In awe

Tag: trail

  • [639] MMB / Grindstone training

    Last year, I did this training run for Grindstone (here).

    So much happened since last year.  They say you could never step into the same river twice.

    I planned my schedule like last year. There were so much going on this weekend. There was a training run down at Damascus (VA) for the Iron Mountain.  I have been going there every year, but not this year.  I will be there on race day to volunteer.  I missed being there for the training runs. I have redeemed so many of my races, Devil Dog, GSER, MMT, and finally Burning River.  The only race I have not been able to “finish” is this Iron Mountain.  So ever since 2019, I have been trying to run it.  I have showed up at the training run years after years, but it is not happening this year.

    Instead, this year, I hope to do better at Grindstone, a race I DNF’ed (did not finish) last year.  It hurts a bit but it was also a very hard race.  Last year, I started training for it since February.  This year, this weekend was my first training run.

    I am familiar with the Grindstone course by now. Still, every year I learned something new.  This year, I explored the road portion a bit more than I needed.  So, I know can tell my crew how to get to each aid station because I hiked all those roads. 

    I booked two nights at Camp Stokesville. This is different from last year, when I only showed up on Saturday night for a Sunday run.

    The run is still on Sunday. Most people did trail work on Saturday. 8 hours of trail work is required to run in this race. I fulfilled my trail work with the PATC (our regional Appalachian Trail club), so my Saturday was free.

    For me this year, instead of heading down to Damascus for Iron Mountian training run on Saturday, I joined the vhtrc people to do the MMB (Martha Moats Baker) Memorial Run. It is a 50k/60k.  The story goes, Martha (I don’t think was a member of the club, yep, about 100 years before our club was founded) died one winter while hiking the trail here (the Wild Oak Trail – Twot), so our club made a run in her memory. Twot is a wicked hard run.  Sorry for so many acronyms, but Twot, etc, is one of my favorite trails.  It is probably the very first trail that I know besides the Shenadoah, and Blue Ridge.

    The Martha Moats Baker’s course is almost identical to the new Grindstone Course and has almost 40 miles of it.  I found out about this event from last year when some people who showed up for the Grindstone training and said they did the MMB the day before.  I said what? How come I did not know about the MMB. So this year I was prepared.  MMB run is the best training you can have for Grindstone and will mention below, way better than the official/unofficial training run (why unofficial? UTMB Grindstone training run no longer wants to be officially recognized or being affiliated with its training run — the run was still managed by the two race directors but Grinstone did not provide money for the weekend; I still called it the Grindstone training run).

    So, I did this other run, MMB, which is not part of Grindstone, but it really helped me to get ready for it, because it runs on the same course, just a day before the official/unofficial training run. Hope I did not confuse anyone.

    My whole purpose was going down to Twot to do the Grindstone training run, but instead, I ran the MMB.  I would recommend future Grindstond runners to do likewise.  MMB gives far greater value.

    MMB though a 50k is one of the hardest 50k you can do.  There is actually a 60k option. The mileage might be 30-32, but the climbs total to 8000 ft.

    I was planning to run the full 60k route but after the first 6 miles, my thighs started felt cramping up. I knew it was not my day, so I took the shorter route.

    I ran with Costi and Robert.  Soon Robert felt behind and Costi disappeared ahead. He was fast and strong climber.

    I then ran with Claudia. She is a fast lady.  She did Grindstone 100k last year (and finished). She also ran the Iron Mountain too. I was impressed.  Two races that I could not finish but she did. She also when down to Copper Canyons to run with the Tarahumara. Ureka, Chihuahua, Mexico, which was a race on my bucket list. So she was telling me about that.  It was a race (and a place) I always wanted to visit but was fearful of security concerns.  They say don’t let that be your last bucket list item, or you never will come back alive. Claudia said it was not that bad. Security has gotten better over the year, and there was heavy police force present when she did it.

    After we reached the first aid station at Reddish Knob, she raced down ahead. She is a fast at going downhill and there was no way for me to keep up.  We had the next 15-20 miles of downhills.

    A little fact, I have been to Twot so many times and heard about the Reddish Knob but this was my first time ascended to there, because it is like 4-5 miles out of the way. The view was incredible.  Too bad I did not have time to grab a picture. At the Grindstone race, we would be here around 9-10 pm, so we won’t be seeing anything, even with a full moon or not.

