In awe

Author: Antin

  • IMTR 2023 [Day573]

    Finally the week is here. Usually I don’t write anything before the race for fear of jinxing it.

    Thinking back to the Burning River 100, I arrived on Friday afternoon. We saw the finish chute and arch. My mom suggested me to take some pictures there since it is not fenced off yet. I had a feeling it is bad luck to pretend crossing over the finisb line before the race. I did took pictures of myself before the finish line. Lo and behold, I jinxed it. I did not finish that race.

    Since now I am again at the start line of the Iron Mountain 50 mile race, many effort was spent for this. Last few weekends I have been driving over 300 miles to train on the course.

    In the last post, I mentioned the possibility of going backpacking. It turned out the plan fell through. I am at the race now.

    It is an out and back race. My ankle has been much better, though not 100%. I don’t think it ever will get back to 100%. It is better than when I ran the Burning River last month.

    Because the race is an out and back, I could turn around accordingly if my ankle could not handle the trail anymore.

    That is all for now.

    Last weekend was amazing. Though I am too tired to write about it now. I did the course marking for tomorrow race. Then I went to the Grindstone course in the Washington Forest. There I did a night run. It was once in a long while since I did a night run. It was worth it.

  • [Day572]

    More training. This week I will “run” it back. Between last entry and now had been two weeks. I have been lazy in posting. I am repeating what I did in last post. Almost exactly. I drove down to Damascus (VA), going to run on Saturday (course marking day), and then immediately, going to Mt Solon tonight, and then tomorrow, will run on the Grindstone course.

    Labor Day is next weekend, which means IMTR – the Iron Mountain Trail Race.

    I have been looking toward it since last year. It was going to be a redemption since I did not “finish” the run last year. If you look for my name on the ultrasignup list, I was not listed, because I came in after 12 hours, though I think my name was on the excel results sheet at the IMTR website.

    Anyway, the past Tuesday, a friend reached out asking if I am free on Labor Day, whether I am up for some backpacking they were planning. I said I have IMTR coming up in a week. They were not a runner. So I said I plan to run 50 miles that weekend (actually just one day, Saturday). Of course they are impressed. They might be planning to hike about 50 miles over 3-4 days.

    I said, if the backpacking trip is near Damascus, I would like to join them after my run. Now in my head, I am planning, like during the race, I will be running in the woods. Nearby (maybe about 50 miles away) is Grayson Highlands. If their trip is around Grayson Highlands, then during the run, I just run there, of course, I would be DNF/DQ. IMTR is an out and back route, so I will just run out and not come back to the finish. I will let the last aid station know when I pass by that I will drop, so they don’t have to look for me.

    Yes anyway, that only if the trip is around Grayson Highlands. Iron Mountain is kind of connected to Graysons Highlands. I have “done” this route vaguely couple times. My friends said Grayson Highlands is 6 hours away for them and they don’t want to drive that far.

    When I told this plan to my other friends who were going to do IMTR too, they said how sad that I would not finish. True. I don’t think I will finish even if not for the backpacking trip. This summer, I was going to work on speed, but I have been too lazy and did not spend a lot of time training. So, I don’t think I am capable of running 50 miles under 12 hours, especially on the Iron Mountain Trail.

    I have been driving long distances these past few weeks. Last weekend, I went to Fayetteville, WV to do some trail work with the River Gorge park service people (nps). I intended to afterward run on the trails there, since that was part of the course for the River Rim 100, which I ran few years ago as my second 100 race. There were a lot of fond memories.

    The section I worked on the mountain bike trail. It finally dawned on me why during my race there there were so many turns and small hills. During that race, I broke my glasses so I could not see much. I kept getting lost on the trail because every couple steps the trail would turn off to a different direction and I kept on bumping into trees. Later on in that race, I found a buddy, who would kind of leading me, so I was no longer getting lost and bumping into trees. That was a wild night for me for sure. I might have mentioned that in the race report.

    All these memories came to me as I stepped back on the same trails, but this time I could see clearly and in the day time! After my service work, I was too tired to actually run. I went to my camp and slept for 15-16 hours till almost noon the next day. That goes my running for the weekend. I did do some light running around the ACE Resort campground, then headed home. It was a long drive that night, and I did not get home till midnight.

    My weekend last week was the service project and long driving. This weekend is pretty much the same. I drove about 6 hours Friday. Probably another 5-6 hours today. Maybe run for a few hours. Will do the same on Sunday. The bulk of the run will be Sunday if I am not too lazy. Then will drive home.

    I was thinking to myself, why do I drive so much. Why can I just drive 30 mins to somewhere nearby and run instead of driving 300+ miles away? Because I am usually lazy. Whole summer I have been thinking to do that but if the place is too close to my house, I ended up staying home every weekend and ended up not running. Going somewhere really far forces me to run after arriving.

    Anyway IMTR is next weekend. I will be meeting a lot of my running friends. I might or might not do backpacking on top. I already booked the hotrl for all four days.

    Wrapping up, I had nothing to post so I went of on some tangent. The sci-fi series I was reading turned out be boring and frustrating. I am on book 9. Yep, my week has been like that. I spent time reading. I started this since 5-6 weeks ago, since Burning River. As you know, I have not been training much for my races since that one. However, fall season races will start soon. Some even say now is fall. We had some really nice fall weather this week. I think I have lined up myself with a race every weekend from now until Thanksgiving!

