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. ðŸ¤
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.
How do you run a 5K every hour for 24 hours? How do you even train for it?
At Pemberton 24, we were given the opportunity to run a 5K every hour for 24 hours this past weekend. A 5K race starts at every hour. The rule is unless you are at the starting line at the beginning of the hour or else you couldn’t run it. You have to finish before the hour ends or it doesn’t count. It was a novelty to me.
Running a 5K in an hour was not that hard, but how many I could do was a challenge. Exactly how should I approach this race? I tried to run it like an ultra, by starting very slow — basically walking it.
I figured this is a good way for me to test out some ideas on preparing for the Devil Dog 100.
First of all, I needed some practice time for night time running and second, I wanted to experience sleep deprivation. It seemed silly to beg for suffering, but my last two 100 races, night time was where I struggled.
My strategy was, to walk as many 5Ks as I could and hopefully to do all 24 of them.
The result was: I found early on, power walking is tough! I initially thought I could walk the whole thing and maybe at the end, run, but to me walking is actually harder than running! because it uses different muscles and I was not as fit in walking, to my surprise.
Even early on (like by 5 loops or so), I realized I couldn’t do all 24 laps of these by walking. I started feeling soreness on my feet and others those minor muscles, exactly like if I were at the end of a 100 mile run. It was a big “oh no” moment. My goal was at least then make it to daybreak, to get 12 hours in (we started at 7 pm).
Sleep deprivation was not as bad as I anticipated. By morning, 6 -7 am, I felt a bit of tiredness. Sleep would be nice but in theory, I think I could survive for another few hours. I did not test how much longer I could stay up.
I decided to tap out, since there was no need for me to claim the bragging for me of doing a 24 hour run. I came to test some theory and I got my results. I got my training time in. Beside, I was not really arrived ready to do all 24 laps. Having that done would be nice, but I was not going to kill myself over it. I also have a marathon the following week, so I need a quick recovery.
I mean I was prepared for the run but some last minute changes threw a wrench in my operation. I was working that Friday, when I should have taken the day off. I thought I could do both working and then leaving early for the race. I had things packed up and loaded up my car before the trip. However, I did not check the forecast the night before, and weather had turned colder than I was prepared for. I had long sleeves and pants but I did not bring a jacket. I did not realize it was that cold until I got to work (as I walked from the car to the building). The temperature was to drop to 45F (cold for me) that night and with the rain, it would be more than unpleasant without a thicker outer layer. I had to make a decision, to brave the cold for the night or to get the jacket, which would delay me from arriving at the race on time.
I chose on getting the jacket. Then I just sat in the traffic for the next five hours watching the clock eating my time away. Google map always say only two and half or 3 hours to get there. It never predicts the traffic correctly for me. I made it to the event just barely. I got right in to the event without changing from my work clothes and ran 12 hours of 5k (12 laps). I just put on my bib and got into the starting coral just in time. Luckily, I had my running shoes on. They were not trail shoes, but they were sufficient.
I knew no way would I try for another 12 hours without proper clothing and shoes, or else I would be miserable. My feet were beginning to have blisters. I felt hot in certain parts and I knew I need to take care of them.
I had exactly the same tiredness in pretty much the same places as I had at last year Devil Dog event. My lightbulb went on, aha, I realized what costed me that race must have been the power walking that stressed my different set of muscles, since when I train to do an ultra, we I do not train on the power “walking”. Hardly ever do I take a weekend out to power walk for 12 hours. Now my feet were tired because I power walked for 12 hours straight. I felt I was about to fall over. But if I run, I should be okay.l, I think.