    For the rest of the day I was mostly by myself. I was hoping to catch back up to Claudia. I caught up to Nick, who normally was fast. Then an older guy, Allen? (he was over 60, but is still going strong. He taught us how to use poles. Then Two older couples (Christiann and Andy, also over 60).  Lastly, a mile from the finish I caught up to Costi on Tillman Road.

    Costi too originally wanted to do the full route but due to time constraint, chose what was known as the party route for a 50k finish.  I already decided to go the party route, so he and I ran the last mile in instead of climbing Grooms Ridge for a quad buster 3+ hours up and then descending the Grindstone Mountain/chestnut hill — I could not tell which mountain is which.

    I think it was a great decision to finish early.  We got back before 4 pm.  It took us nearly 9 hours to do a 50k. The 50k course closed about then at 4:30. The sweeper (Charleen) came in.

    We stayed to watch the 60k runners finishing. Our in house chef Jeff cooked us an amazing meal. It was a free event but the food beated all other paid races including UTMB Grindstone or Western States. We had shrimp and chicken Tacos. They were all you can eat good food.  I love the watermellon salad the most.

    I stayed the next three hours eating. I was waiting for Claudia to finish, hearing that she and Nick were the final two people out on the 60k course.

    Then it was getting late. I was getting sleepy and also badly need to use the bathroom (not because of the food). I needed to clean up. My things and car was at the Stokesville campground about a mile away so I started walking back to the camp. As I left, I heard shouting of Claudia’s name and the claps.  I knew she made it in around 7:30. I wish I was there to see it but also I had my own needs to take care of. (I had a ride back to camp, from someone, I forgot his name, one of the older folks).

    The rest of the night was taking care of camping stuff. Showered, set up tent, cooked a second meal and prepared for bed.  By the time all said and done, it was already dark.

    I slept like a baby that night for almost 10 hours. We had to meet at 6:30 am for our Sunday run, so I had to be up when it was still dark. My body did not want to run. Getting up was hard. I dragged myself out the tent. Packed up everything.

    I came for this Sunday run and there was no way I would skip out. The whole weekend was planned around this one and only event.  MMB was a side thing that happened to be nearby.

    I was smarter this year to pick a campsite right across where we were going to meet. So I had a bit more time to get dress and had breakfast while watching everyone gathered.

    I did a last minute check on the route we would be running and was surprised that we were not doing the same route as last year.  Instead we were going to run the first 20-ish miles of the race course, which was the course I ran on Saturday. 

    I did not like it.  I felt I already knew the first 20-30 ish miles. I ran on those miles the day before.  I preferred doing the true Twot loop, which was a combination of mile 30-50, and 70-90.  I felt this was a bit better and longer.

    I understood the race directors’ reason for having a shorter training course this year (16/24 miles), because he wanted everyone to finish by noon, so we could all go home.  They had a long day on Saturday doing trail work, so no one wanted to stay too long on Sunday. Last year, I did not finish the run until 3 pm and we had a runner stuck on the mountain until 6 pm. So the RD was smarter this year to choose an easier and shorter route in opinion for the training run.

    There were 36 people signup but only about 13 people showed up for the run. I was kind of hoping the other half were doing their own run out on the trail, though that did not seem to be the case.

    They might had done it the day before.

    Instead of joining them, I went and did my own route, primary the Twot route.  My opinion is the Twot route is way tougher and better as a training run. 

    I ran with them from the camp to the park the while they took a right turn on Tillman, I went on and took a left to Twot and climbed the Lookout Mountain and did the Twot loop clockwise. I loved it.

    When I descended from Magic Moss (Dowell Draft, on Betsy trail) or Hankeye Mountain, I took a right on the road, ran to Lake Todd and from there used the road FR95 back to Stokesville Campground. I glad the map on my phone worked, otherwise, I could have gotten lost in the park. Hence, this training helped me understand all the roads in the park.

    This year, the trail was not busy. I did not encounter even one runner or mountain bikers. This was unlike the previous years where some runners started at night so in the morning we saw them  finishing while we started out.  No runners at all this year when I did the Twot loop.

    While on the road, there were a few cars, but usually they were far and between.  Probably at most 10 cars during my two hours while on the road. I saw couple fishermen at a creek.

    I got back to camp by 1:15. Most people had left.  I assumed maybe the RDs were still there. Camp felt empty. I heard and saw couple cars still at  camp spots up on the hill. The signup sheet was still at the pavillion.  I went by to check if my name was on there and to cross it off to indicate I was back. It was not necessary because my name was not on it.  I purposefully did not sign in during the morning briefing since I took a different route and I did not want people to look for me if I did not get back in time. It seemed all other names were checked off, meaning everyone was back. There were a bunch of left over food from people’s dropbags. I wanted to have some but was not sure if it was acceptable. I had food back at my car anyway. Note, last year when I got back, my friends and RDs were still waiting in the finish area, but this year was completely empty. It was just a different feel.

