In awe

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  • Day476 i got this / anticipation

    TL;DR – MMT race plan and bigger goals

    Season 12 has been rough. I thought I would have the perfect season. After 6 years of running, and two whole years of ultra training, that originally it seems I would have the least distractions and I would be well prepared for my 100 mile race at the MMT (Massanutten Mountain Trail) race.

    Last season, I ended my training early due to my mom’s health issues. It led to a DNF (unfinished/dropped) in my final race. In that race, I injured my knee and left foot. I might have gone through some post race blues, and that delayed the start of training for this season until much later in February. Also we had some bad weather days in January, so I missed the first training run (MMT tr 1, and the WTF50 race).

    I came into the season with a vague plan of how to tackle the MMT. Unfortunately on my first MMT training run (officially it was MMT TR2), I injured myself by pulling my hamstring. At the time I didn’t know what was wrong and thought it was just being tired, but a week later, it became severe enough to keep me from walking and running and even laying down was difficult because there was no position that would keep my hamstring from hurting. Don’t ask why I didn’t seek professional help.

    This took about 8-10 weeks to recover. April came around. I was getting better with each passing week. I had to (re)build up my cardio. I ran two marathons: Newport News and Salisbury. I did much better by the second marathon. Since then, it was a mad dash to improve on my cardio and my endurance as much as possible. I ran an 8 hour endurance race night run. I felt I did well. I had a lot of fun.

    As for MMT, I went on the remaining Training Runs (#3 & #4). I DNF’ed on my 3rd but redeemed myself on the fourth. Looking back, the only section I didn’t cover was the first 30 ish miles. I guess, you should always leave some unknowns for race day to have a bit of fun.

    As of today, I feel stronger than ever been since the start of the year. My hammy though has not completely healed, but is around 95-99%. It shouldn’t hamper me. Some days it feels better but on some other days, there is a slight pull or at least a feeling of it. It is like some phantom pain. That is on me of not seeking PT to recover properly.

    I can only run with the body I have as of now and not the body I want to have. During the training runs, I was jealous of many faster (and older) people who have the ability to dash up and down on the mountain and here I was panting.

    My previous concerns regarding the MMT were whether I will make various cutoffs. I finally sat down and calculated the cutoff pace for each section of the MMT. Basically before mile 54, I need to keep a 17-18 min mile pace. It might seem easy on paper, but that has been the pace I am struggling with this whole season. My plan is to give myself about 5 mins at each aid station. After mile 54, I can go at a 22 min mile pace. This is also during the night time. So 22 min per mile makes sense because everyone slows down at night. The final few miles though requires a bit of a faster pace (I forgot what it is, but that part will be on the road). This is for a total 35 hour run. I plan to give myself a longer stop at the night time aid stations. All in all, the total time for all the stops will be around 130 mins and it gives about 33 hours of running. I will try to skip the first two aid stations, so I will make the final cutoff of 35 hours. It is a bit tight. We’ll see. I sat down and planned all these paces but usually on race day will be completely different because we will go according to what the circumstance (and body) dictates. Hopefully, I will be faster at the beginning so to give enough buffers for the night portion.

    My strategy is to go slow in the beginning, but fast enough to make the cutoffs. The point is to get to mile 54. Then hopefully I could go faster after that and the cutoff threat would be off my mind since we have more time to get to the next station.

    Currently the weather forecast is worrisome because it seems we will have some nasty storms heading our way. Both Saturday and Sunday shows rain. Temperature wise seems to be on the mild to hot side. Last weekend we had a cold spell, so I need to plan for the night if the temperature unexpectedly to be colder (imagine 50s and being wet).

    I plan to take the day off work on Friday. I still need to prepare my drop bags. I plan to have about 5, Three bigger ones and two mini ones. The big one will have almost everything. Maybe two pairs of shoes for the drops (one at mile 30 ish and another around mile 65. The small ones will have a shirt and one or two items. Mini is for optional stuff. As for something I still need is food for Friday (lunch and dinner). Saturday morning breakfast / maybe lunch. The rest will depend on the Aid Stations. The Sunday after race lunch and dinner (5-6 meals). I plan to sleep in the forest for the night before driving home on Monday morning. A tent is needed.

    Race checking in time is 1400h on Friday. Race day check in is 0300h on Saturday. I plan to leave for the camp around noon and will be camping out. I have some shopping to do first (for meals). I did my laundry. Still need to Pack and Label my stuff.

    Probably very important is trying to get some weird snacks to keep myself awake on Saturday night. I had a hard time on my last two 100 mile races to keep myself awake at night. I haven’t found a formula that works. In those races, I somehow was able to push through the night, hard it might be. Some coffee beans might help.

    Am I excited? I am hyped. I haven’t been able to sleep the last two nights. Yikes. I think I had some anxiety. I should be fine I am telling myself.

    I have been a bit introspective, like what I have done for my training. I spent a sleepless night updating my journal pages here (WP). I hope they will be of help to someone if they look up my race reports. I don’t doubt whether I have done enough or what I could do better in regard to MMT. I also reflected on my goals.

    One thing on my mind recently is what I want to do after this. A couple of weeks ago, I met a runner, Tek, who had similar goals as mine and she already finished them. It made me question myself whether I still want to do it. I know I will still run in all 50 states but I no longer see it as a life time pursuit as before. Even before meeting her, I already knew I could finish it in a year or two and there was no reason to drag it out to ten or twenty years other than for financial reasons. And I have been thinking about what to attempt next. My goal is a bit different from Tek, in that, I have no interest in getting a grand slam for ultra or to run a 100 mile in every state. I think that is crazy to even try and my ability is way below hers. Unlike her, I don’t sign up for a 50/100 mile race as a training run for another bigger race, at least not yet. There is no easy 100 for me nor is there an easy marathon.

    My focus instead is either to hike the appalachian range or walk/run across the US. I can see I have more than 50% chance of success. I wrote about SubwaySean1, how he is walking across the country and I am tracking him closely. Also there is a local runner, Wardian, who is doing it in the opposite direction started about the same time frame. Wardian is running it around 50 miles a day, so he is expected to finish sooner. I follow Sean closely because he is a twitch streamer and is more interesting to watch. Wardian has a full support crew while Sean only has a baby carriage (self support) for his trek. Sean is nothing close to an endurance athlete, but Wardian is a seasoned ultra runner. This is Sean’s first rodeo and he is two weeks in! Sean’s planning though is amazing.

    Those are the things I want to do, something a little bigger than what I think I can handle but at the same time I think I can do it. If there is a remote possibility I could do it and it is exciting, I should go and do them.

