So where I have been the last 5 weeks?

That is a very good question. I wrote about half of my race report within the 2 weeks following Harbison. That was the decent half, where things weren't great, but had not completely fallen apart. Finally finished it tonight. I've been here, just have not had much time at all to complete it. I knew it wasn't going to be pretty when I did, but still.

My "recovery" was surprisingly fairly quick - after taking 4 days off (that worked last time I had ankle/lower leg pain), I still ran 20 miles in the next 4 days (1 day off in there). Thought I'd get it all back and just keep motoring on.
However - my motivation was sapped. I was tired of struggling in these 50k's/ultras. How to move on?
I started doing a circuit training class once a week.
I added back in a 4th day of running (the hills around ICAR).
Added speedwork back in (on the FIRST 3:50 marathon pacing schedule)
All that seemed to do (or maybe it was just the overall timing) was make my legs very heavy and weak. Long runs were Not happening. Cut all of them short since the race to 9-13 miles.
I did my longest run on the trails at Lake Conestee, which was a much better place to run than I expected. Did two full "laps" of practically every trail.
After 4 weeks of struggling (except my speedwork/tempo runs have been decent the last 2 weeks) with weak legs, I decided to take an easy recovery week. No circuit training, no extra hill run - just a speedwork session and a 6mi tempo run.
So far so good...until last night.
Out of the blue, a cramp in my right calf woke me up from a deep sleep. 20 hrs later, I still feel it. Tomorrow is my "long" run, so we'll see how it feels. Heading back to Conestee - it's closer/quicker than Paris Mtn.
Part of my motivation waning has been do to my desire to be at home with the family. My little girl is three now. Enough said.
I also do not have a single race scheduled. During Harbison, I obviously gave up on the Mount Mitchell Challenge. I don't believe in myself to do the long runs just yet needed to train properly for any race of any distance, and I don't have the speed to enjoy a shorter race right now.
So what does that leave?
Doing my FIRST training plan, but without the longer run. I'll stick to 10-13 miles each weekend, but focus on my speedwork and tempo runs. Getting my speed back is my new goal. For what - I am not sure. Keep my mileage around 30/wk though. May have a 1-day relay with Team DNR in April (Southern Blue). Brother wants to do Tough Mudder in SC in October...unsure right now.
We'll just see how the next few weeks go!

Updates on timing/running

I did finally get my results entered in the official results. They were wrong, but I got them!
They gave me my "Chip" time (4:14:14) as my "Gun" time (actually 4:15:33 according to the finish line video available on Brightroom.com - use bib #547 in the search to see me). So they had my finish time as 4:13:56 for some unknown reason.
Whatever.

My running went well this week. 4+ miles Wednesday; 6 hilly miles in heavy wind/rain on Friday; 8.5 miles Sunday that felt very good. Recovery complete!!
This week's (starting tomorrow) highlights - speedwork resumes after a LONG hiatus, then a 12 miler back on the trails at Paris Mountain! So looking forward to that!

Chicago Marathon has less than 5,000 entries left. Sending in my qualifying time to be in Corral C tomorrow. Under 3:55 for the full marathon since early 2009. My 3:53 for Charlotte counts! With my brother's 1:44 half-marathon time - we can both be in that corral.

Ice Run, MB update, P200 update

So we had a couple inches of ice come down Friday night, and it never got above freezing on Saturday - so by the time I went out for my 13 mile run Sunday around 11am, there was still plenty of ice out there. Wasn't going to let that stop me. My 0.85 mile loop had about half of it covered in ice, so I ran on the crunchy sheet of ice on the edge of the road when I had to, and slowed down on the rest of it - didn't want to aggravate new muscles of slip and fall. Ipod wasn't charged so I got to listen to the ice under my feet and falling from the branches. There were actually 3 other runners out there after about an hour, and I ran with one guy for 3 laps or so. Nice guy, training for Boston after running 3:15 last year at Myrtle. Sped up to stay with him, then promptly slowed down for my last 2 laps. No need for speed at this point, although I am still doing my prescribed speedwork. Been in the gym lately for those during the week runs - just haven't felt like being cold, wet, or both. Good news for Myrtle Beach though - my buddy is running it. May not be a pleasant experience for him, but maybe we'll get to run together again!
Palmetto 200 update: Still at 11 members - had one "possible" become a "negative". People are picking their spots too - good thing I chose when I did - I really wanted to leg over the Isle of Palms Connector, so it looks like that one is mine. That's it for now. I keep modifying my training schedule for the next 3 months...after MB, we'll see how it works out!