    I went home.  Conclusion, I mentioned it was not like last year. Reason being, last year, I came to this camp with a few friends and we ran together. This year, everything seemed different.  I came a day ahead. My friends did not come. Not that I expected them to come since they are not running in the race this year.  Everyone was new. It was one of those things, if a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound if no one is around. I went to Grindstone trainimg, though mostly I wasn’t there.

    Claudia said she would be joining us but I did not see her.  I bet the MMB event from the previous day wore her out as it did to me. Her drive back home was longer than mine and I bet she left earlier, probably on Saturday night. I ended up doing the Sunday training by myself. It was fine.  I enjoyed being out on the trail on my own. 

    For the last two weeks after Burning River, I knew I needed to train for Grindstone.  It was hard to plan things on my own.  I planned them but usually I ended up not following them through.

    Why?  They say its the post Marathon Blue! It is real.  I ran a lot of marathons and at the end of each of them after you gave your all, you enter a period of exhausion, mental, and emotional emptiness.  A very dark place. It was very hard to get myself back out on the trail. I needed the group run to give me that extra motivation to do it even though I was mostly by myself while on the trail.

    This weekend was great that finally, I got to do something I enjoyed deep down on my favorite trails. There were so many memories and thoughts from previous years. I almost know every rocks by now.  The trail was not as hard as the first time I did it. It was a joy to be on it again.

    Looking ahead, September is coming.  Meaning Wasatch 100, then Grindstone. But before these, I have Iron Mountain (trail marking, plus the actual race I will be volunteering in, I hope to do some running there too). It is a lot of activities.  Then there is Rock and the Knob. And then Stone Mill. Yes. Fall is an amazing time, like Spring is.  And then we will do it all over again next year.

    My whole point is, sometimes when you plan for one thing, like the grindstone (un)official training run, then there are better options to do. Keep your eyes open. Also even when I tried to attend the same event, it did not turn out like in my memories.

    What else I did? I watched a lot of Asmongold TV reaction videos.  Yep, he has quite insightful on how to be a Twitch streamer/content creator. I do consider myself one, even a small one. His primary take is be yourself and don’t be big head.

  • [607] Mid Maryland 50k

    It was my first race of the new year. I was having racing fatique or hangover from last year. I am sure readers are too when almost every post is a race report. I was not going to sign up, sometimes it just a bit overwhelming to have a race or event every week.

    In the end couple reasons got me to sign up. First, a race is always a good training run because I usually run at my best in a race.

    Couple of people I know would be there. I drove up with Caroline who introduced me to her friend who finished Western States 10 times. I knew Tom Green would be there, but whether I could talk to him was unknown. My friend had a high certainty I would. There are many good runners in our area (or club) but actually to be able to talk to one is kind of hard. He is no just anyone, but a living legend.

    The race started on time. We expected snow, rain, and heavy rain. They all came pretty much on schedule. We were dumped with a lot of precipitation.

    The course was 6 loops, 5 miles-ish each and would give us 31 miles.

    I ran as I normally would. I carried a heavy water pack. I didn’t mind. I normally drink it all without having to refill it. I dressed warmly, and purposefully overdressed for the occasion. I had a rain cover on me, a fleece, and an outer winter coat. I also brought some hand warmers and one time use rain poncho. I planned to use an umbrella too, so I had it in the car at the ready.

    We arrived early and got a parking spot right in front of the start/finish pavillion. This came in handy because at each loop, I could go back to the car for my stuff and it served as my own aid station. I was not planning to use it, but since it is right there, I could if I wanted to. Many people set up tents and tables for their relay teams or their runners in the grassy area. It reminded me of Rocky Raccoon or Pemberton 24, races I did, that more like a camping trip. I did not have to set up my tent, though I had it in the car.

    First loop was fine. We had the best weather of the day. You could even see the blue sky through the clouds on occassions. We knew it will snow soon though. I ran with Lynne, a friend who came down from New York. Boris too, I think I met him before. He is a triathlon guy. So he took off a bit faster. Another guy I knew from a previous race (Naked Nick and Rock-n the Knob), Paul, was even farther ahead. Based on their estimated finishing times, I wanted to be between Lynne and Paul. I looked at everyone’s predicted finishing time before the run, so I had a general sense who to follow.

