In awe

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  • Last training for MMT [Day546]

    I posted on other social media about this last run. However, I did not go into too much details. It was quite a fun adventure, I lost a glove twice that night, same pair, and I got lost myself when I decided to back track to look for it the second time. Yes, how can you get lost by backtracking, but you can! All I am saying is it meant to be lost. The training run went well overall. I finished by 3 am. I stayed for the night and did an extra run the next day. Here is the full scope.

    Last year I was trying to run the MMT 100. Someone (Iris) suggested that I should do their training runs. I was nervous because they called their training runs the Massanutten Academy! You have to apply for it! Later I found out it was just a silly thing. The runs are free. Anyone can join. There were four training runs spanned over four months before the race. And you can sign up each one individually with no commitment to go to the next one or even have to be registered for the MMT race itself. The actual race is in May.

    This year I heard about it early and I signed up for all four runs. Tonight training was the last of the four.

    The training runs were to be on the actual course. Three of them would be enough to cover every mile of the course. The last one was a bonus night run on the hardest and final section of the MMT course.

    This was the section that derailed my race last year. It was also the night time. The training was very important in planning how to deal with it this year. The third training already covered the similar ground. Just having it at night gives the actual race day condition since most of us would arrive at this section some point when we were most tired and vulnerable and the hardest section. Most of us could do well during the day time, but night time when we are out of our comfort zone, that is where it gets hard.

    The MMT 4th training event started at 7 pm. I arrived before 4 pm, first to get a parking spot, and second to do some day time exploring. One other car also arrived before me. They were already out running by the time I pulled in. Though they and I would all be back at the parking lot to sign in at 7 to start with the rest. There were more than 50 of us running this.

    There was a mile stretch from the Picnic Area aid station to Rt 211 Parking Lot. Last year, this section took me an hour to cover (maybe around mile 87-88 in the real race). So I went out on it to figure out why and to get a better feel of the trail. Indeed, during day time and being full of energy, I had no problem with this section. I walked back and forth at least twice. I learned the trail cold. I was confident I could do this little section on race day. Funny how seemingly I made an ant hill into a mountain last year. There were a lot of this kind of aha moments during the training run.

    By 6 pm the rest of the runners showed up. We had a full house. Some people came from far away like Ohio and Pennsylvania to do this training run. The race director (the night event coordinator Larry) and a few also said this year had the most turnouts.

    By a little before 7 pm, we took a group picture and crossed over Rt 211 to begin the run. The traffic stopped for us. I met a lot of friends I made previously on other trainings, Amanda, Costi, Stuart, Carl, Jeff, Morty, and some I couldn’t remember the name, but seeing them again brought happiness. Many will be running in the real race in May.

    I started out slowly. Many and all passed me. Amanda and I were ones left behind, as usual, and I called myself an unofficial sweeper. Generally, in a race there is a person to pick up trashes and take care of people in the back and that is the sweeper. That was fine with me. Amanda set a good walking pace and I did not mind unlike last year where I tried to get ahead of slowpokes. I know this was a run, and last year I did run it. I knew I wanted the race day pace. No need to run faster than that. Amanda dialed it in perfectly. I knew I would make the midnight halfway point cut off at the Visitor Center.

    I knew Amanda from last year training runs. She was a friend of a friend. Her pacer Ram, was an amazing helper to me during my Devil Dog 100. I am forever grateful to him. Amanda has not done well in recent races. Tonight was the first time I saw her again. Well, I met her once at Stone Mill 50 last November but we did not get a chance to catch up in that race.

    There were a time we were alone. It was uphill. We got on the Orange trail after an hour in. Night was coming. We caught up to John. Amanda did not pass John. I was kind of impatient but I held my tongue. At the time, I did not know who John was.

    John started to talk about various things. He was not training for the MMT, his wife, I think is. He ran the MMT last year. This year he is training for the Eastern States 100. If you know Eastern States is a very hard race and I don’t think I can run it. He got my respect when he mentioned that. John has done the Barkley. I was not sure if that the fall classic or the real Barkley. Wow I was in the present of a superstar (I met a few that night). Indeed duing the uphill section, John was very strong. There was no way I would be able to pass him and I was glad I did not because I would have made an ass out of myself later.

    We reached the top when the last light was fading. It was around 8:45. We then was racing downhill. We caught with John’s wife Charleen. I then realized this couple were manning the aid station on the last MMT training. They know me but I didn’t know them by name until this run.

    sunset, as we were about to descend into Gap Creek II (Amanda was up ahead, right behind John. The bright light is from John. He was using a chest lamp as well as a head torch)

    This hill tonight seemed easy. It took us only couple hours to reach here. With maybe 3 hours left to get down onto Gap Creek II station, climb Jawbone, and traverse over Kerns, and run to Visitor Center. The cutoff is around midnight at the Visitor Center. I was confident we would make it even though there was a lot of miles to go.

    Getting over the first hill, here at Scothorn trail was what led me a DNF during last year MMT. It was incredible hard between mile 90-95. I just could not bring forth any energy at the time.

    It did not seem that hard tonight. Charleen set a good downhill speed. We reached the road pavement. John led us across the creek with our feet kept dry. Once on the road, Charleen, Amanda and I raced to the aid station about a mile to 2 miles away. It was a long run but we held a steady pace at least of 12 min mile or faster. Might even be at 10 mins but none of us were out of breath. John fell behind.

    At the aid station, we all did our various things. Some used the restroom behind some trees. Some readjusted their pack, or put on layers. Temperture was dropping. We started the run in upper 60s but very soon, we were feeling it was in the low 50s and we knew it would continue to fall to low 30s by midnight. I started to see my own breath. I refilled my water. Got some sodas, and cookie chips. This was the last stop before midnight. The time was around 9 pm. We had a long way to go.

    In the 100 mile race, after Creek Gap II, we would have 5 miles of road to the finish. However, tonight, we changed to Gap Creek I (mile 65-67 in the MMT course) by going to Kerns Mountain. Kerns Mountain is the roughest section in the whole race in my opinion. The first time I was on this, I had to used hands and knees, ya, crawling over rocks and boulders. It was slow going.

    But first we had to climb Jawbone. John and Charleen led the pack (John caught back up). I took the last position. Halfway up, Stuart and another guy went the wrong way and we found them while they were backtracking. So our group of 4 became a group of 6. It was a joy to have a bigger group. I met Stuart from previous runs.

    Amanda could not keep up with John’s pace and she stopped for a break. I stayed with her while the rest of the group continued on. Stuart and his friend passed us. Again I was in the last position.

    Tonight I was not in a rush. I wanted to simulate my race day pace. Precisely going up Jawbone was what messed me up last year. People were passing me on this section, and it was about 2 am at the time, and I became anxious during the race to push extra hard. I became even more out of breath, etc. It ended up costing me more time later on (of 6 hours to traverse Kerns instead of 2 hours).

    Tonight, when Amanda decided to stop for a breather, I stopped too. Amanda was much better this year compared to last year. She got sick last year. She only stopped once ascending Jawbone.

    When we got to Kerns, we caught back up with John and his group. Amanda kept a close pace behind them. I kept a looser pace. If it was an easier section I could hop over rocks and catch up easily. However, I took extra time in more difficult sections. Most of the time, we were 50-100 yards apart. Sometimes though I could get right behind them.

    What I learned tonight was my balance had improved since a month ago. I had trouble on this section previously and that was during day time. Now at night, even without shining light on the path, my feet found their footing. It was almost like I couldn’t fall. I hit all the right rocks. My ankles were strong. I was not tripping or rolling my ankles or slipping. Every step was sure and full of confident. I was moving at a good pace. I could run it if I wanted. I walked fast and at times I tried running. All system was good.

    Kerns was a long section. I was more mentally prepared. Soon though we reached Q’s view. We know we would be near to Crisman Road. Once on the road, we would run again. We were ahead of our pace. We had maybe two miles to reach the (Massanutten’s) Visitor Center. Amanda put on a steady pace. We left John and Charleen behind. Soon we caught up to Stuart and his companion. We went on to passed some other people.

