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  • [670] Hone Quarry 40

    Dayton, Virginia. 

    It seems like a classic race in our area but this was only the third year.  I have heard about it last year, when a friend recommended it to me as a good training run for the Western States, but due to scheduling conflict or possibly it was being sold out, I only got to run it this year.

    I love it.  It has some big climbs. Not just big but out of the world big, that I can only compare it to Wasatch or Grindstone level climb or maybe Massanutten kind of climbs.  I almost fainted at one of the midway climbs.

    I had gone expecting it to be easy because a few months ago, I have been there to scope out the trails. To me it was just a 50k with 10 miles (a lot) of road running added on.  I was hoping to get it done in 10 hours.

    The race allowed for 13.25 hours so I knew I had plenty of time.

    We stayed in Harrisonburg overnight, so that we could arrive the next day early for the bib pickup.  It was maybe 20 minutes away from the city.  The race started at a normal hour of 7:00 am after lighted. We were advised to carry our headlamps but it was not really needed.  I still carried mine just in case.

    The first four miles were on the road.  It gave a fast easy run to the Hone Quarry park/trailhead. 

    Runners gradually sorted out according to their respective paces. I was running with two new friends Scott from New York and a young man, I believe is from Richmond.  Scott is a seasoned runner having done many tough course.  He was preparing for a 350 miler.  As for the young man, this was his second ultra. He has done the High Bridge 50k (or Night Train 100k) which was almost all flat.  This would be a step up.  It seemed he stayed back to feel the course first.

    Once we entered the trail, my pace slowed down a lot.  I was then left alone most of the day.  A few stronger runners caught up and passed me.  Then heard my friend from behind when we got to the first out and back where there a hole puncher to punch our bib.  Some runner was fidgeting the thing to get it to punch to no avail.  I tried too but was not able to get a hole to punch. Sissou, Caroline’s friend came up and punched all our bibs for us. She has a stronger grip than all of us.

    The view was amazing. 

    Lover Leap rock: I took this to prove I have been to the out and back section since I was having a hard time with the hole puncher.

    We continued on to the first aid station at mile 6.  It was too early for a break.  We had plenty of fluid. I was still full from my breakfast. In fact, I was too full.  I felt I still had a pound of steak in my tummy from the night before and two pounds of Thai Druken Noodle I just ate few hours early.  The noodle was not settling well.  Every jump I hopped, I felt the stuff inside was bouncing along.  I needed a big belch to relieve the tension.  Eventually, it came. I was a happy camper. Looking back, the heavy meals were what I needed for this race. It ran more like a 50 miler.

    After the aid station, we had 7 miles of climb (maybe 5 and 2 miles of descent).  It seemed a lot but it was not too bad. It was steeper at the beginning then it began to ease out.  We were still moving upward most of the time. Eventually, we reached a split in the trail. We turned right for Union Spring (aid station).  The aid station was still a couple miles away, but this is another out and back, a lollipop section.  I was able to see the faster people heading back already.  I recognized many.  Soon, we made another right, at the top of the lollipop loop.  There was a sweet down hill section that I could really open up my strides.

    I was glad to finally reached the aid station and also caught up to 4-5 other runners.  I stayed here a bit to rest up and refilled my pack.  I was only at mile 12.5 and I already finished 1.5L of water.  I mixed 50-50 Tailwind and water to my pack. Grabbed some peanut butter and jelly squares and was ready to head off.  The 4-5 runners ahead of me were already long gone. Sissou came up from the road, I waved and headed out.

    We started climbing again, maybe about a mile long.  The guys in front of me were slowly losing stream and I was able to catch up and passed them.  Before the highest point of that section, I was able to catch up to Bruce and friend, who has done this course the prior year, whom I was not expecting to pass until maybe very end of the day since he did the course in 10 hours. 

    They were comparing their time at the summit.  This year they did it 10 minutes faster reaching the second summit in 4 and half hours. This was my first year, so there was no standard for me to base off of.  But catching up to Bruce was a good thing.

    He along with others let me ran down the other side first and it was maybe 4-5 miles still to the 2nd aid station at mile 19.5.  I was hoping to be there before noon. 

    After the down hill stretch, we had about a mile plus on the road to run once we left the trail for the HQ camp aid station.  It was a boring stretch. It was hot in the middle of the day on a jeep road.  A positive side was I could wave and say hi to those who were heading back out.  They were from the middle of the pack.  Many of them are about a mile or two ahead of me.

    I reached the aid station at 12:35, an hour before closing.  There were not many behind me.  Bruce and I headed back out on the jeep road to get back on the trail for the biggest climb of the day.  We came across Caroline as she was heading to the aid station.  She had about 30 minutes before the cutoff.  For us, we were heading to the waterfall for our second bib punch.  I came across Kiran, Jamie and Jill, the happy bunch.  Kiran and I shared many miles on the MMT course last year.  It was a happy reunion.  Jamie too, I met her at my first MMT, thinking I could out run her but in fact blew up my race. It is funny to me now looking back that one has to be extremely patient on the trail.  They started on the hill maybe 15 mins ahead of me.

    This hill was brutal.  I believe I started climbing around 1 pm and the sun was out in full force.  It was the hardest climb. Eventually I caught up to Kiran and Jamie and Jill.  Kiran was having some leg cramp issue.  I offered her my salty food, but she said she had some in her pack.

    Eventually, we reached the top and followed along the jeep road to Flag Pole, mile 25.  Jamie and Jill were then resting at one of the open areas, campsites or knobs. I thought they had quitted because Jamie was on her back on one of the big rocks, chilling.  I stopped and chatted. They seemed alright.  The aid station was literally maybe a thousand steps away.  We were saved.  I had ran out water again and was feeling a bit dizzy.  A dude decided to drop there.  I glad to see the young man I met earlier in the day.  He was in good spirit and sprinted off.  I saw him many times later.

    Kiran too decided to head out but I still needed maybe another few more minutes.  Jamie and Jill then arrived.  They got what they needed and I headed out with them.  However, their pace was too fast for me.  I dropped back to my own walking pace while they ran and so soon they were out of my view.

    From Flag Pole to Big Hollow Station was not too far, about 4-5 miles.  I had hiked this section previously and the trails and the turns were familiar to me. It was mostly jeep road.  A dude I was with earlier were sprinting down the road in big strides.  I too decided to let gravity to do the work.  This was also a short 0.7 mile of out and back and so I saw again familiar faces of friends who were ahead of me.  They gave me a heads up that the aid station was just ahead. 

