In awe

Tag: quarterly review

  • [675:25.18] Quarterly update

    Awhile ago, I wrote a summary of runs I did up to 2021,  in a post called (Hello4). It is time for another update to bring up to the present. 

    Also I just realized it is time for a quarterly update. The last two updates are (634-24.16) and here (651-24.17).

    In first quarterly of last year, I mentioned what I was going to do with a lot of races lining for 2024 and by the second quarterly 24.17, I wrote I ran them.  The key take away was to find what I like to do and keep doing it. Nothing has changed much since. I am still trying to keep my passion up for running.

    I was going to save this to the end of the year for a Hello World post (last year Hello7, for the curious), which is a kind of post when I have nothing to write about and need to put something in. However, I also did not have much to write for the quarterly update. So why not do it now and have it done.

    Here goes. 

    2022:  I finally finished the CRAW, a virtual run around the world with a group of 8-9 people.  I was going to write about the experience, but never get to it.  The world is big.  Virtual run started out as fun but ended being a drudgery.  Originally, there’s a map and blog posts of each place we visited, but by the end, all the places seem almost the same.  The Google map did not look too appealing.  Also there was a time constraint of doing research or reading up on the places we been.  By the way, I finally glued all the medals I received for the race on a world map board the race sent me. It took me just as long putting up the medals as running the thing (a 5 year project!)

    Meanwhile, I did many in real life (IRL) races that year as marathon races started back up since Covid-19 closing, including: Grandma’s in Minnesota, Ann Arbor in Michigan, Atlantic City in New Jersey, and NCR in Maryland. 

    I ran some repeated races: JFK, Marine Corps 50k, Rock & the Knob, Naked Nick, Catoctin 50k, Iron Mountain and Stone Mill.  Those who know me or in the area would recognize those races.  They are my favorites and thus I have gone back year after year. Stone Mill, now I have ran it 5 times and got a free shirt!  I don’t know if there any races I ran that many times.

    2023: I did even more than the prior year. How could that be, but it is true. It would be too much to list them all.

    For marathons, Cowtown in Fort Worth Texas was a fun one.  Shamrock in Virginia Beach. Hayden Lake in Idaho, Philadelphia Marathon, and Space Coast Marathon in Florida.  I love running my marathons and I was crossing states off races from my 50 states list.  Little did I know the next two years, I  transitioned  into doing ultra marathons.

    I started doing some of my favorite long races this year, the Massanutten 100, Bull Run Run 50, Boyer’s Furnace. They are still my favorites.

    2024: Last year I did the Grand slam and voted as Runner of the year in my runner club ;), I am embarrassed by the fact I did it. I am not the type of runners people imagine me to be.

     In a million years, I would not dream of doing even one of those races, but I was fortunate to get to do them all (almost all minus Leadville 100 and Angeles Crest). The eight 100-milers I did (not all are part or required for the grand slam) were C&O 100, Massanutten 100, Old Dominion, Western States, Vermont, Burning River, Grindstone, Wasatch Front, and Devil Dog. It is a mouthful to say and remember them. I learned of other slams while at it, so in the future, I might do some of them like the Midwest Slam, or the Rocky Slam.  Nothing is like the Grand Slam though.

    There was no time for me to run normal marathons.  I did get to go to Taipei, Taiwan, ran the WJS marathon.   Also I ran the Richmond Marathon in my home state, and it was special to me.  It was a memory to treasure. 

    2025.  This leads us to the first quarter of 2025.  I felt I haven’t done much for the half of the year.  One highlight was the Virginia Marathon.  I did not know there’s a marathon called Virginia Marathon until this year.  It was recommended to me by a friend.

    My schedule has been busy.  It is a slower pace than last year but I felt still every weekend I have something needed to do.  I ran runs such as Hone Quarry and making a trip down to Atlanta for GSER or Dark Anchor in Savannah was special. 

    I also spent more time supporting other runners and traveling to Savannah and Atlanta for such.

    In a prior weekend, I was at Harper Ferry helping out at the C&O Canal 100.  This coming weekend I will be at the Massanutten Mountain 100 (not running but helping out), I am praying I would get a chance to shine to help some poor runners out in the depth of despair as they tried to run a 100 miler. (more to follow).

    Where will I go from here?  I am a bit under pressure cooker with time and commitments.