    After a long post, so what, right? Indeed. Nothing will be accomplished unless I go out and do them. Back to why do I like to do them like running a 100 mile? I ask myself the same thing. The closest thing I could get is I like being alone for a long time doing nothing but running. It forces the mind and body to go into a special state that I found very relaxing. It is weird and I can only compare it to worship — I try to avoid using this word for a religious reason, but I think that is the closest I can describe it to be. Maybe more on this later.

    ps: this was originally a scheduled post before my race, but technology didn’t work as intended or maybe it did except I didn’t see it being posted. I knew the internet connection at my race was bad. Sorry, if you receive this a second time. I will have the race report up when I get to it, probably by the next posting

  • Day475 don’t jink it

    You know when your body crashes, it usually means something is wrong. I had something like that in February after my Covid booster shot. You probably know where I am headed with this.

    In my last post, I mentioned how I slept through the weekend. Now thinking back, that was unusual of me. Also, my heart has been racing and vivid dreams. Not the good kind but the bad one, like a premonition. I had a spooky feeling all week. I have been going through my mental checklist, like what is wrong, where is my anxiety coming from, but everything seems ok. It was the lighter version of what I had back in February. In February, I had a full brown panic attack.

    This Wednesday, after work my mom gave me a call. Actually I have been calling her the whole day because she kept on setting off her emergency alerts, like every 30 minutes. Each time, I had to call to check if she was in a real emergency. You know since after her stroke last October, any phone calls like these get me very nervous.

    The setting on her phone was always there, but somehow, it was enabled that day and she kept on setting it off whenever she turned off her phone or made a call. I believe it was either the 5-second hold or a combination of key press, or the slider thing. For me, how on earth do you set the emergency calling off, but apparently it was very easy. I think too there might have been a bug in a recent update from what I read, that whenever you press the power button, it triggers it.

    During the call, my mom said, you know so and so in our family was just tested positive for Covid19. It did not connect to me at that point in time that I just met the infected person about five days ago, being together in the same room. There was a chance that I was also infected. As of today, a couple other people who had come into contact with the person were themselves infected. No kidding. It confirmed there was an “outbreak” in my family (3 or more people, right?). Luckily, I only came into contact with them that one time.

    So the next day, I called my boss to request to work from home. During my lunch break, I went and tested for Covid at a local drug store since I don’t have one of those at home kits. Yes, I immediately ordered a few. My result came back negative (not detected/infected). I brushed up on the current CDC guidance. I will leave my opinion on this to myself but thankfully they had a calculator to determine whether one should be in isolation and for how many days.

    My big race is coming up, I have been looking forward to it for over a year. I do not want to be kept from it. My race weekend is on Friday the 13th. I know, what the freak! Will it be a full moon too? Luckily, nope. Well the race day is on Saturday morning 5/14, so I am good. Technically, I could drive there after midnight to avoid any bad luck, but ideally on the 13th, I should head to the camp.  The race starts at 4 AM. The pre-race meeting though is around 5 pm on Friday. Details, details.

    While I am cleared to be out of my house again, I am keeping every precaution. Stay away from crowds even from my mom. No, especially my family, until everyone is tested negative. Basically staying at home until the race time to lower the risk of getting infected. Be healthy.

    Happy Mother’s Day!

  • Day473 Impromptu race

    TL:DR; Ended up running in a nameless race overnight last weekend. The race was called 24-hr Adventure Trail Run by Athletic-Equation, but that is a generic name.

    My plan for the weekend was to go to the MMT race course to have one more practice after finishing the Easter Chocolate Bunny night run. But by Wednesday or was it Thursday morning I woke up and saw a post in my running group about a 24 hour race in my local area, with openings for last a minute signup, since there were a few spots made available. 24 hour would be a bit too much for me with this close to my A race (MMT) but they also had a night event for an 8 hour run and that was perfect for me to do.

    To me it was a no brainer to run it. The race was relatively inexpensive, and it was about the same as a tank of gas if I had driven out to the MMT. This race was in the city so, it saved me a trip to the mountain. They provided good aid stations as expected. I wanted to do a long run on the trail this weekend. Rather than me having to drive out to some godforsaken place and running by myself with zero supports, a race was a godsend. At least all the food and safety issues would be taken care of by them.

    A race that promised a night run was all I was looking for to get ready for the 100 mile race. This race was held at the Prince William Forest, where I failed to finish the Devil Dog 100K last December, so I knew the course should be tough enough. I felt this could give me training to the Devil Dog as well. I signed up immediately.

    On my race day, I was pretty busy. I had my usual Saturday morning run (16 miles ish), which I finished around 2 pm. I rested a bit until 4 pm and I got up to get ready for my race. Remember, it’s a night race but I wanted to be there at least an hour before the required time, 8:30, for the director’s briefing, plus I remembered parking being a bear when I did the Devil Dog there. I wanted some buffer room in case things go south. You never know in the DC area, because traffic could occur any time even in the middle of the night. 6:30 was the latest I would leave and still feel safe in making to there.

    My friend earlier in the week had asked if I was available to help him move a piano that day, so I promised to help. I asked if he could move up the time from 5 to 4. I don’t mind helping him. The moving project was relatively fast but the place we moved the piano to was about an hour away. It took us about 2.5 hours total. There were 5 of us, but two of the men were elderly in their 70s (my friend’s dad and his dad’s friend) and we did not want them to lift anything, especially a piano. The difficult part was getting the piano from the basement. The stairway was narrow. There was not much room to grab onto the piano except on either end. That thing weighs a ton (not literally) but it was too heavy for just my friend and me to lift, because we are not body builders. We couldn’t move it even with three people. We needed four. I think it must be around 200-300 pounds.

    Originally, I promised to help until 6 pm since I had to be at the race by around sun down. But seeing the lack of helps my friend had, I felt sorry for him. I knew the two old men while helpful were not able to lift. After we loaded the piano onto my friend’s van, I went with him to his house to unload it as well. The unloading process took only 15 minutes. It was pretty fast getting the piano inside his house. By then I was really pressed for time to get to the race site. I knew I would be late. It was already 7:30 and I was an hour later than planned.

    I never felt so rushed to get to a race. It was about an hour to get to the site. By the time I arrived, it was exactly 8:30 pm. However, there was no group briefing, so I was not technically late. Luckily, it was a low key event. I thought there were going to be hundreds of people, but most were already done and left. Parking was not an issue. The start location was the same as the Devil Dog at Happyland (camp #5) so I was familiar in getting there even after sunset. The 24 hour people started 13.5 hours earlier, in the morning. The 50K and 100K people already finished theirs. There maybe only 30 people on the course by the time I arrived. The 8 hour people already started too. Originally, the 8 hour people (the event I signed up for) were supposed to start at 9 pm. The race director gave me my bib number, pointed me to the course and said I could start whenever and run however I wanted. There was a prepared course, but the first few hundred yards or so were unmarked and it ran through the campsite. It would be obvious during the day which way to go, but at night everything was dark. It was going to be a “fun” run, since he knew I signed up to get training time and not for any awards or placement. Off I started. The time was 8:45 pm. I asked if I could skip the portion around road and cabins, he said sure if I want to. I was not going to be DQ. Of course, I didn’t do so, but that was how low key and chill vibe the event was. The director probably did not sleep since the day before and at this point it was just me running this, and who really cares if I followed the actual course. Later, I found out there were 8 of us doing the 8-hour run, but I never once saw them.