I decided to take some rest and get some sleep first. I had not set up a tent yet, since I arrived late and I had not even unpacked. My personal aid station and all the things I needed were not available to me. They were there. I packed them but they were locked away in the car. At the end of the first couple loops, I tried running to the car and geting them out. Usually I only had a small window to do it. Because my car is so far away, I gave up getting all my things. I had my tent. So I set up the tent, unpacked, crawled inside and slept. Not sure if I did really sleep or not, but having my eyes closed for about an hour and half was good. Couple hours later, I got up, changed, rehydrated myself, and ready for some more laps. I fixed up my feet, etc. They were starting to go bad and I was glad I stopped just in time to fix them. Cleaned, then lubed and all. I changed shoes too. People around me joked about, wishing someone would massage their feet too. These, sleeping, unpacking, and cleaning took 3 hours off the clock. I missed the starting for the 9 AM run, so I waited for the 10 AM. I was now ready for round 2.
some other people’s aid station, compares that to mineMine. Just my pile of stuff, but I got everything I needed. I did not set up my aid station in time. Beside, my tent is too far from the starting line to make it an efficient stop for every loop. I still stopped by a few times during my 24 hour out there
For the rest of the day, I decided to run instead of walking. True enough, my running muscles were unhampered. My legs were as fresh as they could be. I did another 8 laps easily (with one lap I sat out for lunch – I did not need to, but decided this was not a do-or-die race, and so I might just relax and enjoy the race’s local food from a food truck). I finished with a total of 20 5Ks done and that is 100k or 62 miles. Not bad for a weekend. And I did not feel as tired as if I truly ran a 62 mile race straight.
My run was not hard, since we had an hour to do each 5K, I took my time with the running. I only ran “hard” in the last few laps and still, it was not really tiring. I put in a lot of miles but it was not stressful at all.
There were many who completed all 24 5Ks. I did not stay around too long to celebrate with them because I was wet and cold. The race event allowed us to camp out for a second night. I did. I knew I could probably drive home, but just be safe, I decided to stay for the night. Glad I did, I had a foggy mind even by the next morning. Effects of sleep deprivation hit me much later even after a good night of sleep. I was all goggy the whole Sunday.
I liked the camping aspect. Many came for their friends. It was a festival. We had theme run every hour. I was not into dressing up, and so kind of forgot about that part. I think it was a lot of fun if I had come with friends and dressing up.
Take out – I might come back next year to get a true 24 hour 5k. I feel though this race gears toward the general public. There were some serious runners but many (non runners) joined us only for a few laps, which was not bad at all. I am not complaining. 4 laps is a half marathon and 7 laps a full marathon. I saw many were hook into doing 4 laps or more. Grandpas and kids and do it. It was like introducing the public to running and trail running no less. I think it was fun and well done.
I wanted to use a cop out title Brain Dump 3 / Memory Alpha. Sorry, this is another filler post – skip it if you like.
Why so many filler posts? I am lazy and have been also busy doing the same thing every day, that is to finish up the Race Back Across Tennessee (GVRAT) the rat race. I have less than 2 weeks to go. It ends at the end of the month. They kind of sap all my mental energy.
I have less than 150 miles left. So every day I was cranking out about 13/14 miles. Back then – like even a year ago, this is an unthinkable number – no even a month ago I didn’t run that much. I really pushed myself this time.
Hey, last year, when I looked at people who finished the GRVAT, I was thinking, how some of them were able to pull humongous miles daily. Here I am. I am not like the people at top yet, but I am nearer. I am currently ranked 119 out of like 3000-4000 people who are taking part in this virtual race. Of course, this year there were fewer runners registered. Last year, there were 12000 or more. Might have been as high as 15000 or even 20000 people.
So every day, I am out on the road, doing my miles. This week was the first time of me running in the rain (this year). Almost every night was raining but one night was especially in the rain. I was lucky the other few nights either I ran after the rain, or rain was light or skipped our area or the rain was about to start but I finished my run. It was not a heavy downpour, but was enough to get a feel how it is like to do it. They say, you got to train in any weather especially the nasty ones. It was not that bad once I was wet. I actually liked it because it was cooler finally! I have been running in the heat ‘extreme heat’ they say or ‘killer heat wave’ as reported in the news. The rain was a relief. I actually ran fast during training that day, which is rare. Usually, I just dragged my feet and took my sweet time in my run.
So these last 30-40 days, I have developed some habits of running after work almost daily because I can’t affort any days off. And on the weekend, I usually ‘travel’ for my runs. A pretty good habit but also means I have no life.
