In awe

Category: running

  • [605] Redeye 50k

    Last year I had a faster finish (around 3:19 pm, and I mistakenly thought I finished at 4:45pm). I only remembered being chased by the sweeper. I did it in 7:19h, which at the time was disappointingly slow, but this year was an hour slower (8:17h). It was a fatass, meaning free race.

    Most fatasses in my mind are not real races and so usually I don’t run at my best. This year, I had both Boyers and Redeye 50k fatass with only two days apart, I did not even bother to run fast on either one.

    My goal was the same for Redeye as for Boyers, that is to maximize my time being on my feet as a training for Western States.

    I could have finish around 3 pm but I forgot how fast people normally run at Redeye. Most people managed to finish by 3 pm.

    And when I did not show up after 4 pm, the race director started to worry for me. I had assumed like last year to have until sunset (5 pm), and thus I did not push myself to go faster. Also I was with another person.

    I also missed the sweep because it was a loop course. When I finished the second loop, fhe sweeper already went out ahead of me.

    Trail ribbons were already pulled by third lap and generally, it was not an issue, but I was not completely attentive to the trail on my second loop, so I got lost on my third loop. In my mind, I thought I knew the way, but I in fact missed one of the turns at mile7. I would still have found my way even if I were completely lost, but I had to find the correct trail to be on the course and that probably costed 30 minutes or more. It was on me. However, now I am more familiar with the trails at that section.

    Last year the course was almost completely new to me. The way the race set up is we learn the course during the first two loops and on the final loop after the flagging were cleared, we would be on our own to find our way out, and many people don’t run the third loop. As an ultra runner, I took this as a welcome challenge. Welcome to the tough love of trail running for the uninitiated.

    The day was festive. Several runners who did Boyer’s 40 mile couple days before also came out for Redeye 50k. Boyers is a tougher course with 6500-7000 ft of elevation gain. Redeye only has 1000 ft per loop. So making it 3000 ft total. To us who has done Boyers, this run was super easy.

    Still we started with tired feet. I need the double day long run for my training. I had to go easy on the pace so as not to injure myself.

    Indeed, my legs were happier to tread on the hills of Redeye 50k than at Boyers. The technical section that previously caused me issues suddenly seem so much easier to handle.

    A lot of my running friends came out. I was almost the first to arrive. Tony T. was already there. Tony did Boyers too. Then there is Nick (I don’t know him but everyone seems to know the guy, and he joked of going by the name of Bartholomew). RD said he was definite that there was no such name on his list. It must have been an inside joke. The Bartholomew I heard of was Ash Bartholomew from Lucy’s Dad, YouTube video, of 2023 last runner of 2023 Western States. That story is my motivation to attempt Western States.

    Then there was Justin. He met me before, but I forgot his face. He brought his daughter out. It was a good chance for an reintroduction. They knew me from Massanutten. I was the guy who carried a bunch of hoggies (italian subway sanwiches) on my run and everyone still remembered me because of that.

    Wayne, my pacer from the devil dog, showed up not long after. Wayne also did the Boyers couple days ago. I model my training for Western States and or races after him.

    Along with him was a band of chinese runners. They were mostly from Maryland and I have seen them in the past, but usually in shorter races. We reintroduced each other again. Cheryl told me she met me at the Old Dominion while crewing for Wayne.

    Charlie, Wayne’s friend was there. We ran and trained together for the MMT (Massanutten 100) in 2023, a very hard race. Wayne and Charlie were discussing how to improve the core and bowel muscles so as not to get stomach issues during a run. They also talked about speed training. In fact, Wayne started his speed training since September. I noticed how much faster Wayne has gotten. He said, we got to mixup the training so that the body/training would not stagnate. He was talking about the mix of various things. He recommended me to do at least one session of hill training a week. Weight training as well and a speed work. He swore by MAF, something about keeping heart rate low during a run. However, but now he said that is improving too slowly, and we have to have some higher intensity on occassion. Speed work is new to me. As I said, I model my training after his because I have seen how he conquered some tough races I thought would be impossible to do.

    With all these tips, I felt my time at Redeye was well worth it. I need both knowledge and application. I got both that day.

    Loop one, I was mostly with Wayne and heard him talked on various things.

    Loop 2, Wayne took off ahead and we never caught up again. I was with his “pacer” Cheryl, at least that what most people on the course (I knew) called her or known her by during the MGM 50K, another recent race.

    Wayne had originally planned to stay with her, but even in loop 1, I realized Cheryl’s pace was too slow for Wayne but it was about right for me. So I stayed with her.

    Now Cheryl just got a brand new navigation watch but did not know how to use it. At the very first turn after leaving the aid station to start the second loop, she already made the “wrong” turn. It is a loop course so in reality it does not matter. However, I called out to her to let her know, we should be turning right instead of left. It should be a red flag that I should not stay with her.

    I knew my way around the park, especially after doing a 100 mile there twice. I was pretty sure which way was the correct way.

    Soon, there were some other runners caught up so as to confirm we were indeed going to the right way. I know some runners like Q, like to go in the reverse direction, which might have created some confussion. I think he did so to check on runners and also helped them with navigation.

    However, as long as one follows the course markings, it should be fine in going either direction except the final loop when the ribbons would be removed.

    We finished the second loop in two hours. Our first loop took us three hours (8:00-11:00). Our second loop, we were climbing up to the parking lot at 1:05. I was pretty sure, we (I) could do the next loop in 2.5 ish hours, so putting us at 3:30-4:00 pm finish.

    I got to the station, talked to people, since I was not pressed for time, there was no incentive for me to leave the station in a hurry. In hindsight, I should have left. Mike E was there. He told me the sweeper already had gone out to remove ribbons, but if we hurry, we could catch up. Cheryl said, she would not do the third loop without a guide. Since, I was generally with Cheryl on the second loop, I was willing to be a guide on the third. This was a bad idea, looking back.

    I felt we stayed at the aid station for a bit too long. Having done enough ultras, I had an internal clock to tell me when I should be leaving. Basically, if I were to stand around with nothing to do, then I have stayed too long.

    We checked the time on the way out, it was already 1:25 pm. On the third loop, My runner was much slower than earlier loop which was expected, since 22 miles ish, is the “wall” for many marathon runners. Cheryl is an excellent marathoner, but was not immuned to it. I was not hit with the same fatique because I was not going fast that day, also I have a higher tolerant for distances.

    I had expected my runner to be able to keep up with me. While I am a slow runner, my purpose that day was for my own training. By going slower than my normal pace, pretty much made my training less effective. Though, I was aiming for time on my feet.

    Her speed almost matched my walking pace. I did not mind, as long as she was still strong and moving. All the flaggings were indeed gone. There were like two to three runners behind us (They were Cheryl’s friends) but they were like 5 mins apart. In hindsight, I should have left her with them.

    By one hour mark, I checked on Cheryl, if she wanted to head back, we could still turn around before the halfway. At the time it seemed like a joke to turn around. We chose to keep going forward because distance wise is the same in either direction. Now looking back, turning around might have been a better choice because the directions to get back were still fresh but going forward we had more unknowns such as the chances of getting lost.

    Then, I met a fellow Devil Dog’s runner, Vladamir. We roomed together before the race at the Devil Dog. He was the second place finisher. I was glad he still remembered me. He was taking his family on a hike. I knew we were near the exit to Burma Road, maybe a mile or two and then we would be nearing the finish, because usually people with families would not be far from the trailhead.

    We took a left on the Burma Road and crossed a road to get to Taylor’s Farm Rd. From there, we should be within 3-4 miles to the finish.

    This section gets hilly. We continued on Taylor’s Farm passing Blacktop road (I don’t know the name at the time but I knew where it would lead). Note, we will meet it again later at Old Blacktop Rd.

    There was doubt whether we should be turning at the road. Cheryl doubted and stopped to check her navigational watch. I was pretty sure here we had to go straight, because making a right there would bring us to Camp Gunny on the Devil Dog course. I am 100% familar with the Devil Dog course and camp Gunny was not where we wanted to be headed toward.

    I was not following the gps course, but my memory from the previous loops. The course was marked a little differently this year at that section.

    I knew we would pass a foot bridge soon, which we did. We came to the foot bridge and made the climb uphill.

    My mistake was I forgot I needed to make a left turn after the bridge but continue onward for maybe a mile. Last year, I think we made the turn further down at the yellow blazed trail. There were two trails crossing our path we were on. At the time, my mind was drawing blank. When I passed the orange blazed trail I made a mental note, but I didn’t slow down to check the trail’s sign post there. In my mind, we still had further to go. As for how far, I did not remember and I was hoping to see something to jog my memory. I know in hindsight that was not the best thing to do. A better way is to check the map, which I did have with me.

    I believe, I might have gone about a mile. Cheryl caught up to me and said the trail was unfamilar to her. Actually, she had been complaining the whole Taylor’s Farm section, because her watch went off.