    Looking back the last few years, I was free and had a lot of fun and ran in a lot of races and visited a lot of places.   I still want to do the same.  I am in the same financial strait as everyone in our nation, with high inflation and tariffs.  How tariffs affect races?  Maybe our race shirts are more expensive.  We are dealing with a great deal of uncertainties.  My race plan for the next half of the year has already been or mostly  set. 

    As for next year, I will take it as it comes.  There are couple trips I have in mind, possibly visit Savannah again for Dark Anchor, or to Florida for the Long Haul 100, possibly going to doing the PolarNight Soltice Marathon Run in Tromsø in Norway, or Viet Nam for the Ho Chi Minh Marathon, or finally going run the Rim to rim to rim at the Grand Canyon.  Because there are a lot of uncertainties, I can’t say for sure any such trip would happen.  My heart still wants to complete a 200 mile marathon, looking at Cowboy 200.  So likely next year, that would be the goal to attempt. I have a bunch of targets but not sure which one will stick or none of them.

    [meta: I am thinking to reset the journal count to 1 soon, and increase the Vol to 2, because we human or me is not made to count that high a number.  I might explain the numbering in a future post. Like a sailor, the count is Days been since land/ship been sighted. Ahoy! The days of my wandering is over]

  • [651][24.2#17] I goofed – Fall Review

    Day650 should have been a reserved for a review as I have done in the past, that every 50 posts is a “quarterly” review. I wrote less than before, so now every fifty posts is more an annual review. My last year review here Day 600 and also here last midterm, Day634.

    I accidentally published Day650 on  Stone Mill 50. I have not decided if I should resequence the post numbering after the fact.  I might just keep this as Day651. It doesn’t matter.

    I like to do reviews on myself to remind me I am aiming to accomplish something meaningful in life.  It is easy to say just do it. Yet, life is chaotic. And we are forgetful.  I can think of how many new year resolutions I have “accidentally” forgot.

    I love space and NASA at how each of their launch has a mission number.  I would like that very much for my life. Planning is a way of managing the unexpected so I could “boldly go where no man has gone before.”  Yes, I like my mission statement to be something that bold. I grew up watching Star Trek.

    I know what I want to write, but harder thing is how to write them. 

    The last 50 days (weeks actually), I wanted to train for running in the Western States 100. 

    I was not sure at the time if I would attempt to do the Grand Slam, which was 4 toughest/oldest ultra 100 mile marathon in the US. The  Western States was one of them.  Doing even one of them for me was like shooting the moon, but to do all four was beyond measure.

      Western States went well (report on WS100). My group of friends and supporters got me over the finish line in the nick of time.   I thought of quitting so many times, but lo and behold, I did it.  There indeed a lot going on than I can retell. I was beyond grateful. 

    Similarily, I finished the Grand Slam.

    I got Old Dominion 100 (report on OD100) already at the time. I still needed to do Vermont (report of VT100) in July and then Wasatch Front 100 (report of WF100) in September.  They were each amazing in their own adventure.  I still could not believe that it is true, that I got the slam.  It went more perfect than I would have hope.

    It has not been all ups.  After Wasatch I had the Grindstone 100. It was a race I thought I was ready for, but out from the left field, my body failed me.  I got to mile 99 but the time to finish already expired and I did not finish. There is always next year, which I signed up already.  (The full report of GS100 is here). It was a learning experience.  There were reasons that I could not get to the end. It was a good reflection for me to do better next time.

    I have been at a bit of a lost since my last big race.  Initially, I wanted to do two more 100 mile races to close the year with a perfect 10.  So, even though I got a spot in another highly coveted race at Rim to River 100, I turned it down. In the interim, a friend passed away. It helped me to do some soul reflection.

    At times, I gained clarity of what I wanted to do and why I would doing them.  But those moments were fleeting and hard to remember what I learned from them. 

    I had a some sort of race schedule hammered out.  I am pleased I will be committing to do some races next year. As for why I am doing them is still a bit vague. 

    Some asked how will I top what I did for this year.  Sure, I want to top it.  Every year should be better than the year before.  But doing it by the normal way is tough.

    Two years ago, I had run between two to three 100 milers in a giving year (Rocky Raccoon 2021, Rim to River 2021, Massanutten 2022 and Devil Dog 2022).