    I arrived at the aid station at 4 pm,  mile 29.  The aid station would close at 4:35 pm.  I was wondering if my friend Caroline would make it in the next 30 minutes. This race was tougher than I tought.  Next section would be the longest section, 8 miles, and I had 3 hours to reach it (by 7:05 pm).

    Helen and I started off together heading back uphill on the road.  It was a long road.  I think we stayed on the jeep trail for the next 4-5 miles.  The view was wonderful.  Time ticking by, 4 pm, 5pm, 6 pm, and I was wondering how much farther to go.  Helen asked me if 7 pm was the cutoff.  I said yes.  We needed to get there before 7.  I was confident both of us could reach it. I checked the map, we should be still on the course.  In my mind, last time I was on this, it only took an hour or so it seemed.  We should be descending soon. Not today. I didn’t get lost, I was just tired.  So I munched on food I brought out from the aid station.

    The jeep road eventually turned into a single track.  It became more technical and interesting with lots of ups and downs.  We climbed maybe a dozen or so ups and downs but it was still always heading the same direction.  Eventually, I saw the trail sign of Heart Break Trail with mileage (2 miles). Yippy, only two miles left.  It was one last climb they say on one of the race signs.  Actually there were like 4-5 climbs always going up, but I had my second wind so hills not were not an issue.  I started passing couple more people.

    Then I knew I reached the top.

    Top of Heart Break hill

    I don’t remember when I got to the last aid station, likely at 6:15 pm.  I was out of water again and filled up maybe a cup since it was about a 5k to the finish (they said 4 miles, but I told myself, it was just a 5k on the road).

    I saw couple more guys ahead of me, so I chased them.  I caught up to another young man and he said he was cramping and he had tried everything.  I offered him my gel but he said he still had plenty of those. So I asked if he wanted some gummies, tossing him my bag of gummies.  He took them.  I used my first gel of the day there for myself. I started off running leaving him behind.

    Not long later, maybe 10 minutes or so, I heard fast footsteps approaching from behind.  As courtesy, I was prepared to step aside to let the runner pass, but as I turned around, it was this dude, the young man I gave the gummies to. He was all happy and running fast.  H*ll no, he is not passing me today.  I pushed off harder.  Really, there was no way I could keep up with his pace.   I figured I must be moving at a 12 min pace, he was likely doing 10 min. 

    Later he told me he was doing a 9:30 pace, fastest mile in the whole race.  We were grinning from ear to ear. He, of course, passed me and said something.  I said, no matter our pace, we’d push to the gas station (since that is the end of the road, and a turn). I shouted after him, to go, go faster. I did not know how much farther to the finish but I knew we had to make it to the gas station.

    I felt I had plenty of gas in my tank and pushed harder.  Our gap got wider and wider and soon he was outside my voice range.  I then saw the gas station ahead and I turned and looked there’s the church on the hill with a big cross.  That was our finish line.  The dude ahead of me already reached it.  I gave myself a finish push and soon arrived there also a few minutes from behind.  I finished at 7:08 pm, so it was 12:08 elapsed (hr:mm).

    This was not even a big hill, but we had to climb many like this. Oh the misery.
    The 15 foot waterfall or something, a little disappointed and there were many flies nearby. Proof I was at the hole puncher (dangling from a string).
    yuck, don’t zoom in. flies crawling everywhere. They could be bees. My friend said she was stung

    Conclusion:  It was an amazing race.  I had a good time.  I did not like the jeep trails that much but it was also a blessing to have a faster run.  The race had a mix of trails, big climbs, rolling down hills, and a good chunk of road portion. After such a difficult day, I did not mind having a fast run on the road at all. Will I do it again?  Iffy, unless I am training for something that requires the big hills workouts.  

  • [669] Virginia Marathon

    Things are getting busy for me, so I won’t be able to do a long post like I always want.

    It has been a long time since I ran a marathon.  Back in the days, I did like 4-5 every years.  Last year, I only ran twice.  This year, this was my first.  I have been running a lot, and mostly ultras the past year.  The marathon distance I love was but had to put away to focus on the 100 mile distance. Now finally, got to do it again.

    Some stats:  I ran a total 14 one-hundred-mile races up to now and last year, I did eight of them.  In about the same time frame, I ran 15 (states) marathons.  It showed a transition from going from marathons to ultras. (I haven’t counted up exactly how many marathons I have done, maybe guessing around 30).

    In between, I ran 50k and other distances like recently a 40 mile, or a timed event such as 6 hours or 12 hours.  In total I have done about 90 marathons and ultras combined (with a few dnfs, so the exact number of races finished is not certain). Yes, I likely with reach 100th race this year.

    I love doing a marathon as much as running a 5k.  I felt marathon is my thing.  50k, 50 mile, or a 100 mile, those distances are fun, but nothing is like running a marathon.  I can get really fast at some early portion, then settling in a good pace, and then struggling to reach the finish line, and the relief once stepping across it.

    We had an excellent spring weather.  It was cool and chill in the morning.  We arrived at a little after 6:30 in the morning (set 4 am alarm clock, with hitting the snooze button once, but finally got up at 4:30).  It was about an hour drive for us.

    I packed a can of chicken noodle soup.  It was not enough and my friend shared with me her peanut butter banana sandwiches and apple slices.  Still they were not enough, but oh well, I got to run with what was in me.  I had a heavy dinner the night before too, but I also ran a half marathon (Annapolis Half, no write-up posted yet, and might not get around to it), so maybe, I was lacking some calories.

    The course was beautiful but hilly.  It had a total 3000 ft of elevation gain, a small mountain (Buck Hollow Trail, we did a week earlier, has a climb has 2600 ft, from parking to Summit, note for international audience, meter conversion ft, is about 1/3 of it), which is about 1000 meters.

    early first mile

    Our start time was 8 am.  The sun just rose for not too long. The first mile was not easy.  We immediately got some rolling hills. I just took it slow.

    One hour in, we reached mile 4.  I got into my pace.  We had a segment of 6 miles (about 3 miles out and then 3 miles back). It was still rolling hills.  I love the out and back because you get to see the runners that are ahead as they loop back and then we get to see the runners from behind.

