In awe

Category: running

  • [Day577] Rock n The Knob

    Claysburg, PA. I ran the Rock n the Knob every year since I first discovered it in 2020. Reports from the 2022 run (here), 2021, and 2020 are linked for those who are interested.

    Each year is a bit different. One thing constant is the course is hard. I love this race. It is small but in my mind it is one of my biggest races. I usually sign up once it opens and I waited whole year for this. It is definitely the hardest marathon I did.

    Having prior years experience helped. The course changed a little bit from year to year. They always say, “we added more climbing to the course.” This year, the new section added did not seem too bad. We had two new river crossings. I don’t like getting my feet wet but it would not have been a true trail race without dipping one’s toe into the water.

    The climbing was a lot but I did not struggle as much as last year. I think if I remember correctly I threw up last year (It was actually 2021).

    Maybe this year I have gone out a bit slower, so I was not rush climbing up hills, so I was not as winded.

    I felt this year, there were less people, which made me a bit sad because this was a fun race to do. We had more time too, 1 whole extra hour, 10 hours total. I think that was messing with our heads. The last runner only needed 9 hours (there were a few who dropped and usually, it is for other reasons but time). The race started at 7 AM instead of 8 AM. I finished in 8:20:52. Last year, I finished under around 7:50. I was 30 mins slower.

    I camped out the night before. Originally I intended to be there for two nights. My friend, decided to join me on the run and asked for a ride and to camp with me. She was going to sleep in her car at the start, but I said, I had a tent spot about 3 miles away. More the merrier. So we left work early and rode up to Blue Knob State Park. It was long 4 hour-ish drive in rush hour traffic. Having a friend to talk to on the way up though, makes time pass by quicker. Normally for me any drive over 2 hours is too long for me. I could run 10-20 hours but could not stand driving more than two hours. I would fall asleep behind the wheel.

    The race was uneventful. I knew the course almost by heart now being this was my fourth time doing it. There were a lot of side trails or we usually would take one of the unmarked ones. The first couple miles were on a rocky path. I went slower. I know soon it would become more runnable. Occasionally, I kicked over some roots or rocks. I did roll my ankles a few times but each time, I was not hurt. And it was my strong ankle that was stumbling. My weaker ankle was alright. I was so afraid of hurting myself since a big race (Grindstone) is coming up the following weekend. I need my feet to be strong and healthy.

    Then the group I was with started to separate out. Note, I did not claim the front position but was in the rear. I believe I was one of the last few runners left. I could not catch up or stayed with the main group. In the past, I usually could stay with them because I had a fast short range burst. Not this year. At the downhill section, I could speed up some, but there were a lot faster runners who could take the downhill and out ran me (like Sarah did, bib 65). The few I happened to catch up, passed me back in no time.

    In the beginning, I could power up the climbs. I felt I did better than last year. About maybe about 4-5 miles in at Pavia, I started to get tired a bit. I walked more. There were some pictures taken by volunteers and I looked beaten up. We went down to the Lost Children. (This year, post race, I finally understood why they called it the Lost Children, it is sad story of what happened about 150 years ago, when two children disappeared from the town Pavia; they had a memorial there called Cox Memorial). I wanted to go back after the race to pay a proper visit.

    This year, we did the new loop there. I enjoyed this section. We had a huge climb up back to Chapell Field/Blue Knob Campground.

    From there, we went to the next section where we had another big climb – Teal is Real. This year it did not feel that bad. I met a half marathoner, Jake. Soon I was at Raven Rest/Roost. Previous year, I felt like dying here. Maybe the course changed somewhat, I felt I missed an aid station, but I was with other runners, I don’t think I had gotten off course. Yes, I just reread last year report, this year course was a slightly different, there was no Pavia’s Aid station. Instead of climbing up to the Pavia’s Aid station, we descended down. We climbed Saw Mill. We climbed Rocking Ridge. I met a lady from Pittsburgh who will be at the Grindstone 100. She will be voluntering.

    It was about 4 miles from Raven’s Rest to the Heavenly Hairpin. Last year, I barely made the cut, and I was the last one in. This year, I was surprised when I got to Hairpin early, I caught up many half marathon runners. Of course this section had one of wicked climbs in the whole course. It was like 4 miles straight up to Pavia Overlook. Many runners felt exhausted at “I will Neetle do it again” or Beaver Dam. I was a bit tired, but climbing up was nothing to me. I was not even out of breath. I was sweating profusely though.

    At the Hairpin, I felt I was at least an hour ahead of the cut. I think the time was 11:45 or something. I wanted to make it Quitters Rows by 12:45-1 pm. It was only 2 miles-ish, but we had a huge ski slope to climb. This section though I hate it was also most fun because on the big ski slope, we got to run down first then climb back up. On the way up, you could see a long line ahead. I actually started cramping on the climb. It took much effort to reach the peak.

    It might not look that steep, but o boy, it was one of the hardest ascends (26% grade they said). Note, the top is not actually a top yet. People were tiny dots on the hill.

    Then there was the steep double diamond descend. It was fun for me but it was too dangerous to run down this year. I know in one previous years, I bombed down the hill. I did not have to sit on my butt to go down because I was bolder, but running down on it was no joke.

    There was the part everyone like, I needed a Sherpa. It was just a small climb but it was like mountaineering. I got down on my hands to crawl up. I reached the Quitter’s Rows at 12:50, and found out the aid station doesn’t close until 2:45. It was because the extra hour they gave up. The previous years, I felt I had to fight the cut off at here.