  • training day [Day571]

    IMTR and Grindstone – These two races are finally on my radar.

    IMTR is Iron Mountain 50 miler, which I ran last year and the year before. I did not finish it and was hoping this year would be the year I will finish under 12 hours.

    Things seemed to be moving in the right direction with how seriously I trained for my early races such as the MMT 100, until the beginning of summer, when my plan was coming apart.

    I have been slacking off after MMT. I failed to finish Catoctin 50k within the time limit in early July. Two weeks ago, I failed to finish the Burning River 100.

    Each of those races were hard, and no doubt I knew that beforehand. They were somehow suppose to vault me into Iron Mountain and Grindstone. These two are much tougher.

    I don’t want to doubt myself but I am now on shaky ground with the two earlier races gone bad. Anyway, the show must go on.

    The past weekend, I had a chance to go down to Damascus (VA), to do a training run on the Iron Mountain course. I completed 23 miles. My time was not fast. The mileage was not great. I originally wanted to 28 ish and even 30. I was moving much slower than I wanted and so ran out of time. It was not yet able to reach race day pace. Everyone who showed up out ran me. It was fine, I know.

    I enjoyed my run out there. My foot was feeling better. Pain finally is gone. I ran in my brand new trail shoes I brought at Burning River. It was not my first time wearing trail shoes but it has been a long time since. I finally appreciate what good trail shoes can do. I felt I could step on anything on the trail again without the fear of falling or twisting my ankles. It is a world apart to run with trail shoes than on road shoes I have been using.

    The next day, I went to Solon, VA, to do the Grindstone training. It is on the Wild Old Trail, which I had run there plenty of times. I was again the last one in my group because there were many more powerful runners than I was on the trail.

    The Grindstone run was easier than I had anticipated since most of the run was on a downhill and there was even a portion on the road. I ran 28 miles. It skipped two of the mountains I normally would go on, so we saved 4-6 hours from the run.

    The hardest part of the run was to climb to Little Bald for 3 miles. There I was able to over take couple other runners. One runner went off course for 10 miles and did not return until later in the evening (3 hours later). I had no problem with directions since I know the course.

    The good outcome of the both trainings was I got to meet up with an old friend and met couple new people. I met Scott, who led me to another friend Adrien, whom I met last year. It was a little reunion. Scott helped bail out Mel who was lost on the mountains for hours. He went out to find him and drove him back to camp.

    It was some memorable experience. I don’t know whether I could finish either Iron Mountain or Grindstone this year, but I already had some good time while training for it.

    This coming weekend, I plan to go to West Virginia for my service project, and as well some training run. I plan to use the Rim to River 100 course. I won’t be running in it this year, but the course is beautiful and I needed the service hours for Grindstone to meet one of the requirements.

    On a personal level, my great uncle passed away couple days ago. I am sadden by the news. I have been thinking what it means. One reflection I got (same when my grandma passed away in 2020) is that there is an end. All races have an end. It made me think back the last couple races I did. Some had a happy ending. I guess there are always celebrations when one crosses the finish line. But as you know, at Burning River, I did not get to cross the finish line. I did finish (at mile 86). The experience was I poured all my energy into it. I was empty and I was done at that point. There was no more I could give. No way I could take another step.

    I did not see my great uncle took his last breath, but we were there with him five hours before. His breathing was started becoming more laborous when we left. I did not expect him to depart from us that night though we knew it would be soon. And there he finished. We might have wished that he would live a few more years, a few more days, or even a few more hours. Yet it was expected as was unexpected that night as he slept, he left this world.

    There is no why or how. It just is. Death is an end. The analogy of a race and death kind of break apart from here. I might be selfish to be all wrapped up about my not finishing the Burning River. Why did I not train harder or run a bit faster or being smarter in how I go through the aid stations. There is a lot of I could have and should have done this or that. In the end what does it even matter? It was a race and I ran it. I have fought the good fight (as Apostle Paul wrote about his life as he looked back on it). I hope I could one day say the same. I ran the race and fought the good fight.

  • [Day570]

    Nothing much to report. Been distracted by various things.

    Into reading some wushu fatasy novel (I shall seal the heaven), on book 9 now.

    Not much running done since the Burning River, only did about 4 miles in the last two weeks. Training for Iron Mountain and Grindstone this weekend. They are both super hard races. After what happened in Ohio, I have so little faith that I could do either of them, but the show must go on.

    Eastern States Race is this weekend. Two of my friends are running in it. One will be my pacer for Grindstone. The other gave me the super duper headlamp I used in the Burning River. I am cheering them from afar. Of course, I would like to be present on the course to support and all, but I have my own training runs to do.

    My friend Caroline dropped some ideas about which races to do bext year. Big Horn 100 in Wyoming in June (hopefully it won’t conflict with Old Dominion). Also Nebraska 100. I don’t know the detail yet. Nebraska would her last race she said and her last 50 states. I said I would pace/support her. Is she thinking about the Cowboy 200? That is the race I have been eyeing the past year.

    When I wrote my race report, Burning River did not rub me that hard, but now as time sinks in, I am asking myself why I did not finish. The answer was obvious. All the what and how were mentioned in race report. But now the feeling hits me. I am feeling beaten up by it. It is like a black hole eating me up inside. There is nothing I can do. I just need to move forward. My two friends who had done the Burning River comforted me. One shared of her experience how she also did not finish it the first time she tried. She said she tried again the following year and finished it. My awesome pacer Amanda, also said she did not finish it the year she attempted it. I am pretty sure, if she tries again, she will be able to do it.