    She was absolutely right, my mind was still drawing blank of where we needed to turn. The trail did not seem to be the same. So I checked my phone. I did not download the gpx track before the start and my phone would not download it anyway because it always strips off the .gpx extension and my mapping program would not load the file without the extension.

    I had Google map in offline mode, which had saved me many times in other trail runs. From the Google map, I determined we were off course. Her watch showed as much, however, she did not know how to get us back on course. Cheryl insisted we to go back to the previous road crossing or use the google map directions, which as readers know do not work for trails.

    I presented her the options. I do vaguely knew where I was even though she doubted my directions. We had three choices at the time. One, to continue forward, I knew it would intersect a road where cars drive on. and we could either walk back to camp ot get picked up 2, to do Cheryl’s plan by going back to the previous gravel road, to make the turn she was insisting of turning, 3rd, was for me to find the correct trail of the course and finish the race

    Note, in either option 1 and 2nd option, I only would lead her to the road and she would be on her own. 1st option would be the safest and fastest for Cheryl. 2nd option I knew was a definitely the wrong way and we would only get deeper into the woods, but Cheryl did not believe me and she wanted me to go that way with her. I would not.

    For me, I could do either 1 or 3. I prefer 3 because I knew we were not that lost. 2 miles were easy for me to make up. We still had time since it was 3:30 pm then. I know, we supposed to be back by then, but things like this happened.

    I could get out quicker, but we could only moving as fast as she could manage.

    I was not too tired. I knew if I run it, I could be out in 30 mins to an hour by covering 2-4 miles distance. I could make it by 4 pm, but I was not so sure about Cheryl could keep up. At this time, she was not able to run but walk. It was 20-25 min pace. We had about 3 miles left.

    It was her first time being lost in the woods. She later described it as being “devastated.”

    I led her onto the Turkey Ridge Trail and she said, this looked like the trail at the beginning of the loop and was checking if that was the right way. She was trying to convince me to turn around again. However, I was sure where I was heading and stopped talking to her. She only expressed more doubts and confussion.

    I vaguely remembered being on blue, then orange and then yellow and white (blazes). Since missing the Turkey Ridge Trail earlier, I stopped at every sign post and read all their arrows and directions and distances. I was glad they gave ample information and I knew in general, I was back on course, though I had about 5-10% reservation. I mostly checking the post to know how many miles to the finish.

    Mike, a friend, who was volunteering that day, called me to check since it was already past 4 pm. Later, he told me that the runners who were behind us had came in and so he knew something had happened when we didn’t show up.

    I gave them my location saying we were on Turkey Ridge heading toward the campground.

    Once we reached the campground, I saw two parked forest ranger vehicles. I presented Cheryl another option, if she does not want to hike out, and believes we are still lost, she could ask one of the rangers for a ride back. Two miles probably would take only a few minutes in a car instead of having to run out.

    She said she recognized the place now.

    We got on the white blaze trail (I think was the South Valley trail). To me, this trail for sure would lead us to the finish. I still was being extra careful. Every turn, I would look and read all the signs. I made all the correct turns and got us back to the swinging bridge. I gave Mike another call saying we reached the Bridge (the Bridge was where we entered/exited the loop, a key location). Mike understood we were only half mile out and should arriving within 10 minutes. There was only one last hill to climb to the parking lot. I got us out.

    Lessons learned. I regretted taking a new person with me. I don’t mind being lost, because it was part of the training, but because I had to slow down my pace for another person, my training was not as productive.

    For Cheryl or anyone new to trail running, be always prepare when going into the woods, always carry enough water, food (calories), expect to be weak and tired and getting lost, expect being longer than planned, carry a map, dress warm, know the directions even when the course is marked, have a contingency plan, and carry a phone. Absolutely, be selfsufficient. I carried all those, but my runner did not, and it hampered our pace and could have ended much worse.

    We eventually got out of the woods. We have gone for 8+ hours (one hour longer than planned). We managed to finish before sundown. Cheryl’s friends were still there. Mike and Caroline joined in a brief celebration of a friend’s birthday. It all ended well. They did not have to send out rescuers for us.

    Epilogue: Cheryl though was shaken, but her spirit is not broken. She plans to do more trail running and has already signed up for the first MMT training (coming in a week), which takes some serious high level of ultra trail skills.

  • [604] Boyers Furnace Fatass 40

    They say it is better to finish than to start. I started the year with the Redeye Fatass 50 and finished the year with a fatass at Boyers Furnace (BFF), a 40 miler that loops around the Massanutten Mountain. It is part of the course of the Massanutten Mountain Trail 100 mile and Old Dominion 100.

    It is a wicked trail. Massanutten course has monster climbs and descents and Old Dominion course has roads full of rolling hills. Lucky we did this in the winter instead of summer.

    My goal was to have a good training run, basically to fill time. I need 13 hours on my feet. I like to run hard too, but today was not one of them. It was pretty obvious early on I could not mantain a high tempo run.

    We started a few minutes earlier than 7:30 after taking a group photo. The sun was coming up. We made the steep climb up to Kennedy Peak. I walked up and ended up walking most of the course.

    In the beginning, I was with Kevin J and he just finished Western States this year. I was able to bounced off some ideas from him. This year’s heat was not an issue. He loves the crossing at Rucky Chucky because the river was so clear and he could see the bottom.

    Charles S was with him and he talked a bit about Leadsville (because he did Leadville). He said if you are a Lifetime (some exclusive level, gold level or something) member you can get in without going through the lottery. It is a reason why 1000+ people enter but only 200-ish finished. Too many were overconfident of their ability.

    I was teasing him to sign up for Massanutten 100 and Old Dominion. I said when you get home, you have to sign up and I will sign up too. I checked when I got home (the next day) and indeed Charles signed up! Now I have to keep my promise too!

    Soon both Charles and Kevin ran far ahead and I was behind with the slower people. I was with Kyle, Tom, and Angie. I was told ahead before the run from my friend to keep pace with Angie. I met Angie last year at the Redeye. To me she was a slower runner and I had no plan to stay with her.

    My original goal was if I could stay with my Devil Dog’s (race) pacer, Wayne, however, Wayne was running too strong for me to keep up and very early on I knew keeping up with Wayne was out of reach. As being a more experience ultra runner, I learned to check my pride and run according to my ability. Today, my ability was at more a walking pace.

    Angie ended up being a resilient walker and set a strong pace for me. In fact, her walk pace required me to run to keep up. The initial 20 miles, I was leading in front, maybe about 20 yards or so, sometimes more and sometimes less, but she was always on me. Initially, Angie did not talk much after the brief first re-introduction. I told her where I met her before. She remembered me at the Chocolate Bunny run (a 50k night run around easter, part of MMT training). As she did not seem talkative, I did not bother her again, though knowing she was always behind me. Later, she explained she did not get enough sleep and was having a migrant. She later after feeling better was full of words and kept me company.

    Kyle too was around. We leapfrogged each other a lot early on. Kyle hasn’t done a 40 mile before other than in hiking. He hiked the whole Massanutten trail before for camping. So in theory, today run should be easier without the heavy 40 lb pack. However, he seemed to be much affected by a lot of uphills. I stopped to check on him a few times when he seemed to be out of breath after each climb, but each time he said he was okay.

    Tom, Charles and Kevin kept wandered off (to pee) and they kept ending up behind us from time to time. Even Charles, I think he got lost some point for staying on Orange at Veach, so we saw Charles over again.

    One constant was Angie. She was a powerful hiker. She was worried that she was in runners’ way but I told her, her pace was incredible. I believed she maintained a near 15 min pace. I told her with this pace she could finish a 100 miler. Indeed, this was the pace I set when I ran the Devil Dog 100 recently.

    After Woodstock aid station, Angie and a few others, Charles included, Melisa (birthday girl, she turned 40 and decided to do her first altra by running a 40 mile), took off and passed me. Note, Charles and Melissa and a few others passed us before but they got lost and made some bonus miles and so we met again at Woodstock. This time they passed us for good. I tried to catch up but could not until I got to Edinburg Gap before I saw them again. Sam another runner we met at Woodstock stayed with me.

    Woodstock was at a little after the halfway point. It was about 8 miles to Edinburg Gap. My aim was to get there before the cutoff. I wrongly believed it was at 5:00 pm, because I got my info from Angie, who said, we had to get to Veach by noon, Woodstock by 2 pm and Edinburg by 5 pm. I arrived by 4:57. It was my longest stretch. The downhill to Edinburg Gap was quite rocky. I thought I could have sped up, but I had to watch my footing the whole way.

    After Edinburg Gap, the course became easier. It was all on road. The climb was less steep. Then it was mostly downhill. I ran the whole way. It felt great to be able to finally run (stretching out my legs so to speak). I finished maybe around 7:30, 12 hours since I started (11:38:00 per time keeper(.