    They had sweepers!  Often sweepers for marathons are done in a van or truck, but this race, they had couple volunterts at the last runner following.

    I saw a few of my friends.  Christine and Chris.  We ran Stone Mill two years ago with her husband and she volunteered the last one. Caroline’s friend took a picture of me. I made new friends.

    My other friend David was running in the 20 mile distance called a merikos.  I have never heard of a merikos.  He started half hour later.  My goal was to catch up to him.  It was likely impossible but I was like shooting the moon to try it anyway.  David actually ran a minute per mile pace faster than me, so really no chance in that for me to catch up.

    At mile 11 after the first out and back, we saw the half marathon people joined in.  They took the righthand branch and we were heading for a left turn for another out and back with the merikos runners.  Merikos runners were actually coming back so I saw David, thinking, I was maybe 30 minutes behind.  In reality, I was closer to an hour behind by then.  The going out portion was mostly uphill.  It was another nearly 6 miles (3 miles out and 3 miles back). I reached the top around 10:45 at maybe mile 14-15.

    On this portion, I met new friends, Joseph and MaryJane.  They were like couple minutes behind me. I was able to chat with Joseph a bit. He came down from NYC and this was his second marathon and he will tackle a 50 miler in May.  Quite a feat.  It was like looking at my young self.  He was so enthusiastic.  MaryJane and I were ones who hooted loudly at every runner we saw, shouting “Good Job, your doing great!” and such.  It was fun for me.

    We got to mile 17.  We joined back into the main crowd now with runners having red bibs (half marathoners), light blue bibs (merikos), and dark blue/black bibs (marathons).  It was still another out and back but the climbing was less severe so felt fast for me.  I think the out portion was mostly downhill.  By noon, I reached the turn around point around mile19.5.  Now only six miles to the finish.  It was mostly uphill now.  I was hoping to get back by one pm.  Feet were heavy.  I walked ocassionally.  Then there were 3 miles left.  Wanting to use the rest room, I stopped to do it, thinking, hey it might take me another hour to get back to the finish, better to stop now.  After my brief break, I decided to try finishing before 1:30 pm.  The time was 12:55.  So I busted out running near a 10 minute pace. It felt fast.  I crossed the mat at 1:25.  My official net time was 05:25:50.  It is one of my slower marathons, when in the past, my acceptable time was around 4:30. 

    Still, I think I had fun. It was a beautiful course.  I met wonderful people and ran with my friends. We stayed around for chocolate ice cream, chocolate milk, and to see other people finishing. Anna and Yana came in. They were from the Virginia Happy Trail and said we will see each other again at the Bull Run in two weeks. I don’t remember seeing them before until at this race. We met some other 50 states people.  A family/friends came down from NY and did the Annapolis Half the day before and then ran the Virginia half marathon. I said me too, I did that. They took our photos at the finish for us.

    We waited for our last friend to come in.  She did it.  It was a waiting game because we don’t know if she had dropped but the course official said the sweepers were a mile away, so we knew it would not be too long.  Then our friend showed up. Happy to see the appreciation.  David probably waited for a long time for me too, so in the same way we waited for others.

    That is the conclusion of my 2025 first marathon (and might be the only one).  A look back at 2024 first marathon (in taipei, here). The Virginia Marathon also reminded me of Lake Hayden Marathon I did in 2023. It also reminds me the Gettysburg Marathon (2020).  People asked me, which marathon is the best, I said all of them.  This one is the best so far for this year 🙂

  • [668] Hiking Buck Hollow & St Patrick’s 5K

    It has been a long while since I went on a real hike!  Hiking was how I get out into the woods before I discovered trail running.  I used to do it all the time along with backpacking.  I haven’t touched my backpack since the Corona/Pandamic.

    I missed doing it.  I started my blogging journey since picking up ultra running.  Most of my entries were about running.  My last time out on the Buck Hollow trail was recorded here (2018).  

    Not that I don’t like hiking any more but when you can run on it, why hike? Unless something happened, hiking was not an option.

    So I dug out my backpack.  Actually I got a hand-me-down pack from my cousin and I needed to test it out to make sure it was comfortable for an up coming trip to the Grand Canyon (still in planning stage).

      For the last 5 years, I have not done any backpacking.  So this past Saturday was a perfect time.

    I drew up the plan to hike up on Buck Ridge, cross the Appalachian Trail and Skyline Drive, and ascend to Mary’s Rock and then back track and use Buck Hollow Trail to loop back to the car.  We parked on 211, just a few miles west of Sperryville.

    I have not been back to this section of the trail since forever.  I used to go there all the time.  My memories were not as good.  So I printed out a trail guide from HikingUpward and followed it.

    Since it was on a weekend, I was afraid the small trail parking lot would be overflowed.  We planned to arrive early at sunrise to avoid the crowd.  As perfect a plan it was, we slipped by two hours and did not start until 9:15.  We were lucky there were still a few parking spots left.  The plan B and C was to either park further down and use Pass Mountain Trail (not as scenic) or to drive to Skyline Drive and use one of the bigger lots there. 

    I loaded my pack with the usual stuff, clothes, supplies, water, minus the tent, and food.  Originally I wanted a fully loaded bag to pretend going on a camping trip but the weight was too much, so I took the tent and food out. It saved about 10 pounds.

    A friend told me, to be ultra light in packing, is not the brand of equipment I am carrying but the philosophy of what to bring and leave behind.  I want to bring everything including multiple sets of the same thing. I am the opposite of an ultralight trail person.

    I knew the pack was going be heavy.  On a flat and none technical trail, it is doable.  But when you are outdoor on a technical trail, and here at Buck Hollow, the first thing we had to do was to hop across some rocks.  Boy was the pack heavy.  I remembered the last two times, I almost fell in the creek.  This time, I did a bit better.  I was standing there rehearsing multiple times in my head of how to jump across and finally did it without incident.  Phew.  My feet remained dry.

    The hiked upward was uneventful.  It just climbed without end.  We got to  a fork and I asked my friend which way she wanted to go.  I had in mind of going to the right but I like choices.  My friend chose left.  In normal time, I probably would take right and race up to see who get up first.  Note, I already knew both trails would meet back together a few miles later.