    I was demotivated on the final 10k. We marathoners had an extra section to do. It was not bad. I ran it in prior years but this year, I had no energy to do it. A guy who was with me, seemed effortlessly walked faster than me. He soon left me behind. Previous years, there were so many other runners on this section, but this year I was alone. So I continued walking at my own pace. Halfway through, Sarah caught up. She was a downhill runner. So with her, I got my motivation back to run. Maybe also, I had rested enough after couple miles of walking. She wanted me to go ahead. I did. We rolled into the final aid station, “throat punch“, having caught up to the guy who previously left me.

    The final two miles were on a big climb (Soul sucker) back up to Blue Knob Resort. I started cramping again, but this year the cramp was not as bad as last year. I rested maybe a minute or so until the cramp went away. Then the climb was not too bad. I caught up with Sarah again on the way up. From then it was the last stretch to the finish. I could hear Sarah and the couple guys behind me. Occasionally, on one of the switchbacks I looked down and saw them. I waved and shouted, saying I am up here. They looked up and shouted, Thanks. They kept close and I thought they would overtake me up at the top. They never came close. At the top, there was about half a mile to 3/4 of a mile relatively flat section, but a bit rocky trail leading to the finish. I walked because I could not make myself to run. Last year, I was running with another runner all the way to the finish. (That was the year with Jen).

    I ran in when I saw the finish line banner. I amazed afterward that my legs were not cramping like last year. I basically could still walk. I remembered last year, it was painful to walk (because I was cramping up for over an hour last year). No more cramping this year. My friends were there cheering me. Surprisingly I was not the last one finish. There were 9-10 runners behind me. We stayed till a bit after 4 pm, (last runner came in) before going home (45 mins or so).

    Have to cross the wire line to avoid getting shoes wet. I was too afraid to try
    Pavia Overlook – so beautiful
    Was the car flipped before? Apparently for Cadillacs parking only. (yes someone flipped it over since last year; see last year picture)

    I regretted in the new section of not going hand-over-hand on the wire line. I did not think my balancing and acrobatic skill is that good to try. I waded across the water instead.

    It was good thing I reread the last few years’ reports. My memory of the last year race while writing this report was actually from 2021. I did not realized until I reread those two years. Last year event was blanked/erased from my brain already until I reread the report. I did not remember Brian and the 65 year old man. I did remember Sean. Sean and his wife ran it this year. They were at the finish this year cheering me as I came in.

    This year run was peaceful. There were no people chasing me. I wasn’t chasing anyone. Sarah, popped up from time to time. I think she was either immediately ahead of me or behind me. I did not get to know her until after we finished when Caroline called her over to our table. She ran Rim to River last year and will pace a friend this year. I plan to be there to cheer, because a friend Aaron, who introduced me to this race (actually both Rim to River and Rock n the Knob and Camp Anderson) will be running the Rim to River. I said, I hope to see Sarah again at that race.

    Last year, I wrote, why do I love running? It was because somehow from seemingly a series of inconsequential events, we have a story to tell.

    Some I chose not tell because they seemed not good to the flow with the story. In my mind, they might make sense, but why did I remember something like this but not other things.

    Mike, who was doing the sweeping this year, remembered me as the guy who found his iPhone. He shot some wonderful pictures of many runners including me and posted on Facebook with his iPhone.

    Sean will be running the JFK 50 this year. Couple other people asked me if I will run it. I haven’t planned to run in it yet, but I kind of want to do it now Sean is running in it.

    The woman at the Throat Punch Aid station, told me that she always gains weight while running ultras. She gave me chocolate covered coffee beans last year but none this year. Maybe I did not ask.

    Keith, Aaron’s friend was at the Throat Punch station, but Aaron was not around this year. The race felt somewhat different for me without seeing Aaron.

    This year, I had Caroline, though we did not run together, but we shared the same course (she did the 13 miles) and she enjoyed it. I thought the hills might be too much for her, but apparently that was her best part. She likes also the stone steps on the trail. She likes the Chalets on top of the hill. She took many pictures and they were posted on Facebook. She made the drive to PA a lot more enjoyable.

    Weekend is too short. The race was enjoyable. Good things always have to end so soon. I did wish to stay for another night. With Caroline though, we had to make it back the same night. I would feel bad to make her stay another night. My feet were sore. I spent the whole Sunday sleeping in and did not wake up until 4 pm. Slept in too on Monday morning.

  • three races [Day576]

    update:

    Two weeks out before Grindstone. I am kind of nervous.

    They say now is time to taper, meaning reducing my run volume.

    My weekend: Race 1

    Instead, I signed up for and ran three races last weekend. No comment. Abebe Bikila, Arlington 9-11 5K, and the Parks Half Marathon.

    I did it because a few weeks ago I checked my schedule and said, hey, this year I am not going anywhere for the 9/11 weekend. I only had a 5K for the 9-11 Arlington Run. Why not throw in a marathon. And I found one, the Abebe Bikila International Peace Marathon, near home.

    Then after I signed up, I happened to remember oh I have a half marathon the next day, which I signed up like 6 months ago and forgot.

    The weekend ended up being a triple header. I did something like this maybe back in 2018 or 2019. I will see if I could pull up the link to that race report. It would be interesting to see what happened, like how I was able to do it. (I tried but my site is hard to navigate, and I couldn’t find it).

    I had very little sleep the night prior to the Marathon. The race was not early. It started at 8:00. However, I usually get to my race an hour ahead. Driving into downtown, usually takes an hour too. I need an hour before at home to get up, have breakfast and get my things together. It means waking up at 5 AM. I think I was up around 4:30 or so.

