1/4 of a dixie cup of water, and I'm in too much of a hurry to drink more.) So this time, I was focused on drinking more water at each stop. 2. I was disciplined about my Gu intake. 3. It would be hard to describe here, but I have been running with cut up t-shirt sleeves as a headband formost of my races. I had a different plan with those that worked really well. 4. Going into this race with the idea that I hadn't adequately trained for it, really made me slow down in the early miles. It just felt like an extra lovely Sunday morning flat long run. Miles 14-17 things started feeling a little difficult. But by mile 18, I had unfamiliar energy, my pace picked up, and everything was a smooth running engine until almost the end of the race. I negative split the race by about a minute. 

I clicked my heels over the finish line. The race announcer said "That's our Florida guy!" Then spouse drove me back to the Snowshoe. We stopped at a hot dog shop, and got some Appalachian Hot Dogs that were awesome. We rode the ski lift down to the lake with some amazing views. We walked around the lake for a while, then went back up top, went swimming and got in the hot tub. 

This has to be one of the best race experiences we have had. Everywhere you look is like a postcard. 

Drove all over Monongahela National Forest and checked out some scenic overlooks, waterfalls, etc. Then we drove to the Greenbrier resort in White Sulfur Springs, and did a tour of the massive cold war congressional bunker. The resort itself amazing and maintained impeccably.  But the bunker tour left us with mixed feelings. On one hand, the statistical and secretive information about the construction and ongoing operations for 30 years of a fallout shelter, designed to house 1,000 plus people is impressive. On the other hand, the bunker was never used (thank God), and lost the ability to do what it was designed for after 5 years. But they kept it going, and hid it from everyone, including congress, for another 25 years. There was an hour and a half ride back to Snowshoe, where we talked about almost nothing else. 

3 plus hour car ride from Snowshoe to Charleston, WV. Then we flew home. We were picked up by our son and grandson, which was nice. 

2 on the trails with Johnny.

He goes to USMC Boot Camp Monday. Since early August, he has been meeting with a couple of groups of "poolies" that will also be going to USMC for PT. He's been rained out on these meetings lately, and wanted to get something in, so we ran together. It was  nice. The kid is faster than me, of course. He's 19. I had to run faster than I wanted. But I'll never tell him that. 

drove up and back to gainesville for what some were calling a football game. At least I got to catch up with an old friend.