    So we took the left branch.  It was steep climbing.  By 11 ish we reached the end.  We came across other hikers out with their dogs.  Some were friendly and we took our time to chat and said our hello.

    We also came across couple runners.  Though their names escaped me now, but we have seen them (or they’ve seen us) in other races. We chatted too.  All trail runners are friends when we are out on the trail.

    We then hiked the last mile up to Mary’s Rock.  I have been there before but it was a long time ago.  

    We had an amazing day because the sun was out but there were some mist and the clouds form some thick stream like ice cream.  

    We had lunch up on the rock.  By lunch, I brought like 5-6 fig newtons.  I already ate all of them during the ascend.  My friend shared with me her sweet potatoes and tangerines/Hallos or Cuties.  Then it got crowded. Groups of people showed up, there were like 20+ people around us.  We stayed there long enough and so we needed to descend.  

    The coming down was faster.  It was all downhill.  Sperryville was close by and was a perfect spot for a reach late lunch or an early dinner.  Forgot what the place was called, Hidden Twig or something.  It was a good ending to a perfect day.  (total: 9 miles)

    ****

    Next day I ran the Lucky Leprechaun, a 5K St Patrick’s Day Run with Potomac’s PR Race, my local shoe store.  I ran it before but recently as in the last couple years, longer races like 100 miles have taken over my schedule and shorter races, I just couldn’t squeeze them in. 

    This weekend finally I got to circle back to do one of my local races.  The course was familiar to me.  I ran it once or twice before.  

    We arrived early so as to get parking. We got a street parking. Note parking was not an issue, but street parking there were only limited spots available.  The sun was just rising.  When we went into the PR store, it was still dark outside but by the time we got out bibs, it was already lighted.  Not that there were a crowd in there but I was amazed how fast the time went.

    The hour before the race was quickly passed.  We were first looking for coffee and then for bathroom.  Then the starting line.  Reston Town Center is huge.  I always get lost there. 

    I ended up had to hold in without finding a bathroom.  (Bathroom/Pottyjohns were located at the purple parking lot like in the past, but I could not find them until at the end of the race).

    Off we went.  There were quite a lot of runners.  First mile had some wicked hills.  I run ultras so it was not that bad but I was not warm up yet so,  I walked the hills.  I felt tight in my calfs and shins.  Better to ease it in than running too hard.

    By mile two, I caught up to my friend and was about to pass her.  She planned to walk it. But maybe because of some friendly competition, she took off. 

    I was about to hit my strides by now.  Things were loosen up.  Then came more hills. 

    Mile 3 seemed forever to get to.  People in the back surged forward.  I felt still maintaining a good pace of 11 min ish pace. 

    The finish was on a slight uphill. 

    Note, then I saw the bathrooms!  Hey, just what I needed.  Better take care of business first, I told myself.  I saw another runner did the same.  Now there was no line for the bathroom, so I hopped in on one. I was sure maybe later, they might not be quite empty.

    So  I crossed finished after coming out, finished 37:09.  Not bad. It was under 12 min pace.  If I could keep this pace for 24 hours!  I could run a 100 miles.

  • [667] Seneca Creek Weekend (2025)

    My finishing times at Seneca Creek

    • 2025: 7:48
    • 2024: 7:44
    • 2023: 7:38
    • 2022: (probably schedule conflict)
    • 2021: 7:14
    • 2020: 6:29

    My finishing times through the years indicated I am getting slower.

    It is fun to run fast but also fun not having to push the pace too hard.

    What reasons why I am slower? Maybe I weight a bit heavier than before.  I have not trained to run hard and fast.  Also my foot hurt and not at 100%.  I have been resting but I might have put too many dings on my left foot.  100 milers do make run slower.  Also, I am not pushing the pace as hard as before.  My competitiveness has gone a bit down.

    Almost every year I run in the Seneca Creek 50k.  I missed one year I think was due to scheduling conflict with the Newport-VA Marathon. 

    This year weather might have been one of the best compares to last year and 2022.  There’s a rainy year and snow year and as far as I remember always cold.  This year too.  We started relatively warm in the 40s and later rised to mid 50s but I felt chilly and stayed in the car with the heat on until 5 minutes before the start.  My friend and I arrived early by 6:15 to secure a parking spot with couple steps from the start. I was pampered.  I remembered former years, I would be out there in the cold jumping around to warm up.

    The race was uneventful.  We started by running down maybe half a mile on the road and then entered the trail.  And couple miles later we passed the Riffleford aid station on our way out.  I knew we would not be back until at least 6 hours later.

    Because I ran in the race a few times, everything was familiar.  The first aid station was 7.5 miles away.  One needs to be patient. I sat on my pace and actually slowed down to a walk.  I think at 2.5 miles, I rolled my ankle (the weak one) not sure why.  I don’t think I roll it but might have kicked a root and it started hurting.  I could not put any weight on it.  So I limped for couple miles and people passed me by.  One even asked (I think was Dr. cooper) if I was okay.  I was fine.  I felt I could at least walk to first aid station and might have to call it the end there.  However, after couple miles my pain went away and I started picking up speed.  I arrived at Rt 28 aid station with My friends Robert and Caroline.

    I knew I had to take it easy and Robert went out ahead of me.  I went for the potty.  After some rest, I went out.

    The second Aid station at Berryville Road was also about 7 miles away.  It was a long way.  My goal was to get there by 11.  The aid station closed at 12:45.  I forgot my split time now but I remembered I was on pace compared the week before, maybe at around 10:35-10:45.

    Then, I was hoping to get back to RT 28 aid station (5.5 miles) through the Seneca Creek Trail by noon.  This was at mile 19.  The week before, I was able to do 20 miles in 4.5 hours. So I was hoping the same this week. I think I arrived at 12:15.  Not bad, a bit over my target.  I did kind of stop to talk with Bruce, who will be going go to Western States this year.  I was hoping to run with him today on the trail together but our pace did not match up, so he let me to run a few minutes ahead.

    After the 2nd Rt aid station, the next one was at Riffleford Rd.  It was about 7.5 miles using the Seneca Ridge Trail but I believe it must have been 8.5 or more.  It took forever to get there.  I arrived exhausted around 2:30 pm.  We were an hour ahead of the cut off at the decision point.  I was hoping to finish by 3 pm. 

