My finishing times at Seneca Creek
My finishing times through the years indicated I am getting slower.
It is fun to run fast but also fun not having to push the pace too hard.
What reasons why I am slower? Maybe I weight a bit heavier than before. I have not trained to run hard and fast. Also my foot hurt and not at 100%. I have been resting but I might have put too many dings on my left foot. 100 milers do make run slower. Also, I am not pushing the pace as hard as before. My competitiveness has gone a bit down.
Almost every year I run in the Seneca Creek 50k. I missed one year I think was due to scheduling conflict with the Newport-VA Marathon.
This year weather might have been one of the best compares to last year and 2022. There’s a rainy year and snow year and as far as I remember always cold. This year too. We started relatively warm in the 40s and later rised to mid 50s but I felt chilly and stayed in the car with the heat on until 5 minutes before the start. My friend and I arrived early by 6:15 to secure a parking spot with couple steps from the start. I was pampered. I remembered former years, I would be out there in the cold jumping around to warm up.
The race was uneventful. We started by running down maybe half a mile on the road and then entered the trail. And couple miles later we passed the Riffleford aid station on our way out. I knew we would not be back until at least 6 hours later.
Because I ran in the race a few times, everything was familiar. The first aid station was 7.5 miles away. One needs to be patient. I sat on my pace and actually slowed down to a walk. I think at 2.5 miles, I rolled my ankle (the weak one) not sure why. I don’t think I roll it but might have kicked a root and it started hurting. I could not put any weight on it. So I limped for couple miles and people passed me by. One even asked (I think was Dr. cooper) if I was okay. I was fine. I felt I could at least walk to first aid station and might have to call it the end there. However, after couple miles my pain went away and I started picking up speed. I arrived at Rt 28 aid station with My friends Robert and Caroline.
I knew I had to take it easy and Robert went out ahead of me. I went for the potty. After some rest, I went out.
The second Aid station at Berryville Road was also about 7 miles away. It was a long way. My goal was to get there by 11. The aid station closed at 12:45. I forgot my split time now but I remembered I was on pace compared the week before, maybe at around 10:35-10:45.
Then, I was hoping to get back to RT 28 aid station (5.5 miles) through the Seneca Creek Trail by noon. This was at mile 19. The week before, I was able to do 20 miles in 4.5 hours. So I was hoping the same this week. I think I arrived at 12:15. Not bad, a bit over my target. I did kind of stop to talk with Bruce, who will be going go to Western States this year. I was hoping to run with him today on the trail together but our pace did not match up, so he let me to run a few minutes ahead.
After the 2nd Rt aid station, the next one was at Riffleford Rd. It was about 7.5 miles using the Seneca Ridge Trail but I believe it must have been 8.5 or more. It took forever to get there. I arrived exhausted around 2:30 pm. We were an hour ahead of the cut off at the decision point. I was hoping to finish by 3 pm.
We had about 5 miles around the lake left. There I met my fellow friend Elliot from the Stone Mill and the Catoctin run. Elliot was moving strong and I was tailing him hoping to catch up. I finished a few minutes ahead of him but he started like 15 minutes late so he bested me by the bib time.
I came in a bit after 3:15 pm and I spent the rest of the afternoon cheering other runners as they finished. Bruce came in. Then Caroline came in. It was a great day. I was tired but satisfied. I stopped at Mc Donalds for some fries and chicken nuggies to celebrate, plus an shamrock shake. I have been wanting a good milk shake for a long time.
The next day, my friend Jeremy and I went back out or the lower portion at the Muddy Branch Trail and ran 10 miles out and back to the C&O Canal, to make a 20 miles day. It took us a little over 4.75 hours. The pace was a bit fast for me, but I glad I hung on (14.2 min pace).
Then on Sunday night, I added 5 more miles by walking around my neighborhood. I think I ran a total of 62 miles this week. It was quite an accomplishment and I haven’t run that much for a long time. I think usually I keep my weekly mileage to around 30-40 miles.
In awe 