    There was a white van near the end of this section. Some runners were concern about the van following them, especially female runners. The time was near midnight and we were on a remote trail. There shouldn’t be anyone driving around on this part of mountain. One runner was scared enough and waited for us to join up so we would pass the van together. The van seemed to be stalking us. Amanda mentioned she had similar experience last year and she had to hide in the woods until the van disappeared.

    We had no more scary incident afterward. We crossed over Rt 211 to the Visitor Center. There were a whole crew of people waiting for us.

    I flopped down to the nearest camp chair next to the firepit. We made the cut off. It was a little passed 11:30. I believed I stayed for nearly 20 minutes. Soon I remembered I needed to fill up my hydration pack. John and Charleen would not do the next half but instead going to hike two miles back to Rt 211 parking where our cars were parked.

    I grabbed some fries and peirogis from Dan (our MMT RD, overlord). Amanda was waiting for me. I thought her husband was coming to pace her and I didn’t know she was waiting for me otherwise I would have been quicker at the aid station.

    We set off for Bird Knob. Stuart and his friend just arrived and we couldn’t wait for them. In the 100 mile race, this was an even harder climb after Kerns Mountain. I blacked out on this section during last year race. Tonight though I was full of energy. I let Amanda lead. It was a hard climb up. The moon came out. I believe it was a full moon.

    Once on Bird Knob, it was not too bad. It was just long. We reached the purple trail. We almost missed it but Amanda had good sense once we passed it, she knew. We knew to back tracked. We found the purple trailhead. Someone had knocked down the post indicating the turn.

    Purple to pink trail was not hard to find. Indeed it was long section too, maybe 6-8 miles. It took us like three hours. We reached the picnic area and made the turn on the Orange trail. Lucky we did not miss the trail but we found two other people who missed it. A third person was hurt and stayed at the Picnic Area to be picked up. We did not know until we finished. We had a mile to go to get back to 211 parking. Amanda was very good here. We arrived at 3:20.

    Meaning the entire 25 miles took us 8 hours and 20 minutes. Meaning for the 100 mile, it would took us 33:20 hour:min. This is definitely an acceptable time. The race cutoff for this year is 36 hours. I felt I was only using 30 % of my effort. I was not rushing. I felt at this slow walking pace I definitely would make the final cutoff on race day.

    I told Amanda, she has to keep this pace to finish and keep the time at the aid stations short. Not like tonight because I spent ungodly amount of time at the Visitor Center. Got to keep it down to 5 mins or less. In the real race, we have a total of 2:30 hours for aid stations and pace slowdown due to being tired. If there will be 10 stations, then we could stay up to 15 minutes, but of there will be close to 20 stations, we can only stay at most 7 mins. So, plan the stops carefully.

    Conclusion: We were the last two out of 50 runners. By keeping a steady walking pace, we ended up passing about 6-7 people and we were no longer the DFL (dead fricking last). If we keep this same strategy of not rushing, we could do the same on race day. It does not matter which position we start in but which position we will finish. If we finish around 33 hours, we would be ahead of maybe 50 people!

    My personal plan is — likely on race day, I will be going at the same pace as Amanda, till mile 62-67. I will ram up the pace as we near the end. I know it is easier to say than done. If Amanda could keep up with me, we will finish together. By 50 miles, I know whether she will be able to keep up or not. She will have a team of pacers helping her after mile 50. I plan to do Kerns Mountain and the few sections after at a faster pace than last year. I think this time I will finish it. The web signup, puts me in the 32 hours finish time. Last year, I would not believe this, but this time after finishing Blackbeard’s Revenge in 26 hours, I believe I am capable of the MMT under 32 hours.

  • Planning Thing [Day545]

    I pride myself with planning. I usually over plan things.

    Things start with a desire or an idea and I would go from there. This could be a vision or mission statement. Then you look at what is feasible. You break the problem down into smaller pieces and go again. Things usually falls in to places.

    After my MMT race of last year, I am kind of rudderless. Big races for this year already decided by then. I had lost faith in myself. Could I still run a 100 mile race?

    I signed up for the Devil Dog facing a decision whether to do a shorter version of 62 miles (100K) since I haven’t had a successful 100k run yet, or go with the big daddy the 100 miler.

    By now looking back, 100 miler was the way to go. I signed up. Many friends came out to support and actively crew me. I did get across the finishing like with time left on the clock.

    Rolling with it, I ran the Blackbeard’s Revenge, not having put much practice into it. Four months is too brief a training cycle. I spent the first couple months just to recover from the Devil Dog, then few more weeks of doing fake running of going through the motion, but training grind wasn’t there.

    I finished way stronger than coming in and that was a good thing. I can’t afford another two months of down time since MMT of 2023 is a month away, May 19-21. A little over a month. 6 weeks maybe. I have written so much about it.

    I did three training runs. The fourth is about to start tonight (by the time this is posted, it might be a week ago when my readers read this). I feel confident I could tackle this race if it is held today.

    So the past few days, I have been twirling my thumbs, what should I run next. I already feel MMT is in the bag. I know I should not get ahead of myself before I even set foot on the course. My interest starts to wane. This is one reason I try not to run a race a second time. I feel like I have seen that done that mentality.

    Anyway, I admit recently I hate planning. Because it is messy. Over the last three or four blog posts, I am circling around this topic of what I should do next and I always tell myself if I sleep on it, it would become clearer. Nope. I become more forgetful. I don’t remember what decisions I were suppose to make in my sleep! What was I suppose to be sleeping on? Panic.

    Anyway, I looked at a few 100 races. New ideas keep forming. This is the messy part of planning when nothing is certain and things keep moving in and out of focus. I hate this. I wish I can say, this is where we are headed and go for it. shoot an azimuth and go.

    I looked at the Ohio Burning River 100 and then I came across the midwest grand slam of four other races I can do, and I said to myself can I do a grand slam!? Crazy right? I started googling the places they are held and the time of year they are taking place and also how hard to get in and the sign up procedures. I got to say, they don’t make it easy! Half of the time the webpage assume you are a local and doesn’t give you the 5w and 1h (who, what, when, where, why, and how). The most important question is where and which state is it in! I wish every race would list the state first, like “Virginia – Devil Dog”. (By the say, Devil Dog’s info is spot on, I am only using them as an example, because I don’t want to point a finger at the race I am about to run). Anyway, I am ranting. I did get all my info. I wish they just standardize the five races websites or just make it into one webpage etc.

    What am I saying? I am looking for races to run and I keep finding more and more races. Starting with Burning River, I found out about the Indiana 100. Today, youtube recommended me of Georgia Cruel Jewel 100 (106 miles). I also considering C&O Canal 100, Tunnel Hill 100, Daytona 100, Keys 100, Alabama Pihoti 100, Lousiana Red Dirt 100, Virginia Cloud Spitter 100, and Kansas Heartland 125. I would like to do Lake Tahoe too but their pacing (18 hrs for 72 miles) is a bit rough for me. RD mentioned they are willing to work with runners who need an earlier start. I might need 19-20 hours for that race.

    As you see, I love to look at things comprehensively and study it in every possible angles. I might end up just throwing a dart and go from there. Cruel Jewel race kind of speaking to me at the moment. I like a hard race but also doable with 48 hours given. Eastern States, I feel I am still out of that league, 36 hours should be able for me, but then I might need 38-40 hours.

    This is where I stand at the moment juggling about 8-10 races in my head. I want to do them all but I know, I have to narrow it down to two or three and that is unfortunate. I found I am miserable at making decisions.

    I know it is always back to the central question what do I want to get out of it. I have been struggling this one issue since beginning of this year. I read back my several post, yes, I am exploring. More to come in a few months. If readers are lost, so am I.

  • Week in week out [Day544]

    I’ll try to get back to blogging more frequently.

    Indeed many things happened. I selectively chose what to write, with most of the time being race reports. There are a lot more going on than racing! Funny, the things I posted on Facebook that I thought no one would look at attracted a lot of attention this week! It was a picture from my first race this year (Holiday Lake). I only am posting on Facebook once a year. I sneaked in my finish line picture and for couple weeks the algorithm didn’t pick it up. Once it, there were an explosion of comments and likes. To my facebook audiene the event was fresh, but to me and what I wrote on here (WP), that was already old news. There were many things happened in the interim, like the OBX 100, that is many times more significant than the Holiday Lake race. However, that race does have good ‘optic’. It is like fake news, I choose what to spin.