    We had a good after party. Many stayed or came out for it. We were teasing each other to come out again in two days for Redeye (on Jan 1) but many said no way. The sweeper Aaron (?) said this is the first time when he finished to see so many people still around. Usually there were only 2-3 left. This time, there were 10-20 plus people. Boyers is hard, but when treating it as a training run, it was not that bad.

    There were only three aid stations, Veach, Woodstock and Edinburg, but each was very good. I saw all my good friends. It was good seeing John and Charleen at Edinburg. I had a good time with all other runners.

    Sunrise after a mile up from Camp Roosevelt at an overlook on our way up to Kennedy Peak
    at Woodstock. I think I take this same picture every time I pass here because it is irresistable
    Boyer’s Ruins. I was glad to have Angie with me for most of the run, she shared with me all the waypoints that were coming up including here the Boyers Furnace
    We were running down on Moreland Gap Road (from Moreland Gap) and passed Caroline Furance. This is the start and end of the MMT 100 race. It brought back a lot of memories because that was my hardest race and I finished it. I ran this race twice and at the time running the final five miles were not fun. Today though, running 4-5 miles downhill gave a good feeling! I still had a mile to go to get to Camp Roosevelt, but when I passed Caroline Furnace, I knew the end was close.

  • [Day603] Week 4 WS training

    Time started to merge in my head. Week 3 week 4, like in ultras, miles and time just become a one big blur. I could not tell when one week ends and when another one starts.

    Week 4 is mostly mirrored week 3. We had the two back to back holidays.

    The roller coaster I did on Saturday knocked me out most of the week. Sunday, was Christmas Eve. Originally, I wanted to use that day for another hard training, but my body was broken. Rest was the right call.

    Monday being Christmas and for once we had very good weather. Alas no training either. I was mostly procastinating and putting on weight by eating whole day after being knockout the whole Sunday.

    Tuesday. Forced myself out and had an hour of low impact running. I always felt good once I ran. It was raining a bit and I ended my run early.

    Tuesday night. skipped due to having to work late

    Wed. Another day like previous. It was rainy and wet. Got my run done in about 1.5 hours. Personally I think it was good and much needed to be done. I was out of breath on some sections.

    Thursday and Friday was a blur. I probably didn’t run. Work was quite hard.

    Weekend, I had some hard runs. I did the Boyers Furnace fatass, 40 mi run. Then Monday a red eyes 50k. Probably a separate blog for each or both of them.

    Sunday was “resting”. I walked for 4 hours. Most of my body was still sore from the Saturday run.

    I blame the holidays. I did not get much out of this week training. Now it is the first of 2024. I really have leas than 25 weeks onward (we don’t count the last week before the race). The past few weeks were a bonus to get me started on this. I love it. It got me up to a mini peak. Now I could reset for another month and go again to get that base training for some real changes.

    My goal is really aiming to be ready by May. Of course, I will be doing the MMT 100 and likely OD100 before Western States. Originally, I was going to skip those for sake of Western States, but now there is no way I am avoiding a run. There is no reason other than I want it all! High risk high rewards. My own grand slam. Go big or go home they say.

    Change: I need to get back on the horse for week 5.

  • Day601 WS Training Week 3

    Not much happened this week unfortunately.

    I know I am tilting a bit (not doing as well as I wanted).

    Don’t ask me why. Maybe I lost interest. Maybe getting up in the morning is hard. I had a hard week at work. Because I had to cover for a coworker. It was almost hell and because I don’t have much time. Balls being dropped on my watch, not fun to be in the hot seat, but the week is finally over. TGIF.

    Yes I know I need to push through everything and all distractions to get my trainings done. This week is really where the rubber meets the road. Things got tough and unfortunately I could not respond well to the challenges.

    They say if you want to form a habit, 21 days is usually when things break. I hope to get past it and reach 40 days. This is the magic week. There is also a magic of carrying past 40 days (2x 21 days). It is number that stands for hardship. Once past that, then of course, if I could reach 90 days, that normally will be where we see result. All exercise plans boast of changes in as little as 90 days, like weight lost or sliming down the tummy. My training carries to 2x 90 days (25 weeks). I don’t expect just physical changes, but by the end of 180 days to see unleashing of performance I always dream about, which is the end goal. However, at the present, I am suffering.

    Monday – I was way too tired from Naked Nick, so no training

    Tuesday – I could have done my training today but I skipped it to let some wear and tear healed

    Tuesday Night – things got heavy at work and I could not make it to my evening training run. Emotionally I was drained.

    Wednesday – Morning training was rough, beingbthe first training of the week. It was also very cold. It took me an hour and half to push myself out the door by 5:45. I had a good 1:15 run. 4-5 miles. It was a very good run on tired legs

    Thursday – Work really went downhill. I had my hardest day of the week. But training was also my strongest. I had a strong morning run and I was happy

    Thursday night. Had to work late so I didn’t finish until late at night. 12+ day. Meaning no night training, I normally do.

    Friday. very demotivating due to work. I skipped my run both the day and night. My legs should be fresh and strong.

    Weekend. Where magic happened. Probably was the hardest training I did in the past three weeks. I went out to what is known as the Roller Coaster of the AT (Appalachian Trail), at mile 1000 from Springer Mnt, Ga. Luckily it is like a 40 minute drive for me from my house. The section is 13.5 miles with 3500 ft of elevation change. I should be have it done in short amount of time. On paper, it seems like any other races I did. I did an out and back so, plus added a mile to the parking lot, so it was about 29 miles, 7000 ft. But this took me 13 hours! I was broken mentally and physically by the end.

    Granted I stopped for a bit for filtering my water. So maybe 12 hours of moving time. The last 10 miles, my legs were dead. I each step required conscious effort and I almost thought I could not make it back out. I kept telling myself I am an ultra marathon runner, I should be able to do a 10 mile. I was at a breaking point. Night fell. Wind got rough. Alone.

    Maybe because of it was cold. Winter training is dangerous because of wide change in temperatures. Day time was fine around 45-50 F but night time, I think the temperature was more around 35-40, but might have gotten colder on the ridge and with the wind chill. I could see my breath. Every time I hit a ridge I was freezing and every time I dropped back down in a valley I was sweating. The temperature change might be as wide as 10-15 degrees.

    I think it was also hard because I tried not to drink so as not to stop to filter on water. In my mind, I had thought it ahould be half a day. I tried to last on 2 L of water for the nearly 30 miles of trail. Also I did not pack much strong food but only some candy bars, a gel, and a small rice pack. They were not enough. By noon, my energy was drained.

    I really thought the run was going take half a day. I struggled with calorie defficiency like at the end of a 100 mile race. This was the hardest 50K run (28-29 miles) ever especially during the second half.

    It was plodding one step at a time. Last six miles were unbelievably hard. I know I run ultras, and could last on longer distances, but it was no joke when I was thinking, I might not make it out with only 4 miles to go. I might have to consider a second option to save myself like finding shelter, and to survive the night. Or I might die here.

    Note on the way in, it only took 4 hours. I guess I slowed down quite a lot on the way back, 9 hours? That was crazy but kind of expected when I slowed down by that much.

    Outake. I got to do it again. I think it was a great training run to test the exhaustion state where normally I don’t get to train on that except in a real 100 race (reaching lactic threshold and pushing beyond). I might in the future to run it again by dropping supplies at the southern terminal before the run, so I could refuel and on the way back with full strength. Testing failure mode is great, but I should not do it too often. It is too dangerous especially in the winter. It also ruin the next few days of training.

    This week really brought out areas I needed some work. What happen if I don’t have time and when “real life” collides in? Failure point/breaking point testing. pen test.

    I also realized I am not as strong as last year. A few races I did at the end of this year that were exactly the same as last year, but I got slower times. This was telling.

    We always believe we can change and improve with training. Reality, is what if I am at my peak or near there. Any training would not bring me any closer or maybe only a little bit. A fallacy I got to watch out is that I can improve dramatically with more trainings. There is a possibility, by race day, I am just the same as today. I got to let that sink in. It might be the worse case scenario, and it might be quite realistic scenerio. I got to ask myself, how much have I improved these 7 years! Anyway, it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t train. I will train but also should know its limitation and my own limitations.

    A good training ground, only 40 mins away from my house. Underrated and overlooked. I struggled on this course (Roller Coaster). This is actually easy because you could step on rocks and hop from one to another. The hard part is stay on trail especially at night when I was tired

  • [Day599] Celtic Soltice + Naked Nick

    Naked Nick 50k is a race I wanted to do for maybe the past four years (actually, not this race but a related race by the same organization, which now no longer available, long story of how come I ended up as Naked Nick), and I finally ran it last year.

    Of course, last year, I just finished the Devil Dog 100 and I was not ready to run it. I thought I haven’t truly tested the course. So this year, I at least had two weeks of break after running the Devil Dog.