    We had about 5 miles around the lake left.  There I met my fellow friend  Elliot from the Stone Mill and the Catoctin run.  Elliot was moving strong and I was tailing him hoping to catch up.  I finished a few minutes ahead of him but he started like 15 minutes late so he bested me by the bib time.

    I came in a bit after 3:15 pm and I spent the rest of the afternoon cheering other runners as they finished.  Bruce came in.  Then Caroline came in. It was a great day.  I was tired but satisfied. I stopped at Mc Donalds for some fries and chicken nuggies to celebrate, plus an shamrock shake.  I have been wanting a good milk shake for a long time.

    The next day, my friend Jeremy and I went back out or the lower portion at the Muddy Branch Trail and ran 10 miles out and back to the C&O Canal, to make a 20 miles day.  It took us a little over 4.75 hours.  The pace was a bit fast for me, but I glad I hung on (14.2 min pace). 

    Then on Sunday night, I added 5 more miles by walking around my neighborhood.   I think I ran a total of 62 miles this week. It was quite an accomplishment and I haven’t run that much for a long time.  I think usually I keep my weekly mileage to around 30-40 miles.

  • [666] Naked Bavarian 40M & Reston 10

    I’ve been quite busy (and lazy) lately, but finally got a chance to do something I like a lot this weekend, and that is racing!

    Last weekend (two weekends ago by time this is published): Helped out at the Reverse Ring 70.  Nothing much to share on here. I loved to be out on the Massanutten trail.  It was tiring but happy at the same time to see runners reaching their goals.

    I helped out at the event for two years in a row.  I needed it for my Vermont 100 volunteering hours.  Hopefully, next year I will get to run the Reverse Ring.  It is a hard a 70 miler in the winter with minimal supports.  The only way to get a spot on the start list is first to finish the summer version called the Ring (from the movie/book the Lord of the Ring).  It is exactly the same trail/course but in the opposite direction.  Some say the summer version is the harder one. I think the winter one is harder because of the cold temperature. 

    This weekend, I did a relatively cold run of 40 miler called Naked Bavarian (see last year’s report 2024).  This is a similar race I ran in December called the Naked Nick 50k.  We ran on the opposite side of the Blue Marsh Lake at Leesport, PA.

    February version is definitely tougher due to the distance, cold temperature and more elevation gains (4000 ft for the 40 miler).  We had also shorter time being available, about 10.5 hours to finish. I did it in 09:42 hh:mm, meaning tighter cutoffs, and so required us to run a bit faster. I had my doubts if I could finish it.

    While a 50k is a normal distance, a 40 miler is an unusual distance to race.  I like to race in whatever the distance, usually the longer the better. 

    I am sure the race director could have made it a 50k (30 miles) or extend it to a true 50 mile race. But 40 it was.  So it was a bit difference in term of pacing and timing.

    It was a two loop course.  My first loop, I ran in 4:30, a good pace for me, 13.5 min pace (and 7 mins faster than last year).  My second loop was way slower coming in at 05:15 (hh:mm), at a 15:45 min pace, moving 2-3 mins slower per mile.

    I was hoping to finish under by 4:44 pm, a play on my friend’s bib number of 222, but I knew it was not possible.  At 2:22 pm, I was near 27 mile, maybe at mile 26. By mile 30, the time was 3:33 pm, and I had 10 miles left to do it in about an hour, I would have to run in a 6:66 (~7) min per mile pace.  I was probably moving about 15 min pace by then. At 4:44, I was still about 2 miles away. So, 5:15 was a more realistic goal, no 5:55 or 6:06.

    The whole day, I thought I was the last runner.  And I was probably the last except people started dropping after halfway.

    Then I was able to pass a few runners after the first loop.  I became friend with Mark, whom I ran with for the last two hours after mile 10.  I was not sure if I could finished the first loop before 12:30 pm (5 hrs), by the cutoff, and he predicted we we were on pace for 4:30 for the first loop.  I came in exactly at noon.  We went out together. Later, I passed Mark after two miles.

    Other thing I like was the lake was frozen over, even though temperature wise was around 40-45.  I ran in shorts.  I saw a lot of male runners in shorts so I braved the cold and wore shorts.  My upper body though I put on a long sleeves and a t-shirt.  I packed a windbreaker and by second loop I had to add a second long sleeves because the temperature was dropping back to low 30s and wind was picking up.

    My friend had the warm car ready when I finished so I did not shiver too much. But it was cold. What a joy.  We stopped for a steak dinner at an Outback.  Yay food. And afterward was a sleepy ride back home.

    Then the next day, we ran the Reston 10 Miler.  We (or rather I) planned exactly that to run fast on tired feet.  Not sure if this is the correct way, but I felt fast through out the 10 mile race.  I felt I was steady gaining on people.  I was averaging 11:05 (mm:ss) pace, and finished at a time of 1:50:42 (h:mm:ss).

    I needed more fast runs (fast but on tired legs) like this to train up for the Old Dominion 100.

    Then also, we added maybe another 7-10 miles brisk walk at the Manassas Battlefield.  My legs were too sore to run by then. We then had Pho for lunch and another sleepy ride home.  I slept for 16 hours till the next day.  It was an exhausting weekend, just the way I like it.

    Some asked if I keep a daily record of my training plans for my big races.  Nope, this blog is it.

    Other news: my friend Jeremy finished Swammie Shuffle 200.  It was a race I wanted to do myself for couple years back as my first 200.  So possibly next year, we will see me there.

  • [665] a race jitter

    (old write up) My experience at the Vermont race is brought up from time to time in conversation.  I found an old unpublished post in the draft folder and since I have nothing to share this week, so I’ll post this for this week.

    The night before my trip to Vermont 100,  I was anxious about the up coming trips to Vermont and Wasatch than I was for the Western States 100.

    I didn’t want to jinx it.  Last year, I had a difficult time to finish a 100 mile race under 30 hours.  This year, I am 3 for 3 already (C&O, Old Dominion, and Western States). This weekend was my final one.

    I tried to tell others of my fears but their words of comfort such as “don’t worry” did little for me.

    I needed to see it in my mind eye that I could do it.  For this race, I could not see it.  The course was a mystery to me beforehand. I had no elevation charts or maps or youtube videos to follow and prerun the race in my head.

    My Strategy: The whole course has a lot of up-and-down hills. Elevation should be similar to Western States or Old Dominion.  I hoped for a fast course, since there seems to be a lot of it being on road pavement.