    Things also slow down with my life now after the 100 mile is done. I am in a recovery mode. My skins are peeling from the sunburn. They are ugly. I feel like a reptile. Not that they are bad, I just don’t want to look like one.

    Blackbeard’s Revenge was an amazing race. I still from time to time think back on it. Like today while out running a severe storm blew in. I could have taken shelter, but as wind whipped up, it reminded me back at the race when we were crossing over the bridge that afternoon. It was exciting facing the headwinds and were only fifty mile in. I like the intensity of the storm. We told ourselves, we had to get the race done. I do miss the race. We did get it done.

    It was a relief to get the race out of the way. I was not stressed about it but I am always a bit anxious when there’s a race. OBX was a pretty big race.

    I don’t remember what I did the week afterward. It was just resting for the body to recover.

    Last weekend, I went to South Mountain (SOBO) in New Jersey, originally to run a marathon. Originally I wanted to find out what SOBO stands for, if it is like FOMO, fear of missing out. It was just a boring accronym. It was a 6 hour timed event. I had an interesting trip. I woke up at 2 am in the middle of the night and drove 4 and half hour almost to New York City. Arrived on a rainy day. The trail was as muddy as it could be. I was slipping and sliding and fell down once. Yes fun. Then drove back while a storm was brewing on I-95. I made some pitstops though. Stops were more fun than the race itself, but that for another story. I packed enough to spend several nights on the mountain.

    As for the run, We run on a 3k loop. After the first loop I knew getting the marathon distance would be tough. I would be lucky if I could get 12 loops (36k). A marathon is 42k. So I would need about 14 loops.

    I kept at it until halfway having done 7 loops. My hope was to get 8 loops by 3 hour mark so that I have some buffer for the 2nd half since usually my pace would slow down. This would guarantee that I finish with a marathon distance.

    However, even with 7 loops, if I kept my pace, 14 loops were possible. Then I saw my friend ahead, and decided to walk with her. It was mostly for her I came. She is an amazing runners. During her “youth” / younger days she broke some women records. The same friend who was suprised I took 12 hours on the Wild Oak Trail while she did it in 7.5 hours at my age. She would be running circles around me if we were the same age. Indeed that day, the lead runner (a female) was running circles around us.

    It was my recovery run so there was no need to push for a marathon distance / or do it at a marathon pace. My friend finished the 12th loop by 5.5 hours. We still have 30 minutes left on the clock. I believed going for one more shouldn’t be hard. The RD kind of doubting I could make it back within the time cutoff. I know I could do a loop within 20 minutes. So I went for it and got my 13th loop in. It took me about 16 minutes but not enough time left for the 14th loop.

    The race anyway would not have counted as one of the marathons for 50 states completion because there were less than 10 finishers. We only had 8 people started in our event. In order for a race to be counted, we need at least 10 finishers.

    It was one of the reasons, I did not push as hard as I could knowing, it did not really count for the record.

    I ran a marathon in New Jersey before so I did not need the run for my own 50 states. My friend though still needed New Jersey for hers. I felt bad we did not have enough runners. Originally there were 10 runners but two didn’t show up. I could have bring couple friends to make it a 10 person finishers. Anyway. It was a good run.

    This kind of things I get excited. I like the challenges.

    I like how things are working out. NJ Trails series, the organizer for the South Mountain Run has been on my watch list because I wanted to run their Watchung winter run. But the last two years, their races have been canceled for various reason.

    The past weekend somehow led me to run with them. I found out they also host 6 days at the fair, which is an amazing race/event I want to do in the future. Yes as it sounds, it is a 6 day race! I want to test my mettle to see if I can run all six days (with/without) sleep. I met a guy who did it, and put in a total of 450 miles over 6 days.

    Up next, I have a few races/events. This weekend is happy easter – I have a chocolate bunny night run. I will write about it later, if it is interesting. I hope to have some choco bunnies when I finish. I ran it last year. It is a MMT training run #4, The last training run for the MMT race, which I wrote a lot already.

    Following week would be the BRR 50. Ya another big race. I did couple training run on this. I assume I will write a full race report on it because I love doing a indepth detailed report.

    Then there will my international marathon debut! in Toronto Canada! I haven’t planned much on the race. Only thing is I know I will be driving there. I have not requested days off yet. Hopefully I get everything done. It is a point to point race, so gonna be fine.

    I am still on the fence with some races this fall as well as races for next year. Slipping this in, a friend just finished the Georgia Death Race (74 miles), the race registration for next year race is open with 4 spots left. I want to run it, yet not sure if I have the ability. I am getting cold feet.

    It is also a point to point course. I don’t want to sign up unless I am sure about it. It is so early to commit for next year! Grrr, I don’t know how many things I have been sleeping on it.

    The problem is, too little time, too little money to do everything! Freedom! Having choices is my bane.

    By the way, I did my first run in the heat today! Boy, I’m not used to running in the 85 F. It was so hot. However, MMT possibly will be hot during the day and cold during the night!

    Got to go for now. I still have many things to say especially about what races to run for the next few years. Ohio Burning River is on my target and the midstate ultras grand slam. I woke up in the middle night thinking why do I have to wait till next year to do it, why can’t I do it this year? Indeed. A lot to think about, even in my sleep I am thinking about races!

  • sign up for races [Day543]

    Blackbeard’s Revenge already seemed so far away. Tonight RD had a virtual meeting with a few of us who were willing to give feedbacks.

    RD was surprised by the amount of negative feedbacks he was getting from some comments runners were leaving on the interweb (though not by us). For a few of us, we could run this race uncrewed and with minimal supports from the aid stations, no improvement is needed. We think everything was perfect.

    However, I think a lot of people dropped from the race due to lack of nutrition (food) being received or lack of drop bags locations. And that left a lot frustrated runners.

    I think they went out too fast too soon. I walked with many between mile 30 to 40 where many were about to tab out.

    A lot of the changes next year would be toward the aid stations, consolidating them and making them bigger with more food and more volunteers. Currently there were 17 aid stations and 4 drop bag locations. Some had only one volunteer. Funny, RD was saying a lot decided to sign up to volunteer for the graveyard shifts and they lack volunteers during the day time. RD was thinking of reducing to 10-12 manned stations and adding one more on course dropbag (making 5). Made some of them water only.

    A good point brought up, and I resonate with this. Most of the food was “hidden” away due to sand and wind. I am a visual person. When I didn’t see stuff on the table, I thought the station had no more food left. I thought the 100k’ers came by and cleared everything. .

    For next year, RD said they will provide poster/pictures/labels on the tables even thought food is packed away, so runners would know what is available at the particular station. Some said their sandwiches had sand in them 😄

    Also the shuttling after the race was not ideal. I signed up but didn’t use it because my mom picked me up at the finish. They were thinking of shuttling runners to the start from the finish before the race, so they don’t have to run the shuttling every 4 hours during the race. Shuttling took volunteers away from the aid stations. RD said we signed up for a point-to-point course, so it was one of the challenges we should expect and overcome, true. I went into the race, the hardeat part was deciding where to stay so as to make going to from hotel to race and back to hotel easy. In the end I picked to stay closer to the start. I would do the same if I rerun this. I prefer to be closer to civilization 👍

    Start time. They might tweak the start times. I like the 5 am start, though shifting it two hours later probably would not make much a difference for me.

    It was a great race. I have no plan to run it again. I think it was an easy race and did not present me any new challenges. If I live nearby, I would not mind running it annually. But I feel there are too much hand-holding in this race, and I would be annoyed by it if I face the same again. However, I would be open to going back to volunteer.

    Other comments were on the point too. Hot food being cold (it didn’t bother me), but true, I had expected hot meals coming into a station but instead got cold food. The volunteer said she would hit up the cup of noodle for me, I declined. I was ok with cold food. Time was at the essense.