    The day before Naked Nick, my friend urged me to run the Celtic Soltice 5 miler on Saturday. It was a race she was enthusiastic about because of the wolfhounds and about visiting Bethlehem and how we would then carpool together to PA. It would be all so good.

    For me running a 5 mile and having to travel hundred miles to Baltimore was not that appealing, petting wolfhounds or not. It was also a winter race, plus, it is a day before the big race. Its entry fee was a bit steep (but I didn’t have to pay for it). Woohoo, my first “sponsored” race! I asked them if I could get sponsored for all my 2024 races as well. Anyway, we had good swag and a lot better finisher food (unlimited wine, beer, soup, celtic cookies, plus the usual snacks and water). There also a few local clubs and if you were able to convince them that you are part of their club, you get free food from them too! I think it was worth the high price.

    We had a warm sunny day. The temperature started around 40s F and rose to 60s F (15C). It was quite a warm day for a run. We still wore a jacket before the start. I dressed in layers and got rid one by one, but then it got cold because the long wait because we got there early by six and we had to go back to the car for more layers. I loved the dumpter fires they had going on. The fire flakes burned holes in my new puffy jacket 😦

    I haven’t done shorter distance in a while, so it took me a bit of time to adjust to the higher tempo pace. I put up a little over 9 min pace (9:12 – ish), which is slow for my standard, but for that day considered fast because of all the ultras I have been running. My legs had not done such fast pace recently. I finished in about 47 minutes.

    It felt good to run fast and a 5 mile is a good distance of not too short and not too long. The course too was a bit hilly and that worked in my favor because I like hills to train on. My lung was strong. My legs though, should have moved faster. They were not tired but they just could not pump out the energy fast enough. I just was not trained for the faster turn over. They were strong but slow. They were perfect for hilly course.

    Then the very next day was Naked Nike 50k in Leesport, PA. It was about three hours away. We were blessed with warmer temperature and the rain held off until 4 pm, so I was dry during my run.

    It was two loops. I thought I did better than last year. My feet were stronger and healthy. My lung was good, being tested to the max at Celtic Solstice and survived. I felt I could have finished a bit faster. Last year, I felt I ran too fast on the first loop and had to struggle on the second.

    This year, I finished the first loop in 3:30 and the second loop in 3:15. It was the golden reverse split most runners chased after. However, last year I had a faster overall time of 6:39. The official result has not been posted, but I felt I came in a few minutes after 6:39, maybe at 6:42, I forgot to look at my watch when I came in but by the time I checked, it was 6:45 (2:45 pm). I was puzzled why I was slower this year. I might have ran the flat section a bit too slow, since I haven’t done speed training lately, and it showed.

    The course was hilly as well, but I ran all the uphills except one that was very steep. This wass right in my alley. I have strong feet. I just did the Devil Dog, so my legs were still strong. Climbing was not an issue. Downhills though, I was a bit afraid. Maybe I did not attack the downhill as agressively as before. My time was a few minutes slower. I can’t wait for the official result to be posted (6:45:01). Anyway, I was hoping for a significant improvement like 15 minutes or more, but it came down to be about the same.

    As for the race itself, the atmosphere was festive. I met a few new friends and reconnected with some older ones. I met Jana halfway through the course. She was first to spot me at the first aid station. This year, I did not wait for her, though she caught up and stayed behind me for the remaining first loop. I helped her retying her shoes.

    I had fun out on the course. I ran at my own pace, chasing a few runners from tine to time. Generally I was by myself. I saw the midpack came in (5 hours people) as I was still outbounding. I was no where near them. There were times I was wondering if I was too slow because I was alone fot a long time on my second loop. I passed some of the people who started me. Halfway through the second loop, I started catching up to a few more runners. It was pretty uneventful. There was a 28 year old lady, who gained on me the last few miles after I passed her, but each time she dropped back for being out of breath. I thought she would stay with her husband/boyfriend. She left her friends and kept my pace. We finished almost neck to neck. I did offer to pace her, but she did not seem interested, but instead tried to overtake me. Many times, I thought she would succeed and begone, but our pace ended up being even. I don’t think she likes me much after we finished together.

    Because I finished couple hours before my friend Caroline, I could enjoy the food and all the hot dogs and soup. I talked with runners, whom many I passed during the race. Time flew by. Soon it was near closing. I saw many slower finishers, 7 hours, and 8 hours. By 4:20 pm, I decided to walk out a bit to check for Caroline. I saw her not too far away around 4:30 pm, maybe about half a mile out. Just a bit from the park entrance. She made it in by 4:45 as the last runner.

    For me the benefit of returning to this was the familarity of the course. Another reason, I thought I could run it faster. I thought I did not put effort into it last year and this year, I truly was gunning for it this time. In all phases of the race, I thought I was ahead of the game. I passed Jana earlier than expected. I passed Caroline too earlier than I was expected. All the markers I used to judge my pace, I felt I was good. It came as a surprise when I did not finish any faster than last year. I kept asking myself, what did I do last year to make me gained 6 minutes faster! Maybe my memory was faulty. I would need to check back on my last year report (I just checked, I didn’t write one for some reason). So I guess my memory of last year event was faulty.

    Conclusion, Naked Nick 50 was well worth the cost. For $39, it truly lives up to its name of being low frill and high enjoyment. The aid stations were actually quite good. There is no medals or shirts though, and for some this is a deal breaker.

    Just before the start, we listened to final instructions. I liked to stay in the back and tried to see how many people I could pass. The first couple miles self sorted out the pack.

  • [Day598] WS Training Week2

    Time goes by fast. I am at the end of the second week of 25 ish weeks of training for the Western States 100. 10% of my training already! I haven’t done anything.

    I felt not much happened. I continued to drag with the morning training, waking up sometimes an hour to two hours early before work to train. Couple times I slept through. On the days I made it to my training, they felt great. This week mileage total is around 12 + likely a 35-36 miles will be added over the weekend. Total days run: 3. Tuesday morning, 1 hr. Thursday Morning 2 hours. Thursday night 1 hr. Weekend, Saturday 5 mi, Sunday 50k.

    Personally, I think it was an average load. I am trying to be careful not to do so much the first few weeks of training and to slowly build up my miles. I believe I have a pretty good core already, but still I need to train harder in the coming months to get where I want to be.

    I do not have any specific training plan yet. I know how to train for a 100 mile race, but I might need some guidance in term of improving on my performance. I have been considering of hiring a general ultra coach, not specifically for Western States but more for Old Dominion 100 or Hurt 100. It is tough to hire a specific coach. Coaches for Western States probably can be very expensive. My budget is probably around $100 a month for the next six months. It will help with my Western States though. I do not want a national wellknown coach.

    The excitement has come down a lot. Reality has set in. There is still a general hapiness. I know why I am crawling out of bed each morning even though my body wants to sleep in some more. I do want that finish.

    Training actually feels like a ultra marathon itself. 25 weeks could be viewed as 25 hours in a race. It might seem so long but actually is not. I know for a marathon, in the past, I trained for 12-14 weeks. Usually by about halfway in I lost focus. 25 week training seems a bit long. But when I view it as an hour in a race, it doesn’t seem too much. Now I am “two hours” in, it is like getting warm up. I know by hour 6, I will then feel the effect. I need to get myself ready for them. I am thinking, of every six weeks, I need something intense to test myself. (I need to keep this in mind).

    A funny thing I had these few weeks. You know, I wrote about not being in shape amd being fat and slow and all that. The moment I got into Western States, my view of my body changed. Suddenly I felt fast, I felt healthier, I felt slimmer when I looked at myself in the mirror. Perception is weird. I still have the same weight. My mom commented that my face looked slimmer! And asked if I have lost weight!

    Indeed, I see things a lot differently. There is hope in everything. The past Sunday, my pastor preached on Steadfastness to patiently endure trials. A way God’s people can endure sufferings is because they have an eternal perspective of the end goal where they will be with God. The end goal is very important. I felt as an ultra runner, we keep too our end goal in sight. We know we will reach a finish, so any mud, cold, rain, is just temporary. Same indeed for my trainings. It is just temporary, 25 weeks. All the previously seemingly unpleasantness of training suddenly became enjoyable. Then the race of course. The race is my end goal.

    I will train for it. Realistically, I don’t have much time. 8% (2 weeks) already passed. Only 92% left. To me, it is like watching my phone battery drained. I wanted immediate changes, but these two weeks, I felt and seemed to be the same. Am I not going to see any result until closer to the race day? I felt I have to hit the ground running. I have not any clue what the next two weeks will be any different. I know, I will need to come up a plan, of ramming up the intensity of my training, and training specifically toward key things needed for Western States, such as heat, downhill, and being fast.