    I had a volunteer (Kevin) who wanted to do one loop with me. He was there since early in the morning doing parking lot duty and later served at an aid station. He had finished his shift. He has the same ultra running interests as I am. The director pointed to him saying he is doing what you are doing. He didn’t mean running in this race but about doing ultras in general. We got off well. He shared his race stories. He also injured his hamstring back in February and had a similar experience as I did, having literally pain in the butt and of not being able to train/run the last couple months. His next race is the Old Dominion 100, so he has one extra month than me to train. He showed me the course. He was well familiar with it since he did the 24 hr last year and he had run the Devil Dog 100k many times. I felt I met an angel. If I need any tips regarding the course, this guy knows every turn and bump. He ran at my pace too without complaining. He actually told me to go in front of him but I prefer following him since it was my first loop. I’m a pretty slow runner.

    We ran fast. We had our fastest lap time. After finishing the loop, he went home. I continued on. The night was quiet. We occasionally saw those who ran the 24 hour event. I believe I was the only one running on the course. The rest were just struggling through by walking. The 24 hour people were having a rough time since the day was hot (75-80 F) (or hotter than we normally used to for this time of year). Some had dropped earlier due to the heat. Those that remained were not in any better shape. The night was cooler around 50-60 F.

    I finished my 2nd lap by 12:30 am. It was much slower. Then the third lap by 2:30 and fourth by 4:15 am, I found my groove. My time was up by 5 am, so I did not plan to do a 5th lap. I felt pleased with a pretty strong run, considering I did 26 miles in 9 hours the previous week. Today, 25 miles in 7.5 hours was more than I hoped for. I found the trail was not as tough as I remembered, probably having trained on the MMT course, got me adjusted well to rocky trails. This local trail has become a childplay for me.

    Near the end of my last lap, I passed a runner who seemed to want to follow me, However, I was going too fast for her to keep up. I told her if she wants another lap and needed pacing I will be available at the aid station, which was also our starting and finish line.

    She (Anna) came in around 4:25 and decided to go for another lap. Most runners though already gave up of doing another lap since it was not likely they would make it back by 7:00 to have the lap counted. By then most have an idea how much time needed to finish a lap. Anna told me she has been running 2.5 hour a lap (a lap being 10K). It would be a close call to get her final lap in before 7 am since I could see at that point she was exhausted and would likely be much slower on this final lap.

    At this time, her pace was visibly deteriorating, but she was determined to go back out. I was willing to pace her. She asked if I think she can make it. I said I am her pacer and always believe in my runner (even if I don’t, I wouldn’t discourage them)! We did not spend too much time at the station. She just refilled her bottle and we went out immediately. Since I came in much earlier, I had time to change and ate up and be refreshed. I already changed into my good shoes and warm clothes. The temperature now was maybe around high 40s and dropping but it was cold without a jacket.

    In her struggle, we reached halfway by 5:45 am. It was not bad but not ideal either. The return leg would probably take an hour and fifteen minutes, and likely much longer because she was in pain. At the halfway point, she sat down on the trail. I thought it was done for her. The station manager laid out the options for her. If she wanted to quit, she could stop there and her miles would be counted up to that point. She was trying to clarify if she finished after 7 am would her lap be counted. They radioed in to the race director. Basically she has to finish before 7 for it to count. She was determined to finish. She turned to me pleading, to run (mostly to reaffirm her own conviction). It must have been so painful for her to go into a run since earlier we were only walking and she was struggling. She was counting on me to pace her. I told her, running is not an issue for me because I was still fresh (I felt I could do a good job). So we ran. At first, I was just fast hiking and she was running. Later her pace was too fast for me to be hiking and I had to go into a slow jog. She wanted me up in front. Usually one paces from behind (for trail races). So I tried to keep a pace that was slow enough for her but not too slow. Surprisingly it was easier now with fully lighted (pre-dawn). I could see the trail even without my headlamp. It was easy. Miles flew by. Anna was pretty good. She kept up all the way until the last mile where she needed more frequent walking break. She was able to transition back to a run time and again. We finished with 30 minutes to spare! She crossed the finish line at 6:30 am.

    No other people came in after her. A few went out after the race director informed them that they could get a half lap counted if they reach the halfway aid station before 7. Three or 4 people did. We saw them go out when we were close to the finish. Those were all her friends who came from Mexico to run in this race. She somehow inspired them to do a half lap. Not sure if she actually came from Mexico for this race or she is a resident here with diplomatic ties. It is not strange for our area to have people from all over the world.

    We had breakfast and an award ceremony in the mess hall. There might be only 10 of us out maybe 50 in the race. None of the 8 hr people stay. Many others had left already. I felt close to this small group of runners. I ran with them through the night. I was battling sleepiness and the good food was only putting me to sleep quicker. I slept in my car for a couple hours before driving home.

    This concluded my weekend. My new friend Kevin summarized for me when I first met him at the race. He said so you spent the morning running, the afternoon lifting weight and then still doing an all night run. Ya…this might seem like a lot, but as my 100 mile race is approaching, the body should be able to handle the load. It is reasonable for me to be able to do this. As for my hamstring, I think I am at 100% (recovered) now.

  • Day472 MmT Tr4 Night Run

    TL:DR; final shake out run before the real thing

    I went out to redeem myself from being kicked after 13 miles on my last training run a month ago. This time, I said I would keep with the pack and avoid the cut-off. This is the last official training (actually bonus training run) for the MMT 100 race. I joined them for 3 of them.

    This one was specifically held at night to give us the feel of the night and final portion of the race. We met at 6 in the evening and I was there a little after 5 in the afternoon. I lie around trying to catch some sleep, knowing I needed it. There were 20-30 people running this, much less than before maybe due to Easter and also it was a night run. Not all of them will be doing the real race in May. Many people have no vested interest to show up in the middle of nowhere for a night run. We started off on time at 7, with about an hour of daylight left. Many only do half of the run so they could go back home and sleep.

    We went into the woods

    I knew my own pace and settled in the back. I passed a couple others I knew who probably would not run the whole thing.