    Abebe Bikila International Peace Marathon from Health & Safety Foundation, and ACE Physical Therapy

    I got to the race on time. Parking was plenty for me. There were three wave starts (7:00, 8:00 and 9:00). I actually wanted the 7:00 AM start but I was a bit slow getting to my car and was late for that. Generally for this race, they recommended people to start at 8:00. 9:00 AM was for really fast people. They also had the half marathon at all three time starts.

    I don’t remember when was my last time running a marathon. Probably it was during spring, when I did my last marathon. Though I run a lot ultras, running a marathon has a special feeling. Marathon is truly my jam.

    I have been on the same course a few times. I remembered the past events. One of my very first race in 2017 was the Fall in Love 5K, where I met my first (and only) running club and I am still involved in. None of them were running in this marathon today, but I remembered them because that was the first time I got involved with others in a race. I also volunteered for their races before.

    I also recalled the last marathon I ran on the C&O Canal towpath. It was also my first half marathon there in 2016. I ran until I cramped up. I think my mom was with me on that very first race. That was so long ago.

    Today was hot and muggy. I loved it. In the past, I prefer cold weather running but recently, in the past two years, I have grown to love the hot sweat drenching run. This was the day where the heat and humidity would cake up around me. It would be a slow going race to battle it out.

    Indeed, my time was not great. I reached halfway at 2:18 (hh:mm). I normally could run a half marathon in a faster time, like under 2 hours. By the time I finished it was 5:18 (officially was 5:12, since it was bib time). The second half was much harder for me.

    I had to walk early. However, I was able to keep ahead of a couple people. I was catching some younger runners. It motivated me to not stop. It was an out and back course, so on my 2nd outbound, I could look at people on their way back. Eye candy, some call it. I love people watching. Many runners were kind and returned the smile or said some encouraging words. They were super fast. I recognized some Korean runners, having seen them in other races.

    I finished around 1 pm. I was too tired. Supposingly that day, my mom told me to go a family gathering, which doubled as a memorial service for my great uncle who recently passed away. I felt I was not properly dressed. Also, I had intended to start the run earlier, but that plan fell through. So I hung around at the race until the 6 hr runners came in. I met many of them on the course during my run and it was good to see them came in at the finish. Many of them were first time running a marathon. Rain came and I sheltered in my car till it was over. Now it was mid afternoon. My next race was in a few hours at 6 PM.

    I went to grab sonething to eat. I had just enough time. 3:30-4:30. I was able to change into dry clothes.

    Race 2: Arlington 9-11 Fire, Police, E-services, etc 5K

    This year, I parked at the Metro (East Falls Church station) instead of driving to the Pentagon. Later, I found out, they closed off the Pentagon parking lots. They were always restricted but in years past, we always parked in the Pentagon lot (at least a few of us without issue). There was no exception made this year. I glad I took the Metro train like many other runners did to avoid all the headache.

    I still had to pick up my bib. I felt I was running a bit late when I arrived in Arlington to Pentagon City Mall. We had a 10 min walk to the Double Tree Hotel where the race would be held. A lot people were already there.

    Then it started to rain again, with lightning and thunders. The race was postponed until 6:25 pm.

    I tried to run but my body froze up. I had hard time breathing. I guessed I was too tired from the earlier marathon. About five minutes in and caught up with a friend. He and his friends ran this every year since the first event, like 20+ times. This year was my third. He was walking the course instead of running because his doctor told him he no long can run due to his knees. I ended up walking with him. We finished the 5K less than 50 minutes.

    Race No. 3: Parks Half Marathon

    The next morning, I had the Parks Half Marathon. This was even earlier. The race started at 6:45. It was about an hour drive too. I had to be up around 4 am. I think I was up by 3:30. I only slept for a few hours. I was excited by tired.

    I parked at the Shady Metro station. Note to self, for next year, try parking on the West Lot instead of the East Lot. They closed the Metro tunnel from the East to West Lot. It took me half an hour walking around all over the place trying to get to the other side. Later, they had volunteers directing the way.

    The race in itself was pretty good. It was my best experience for the weekend. This race always hit a special spot. Half marathon is short. This was my third time running it. I kind of remembered the course. It was hilly. Then with my ultra training, the hill was less than I remember. I was much stronger than before with my hill run. I did not have a fast time. I was fine with it. The course allowed 2:45 (h:m), and I was originally lined up with the 2:45 pacer. Later after a mile in, I realized I could keep a 11 min mile pace, I moved up to around 2:15-2:20 finish pace. I finished at 2:22 (hr:min).

    I also found a friend at the finish. We haven’t seen each other since winter. We ran into each other quite frequently this past year as she has dabbled into the ultra world. She came out for a lot of local trail races. She told me about the ocean to ocean race in South Africa. I said, we should plan a trip there.

    I stayed for the food and then it started to rain around 9 am, so I went home. I slept for the rest of the day to catch up on the much needed sleep.

    Conclusion:

    Not my usual race report. If anyone is wondering should they do either of these races, yes, run them. They are fun.

    The Abebe Bikila Marathon, this course is offerred several times a year. They are basically my training runs for much bigger race. I love the vibe of every time I run it because I am surrounded with new runners and first time marathoners. It does make me feel like an expert on the course! One guy, I saw was “dying” slowing down at the halfway point, so I called out to him, telling him to move relentlessly forward (say you have to shuffle, that is, drag your foot), he misheard me and thought I said, you have to suffer to finish. When he came in at the finish, he was a mess, yes he suffered. I replied to him, that is true, we always suffer too. We laughed.