    Grand Slam also has been on my mind. This is running 4 of 5 special 100 mile races over the summer (Western States, Leadville, Vermont, Old Dominion, and Wasatch Front). My friends urged me to attempt it since it is not easy to get into Western States. They are right in this.

    In the end, I don’t think it is realistic for me to pursue it. Vermont maybe. Old Dominion Maybe. But I don’t think I could do Leadville or Wasatch Front this year. Leadville lottery signup is almost over. TOMORROW is the last day as I write this (Dec 15). I could not bring myself to enter it because, I think I have maybe 40-50% chance of getting in. Yet, I don’t have the confident to run the race even if I do get in and to finish it. I put that away. I will enjoy the races I already committed myself to this year (2024). It is my own grand slam without all the press (MMT, Old Dominion, maybe Vermont, Burning River, Western States, and Grindstone), which is still a pretty tough schedule.

    Back to training. Ideally, I need to train on hills, downhills, train for heat, and train for moving a bit faster. I do not have the confident of finishing under 30 hours yet. From the Devil Dog, the first 40 miles I could be on pace of 5/5.5 hrs every 20 miles. But the next 60 miles, I could not maintain that pace for some reason. I would be moving at 6.5 hrs every 20 miles. If I could maintain under 5 hours every 20 miles, I would be able to get under 30 hours for the 100 mile. I hope my training would help.

    Weather is getting colder. But because of training, I am willing to brave the cold. Still it could be a challenge to my training.

    Summary: I need to be faster! I need to commit to changing my life

    Meta: I know training blogs can be boring to read, because I am not making a lot of progress. Many times, I am unsure of my direction. There are a lot of second guesses, trial and errors, haphazard attempts, setbacks, and they are messy. You are right, this guy does not know what he is doing. Free free to skip it. I write this mostly for myself as a journal, and hopefully, I could train myself better (self-hack) from this.

  • [Day597] Devil Dog 100

    Devil Dog 100 is so good, I could not stay away again. See last year (report2022). I ran a 50K in 2020, then a 100k the following year, and a 100 miler last year. I came back for a repeat. This race took place in the first weekend of December. A good hard race to cap the year.

    At least that was what I was thinking when I saw the registration open. I don’t dredge this race, since I did it last year. But some previous unpleasant memories from the 100k and 50k, put a bit of fear in me. And as the race day approached, I was asking myself why on earth did I sign this up again.

    First, I do not enjoy running in the cold very much, at least not for straight 32 hours. Second, we usually get rained on. Again this year, rain came whole night for at least 8 hours, heavy at times. Third it is a loop course. Granted there are benefits of getting back the same place every few hours, which make having supporting easy (aid station, etc), but the repetitiveness is something only certain people enjoy. I sometimes do like turning mindlessly and rumbling through. Often, I much prefer having variety more than to do loops over and over.

    There were probably a few more reason why I prefer some other race than this. Maybe it was the transportation of getting to the race, or the duration of a 100 miler. I also hated the course – nothing really wrong with it but the rocky gravel road on a portion of the course hurts my feet after long hours on it. Enough said.

    If I hate it so much why did I sign up? It was a spur of the moment. I wanted to do a 100K since I haven’t able to finish it on this course. The year (2021) I DNF’d it still causes a hard feeling. They give out a special award for first 100K ever. I don’t know what the reward is but I covet it. When I get to the signup page, I saw the 100 miler, I said, for two more loops, I could finish a 100, why on earth do I want a 100K. I figured at the time those two extra loops should not take too long to do, so as always, I went for the longest distance, I did and signed up for a 100, simply as that.

    Second reason was probably my ego. Last year, I finished it in 31 hours, and I felt I could have done way better. This may be the truer reason. But guess what! I finished even slower than last year coming in 31:45! I will explain it in a bit.

    Last year, the Devil Dog was only my 3rd 100. I failed at MMT 100 last year, but finished Rim to River 100 (2021) and Rocky Raccoon 100 year prior (2021). Devil Dog was a redemption race for the failed MMT attempt and the DNF’d of the 100k version in 2021. I was very happy to finally finish it. It was the only hundred I did that year (2022).

    Enter this year, 2023. I ran MMT 100 successfully. A big part was probably the things I learned from the Devil Dog. I also ran Blackbeard Revenge 100 in March, which was an easier race. I did DNF’d at Iron Mountain again. Plus the Burning River 100 in Ohio. Plus, I DNF’d at Grindstone 100 in the fall (though, I don’t think it was my ability that I did not finish, I chose not to run that hard to stay with a friend). So came Devil Dog, with many 100s under my belt (at least three) as preparation. I was certainly well prepared for this race. I did not carry as much mental baggages entering in as last year.

    The tips I wrote to myself two years ago and last year were already ingrained in me. Aid stations – use them, drop bags, use them all. Being efficient – sure, if I don’t need to stop at an aid station, I won’t stop, if I do stop, get back out as soon as possible, and stay no more than 5 mins. One of a very good tip is not to change your shoes or socks if you don’t have to – if you do, try only do it for one foot, like one sock instead of both feet. Usually, it is only one foot that is acting up. This saves so much time! Instance 50% improvement!

    I also have a crew this time as well, a very good crew. I met a guy called Wayne at MMT 100 and at Old Dominion 100. He came to help me at Grindstone too. We have developed a bond. He is even crazier than me in running as many hard races as he can. He also paced me during the evening hour until to the finish. He set up his own private table with buns and congee (rice portridge) and other stuff at the start/finish aid station (Remi). So when I came in, I have everything I need within arm reach. He had two chairs setup. Yes, they say avoid the chair. Then he paced me in the evening hour from 5 pm to the finish, about 18-19 hours for over 100k. He is a unicorn! I was so happy to have such a friend.

    I did it almost like last year. I slept in one of the cabins like last year, bunking with the course #2 finisher, I didn’t know at the time, but it was just like last year, I met some super fast people the night before the race. The guy I bunked with last year also finish like in the top 5.

    Anyway, I went to bed around 8, and was pretty much up by 2 am. I tried to sleep until 5 ish and then got up for good. I slept in the clothes I would be running in. The race started exactly at 6 am.

    We were lucky too. Earlier in the week had been colder with temperature below freezing. But it warmed back up to 60 ish by race day. Rain though originally was to come on Friday night got moved to Saturday night. Unfortunately, this destroyed a lot of runners, including almost me too.

    This being my second time around, I was not as nervous. Several people around me were. There was a woman from Toronto (Shanon), she would not introduce herself to me, but I ran into her couple times as we prepared to go. No hard feeling. She talked to the lady next to me instead to me, so I still got her life story. Canadians usually are friendly. Maybe my vibe did not go well with her, so she ignored me the whole time. This would be her first/second time running a 100, I think it was second time in the US. I would want to know so much about Toronto, but atlas. Not meant to be. I wanted to ask her why she picked this race. We started out the first loop together, but soon I was second to last runner. She seemed to be a strong runner. Not sure when or why she quit. Usually, why traveling that far, you want to finish nonmatter what.

    I don’t mind people getting ahead of me. I still walked at my pace. Soon I caught up to a few, I still was walking the course. In fact, I walked the first two loops. Total about 43 miles. I was moving at a 15 min pace! I surprised myself too. This was not a power walk I was talking about two years ago. It was just my normal walk! I never realized before I could walk that fast. I don’t power-walk any more because it tired me out easily and because I never trained to power walk. My advice is only power walk if you are trained for it.

    The first loop, I got it under 6 hours. Note, first loop is three miles longer. The second loop, I did it in 5.5 hours. By 5:15 I was back at Remi, with my pacer waiting for me to head out for the evening loop.

    The reason I chose to walk the course was incidental. I said to myself that Wayne, my pacer, is a fast runner (faster than me). If my pace died on the third loop while I am with him, it would be embarrassing, so I better preserve my energy and save it to run with Wayne. I plan to do the last 50 miles under 12 hours or so I thought. I was actually expecting to finish around 10 AM. I thought I had a good chance even by walking it.

    Little did I know, I drank a bit too strong of the Gaterade early in the second loop and it was giving me a slight stomachache at the beginning of the third loop. So I did not eat much at the aid stations.

    By the third loop, it caught up to me and I began to feel tired. We made decent time by walking to halfway, but I could not run with Wayne as I had hoped. I moved along by half shuffling and half walking. I tried to eat as much as possible to make up the lack of food earlier. By 9 pm, I got to Toofy, mile 56. I was still on schedule, but the next 6 miles really took a toll. Instead of 2 hours, it took me three.

