In awe

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  • 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.

  • [Day572]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • training day [Day571]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • [Day570]

    Nothing much to report. Been distracted by various things.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • BR100 report [Day569]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Summary: If I could do again:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Eve of burning river 100 [Day568]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • [Day567]

    Summer. Heat. Sweat.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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