    5K is fun. I would recommend it too. A lot of out of town people run this. It was a solemn run every year due to the serious nature. Many of us were old enough to remember 9-11 when it happened.

    Parks Half Marathon, it is a beautiful wooded course outside the DC area. I found it relaxing. This race has over 1000 runners each year. You would be running with a crowd, but not too big a crowd. The course is paved, but on a trail. City trail race. There are probably many better report out there than mine. It is not a flat course, so don’t expect running this in a fast time, but for ultra runners, it is a pretty fast course!

  • Re(view) 23:14 [Day575]

    Midterm review / Summer-Fall 2023

    Summer has gone by too fast for me. The last review was around April (Re 23:13). The goal back then was to train to run faster for the Iron Mountain 50, especially Grindstone 100.

    Let just say, it has not been easy. I have gotten slower instead of faster. I blame my left foot, which still gives me problem. I DNF’d in couple races. And Grindstone is about two weeks away.

    I started the summer full of confident from having conquered the MMT100 (finished under 35 hours), and I finished the Blackbeard 100 (OBX) last march in 28 hours. I felt I could now tackle any 100 miler. I felt I have matured in tge sport.

    I went and signed up for Burning River 100 thinking it is comparable easy like Blackbeard and I should not have trouble of finish it.

    As superstition has it, I took the finishing photo before runing the race, and I was thinking, it would be an embarassment if I don’t finish, and so it turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophesy. I stopped after 28-ish hours at mile 86-ish (I ran 89). It was a mess of a race. It rained heavily as the race got underway. I was soaked thrpugh and through. I was not prepared for the rain, and did not pack as many sets of dry clothes as I should. I had shirts but no extra shorts and underpants or socks. It was a struggle throughout the day. I was severely chafed by mile 26. I felt several times. The trail was muddy and slicked. I did not wear proper trail running shoes. It was like skiing downhill. During one fall, I might have rolled my ankle and it was swollen by midnight. And I could no longer run. It was as bad as could be.

    One of the lessons learned was I “over”-trained before the race and did not taper and so during my big race, I was out of reserve. By midnight, I was pretty much done. There was no reaching deep in my heart to draw out that energy to push me through. I slogged through the night only moving another 20 miles. It was too little too late. I DNF (did not finish/cut) when I failed to reach the last few aid stations in time. My pacer was pleading, it is just half a marathon left, which on a typical day, would be a morning run. Shout out to an amazing pacer, Amanda.

    Burning river 100 left a big impression in me (full report here). I will definitely will do it again. This was one example of how my whole summer was.

    The other race I DNF’d was the Iron Mountain 50. (report can be found here). My summer was supposed to run faster so I could do this race. Somehow, maybe the time required to recover from the Burning River and also from an earlier 100 mile race (MMT), I was not able to train as much on speed as I should. Iron Mountain was a bloodshed. I was destroyed. I finished an hour later than my goal. Good thing was I was not injured from the race.

    As for other races, I ran the Catherine’s Furnace 50K more as a training run. It took me 10 hours to do it. Normally, I should/could run it in 6-ish hours. I did not really write a report. This is as close as it get.

    An highlight of my summer was I went to Toronto and ran the Toronto Marathon. It was not a fast time, but I was pleased. The report can be found here. Note, my report was mostly negative, but due to other reasons.

    As for other races, MMT100, OSS/CIA50, Catoctin 50K, readers can read their reports. I am tired so not going to write much on those. They were all good race.

    So what is ahead? Fall season is about to start. I have plenty of races, both big and small ones. Grindstone 100 is ahead. Devil Dog 100 is in December. I have been reluctant to commit to 2024 so I have not signed up too many races for next year especially the 100 mile races. I promised to help my friend at what to be her last 100 mile race, Cowboy 100 in Nebraska. More on this as the date approach.

    Red Dirt 100 is in February. Burning River 100 is in July. I plan to run MMT 100 again in May. Iron Mountain 50 in September. Cowboy 100 is in September too, but I won’t be competing, so won’t be stressed out about it.

    As for marathons, I will run a few of those. My goal is always the same – to run faster so that I could finish some harder races, and not be embarrassed. I don’t mind the DNF, but it is a like a mosquito bite of plain annoyance of not being able to finish when I feel I could do it.

    I have an international trip planned. Likely will be a marathon in Taiwan.

    Conclusion if any, I am a bit jaded after this summer. I kind of see it coming. I am still in love to run and run far, but I am a bit at lost of which race to run. I know which race I want to run, but I am not as aggressive as before. I don’t want to run because I have to; I want to run because I am passionate about doing it. My nightmare is might fall out of love with my running and next year might be my last year.

    My next review will be 6 months from now (early January or February). I will likely do and end of the year thing, new year resolutions, and an anniversary post.

  • IMTR, so close [Day574]

    This might be a long addentum to my last post. A week before, I was thinking of skipping the Iron Mountain 50 mile race and instead to go on a backpacking trip.

    In the end I chose the run because the other trip did not pan out. The friend who invited me never got back to me with the details (5w 1h).

    I might have gotten cold feet about the run because I was not confident I could finish the 50 mile under 12 hours. In the end, I just had to show up and do my best.

    If the title is any hint, I did not finish in time but I did finish. It was not close at all unlike last year. But it was so close that I could have made it. In the end It took me 13 hours. I was hoping originally to at least have a repeat of last year of 12:15.