    What am I getting at? I am itching to sign up races for next year.

    Oh about me foot, The swelling has gone away. There is some pain still. It is not broken, but dang it still hurts. This is worse than in January.

  • BR100 report [Day569]

    I have many thoughts about this race. I DNF (did not finish). It is one of dreaded word in a race. Now I have collected a few DNFs, it was not as dreadful as when I first got it at the Devil Dog or at the Massanutten Race last year.

    If I knew I was definitely going to DNF, I probably would not have run it. I felt I had a good chance of finishing before I started. I checked the course on paper and it did not seem too hard for me. The race was not hard, is what I still believe. It might be even easier than the Devil Dog. Most of the problems I found troubling, such as hills and rains happened early in the race. Technically, they could have overcome and I could have finished. … But that is a lot of what-ifs. I accept if I could not finish, I could not finish.

    As I reflected on it, I did not finish mostly due to reduced training after finishing the Massanutten race in May. Then I had an injury (actually several injuries) during the Catoctin run (50k). I rollwd my ankle in that race on my left foot and I forced myself to finish it in 11 hours, when I should have stopped halfway, maybe at 5 hours in. Immediately after Catoctin, every movement of ankle hurt. However, it was recovered enough for me to run Catherine Furnace 50K two weeks ago. So I thought I should be okay for BR100 (Burning River).

    The race started at 4 AM. This was like my 5th or 6th 100 mile race so I know the drill. I had my drop bags packed and ready. I arrived a day before. Sleep-wise, I felt I was ok. I was up before 3 AM. I had like 4 hours. I had been pulling usually 4 hours of sleep during the week. I was not sleep deprived, but I think a bit more sleep would have helped. During the race, that wee hours around 4 AM Sunday really hit hard and I wished I had more sleep the previous nights, so I was not too drained.

    Also, I had couple big runs right before BR100. I wished I had tapered my mileage so as not to be so exhausted for the race. Pretty much, I drained my reserve before the race, so there was not much left for the late push.

    I do not have hard feeling about the DNF. I felt it was just a matter of fact I came up short. I ran until I timed out, arriving at mile 86, Botzum aid station after they closed. I knew there was no way for me to continue. I did not fuss about it. I had whole night to think about it.

    Weather might have played a part. Rain started early almost immediately as the race got underway. First it was a drizzle. By the first aid station (4 miles in), the heaven opened. We were receiving buckets of water pouring down on us. Many cheered. Not me. It meant we would have a cooler run. The temperature high was around 80. At the time it was around 70 F. Humidity was off the chart, I think around 80-90%. It did not bother me, but many runners mentioned it made them unbearable. Rain did not initially affected me other than reduced vision. I could see better not wearing my glasses than wearing them, since they fogged up and rain droplets made them virtually impossible to see through. At some point, I put away my glasses.

    Occasionally there was dense fog. We had maybe 3-5 feet of vision. Since this happened early, and most people were walking up the trail anyway, it did not feel so bad.

    About maybe 2 hours in, the trail started being saturated with water and soon became a muddy mess. The muddy course remained a feature through out the race. Mud was at first not too much an issue but on a slope, mud became extremely slipery. The first few hills I was fine. As I started getting tired though, I started falling all over the place due to slipery hills. In a couple of those falls, I ended up scraping my left elbow. I might have injured my left foot by then but did not realized. This was a new injury. My old injury was the outside ankle of my left foot, but this was the inner ankle on the left foot.

    At the time, I did not feel any pain, but later in the race after 66 miles, somehow the pain became obvious. It was swelling.

    The first 50 miles were boring. I was mostly on pace. I was doimg 7 hours every 25 miles. It was not fast but it was on pace for a 28 hour finish.

    At mile 22, first dropbag was like a savior. It was 10 am. By then chafing was a big issue. I was cut by my shorts and underwear. My shoes were causing a lot of problem too. Feet being wet all the time was not good. I swapped shoes. I applied vaseline liberally. My private part and my thighs were cut from rub burn. So everything hurt when I moved.

    Nothing much happened between mile 22 to 50. The second dropbag location was at mile 34, which I reached around 2 pm. At the time, I believed I could get to mile 50 by 5 pm.

    My feet were in bad shape. I spent a lot of time to take care of them. I changed shoes and socks. I applied a lot of vaseline to places where I was burned. Luckily I had my sissors with me at that station, I cut the sides of my short to made them split-fly. This helped a lot, so that when I moved my legs the fabric did not tighten around my thighs and causing the rub burn. One thing I failed to do was cut my underwear to release some pressure at the time. I did not get back here until near midnight (8 hours later). I think my underwear had high percentage of cotton, so when wet, it was rubbing my private area and this race causing those areas to bleed. I regretted leaving the aid station without taking care of this stress point.

    By mile 40, I was tired but was still able to run. I think I reached mile 50 around 5:40. Unfortunately, I again needed to take care of my feet and other hurt areas. I did not get out the station until 6:00 pm. It was way too much time spent. Now 14 hours into the race. At this time I was still on pace of 7 hours every 25 miles. I was regretting of so much time wasted during the morning hour at the aid stations. I could have saved an hour by now.