    I did well at OD100 because I had two buddies who though we ran at the back of the pack, but ran a steady near sub 24 pace with me.  We were maintaining a 14 min pace.

    If I could repeat that kind of performance of not being shaken by many faster runners in the first 50 miles, I should be able to finish the race.

    At C&O100, I had a slower friend at the beginning, pacing together. I was not panicking when I went slower than everyone.  Later though in the second half, I could run a bit faster to even it out.

    The key is to pretend the first half is not important and go really slow.  We all know this, but to do it during a race is hard when everyone guns out the gate and you feel you too could keep up with them. 

    It is hard to not let the crowd get 2-4 or even 10 miles ahead. 10 miles ahead might be a bit too much, but usually if the course feels empty, I start to panick of being too far back.

    At C&O and at OD100, I had two good people who knew what they were doing and so I did not panick.

    Sleeping arrangement:  I planned of sleeping at the start.  So I could roll out of bed and run.  At first, I planned to sleep in my car, but my friend planned to be in it since she would be starting later than me.  I am hoping for a clear sky and no rain, bugs, or dew, so I could sleep outside. 

    When my friend said she was going to carpool with me, I was wondering how that works whether she would also sleeping under the stars.

    Ended up, she planned staying at a motel. So I would be back to cowboy camping.

    I hoped it should be fun.  I never really did a cowboy camping before.  I did it couple times on the mountains, but not for an important race like this.  I felt shy if people stare at me. 

    We had 450 runners and many too chose camping.  They would be in their fancy tents and here I was laying on the grass suntanning or moon tanning through the night.

    I was not bringing a tent because I did not plan to check my bag and so it would difficult to bring a tent onto a plane as a carry-on. 

    If only they make tent rods out of fiberglass instead of metal (which I think they do, but not my tent). Still I don’t have enough space for a tent. It is the same dilemma when I go camping, certain things have to left out.  I have done slack packing (minimalist backpacking) before, so I know ditching a tent is sometimes a hard choice, but it got to be done.

    A benefit of not having a tent is to save that extra hour of setting up and putting away.  Many people don’t realize how long it takes to put away the tent (you have to clean, dry, fold before packing up).  Usually, if we go camping, we have to put in an hour from waking up, to time of departure, for packing away.  Yes, I have done rush job of couple minutes of collapsing a tent and stuff everything in sack and go, but that is only for extreme circumstances (like one time we thought we were being danger).

    At my first MMT100, I overslept, so I crawled out from the tent and ran to the start with only couple minutes spared before the race.  Luckily, the tent was still there when I finished the race and it didn’t get blown away.  I don’t like to leave my tent out in the sun for long either because the sun would damage the plastic linings and so it becomes less water resistant. When you are late, you got to do what you got to do and not pack things up.

    (update/ps) All these plannings were moot because I missed my flight and I ended up catching a ride with a friend to Vermont. We barely were able to sleep at all before the 4 AM start.  We had to leave the hotel by 2 AM and we just arrived after midnight. It was fun to look back.

  • [664] Holiday Lake 50k+++

    Holiday Lake.  I did this race couple years ago, in Feb 2023 (report), as part of a long President Day’s weekend fun.

    This year it was a Holiday Lake three-plus- plus-plus, because the trail/course was extra long.  I think it ended up like 33-34 miles for a 50k. And also, I did 3 events like last time. Triple crown.

    A friend recommended me to run this race back in 2019, when I was still new to trail running. 

    I was out training on my favorite course at the Signal Knob one afternoon.  It was the only course at the time where I knew I could get some decend hill runs.

    I ran into a trail runner G (an amazing dude).  I did not know who he was at the time. 

    As usual I started talking to people during the run. I asked what trail races he would recommend.  He rolled off his tongue, Highland Sky, Promise Land and Holiday Lake. So far I only have done Holiday Lake because it have been very hard in getting in them (I don’t sign up in time).

    He said, tell them his name and the RD would know him. 

    At the time I was scare of running in the winter.  Holiday Lake takes place in February.  So the race was not one I was going to run.

    Then of course in 2023, I forgot about it and signed up.  What exactly prompted me to sign up and run was lost in history.  I thought that was a once and done thing.  I admired people who done it year after year.

    There are too many things going on in February for me.  I have the MMT training and the BBR training every year for the last three years. It was almost every weekend full.  And there is the C&O training, or the O Dominion training.  I just did not want to add on a Holiday Lake too.  And TWOT too, but that is for the future.  All those events fighting for one precious weekend.

    Originally, I chose the MMT training run over the Holiday Lake because MMT course is free to run. A lot of my mighty trail friends too prepare for their MMT race would run in it.  I would not want to miss it because I love to be with them. This year though, I will be volunteering at the MMT 100 race, so missing the MMT training would not be too big a deal.

    But Holiday Lake seems to be important for my other friend.  I don’t have to be there but it would be nice if I go.  There’s a chance to camp too the night before the race and night after the race and as well as the third night.  It is a long holiday so in theory we could run on Monday as well to make it into a big weekend fun.

    This year, I took a half day off so I could get to the pre race briefing early.  As usual, Dr. H would be giving a talk on trail running. I did not know him in the past but he is a local legend.  He set the first FTK on some of very long trails around the nation in his younger days.  I wanted the free pizza dinner too offered before the talk. I kicked myself for missing the talk and pizza last time I race at the Holiday Lake.

    As it turned out, due to traffic and various reasons (I did not plan for stopping for dinner or gas), we missed the opening ceremony.  We should have left in the morning to avoid the afternoon rush hour traffic.

    Instead of camping out, we stayed at a hotel for all three nights. Uff-dah! The weather was cold, so it was a good call.  I could have still camped out if were alone, but did not want others to suffer with me.  It was raining heavily as well on Saturday, so a hotel would allow us to dry our stuff. 

    The race itself was good. It was a hard run but was not too hard (I barely finished, with a time of 07:45).

    It was good I  went for a prerace training run a couple weeks ago, so the course was still fresh in my mind. I did not get lost except for a small section, maybe losing 5 minutes.

    It was cold as usual for February here, being in the winter. By noon, rain came down. First was drizzling then it was a steady ‘light’ rain.  It didn’t seem light to me.  I was drenched head to toes. We were glad the race was not canceled, that being snow was originally in the forecast.  Some might have preferred snow but here, if it snows, it would also become icy.

