Mon 4/20 - double, three hours total

AM - 2 hours, AT to Backbone Rock. Returned via the road. Visit to Tennessee made more eventful by my ill-informed decision to double back just before the state line, thinking I had somehow missed it. In reality it was my inability to wrap my brain around the difference between flatland miles and mountain miles. Frustrating and had me wishing I had brought the water bottle along with me, with temps rising through the morning. A thudding descent to Backbone Rock (aka world's shortest tunnel) which was worth the trip alone:

 AT in Damascus proper

 climbing towards the state line

 welcome to Tennessee

Long break at the "tunnel" followed by a very slow putter back to town along the road. Legs quite destroyed from the descent off the AT, unsurprisingly.

PM - 60 minutes, Creeper trail to AT to Iron Mountain trail. Billed in the local hiking guide as a "moderate" hike which must mean no technical climbing equipment is required. As per usual, the climbing up the AT wasn't such a big problem but coming back down, on the Iron Mountain trail in this case, got old fast. Not helped by the fact that yesterday's rains made for a slippery mess at times on the way down, with multiple crossings of the drainage that the trail follows to get back into town. Well worth doing despite the fried quads.

 view from the AT just north of Damascus

Sun 4/19 - PM 60 minutes very easy

out and back putter along the Creeper trail in Damascus, aka "Trail town USA." The Creeper being the flat one, a no-brainer to use this particular trail for a recovery jog. Didn't get particularly far, legs as expected are totally destroyed after yesterday. Raining most of the day, went for a brief bike ride on the Creeper heading the other way out of town in the morning to try and loosen up the legs a bit.

Sat 4/18 - 1:40 incl. half marathon

Up, down, up and down and up and down some more on the roads and byways of Roanoke. The hyperbolic description of the toughest road marathon in the land probably applies to the half as well. Thankfully I drove the second half of the course yesterday getting a look at the Peakwood section of town, a neighborhood of stately homes perched on the side of a mountain with switchbacks and everything. The map and course profile really didn't do justice to how steep and unrelenting the hills were both up and down. After pre-waking the already early alarm by a good 90 minutes with an inflamed sore throat, not feeling particularly optimistic about how I would be able to handle the rigors of the distance with the course piled on top of that. Hoping for a less than competitive field and in the end that's what I got. Spent the first 8 miles of the race in third, figured that's where I would stay before passing the guy in second on the very first yawningly steep switchback of Peakwood road. He walked a few crucial steps, I didn't. Very competitive stuff. From there it was run away and hide, taking peeks at every corner to ensure no one was drawing closer. First major climb and descent up and over Mill mountain left my quads feeling quite pulverized, making the Peakwood/West Ridge climb and descent an exercise in using granny gear and tenderfooting it down. Took splits for the entertainment value, probably the widest spread of any half I've ever done:

5:54
6:36
7:31
6:34
5:33
5:57
6:53
6:56
7:34
6:50
6:40
6:01
7:22 last 1.1

One way to see the town I guess. A warm and sunny day, ended up fairly hot actually but the race started early enough that the worst of it was avoided.

Fri 4/17 - AM 35 minutes easy

Dreary out and back from the campground where I spent a restless and rain-plagued night. Feeling as drab as the overcast conditions, yesterday's long day in the saddle and the night spent waiting for the damn rain to stop not helping matters any. Unable to get a decent night's rest at the moment. For all this, legs not feeling as bad as I was expecting them to.

Thu 4/16 - AM 45 minutes very easy

Outskirts of Area 51. The next leg of the Mayall world tour began today, took time for an easy putter before hitting the road for a soul-sucking drive to PA. Didn't give myself enough time to do anything other than eat breakfast, take a shower and finish packing. Breezy as soon as the sun came up and on the chilly side.

Wed 4/15 - PM 55 minutes incl. 15x200, 400

First track workout in a long while, and back to an old standby given that I wanted to do something that at least approximated turnover work. No idea what kind of numbers I'd be able to hit. Overall a bit quicker than the last time I did this, which was back in early September. Somewhat interesting that the longer recoveries got a bit quicker as the workout progressed and the split times got a tick slower. Controlled effort if not exactly flying or fluid. There was the usual persistent breeze, which I tried to put at my back as much as possible. Otherwise a nice evening to be outside. Less stiffness in the legs than yesterday. Splits:

36.9 (84.6) 36.6 (57.1) 37.2 (30.3)
37.1 (82.5) 36.5 (58.3) 36.5 (28.5)
37.0 (81.6) 36.3 (54.6) 36.6 (29.4)
37.3 (81.6) 37.2 (54.2) 36.7 (29.7)
37.3 (79.4) 37.2 (56.6) 37.3 (29.9)
last 400 77.2
total time 24:29