    Mile 50 to mile 66 was hard. My running pace was just a slight faster than people’s walking pace. Many people passed me including some older people. I was not panicking yet. I reached Kendall Lake at 9:00 pm. The sun was setting. It was mile 62. 100K done. I knew I was a bit behind schedule. I wanted to get to mile 66 before midnight. It was only 4 miles away but it took me more than 2 hours to get there.

    Mile 66 was our dropbag station. I arrived at 11 pm. My average pace was 2.2 mph. It was a struggle. Again feet were pretty raw. I changed shoes or socks I think. My memory was a bit vague. I had a new headlamp. Unfortunately it did not fit me. It was too loose. It was my first time trying it on. I might have spent 10 minutes adjusting the strap and I was furious at the time wasted. I knew now was not time to waste on it.

    I then spent a lot time fixing my feet and applying vaseline. In my heart I knew, this was the turning point of the race. I wish I could have gotten in and out under 5 mins. I did not get out until 11:25. More importantly, I was behind on my nutrition, but I did not do enough to fix this deficit because I did not have the appetite to eat. If I could have done it again, eat up well at this station to get me through the night. Better yet, to eat up at mile 50.

    By then my body and muscles had cool off too much and I no longer could run. I made it to next checkpoint at mile 70. It was just a bit past 1 am. That was my goal. I knew I was moving very slowly. There I picked up a random pacer.

    I was calculating my pace in my head, from 6 pm to midnight, 6 hours, I only moved 17 miles. At most 18 miles. That was like 3 miles an hour or 20 mins per mile. We need to have a pace under 18 to be able to finish.

    Mile 70. Amanda was pacing her friend, but her friend decided to bail, so she ended up pacing me instead. She paced me all the way to the next dropbag station (Oak Hill), mile 78. We arrived at Oak Hill at 3:45 am. Unofficially, it was more than mile 78, because we were taken on an alternate trail due to flooding at the finish. I think it was at least 2-3 miles longer. However, station closing time was not changed. Oak Hill station still closed at 4 am. We had to get out before then. Normally it would not be a problem, but at this point, I knew I was chasing cutoffs.

    Again unfortunately, I could not move any faster. My feet were raw. Luckily I now had on fresh socks. I emptied all the sands and grits from the shoes. Feet felt a lot better. I was freezing though. My pacer was wonderful in helping and feeding me. Unfortunately, I was unraveling. I did not have enough food but I also could not eat much.

    Technically, we were still on pace to finish if we could keep a 18 min per mile pace. However, I was done. The next station was 11 miles long. Many parts of this stretch were runnable. Yet I could not run. My pacer had great patience. She got me to run every 25 feet and walk every 25/50 feet. Something like that, but to me my walking and running pace were basically the same. However, running was dreadful for me. Every time, Amanda asked me to run, boy, it was like the end of the world for me. She was a demon to me.

    The next 4 and half hours were unrelenting walk. Sky brightened after 5 am maybe around 5:30. The morning did not bring much hope. Amanda was hoping my mood would improve and thus to run faster when light again. I told her, it is not my mood, it was just impossible for me to move any faster. Even my walking pace was decaying too. No longer could I take bigger steps.

    Deep down I knew it was impossible to finish by now. I was thinking I needed couple extra hours to make it to the finish. I was not beating myself too much on wasting much time at the aid stations, though if only I had gotten out each one under 5 mins, I would have made it.

    Also I really wanted to sleep. I told my pacer it would be so good she ahe would carry me. I knew that would be a DQ, and of course she refused. I could hardly kept my eyes open. We passed couple people who just gave up and sat on the side of the roads to be picked up. My pacer urged me onward and would not let me stop. I felt if I could just sleep for 5-10 mins, I might feel better.

    The aid station seemed never arrived. 5 am. Then 6 am went by. Then 7 am. No aid station was in sight. 8 am. Still no station. By then we knew the station we were expecting had closed. The area was unfamiliar to neither nor to my pacer. We had no choice but kept on going. It was mostly downhill. We arrived then at Botzum, mile 87 officially, but probably mile 90 unofficially. It was 8:30. Botsum had closed since 7:30.

    Both my pacer and I decided to stop here no matter what. Luckily a volunteer was still around and could drive us back to the start/finish. He saved us an uber ride. I did not mind taking an uber, but having an immediately ride back was the best. It was obvious the station had closed.

    My legs were pretty dead afterward. Finally I could sleep.

    The recovery was not bad. The same day after a few hours of sleep, I was pretty much back to my old self. I could move around without much pain. I had some blisters which I did not take care until the following day. My ankle was swollen. It took a week for it to go away. There was still some pain today. However, I think I could run again.

    Summary: If I could do again:

    -prepare for the rain, bring a lot of socks, bring extra shorts and underwears

    -having a crew would have help, with a quicker turn over at the aid station. They could have dress the feet faster, apply lotion

    –nutrition wise. I felt I was behind on my nutrition. This was on me. I brought a lot of sweets but they ruined my appetite. I wish I had more solid food

    Shoes – grits got in. Having gaiters would have help. Mud was messy. I tossed away two of the three pairs used. I wish I had more shoes, like six pairs for this race. I wish I had shoe inserts. I could have swapped the inserts.

    Carrying sissors might have help. Cutting my shorts on the side splits was creative. I wish I had started this early in the first few miles. It might have help with avoiding the chafe. Chafe took so much of my time to deal with. Also carry a lot of vaseline (lube up) all the time.