    I recognized Amanda from previous training runs. She and I had about a similar pace. I told her, I would make the cut off this time. She asked what time I think the cut off would be? I took a random guess maybe at midnight, 5 hours (as it was about 5 hours last time, and I was cut). That would be my goal any way to get there before midnight, There being the Visitor Center, our first official aid station. We were spoiled by RD’s wife set up an unofficial aid station at Gap Creek (around mile 6 tonight, I think in the race it would be about mile 70) just before we made the hard climb to Jawbone and Kerns Mountain.

    I was strong  climbing up to Jawbone. I waited for Amanda at the top. She seemed to be having a bit of trouble. Later on she said she had some stomach issue and threw up in the second half, but she did finish. She actually looked stronger this time than when I first met her.

    After reaching Jawbone, we continued on the ridge of Kerns Mountain, which was the hardest section tonight I think. By then the sun had set and the moon rose over the mountain.

    Moon rose over the other side, I think is Duncan Knob, which in the real race was where we would be coming from

    We had a full moon. However, I was having a hard time seeing the trail. Several times I ran off trails unknowingly. Amanda was pretty quick with downhills. I noticed many people were pretty quick with their downhills. I have not built up my trust with my feet to be willing to run downhill. I was a bit rusty. During my first training run, I was going to train on this aspect, but I pulled my hamstring and was out for 8 weeks. Actually, now 12 weeks since, my hamstring is only about 98% healed. There occasionally still is a slight pull or stiffness. Long story short, I haven’t had the opportunity to truly train on the fundamentals for this race. My breathing and muscles are pretty good now after three months, but I could have been better with my foot technique.

    We finished Kerns Mountain by 11:22 pm and we reached the true Aid Station at the Visitor Center before midnight. I was happy to have caught up with the others. They didn’t want to run on the road portion. I love the road and was able to catch up. There were five or six others there, but when they took off I was not able to catch them again.

    The next section was uneventful. We climbed Bird Knob. On the last training, I felt this was a hard accent, but, today, it was not too difficult for me. Amanda was behind me for a little while but then she disappeared (later she told us she was throwing up). Her pacer, Ram, was with her. I was by myself until the road portion. I made all the correct turns. I caught up with another pair of runners, Tracy and John. We climbed the Roaring Run together. They were much faster than me with the descent.  I wouldn’t see them again until I reached the finish.

    The remaining 6 miles were long and boring. It was mostly downhill. I passed someone camping by the trail. It was around 2 am and I hope I didn’t wake the person. I crossed numerous streams. When I ran this section a month ago, I was able to keep my shoes dry, but this time, I stepped into every puddle and crossing. It was hard to see at night, so might as well just walk right through them. I realize what is difficult about night running is you lose your depth perception. The creek might  be an inch deep or a foot deep. They look the same. Same with rocks. Sometimes when I step over rocks instead of on top of them, I might drop down 4-6 inches and it was always a surprise how further down I get. Your mind might tell you it is a little drop and it ended up you being a couple feet down. It can be very scary and easy to lose your balance.

    My hope was to be able to finish by 3:30 am. The time ticked by and that goal became unreacheable. There was just maybe a mile left. It was always so near yet not there. I finally made it back to the start at 4:00 am. Amanda was just 15 minutes behind me.

    —-

    Reflecting on this, I was 15 min late too, if there was a cut-off. When in the actual race, I should aim for 8:30-8:45 for every 25 miles. The race is 102 miles long. We have 35 hours to do it. So I am really on the borderline of being cut since I used 9 hours for 26 miles, meaning 36 hours for 104 miles (you should always add a few miles for a long race for contingency like getting lost/off trail, or inaccurate course measurement). I would be cut at maybe mile 94-96. I realized tonight, I tarried about 30 minutes at the aid stations, otherwise I could have finished by 3:30. I also waited for Amanda for about 15 mins. In theory I could have done it within 8 hours. If I could be quicker on race day at aid stations, I would be fine.

    I compare myself with my fellow runner Amanda because in the last three training runs we were the last to finish. I think on race day, both of us are in danger of being cut. I know I am a tad faster than her, but not by much. She definitely improved dramatically since I first met her. She is my metric. I am thinking of working her into my race day’s strategy. I have not decided yet, whether going out fast, then she will catch up to me at mile 70 and hopefully then we will finish together, using each other for support. Alternatively, I will keep at her pace throughout (but if she screws, I will be as well) at least until mile 70 and then I will break out. This would be ideal. It’s a lot of trust to put my race into someone’s hand. This benefits me from not going out too fast, yet I think I don’t have the patience to be slow on race day.

    Theoretically I have a couple more weeks to fix what needed fixing, however, this is likely it. I plan to go for two more runs to fine tune it but no one can tell what will happen.

  • Day471 BRR volunteering and Easter

    The Bull Run 50 mile Race, took place last weekend. At the last minute, they reopened their registration, however, I already had other plans especially since I signed up to volunteer at one of their aid stations. It would be bad karma to promise to serve and then go back on my words.

    This BROT (Bull Run/Occoquan Trail) 50 Mile Race is the race I have been wanting to run but was never able to catch their sign up. I joined them a couple times on their training runs (BRR #1 and #3) recently. BRR stands for Bull Run Run and is how the training runs are named. BROT is the abbreviation for the trail name and I think it is the official race name.

    When I heard the registration being reopened, I was torn. I needed some longer runs for my 100 mile training. A 50 mile race would be about right. However, being this near to the 100 race, it might not do me any good. I am about a month out from my race.

    I knew I was going to volunteer when they made a call for us. And volunteering was fun. We made a lot of runners happy. Our station was the first stop at about 7 miles into their race. Many faster runners did not need anything from us. The course was an out and back in both directions, with the race starting near the middle (Hemlock Overlook). We were stationed near the Bull Run Park end point, so we saw runners coming toward us and back again for a second time after a turn around at Bull Run. By 9 o clock, all runners had passed us. We then were able to close the station and go our way an hour and half ahead of our scheduled time. There is no official cutoff at our station, but the extremely slow runners knew and was partly encouraged by our station manager to drop from the race if they couldn’t get to our station by 9-ish.

    I brought my running gear with a hope to do my long run right after volunteering. I explored the Bull Run Park end of the trail. Because it had rained the previous night, the park wouldn’t let the race take place in a loop in their park (the usual turn around point for this race). Thus, I think the race was about 2-3 miles short from a true 50 miler, but I don’t think runners mind. The Bull Run’s end was indeed extremely muddy. I ran there out of curiosity to check and did a loop around the park, the part other runners were not allowed in. By the time I finished, I was like 2 hours from the last runner of the race.

    The trail was open to the public. I felt I was far behind from the pack so people wouldn’t confuse me as being in their race.

