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.