Day 4,572—the Monday after the Rim to River 100 in West Virginia—

 

        I got home after 10 last night. It wasn’t as easy as the drive down, mainly because I was sleepy, it was dark, and there kept being one section of road work after another. It seemed like as soon as I got through one section, I would see another sign for the next one, but I feel good today. I feel surprisingly fresh. I could have done more this morning, but I want to go into work today. I know I will likely be late, but I am hoping it's no more than an hour later than usual, so as long as I leave sometime in the next 40 minutes, I will only be an hour late.

        The part of the morning I was most worried about was getting up, but I woke up on my own before my alarm went off, and I genuinely feel rested. I got a tiny amount of unpacking done, and then my cat escaped! I will start the official write-up for the race tomorrow, but what a crazy weekend. It feels good. This has to be my favorite race of the year. Before this one, it was probably Thunder Kiss, which shares similarities with this one. Still, ultimately this one offered a lot of unique trails and just a variety of difficulties that were just the right balance. I would think I would be dreading my normal day of work, meetings, and gymnastics tonight, but I am not. Tomorrow I will start posting the race report!