    I knew the race would be a nail-bittingly close for me to finish under 12 hours. I have done 50 mile under 12 (JFK), but this was on trail and significantly harder. Last year I came in 12:15, I knew I could cut down those 15 minutes over the course of the race. I was trying to run differently.

    First off, last year I started the first 5 miles very slowly. I think I was the last guy. I learned in ultras you have to go slow. I was patient and mostly took my time the first 8-13 miles. Not this year. I started the road section with more of my 5K speed. I was determined to run fast but not out of breath fast on the road portion. I thought I did fairly well. I was mid pack in the 40-milers. As for the 50 milers, I was probably at the tail end. Both the 40 milers and 50 milers had 12 hours to finish. For the 40 milers, they could walk (fast) and finish.

    Then there was a mile-ish climb. I was going up pretty well. I am usually a strong uphill hiker. No one passed me except a 40 miler, Andy from Durham. He was strong, and much stronger hiker than me (he finished the 40-mile in 10 hours). After the climb, we had maybe 4-5 miles of more gradual uphills. I wish I could have pushed on this section harder. I did chase some 40 milers. Passed one of them.

    The 30 mile runners who started maybe half hour later caught up to me. I knew in the past, it normally took them more time to catch up to me (like 8 mile in). But today, they seemed to reach me a mile or two sooner than I was expected. Usually they did not show up until I get to the FS 90 aid station. It was this section to the second aid station, I was a bit slower.

    I think I reached the FS90 aid station by 9 am. I was still in the game. It was two hours after the start. It was about the same time as last year. We were maybe 8 miles in. Averaging 15 mins a mile is not bad. I could go a bit faster. (We needed to maintain 14:24 min mile pace to finish under 12)

    However, the next segment to Skulls Gap at mile 16-ish, I was a bit much slower (note they say it is 4 (correction: 6) miles, I think it should be 4, but it is the 30 mile turn around point, so could be 8 miles). It took me two hours. Same on the way back. I was not as aggresive as I used to in attacking the hills. This section has steeper rolling hills. I was slow on the uphills and just as slow too on the downhills. Still I think was maintaining a 15 mins mile pace but that was a bit too slow to make the 12 hours cutoff. I was hoping the 7-mile road section at later on (mile 20-27), I could make up the time.

    I arrived at Skulls Gap at 11 am (right at the cut off). I think I was behind the soft cutoff of 10:50. My goal was to get there by 10:30. Last year I was there around 10:40-10:45. Last year, I spent more time at the aid station changing shoes and socks, so this year, I was hoping to cut down on my time at the aid stations to give me that 15 mins needed to finish on time. But this year, I was 15 mins slower, so I would have to make up that 30 mins. Hurricane Gap would have the hard cut off.

    From Skulls Gap to Hurricane Gap was about 5 miles, with one steep climb and then mostly a downhill run. Again I was not as aggressive with my run. Last year, I went a bit faster and was able to catch up to several other runners, but not this year. I was the last runner. There was no one to catch, not even the 40 milers. Last year I caught a bunch of 40 milers. I expected to be cut when I arrived at Hurricane Gap, but I made it with 5 mins to spare at 12:15. So I decided to continue on. It was going to be tough to make the next cut.

    The next section was also mostly downhill and on road – the infamous quad ripping 7 miles of downhill run and then a hard climb back. This is what makes Iron Mountain so hard. It requires fast running on the road as well as on the trail. The downhills just destroy the legs.

    Barton Gap had about a mile of trail, maybe half mile of uphill and half mile of downhill, but it seemed like 2 miles to me. Unlike last year, I could not run at all going uphill. The road was fine, occasionally, I could break out into a fast jog/run. I tried to keep an even pace. I walked some. It was a mental game. I tried to count mile. I got to the Rowland Aid Station by 2 pm. Happy to get there. The aid station people treated me like king, because I was their last customer!

    I then had a four mile climb to get back to Hurricane Gap by 3. (I did not know the cut off was 2:45, and the aid station workers did not pull me from the race). They said I could make it but I had to work on the flat sections before the 1000 ft climb. I did not think I could. This year though there were not much mud so this section was ok to run on. It was a bit rocky. The uphill was not as steep as I remembered it but still about a mile of decent grade climb. It was not long until I reached the top. I surprised I made the cut off by 10 mins. I did not think I was that fast, but I was faster than last year.

    The next section would be to go back to Skulls Gap on the road with two miles of trail on the Iron Mountain. This is supposed to be an easy section. I know from last year this section was long. I have an hour to get to Skulls Gap by 4 pm, amd felt like a 5 mile long. I arrived at 4:03. (The actual hard cut off was at 3:45, and I was 20 mins late. I did not know at the time.) I had a sinking feeling it would be hard to make the cut. I know if only I could hustle a bit in that 4-5 ish miles, I would have made the cut. My race technically ended here.

    I was now at mile 37. There were 13 miles left. I would try to get back to the finish by 7 pm. 3 hours for 13 miles is doable. I did not feel that tired.

    The sweeper offered me her car to give back but I refused. Usually, it is somewhat a difficulty for runners to find a ride back to the start after having dropped from the race. Here she was so excited saying you got to drive my car back as if I won the lottery. It was good news but I had already decided to run back, like last year. I needed the long hard run.