    The rain came. Before leaving Toofy, I had put on the rain jacket (thanks to Wayne again to get me a head to toe rain jacket). If I had this at Burning River, I would have finished that race. I did not get wet at this time. I stayed warm and dry inside. However, from Toofy to Temi (mile 56-62) is 6 miles, I suffered. I could hardly moved for some reason, likely from lack of calories. I did not arrive at Remi until 12:15 pm. Initially, I was on target to get there by 11 o clock or earlier. I lost about 1 hour in that section of 6 mile! I noted I did over-stayed at Gunny for 15 minutes and overstayed at Toofy for also 15-20 minutes. Meaning I was moving 2 mile and hour (30 min pace). Loop 3 took me 7 hours. If Loop 4 also takes 7 hours and thast loop also taking 7 hours, I would not have enough time to finish. I would arrive at 2:15 or 2:30 pm, exactly as what ultrasignup predicting, and that being over the 32 hour cut off.

    Anyway, I met fellow runner Meghan on my first loop. She was initially near last position with me. However, she said she could run 84 miles under 24 hours on a course harder than this. In the third loop after Camp Toofy (aid station), she passed me. I knew I could be in trouble when she passed me by. Long story short, after finishing, I looked her name up, and found she DNF’d at the next loop. Rain in the middle of night took a lot of people out. Rain probably caught her too just couple hours later. I was sad when I saw her name on the DNF list.

    I was surprised many stronger runners than me were washed out. Meghan had four chidren. She hired babysitter so her husband could be on the course to help her through the night. It was sad she could not finish it. I might of not let her quit if I was around her. However, at the time, I was not doing well either. I believe Meghan almost made it to the fifth loop.

    I got into Remi at the end of the third loop. It was past midnight. I knew I need to get back out as quickly as possible. Wayne got me a bowl of congee. I went to take care my left foot because there was a hot spot. It was too late because a blister already formed on the bottom. I popped it. Put on new socks. A volunteer helped me put on my shoes and tied the laces. God bless her. She also refilled my water bladder.

    By 12:30 we were out again. 15 mins was a bit too long but I needed that break. Soon I had my energy back. I tried to make to Gunny on a 20 min pace. Gunny was about 5 miles away. I made it there under my estimate, by 2 am ish. My strength continued to sustain. I told Wayne I wish to make it to Toofy (loop4) before 5 AM and back to Remi by 7 AM to start on my last loop. Loop 4 was finished in 6.5 hours. I hit all the targets.

    We got to Toofy by 4:55. I gave myself a 5 min rest. This was the longest 1.2 mile ever from the bouncing bridge to Camp Toofy. We passed by it earlier three times, but it did not feel as long as on the fourth loop for some reason. I think it was at least 3 miles long.

    Sun came up as we near Camp Remi for our last loop. I told Wayne, since he had got me through the night, he could go home and rest. There was no needd for him to go back out. I could finish the race on my own now since it was now morning. I did not stay at Remi long. We had to make it to Gunny on our last loop by 9:00. This may seem a lot of time, but it was not. Those who could keep a 20 min pace, should have no problem, but at this point, I was struggling to even get a 20 min pace. I was planning I would need two hours.

    I started running. We saw 5-6 guys ahead. These were the guys who would finish with me. I saw them earlier on the second loop. We were now back together. Slowly, I passed them all. We entered Gunny at 8:40. 20 minutes ahead of my estimate, but a bit behind the 20 min pace. I grabbed a drink and headed back out. My friend John and Charleen were there recording our time.

    Once out of Gunny, we could take a breather. The next cut off wouldn’t be until 11:30. We had 8 miles left. Wayne recommended me not to go too hard because the trail is slick. Wayne had monitor the Western States 100 lottery drawing the day prior and let me know I got selected. He wanted me to be healthy to be able to run in Western States next June. So for Devil Dog, we had to take care of ourselves and not to race for time.

    We managed to get to Camp Toofy by 11:15. Originally, I was to be there before 11. The station does not close until 11:30, so I was still good, but slightly behind pace. I know I would definitely finish. The required paced from Camp Toofy to the finish was like 22-24 min. I had almost 3 hours to do the final 6 miles. As long as I keep moving even if I was as slow as during my third loop the evening before, I should be able to finish on time.

    My pacer, Wayne, set a good 25-26 mins pace. The rest (six) of us follows. He said I could move a bit slower but not too slow because then I could start cooling down and it would be hard to get me moving once cooled off. Indeed, a few times I stopped for bathroom break, I found it was incredibly hard to get back on pace. The last stretch was the hardest as in any races but particularly this race. It was more technical. There were more rocks. More of everything. There were also hills. It is about 6 miles long. My goal to Rally to its halfway called Point Charlie (unmanned water point) by 12:30 pm. We arrived around 12:40 pm. I had 1 hour and 20 mins to do the final 3 hours. In earlier loops, this section only should take about 45 minutes.

    Unlike last year, when I thought my body might slow down even more here and I might not be able to finish it. This time, I was pretty sure I could finish. Out of the six guys among us, two had pressed ahead six miles out. Two remained with us until here and then put an extra effort to be ahead. Because they are slow at the technical sections, I was able to stay on their tail. Ben and another guy Jon were not that far behind me. This was Ben N. 3rd Devil Dog 100. We pretty much finished within 5 mins of one another. In theory, I could run the last three miles. However, consider, my running pace might be at most 5 mins faster than my walking pace, I only gain at most 15 mins by running. I might finish at 1:30 instead of 1:45. If it were six miles out, by runing the final 6 miles, I might have come in at 1:10-1:15. My pacer was right. He said the finish is now certain, urged me to consider the bigger picture because the trail here is dangerous after the rain, we needed to finish it in a safe manner, so I can have a chance at next year amazing race.

    I did get a second wind, and my walk gait was a bit faster. I entered the finish line full of joy. My friend Caroline came out after church. She looked for me at the last half mile and found me. Same for several other families who were looking for their runners. It was very exciting at the last few minutes of the race. We all pretty much know one another. No one here was cut or unable to finish now before 2 pm. We all who were still on the trail made it in. The sweeper came in within minutes of the closing. My last loop took 6:45 hours. I could have got it under 6.5, or even 6, but a finish is a finish.

    I was excited to see Caroline. She took all the final photos of me. Mike Edwards who helped me last year at the finish line did the same this year. I just found out this guy completed a 200 mile this year and he will repeat it next year. It is a race, I wanted to do myself. I salute him. He ushered me into the mess hall and got me something good. Hot tea etc. He took care of Caroline too even though she did not run. I had a good bowl of bean, cheese, and taco type lunch. My bowl was filled to the brim. I didn’t know what it is but it was good. Bob G. was there. It was so good to be praise by this famous Bob. This race was his creation, literally. He was part of the original crew who came up the concept behind it. It was quite cheerful to see all the behind the scene people. Even after 32+ hours, the place was alive! I did not suffer a bit of sleep deprivation this time around.

    Photo taken by Caroline, about half to a mile from the finish. I thought we had arrived when I saw her. Did not know we were still quite a way out. There were three or more climbs left.
    Taken by Caroline, from the finish line. Last year, I struggled up this final hill.
    Picture by Charleen on the very last loop at Gunny, mile 86. Rain finally stopped

    Same as last year, my friends were instrumental in getting me to the finish. They said it so all me, but I know if not for them, I might have quit in the middle of the night. This would have been a very different report. It was certainly good to have a pacer. Wayne stayed with me for the entire 3 loops. He even had to walk/run 1-2 miles to his car, since crew were not allow to park near the start and finish area (for safety to runners, friends and spectators). So he really had a 100k day in around 20 hours. I know if he was by himself, he might able to do 100k in 17-18 hours or less. I ubderstand it is just as hard running way slower than your pace as in running faster than your nornmal pace.

    Coda/Epilogue: Caroline and Wayne already said they wanted to be with me at Western States. I kind of allude to this. I was on my second loop when my name was chosen to run in Western States. It was a live drawing happening on the west coast at the time. My phone started going off with congratulatory messages. It is a coveted race like the Boston Marathon, except for trail runners and there is a lottery system unlike the Boston Marathon. Everyone on course too were offering me words of congratulations. People I did not know were calling me out, saying that guy got into Western States. Amanda Lichy, fellow runner and friend and a volunteer at the Devil Dog was third person who congratulated me on the course. How did the word get out so quickly! I was double happy when I finished the Devil Dog. I had something to look forward to. With these two friends, I felt I definitely will do well. I lined myself up with a 2nd pacer too (Susan, who is a local trail runner in Sacramento). They have been constantly giving me tips how to run the Western States, even before I finished the Devil Dog (and to go for the Grand Slam! More about that in future posts). Everyone was enthusiastic! In a sense a race is never fully finish! There is always a next one.

  • [Day596] WS training w1

    Some have asked me how will I train for Western States 100. I have no idea, but the Run’s (the race organization seems to prefer to use the word Run over Race) website has good write ups on how to train for it.

    Main points I got out were to train running in the heat 100F and above at least 2 weeks out for the body to adjust to it. It might seem foolish, but some suggested to run with a winter coat on for that 100F heat experience.