    Sorry, there is no joy in describe much of my run. Most of my run was me just going through the motion. I started with high hope that I could overcome the weather and distance and hills. The race was wearing me down bit by bit until it was no longer possible to finish. Turning point was pretty much at midnight, but at the time, I did not know it. If I could quit, I should quit then instead of grinding it out the next 8 hours, for next 20 miles.

    Deep down though, I enjoyed the race. The grinding is what running ultra is about. Joy came when there was a finish. It seems depressing when the finish was impossible to reach. However, I praise the race and grateful for the opportunity to run it. I think it was well managed and I appreciate all the volunteers for their long hours and being out there regardless the rain or the late shifts.

  • Eve of burning river 100 [Day568]

    I am behind a post or two. Time does seem to go by fast.

    Last week, I ran the Catherine’s Furnace Fatass 50K. I enjoyed it a lot. The trail course turn by turn directions were not as hard as I thought. There were only a few turns.

    The trail itself was not as technical as I thought. It was nothing I could not handle. The 50K still took me 9 hours to finish. I was not in my best state. There were couple long climbs. The course was runnable, but I mostly walked it. The weather was not as hot.

    We started at 7. I arrived a little before 6:30 and almost everyone did too. I almost could not find a place to park. There were about 75 of us trying to squeeze to a parking lot made for 35 spots.

    I saw many familiar faces. Wayne and Costi, friends I made from MMT race were there. Both Larry were there. One of them ran in the Western States this year. The other was whom I met at Old Dominion 100. I met up with Elana, who was my hero from MMT. Her husband still talks of how they found me on the trail completely exhausted. I was glad to be able to run the first section with her and later finished the race together. Amy whom I ran with at the Bull Run Run 50 was there as well.

    Physically, my ankle has improved. Now I have recovered enough like when I ran Blackbeard Revenge 100 in March. It still feels uncomfortable but it is no longer hurting. I think this is the best I could do. My ankle has regained the flexibility. I could handle the trail in an acceptable way. I was still wary of not to put too much strain on it.

    The run was nothing much to say. We hard 4-5 aids stations. Larry (from Old Dominion) manned one of them. Tracy and several others volunteered at the Bird Knob station. Most of the run was uneventful.

    I was able to help someone during the run. The course was like a lolipop. I was on my way back with maybe 6 miles left. I just passed the Bird Knob Aid Station, maybe a mile in. I climbed the road, passed the gate and was a bit on the Ant Hill. There I saw a guy laying across the trail on his side. He did not look okay. I called out to him. He gave some vague answer. I think he wanted me to go past him. I would have done so but I felt I need to check on him first. He said he has stommach pain. His eyes were closed. Most of the time he was not responding to my questions. I believed I was there for 10-15 minutes. People who were behind me started showing up. They seemed not stopping for him.

    I know he has two choices and staying where he was was not one of them. The race is almost over, unless he moves or else he be stuck on the mountain. Based on my morning run of that section and my MMT experience, it would take 2 hours to reach the finish. We just passed the last aid station about a mile ago. So I asked him if he wanted to go back to the aid station or continue to the finish. He said he wanted to go back. Now, I know from experience the aid station should be closing soon. So he said, why don’t I run to the aid station to let them know to wait for him. I did. They sent people out to pick him up. By then he had recovered enough to walk and he was able to make it back to the aid station. They took him off the mountain.

    As for me, I continue on with my race. I lost about 45 minutes. To me it was not a big deal. I had my training in. I know I would still finish. I ran hard to catch up to the last person who passed me (it was Elana). I still took me almost an hour to catch up to her. She was descending from Bird Knob by then. Together with her we chased down Stuart and his son. It was not long until we reached the finish.

    Many of us stayed a long time after the race to chat. The food was good. We had burgers. I stayed till almost sunset.

    This brings us up to the present. This weekend I will be running the Burning River 100. I signed up not long after finishing the MMT in May. Now it is the end of July. The last 2.5-3 months have gone by fast. I did not get as much training in as I had hoped. It is what it is. I am about to go to Ohio for the race.

    I am excited. It is a big race. Surely, I am nervous. I have done enough 100 mile races🤗🍊 that I should not feel this way. Personally I think I will finish but who knows, 100 mile races are always hard.

    Not related, I renumbered my last two posts because the “date” was off by one, in case anyone wonders why they are seeing post 568 twice.

  • [Day567]

    Summer. Heat. Sweat.

    I started to run more consistently in the past week. My left foot still hurts but it is getting better. I could flex and unflex and rotate it. Shin only hurts after running 3-ish miles. Yes, I know, I have three events coming up. I need the foot to be ready.

    This weekend, Catherine Furance 50K. Hot run. If it will be as hard as Catoctin, I might not be able to finish it. I think it will be hard. MMT hard.

    Sunday, Birthday 5K. I run this every year. I look forward to eating cupcakes afterward.

    Next week is the Burning River 100. The challenge would be the distance and the heat.

    I told a friend that I will be running the burning river and he said, is that the river that is so polluted that it caught on fire. Maybe. I thought it was just a description of a hot run and did not expect it to be literally on fire.

    Nothing much to report. I haven’t touch IT stuff for the past 7-ish years except for work after I found myself a new hobby (running). I started this blog hoping to write more of the geeky stuff.

    This week I had a chance to look into buying a wifi router for the house. After looking at many models, I picked one and had it shipped to me.