    One reason, was after 37 miles of running, I was not ready for a drive. It was kind of her, but no way I would be driving. I prefer to run back. She stayed for maybe a bit more to find another driver to take her car back to the start before begining her sweep. I was trying to get as fast away from her. It is never fun to be chased by a sweeper. (By the way, the sweeper duties were to make sure no other runners on the trail, and to take down the course markings).

    It was supposed to be 4 miles (correction: 6 miles) to the next aid station at FS90. I know they would be closed at 5 and last year, I reached there by 5:15. The situation was about the same. Last year, I left the aid station at 3:50-3:55. This year I left at 4:08. Still I should not be too far off. If not by 5:15, then 5:30 would have been acceptable to me. I felt I was running better than last year, but because the pressure was off from having to make the cut off, I did not arrive at FS 90 until 6 pm. I guess I was walking more than I should. By then the sweeper had caught up to me. I also caught up to a 40-mile runner, Dave Lance (apparently that was a fake name) from central West Virginia. It was the first time I caught up with anybody this late in the race. He was timed out by now being close to 6 pm. Later I learned he refused to be pulled from the earlier aid stations after being cut and so was disqualified. He was not moving that fast. The sweeper was pulling the course markings. Unless he knew the way, he was not allowed to be on the trail. I just he was being stubborn. Night fall was in an hour ish and he did not have a headlamp. They tried to convince him to take a ride back to the start. Finally, he gave in. The sweeper was not having it and so did not wait on him.

    I had 9 miles to go. Last year, it took me two hours to get off the mountain. Because the last section where there were supposed to be only 4 miles took me over 2 hours, it might take me 3-4 hours to do the final 9 miles.

    Now the sweeper was chasing me again and she passed me like 10 mins later and it was me chasing her. It was impossible. She was fresh and super fast, looked to me running a 9 min pace or faster. Still I did not want to be on the mountain after dark. Apparently, now after 12 hours, I finally found my running strides. I made longer strides and lept over rocks and stuffs. I was amazing flying down the trail. I was not that fast per se like the sweeper but I was moving much faster than any other time in the whole race. If I had moved like that during earlier, the race would have been well within reach. I reached the finish before 8 pm. I was faster coming off the mountain this year than last year. One thing I noticed, the final rocky section was not as rocky as I remembered it to be. I was able to run on it.

    How to do better next year: I really need to practice hill run both going up and coming down. This year unlike last year, I just didn’t have the energy to run until the final 12th hour. Not sure what is wrong. How did I hold up onto my reserve until the final hour does not make sense to me.

    The 4-mile section from Skulls Gap to FS90 really hampered me both on the outbound and inbounding. If not for that extra slowness on this stretch, the race would have been in the bag. Outbounding caused me being cut at Skulls Gap later on (3 mins over). Inbounding, I was 45 mins over my expected time.

    I did well on the Rowland (mile 27-31). I did especially well on the final 9 mile descend (under 2 hours). This was on tired feet.

    Thank you for all volunteers and aid stations. My friends waited for me at the end. Adrien, Scott, Eileen, and others. They gave me a lot of goodies, left over aid station food, sodas, pops. It was another unforgetable year. Adrien was the last to finish and how I wish I could have caught up to him.

    [updated for some corrections]

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • OSS/CIA 50 [Day563]

    I got back on a normal training schedule, Tuesday/Thursday and Saturday run. Plus I had a race this week.

    A race is always good for me to catch up with my running friends once again.

    I did not expect to see the people I ran with at the MMT to show up, since this was kind of a small local race.

    A bit of background, OSS/CIA 50, takes place in Prince William Forest, Triangle Virginia, just maybe 14 miles outside of DC (oh and it took me 90 minutes to get there on a Saturday afternoon, due to traffic, my goodness).

    It is a night race, starting at 6:00 evening and ending the next morning 8:30. We have 14 and half hours to run this.

    Why it is called OSS/CIA because Prince William Forest was a place used as training camp for OSS officers/agents back in the early days (post WW2). OSS was the former name for the CIA. Barracks/cabins used are still around

    I ran in the park a few times, three times for the Devil Dog, and once for the Redeye 50K, and once with the same organization for an 8 hour night run. I am familiar with the course, though I still get lost in this park because there are just a lot of trails.

    I have heard of OSS/CIA 50 a few years back and did not run it back then because I saw the cutoffs and many people who could not finish (usually around 50% would DNF). Plus it is a night run, which is tougher in many ways. I was not ready for it back then.

    However, having done a few 100 milers, the race does not put much a fear in me any more.

    I signed up this year after I could not get into the Highland Sky 40, which is a much preferred run for its scenic route and many of my local friends run in it. Truth to be told, I did get off the waitlist for Highland Sky a week ago, but I already signed up for the OSS/CIA. I was on the 40-50th place and thought my chance was not that great to get in for the Highland Sky when I signed up.

    I think I tried OSS/CIA last year too but it was full. My friend said, I could have emailed Alex the race director and he would have let me in. Well I did not know Alex well back then.

    I only started to know various people in “high positions” recently after having done some of our local hard races such as the MMT and Devil Dog.

    Note, I am not a fast runner, but I guess I am making splashes with people because of my DNFs in both races and that I went back to redeem them. I guess that is one way to make aquantance with the local race officials and get my name out there.

    As mentioned some of the MMT runners were there. Many went to Highland Sky either to run or volunteers. Those that did not, showed up at this race. Jana was there helping out as well as running in it (she took first place in the marathon distance). She is in many running podcasts. She is our local heroes. We trained and ran in the MMT. Everyone knows Jana.

