12-18 Jan, and MMT 100 Training Run

12 JAN -- upper body weightlifting -- stationary bike 4 miles
             -- 43:34 -- 4.66 miles -- 751 elevation gain
13 JAN -- off
14 JAN -- 15:00 -- 1.00 miles -- 500 elevation gain
             -- 42:39 -- 5.20 miles -- 462 elevation gain
             -- upper body weightlifting -- stationary bike 4 miles
15 JAN -- 1:38:10 -- 11.09 miles -- 1318 elevation gain
16 JAN -- upper body weightlifting -- stationary bike 5 miles
             -- 17:30 -- 1.15 miles -- 850 elevation gain
17 JAN -- off
18 JAN -- 5:19:24 -- 25.52 miles -- 5105 elevation gain (MMT 100 training run)

TOTAL -- 8:56:17 -- 48.62 miles -- 8986 elevation gain

Well, the lottery system worked in my favor for one race and against me in another.  I got into the Hashawha Hills 50k on 28 Feb, but I'm number 48 on the waitlist for MMT 100 in May.  Ironically, Danny is right next to me at number 47.  We hope to get in, though, since last year the wait list got all the way down to number 77 before race day.  I figured I'd do the training runs anyway.

Here are some pictures from today's run in the Massanuttens:

There were about 100 of us on the trails today

Danny is like a ghost, or he walks too fast.  He is blurry in every picture I took.

It was cold and windy on the ridgeline

This made the climb worth the effort

Took a panorama with my phone

...and a selfie...

Purple Trail, my least favorite

And last, but certainly not least, Little Man:

Confused about the sounds coming from my phone

The Day the Earth Shook

Today, Little Man rolled over for the first time.  I'm very fortunate that I was home when he took his first leap into manhood.  Pretty soon, we will be playing Cops and Robbers and shooting mommy with Super Soakers.

He is so legit.

It Was a Great Thursday

Today, I didn't have to work.  Got the day off.  I spent it wisely - I wrote a 4-page paper about the economic outlook of the company Chipotle Mexican Grill (because it begins with the same letter as my last name), hung out with Little Man and my photographer, read about the Falklands War, and broke in my Pearl Izumi N2 trail shoes on the Fredericksburg quarry trails.  I appreciated today for many reasons, mainly because I didn't have to fight the busy bees on route 95.  But it wasn't until today that I genuinely realized how much I work.  I work way too much.  I think all Americans do.  At least in the D.C. area it is the norm.  I don't like it and it took 6 years in the military and a random Thursday off to really understand all of this.  We all hope it pays off one day.  Hopefully it does.  Here are two pictures to sum up the day:

Little Man just woke up from one of his eleventeen naps

11 miles through mud and ice made for a rather enjoyable afternoon

05-11 Jan

05 JAN -- 33:16 -- 3.65 miles -- 748 elevation gain
             -- upper body weightlifting
06 JAN -- 37:56 -- 4.53 miles -- 427 elevation gain
07 JAN -- stationary bike 6 miles
             -- 17:50 -- 2.26 miles -- 347 elevation gain (road hill sprints)
             -- 22:45 -- 2.51 miles -- 395 elevation gain
08 JAN -- upper/lower body weightlifting -- stationary bike 4 miles
              -- 38:16 -- 4.04 miles -- 674 elevation gain
09 JAN -- upper body weightlifting -- stationary bike 4 miles
             -- 45:01 -- 5.88 miles -- 457 elevation gain
10 JAN -- off -- but I pushed Elijah around the park for an hour
11 JAN -- 16:30 -- 2.00 miles -- 0 elevation gain (treadmill)

TOTAL -- 3:31:34 -- 24.87 -- 3048 elevation gain

Did a bunch of very short runs this week.  Didn't have a day with a few consecutive hours to get in a longer run, but the easy week helped some of my nagging little aches and pains fade away.  My left hip no longer hurts when I get out of bed in the morning, anyway.  I still have another month of running before my year-long experiment is over.  I'm excited to tally up the totals.  I might be close to 2014 miles for the year 2014, which would be nothing more than coincidental. 