    I felt like a kid again drooling over many different models. They are all like looking at lamborghinis. Sure, I could technically affort them but is it partical for the house. It was hard to finally pulled myself away from the highends of the latest and greatest to settle on something mundane.

    I felt proud of myself of having set it up successfully last night. Our home network is still “bad”. I did not go with the latest gizmo, though my mouth was watering for those 10 gbps connections! I settle for 1 Gbps backplane connection. It’s a two generation old router, but their immediate availability and low cost hooked me.

    Truly we only have a 10 mbps uplink at our housr so any would do, and a 1 gbps network is an overkilled. We don’t even have any computers any more. Only phones. Anyway, I had my fun setting it up. However, in the future, I plan to dabble back having a server in the house. That’s for a future project.

  • [Day566]

    A general update, nothing much for me to write about. Last week Catoctin run was hard.

    slight injury: My left ankle improved a bit but still hurt whenever I run. It takes a lot of stretching for the pain to go away. It wasn’t just the ankle being weak, it was everything hurts. Flexing and unflexing the foot hurt. It hurts when it is extended and it hurts when it is curl up. Rotating it too hurts. My left shin hurts too.

    My 100 mile race is in two weeks. Yikes indeed. I don’t know how that will be. Of course I cannot run with an injured ankle, foot, or what-not.

    Next week is Catherine Furnace Run. It is a 50K. I think it will be challenging. It will heat training. It will be my first time running it. The course is similar to MMT, at a nearby trail (two hours drive for me), but near the MMT race. I should be familar with it. I hiked around there and got lost before.

    Martha Moats Baker Race signup was this week. Originally I wanted to run it because the course was similar to Grindstone, and in the same vicinity. Then the Grindstone Organization (RD) sent out a call for trailwork/ volunteer session for the same day. I still need to fulfill my trail work (8 hrs) for the race, which means I had to turn down the Martha Moats Baker run. I am not happy, but have to do the volunteering service. I might take the Friday’s off to go there early to run on Friday, then Volunteer on Saturday, and then run again on Sunday.

    August 12 will be a busy weekend. This year, Iron Mountain Training run falls on that weekend too. I will miss it. I will miss the July training run too since I will be in Ohio for my 100 miler. IMTR (Iron Mountain) is very important to me. Because I have other races lined up already, I cannot cancel them. The best part about IMTR is their training runs. I have been going to them the last 3-4 years. They are usually my summer defining runs.

    My cousin said there are cheap flight to Saratoga, Fl, for only $75 and asked if I want to go to Clear Water Beach. He has been there last summer. They had cheap hotel near the airport. My mantra is I only travel if there is a race. So he asked me to Google for it if a race would match up. And there are races there! Tampa 100 is taken place in November (I think the first weekend). We ended up Google for youtube videos of the Tampa 100, however, ended up watching the Keys 100 race without realizing. He and I said maybe we will be the first one to do a documentary/video on the Tampa 100. However, on a more practical thinking, I don’t think I can fir another 100 mile race in my schedule, but I am open to it for next year.

    There is also the Clear Water Marathon in January. However, flight sales are not yet available for January. I am thinking I will still go. This will help me finish Florida in my 50 states quest.

    Relating to crossing Florida off, my plan initially was to do the Space Coast Marathon. However, the schedule falls on the thanksgiving weekend. As you know flights are expensive for that particular time. Clear Water Marathon would present a better alternative.

    I signed up a couple races this week but I don’t remember what they were. One was on the spur pf the moment, while waiting for Catoctin 50k to start. I met with Caroline at the start of Catoctin and she said, she signed up. I was surprised the race registration has open, so I signed up on the spot. It is a winter race up in a remote town in Pennsylvania. You know, they get a lot of snow up there. I don’t know why I signed up. Last year after I ran it, I said, it was a once and done race for me. Now, I signed up.

    That is all. My bandwith is still pretty low. There are just too many things going on in my private life. I will have a new housemate, so things been busy rearranging my schedule around to meet up and everything. This weekend will mostly spend cleaning and getting rid of things.

  • Catoctin 50k [Day565]

    I did not finish it in time. The race was 9 hours but it took me almost 11 hours. I am not too upset about compare to the devil dog or MMT. It is what it is. I have accepted DNF as the fact of life. Over all, I am quite pleased with the race. I like a hard race.

    I ran the Catoctin 50K. It was my third time. First time was a 25K (by mistake), last year was the full 50K and this year was the full. It is a race I signed up on January 1st or a little after. I have been doing this the last few years. It is a race I look toward year after year.

    50K doesn’t sound hard, but this one is. It is not tremendously hard like the MMT, but there were enough hills and technical sections to make running on it hard.

    I think my failure to finish was a combination of things. I started way slower than I wanted. I thought I could catch up later on, but the surge never came.

    One of the thing was I never knew I was way behind time during the first half. I was with a bunch of people who were hiking it. I guess I picked the wrong group. That was what I did last year too. But last year I was power hiking up hills. This year I kind of took my time. The flat section, I was not going very fast, since I did not want to pass anyone. I had problem with downhills, somehow I was afraid to run downhill. Last year I was flying downhill. I became tired even halfway in, so I couldn’t make the cutoff.

    At the first Aid Station, Delauter Rd, (mile 7) I had on 15 mins until cut off. I arrived about 10 am. It had taken me 2 hours to get there. Yes, it was way too slow.