This weekend, I am at the New River National Park. I will have a half marathon there in couple hours and also in November I will be doing a 100 miler here.
This was a surprised half marathon race. I just happened to come across it during the week and I checked it out. The 100 miler has been on the back of my mind nagging me that I need to do some onsite trainings. So the half marathon came at the right time to kick off my lazy training for the 100 miler. Not like I have been slacking on my running but I felt I need to run secifically for the 100-mile race. One thing was to visit the site. So here I am.
New River NP has been gaining some recognition in recent years and people are ‘flocking’ here to see this new national park. I think President Obama designated it. It has been a best kept secret of West Virginia before then, but now the secret is out.
This is my first time visiting the New River. Actually, I’m staying at a hotel instead of camping out (as I should be doing both to save money and to be ‘closer’ to nature). Ya, I have been a bit lazy with the camping thing recently. I used be enthusiastic about camping at every (outdoor) places I go. But camping is a lot of work. I rather now to pay someone to have a roof over my head.
Anyway, finally I got to train on the actual trail for my 100-mile race. I am nervous about the race for same reasons I have been worrying about other races this year. It will be out of my comfort zone in term of terrain, distance, and possibly challenge. I fear failure too. I did fail to finish the 100 mile distances twice last year. No longer do I have the confident to take on any races. Trail races are much harder and demanding. I ran with real trail people and saw how I stack against them. Not good.
So here I am at the New River, hoping to explore some trails, do some running, and enjoying the outdoors of this new national park.
Oh by the way, the drive there was long. I arrived at 2 AM last night – It was kind of my fault to leave late. Actually I am not in the Park yet, since I am staying in a ‘cheaper’ hotel that is half hour away. Got to go prep for my half marathon soon. Maybe will write about it next week.
I read a good blog the other day from Isaac Takes a Hike, about his Badger Mountain 100. He shared of the time during the race when he came into an aid station and he was not feeling well at least well enough to continue. He determined not to leave the aid station until he solved his problem. Lucky for him, he managed. Go follow his blog, he is a great blogger.
I am currently like that. I need to solve my problem quick. I don’t have any motivation to run now. There are races and trainings but I can hardly drag myself out of the bed.
Don’t do it if I am not into it, is my philosophy. So here I am. I don’t know what is going on. I have been pretty much slacking off the last four months. I am not training as hard as I used to. This week I only run 6 miles. Last week maybe 12, something like that. Today is Saturday, normally it would be my long run. I should be doing 70-90 miles per week. I am not too much into the numbers, but they do show. I am not the same.
I am questioning why am I even running. Why am I so tilted? Why did I rage quit?
I need to fix whatever is wrong with my heart and get back out there.
This blog post was not about my whining. I originally wanted to write considering how lucky I am I haven’t injured myself all these years of running, while people left and right were saying they had this and that. My body has been strong and is very durable.
My most feared accident in a race is rolling my ankle. I ran myself into a pothole in a 5K race I think in 2018 and ever since, every couple months I would reinjure the same ankle. You say how does one run into a pothole. I don’t know. Cars run into potholes but we as runners should be able to avoid them.
It was during a race. I saw the pothole, still I ran in and I was like a car, bang, and my ankle turned sideway. I had about half mile to a mile to go, so instead of quiting, I continued running and got to the finish line. Not sure why I didn’t avoid it. And even if I ran into it, it should be big enough, that I could still find my balance. No, my ankle gave out that time. I felt really stupid. I was not an ultra runner at the time. I could only run on super flat surface. Anyway due to my carelessness, that how it all started.
I have never gone to physical therapy to have it properly fixed, but it is definitely a problem. I was thinking how lucky I was during the last six months and running two long races, never once was my ankle rolled.
