In awe

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  • [Day570]

    Nothing much to report. Been distracted by various things.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • BR100 report [Day569]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Summary: If I could do again:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Eve of burning river 100 [Day568]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • [Day567]

    Summer. Heat. Sweat.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • [Day566]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Catoctin 50k [Day565]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Happy 4th [Day564]

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

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

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

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

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

    I wish I’d never lost the passion.

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

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

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

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

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

    Anyway… It is a pipe dream.

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

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

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

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

    Anyway.

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

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

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

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

  • OSS/CIA 50 [Day563]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Another week [Day562]

    I am behind on a post or so, because nothing much (of interesting things) happened in my life. I go to work, I come home, and I get tired, and I sleep. Then I repeat. You can get tired by not doing anything. Also, you can get tired and can’t fall asleep. That is the worst.

    The post marathon blue really hits me hard this time around. My last marathon was in May. Someone please help me get out of this, jk.

    I don’t know if this is consistently happening every year, but I go through this cycle of being bored, then sign up for races, run them and get bored again.

    I ran, I trained, then I now in a phase where I pause. For what? I don’t know. I just don’t feel like doing much.

    Sure I want to run more. If only I can go to say the Grand Canyon and do the Rim to Rim to Rim (R2R2R), to run from one side of the canyon to the other side and back. That would be an epic adventure. Why don’t I? Because it is hard!

    There are times where I just have the spirit to sit down and take care of all the logistics in one shot. But I hate to make decisions.

    How I got the Bay Bridge signed up was my friend was next to me and and kind of telling me what to do. Bay Bridge is one of those big races like the Rim-toRim, but instead we are closing the longest bridge in our area (the Chesapeake Bay). It is about 4 miles long, so it makes a good 10K.

    When I was a younging runner a few years back, I dreamed of cross that bridge on foot. I actually did sign up, but lo and behold we have the pandemic and it was canceled or something. I was offerred to run as a virtual event. I received a virtual medal (it was a real one, they sent to me).

    Anyway, then I lost interest to do it after I came to run much longer distance. The glamor and novelty kind of worn off.

    Here I am again to give it a second go because my friend was thinking of going to do it but reluctant because he wanted to do an ultra the day before (Stone Mill), one which I actually signed up.

    I said surely you (or me) could do two events on the same weekend. So it is a new challenge to me. I know I could run a 50 mile and a 10K the next day. It is not even an issue. So I signed up.

    What I was going to write though was I had a thought while driving home that most of us can be a one dimension person. I am. I was thinking how light is polarize. In that with certain lense you could filter out its components. I was thinking how some streamers on social media can be so famous such as they get tons of views on their stuff when they post certain subjects. For example, I know some cosplayers, where they get tons of likes in their cosplay postings, but when they become their every-day-self say their game play on twitch, they have no viewers. However, they love doing their less glamorous stuff.

    Anyway, I was thinking, like how I like running and posting about running. I don’t know how to write about any other things. But as I was thinking light and EM wave (electro-magnetic) can be polarize, and it dawns on me, when people read my stuff, what if they have a polarized lense on, and I my topic is outside of their interest, I am like the polarised light get filtered out. Anyway, it is fine. It was just an insight while commuting to work.

    My life is pretty boring. I was thinking on what to write. Then of course, I write about the topics I like.

    Another thing I think is very impactful to me was during my run at the MMT Race. My friend was telling me to make time my friend because time was my enemy/challenge during that race since I was afraid I might get behind on my pace.

    Making time my friend is easier said than done. However, it means to me is to make the most of my time. In that race, it means to run smart. Always moving. Always look for ways to cut down the time. It means be faster at the aid stations, be faster getting out, be faster at climbing, be faster at coming down. Run when possible. No waste energy etc. It helps. It carries into life too.

    I have been thinking a lot, of what can be done now as whether to do it later. Yes, many times it pushes me forward.

    I ended the week with a surprised. I will be taking part in a 50 mile race, called OSS/CIA. It was a race I wanted to do last year or the year earlier. I got to know the race director these last couple years. It is a small world. Last weekend (two weeks ago, and three weeks by the time this is published) I was at the Old Dominion Race. I was cheering for my runner and some of my friends. Alex, was there. I did not connect him to being the RD of the OSS/CIA. He was crewing the second place finisher and some other runners. He knew me, but I didn’t know him. We chatted and such. Lo and behold, tonight we had the pre-race meeting, and he said hello, nice seeing you at the Old Dominion, and I looked closer. It was him! Silly me.

    That’s all for now. I don’t get everything solved in my life. Things are hectic. There is no perfect life. I don’t have to. I am just trying to hold onto a tiny piece where I found perfection.

    By the way OSS/CIA is hard. They say maybe 50-60 percent will finish. I remembered running that course (same as the Devil Dog), where it takes me 7 hours to do 26 miles. So looking at the course cut off of 13 hours, I will be a bit tight in time.

    Oh, note to self, half a year review is near. I need to refocus and get my second half of the year together.