    At Hamburg Road Aid Station, (mile 10) I was 5 mins from the cut off. I arrived just before 11 am. It has taken me an hour to do 3 miles. Though these three miles were rocky. I knew I wanted to get to High Knob by noon-ish. By then I knew it might be hard to reach, with 1 hour to cover 6 miles. I remembered last year, I took off here. I was hoping for the same. This year I couldn’t dial up my speed much. Some people caught up to me. I figured I could get there still by 12:30, and was hoping to make the cutoff there.

    I did not arrived at High Knob (midway point in the race, mile 16) until 12:40. By then, I had missed the cut off.

    I decided to hike back to the start to my car, 16 miles away. Actually I did not start off until closer to 1 pm since I was going to do it with Caroline, the sweeper (who is my friend). They were held up, so I started without them.

    A fellow runner and friend also decided to run back, but he was going to use the road instead of the trail. That was probably a smart move. However, I wanted some hard training in.

    Some incident: Another runner who misses the cut off also decided to hike back to the car. Carly started before me, and about two miles in, she tripped and fell and hit her head on a rock. I arrived about 40 minutes later. The outbound sweepers (Ram, also a friend and couple other people) were helping her. There were some bleeding. They tried to get her to the road so someone could pick her up. I was debating whether to give up on my hike and be with them.

    I continued on to hike to Hamburg Aid Station, which was maybe 4 miles away. I caught up with a runner, bib 250, Fred. We were maybe couple miles from the station, I slow down to match his pace and hiked with him in. He had run out of water, so his pace was very slow. Unfortunately we arrived at the station an hour late, and the station had closed and left. The aid station captain was still there. He had half a pitcher of water, and I guess it was for himself or the sweepers that would be coming. I knew the sweepers were at least an hour behind me since they were held up. I had my pack filled up to 1 L mark. It was not much because we wanted to leave some water for the sweepers. Also Fred had a cup of water to relieve his thirst. He then waited for someone to pick him up. I would prefer to have a full pack of water but I know the sweepers need their water, so I headed out the final 10 miles with just 1L. I knew I would run dry soon, but I hope I could stretch it for at least 5 miles. We were at the hottest time of the day.

    It was 3:30 by then. I hope to make it to Delauter. I hope its aid captain would still be there, even though by now it was very late. But I was hoping they would wait for the sweepers to come through. I might get some water or food from them. I know it was a fool’s hope, but this hope kept me on.

    I arrived back at Delauter, with no one insight. I was a bit disappointed though I knew it. The sweepers might have left was what I was thinking. I know my water was running low, I hope I could stretch it for another hour until 5:30. It was about 4:30. The station might have closed since 3 pm. It was too much to hope that they would still be there. I set up a new goal to catch up to the last runner maybe by 5:30.

    I still had 7 more miles to go. I remember passing a road post showing 8.5 miles earlier to Manor (the parking where we started). That was actually a motivation because nowhere on the trail has mile markers and this was the only place I knew how far I still had to go. Then I made couple wrong turns just after Delauter but I realized early enough to back track. I lost maybe 10-15 minutes and no more than 30 mins. It was the reason I felt the sweepers must have leapfrogged me. Time seemed to stand still. I was not rushing to finish and I knew I would get back eventually. I then reached another mile post, 4 miles to Manor. This was a surprise since I did not remember seeing this on the way out. This was a relieve because I knew I could do 4 miles even without water. By then I drank my last drop of water. My body temperature was getting hot and I could not run. I was thinking to drink out of a creek or pond if need be. The time was about 5 pm. I knew by then the race has ended. There was not or should not be anyone on the trail. I had kind of wish someone would come out to search for me. Maybe bringing me some water. Deep down though, I knew I brought myself into this situation and I had to perservere to get myself out.

    I hope to get to White Rock because I knew I would be safe. It is about a mile or so from White Rock to the Manor’s Parking. I could literally hear the highway. I hope to get reach White Rock by 6 and aim to finish by 7 pm.

    As I entered the Road that separate White Rock, Caroline texted me asking if I was still on the trail. I said yes. I was relieved that she got back, since the trail was too hard for her in my opinion. Later, I learned that she had bailed out and had someone to pick her up. I told her I was descending from White Rock. I was guessing I had 2-3 miles to go. Maybe 1 to 2.5. I was probably hiking around 2.5 miles per hour so I told her I will be down by 7. I tried to run. She had got my hope up again.

    Not long later, I reached another road crossing. I saw a house and knew I was back. After the road crossing was a creek. Someone was bathing/swimming in it. And after the creek was the visitor center and parking lot. I arrived around 6:40. I was completely exhausted. The race already closed since 5 and most people left. A few friends and volunteers stayed to wait for me and the other sweeper. They asked me if I have seen anyone out on the course. I said no.

    Fred was the last guy I saw and they drove him back already. Apparently they missed a runner and not sure where he went. I stayed until 7:30. The runner came in a little after 7. I celebrated his finish. We took some pictures and I shared with him some of the food I had. They were nothing much, just some fruit cups.

    The sweeper was still out on the course. I assume the sweeper would not make it back until 8 pm. Caroline who was one of the sweepers bailed early because she was cramping up. I glad she did not do the whole 16 miles. I was worried about her since she did not carry much water and aid stations had closed. She had enough sense to call it quit early. During the whole run I was worried about her, knowing she was behind me. I was quite capable runner and was suffering, she would be much so.