    The first loop, I came in at 03:30, which was a bit slower than last time (I think I had 3:10-3:15 previously). The course was maybe a mile longer since a bridge was washed out.  So the slower time was expected and understandable.

    The second loop really hit me hard.  I knew I was totally out of shape and ran too hard in the beginning. I was breathing hard.  I was trudging through the muddy trail.  Rain came.  Some runners caught up to me. 

    Wilbur, the guy who ran it 23 times was running with me. His friend Marshall caught up.  Marshall and I ran the Old Dominion last year and shared 35 miles of trail.  I think it was closer to 50 miles. Anyway, we chatted and I listened to him chatted away with Wilbur and Alyson.

    They finished maybe 5 minutes ahead of me.  At one point on the power line trail (Tailor trail), someone put ribbons leading to an unknown trail. I think it is likely course vandalism to purposefully confused runners.

    Marshall called out to me as I was going the wrong way but I saw other runners going down the wrong trail and I followed them. Few minutes later, they turned back around.  I did too.  Marshall and Wilbur were on the correct path.  I lost a precious time here.

    My legs were tired.  Trails were muddy, slick and wet.  I managed to finish.  My friend brought me two hamburger and I gladly ate them and I changed into dry clothes at the same time.  I was shivering for a long time.

    It was the end of the day. I was glad to be back at the hotel for a good night sleep.  We ate the left-overs from the day before, but I was still hungry, so we went across to a gas station, Sheetz or Wawa for ramen but we could only find the instant mac-and-cheese.  I had spicy Buffalo Mac & Cheese. Not recommended. So I ate my friend’s portion too.

    ****

    Farmville.  The next day was also raining.  We planned to run 10 miles on the High Bridge Trail nearby (in Farmville, VA).

    High Bridge, mile 0.0. I ran (walked) with an umbrella

    I love this bridge.  I did another 50k race here back in who knows when (report).  The High Bridge 50k race is no long being held.

    Why it is called High Bridge? I think it was Virginia highest bridge back when people still used railroad.  Now it is just a rail-to-trail path. We think it is about 50k in length.

    We ran 5 miles out and 5 miles back to Farmville.  Some notable events were a tree fell on the path while we were running back to town. It was very windy. There was a high wind advisory. We also saw a group of Longwood’s college students running in the rain too.  We initially thought we were the only ones out there.

    ****

    MMT. The weekend could not be complete without a time on the MMT (Massanutten Mountain Trail).  Initially, we planned to go to Dragon Tooth on the Appalachian Trail near Roanoke, but the drive there and back would take significant time.  I didn’t think we have the time.

    I’d rather want to do the MMT3 training loop, but in the end we settled for MMT 1 training run.  We did a out-and back from Woodstock to Edinburg Gap. This would allow us to be back at home before nighfall.

    It was still a cold day but I enjoyed being on my favorite course any time of the year.

    Sunday, we made our way to Woodstock.  At the time, we had not finalized our plan yet.  We passed Harrisonburg, then New Market and Edinburg.  We then continued to Woodstock. There we had coffee while waiting to check in to our room.  It was too cold to camp out that night.  Earlier, we had the best meal of the weekend at Cracker Barrel. So we did not need to eat that night. I was still drained from the run the day before. 

    In theory, there was still plenty of day light left to do some hiking around but wind really picked up in the afternoon and it was too cold to be outside. Hotel it was.

    Woodstock Tower.  The following day, we had a choice to run up on Woodstock on foot or drive up.  To prepare for my race for Old Dominion, running up on the road is preferred. However, I really did not want to wake up that early to try.

    We ended driving up.  I kind of expect the gate to be closed. Indeed it was.  So we drove back down and went the other way by going around to Strasburg and passed the Signal Knob on Fort Valley Road.  I drove based on memory of having crewed someone back in 2023 for the Old Dominion race. Luckily, I found the Woodstock Tower Road from the other side and we drove on up.  It took us a good chunk of the morning, so we started around 8:30 (late).  The temperature was still very cold. It was good the sun was up and was sunny.

    We did 14 miles that day.  7 miles out and 7 miles back.  The ground was frozen, but overall it was a very nice day.

    Normally during training run, we rarely wanted to leave the trail to check out the Tower.  Today was the day we had time.  Actually, it was too cold and I just wanted to go home, but my friend wanted to climb up.  Some ruffians who came before us back in January drew some PG-13 images on the floor. 

    Woodstock Tower, East and West.  Bottom is the hand glider launch point. 
    [unsensored] We assumed it is a still life painting of pears, banana and apples or oranges.

      Night. We ended the final day for a nice bowl of tofu soup amd some ginger tea to close the day.  I preferred rice tea.

  • [663] Icy 8 at Lake Anna and For the Love of it 10K

    I did a perfunctory showing at the Icy 8 this year.  I was hoping to put in a 50k but came out just about 4 miles short.  I ran 28 miles. 

    I ran it last year (report). We had the same format, 8 hours, 4 mi loop or 8 mi loop to choose from.  We could run as many loops as we want until the time is up.

    I finished with 3 long loop and a short loop with 20 minutes left.  There was not enough time to do a 2-mi exit loop.  I could have been close if I did it.

    My take of the day was sharing the trail of two runners who are heading to Western States 100.  I thought they were the same person until after the race and found they were not the same. My goofball.

    Also during the race, I was watching the Wasatch’s lottery drawing.  Two of  people I know got in.  My other friend though did not get in.  I was rooting for him though.  I might still end up going to Wasatch this year to either crew or pace.  I would definitely love to step on those mountains again.

    My focus was not there at Icy 8.  So I lost a lot of time listening to the Wasatch drawing.

    My feet and fitness too were not there for me to push hard enough to finish up four long loops.

    The day was good and sunny.  A good day.  We had mud too, lot of it. 

    We saw many familiar faces.  I wish I could stay longer, maybe to camp overnight in one of the cabins or camp sites.

    We were rushing back to a club event in the evening.  Yours truly had to be there to receive his award for runner of the year.  I felt embarrass when I realized I was up against truly great runners in our club. 🤭

    The next day though was my favorite event, a local 10K called For the Love of It, which I have been taken part almost every year.  It was the location where I started running, 8 years ago.