    Highbeam. Cars driving toward us in highbeam on was bothersome.

    Also I felt course marshalls checking on us in middle of the night too was disruptive, but I appreciated the thoughts for our safety. I felt there were too much handholding from the RD for this 100 mile race. RD checking on us from time to time did bring me out of my running flow.

    Food I really like, I think having the slice of American cheese at an aid station maybe at mile 40 really saved me. They asked if I wanted grilled cheese, but at the time my stomach was turning, so I think I only grabbed the cheese only to go. Later, when I could eat, I swallowed the whole cheese in one go. It is good to note toward my next hundred mile race to carry some cheese.

    I think what saved me in this race was to bring my own food. Certainly I could have used the aid station food, but carrying my own was such a game changer. A runner, Lucas, did just that. He only used the food from the Aid Stations and he said it was enough. Many athletes did not get enough though, so I think, and ran into calorie deficiency during the race. There was only so much time you could eat at an aid station. The portion usually so tiny that it wouldn’t meet the needs. Carrying my own food and munching along the way helps.

    That’s that. I probably mentioned all those in my race report, but here they are again. Maybe someone will find them useful.

    What I have been doing this week? I have been looking what 100 mile races I should sign up for next year.

    C&O 100 seems very tempting. I have been wanting to run that race since 2019/2020 when I was exploring for my first “ultra”. Things has not been working out. I have been too chicken to try. The last two years, my race schedule has not been letting me. I could technically do it this year. Sign up is still open. Next year though seems to be better. I was asking myself can I do three 100 races in one season? The answer is do I need to ask? I know I could do it, but let not push the envelop.

    I finished filling out my 50 states for the 100 milers, of potential races to do. I have not made a plan yet. Umstead though, I might try that.

    I might want to do T’rer (Lake Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Race). It has been on my radar for couple years. Still chicken about it. I could do races here in the east coast, but west coast is like a tier higher.

    Cloud Spitter tickling my fancy of it being hard.

    Pinhoti too, but I think I am not ready to travel down to Alabama to try this. Sometimes I feel I am ready to tackle this, but also feeling cold feet.

    Yeti on the Virginia Creeper has it charms.

    Oil Creek is a possibility. It seems to have the right level of difficulty for me.

    I looked at various other races but haven’t committed. This is one reason to sign up the next 100 race before doing the present one so I don’t have this reluctancy.

    I am still reeling from all the things that happened after Blackbeard’s. I am also having post race blue, though I should be back running soon.

  • OBX pre-race and post race talk [day542]

    This was supposed to be posted for last week before the race and its race report, but things got busy with packing during writing of it and it never saw daylight. Actually, for once, I actually packed and got race stuff 3 days ahead of time.

    I was going to procastinate by writing this blog, but during the middle of it, it got some sense in me to get ready for the race…so this entry did what it was suppose to do.

    Final inspection of the dropbags and stuff for the trip before being loaded onto the car. 4 dropbags, plus one for the finish line. Funny thing was I had no clues where I put everything after I packed (and worried on the whole run, like do I have batteries, do I have spare light? where was my sun lotion?), but luckily they were there in the exact dropbags when I needed them

    —-

    As my first big race of the year is about to get underway (in maybe 48 hours), I have some time to reflect and write out this post.

    This will hopefully be my fourth buckle (100 mile race). I have great expectation that I should finish.

    It has gotten easier. I can’t boast much though. 100 mile race is still a beast and unpredictable. However, if the weather works out, it should be an easy race.

    Currently the biggest foreseeable challenge would be the winds and possibly some rain on Saturday. About the wind, last week, I ran the Virginia Beach Marathon, I felt it. It was crazy to run with such strong winds. We are expecting between 25 -50 mph. However, now it seems to calm down a bit and maybe at most 25 mph.

    I am prepared. I packed my drop bags already. There are a few items I might want to to get. Masking tape (optional), sunscreen lotion (maybe), lipbalm (maybe), vaseline (maybe), some AAA bateries (maybe). Futureself: I got everything but the spare batteries.

    I haven’t planned for my nutrition. I reread my Devil Dog’s race report. And I glad I came across the tip I gave myself, of having your own food at the dropbag’s location. This totally escaped my mind when I was packing.

    I reread some 2021 race reports of why I didn’t finish the Devil Dog and other races. That was helpful as well. Basically don’t push too hard in the beginning. Since this (Blackbeard’s Revenge) course is flat, it is easy to go too fast in the first half. In theory, I could aim for a sub-24 finishing.

    I guess I am having some pre race jitter.

    There is not much I can do. I was reviewing course materials. Some regrets I had was I didn’t book my hotel closer to the start or the finish. Anyway, nothing can be done by now. I could cancel my booking and rebook closer, but I don’t want to make changes this late. Anyway, my present location is not bad. It is about at 20 mile on the course, so I could stop by during the race.

    —

    In the last post I had so much I wanted to write but didn’t get to everything. It was about my MMT third training run but thr Shamrock Marathon overshadowed it.

    I reviewed my first and second MMT training run. Time flew by so quickly. In the first training, we were running in the snow.

    I was not ready for the run back then because my left ankle was still hurting. I got the run done.

    On the second training run, I was in a much better shape. I felt fast. The hill climbs were not that hard. I ran with Tony, and a few others.

    On third training run, I was the last four to finish. We started early, so we finished early. It took me 11 hours. 5 am to 4 pm. To me it was a fast time. My ankle was mostly healed. About that, usually the first step I took, it has some discomfort. By second and subsequent steps, I don’t feel it any more.

    My ankle hinders me on the downhills. It was a reason why my TWOT time was so slow. It took me 12.5 hours to get around that course. I bet I could do it an hour or two faster with a fully healed ankle.

    Funny thing is the last few weeks, even with an ankle that is not 100%, I ran two 50k and 1 marathon. I finished them.

    I was hoping the ankle would be fully healed by the time I am running this 100 mile race. There isn’t any hill, so technically it should be fine. My ankle just doesn’t like uneven surfaces or downhills.

    One last thing, those people I did not get along that well on the first training run, are now very cordial. I knew it. They ran at my pace and we see each other at every training runs and will be together during the race. It would be quite awkward if we didn’t get along.

    The big picture. Finally what all these trainings and running in the Blackbeard’s Revenge have to do with anything? I have been training hard to do the MMT again and hopefully this time will be more successful.

    I have not focused much on training for Blackbeard’s Revenge. Blackbeard’s would have been a challenge for me to run two years ago, but currently should not be. The current challenge is to do two one-hundred races in the same season, note, MMT is just a month or so away after Blackbeard’s. My concern was that this 100-race would derail my next one. Future self: I came out the race stronger.

    —

    Afterword, One reason this blog didn’t get posted was I got bored toward the end. I felt I needed something. As said, some I was too busy with the race. Now looking back, everything went well.

    I had some thoughts about the race. It was refreshing. It was short. And it was one of those things you do only once in your lifetime. I felt so blessed to have done it. One regret was I did not stay there longer. As with anything, I felt like I came in at night and leave during the day time. The enjoyment was too brief.

    This happened at many of my other races, where I had daja vu from previous experience while running. I think I did not mention this in the race report. I came away feeling lacking because I couldn’t exactly create the same happiness and feeling of the first time being at that place. It is not anything bad. It is just me feeling sentimental. Anyway, to finish on a brighter note, The race added newer experience to the old ones. All the preparation that went into it was worth it. Who knows when I can get to do it again!

  • Blackbeard’s Revenge 100, OBX [Day541]

    Just after the start of the 100 mile race

    While I had wanted Umstead 100 to be my first 100 mile race, Outer Banks’ Blackbeard’s Revenge was the runner up on my list. I ended up running the Rocky Raccoon instead in Huntsville, Texas as my first during 2021.

    Since then I ran other 100 mile races and finally circled back to this one.

    So I took Friday and Monday off to travel to North Carolina to line up at the start. It was necessary and worth the trip.

    Aside, we spent 10 hours in the car there and 10 hours back, the drive was almost as long as the run (gps calculated that the trip only would take 5 hours, but I had to make some detours to pick up my mom, etc).