    Again, I have been a sweeper myself before, I felt how the race was doing sweeping is a bit unconventional. The race should not leave the sweeper unsupported for a 16 mile stetch when it takes 6-7 hours to do on a hot day with no water. Most sweeping duty should usually be 8 miles. Aid station should not close before the sweeper comes through. Sweeper should have followed the last runner, meaning once the last runner left the aid station, they should be able to set out. There was no point in sweeping when they were starting two to three hours behind the last official runner. Anyway, I felt the race left the sweepers high and dry.

    It took me 6 hours to get back to the finish/starting area. Outbound took 5 hours. In bound took 6.

    The run was harder than I had expected. It might have to due to the heat. Also on the way back, the aid stations were closed already, so I ran without the course support. I had to conserve my 2 L of water for 16 miles back (and I finished half of that by first 4 miles), by taking small sips I had to stretch it out for the final 10 miles with less than 1L. My water ran out at the last four miles. Note, I am not criticising the race, I knew after being cut, I was on the trail at my risk without supports. There were multiple locations I could have stopped and could have asked for a ride back. However, I knew I could finish the run. I anticipated running out of water.

    I had trouble breathing during most of the race. The air was heavy. I felt my chest was heavy. I could not get into a good running pace, so I ended up walking most of the race.

    If any fault to blame, it was my slacking off with my training after the MMT. So for two months, I was floundering. Also, I was not used to the heat. The temperature was 89F and humidity was around 60%. Note, I like running in hot weather because I like being down and dirty. I felt it really bringing the best out of me, except this time I was not ready.

    My ankle also was not happy with me. It was hurting most of the way. I did not have a strong ankle support. It has been an ongoing issue since the Devil Dog. It was ok during the MMT, but since couple months that I had not run much, the ankle issue returned. It is not in great pain, but minor pain like the funny bone being hit. Also there were a lot of popping noices coming from it during the run. Something definitely was not right. So I hike most of the way than running.

    It was just a 50K, but it was a hard 50K. I am a bit disappointed. Yet it was a good training. It reminded me how high the bar is. Last few months having completed some very hard races I have been complacent. This reminds me that I have to continue to train for hard races. I got to be able to run these kinds of trails.

  • Happy 4th [Day564]

    Not much is happening with me. I am just being lazy…with everything, my training, and life. There’s not much available bandwidth…

    Looking back, The MMT race took a helluva out of me.

    Not complaining. It has been my focus for the last two years and was finally over. Now what do I do?

    I do intend to run it again next year. Looking back, why was it so hard? It does not seem to be that hard.

    I know one person who ran it 5 times. I was wondering why so many times? And then my next question I had was if it is so good why stopped?

    I wish I’d never lost the passion.

    Lately, I have been doing a lot of evaluations. Do I still have the fire in me. I know it is always like this. Training up and hitting the low points once the race is done.

    For me, I believe I can run a 100 mile now. It is not that much tougher than a marathon. I have done it 5 times. Eight if counting the 3 that I did not finish.

    Last weekend (two/three weeks ago by the time this is posted), I watched the Western States 100. It was incredible. My eyes were glued to the youtube livestream and engaged what they called angry watching! I was not angry though. Yes, the live chat had some incidents. Many trolls were banned was what I read. Yes, I saw the course record being broken by two female runners. A record that hasn’t been touch for over a decade. They believed this record will stand for a long time. Courtney D. and Katie S. ran a record breaking time. The live coverage was so good. We don’t have anything like that at our races.

    Definitely Old Dominion was pale in comparison. It is a different culture. There were a lot of hypes and celebrations for Western States. My races here were less so. I saw so many famous runners at the Western States. Oh the golden hour or the final hour of the race was a tear jerking moment. A runner came so close of finishing, missing it just a minute or so! We were cheering for him to make it in on time at 29:59:59. He did not. He no less ran a 100 mile.

    I wish I can get into the Western States. I have a chance for the lotto ticket from having finishing the MMT this year. I just have to remember to enter the drawing in December. Yes, please pray to the lotto god for me. I entered once two years ago after the Laurel Highlands race, but didn’t get in.

    Anyway… It is a pipe dream.

    Relating to this, not sure if I wrote about it, last year or the year before when a few of the runners attempted to run through Shenandoah National Park on the Appalachian Trail from the south to the north. It is about 100 miles (104). I offerred to pace a runner, however, the runner turned me down because I was not fast enough. At the time I don’t think I had done a 100 mile yet and was kind of interested in this craziness. It has since been on my mind to do it.

    This past weekend, I got a chance to help a fellow runner attempting this feat. He did not finish (did only 30 miles), but had a good training run out there. I did not think he was serious in doing the whole length. Anyway, I got to learn more about the trail.

    July 4, I plan to run a 5k. I will report on it once done. (probably).

    Been laying low last week. I think I ran total maybe 4 miles. I haven’t run at all this week. For the whole month, I think I did about 50-60 miles. I am sad. I usually do many times this like in the 500-600 miles range.

    Anyway.

    I also spent more time working on my car. I love doing mechanical work as much as running. I wish I have my own garage for me to take everything apart.

    I am not that good with mechanical stuff, but I replaced my own oil for the first time on this car. I love it. Oil was flowing everywhere! Ah, but I love it. I did alright.

    This week I am attempt to replace the coolant and thermostat in my car. Wish me luck!

    Any since this is published on July 4th (US Independent Day celebration), Happy 4th everyone!