    Last year, I have done five (Blackbeard’s Revenge, Massanutten 2023, Burning River 2023, Grindstone 2023, and Devil Dog 2023). 

    This year the number increased exponentially. Besides the four races of the Grand Slam mentioned earlier, I ran C&O Canal 100, Massanutten 2024, Burning River 2024, and Grindstone 2024, totalling 9 big races for the year. Devil Dog 2024, my 9th race of the year, has been signed up, and the race will take place in several weeks.

    Doing quantitatively more than this year is not the way or that it is even possible. Also, I was thinking about quality over quantity, if I could do races on similar level or harder than this year.  Some asked if I will do the Bear or Big Horn or one of the Hard Rock qualifiers (such as Cruel Jewel). In the previous years, none of these races were even on my radar, because they are too hard.  I am still proccessing through if I have what it takes to finish them. The short answer is still no. There is no reason to top this year’s work.  I should be asking myself a different question. Truly, what do I want to do.

    It brings me back to focus on what is important for me.  I will close like last year report.  I like running marathons.  I should focus on finishing the 50 states.  I like running spontaneously.  I should do more of that.  I like to be on the mountain.  I should travel more.  This is very similar to what I wanted to do last year.  One of my deep goals is to travel to Nepal and do some crazy trekking.  I need to look at how to turn that into reality.  This is probably the easiest of all my big goals.  I would like to cross the AT, which is a very big goal in itself. Same as running across the continent.  I met some people who have done it.  There is also a Rim to Rim thing I like to do.

    Like last year, I won’t able to do all in one go or even accomplish one in the amount of time/resources/energy but putting it on the big board will get me to start thinking about them.

    Not race related, I visited Australia this year.  It was a goal long in the making, maybe the last 8-10 years.  As a bonus, I got to stop by Taiwan and ran a marathon there.  It was like a cherry on top. Of course, now Sydney Marathon is one of 7 marathon majors, I will have to go back to do it, some day. I found this trip to be better than all the big races I ran. Not to say, those races were insignificant, but there are other things worth doing and they come unexpectedly. Until next time, …

  • Spring Re 23:13 [Day550]

    Last season Re(view) of Day500, I ran a lot of races, such as MMT, Iron Mountain, Devil Dog. For my regular readers, this post is a repeat of what I have been posting, but for those who only tune in once every six months or a year, this post is for you. It also helps me placing mental separation like a season or so is done.

    Looking back, my perspective has shifted since then. Day 500 was written just before I did the Devil Dog 100 race. I had at the time seemed to be in an unsucessful year due to the emotional beatings received from not finishing two races earlier, e.g., the MMT 100 race and the Iron Mountain 50.

    The post ended of what would I do next, which is now and next year. I had at the time the Devil Dog 100 coming up and OBX 100 following.

    Since then I have completed both, the Devil Dog 100 in December and OBX in March. The fall races prepared me well for them. The Devil Dog was not an easy race, but couple friends came and helped crew me. I managed to finish. The full report is here.

    After running the Devil Dog, I took on the Outer Banks Blackbeard’s Revenge 100. It was an exciting race. I PR’d it, meaning beated my best time ever in a 100 mile distance, finished it a little over 26 hours. I was not even aiming for a PR. There is a lot to say. I went in not sure if 32 hours were enough for me to finish. The race for me was easier than expected and easier than any other previous races even though conditions were not as good due to the heat and strong winds and what seemingly the lack of food at aid stations. I love it a lot because I had a good time. Full report is here. This race was those once in a lifetime adventures. I was glad I ran it. It gave me the feeling I still got what it take to run a 100 mile race. This brings us to MMT 100 later of this year.

    Now for 2023, I have been training a lot for the BRR 50 and the MMT 100. I did the BRR just couple weeks ago. MMT is coming up soon in a couple weeks. This report comes in the midst of things. I felt better prepared this year than last year. We will see how I will do. Wait till the Next report to know. Day 600 will be near the end of the year or even early next year (depends 25-30 weeks from now).