    We had optimal weather window to run this. The rain did not come but only a little bit on Saturday afternoon. We did have some constant wind but it was calming down to about 15-20 mph. We couldn’t control the weather. Temperature wise was mild as well, ranching from low 50s to high 70s.

    I enjoyed my time there while met up with some recently made friends from other races. At the package pick up, I ran into Joe and Simon who were my pacers at the Fort Worth Marathon last month. During the race I happened to meet Fernando on the course whom I met at the Devil Dog 100. I was able to ran with Fernando a bit, maybe 10-15 minutes until we arrived at our second drop location around mile 41.

    sunrise of the first day

    The main thing was I got it done. It was on road surface instead of trail. This was my first road 100 mile race. It was a fast race because I PR’ed it, running my best time, of 26:17:00, cutting the time from Rocky Raccoon by almost 2 and half hours.

    The course was slight on an uphill at least that how I felt, but overall was flat as a pancake. It was also my first point to point 100 mile race. Logistics was about the same. I was worried about where to stay before the start. I chose Kitty Hawk to be closer to the start rather than near the finish. It was an option. One runner chose to leave their car at the finish and hitched a ride to the start, maybe about 3 hours drive. Another choice was to stay somewhere in the middle and I was kind of like that, about an hour from the start and 2 hours from the finish.

    The race also offered after race shuttle to take runners back. However, this was done at a 4 hr interval, so getting a ride back can be tough if you finish after one of the rides departed.

    I had no problem running this race. I was prepared by previous races. I did not specifically trained for this since I came off running the Devil Dog in December. I took couple months off to recover. After that I did couple training runs for BRR and MMT. I ran couple marathons (Ft Worth, Seneca Creek, and Virginia Beach).

    I packed a bit better. I had everything packed into four 1 gallon ziplock bags.

    I still over packed my things but I got the nutrition about just right and spaced them in the dropbags. My suggestions to myself from a previous race report about planning to bring my own food as the primary source instead of relying on the aid stations, helped me to throw in some cereals and candies into my dropbags. I glad I did. This is not saying it couldn’t be done by eating aid station stuff or that their stuff was bad, but it reduced a set of variables from the equation and give a better chance of finishing.

    I had a positive experience through out the race. The course was beautiful and we were blessed by good weather of neither too hot or too cold or other extremes (too windy). The beauty of the place was overwhelming. I have been to Outer Banks maybe 10 years ago and the memory of that trip left a deep impression of endless seasshore (and of course the lighthouses). I will try to share some pictures. It is subjective, but OBX is a place I love to vacation or retire to because it is just so beautiful. If one theme about this race is the peacefulness of everything.

    Another reason I like this race because it was a point to point course. It is hard to put up a point to point race both from the RD perspective and ours. It is a lot of work. The last three 100 mile races I did were all looped courses. Rocky Raccoon was like 5 loops, Rim to River was an out and back race, going out 50 miles and coming back with a bit of variation, and the Devil Dog was 4 loops in the Prince William Forest. Even Massanutten can be considered a single loop in a figure eight pattern. This race, Blackbeards starts at one end of NC-12 hwy to the other end, from paved road to end of paved road. The road continues on in either direction as an off-road path (and probably goes by a different name).

    For us runners, running 100 miles in a loop or point to point is the same. However, when the course is in a straight line instead of a circle, you get a sense of the large distance covered.

    Also everything is harder, so as arranging ride back or to the start. I like the extra challenge. Maybe more on this later. The race organization did an amazing job to lessen the burden of this. There are a lot of information given ahead of time in term of bag drops, aid stations, hotel, parking, shuttle rides, and dealing with planning for the unexpected such as weather, etc.

    Another reason, take this point as a grain of salt, I think it is an easy 100 for first time 100 attempts. I think the race organization babied us too much, but I understand it was for our safety. There were tons of information in the race handbook and the RD when over them multiple times. I did not mind being beat over of the head the same things.

    Now about the race and my experience, I think it was perfect. I am not sure how many people signed up. I wish there were more people running it. I felt we were very much under the capped. If this continues, the race might not be around in the future. Not sure why people are not running this, maybe too easy, too hard, not being on trails, the logistics factor, but anyway those can be overcomed.

    We had probably 100 runners in each event. There were four events (plus virtual events). We had the 100 mile, 100k (at 10 AM start and at different location than the 100 mile) and plus the relays for both distances. However, there were about only 50 finishers in 100 mile and 100k event. There were about maybe 5-6 relay teams. The exact numbers are on the race signup and results website. I think there were a lot of drops but I don’t know the drop rate. I felt there were close to 100 runners at the 100 mile start, but on about 50% finishes. This is typical I think.

    So what do I think is the challenges? Other than the distance, I think the main being weather. We were buffered by wind (strong headwind) through out the race. It could have been worse. The wind was ‘calmer’ on our race day. They were saying it was blowing hurricane strength the week before.

    We had only faced with 15-20 mph constant wind. Also the temperature. We had relatively warm weather to run in this time, however at early morning, I think it was in the low 50, and when I breathed, I could see my breath. My fingers were cold. Lucky I put in my dropbag a pair of gloves for the evening portion and buff/neck gaiters too. I wore sleeve inserts on either arm. It was my first time and they helped a lot.

    Then during the day the temperature rised to near 80. We were burning. I was sunburned on my face, neck, back, forarms, and back of my legs. I applied sunblock lotion but only did it once and in the early morning, but did not reapplied so, I was burned. Don’t misjudge the spring sun. It is still hot.

    The temperature, I felt could have been worse if it were to drop a bit lower or get higher. This depends if you like cold running, but for me, I prefer warmer weather. We also was rained on for a bit. maybe for 10-15 minutes. Thunderstorms were forecasted the day before and the day after, but we only had a brief rain session while out on the course, and I was actually grateful for the rain even though it made me wet and cold. The reason was, I was hit with ‘sandstorm’ during the afternoon. Not really a storm but the wind stirred up the sand and when it hit me, it was painful to have sand repeatedly blasted on your body. The rain actually prevented this, making the sand stick together. I appreciated that sand stopped blowing on me. We were so exposed out there. Wearing long sleeves helped. Facing the elements was probably the hardest challenges.

    Aid stations and drop bags. We had 17 aid stations. There was almost a station every 5 miles except for the first two. We had our drop bags at about every 20 miles. I think it was more than enough.

    My greatest advice to myself was to pack my own food as my primary source and rely less on the official aid stations. This is not a complaint. I reread my last 100 mile race report and that what stuck as being successful, and I said really? My MMT failed attempt was attributed to my lack of eating. So the trick was to bring my own food to eat at anytime and all the time.

    Because it was a road race, we shared the road with cars. We had to wear a safety vest/reflective gear throughout the race. There was a significant night portion. We had to have spare lamp and bateries. This was not an issue for me, for my light lasted through the evening. I wore one of those fancy lighted fiber optic tubes. They had their pluses and minuses. The plus is it meets all the required gear but having a spare. The disadvantages were the wiring get in the way of my running, and also harder to put clothes on and off or any other things that goes over the shoulders like a water pack. It was a tiny inconvenience. A lighted belt or a clip on blinker would have been better.

    And also, I should have gotten two sets, so that during the day, I could stove away once I reach my drop location and at night get it from a drop bag. Instead, I only had one set, so I wore mine the whole race.

    we ran on the left side of the roads. There were sidewalks but the course and directions were provided based on the lefthand side of the road. Road’s shoulder was wide enough. However, when cars drove by fast especially on the bridge, and at night, it was quite stressful to runners.

    As said, I had generally a positive experience. I had a fast race. It was peaceful. I was mostly by myself on the course. Because the field was small, I was not able to find someone matching my pace to tag along. There were maybe 10 people whom I was leading from the second half after 50 miles, but they were going a bit too slow for me. I gained about 30 minutes on my nearest competitor (Rich, a new friend I made while running) by the time I finished, not a huge gap, but far enough apart.

    A small critique was the aid stations were understaffed (they did call for volunteers) and I tried to ask my mom to help. I felt many families could have helped and I think many did, however, like my own, many spent much of their time wanting to crew their own runners. A few of the stations only had one or two people. They did their job well, but more volunteers would have been ideal. Also the food, I felt was quite limited.

