In awe

Tag: night

  • 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.

  • Day438 Lake Ridge 12 hrs Run

    Call it a lack of discipline on my part when I signed up for a race I know I shouldn’t since it was so close to my marathon date. But I am an addict to running, I confess.

    I had a free weekend and it felt weird of not running in something officially sounding event. I want to go somewhere far since the pattern has been to drive couple hours way each week to run.

    The race Lake Ridge Endurance Run was held at Lake Claytor this year. It was their inaugural event. They had it last year but it was low key due to the pandemic (officially it was canceled/probably for insurance- liability issue) and was a fatass event for people who were willing to show up.

    This year was for real. I drove down to Lake Claytor in Dublin, Virginia. I had a camp site reserved but there was very to no sleeping to be had. In the end, I didn’t sleep.

    I could pick my start time at among the four choice 1 pm, 7 pm, 1 am the following day, or 7 am the following day. The race ended at 1 pm Sunday, so the 6 hours had more choices and no choice of start time for the 24 hour people. Almost all picked 1 pm since that was the most logical choice. No one wanted to run at night if they could help.

    I originally chose 1 pm for sanity’s sake. But I accidentally/incidentally woke up late that race day morning and arrived to the race just 5 minutes after it started. I blamed the hour long traffic I encountered while traveling to the race site or the side stops to get breakfast and lunch, or partially gotten lost when I didn’t check what I entered into the GPS and it took me to another part of the Lake Claytor that was 5 miles away from the actual race site. It was not a good morning. I packed on the morning of too hence a bit late getting started on the road. The trip was 5 hours drive away. I was lucky that I was only 5 minutes late! But late is still late and missed the start.

    There were not a lot of us, about 20 ish. Many were signed up for the 24 hour event. I signed up for the 6 hours but felt the distance might be too short, so I switched to 12 hours. This meant I would be running from sunset to sunrise. I always wanted to have a night time training (without sleep) for my upcoming 100 miler. This was a perfect opportunity to do it.

    By midnight, the wind picked up a bit, not strong but soothing. The temperature was supposed to drop to around 50 F, but I felt hot though. I picked up my long sleeves when I arrived back at the aid station but didn’t wear it.

    The adventure started. It was not much to be said. Time flew by. I did loop after loop. Sometimes I passed people during my loop, other times I was by myself. It was lonely when I didn’t see anyone. There were only 20 of us. Actually by night fall, half of them were already finished (The 12 hr people who started at 1 pm were done and so were the 6 hour). I was the only one who started at 7 pm. My chance of seeing anyone was slim. One was attempting a 100 mile, and I was hoping to get to see him on the course. I ran pretty much at his pace. In the end, didn’t get to see him – I think at one point he was at the station when I was there.

    I like night runs due to not able to see things clearly. I like the sensory deprivation. I sometimes tried to close my eyes and run, except that I would trip on rocks and roots. I called them branches because they were like branches laying across the path. I tripped on the same root on every lap! Luckily each time, I didn’t fall. Only in the morning after the sun came up did I see what I have been tripping on. They were wickedly big roots.

    One point at night around 3-4 am I got spooked. I don’t usually afraid of ghosts or creepy stuffs. But earlier in the night I was scared by some deers and some smaller critters, probably a raccoon. I saw their shining eyes staring at me. I jumped. I knew they were deers in my head but still the hairs on my back did not believe me. It was an auto response. At 3-4 am, there were no animal but the cool wind blew on my back. I felt like it was a spirit. It was a section of the course that the temperature noticibly dropped a few degrees and it was especially windy. I was genuine scared. I did not want to be out on the course any more.

    Then came 5 am and 6 am. I knew the night had passed. I was uplifted. I knew I was out of time to do one more left. My race would end at 7. I tried very hard to get back by 6 so I could do one more lap. I came in at 6:24 am. It was not enough for one more lap unless I run at a 7 min pace. (Sun rose around 7, probably like 6:45). I went back out for one more lap even though I know it wouldn’t make it. It was the best lap – mostly because I was happy.

    I finished strong. People congratulated me on finishing. I love the race a lot especially seeing the sky getting brighter and everything was alright on the last lap. I put in 52 miles (only 48 miles were counted, the other 4 miles were done beyond the 12 hours so they were not counted). It was my first time doing a 12 hour race so I was not very good at managing my time. Looking back, I could have squeezed in that last lap if I had spent a bit less time at the aid station.

    This post is not much a traditional race report. The course is 4 miles long. Mostly runnable trail. Some sections had a bit of root and rocks. I ran on all. Those who were not used to the distance or the trail complained about it being rocky. A few ate dirt. I almost did many times but my balace was good (I trained myself by running on a balance beam or road curbs). The elevation was not much but over 10 loops it started to get to me. I think I had done over 3000 ft change overall. Aid station was at the start. I was able to keep the pace of one loop every hour. People volunteering were nice as always. We had people serving us through out the night (I told them to sleep, we runners can help ourselves). We could set up our own station too. I did but did not use it. Their food was better than mine. I stopped at every lap and that might have been way too much. If I do it again, I might stop only every 3 laps.

    It was a small event so everyone would know everyone after the first loop.

    suggestion to self. Prepare a whiteboard/and (own) extra dry eraser makers to count loops. They had electronic tracking, but for sanity sake, I like something visible and tangible. RD gave us some markers but their markers dried up by middle of the night due to usage/exposure.