    I ran several smaller races, e.g., Redeye 50K on New Year, Holiday Lake 50k, Cowtown 50K, Bull Run Run 50 Miler, Shamrock Marathon, Blue Ridge Double Marathon (report hasn’t written yet), Seneca Greenway 50K, Naked Nick 50k. Then there was the Reston 10 miler. I won’t link any reports here because there are just so many. Bear with me, I am throwing around a lot of names. Our virtual race  around world (CRAW) is done. We finished early January of this year. That was a three-year project. I am taking part in the extended version of adding 6 more regions, which added maybe 25,000 km. Likely will finish it at the end of this year or some time next year. We have a fast team.

    About races, each of them was a wonderful experience. Am I tired? Sometimes. I am used to now of running many races in a short span of time, I can’t remember them and I can’t even keep track of my up coming races. I can’t summarize them all here except each one was so good. I was living my best life to be able to experience them. They definitely helped prepare me for the next big race. I am grateful I got to run in them.

    Physically, I have been dealing with my weak left ankle. I believed I injured it sometimes after the Devil Dog, maybe at the Naked Nick 50k event. It is healing but the process has been slow and long. I started to suspect I teared a tendon or something (but some say that would be painful if I did). Now four months later, I still have a slight discomfort. It doesn’t hurt any more, but from time to time, I felt like I have that hit my funny bone sensation in my left ankle. It would bring me to my knees. All I know is it has not healed 100% and it is affecting my trail races. Road races are fine. I just have a problem standing tip toe, going down the stairs, putting on shoes etc. Not pain but a weak sensation that my ankle can’t be trusted. I have been praying for a stronger ankle.

    Now 2023, I will be going to Toronto, Canada. One of my dreams is to run outside of US and it is being come true. This race is in about a week. I just received my race bib the other day in the mail. News gets old fast. So by the time readers read this, it is likely be done or you might be reading the race report before this post.

    I signed up for MMT 100 again this year. I have high hope I will finish. This soon will take place. I am repeating myself. Yes MMT is very important to me.

    I signed for Grindstone 100 for the fall. It will be a hard race and hard training for next quarter. I might do Burnimg River 100 this summer. I think this pretty much it for 2023.

    I am in the process of planning for 2024. Not much can be said at this time, but will leave this in a future post, I hope my plan will be clearer by then. I am struggling in defining what I want beyond 2024. Things are moving in the right direction. Red Dirt Lousiana and Pinhoti Alabama are in play. It’s a secret right now.

    As for the Nepal trip, some new laws came in effect. One was we backpackers will be required having an approved mountain guide. No longer are we free to hike as we like by ourselves. I might not go there anytime soon because of this new law. It is a tiny setback. Having a guide is definitely what I like but I also like the free-ranch aspect and the sense of danger. I know the law is still evolving, so we will see. Too many people doing dumb things over there is the rumor. This trip was supposed to take place this year. Hence I set a relatively free running schedule. However, it is not on any of my immediate plan yet to do. It is one of my dream trip but I haven’t got off my butt to make it happen.

    What’s next after this (for 2024 or 2025). I have a bunch of marathons to run. My friend Caroline inspired me with her exact plan of running in all 50 states. Next year, I plan to run a lot of marathons, many of the same races she did this year. Imitation is the best form of flattery they say. I am not ashame to copy. Basically trying to get all 50 states done as soon as possible, meaning I will need to do around 10 to a dozen races per year. Maybe looking at a shorter time frame of 3-4 years. I have about 36-ish races left.

    Devil Dog 100 and Blackbeard’s 100 restored my confident in running longer races. 50 milers no longer seem that hard. 100 milers also seem a bit easier. I plan to do a lot more 100s. My goal might be also do a 100 in every state. My friend is tempting me to follow his footstep of doing 100 of 100 mile races. He is 62 year old I think. If he has such aspiration why can’t I? So instead of being a marathon maniac, I am now a hundred miler maniac.

    I have been looking at oversea races for 2025 and beyond. One is in Mexico. One is in the Philippines. That is a bit of a distance future. Mexico might be part of 2024 plan. So planning phase should start soon especially for the mexico trip. Mexico is a scary world. I hope to go in and get out as quick as possible.

    I need to constant push myself to do things outside of my comfort zone and leave things I am familiar with. 2021 and 2022 were like that when I reached beyond what I thought was possible. 2023 seems to have a safe schedule so far. How I know I am a bit over my limit is I when I started failing like in 2022. 2022 got me to admit I reached my limit and then I took remedial actions and redemptions this past winter and spring season.