    Not sure if it was because the 100k people (the horde) had just gone on ahead of us and ate everything. I had sufficient stuff from the aid stations, but I had done the three other 100 mile races where their aid stations were a buffet of hot food and an island of cheers. This race was more a solitude affair. Here we had mostly hummus and gels. I glad for having a sloppy joe and a cup of noodle that saved me at a portion of the course when I was most needed for real food. Also a slice of American cheese I picked up a long the way, helped so much later in the race when my stomach was turning from eating my own food too much. These were provided by the aid stations. However, bringing my own food was still the best advice to myself.

    sunset and beach time. This was the following day after the race when I recovered enough to walk around. I did cross the Jughandle Bridge during sunset.

    First Big Race of 2023 done. And PR’d it. The last 5-10 miles were very hard. I was exhausted. Singing got me through. I sang thanksful spiritual songs. That did it. It gave me tge energy to run to the finish. Finished in 26 hours. Originally I was targeting between 28-30 hours. But by the first 6 hours I was already knew I was 3 hours ahead of schedule and I could maintain the 3 hours lead through out. We were running at 12-14 minute pace, which meant a 20-25 hour finishing. This is fast in my book. The lead allowed me to stay in the rest stations longer. At couple of the drop bag locations, I stayed up to 30 minutes. In total, I probably rested over an hour to two hours. I could aim for a sub 24 hour finish, however, I love having my rest. There was no need to kill myself to get that sub 24 hour finish.

  • Shamrock Marathon [day540]

    Quite a lot happened this week. I might have been more quiet than usual because I am going through some existentialist crisis. I still love running a whole lot. If I am given a choice, I would choose running. I would love to demonstrate my running feats. One up of things I did so to speak. I like to do hard races.

    Lately though, I have been asking, is that all to it. And what is next for my next race. I have reached a plateau last May when I ran the MMT when I met my match. I could still improve certainly but they are no longer leaps and bounce like I used to do. I could still try for a 200 mile race but I see that as an evolution rather than a revolutionary change. I could also change my perspective, running for running’s sake. I do enjoy pure running, outside of racing. Anyway, I know whatever is bothering me will pass.

    This weekend I had a chance to do a hard training plus the next day showed up at a marathon a hundred of miles away and ran it. This is what I like to live for and what I consider a good weekend.

    I work during the week and during the weekend to run hard. It stretches me to the max, both physically and mentally.

    Just on performance, I have reached a level that was not possible a few years ago. Not sure I wrote about the time when I qualified for the Marathon Maniacs club, where they required to run 3 marathons within 60 days. I ran two marathons back to back that year (Saturday and Sunday), and I thought that was hardest thing I did. (if I have time, I will dig up that post, since it parallels to this weekend)

    I wondered while writing this, if I have a choice, would I rather have last year’s body or this year body? I think, it depends. Last year at this time, I was pretty beat up. I could hardly walk due to back pain. In the fall though, I was unstoppable. 2021 body is better than 2022 or 2023 in term of stat. I would like to have that body with my present experience. I would like that very much. It is kind of a mystery why my performance goes downhill. I guess it is hard to maintain that peak level.

    But over time, I do see changes. Like now every weekend can be like that, being capable of doing big runs and recovering quickly. For those who can run a hundred miles in one go, coming back to run a marathon no longer is that daunting. I think, it is almost a joke to us. It is like me running a 5k. Yet running a marathon is for many people their life time achievement. It was for me once.

    So this weekend, I went out and did a 35 mile training run on the Massanutten trail. This training run was considered the hardest of the three MMT 100 mile race trainings we did. First it was long, 35 miles, second it was hard, with a lot of climbing (6000 ft I think), and it was done in winter. Though spring is about around the corner, but we ran on a cold day. It was considered warm and nice, winter so to speak, but still it was a cold morning and the whole day was cold, with temperature around the 40s F (5-8 C?).

    Last year I could not finish the whole training run and cut it short by 8 miles. I was determined to finish it this year. I made it to the cut off with 30 minutes to spare. And I was not to the last to finish. Two 72/73 years old men did beat me, but they were incredibly strong. Jeff, the guy I wrote before also, finished before me. Those guys are monsters. I did not even have a chance to catch a glimpse of him.

    The first section on Kerns took me 4 hours. The second section over Bird Knob, took me also 4 hours. And the last 10 miles took me 3 hours. Total time spent was 11 hours for the day. So in thoery for the 100 mile race, if you multiply by 3, it would give me a 33 hours finishing and that is a good finishing time.

    Doing this run was a different perspective running with fresh legs. I remember that during the 100 mile race, I was half dead, at mile 65. This 35 mile section of the race caused me to miss the race cutoff last year. This time I would train harder, so I won’t miss it again at this year’s race coming up in May.

    —-

    After the training, with about four hours of sleep, I ran the Virginia Beach’s Shamrock Marathon. I tell you, this is hard. A normal me would not do something like this.

    Without much a break, I drove down to Virginia Beach after my training run, arrived there past midnight. I had to make several stops at the rest areas because I was falling asleep behind the wheel. I always get that low energy after a good training run. Having to drive myself was dangerous.

    There are a lot of things can be said about this marathon. I couldn’t do it full justice without writing a separate report.

    The weather was colder than Saturday. I think we were in the high 30s with blustery winds. I think because we ran near the ocean without much covering, we were exposed and the winds were stronger.

    That morning, I did not want to get up. If I could I would have slept in till 8 or 9. I snoozed my alarm a few times until 5 am and I knew I had to get up and get to the race otherwise there might not any parking spaces left. I wanted a free parking at Virginia Beach Middle School. The race did not start until 7:30 but they advised us to get there before 6:30. I arrived at about 6 am. I could sleep in a car for a bit before walking to the start. And we had about a mile or two of walking from our car to the start. Luckily the finish line was closer and so we did not have to walk that far back afterward. The start was at 45th street but the finish was near 25th street.

    My feet were tired. I knew it. It was always hard to do a back to back run. Lately, I have been slacking on my Sunday’s runs and skipping many back to back long runs.

    I signed up for this marathon exactly for that reason to put in a long run knowing I am a slacker. A race would force me to run even if I don’t feel like it.

    I was assigned corral 7, but after checking the crowd there, I didn’t feel I was fit in. I might have put 4:30 as my finishing time and they put me in with the faster people. Normally, I could run that but today, I was doubtful. I felt intimidated to run with them today. I know my place. I don’t feel I could run a 4:30 marathon today. I moved myself to the last corral and I felt much better there.

    The race started and I went out. A lot of people in my corral sprinted out. I could not kept up with them even though this was supposed to be a slower corral. Maybe many people had the same idea as me of moving back. I did catch sight of a few having corral 7 on their bibs but started in corral 10. But also there were a lot slower people. I felt right at home. I know it would take a few miles to get myself into pace.

    Because I am in the slower corral, there were no pacers. I think the last pacer was 2:45 for the half marathoners and they lined up in corral 9. 2:45 would probably translated to 5:30 marathon finishing time. I set my goal to follow them. However, because they started early, they were gone.

    In a race, I call this spagettifying. Fast people get faster and leave you behind. The slower people would drop back. In a perfectly sorted race, you see people’s pace stretches out, like spagetti.

    Today though, all different paces seem to be mixed together. There were certainly slower people up front. I remembered walking up to corral 4 and saw some people, I think shouldn’t be there. Maybe they did not know their pace and put a randomly finishing time so got assigned to an earlier corral. So in a race, I would catch up to the slower people that lined up in earlier corrals. Things did not get spagettified until much later.

    Miles flew by. I was not fast but I was moving. By halfway, I was in a pretty good shape. I passed people and people passed me. It was all jumbled. I liked how I can recognize many had gone out too fast and couple miles later I caught back up with them. Eventually though, I got into my right pace group of 12-13 min per mile pace.

    The course was a loop out and back. squished loop. We ran north then turned around and we ran south and then turned around. We finished in the middle of the boardwalk at the Poseidon’s statue.