    Second is the course is mostly downhill, training for long downhill run is important so as to prevent the quad muscles from seizing up. I experienced that before in a marathon, this is 10 times that.

    Elevation: It will be a race I have never done before. The elevation 22000 up is a bit high. The first and longest climb is 2500 ft over 4.5 miles. It is average 555 ft per mile.

    Time limit: is 30 hours. I ran about 10 100 mile races and only finished two under 30 hours and the elevation gain was in couple thousands. Time is a factor.

    Computer prediction: The computer is way off I think of predicting me to finish 24.5 hours. It did give me the confident to sign up though. Well, I signed up before knowing the prediction. I am in the 60% percentile. It neither predicting I could or could not finish.

    Knowing I am going to run it regardless the outcome, I started training. Since I just finished the Devil Dog 100, the first day was still pretty sore. I walked a mile on Tuesday. By Thursday, my legs were better. I could do about five miles.

    Weekend Saturday was my long run. I did 20 miles, not much, but on a trail with some elevation, at Signal Knob. It was a place I went maybe 2019 to start my trail training for the JFK.

    It seems to be good if 2700 ft in a about 10 mile loop, is enough vertical and long stretches of downhill for me to train for WS.

    My time was not that good. It took me 4 hours on the first loop. Second loop was on tired feet and I finished in 3:45 in medium effort. I think might get it down to 3:30 ish. The goal if possible to get it down to 3 without exhausting myself.

    I have about 25 weeks to train. I haven’t counted up the weeks yet, but half a year is about 25 weeks. Give myself couple weeks of break, plus tapering.

  • [Day595] Fairfax Turkey Trot 4 mile run

    Fall is full of races. Turkey Trot is everyone’s favorite race.

    My friends and I just finished running Stone Mill not long ago and we were half joking around that we should do more races together. I suggested or proposed we do a turkey run and if they had any plan for one.

    Every year I run either the Fairfax Mantua 4 miler or the Ashburn 10k on Thanksgiving. Not so much as to give back to the community, though most races on Thanksgiving are charity in nature, but I wanted to run the longest distance I could find (a few years ago, 10K was a long distance to me), anything but a 5K and not too exhausting. These two races fit the bill.

    I have been alternating back and forth from either those two from year to year. This year I wanted to expand my choices to try something new, so I was contemplating either to try Centreville 5k or Reston 5k. I was about to sign up for the Reston one because it was on trail.

    The guys wrote back, saying lets do Columbia Island 5k (they had 10k as well). We just finished a 50 miler a week ago, so we were not ready for a 10k, 5k seemed perfect. Columbia Island was a bit far for me but its location is closer for my friends who are from the downtown (DC). They could bike there instead of driving out to the suburb of where I am. I don’t go downtown unless for work.

    The day of Thanksgiving arrived. I woke up a bit late than I wanted but it was fine. The race wasn’t going to start until 8:00. I had about two hours to get to the Columbia Island, which is just across from the Pentagon, where the marina is. I have not driven thete before other than ran by maybe once. My GPS showed the estimated traveling time about 20-ish minutes, which was not bad. In our area, we have to plan an hour ish driving time usually to get anywhere. Our traffic problem was like top 10 in the nation, might be top 5 in some reports. I planned to arrive there maybe an hour before the race to get settle in. As far as I know, I was on schedule. There was not any traffic on the road, since it was Thanksgiving, and it was relatively early.

    However, while on the Interstate, another friend called me on the phone. While talking with her, I took a wrong exit off the highway, 7 miles earlier. I was not too sure if the turn was correct, but by the time I confirmed I was lost, I had probably ate up 15-20 minutes. Apparently there were 3 exits with the same name for Route 29. I took one too early instead waiting for the last one. This made a difference if I could get to the race on time or not. I figured, 8 miles, no problem. I probably still have half hour of time.

    It was a particular exit where once you got off you couldn’t turn around to get back on the highway. There was no on ramp from there except off ramps. I had to take the local roads to get to the race site and I was still 7 miles out. As it would have it, every single block, I encountered redlights after redlights. Initially, I had the patience to wait it out, but it was Thursday morning, with no other cars on the road but me. It was frustrating to stop for no reason. Not once but the entire road. Some blocks were short. I could see five or six blocks down, and I was stopped at every single block. Initially, I had an hour to spare, then it became half hour and less. By the time I got to within a mile, I knew, I only had 15 minutes before the start. There would probably no parkings left being this late to the race.

    What I did not mention was the day before the race, I also found out I have registered to run at Fairfax Mantua community couple months ago. Its start time was an hour later, so I could still make it. I still had to use local roads but apparently the lights seemed to favor cars leaving the city than entering, so I did not have to stop once after I turned around and going back out west. It was so strange. In about 15 minutes, I made it to my second race and I still had an hour to spare. I was also lucky to get into one of the last few parking spots remaining. I picked up my bib. There was no stress exactly how it should be.

    In situation like this, I felt, why should I struggle to go to the first race when everything seemed to set against me. The closer I got to that race the more problems I seemed to encounter. Once I turn around, all problems seemed to vanish. No lies. It was the weirdest morning. So, I was at peace once I set out for the Mantua race.

    The morning was warm. I ran this race like 4-5 times so the course was familar to me. We had a record turn out with 1500+ participants. I did not check if I PR’d (set my personal record) on the course but I was faster than last year with a time of 37:34.

    This was after the Bay Bridge incident. So I was a bit used to being deflated at a race. Though I felt I have redeemed back my race, still I was some what salty about not being able to get to Columbia Island. I felt I tried so hard to do a race and did not succeed. There were just so much effort in term the logistics, it took the joy out even when I get to run. I missed the days back when I did not have any of the complications. It was on Thanksgiving no less, so I should look at the bright side, at least I had a back up option. Give Thanks I could run!

    Some crazy stuff at this community, several neighbors set up tables outside their houses and offer drinks (beer and strong stuff). Most people bypass them, but I took a few shots. It was quite fun. I used to stay away from this kind of craziness.

    Until next year. I do love Mantua race even though it was not intended, but I ended up there.

    Arriving at the start. We had one of the warmest Thanksgivings. We still had 20+ minutes left before the start, yet everyone was gathering

  • [Day594] Space Coast

    Little did I know there is a bigger excitement (or plan) for me for next year. The news of me getting selected to run the Western States next year put a different light on everything, including the things I originally planned to write like this Space Coast Marathon. The year is not over yet for me. I also lost for words and my memory from Space Coast seems a little too distanced away for me to recall.

    Why is that? I will try as best to remember about this race not too long ago over the Thanksgiving weekend and then will move on to the next post. Because I have still a lot to say, because a lot had happened this few days.

    Space Coast crossed my mind as a race to run from time to time. First I wanted to see rockets. Second I wanted to see Cocoa Beach. Actually, I don’t really want to see the rocket itself. What I wanted to see was the launching of the rocket. I like to see the monent when force pushing the rocket upward exceeds the force of gravity. As a little delusion myself think I could see a space launch there every day, like fireworks at night, right?

    As for Cocoa Beach, it is because of Mario Kart, and it probably has nothing to do with reality. I was glad when I found out Cocoa Beach actually exists though it might not be like in the game. Space Coast Marathon actually takes place near it. It seems silly to pick a race because of a childhood’s memory of a video game. But anyway, those were my reasons. Finally, of course to cross one of my 50 states races.

    I did not plan to go down to Florida to run Space Coast this year because, I thought my schedule was too full already. In the beginning of the year, one of my friends wanted to go. So I started making plans, like checking for airfare, researching the race, the race cost, the registration, the pre-race instructions and so forth. Then I found it takes place during Thanksgiving. I was then reluctant to sign up because airfare would be higher and traveling would be hectics with so many other people flying during the holiday.

    As the day of the race approached, the airfare lowered a bit and I bit my tongue to commit, even after my friend backed out from going. I was able to find a time where I did not have to fly a red-eye flight for cheap ticket. I also decided instead of flying out Thurday or Friday, I flew on Saturday to save some money and also to spend the holiday at home. I could come back immediately Sunday night. The schedule just worked out. I saved a night or two on hotel too.

    Car rental was cheaper than I expected. There were offers of $5-$15 car rental. It was too good to be true. Indeed. I won’t call it a scam but it was close to one. If it is really a scam, the government would have shut it down. The reason for the low prices was because they were located off airport. The company I picked, while promised free shuttle pick up at the airport once I arrived, did not show after an hour of waiting. There was a phone number to call but it connected to an auto prompt system. I then checked on the company’s reviews (yes, should have done that first), everyone said it is a scam and the wait for a car is very long and they would nickle and dime you. The moment I saw that, I understood, I have been fooled. Instead of waiting more time to connect to a teller, I walked back into the airport where they had counters for the national brand car rental companies. I randomly chose one on the spot I know should be cheap. Went online to make an immediate reservation. I got my car in less than 5-10 minutes. Easy. The car was immediately ready for pickup without a hassle. I lost money with my first rental, but I figured I do not have an energy to fight for my back. The second rental was not too expensive either, maybe few times more, but the total was still way below the national average. I had car rentals that were more expensive than my hotel bills. This here was still relatively cheap, I think between $15-20. Much cheaper than hailing for an Uber ride.