But guess what, last week, I rolled my ankle while doing a local run around the neighborhood. Note it is not the terrain. When the ankle feels like rolling, it will roll (collapse) with no apparent reason and the pain will shoot up my leg and I will go ayaaah and limp around to walk it off. It does not matter how carefully I try to step. If it wants to roll, it will roll. I just have to deal with it. That is generally how it goes every couple months because I think it was never healed properly. Or even when it is healed, the ankle has lost its elasticity or flexibility, so every so often it needs to be pop like knuckles to make it feels great. Rolling is like popping the knuckles.
Anyway, here is another great blog from your truly. I was going to write that if I don’t do something, it is like the day doesn’t exist. I don’t want to fade away. You know, I write, therefore I am? The title makes no sense. Maybe that is for another day.
It has been peaceful for me. Yes once the GSER and GVRAT were done, I started the CRAW (running around the world virtually) with 9 other people.
That what we have been doing, one virtual race after another.
But it is different. Once you do it with another person, training becomes fun again. We swap pictures and stories and make believed narratives as if we are running around the world.
I have always dream of running an epic relay race such as the Ragnar. However, it is hard to find runners to do it. Yes I know plenty of average 3-5K runners, but sometimes for big races like Ragnar, you need people with more durability. They know too, so don’t sign up to put themselves through the torture. Serious distance runners are harder to find. They don’t do your typical social hour runs. Their small runs last couple hours long and longer runs, are 10s of hours. You don’t get to see them much because they are out running all the time.
For my team/group, I picked up a motley crew. We are a week in and hanging there. We have put in 400 miles and that is impresive. One gal ran a marathon over the weekend. I meant to do one too but couldn’t get myself together. No complaint. We have a few ultra people on our team, and a few super fast people but short distance runners.
My desire was to do it with six people …ultra running this thing. Our ultra people haven’t break-out yet. Many were recovering from the last event and need time to build up their base mileage. Me too. I was out for six weeks, and need time to build back up. No more 50-60 mile runs on the weekend for now.
Time waits for no one. The weekend came and gone. I’m glad for it to have happened even though it was not something I planned and in fact I view most of family time as time away from training and that to me is bad! I was almost not there most of the time and that was kind of sad.
I’m seemed as an ungrateful brat. It has been years since I took a trip with my family that of which is not running related.
A lesson to be learned is to be still and enjoy the time to be with one’s own family!
The time with your love ones are definitely precious and would not come again a second time.
The trip was as perfect as it can get in term of time and location. I was just winding down a long series of training (GVRAT and GSER). As far as not being in convenience this is it. Location was not too far and not too near either.
It was not the most beautiful place to go to but I would give 7/10 in term of pretty. All natural places are wonderful. I love having the campsite right by the lake and we could swim at any time. The water was warm and the lake is fresh (not swampy nor filled with mosquitoes). The sunset was nice. I caught the golden hour…one night and trees became golden, and the lake reflected the trees. Boom, we were immediately transposed to paradise.
I think with any place, as long as the heart is at rest, you can see some amazing things. Sorry I didn’t take any photos.
One night I watched the stars. It is beyond what words can describe of the stars out in the country side. We saw Jupiter. It was a good day to wind down.
I have been running as much as I can during the day time (trying to still reach for GVRAT 1270 miles finish, so over the weekend I had to do 100 miles to reach thay goal. So all my waking hours was set for running.
I ran a lot during the trip but nowhere near 100 miles, Total was around 50 miles. Also Friday and today I did not run much. More on that later. Basically I was only around during Breakfasts, Lunch, and Dinner. After the first day of putting in 33 miles I had blisters on my toes. One of them became infected. I am still limping from it. My mileage on subsequent days felt dramatically.
The place was not the runner friendly place because the camp was tiny. All the roads in the camp only added up 0.4 miles. There were no trails.
I ran out from the camp to civilization (Hwy 58) on the first day. That was about 3.5 miles. I spent the afternoon exploring all the parks and roads in area and that came up to about 30 miles. All roads are like single lane in the city undivided (meaning with no median or line) and also no pull off shoulder. If I run, I have to be on road. Yes it was very dangerous with cars flying by at 45 or more and it is about a foot from you! First day I was not scared but subsequent days it got to me.