    There were a lot of half marathoners. It was like a 100 to one in my corral. Everywhere I looked was a sea of green bibs (the half marathoners). It was hard to find someone around my pace and running the marathon. By the time I was halfway, the front runners already finished.

    The reason I mentioned this is in some races after the half marathoners finished, the race feels very lonely because you are by yourself alone on a long course. Shamrock Marathon did not feel like that. I felt constantly people all around me.

    By mile 19, we turned around one last time. People started to lose steam. People started walking and I started passing them in earnest. Funny I did not bonk or hit what they called the “wall”. I felt fresh by now and could really run. I had the energy to sustain my push all the way to the finish and finished at 5:09. I believe I ran a negative split or at least an even split. It was not a fast marathon for me when I normally ran below 4:30. However, I was happy. I thought the whole time I might finish over 6 hours. I was really aiming for 6 hours.

    I stayed around for two more hours until the 7 hour people came in. I recognized many of them because I was around them at the beginning in their corral.

    I had a few conversations during the race. I had a good day. Some memorable moments were at halfway we saw the faster people finishing. I believe I saw the first female coming in as I was still going out. There were tons of people who could run sub 3 hours or around there. It was just incredible.

    I did have my doubts in the first few miles about if I could even finish because my legs felt like lead at the time. I thought it would be a struggle.

    Also the last mile seemed incredibly long. Everyone picked up their pace. I felt my own pace was slowing down.

    The winds were constantly blowing. Sometimes we had tail winds and it felt so good to be pushed. But head winds were bad. On finishing stretch, we faced head winds and many chose to walk. I don’t blame them.

    Finishing swag was great. We had many things. Snacks, drinks, wafers, cookies and a nice premium blankie. No wonder we paid so much for this race, however, with the high inflation going on, it didn’t seem too bad.

    There was a finisher tent where they served beer and real food (I think) but I did not enter because I did not like to walk on sand and did not want sand to be in my car. I think they gave us 4 glasses of beer, which is a lot. Normally, we usually get one free beer only. In some races, two (Cowtown). I missed out on the beer. Many half marathoners stayed behind for the food and beer and live music, which is good. I have been to many races where by the 7th hour, the race finishing line felt like a ghost town. Not here. Many people stayed around even on a cold and windy day like today.

    We also ran through two military bases and I felt that was interesting. Normally, I haven’t been in a military base. They had their guards carrying rifles. Their police officers were everywhere. They didn’t want us to sneaking around on the base. We stayed on the main roads.

    How do I close? I wish I sort out my heart issue. It is a funny feeling I can’t explain. I love running and I wish I have a reason to run and be happy. I know eventually, things will work out. Feeling like this comes and goes. I call them post marathon blue. They usually happen after I ran a big race.

    Also this run was like a dress rehersal for next week run at Outer Banks, a hundred mile run. I hope next week would be warmer. But the wind, now I know I need to dress for the constant blowing. Cap, neck gaiter, lip balm, gloves, etc. I need to plan for my drop bags. At least three, mile 25, 50 and 75. Next week will be a real challenge for me.

    Oldest standing lighthouse in the nation. We were probably at around mile 5 or 6. I did not keep track of my miles very well

  • snow! [Day539]

    Maybe it was the last snow this winter. Nothing sticked but was still exciting. It snowed in the middle of the night.

    Some snow dusting at Sky Meadow where I hiked the following day / it really has nothing to do with the race, just a pic for the blog. Cold day

    I was afraid the next day our 50K run would be canceled. Last year, in similar condition, the race was canceled for fear our runners would ruin the trail.

    Every year since the pandemic I have been running this 50k trail race, the Seneca Creek Greenway. I probably could find old reports and maybe I should. I love to reread the old race write-ups and see how they differed from this year.

    It was an ‘easy’ 50k, similar to Holiday Lake I ran couple weeks ago. We have some hills maybe like couple hundred feet ups and downs. Most of them are small hills. It was fun to run on them.

    Yet it is quite tiring too. This year I started slow. I took my time through the Seneca State Park, to Riffleford, for about first couple miles. I remembered the first time I ran this, I went out full blast and gave everything before even getting to the Riffleford road crossing.

    Once we were on the Greenway Tr, I stayed with my pack of about 4-5. After couple miles, the pack kind of disolved. The fast people ran ahead and the slower people dropped back one by one, I was left with with just a runner in front and he was walking.

    Interesting, this runner was not slow. He walked from time to time but just by the look, I knew he was a fast runner. He was just humoring us by walking. Actually I have no idea why he even walked. For the next hour, I was following sometimes far back, other times within arm length.

    We passed a mill. And finally the guy took off. I had a hard time trailing him. The trail by now cleared up. I still trailed him all the way to mile 7 or 8 at Rt 28 aid station. We crossed over to the otherside of the road to enter onto Seneca Bluff trail.

    It was uneventful all the way to mile 15 ish where we headed back north using the Greenway trail again. We crossed a creek about halfway. I remembered in former races, this was a choke point where everyone would stop and we would cross it one by one. This year, there was no one around. The creek was kind of flooded. I couldn’t hop across rocks there but waded through the stream.

    By mile 15, I came across Sergio, whom I stayed with him maybe for a mile or so. Sergio said he has a bad knee. He ran this race before but today he was not feeling well. He hadn’t been eating or drinking much. Not long after he was saying that, his hamstring cramped up and he felt over on the trail.

    I helped him up and hoped that by walking it off he would be fine. A runner came by and offered him salt tablets. Together, we walked to the aid station. Once there, I knew he should be fine. We separated. I knew if Sergio chooses to continue, it would be a long day for him.

    We were about 3 hours in. I expected the second half would be a bit longer. I was hoping I could finish earlier than former races. Though I felt like more a straggler this year. Former years, I usually see a lot of people walking in the second half. This year, I rarely saw anyone.

    I caught up a few people who had gone out a bit too fast. The second half, my pace degraded a bit and several runners passed me. That is the natural of racing. Even at the last mile, I thought I was in a comfortable position, then someone passed me running quite strong and it was impossible for me to keep up.

    Anyway, I finished at 7:39:00. It was much longer than I thought. Sergio said he recorded 33 miles on his watch. The trail is maybe a bit long but it is the same distance every year. We know it is trail racing neither our watch is accurate nor the ‘official distance’ is accurate. Trail racing always is measured with an estimated-ish distance.

    • comparisons:
    • 2020: 6:30:36 (report)
    • 2021: 7:14:17 (report)
    • last week, Cowtown 50k, road, 6:03.
    • two weeks ago, Holiday Lake 50K, 7:07

    I was much slower this year. time of 7h and 40 mins, so it seems about 30 mins to an hour slower than former years, depending which year or race to compare to. And wow I ran 6:30 the first year. Not sure why I am so much slower. I think probably doing three 50K back to back, kind of took away time for me to recover.

    Anyway, time was not too important to me. I want to run faster of course, but not meeting a prior year’s time was fine to me. My goal this year was to have some the time on the trail. Because it would build me up for a bigger race that will take place in May (the MMT 100).

    Weather-wise, the day was cold around 40F but with strong winds making the wind chill at time feels like 30F. I wore double layer and a windbreaker over. Gloves and cap were a must to keep fingers and ears from freezing. The race opened for 9:30 hours. I stayed there pretty much until closing.

    Food was adaquate. They had warm food for us. I drank a cup of warm coffee and that was the best thing that warmed me up. There were plenty of volunteers. I think the race was well supported, which is a reason for me to go back year after year.

    My memorable moment after getting all the food I needed, was when I went back to my car to put on warmer clothes so I could stay out to watch runners finishing. A family there was waiting for Sergio. I did not know Sergio’s name at the time. I started talking to the family and they said, that is probably Sergio. I was curious to see if indeed they were waiting for the runner I met on the trail. Sergio came in a bit after 9 hours. He did the full 50K. After having the cramp in his leg, he had to walk. I knew it would be a slow race for him. He said it was very tempting to quit halfway but he found a fellow companion and they walked all the way and did the full 50k.