    I made more running friends. They inspired me. In beginning 2022, I only met one person (Tek) who I thought was crazy running 100 mile races as if they were running a marathon. Then at the end of 2022 and last few months, I met several more (especially Fernando). Likely either this year or by this time next year, I will be like them. I don’t think I am that far away. The gap between what I thought was impossible to possible has narrowed quite a bit. One was my perception of things, I am no longer afraid of 100 mile races. I will start running 100 milers like I run marathons in a higher frequency.

    My Weaknesses: I have slacked off on my training a bit, last year. Miles wise is still pretty high but my effort has been lacking. Training is no longer “hard.” I could do better. I believe only we train against resistance do we improve. I still sleep through my morning training. It was one of my last year goals to wake up early and excercise. I only did it like once. I need to break that bad habit. That is my big weakness is I am easy to settle or compromise for less.

    I gained weight. Not a bad thing but I could lose some body fat. Not fat shaming. I haven’t gone to the gym at all. I could improve on my physical build. I run a lot but other areas needed to be worked on too.

    Fasting: My diet has not been that great last year. I need to eat less processed stuff and more fresh and natural food. I know so many people who eat cleaner than me. Fasting was not part of my training/life last year. I should occasionally fast to keep my body healthier. I plan to start fasting regularly, but staying away from food is hard for me.

    I am struggling with defining my future direction. Yes I am doing the 50 states completion. I am running ultras and 100 mile races. I am attempting harder races. But that is only a small part. I need to ask what do I want more in life. How do I get from here to there? from my small tiny dreams to my bigger dreams. A lot of times, I just need to push myself, get off my butt.

    If you ask what would be doped to do, I think hiking the triple crown would be it. PCT, CDT, and the AT. I consider hiking the Appalachian Trail a life dream. I need to actively reach for them. It is easy to dream, but action is hard.

    Also if I could travel oversea, I think that would be wonderful. I don’t strive to be the best gamer etc. I am just an average person. But if I could do something epic, that would be so good. This would tie into my retirement plan of living oversea.

    Lesson/observation/reminder. Life goes by so fast. I met couple friends who said 2017 was their best year in running and every since it has been downhill. Now I ran with them and they were far from the best forms. I don’t know if I have peaked yet, I hope this year is not my best year yet. I already ran for about 7 years and I felt I am just started. I fear in a blink of an eye I will be where some of my friends are now. I run with a lot of friends who are in their 60s. They are still going strong but no way were they compared to when they were in their 40s. It seems so fast. In a blink of an eye and they are “old.”

    I need to put in the effort to make the most out of life. Every year, I need to optimize my time. Choose the best things to do. Let not waste the opportunity I have.

    Another lesson, I thought I am in control of a lot of things, but these last few years, despite of my planning, there things like the covid interruption was beyong anyone could prepare for. I am just one of many floating in this sea of time. There will likely be major world events that will take place and that will turn everyone’s life up-side-down again. Yes, still got to make the best out of everything.

    Am I on track? Yes and no. I think I am on track of doing what I like. I completed 4 x 100 races. But I haven’t been aggresive enough in going after my goals. I met both Frenando and Caroline who inspire me to be like them. They are both much older than me yet they are doing like 10 times more than I am. I know I shouldn’t compare to them, but they do give a good reference point to me. I started thinking, I could do what they are doing. The question then became why not!

    Apart from running, I am or I hope to withdraw my time, energy, resource from the online twitch community. I supported several self-made artists/content creators last year and even past several years. They had kind of quit halfway. I am Not disappointed but also kind of am. It is hard to explain. I think it lacks closures. I will leave it to a future post to write more on this.

    Anyway, I just put it out there. I have been involved in this streaming thing since the covid started. Things are winding down. Many content creators are back to their regular work (real life/real job). The so called final fantasy has ended. I credit this to be why I was successful running the two 100 mile races the last 6 months, Because I had more time for training.

    I hope this has been a good read. That was about some of my current struggles and life updates. Until next time. Oh, here was a midterm review done not long ago for those who want to read more, Day532 (Feb 2023). It is pretty much similar to the present report. (I haven’t forgotten about Lake Tahoe). The next midterm maybe will be in July or August. Of course the next Re: will be 50 “days” from now and that is about maybe 25-35 weeks from today or 6-9 months.