    I did not have a goal when I first started. I hoped I could get about 20 miles in for my long run day. While on the trail, I felt great and decided I could push for a 50K. I knew running a 50 mile was out of the question since I started late in the day. I planned to push for 10 miles out toward the Fountainhead side where runners were and come back before getting back to my car. I already had about 10 miles in and just needed 20 miles more for a 50K.

    I passed by their finish line (and it was their starting line too) at Hemlock Overlook. It was past noon, but no one had finished yet. I went for a few more miles and saw the first place runner coming in. He was ahead by 3 miles of the 2nd and 3rd place. He cracked a joke saying if I see the second place, to give a shout so that he would know how close the second place is behind. There was no way a second place would be on his tail that day. I did see the second place a long while after. I kept running until I was at the Bull Run Marina, which was another Aid Station. By then I think 5 or 6 runners had passed through on their way back to the finish. Normally, Bull Run Marina is my turn around point.

    It was still early in the afternoon. I had about 15 miles. I still needed a few more miles before turning around since I wouldn’t be going again all the way to Bull Run. So I ran to the next aid station from there. In this section, I saw more runners coming through on their way back. When I reached my turn around point (my mile 19), the midpack runners arrived. These runners walked the hills more often. They are still strong compared to me. They were all fast. All of them passed me. For them it was their mile 40. I haven’t even reached my mile 25 yet. I hustled with them.

    I was pretty tired by the time I got back to the Marina. It was after 5 pm by then, a bit later than I had hoped. I was out of water. I was pretty sure they wouldn’t mind if I asked for some at the station. I forgot to bring my own filter. In the past, when I ran on this trail, I used to be out of water too and had to filter water from the creek. While I was debating to stop for water a fellow volunteer recognized me and called. I, therefore stopped and asked for their water. Of course, they filled me up. Their station would be open for another hour and half.

    I was nervous I might get to my car after dark and the park might tow my car since where I left my car does not allow overnight parking. I had about two hours and at most three hours before sunset. For some reasons, I felt my destination was much farther away and I might not make it.

    At least five or six runners caught up to me in this stretch. Probably 30-40 in total had passed me by then. They were all rushing to the finish. These were the 11 hour finishers (strong runners). About a mile out from their finishes, they were all sprinting. They all knew they were near and there was a bit of a competitive spirit among us. They didn’t know I was not in the race I think. Of course, I couldn’t keep up as I had no reason to. I still had five miles to go before reaching my car, beyond their finish line. I walked by then after I made my turn off toward my trail away from their trail which leads to their finish line. I was hitting my bonk. I was at my mile 27. My water soon ran out again, but I knew I only had a few miles left to go. I had my gels leftover from my last weekend race. They came in handy. I slurped them and after a mile or so, I regained my strength. I reached my car before 7 o clock with the sun still up. The fear of getting there after dark was moot because we have like an hour more daylight.

    As for the race, runners still had an hour left. They had 13 hours to do it. Personally, I don’t know if I could run 50 miles on that trail under 13 hours. I felt I might need 14 hours or more to do it. I only did about 30 miles and it took me about 8 hours. I think another 20 miles might take me longer. However, that was not my race. I was just happy I got my training run in. I reflected on if I were running my 100 mile today, what condition would I be, knowing I still have 60+ miles to go. I should not be this tired yet. I believe my 100 mile is on a harder trail.

    The next day of course, I was still tired. My friend from DC messaged me (the same guy I did the marathon together a week ago) if I want to do a bunny run since it will be Easter coming up. He likes to draw shapes using his runs. He planned to draw a bunny on Strava (gps map) this weekend. He planned the run, and I was there just for the fun. He called up a few others to join in. I asked him how many miles. He said 8. Eight was a reasonable amount I could do after a 50K. Some streets were closed. My bunny turned out OK. It had some extra features/an appendage, because I didn’t want to pause my watch for the road detours. Some of you already saw them on my Strava.

    Bunny Run for Easter Celebration

    I told him, his run was my recovery run. I was happy for my weekend. It was not a race but I got my runs done both the BRR and a little fun run on top. Happy Easter everyone!

  • Day470 Salisbury Marathon (RunSBY)

    After running the Newport News Marathon last month, I came into the Salisbury Marathon, thinking it would be about the same. While it is easy to compare and contrast the two because they were still fresh on mind, but that is not what will do. I enjoyed running them. This race allowed me just to focus on my running and all the logistics and everything else were handled seamlessly. They did a phenomenal job.

    Salibury Marathon occurred on Saturday, so the timeframe for the prerace preparation was much compressed, unlike the Newport News one. I rushed to Salisbury after work. Though I am not easily stressed, but we came close to the point I wouldn’t be able to make it in time to pick up my bib. It is not race org’s fault since they offered a mailing option but I just didn’t pick it. I preferred facing the afterwork traffic. The two hour drive became a four hour one. I left around 3ish in the afternoon but for some reason only known to my gps, I was rerouted into downtown Washington, DC. And there I sat in my car forever until I got out of there. We had to pick up our bibs on Friday because there was no Saturday pickup. If I didn’t make it to the convention, it would mean no race for me. I made it to the convention by closing and got my bib. Then I went to check into my hotel. When all said and done it was around 9-9:30 pm.

    Next was dinner or sleep. Honestly I wasn’t that hungry, but chose food over sleep. There is no shortage of eateries in Salisbury. Many restaurants (outside of downtown) open late, past 11. The downtown was kind of dark and scary (on my first night there), so I avoided it after picking up my bib. There are a bunch of chain restaurants plus some local ones. I stuck to my usual prerace meal, being unwilling to try new stuff. I googled for a cheap chinese buffet. I found one that was pretty good.

    I got back to my hotel late with a full stomach. I was a bit too excited to sleep and didn’t do so until around 2 am. I set my alarm for 5 am. I have done this many times so I was not worried if I would get enough sleep. I am usually fine with 3-4 hours of sleep. I woke up before my alarm went off, feeling great as if I have slept for a full night.

    The race was at 7. I got to the course before 6. The temperature was quite fine around 40 F (5-7 C) and I believed it got up to around 60s (12-15 C). The start line was half a mile away from our car. The start and finish were not at the same place, but they were not too far apart. There was a shuttling option available, but I chose to walk. We parked at the finish and walked to the start as recommended. A few parked at the start. To me, that is the harder option.

    Race starts near the park where we gathered

    We had a beautiful morning and course.

    A friend from DC saw my social media post about the race and so he reached out to me, saying he would see me on the course. He and several of his friends were running it too. We met up at the start. They were much faster than me (1 hr faster). I told them to go ahead. I was able to run at his pace in the past, but today it was obvious I was not able to keep up. I gained much weight during the interim since I last ran with him. I blame it on the Covid weight (Covid 10).

