In awe

I think I got a bit of clarity since last time regarding what races to run. Just a bit.

After the last MMT training, I have been thinking a lot about Pihoti 100 in Alabama next year. Amanda was running with me and she attempted it in 2021. She said it is like Bull Run Run I did last weekend. I think it is a race I wanted to do next. I watched a few videos on youtube and got convinced. It gave that feeling of the right fit. I think this is their 10th year. If that is true, then it won’t be that hard.

This fall I have Grindstone lined up. I am scared and excited about this one too. At the BRR 50 last week, while running along side of Jamie and her team and listened into their conversation. A few of them did it. They were talking about Grindstone. It gave me the confident I could do it well. They were comparing between MMT and Grindstone. If they are relatively the same, then it would not be a problem for me. They said the hardest part is the start time being at 6 pm and have to spend two nights out on the trail.

Amanda’s husband also did Grindstone before. Hearing so many people have done it made me feel better. Amanda might crew me too. She said she would during our training run only if that weekend is free for her. I don’t count on it but that will be pretty cool if I have a crew. After I finish the MMT, you bet my attention will be on the Grindstone. Maybe this time I have a crew and pacers.

Canada trip preparation. Feeling relieved that I got hotel and car rental settled last night. I have been delaying on this. It would be easier if I were traveling by myself, because I could sleep and stay anywhere. I could wing it and make my own decisions at the last moment. The price would not be an issue either for me. I would have stayed in downtown like minutes from the CN tower or somewhere along the race course.

However, I will be traveling with my mom and two others, so there are other considerations and constraints. My mom wanted a specific date at a specific location (two nights at Niagara falls and two nights in Toronto, I would have preferred one night at the Falls and three nights in Toronto). Also pricing and room size etc. I can’t pick something like $300 a night or having two rooms. There were too many constraints.

Luckily, hotels are pretty inexpensive at the falls at that time of year. In the end, I picked somewhere farther away from the race starting location. It is about 15 mins away. There is a problem of what to do with the car while I am racing. Exactly. They have trouble driving around in a strange city, plus there will be road closures. I hope they won’t try to get to Downtown on their own. But it will be their problem. I am thinking I will take an Uber to the start and Uber back when they are done. It will be a hassle for me, but it will reduce their complexity of navigating in a big city. I have to treat them like a 5 yr old.

World’s End 100k in PA. I didn’t get in this year. I was going to volunteer again, but my cousin is getting marry that weekend, 6/6 from 3-6 pm. There was some snafus going on because they were not going to send out invitations. I felt impolite to ask if I was invited. So I made my own plan for that weekend. Actually I didn’t even know of the wedding date before this week. His mom called me maybe because someone (or my mom) told her they had left me out, and asked why I will not be going to her son’s wedding.

It was awkward. She made her son to text me the invitation. So I guess I have to rsvp by messaging back. The situation is still volatile. I don’t like to be strong armed and I don’t want to force other people to do things because of me.

I was thinking of how to deal with this. Does my cousin want me there? Or is this his mom’s idea? Likely it was his mom’s idea. In the past, I use first-come-first-serve policy. What ever plan is on my calendar, I do those first, others can wait. My own plan comes first. I already made plans for that weekend, and now 5-6 weeks out, this happens. I know 5-6 weeks is still flexible for me to change things around, but it is just frustrating when my plan is affected by other’s people. I guess this is what my sister means by being a grown up. She told me to grow up 🤫. I don’t always get what I wanted and just suck it.

Otherwise, I would be creating a scene and have everybody hate me. It will go down in the family’s history, as the guy who skips out on his cousin’s wedding for a race, which he is not even running!

A bit nearer. Tonight, in a few hours, at 1 am, I am doing the Roanoke, Blue Ridge Marathon Doubler. This race has several names. I don’t care what its official branding is. Maybe it is the Anthem Marathon again this year, who knows. I always refer it as the Roanoke Blue Ridge Marathon.

I did this race in 2018 or 2019, just the marathon. I need to look up the race report for yoy guys. At the time, I found out they had the Doubler. It was a new concept to me that some people would go out and run the full marathon course at night and be back in time by 7:30 in the morning to run it again with the official start. This started as an informal event until recent years where the official race actually gives their blessing. Now, we have the proper signup and we pay the fee and receive some on course support and direction (water only, volunteers driving around, making sure runners are okay). So I signed up and will run two marathons starting later tonight.

Finally, Congratulations to those who ran the Boston Marathon this year. A few people (friends) I recently met ran it this past Monday. I am so happy for them. I don’t know if I ever get to do that. One of my friends who is doing an 100 miler almost every weekend ran it. He finished Boston and he is doing the New Jersey Devil 100 this week without much of a break. Boy does he ever sleep? People in my social running club said the same of me when they heard me running a race every weekend, but I think this other guy is on another level. He is aiming 100×100 (one hundred of 100 mile races).

There are a few more things but I couldn’t remember right now, so until next post.