    My friends Wayne and Charlie from the MMT also showed up. I told Wayne about my Grindstone race in September, and he promises to pace me. He will have the UTMB (100) in September too, but he said he could pace me for 50 miles!

    No doubt Wayne is an impressive runner and having him pacing me at the Grindstone would be an honor. I asked if Charlie would crew me, but he has his kid’s event (soccer I think) to go to. Anyway, having someone to promise to pace already is very good. Crew could be found later.

    My other friends John H and Charleen were there. John is planning to run the Shenandoah 100 (a self fatass event). I volunteer to crew John. So more to come about this event in a couple weeks.

    Plus I made a new friend Lynn. I met Lynn at the MMT too, and she recognized me at the OSS/CIA and said she will be doing Grindstone too. I took down her contact in case we might go to course to train together. I did not know at the time that she is from upstate NY. It seems though she comes to the DC area a lot. The more people I have for Grindstone the better. It will be a hard race, but do-able. I have heard it is comparable to the MMT. I plan to meet up Lyyn.

    There are people once you meet, you know they will be a good friend. All these people, I met at OSS are amazing. I think Lynn is one of them.

    I am on a quest to do 50 states and 100 of 100 mile races. So knowing people like Lynn from out of my state is helpful to me! I don’t go out of my way to make friends or with an agenda in mind. It is just their interest matches mine.

    I already looked up races Lynn has done and will be going, and I want to pick her brain about the 100 miles she has done.

    Lynn has done the Burning River 100 last year. She told me to get the Fairfield Hotel for the cheap price and close to the race. Sharaton already sold out and costing $500 a night is just too much for my budget. I will have to get back with Lynn about the run though. She finished it in 29 hours, so that is some confident builder for me since I am about her pace.

    I met Orico too. I met Orico on the second loop just before halfway maybe around mile 32-33. She seemed to running fine according me when I was chasing her from behind. I had run with Wayne most of the night but at that point in time Wayne took off from me and disappeared. I came across Orico thinking it was Wayne. By the time I caught up, it was definite not Wayne because Orico is much smaller (and female).

    Orico was breathing heavily. I could heard her from behind. In my mind, this is an ultra and not a 5K run. We were little over halfway and still many miles (hours) left. Runners should not run like they are out of breath.

    True, we have high level of pollens in our area and the Canadian smoke from their fires is back in the area. So people who have asthma were having tougher time breathing.

    I called out to her, that it is OK to walk in an ultra. However, she did not respond back to me. In ultras, we love talking since there are not many of us out on the course and we would be spending a significant of time running together (sometimes hours and days).

    It was strange yet not so strange she did not answer back. As I mentioned in previous posts, DC area has a lot of runners who come off as unfriendly and this is due to the culture here where no one says hello or look at people in the eyes in public.

    I was afraid I might be scaring her and as well as pushing her to run faster. In a race, if somone is following me, it tends to push me on running faster. As a young runner, I fell for that a lot. As I now become more experienced, I know to run my own race.

    I told her that, she was not in my way. If I wanted to pass, I would announce it. This is the trail ettique. Since we are a single trail, it is hard to pass. Usually we wait for a place where the trail widens, unless the runner in front would stop to step to the side, to let the runner from behind to pass.

    She also did not say anything back. In my mind, I was in no rush. She was running a decent pace though I was catching up to her. Then she took a wrong turn and I used that time to pass her, since I took the correct turn. Taking a wrong turn usually means she was panicking or distracted. After I passed her, I did not see her catching back up. I think she started walking from then on. Her pace/groove was broken.

    Later at the finish I found out this was her first 50 mile race. It explained a lot. In our race there were 10-12 first time ultra runners. It is good to have new people joining. It makes the race so much more special. It is like initiation. I always remember my first 50. In my opinion OSS/CIA is a hard first time 50 miler, due to night run and trail condition.

    About the course, we had a dry course, even though it rained the nighr before, but still it was technical course for first time runners. For me, now, the trail is smooth and buttery and very runnable. I remember my first DNF there and every rock was hard. Every stone and every hills I struggled in my first DNF I could still recall as reran on the same course that evening.

    In fact, my first 5-10 miles that night was hard. My feet forgot how to run on the trail and I had to stare intensely at where my feet were stepping to avoid tripping. Later though, they gained back the natural ability to run without looking. Having a brighter flashlight on the second loop helped too.

    My run was pretty uneventful. When I first arrived and saw Wayne and Charlie. I pulled up in my car right behind Wayne. We were both “late” 15 mins before the registration was to be closed. There were no more parking spots left. A volunteer (Jana) told us to pull to side to go for the check-in first before looking for parking. I think we were the last few to arrived. Then we drove to the back lot (ball park), where luckily there were enough spaces for us. It was not too far a walk to get back to the starting line.

    I started out running with Wayne and Charlie since they are both good friends of mine and our paces are pretty much the same.

    Not having run seriously for over a month since the MMT, I was a bit rusty. Soon Wayne and Charlie pulled away. Everyone was running a fast click, I think it got to be around 10 min pace (fast for ultras). My goal was to do about 15 mins, though at the time I was probably running about 12 mins.

    Lynn passed me and gave me encouraging words. We passed each other a few times through out the first loop. There were several out and back sections, so we got to see those who were a bit ahead and those who were behind.

    I then slowed down to the pace of that of John Hord was running. I met John from MMT training since John and Charleen were doing aid stations. I remember seeing John at the second and third training run. John was great at giving me encouraging words at the Chocolate Bunny and at MMT since he was crewing for Charleen that night.