    Also I came into the race with a pulled hamstring that has been bothering me for the past several weeks now. While with each passing week, my condition improved but I wasn’t sure if I can run at my full strength yet. I was judging that I was at 90-95% well. I still felt some slight pulling from the injury, but I was no longer in pain. This was a whole level better than the week before.

    Based on my last official marathon time, I finished at 5:15 and I was healthy at the time. I was hoping to at least be able to match it or somewhere close, but if I get 5:30, 5:45 or even finish by 6:00, I would consider myself lucky. Last weekend, I ran a marathon distance on the trails with a time of over 8 hours, and its time splits were still fresh on my mind. I tried to run like the week before during the race, and was happy I hit each of my mental checkpoint well before the clock, given this week I was running on the road and my injured leg was much better. I was generally feeling pleased. I didn’t compare my feelings during the race, but looking back I was feeling much better than when I was running at Newport News. I didn’t feel stressed by the clock.

    Miles flew by. By mile 4, I met a friendly guy (Alex) and we chatted our way to mile 12. The course was beautiful. He was aiming for a 5:30 finish. So by halfway he dialed back his pace. I thought I was aiming for 5:30 finish pace too but I was running stronger, so I pulled ahead. We knew we were ahead of pace since the 5:00 and 5:30 pacers were still (far) behind us. I was trying to bank on my time. I reviewed my run pacing profile afterward, and it was decaying the way it should.

    There was a woman around us and she snapped over hundreds of photos during her race, and we were in some of them too. We saw a beautiful sunrise. The temperature went up a bit but it was never too hot. I love running through the countryside and seeing farms and horses. At one point we passed a chicken farm and we could smell the chicken poops. Salisbury is known for chicken farms supplying chickens to our Washington area.

    Alex and I were having a good time running (photo taken by a fellow runner Maureen Y.)

    The half marathoners started with us. It was good to have them around until mile 11 when the courses separated. I heard there were a thousand of the half marathoners but only about 300 of us. They went to their finishes and we went the other way for a 13 mile loop before rejoining them again. We had aid stations about every 2 miles. Aid stations all have gels and chewy bars. Unlike the last race, I didn’t have to search for food or gels. I was happy. I had a couple chewy bars. They sure provided the energy needed at halfway. We had mile markers for every mile, even for the full marathon course. Course marking was good, at least for me, but I heard someone almost went the wrong way. There were course marshalls and road signs as well as arrows taped on the ground pointing the direction on all the turns. It is beyond me how anyone could get lost. Security was good. I don’t think it was needed because Salibury is a safe city, but they were out in full force. We had police officers stationed on most intersections. There was plenty of cheering from spectators, so we were not alone running in the middle of a farmland/countryside.

    Pacewise, I ran around a 10-11 min mile pace. I held it steady until 6 miles and then it slowly decayed to a 12 min mile. My pace crashed at around mile 24-25. It was not a hard crash, but definitely it was pretty tough to maintain a steady pace. I walked more in the final two miles. This was exactly how I wanted. I didn’t want a hard crash like hitting the wall as I had on during the Newport News Marathon. I’d rather prefer slowly tapering down. I finished it in under 5 hours. This was better than expected. My hamstring did not bother me a bit.

    In all these we were more than conquerors through him who loved us, from a verse I recalled during the race. I was happy. Sometimes we got sidelined for no reason at all (like me for the last few weeks) and today I felt like a million dollar to be able to run. I was thrilled.

    My friend waited for me at the finish and we went out for lunch afterward. We spent the lazy afternoon kicking back and relaxed with good food. We all had a long drive home. We were talking about visiting the shipping container boat Ever Forward that got strained near the Bay Bridge. Unfortunately, I was too tired and too late in the day to pay a visit, otherwise I could have addd a little national news to my marathon trip and provide a picture! I love things like this. And what with this shipping company Evergreen keep having their boats being stuck around the world?! Wondering if it was piloted by the same captain as the last boat that was stuck? Who knew the Potomac is so shallow.

    The day after, I felt I could still go out to run more. This is a good sign. I didn’t want to finish a marathon and feel exhausted. It should be tired enough but a good sleep would help me recover.

    RunSBY (Salisbury) was a gem to me. My friend joining me was like a cherry on top.

  • Day469 MMT TR3

    TL;DR – A weekend long run on a weak leg.

    What a weekend! It was like taking a cold shower. I have done many kinds of runs and gone on many outdoors trips, but this past weekend was one of the best. It was a training run for my MMT 100 (Massanutten 100 mile trail run). I compare the trip to be like when I ran on the Wild Oak Trail one night, (the post is somewhere on here, maybe one day I find the link and link it), but that was another story. Or it was like the Smoky Mountains trip, except less tiring. I felt refreshed by it.

    Granted the event was just one of the small training runs for MMT, but it felt like a real race. As many as 40 people showed up and they ran it fast, I don’t think they were holding back. The training program was free and was open to all on a first-come-first-serve basis. So many of the runners were using it to train for something else other than the MMT or they just wanted to run it for fun. I had to hold back because of my hamstring injury and also my condition is not good. Even so, the event was so good and it would be many times that when the real race (MMT) comes in May.

    My training for the last several months has not been as great as I would have hoped. For various reasons, and mostly due to various injuries but also being unmotivated, my training hasn’t really been seriously taken off. Luckily, I had a few so called training runs and this was one of them (TR#3).

    All the training runs for the MMT are on the actual course. Each time, I am humbled by it. This time, coming in with a hamstring injury, probably sustained at the last training run a month ago, which was probably stemmed from an injury from even earlier at the Devil Dog 100k in December, I didn’t know if I would be able to do it. The injury seemed to be serious enough for me to not being able to move or walk much for the last two weeks. The big question of course is why I even tried to go and run, right? But I couldn’t just stay home. It was the same reason I ran a 10K race the week before while limping, but now the pain has gone down significantly. Note readers, Don’t do what I do. Instead listen to your body.

    Luckily for me the run was problem-free, but just maybe a tiny bit, which I will tell. I woke up immediately at 3:30 in the morning after my alarm went off, the drive was 2 hours away, so I knew I had to be out of the house by 4 to make it on time. Even with only a couple hours of sleep, I felt refreshed and ready. I rarely felt tired on a run! I had kind of packed my things already the night before, and was just missing a few more things. I planned to camp out too afterward, so I had to gather my tent, sleeping bag, my food bag and some clothes. I had a big loaf of bread (banh-mi) in the car and I ate it for breakfast as I drove to the site. I thought that was enough for the day but a bit later in the morning I was hungry again. I regretted that I didn’t bring along other snacks.

