less than 2 weeks

Enoree 40M is less than two weeks away. I'm nervous about the distance...have some decent runs and then my right calf wants to act up. I ran ~23 on the trails at Paris Mtn a week ago and wondered how another 17 would feel.  I know that is not the way to look at it, but I can't help it.  The other two 50k's I ran, I ran aid station to aid station and that was about as far as I looked.  That's my plan again too...aid stations to the turnaround point, then the same thing back.
Tossing around the idea to use 2 handhelds for the first 10 miles or so, then pick it back up the last 10 miles, when I suspect it will be much warmer (I still don;t like the heat - but after ignoring it during Chattooga last year - I can manage it I think).
Another idea I'm considering is running 5 miles twice the week of the race (Race? Ha - it's an "Event"!), that would give me 50 for the week for the 1st time ever. That's right - didn't hit my 54-mile-week goal I had set out for this training cycle. What's done is done.

Taking it somewhat easy this week as I am traveling to Philly tomorrow for 2 nights. These 2 weeks of "tapering" won't really be too much different from the last week anyway. My legs don't feel fatigued. We'll see after tomorrow's speedwork session.

Still re-living the Harbison 50k

...and still feeling the pain. Trudging thru 6+ inches of snow this morning made my knee ache some more. Hopefully I can get back to something soon. Not sure what the cause was...Many twists and turns on the course, uneven footing, brand new (generic) orthotics, the last 3 weeks with 2 runs, starting up the stationary bike during that time, 7 times for a total of 75 miles?? Not enough of a running base? Shoes only have 200 miles on them. Hmm, who knows?

Random tidbits:
34th out of 93, with 20 DNF's. I knew there were alot of 1st timers out there. Wonder how many passed me in the first 5 miles and dropped...
Looked like alot of close finishers to one another. 3 within 46 seconds of me too (Guess I did hear footsteps!). I never paid any attention to which runners were at the aid stations. Guess that is where I passed Ty & David. They were Very happy when they finished (Ty's longest before this was Shut in at just over 18 miles I think - awesome!!)
Some amazingly fast runners/times: 4:11 for Mark Lundblad, 4:14 Jim Sweeney! Anne Lundblad in 5:03 to win the females by almost an hour.
Was happy to cheer on some people finishing and see how happy they were...I know the feeling! (But that log in the final stretch - why?? I went around it.)
And the wind? Yeah - it blew down the finishing clock.

Running alone:
Not sure what it is about me and running alone. It happens more often than not, and I assume since I train alone, it doesn't affect me as much as it may affect others. I certainly enjoy the company during races (still hesitate to call any of these events "races"), but my pace just must be that odd. Whether it is a 20 mile training run alone or 20 miles in an event, especially on trails - I am just enjoying being out there. New trails or old trails - it's just peaceful.