    The heroic thing for Sergio about this race is near the finish at mile 27.5, you could make a decision to cut ‘short’ the race by finish as a marathon or you could add 5 more miles to get the 50K finish. Sergio could have finished a bit earlier (maybe couple hours earlier) as a marathon (and many people did). We were tracking Sergio on the phone and saw he took the other path and we knew he was aiming for 50K. So we waited. It was worth it to get 50K distance.

    As for me, it was a decent race. I havr another race next week (and I will report on that when I did it). The week after will be my 100 miler (OBX, or Blackbeard’s Revenge). And so forth. This week, I did some planning for my Toronto trip (and I am excited). I will write more when the time comes. There are races stacked up until end of May.

    Seneca Park’s Clopper Lake maybe only two miles from the finish. We had to run around this lake. It is bigger than what is shown.

  • Day538 10-Mile Race

    I love racing.

    How many times have I done this one, I have no idea. At least twice.

    Back in 2017 and 2018, I ran every race that is available held by the local running store (Potomac Running).

    As I took on bigger races, I mean longer distances, like 50 mile and 100 mile races, I don’t have time for the local ones. I still run them whenever I can. I sign them up on the spur moment.

    Reston 10 Miler is a familiar course to me. I ran many 5Ks and 10Ks there year after years. The 10 mile course mostly was stitched together from 5K and a 10K. I recognize every turns and every hills.

    Timewise, I was not impressive with my finishing time. It was not any record shattering. I was not slow. I haven’t had the heart to dig up past races to compare. I finished at 1:40. It is a 10 min pace so I should be glad, especially after running a 50K last weekend.

    Yet I remember my fastest 10 miler was under 1:20. I used to be able to run at a 8 min pace. That was impressive.

    Everything’s relative. I have to live with the body I have today, not the one I had a year ago or 10 years ago.

    Sometimes I feel like I am in an arm race with myself. I improve my time, yet I get heavier. So I trained harder to be stronger. I do improve. Then I get a faster time again and then I get heavier. The cycle starts again. The last two years, I know I improved. Yet this time, my body has overtaken me. I gained too much weight over the pandemic. Not sure if it is something related to that or just I am just getting older.

    A 60 year old man beat me innlbthis race. I recognized him from prior races. Note, because I live in Northern Virginia, people don’t make casual comments, unlike when I do races farther way. People avoid eye contact here in the big city. I have seen this guy many times in other races, but he acted he doesn’t know me and I same. Not complaining, just saying. I have been in the area for at least 20 years and that how we work. (Remember both Jeffs I met at the other races, how nice people are in the country side).

    True everyone is racing against their own. But if a 60 year old man could out run a 40 year old, it means something.

    On one hand, it is not hopeless for me. I could work harder to be able to run like that when I am 60.

    The flip side is the dude is impressive.

    As I stepped on to the course today, I was thinking what was I trying to get out of this. It is cool to set records and such. It is cool to run fast. I ran pretty fast, faster than any of my usual training runs. I usually go 15 mins or slower per mile and today I pulled a 10 min mile for whole 10 mile. I enjoyed the weather. I enjoyed the morning run. Only a race could get me up at 6 am in the morning. Normally, if left to my own device, I do not get out the house until like 3 or 4 pm in the afternoon. I am a lazy runner.

    One thought I reminded myself was yes running a 50K last weekend was impressive. Today running a 10 miler was no less an accomplishment. I told myself many times, if I could run just one more race, I would be in heaven.

    In this view, I should only run 5Ks or 10Ks, to save money and time because it gives the same utility, from an economic standpoint. Nah, I believe, if I have the ability to run longer distances, I should do it. This is the reason I am grateful and happy that I do have the means and the ability to do something extraordinary.

    If I close out the blog here, it would be good. I have just a bit more to say. Things or an idea seems to be at the tip of my tongue but I just couldn’t bring forth. I have been searching something all weekend. It has been a recurring theme since I finished the last big race (MMT) of last year. It is related to motivation and of why I do things. I wrote a post on new year’s day about my resolutions and all.

    I think, things have gotten a bit easier lately, after I ran the 100 mile. I still have tons of goals to do and some are out of this world hard, but overall, a lot of my goals, I thought was impossible are a bit easier. I mentioned about the 50 states marathon goal. If I really want to, I think I could do it in a year. Many of my goals are like that. If I really want to do it, I have now the means to do them. So they seem a bit boring. And I keep asking myself, what’s next. What is the next badass thing to do? The answer is not that I don’t know, but I am afraid to look.

    This blog post like any others will be closed with a hanging. To be continue. I wish life would be simplier. I could wake up and say I would do this and that and do them. That is it for now.

  • Day537 random talks

    Nothing big happened this week following the Cowtown Marathon.

    I am a bit bored as usual and feeling a bit unproductive and negative.

    My legs are still sore even a week after. I have not run much to save them. I did try running 7 miles on Thursday. It got the blood flowing. Theorectically, I should be good to run again.

    I spent some time to update my race schedule. Everything seems pretty good. Most decisions and races are set and good to go. There were no major changes to them. It was more like me polishing them.

    I did sign up a couple “small” races. This Sunday, I will run the Reston 10 miler. It is a local race. I did this one once or twice before. I couldn’t remember when was the last time I ran it. It might have been 2018. Ancient history.

    Second race I signed up was Lake Ridge (Lake Claytor) 12-hr run. I ran this the last two years and enjoyed the low – layback vibe of the race. Usually it is about dozen or so runners, and we meet at the lake and run until we drop dead and then run some more. This year will be in May, the week before my MMT – run of doom 100. heehee. Good day to chill before doing a 100 mile.

    The third race is Eastern Divide 50k. This was pretty much the ultra that got me into trail running in 2019. I have meant to go back to run it again. It was an ultra that beat my butt, finished in 7 hours and I thought that was hard. Now a day a 7 hour run is pretty tame. This race is beautiful point to point run. You climbed up the side of the waterfall ran through some country roads, and then through a field with an overlook. Boy, I ran this in the summer and it was hot. I remembered eating watermellon with salt at an aid station. I would love to relive that again. This year, the race will be in the fall, in November. It will be a bit different. I look forward to it nonetheless.

    I reviewed some of the conflicts in the schedule. Nothing much can be done. I can’t be in two places at once unless I have a clone or two. Some races would have to be deferred to next year.

    Now I want to run Stone Mill again. The race registration will not be open until May 15. Stone Mill though is in conflict with the Richmond Marathon. Also there is a race in Georgia also on that weekend. I am also eyeing Philadelphia Marathon, and it conflicts with Route 66 Marathon. All these would have to be sorted out later. So I would have pick one or the other. I also received an email informing me the race for the ALQ 50k registration will be open on April 22. The RD wrote that last year, it sold out after 45 minutes.

    *Sigh*

    I am happy even getting one race done this year. Here I am juggling with a dozen of races.

    There are two decisions I am afraid to face. One is April 29. It’s the GSER 100k. I know I can do it. I know my mission/vision is to be bold and not turn down a race. Yet I feel I have turn this race down this year. Because the following week, I will be running the Toronto Marathon, and I want to do well in that because it will be my international debut. My family is accompanied me on that trip. I don’t want to disappoint them with an average finishing time.

    The second decision is Lake Tahoe Marathon series. To run three marathons and a 70 mile race around Lake Tahoe. I want to do it. Yet this one actually puts some fear in me. Can I do it? I will have Grindstone 100 in Sept. Lake Tahoe is in October. I think I should be recovered by then. Yet, there is the sense of fear in me. If Lake Tahoe is the only race I will be doing, I would do it. I have other races lined up already. I felt I won’t be able to give it the due respect. According to my mission statement, I should do it. Fear is good.

    Coming back from Fort Worth Marathon, you know I met some people who share my passion. One of the pacers I was with, discovered marathons couple years ago. While running with him, he was so full of energy and that child like eagerness. You know what make a runner happy is asking the person what one race you like the most. I could go on and on. We went on for too long even other runners around us got annoyed. Yes, please don’t ask me about my races.

    Anyway, I am thankful I got to run some really cool race. Not sure what I will do this weekend. I will write more when I am ready.