    Originally I was going to leave on Friday night and camp out before the event so I wouldn’t have to make the morning drive but for some laziness in me, after work, I didn’t pack quickly enough and ended up having dinner and after dinner I was a bit too sleepy to do the night drive. My excuse was I didn’t want to look for a camping spot after dark.

    Anyway, I arrived a bit “late”, just 15 min before the event. Ideally, I like to be there an hour before, for any big event. I should have left the house at 3 in the morning instead of 4, but that would cut into my sleep time. Many already were there. Luckily, I got a parking spot. Note, we were trying to fit 40 cars in a small lot that was probably designed to hold 15-20 cars. It was a tight squeeze and I was afraid either someone would dent my car or I to them. This was by the way the same lot we used on the last training run at Stephen’s Trailhead at Camp Roosevelt (and that time, we tried to squeeze 60-65 cars in).

    The temperature of the early morning was nippy cold. The city temperature was 42 F but I think up on the mountain was near 30. It was cold enough to see my breath. Definitely, I was not dressed for the occasion. I didn’t bring gloves or a wool cap. My ears and fingers were burning from the cold. I didn’t check the weather closely before going. It rained just 15 mins before the race.

    I found the race director and signed in. Unknown to me and the race director, there was someone having a similar name as mine and it caused much confusing through out the day. He was also asian. I was using my last name and he was using his first name, and they are the same. So whenever I reported myself arriving at a checkpoint, the volunteers would say, they already cleared me or I came through. I felt someone stole my identity. This also led them to believe I was no longer on the course for having crossed my name off early. Some even said I didn’t show up or not on the list. Nothing wrong with that except I would receive no aid for showing late. By the way, they offered me food. They are one of the nicest people.

    I also decided to add a few more layers on top of my T shirt before starting out. It was a smart move. I carried a rain jacket as well. Guess what! It snowed midway into my run. Unbelieveable that there was still snow at the end of March. It was not too bad, but the wind and temperature was consistently on the cold side.

    We started our run in the dark. I couldn’t remember much of the landmarks and turns we passed by. I was just following the crowd. I ended up being the last one eventually. We crossed several streams and maybe by mile 5, I could no longer keep up with the group. On one hand, I was being careful with my hamstring, stepping gingerly and didn’t want to push it too hard. And I know it would be a long day, and many more miles to cover. On the other hand, my aerobic performance was poor. Little did it occur to me to have a plan B, like how to bail out or take shorter the course in the event if something bad were to happen. Eventually, I did have to take a shorter course, thanks to a lady at an aid station for the trail guidance. It did occur to me at mile 5-6 whether to turn around and go back. I told myself that if I need to turn around it better be sooner rather than later now and before mile 15 when I reach the point of no return.

    The sunrise was amazing as I was climbing the first hard climb. I don’t remember what mountain it was (I think on Duncan Knob) but it was on a blue blazed. Too bad, I was a bit too tired to take a photo. Throughout the day the views were amazing. I recognized a mountain in the distance. I named it Mt Doom because as I know we would be there 25-26 miles later. It was maybe a mile or two from where I was but we would circle back to it. It is a landmark close to the finish for this run as well as the actual 100 miler. As an aside, after checking the map post race, Mt Doom might not be the same Mt Doom I thought I saw, but it is near the finish.

    Mt Doom in the distance

    What so fun about trail running is the significant distance we would be covering on a run. I am surprised each time I run to see landmarks that we eventually get to. Even though we could see it, but it would take us a whole day to get there. Of course, we meandered around several other mountains and valleys to get there. It is something I am very proud of.

    My pace was beyond slow and I know it early on. I thought it would be nice to keep it as if it were a race day. I had no doubt that I would finish regardless. On race day, I would be at 70 miles in with 32 miles to go. normally, I wouldn’t be running much by then. The pace I was doing I felt was not too far off from race day pace for that stretch. I felt my pace was reasonable even though it was slow.

    Little did I know though there was a cut off time for the training run too. Logically, yes, I wouldn’t want everyone waiting for me. I remembered later reading it somewhere before, but while on the course it didn’t occur to me. I was planning to run that course in 12 hours, and didn’t realize we were given at most 11 hours (for 35 miles). This was my fault. If it were race day, I would have built up enough buffer in the first 70 miles to allow me to go slower than the required pace at the end. But today I had no buffer since I just started. What even worse was I was also doing/planning to do a reverse split, which I believe I could, but this was a no-no for a long run, because most cutoffs usually give more lenient toward the end than at the beginning, not the other way around. I was taking it easy and chilling and walking even during most of the down hills and flats, thinking I could always make up in the mid or final section. I also made enough stops to take pictures — at one point I almost took a quarter mile up a side trail to summit a mountain for a picture. I thought I was having fun because I know on the actual race day, I wouldn’t have such free time to do all these side excursions.

    By 10 am, 4 hours into the event, I sensed time was ticking by faster than I wanted and even without any prompt, my spider sense kicked in telling me I need to giddy up. I started running then with the aim to reach the first checkpoint by 10:30 (note, in my mind I thought the checkpoint would stay open until 11). On a normal day, I would have made it, but today was not one of them. My body refused to move. I could hardly even do a 12-13 mins on flat. Every few steps I needed to stop and breathe. It might be the altitude affecting me too. But I knew I was maybe 2-3 miles from the first Aid Station. I came in at 10:45. The last person came in like 20 minutes ago. And the actual cut off was 15 minutes ago. They were wrapping up. The two ladies at the station was surprised to see me. The one who was in charge of the station apologized, they thought everyone had gone through (this was because of the names mixup and they crossed my name off before I even arrived). They felt that they had failed me and I felt bad too like being a bad guest. They offered whatever food they had left. But the hard truth was I had been DQ. They said I shouldn’t (actually couldn’t) continue on the course and they showed me a way to cut off a 10 mile loop to get ahead of other runners and so I could get to the finish in a decent time. Reason being even though I was just 15 minutes behind, they fear, by the end of the run it might increase to an hour or more and they were not wrong about that. They were not wrong.

    Navigation was my biggest concern since I tried to read the trail notes before the event (for the 100 race) with my map several times but each time came away in confusion and feeling sleepy. So I was worried on the actual run I would get lost.

    I was sad because the whole purpose for me to come out to the training run is to know the course. And now only a third way into it, I was kicked from the event and the mission is not achieved. I did not want to jeopardize being banned from future events, so I obeyed.

    With the shortcut, I got in front of many faster runners. It was funny to see the look on their faces, like how did this slow guy get in front of them! Of course the front pack was amazing in their ability to climb and actually ran up the mountain not breaking a sweat and they already have done 26 plus miles while I only had maybe 15 miles and I was struggling as I slowly climbed one step at a time.