To my own surprise, I put my name into the Massanutten Mountain 100 Miler on a whim the other day.  I want to run the 72-hour event at 3 Days at the Fair in May with Tristin, but with an inevitable move coming in May (to who knows where), my photographer and I decided we want to end our time in VA with the VHTRC!  The lottery is tomorrow.  We'll see how it turns out.  I might get to run 3 Days at the Fair after all.  Good luck to those with their names in for MMT 100.

Red Eye 50k Race Report

Gary, the Race Director for the Red Eye 50k last week, posted a short blurb on the VHTRC website about the race.  Here is the link: http://www.vhtrc.org/news/node/1213

Enjoy.

JFK 50 Mile Publicity

I received an email earlier today from a co-worker.  The subject line read "Nice Pic" and it had the following link:

http://www.marines.mil/News/NewsDisplay/tabid/3258/Article/559113/marines-win-kennedy-cup-at-jfk-50-mile-challenge.aspx

It never hurts to boast, just a little bit.  One of one is still winning, after all.  Thanks to Maj Jake Hood for writing up the article over the holidays, and thanks to Col Frank Donovan for assembling the team and getting us motivated to race!

Christmas Came Late

My photographer and I bought ourselves two late Christmas gifts this holiday season:

1.  A new BOB Stroller.  Little Man fits it like a glove.  And yes, that is our Christmas tree in the back, still standing tall.  We might leave it up for next year.

 

2.  A pair of men's Pearl Izumi N2 trail shoes, size 10.

I'm looking forward to trying out the shoes tomorrow in sub-zero temperatures, but I don't think Kari will be taking Little Man outside until it warms up.  I've read quite a few reviews about these shoes, nearly all of them were positive so I'm not too worried about their performance.  I am, however, interested in the types of interactions between customers and Pearl Izumi associates.  No reason at all, just curious how the Pearl Izumi folks treat ultrarunners.  I've had nothing but good experiences and I really like what they stand for, but I'd like to hear what you guys have to say about the company - positive or negative. 

29 Dec-04 Jan

29 DEC -- 41:02 -- 4.12 miles -- 213 elevation gain (road run with my brother)
30 DEC -- 33:44 -- 5.02 miles -- 268 elevation gain (road run without my brother)
31 DEC -- off -- rest
01 JAN -- 4:39:08 -- 30.87 miles -- 2001 elevation gain (Red Eye 50k, finished 3rd overall)
02 JAN -- off -- rest
03 JAN -- 2:24:34 -- 6.85 miles -- 2013 elevation gain (Shenandoah was covered in ice!)
04 JAN -- 1:12:31 -- 10.08 miles -- 328 elevation gain

TOTAL -- 9:30:59 -- 56.94 miles -- 4823 elevation gain

All in all, not a bad week.  The Red Eye 50k was great!  Perfect weather, good friends, great course, and Gary did a great job as the Race Director, as expected.  The run on Saturday in Shenandoah was kind of a bummer.  It was raining at the trailhead at the base of the mountains but the trail got more and more slippery as we climbed towards the top.  Eventually, freezing rain and sleet stopped us in our tracks and we expended most of our energy simply trying to stay on our feet.  Gary and I started at 0530 while the rest of the pack (Alex, Jack, Dave R., Bruce, Paul, Dave Y., Bernard, and Eva) started at 0600.  Some pictures:

 

To even my own surprise, I threw my name in the lottery for the Massanutten 100 this year.  I couldn't make up my mind whether I wanted to register for 3 Days at the Fair or MMT again, so I'll let the lottery system decide for me.  Other potential races: Thomas Jefferson 100k, Bull Run Run 50 (lottery dependent), and a FKT attempt at the entire length of the AT through Shenandoah (roughly 110 miles).  Grad school classes start up again 12 Jan, work continues to be demanding, and Elijah is simply too fun to be around - but, somewhere between all those competing requirements, I'll squeeze in time to train.  For now, time to fold laundry and read.