The second day was Sunday. We had a virtual Sunday Church worship (watched a video online). Then I spent the rest of the morning with the kids and to swim. After lunch I explored the forest there.
This was an Corps of Enginneers Wildlife Management Area. I can see no one really go in there.
The afternoon was hot and humid. I walked the first six miles, unable to get myself to run. My foot was hurting from pounding the pavement, and a bad blister festering on a toe (I didn’t know at the time). The body refused to move… Only after six miles it was able to run. Once it started moving, I enjoyed that tremendously. It was cooler by then. Evening was setting and I was rushing to get back for dinner. I did only 13 miles on the second day.
The third day. I woke up with itchy feet. I actually couldn’t sleep much the night of. We had better weather too. The first night was stormy and water leaked into the tent (my fault of not setting it up properly).
The second night I slept like a baby. The third night was hot and humid. I had my tent cover off, but still too hot to sleep. It was the itchiness that kept me awake.
In the morning I checked my foot. Yup I got poison ivy somewhere during the weekend, probably in the Wildlife Management Area. I did crawl into some dense bushes and I saw some three-leave plants. Or there were times I stepped off the road into the shoulder and might have stepped into some poison ivy plants. Any way, the rest of the trip was very uncomfortable.
The sun, humidity, itchiness, some mosquito bites, bad blisters, and poison ivy made my day.
The whole trip was kind of weird in a way. There is definitely a lesson to be learned, like what if I didn’t run but have stayed in the camp and enjoyed like the rest? Then there would be no poison ivy?
My mom said what if I just stayed at home wouldn’t I have my 100 miles then? Who know, it could have been worse.
Time (or opportunity) comes and will be gone forever. While I went to the camp half-heartedly, there were some bright moments during the trip. My brother-in-law mentioned the trip to his team at work while on the way to camp but his whole team from work showed up too (uninvited) but it was quite fun. They liked him a lot (I guessed being almost six months only meeting online) and finally able to get together in person. Yes the 6-feet social distance is out the window. Spontanousness is what make a moment memorable. We made a lot of memories (we/they made a faux-pas, because they ‘partied’ allnight way after the 10 pm curfew hour, to the whole camp annoyance). There were no loud music though, just a guy refused to sleep due to the storm and just talking throughout the night. He set off his car alarm by accident too in the middle of the night. I had some good beer and food from them. The camp was supposed to be family friendly (meaning no alcohols)! It was a trip I won’t forget. The park probably won’t let us back though.
I need some Rest and Recreation time. Couple nights (Monday) ago my body just refused to run.
I had planned to run about 18-20 miles that evening. I was halfway through at mile 9 and I could feel it, my system shutted down. Usually I could run forever once I started running. You just lock yourself in a pace and the body does it thing and your mind roams and daydream and does it thing.
But the Monday night run was hard. I told myself, let walk a bit. Actually I didn’t realize I was walking and my mind woke up and said body when did you started walking?
So I decided to walk a bit. Run and Walk is a good strategy for a long run. I tried to restart running here and there but in the end each time I lasted for maybe a block or two. The last four miles I gave up completely. I walked all the way home, choosing the shortest path possible.
There was the fear I couldn’t get home at all. When you know it has been easy to run 18-20 miles and now you are stuck at the last few miles and it felt like an eternity.
In the past three miles was like half hour for me and in term of running time it is fast compare to 4-5 hours of my total running time. It should be like a blink of an eye.
But my last three miles was a struggle. I was walking and thinking, this can’t happen to me. Will I have to call a uber to pick me up, being only three miles from home?
The last time something like this was last summer when I had Lyme Desease. I went into the woods last weekend. I checked for ticks afterward. I hope it is not that. Last time though it took a while (over a month) for the symptoms to appear. I hope it is not that. I hoping it is just plain fatigue.
A last minute change of plan, I do have a post for today, which I have written back in March but decided to keep it a little longer until I reach Day 365, because it makes more sense that way, since it is a yearly summary. For this quarter though, it will just a normal summary.