    I finished around 2 pm (2:16 as recorded) having done about 24-25 miles that day. It was still a pretty good stat in my opinion of running 24-25 in 8 hours. I was slower than my last training run but it also meant I ran much faster after being cut from the race to make it back to the finish (which was in the same location as the start) in a acceptable time. I know if I had run properly in the first place, I wouldn’t have been cut.

    I was tired after finishing and was actually glad I was being cut. I couldn’t imagine how I would have managed an extra 10 miles if I had gone the full route. I was able to sit around with the faster people as we waited for the rest to finish. We had a fire going and the Race Director was grilling some good burgers for us. It was a free race, so any extra food beyond what we brought to the race was coming from the club fund or RD personal fund. We felt honored for the food and the excellently managed event. Normally, no food was expected.

    I ended up camping out on Saturday night. It is really for another story, but it was nice and cold when the temperature dropped during the night. I did my camping thing. Pretty much the only guy on the whole mountain. The following day, I decided to drive to the 10 mile segment that I missed and ran it on my own. It took me 3 hours to run it. It was much easier than I thought. It was less rocky and it was pretty much runable for the most part. I am glad I did it so as to have an idea for the actual race. People were saying all kinds of stories for this section and I had to see for myself.

    In conclusion, I did what I came to do. I did 35 miles over the weekend. My hamstring held up well and I believed it got stronger due to the event. I am in less pain today afterward (almost pain-free). I think I am at 85% recovered now from the injury. Before the event, I felt I was at 75-80%, so maybe another 10% improvement. It felt stiff still, and I am not at 100% yet, but soon will be. Readers might not know the joy of being able to run again! Physically, I am not ready for the 100 mile race as I would like but I know I can get a bit more ready by the next training. The 100 mile race is scary yet manageable. I believe I said the same thing on the last training run. This time having seen almost the entire course, and I believe I ran on the hardest section of it, laid to rest whether this race is within my capacity. The next training, called Chocolate Bunny (on Easter Sunday), will be a night run on almost the same portion of the race course as this time. I am looking forward to it. It would nail the finishing portion of the course in the actual condition because on race day, most people will be running this last section in the dark or predawn period.

    I am grateful to have run it. All the volunteers made it possible. I was not in peak condition. It was humbling, but I sense that it is so true from scripture that my grace is sufficient and my power is made perfect in weakness. The weaker I am, the more appreciative of the type of runs I could pull off.

  • Day468 – life goes on

    I’m ok. Nothing much to write about.

    Briefly, back/leg is still giving me problem. I am improving. Maybe 10% better than last week. Not a huge jump but the pain has lessened to an inconvenience numb. Probably seeing a doctor is the right course of action. The Sunday 10K didn’t aggravate the injury. I could do a bit of hamstring exercises without having an intense pain.

    Unrelatedly I updated my site to the next layout wordpress twenty twenty-two (swiss). My WP phone app got updated as well. It looks good. Has a bug or two. One such is the header section of a page is new, and the phone app has no corresponding page to edit the header. I eventually figured where to change it. It is not that easy and it is tucked in some menu. I truly believe in separation of content and page style and templating. They have put the header content in the template section (CSS bit) as I understand it. No biggie. I found the place to change it. Anyway, I hate technology but then again I always like the next gizmo. I got myself to blame for tinkering around.

    Life has been ok. A bit busy. Not much time to run. Not that my body is able to. But time is indeed lacking.

    I gained weight.

    I am going to a training run this weekend. Nothing to brag about. The mileage will be high, around 33 miles. I am in a not so good condition to train, but I will go. We will see how I do.

  • Day467 slow week

    Maybe it is a pattern that after a big race, there is a big let down immediately after. I have been in a slump the last two weeks.

    My ability to run shouldn’t be a limiting factor, but my life has been hectic and what not. It got so bad that I haven’t run for two weeks.

    The only times I stopped running were for quarantine back in 2020. I took two weeks off then. Another time I stopped running was due to caring for my mom – that was right before the 100 mile race in West Virginia.

    This time I really messed up with my training for the next hundred miler. I should have been in my peak condition right now, but I am not. I think I am at maybe 10%. The race is maybe in 6 weeks. It is a bit late. I really bombed my February and March, the two crucial months.

    Not only that but a few days ago, it started on Wednesday, I had lower back pain. I had back pain in the past. It comes and goes. The pain was enough for me to keep me from running.

    The next morning though the pain shifted to my lower left thigh. It was as if someone stabbed me during the night in the back of my leg. I was hobbling around during the next day. Friday, it got a bit better. The pain went down to numbness. Still walking was difficult. Saturday I stayed home. The pain reduced a bit further. There were certain positions I could sit or lay down where I could be painfree now. Then came Sunday. I had a 10K race.

    A wise person would listen to their body but I am not one of them. I went to the course anyway. I paid for the race months ago and there is no way I would be giving up on it. Even if I couldn’t run it, I might be able to walk it. It might take me two hours but I will get it done.

    Before the race, I googled what was wrong with me with my conditions. I think I have an idea now. Of course I am not a doctor and the web and self diagnosis is not the most accurate thing. I think I had a high hamstring pulled. The conditions seem to match. They have a term for this. I realized I had this pain before. Some say it wouldn’t go away by resting and ice.

    Would I still going to run it or not? I could barely walk. I thought it was funny I was limping down the street while everyone was doing their warm up runs. I tried to stretch my hamstring, boy was that hurt. No worry. We would go slow.

    I chose to run. The first mile was like a 13 min pace and I was with all the slow people. Gradually I could go a bit faster and faster. The pain let up. I could go into a full sprint. Glory for now and pain later I said to myself. I could move at a 9 min pace (near my top speed) by mile 4. Mile 5 I started to get tired and my pace dropped back down to 9:30. I cruised to the finish passing a few other people on the way in.

    Now what? Don’t do what I did. Listen to your body. I don’t know if I will be able to move tomorrow. We will see.

    Fyi, I am not sure if I had covid or was it the side effect from the booster shot, but I had all of these:

    “Post-COVID-19 fatigue is more than just tiredness and can make you feel completely drained, exhausted, and generally unwell, which is common when your body is fighting a viral infection. You may also experience other symptoms such as: Weakness, Muscle and joint pain, Poor concentration, Sore throat, Headache,
    Disorientation.”

    Why did I not get tested? I forgot; it didn’t occur to me that it could have been covid. Only now as I am writing up this post, the light turned on. I could have the omicron. I should have gotten tested. Now it is too late, I already felt much better this week.

    I don’t know what will happen to me now in the weeks ahead. My conditions might take 6 more weeks to fix, but I definitely will make it worse with my running. There are exercises (stretches) I could do to strengthen my hamstring. Six weeks from now though would be my 100 mile race.