    I stayed at a cheaper hotel as usual instead of the race’s host hotel. The same afternoon, I went to pick up my race package. I believe mailing the race bib ahead of time was not an option. We had to pick it up in person.

    I stayed a bit. The package pick up was the same location as the start and finish line. Not exactly the same but they were in the vicinity. I also learned that parking spots would be hard to come by at the Cocoa Water Front Park.

    For race day, we had several different options where to park. I parked at the public library which was about maybe half a mile away. I did not mind the walk. There were closer parking lots maybe within a quarter mile from the start, but I felt I might not be that lucky person to get spot and also after the race finished, I might have a hard time getting out among all the traffic. Library seemed to be the location not affected by the race day road closures.

    Geography. The race is in the city Cocoa which is different from Cocoa Beach. About maybe 7 miles away. It is not too far away. I did not know that until I arrived (I am not that good at remembering what I read in my research). The host hotels and my hotel were in the island over. I stayed on Merritt Island. Due to time constraint, I did not explore the place much. I do like the place because it reminded me of my former country in Vietnam, at least just a bit because of the tropical weather. Florida is pleasant to visit in the winter. It is a place I want to stay after I retired as do so many people.

    Instead of visiting Cape Canaveral or Cocoa Beach, I decided to walk around the area near my hotel. I walked maybe couple miles to a buffet place and had an early dinner and then walked back. By the time I got back, the sun had set and it was the right time to sleep because I would have to be up early.

    I believe the race started at 6:30, my memory is a bit vague now. I had to be up by 3:30 AM to be at the race parking lot by 4, to fight for my spot. They do have a shuttle on Merritt Island, but I did not want to depend on the shuttle since I wanted to stay around after the race and would not want to be bounded by the shuttle’s schedule. I believed I was a bit late arriving than what planned, but I was at the Library a little after 4. There were other runners arrived but I did get a parking spot.

    Then it was the long wait for the start. It might seem long to wait for two hours but by the time I walked from the car to the start, there was a decent amount of time spent. The place already had people, milling about. Soon more and more arrived as the shuttle buses came. I got everything I needed. There were about a thousand marathon runners and maybe twice as many for the half marathoners. The place probably had few thousand people, plus volunteers, vendors, and friends and families.

    They offered drop bag service but to me the weather was perfect and I did not need to wear a jacket, so did not have anything to drop off. I guess, it was good to change into clean clothes once the race is done.

    I spent my time waiting for the bathroom. Since, I arrived early, the line was not too long. I also spent my time walking around. It was good to know exactly where I was. I am not a map reading person. I could read map but I prefer to actually walk the place to know my location and soak it in. Walking around served as a warm up. So yes, I walked around for two hours before the marathon start.

    The course is easier than most other marathons I did. The start and finish is located in the middle. It is an out and back to the north for a half marathon and another out and back to the south for the second half marathon. We as marathon runners would run both the north and then southern route. There is no way of getting lost except when near the finish when we arrive back at the city Cocoa or unless they start to close the course, then yes, one would need to know where to go.

    The half marathoners could choose which ever direction they wanted to run beforehand (the bib is color coded, so one can’t change their mind on the spot). The north side has a stricter time limit while the south side does not have time limit other than when the full marathon ends at 7:30 hours (and when the break down the aid stations and reopen the roads). They also have a sweep wagon to pick up runners. North runner would start first before the people who were running the south course.

    We started in the middle of the street. North bound half marathoners started with us in the dark. I don’t remember if I wore a headlamp because it was still dark. With so many people, generally you don’t need one. Some did. I think I didn’t wear one. The streets I believe were lit.

    I started at the very last wave. They had informal corrals. I met an older gentleman, probably the oldest runner on the course. His name was Bob. He has done Space Coast 8-10 times. He told me about the roads etc because I said I don’t know where to go because I had not really study the course. He said he knows the course by heart because he would be coming in after they take down the directions, etc.

    The morning was nice. Since I started very last, I was slowly catching up. I passed different pacers. I don’t remember but I felt they had more pacers here than at the Philadelphia marathon, at least for the slower people. Soon I caught up to the 5:00 pace groups. There were two pacers. One would run an even pace and another would do run/walk. I think that was pretty interesting.

    My goal of that day was to beat the 5 hour people. I know I don’t want to join the pace group but would go on my own.

    Soon I caught up to the 4:45 and then passed them. I was straining to see the 4:30 people. It was not my day. The weather was getting warmer. I was tired soon. Miles went by. We had aid stations every two miles or so. Some neighbors would also set out their tables with adult beverages and some had nice fresh fruits, breads and snacks. Some only leave a cooler with a sign letting us know the snacks or food are for us. Not many people are brave enough to try stranger’s food, besides I think, everyone remember the rule of not trying new things on race day!

    For me I had an iron stomach so I would stop at any stations available but avoid the official ones due to crowding.

    I felt the crowd support and atmosphere was great. It is a small town, so it would not be like Philadelphia, but people were welcoming and I had a good time.

    The road was closed for us. Though some residents (one, at least) did try to drive among the crowd of runners. Some runners were trying to report that to the police or security officers.

    I did fine the first half. It is usually the second half that give me trouble. I got to the halfway point, and went out for the south route. There I saw the the fast marathoners coming in for the finish as well as the half marathoners.

    I ran with couple people. I saw Bob a few times, usually at some turn around points and I waved and encouraged him. He remembered me and pressed on. I know for him it is a harder race than it was for me.

    I had few more miles left before finishing. The 4:45 pacer passed me back. I was trying to hold off the 5:00 pacers. The finishing loop was pretty exciting. We came out at the park where the expo was and people who finished were staying around to cheer. It was where they served food, drinks and music. So I thought it must be the finish around the corner. People were cheering me on, so I ran faster.

    Little did I know the finish was maybe half more to 3 quarters of a mile. It was to the end of the road that is far far away near the bridge that crosses to Merritt Island. Interesting indeed. Of course, after finishing, runners would have to walk back to the Park where the party was held. Fun indeed on tired legs. Usually, there were friends waiting and walking along, so it would not be too bad.

    I finished under 5. I think around 4:53 (too lazy to look it up). I was torn whether to stay at the finish and cheer for people who were about to enter in or walk to to Park to enjoy myself with food and stuff.

    I chose to walk back. And cheered at the Park and scammed runners like I was scammed earlier by saying the finish is just a little more around the corner. Fun. Some runners were jaitbaited but some knew the course and would not be fooled.

    I stayed for three more hours or so. Soon there were fewer people finishing. They were already taking down the baricades on the road from the Park to where the finish line was. Some runners coming in around 7 hours to later were confused as where to go. I acted as a race course volunteer and pointed to people which way to go. Some had family or friends to guide them. Some I ran with with them.

    Soon after a while, it seemed nobody would appear, I decided to walk further up the course to try to find Bob. I found one runner who was still on the course and I asked him, if he had seen Bob. He said is here wearing such and such color. I said yes. He saw him. He said while at a mile out, there was a bus/van to pick up runners since they would not make it to the finish by 7:30 hours. Many got on the bus, but not him (the guy I was taking to). He said there would be no way for him to quit a mile out even if the time has expired. He though was not sure if Bob has quit. In his opinion, Bob would not do so. I didn’t think so either.

    So I waited a bit more. Bob did show up. I ran with Bob to the finish. He came in under 8 hours. I thought he was the last runner, but there was another runner after him. They gave him a medal and he was considered an official finisher. I was so happy for him.

    I learned a bit, that is never give up even if it passed the impossible. Even though the race might close at 7:30 hours but they might also still keep the clock runners for those who refused to quit.

    The rest of my day in Florida was uneventful. I went for sushi. Then I had to make my connection home. The airport was as busy as it could be. I got through security without any issues (through the pre-check line). It was a long wait for my plane at 9 pm. It was delayed and so forth. The food court was too crowded. I was hungry but was not willing to wait in line. Anyway, it was as expected a long trip home. Also about the car rental, I had forgotten which company I got my car from and that was fun little trip I took driving around to find out. Later, I found my rental agreement and everything was solved.

    Overall, I enjoyed my travel and my run. I saw many runners. Some were very grateful when they arrived at near the finish to see me cheered and encouraged them. One lady complained that she had to run still a bit more. I shared with her, she does not have to, she can stop here, however, both she and I knew it wouldn’t be a finish. She reluctantly ran the course. Later she came back to thank me. I asked, does that last mile worth it? She said certaintly, beaming with her medal in hand.