So bear with me. A review is usually take me more time to write because I have to go back the last fifty posts and glean some insights or find something interesting to retell again. I am doing this for myself as well as for some people (my real life friends) who only stop by every so often and they want to know what the scope with my life. This will give them everything. I bookmark (under bookmarks) this page so they can easily find it as well as other monthly/quarterly summaries there. The last quarter summary is given here.
This quarter was relatively quiet since we were all sheltered at home due to the coronavirus pandemic. All my races were canceled, including the one coming this Saturday, which I have been training crazy since returning from Chile in December. I didn’t take any trip since. I was working from home and each day was like the next, very alone, and always the same. There was no different between weekend and weekdays – except during the week I worked. We all put in long hours. In the beginning it was hard adjusting to working from home. The normal coworkers/manager interaction was gone. Now I have to manage my own projects and tasks and usually couldn’t finish them within the 8-5 time frame. Everyone hours were all over the place. The day starts at 7 for some and finishes around 8-9 at night, with meals in between. There were very little communication among us except for work. My assistant started out sending me daily hello and then she totally went silent after two weeks. I guess I am not very popular person. The truth comes out – or they too were experiencing the same, ready to kill their annoying family. I am not offended. So be it. We have Zoom, but everyone is exhausted from that. I do it for church and my running group, so it was really fatigue.
My work manager called me from time to time though and usually it is not about my work — he treats me like his friend – we talked about investment and everything. Mostly he does the talking. I love phone calls. Millenials hate it, hence the ‘silent treatment’ from them. Those are who I work with. I got into investing because of him. We were playing the market like crazy during this pandemic – he said so himself, it was very risky and he admitted that it was no longer sound investing but gambling. We lost big time after the first week, he stayed out of it now but I gambled on the airlines, and burned by that. Not blaming him on that, he usually gives good tips, airline was totally on me. I did it after reading the millenials were betting on cruises to make a killing when they are bellying up, so I went for the airlines. anyway… my sadness 🙂
One good thing / bad thing came out from this period, depending on the perspective, was I had to cook my own meals because all the restaurants were closed/ and I was too afraid to go get food from them when they reopened up. I ate healthier.
As the result, I saved ton of money. There were no races to sign up, no eating out, and no trip to go. I didn’t order things online because there were no trips to go. I only buy stuff for my running or backpacking. No trip means no shopping. Money only comes in and no where to spend it on except the normal “fixed” expenses like housing and car payment. Oh, my transportation cost dropped to near zero. Is not life great!
It was sucks though. I was going crazy really and experiencing depression, lack of motivation, and a bit maniac side too – can be seen in my running, since I live myself. It was like being in prison, yet knowing I have the key to the cell. There was nothing to do! I have two other roommates but they left the during this period. My running was not going anywhere. There was very little motivation to run since there was no race to train for — for me it is like why study if there won’t be a test?
I did couple virtual races. The results were not good. The course around my neighborhood sucks – since it is not a real race – cars don’t stop for you. I just not running my heart out. There was no aid station, so I had to either bring my own snacks or buy them on the way, which eat (pun) into my time.
Some people ask me what are virtual races. They are canceled races but like a consolation prize given. The race director usually do not give refund since most of the money from race registration are usually spent way ahead before the actual race (such as paying insurance, staff salary, shirts, medals, sometimes race food, site reservation, price money sometimes in term of gift certificates, and usually very little is left over by race day). So the reason they put up so call virtual races where you run on your own at a place you choose, and you report the time and they will record it and send you a shirt and a medal. There won’t be first/second/third place award for this kind of races since it is nearly impossible to certify the course/truthfullness of the timekeeper. Virtual race is just a fun event for us runners, yay.
However, some people recognize the truth and think it is a scam and raise hell to the race director (my Shipyard Marathon was like that, 9/10 of people were unhappy about doing a virtual). They were such a whinner. True, with one complaint was that the RD was slow in communicate until very late whereas all other races were already canceling way ahead of time. The Roanoke RD were almost at tears explaining why the race had to be canceled. I got my shirts for these races, and I should take a picture of them! They were memorable moments of 2020.