    It brought back a lot of memories.  I love the sunrise.  The fast run and the local community.  The photos were free.  I have not done a short race like this for a long time because last year I was focusing on the longer ultra trail races.

  • Day662 Midlife crisis

    [updating a post written in 2023, might not have published back]

    oh no…January 2, I don’t have a new year resolution this year. I will resolve to be purposeful!

    This probably will be a weird post. I haven’t figured out what I want to do for this year.

    Last time I was in this state was back in 2016. I ended up buying a truck, fell in love with a woman, and somehow running a marathon (actual a 5k, but it led to signing up for a marathon). Then ended up going up a mountain like Moses, experienced a life changing event at a burning bush. No not like Moses, I did not lead his people out of Egypt afterward. I’m kind of seeing myself doing it again now.

    I still drive a truck! Loving it. People I knew started calling me Bear for my outdoors adventure image though I am nowhere near the macho-ness.

    Here am I now, what should I do?? I did all those things because they were new and hard and adventureous. They are no longer new to me now. I still love to spend time on the mountains.

    I am not into creating a new branding of myself. Usually though soul seeking time would result in remaking myself like back in 2016. Maybe I am pivoting to something new.

    I think it comes down to what is worthwhile to do. This time I think would be less dramatic. Actually, I kind of remake myself the past year.

    I need to realign my mission goal again. (I did during 2023, but it was not published).

    I still want to run across the continent. I do want to travel more. I do want to race more.

    The last few years were fun. I got myself to be an ultra marathon runner. And claimed the title of runner of the year in my running club.  It was fun. It took me longer to get where I am. I am still not very good at it but I can say, distances no longer scare me. Anything under 100 is doable. Anything over 100 is probably doable with some planning. The mystery is no longer there.  I am itching to try a 200 miler.

    It opens door to many races. What I really want to try is the Atacama Desert Crossing. I want to try some multi-day running adventures.

    Couple friends wanted to do Vol State or HOTS. Someone suggested the trilogy. I want to do the Tuscarora trail or something similar like the Mid state trail. Here I am dreaming.

    *Rim to Rim of the Grand Canyon. While driving up to Pennsylvania, my friend mentioned something she wanted to do is to hike from Rim to Rim of the Grand Canyon. I did something similar (I only hiked down to the River and back up) and at the time I was not an ultra runner yet. I don’t know if I can fit that into this year. It would be dope if I can do it. Saying this, because I would go just for a hike, even though truly I wanted to run across the Canyon and back in one day.

    Another thing I want to do this year is the Sierra Club One Day Hike (100K). I was interested in this before I was an ultra runner. At the time Hiking one day from DC to Harper Ferry seems interesting because it was impossible for me at the time. Of course if I get accepted, I would run this thing instead of hiking. Probably will take me 16 ish hours.

    I need to make more friends who is into what I am into. Meeting Caroline was something like that. We are both seeking to cross off 50 states marathon. She is like 10 states ahead in 2023. And she did it, finished all fifty states.

    Funny nothing much has changed since 2023.  My goals still are same today as two years ago. A lot of changes are in the air though, vaguely, my career, having a new roommate, moving to a new place, starting a new relationship, and future. Only till 2026 will we know.  My life might turn upside down.  I might have to put aside my personal goals for something bigger. Well I don’t have to have everything together. Once😀😛 I have a clearer picture, I will post again like I did in 2023, likely though it will be 2026 or 2027.  As I get older, pace slow down. I can’t accomplish as much as before, so 2023 goals are still 2025-2026 goals.

    A couple more resolutions

    *Be laser focused

    *overcoming my fear of starting new things

    My previous goals

    1. 2023 published version

    2. 2024 goals

    Last year, I was aiming for finishing the race called Western States.  It was everything to me.  This year, I get to cheer other people doing it. I really want to do it again or to be there.

  • [661] Happy Lunar New Year

    Really nothing to post.  Not much runing is going on in my life.  I love to write race reports but on everything else is plain boring.  I am just going through the motion in life, doing the same thing every day. Putting this post out to say I’m okay. This is actually an old post from October that I did not publish, but still applicable.

    My legs are still kind of hurt.  I could not run at my full capacity.  But also mostly is a mental. If I want to run, my legs would heal faster.  Really? Usually. I guess it is good to let it slowly heal. It has been two weeks since my last race.

    News.  I got through the waitlist for Rim to River 100 but decided not to run it. As much as I was glad the wait is over, but also I knew the race was not for me.

    There’s not much a desire to do the race at this time. There’s always next year.

    The Grindstone’s post race funk is strong.  A General lack of motivation and will to run. I tried to tell myself I can’t rest on my accomplishments. I don’t. I never run for the praises of my peers but because I felt like it. Grand slam was just a title. I did it because I like the races and the challenge. I will consider another grand slam run if the opportunity presents itself. 

    Something that lifted me up.  A friend did a 50 miler this weekend on a similar course as the Wasatch Front, from East Mountain to Bountiful. It seems so long ago when I was there. I would definitely want to do it next year.  It is in Utah but I felt the race worth the trip.  Where can you spent 15-16 hours doing a 50 miler?  I think that is a fast time for the course.  It probably would take me like 17-18 to go the same distance there. Relatively for my age and condition. (The race is DC Peaks for future signup, and I signed up, probably will be my first out of state 50 miler)

    A few more races popped up this weekend.  I have not had the money or motivation to do them. Definitely I would like to do it again like last year. 

    One of the races was the Blue Ridge Roanoke Double.  I ran the marathon twice in one day. It was last year but seems like ages ago!

    The fun thing is how to avoid scheduling conflict.  There are so many races I want to do but can’t do all of them. In my mind, I kind of know which ones I want to do, but it is so tempting in signing up for all of them. (I took care of the race scheduling until summer.)

    Enough said.  Most important factor is money.  I have to be careful since my bank account is like only a third of last year. Currently can only affort about 2-3 races for the whole year. My budget is probably even lower. I kept thinking back to my former office manager who told me don’t go starving to do the things you like. True. It has not come to that point yet.

    What I have been doing the last few weeks:

    -Played in the snow

    -Went to Charleston (for the first time)  (possible will make a trip again there myself next year, either running a marathon or an ultra)

    -Did a training run for Holiday Lake and is the reason my legs are trashed for a few days