    Tracy C was about our pace too. We were running together. I got to kept pace with Tracy until near first half on the first loop (13 ish mile). Tracy has her own story.

    My first MMT’s racing strategy kind of build around her. She is known in our club for DNF-ing too. You know you can be famous either you are the first place runner or the last place. Tracy is not slow! She is faster than me on many of the runs but she is still chasing for her buckle for the MMT. She is a bit sensitive about it, and I would too. She was saying people should tone it down. I apologized for using her as the person to beat at the MMT. She is commended of being brave to still sign up for races. I have been there after running my first MMT and didn’t finish, and I was thinking to myself if I still get what it takes to finish a 100 mile. It takes courage to show up and run. I felt I know Tracy a bit better that evening when she shared how she felt about the MMT race.

    At the first Aid Station, I caught back with Wayne and Charlie. Wayne loves to take his time at the station, I think 10-15 minutes each time. It allowed me to catch up. We basically ran together for the rest of the night. Wayne did not wait for me, but I would catch up from time to time. I ran my own race. I did not wait for Wayne either, at the aid station, if I finish first, I took off, knowing both Wayne and Charlie could catch up to me.

    We finished the first loop after midnight. 25/26 miles in the book. It is 25 miles but some people’s gps watch was reporting a mile more. It didn’t matter to me. I was treating it as 26 miles because it felt like a marathon length.

    At midnight the marathon (25 mile) event took off. We saw many runners coming out.

    I saw Tracy and John coming in from their first loop. Also Lynn came in. The cut off was at 1 am. I saw Lynn around 12:30 which was not too bad. We had until 8:30 (I didn’t know at the time) but that was plenty of time for a second loop.

    Lynn said the course has way more double track trails (gravel roads) than she expected and was tired of running on them. I think about 5-6 miles of them. It was demotivating to run on gravel roads. One loop was enough for Lynn. As for me, I love roads and gravel because I could run faster on them than on trails.

    Also Charlie did not go back out for his second loop. Wayne believed he might have some stomach issue like at the MMT. I had a 10 minute head start over Wayne on the second loop but he was quick to catch back to me and by mile 10 and passed me to get to aid station first. He took off when I arrived at Oak Ridge.

    However, the next three miles, and it was 4 am by then, Wayne was exhausted. His running was the pace of my walking. I caught up to him just by walking/hiking.

    We arrived back at Oak Ridge aid station the second time on our second loop. I told him to eat and he did. However, I could not wait for him to finish eating because I was getting cold. When a runner headed out, I followed. The runner in front of me was fast and disappeared. I must have sometimes passed Travis, another friend. Travis is fast. But as the night grinded on, I was passing people. Travis was the aid station captain at the Old Dominion Race (couple weeks ago), and I got to know him there.

    The time was 4:30 ish then. Morning should arrived soon. The RD told us, tonight is the shortest night (summer soltice is couple days away). Initially I wanted to finish under 12 hours if possible. Meaning less than 2 hours left. At this time, I was willing to compromise for 8 am (14 hours). Still I felt I was behind schedule to finish by 8 am. We had 13 miles left to do.

    I got to the next water point (Burma Road), around 6 am. Morning has dawned. From then I caught up maybe 10 runners. On the out and back I saw Wayne was only two places behind me maybe about 5 minutes behind. It is not bad and I thought he would surely catch up.

    I had about 2 hours to do remaining 8 miles. Normally it should be fine, 15 mins a mile. 4 miles an hour. I felt though my pace was slipping. I thought 8 am was the final cut off since 8 am is the marathon cut off time. It was natural to assume the ultra would have the same cut off too.

    In my mind, I believed I had only 6 miles left since the first time arriving at the Burma aid station is 4 miles. The out and back on Burma road was at least two miles, which gave 6 miles remaining. I asked the radio guy at the Burma station how many miles are left, and his reply was 8. So eight it is for me even though I was sure there should be 6 miles left.

    My goal was to get to swinging bridge by 7 am. This would give me three miles (2.5 miles) for the final section. The laurel trail is about a mile long. The start/finish trail is less than a mile. It was about half mile to get to the Laurel Trail from the swinging bridge. So about 2-ish total.

    I finished at 7:28. I had many people cheering me as I came in. Total 13:28 h.

    We had breakfast and then the award ceremony. It was good to catch up with everyone. Marty (another friend) who always give me words of encouragement out on the trail, was there. He was pacing Adeline, who was only 10 minutes ahead of me. I was chasing her all night. I knew she had maybe a mile ahead. I see her in many of my races too.

    Wayne came in 15 minutes after me. He made it before 8. We talked on many things. He will be running the Eastern States and Iron Stone 100K. I unfortunately already signed up for the Catoctin. I might go to see him after Catoctin since Iron Stone starts at 2 pm. I believe, I might get there by evening and then hang out with the Pennsylvania runners. This will be in couple weeks. I am excited for that.

    Conclusion: I like running, because it gets me to run some more. This race is kind of help me get my act together for my summer races. Also many plans were made.

    By the way, my Saturday was jammed packed. I had Catoctin training that morning with Billy C. I had a tea time with my other running group (Siri) in DC at 2 pm. Then the race was at 6. It took me almost two hours to get into DC and almost 2 hours to come back out. The traffic almost killed me that afternoon. Luckily I got all my fun in. I was with three different running groups that day. Yep. I was so tired the next day and Monday. Luckily, Monday was a holiday and I could recover. It was exactly how I like it.