Though I have lived at my place (about 10 years) for a long time, this coronas virus, forced me for the first time to run around my neighborhood. Over the three months I got to know the area better. Not just my immediate neighborhood but the whole region as well. For the locals who know the geography, I went all the way north to Reston, and all the way south to Springfield, and all the way East…to Fairfax Circle (exaggerated, halfway only, but last night I ran all the way to Arlington, but the run report has not been written yet). I explored the nearby places, going into all the trails such as Cub Run, Chantilly along Walney Road, and to Fairfax County Government Center. Only direction I have not done is running to the west.
I did couple marathons, a 50k, 50 miler, and a 100k. Here are reports: Maine Coast Marathon, Roanoke Marathon, DC Rock n Roll Marathon (I didn’t report it though, so no medal and shirt), 50k run, and a 100k run.
Finally in May I was reenergized after invited to run the great virtual race across Tennessee (GVRAT). It is 1000k and we have until August 31 to finish. It seems to be a challenge because I don’t even know if I could do it. 1000k seems too big a number to comprehend. Yet I signed up and each morning or night I would be out on the road running. I never run this much even if I were training for a race. This Virtual Tennessee race brought me to a new level in my training and understanding (this will go into another post), “so this is what the big boys do”. I will write a race report once I am done.
I had a lot of time on my hand during this period and wrote up this little bit of post, freshing out what I really want in life. It is not a resolution or a mission statement, or a vision, but it is a step closer, a dream. It is what is in my heart.
That is it. No idea how to bring it to a close. Can you imagine, half a year is gone? I am still chasing my resolution. I know I have to do better the second half to bring this year to a good conclusion. So much have happened in our nation (protesting, and the virus), many want this year to be done already. I need to focus. What is my goal and how to achieve it.
Yay! Tomorrow we will begin a new chapter and we kick this crazy corona2020 in the bucket. Kidding. I think we will live with the new normal for a long time.
Not anything spectacular to write about today except it is the last day for filler. I do have something but they are controversial and I don’t think it is ready for prime time. I watched some Chinese propaganda videos on youtube, how they were exluded from the international space station and another video on why people are missing out on the windfall in investing in Chinese companies. I had some thoughts on those, but I think it is controversial, so I will keep my thoughts to myself at least for now.
But I found a post that is in my queue, that was written in the beginning of May, when I took on the challenge to virtually run across Tennessee. I wanted to know basically on how my body is handling the high mileage. So here a month in, I am taking a look again.
I dare not boast too much about it. My body is recovering well every day! It is handling well. I am sore and they are the good sore of general fatique. I am easily tired and feel sleepy…usually very early in the evening. I want to sleep a lot. I guess it is a good thing for the body to recover.
No significant injury. I battled with shin splint early on but so far they got much better. I don’t think I have what they call hiker legs yet, but it should be getting there. The balls of my heels are hurting a bit. Yes, I am wearing old pair of shoes and they are due for replacement. My heels are taking the pounding, and that can become a new injury, if I am not careful.
Health check. I should get a real physical when the doctor office is open. I think the doctor is in but everyone is leary of coronavirus – at least still present in my area. My state has been claiming this and that metric is showing we are beating the virus but they always put a star next to the data saying excluding the northern virginia which is where I live. They don’t have a specific regional data for my place because it is splitted into so many “political” juridictions – Maryland, DC, Virginia (Fairfax and Arlington are virtually on top of each other), which made statistics hard to come by. I have been using Maryland data as proxy because they are so much closer to us.
I have been at it running relatively high mileage for over a month, nothing too bad. I do take days off, but also want to maximize the running time. It is a delicate balance.
It is hard to tell if I have overdone it, so we will see. Will check back next month. I hope to stay healthy and motivated for at least a month more and evaluate again.
In long distance like this, I read most people drop off after a few weeks in. If I can tough it out for another month and be careful about it, the summer will be great. My secret ambition is to cross the US continent one of this days, so this is really a baby step toward that goal. One step at a time.
In awe 