    After the first loop I was hot. I did not want to ditch my jacket though. Not because I would need it again, but I felt I need to learn to run when I feel hot. I think I kept it on for the second loop.

    I finished loop one in 1:03. It was not fast nor slow. My goal was to maintain the pace if possible and it would be 6:18 ish finishing. My predicted finishing time was 6:00 h but I knew it was tough to reach because the course had a bit of hills.

    Loop 2, I tried to keep up with Adeline, another runner, I met before, at OSS/CIA last year. She led me through the loop but I could not stay on her pace. I finished around 1:05 h as my split.

    Loop 3, Not sure if it started to snow now. I think I caught up to Paul. He did not seem to doing so well. He carried a heavy pack for some reason, like me. Since it is just a 5 mile loop, we didn’t really need that much water. I carried mine just to be used to the weight as a training. I was not wearing trail shoes either, mine broke and I haven’t replaced them. The ground started getting a bit slipery.

    Loop 4. Now we are more than 15 miles in. Snow had changed to rain. It was a good thing I stopped by my car to get a rain poncho. I assumed the one I brought was a winter one, but it happened to have short sleeves. It would do. Only my arms got wet. I also probably got rid of my winter coat by end of the 2nd loop. I was a bit cold now without my coat. The rain poncho though trapped heat well. It ended up balancing. I walked mostly. The Runner’s wall had set in.

    Loop 5. I don’t remember much about this loop. I met couple people.

    There were a long train of runners behind me. Some passed me.  Melisa from the Boyers Furnace Run was behind me.  I did not know that at the time but I heard a loud crash and so I turned around to look.  There she was on the ground.  Her friend and I went and got her back to her feet. The trail now was slick with wet mud. She stepped on one of patches and slided off. I recognized her as the birthday girl from Boyers run a week before. She did her first ultra on her birthday and now she was here to do it again.  We finished the loop together.  I was not sure my split for this loop because I did not check the time on Loop 3. I believed I came in at 5:25, meaning I was still hanging onto my pace.

    and finally Loop 6. Last loop. If Loop 4 was hard, Loop 5 was when heaven opened. Rain poured down hard now. I stopped by my car to get my umbrella. I probably the only one who ran with one. I figured, I likely would walk more than run. Carrying an umbrella would keep my upper body dry at least. Little did I know my hand would be freezing and the umbella get heavier with each mile. There were less people on the trail now. Many had finished already. My goal was if I could to pass my friend Caroline. I believed based on Naked Nick’s pace (our last race together a month ago), I would gain about 5 miles on her by then, but she was no where in sight. I was really hoping to catch her and possibly Lynne. Though at the time I expected Lynne to be maybe 15 mins behind me based on her last year finishing time.

    I started to run again even with an umbrella. I passed a few people. Winds were blowing strong. Some commented they wish they had an umbrella. The trail started to be flooded. At first I tried to avoid the water, but then it was unavoidable. I stepped through it. It was quite a joy. My feet were icy cold. To me, it made me run even faster. In my mind I was flying through the trail. It was slippery. I skided from left and right. Soon there was only a mile left. Caroline was still not in sight. I felt disappointed but then I knew, she must need plenty of time for her last loop then because by then it was closer to 6:30 (2:30 pm) otherwise she would not be able to finish, so it was good I did not catch her. I came in at 6:37 h (2:37 pm).

    I waited a bit (10 mins) to see if Lynne was behind me after I crossed the finish. I was getting cold so I made my way to the car. It was too cold that day to wait for friends and runners. We joked about being selfish when it comes to our comfort. I haven’t eaten much that day so I knew I was behind on my calories. I had snacks in the car so it relieved a bit of the hunger pain. Rain came down hard then. I was glad I was back in the car. I had warm clothes and everything. We called it a day and headed home. I got treated to a nice meal too.

    Caroline ran strong that day and finished the loop 20 minutes ahead before I came in. In an ideal condition, she would be able to do the 6th loop. I would not have caught her given my pace that day. It seemed the umbrella did slow me down on the last loop. I did the loop in 1:12 h. So, even if I ran the last loop in 1:03 or 1:05 time, I still would not have caught up. I would have to run under 52 mins, not an impossible pace, but a very fast 10 min mile (my 5k pace) on tired feet and hilly terrains to catch up. I was running a 14 min pace that day. The gap was too huge to overcome. Putting it down here, so next year, if I get to run this course again, I would try to reach under 1 hour per loop, possibly aiming for that 52 min on the last loop. Set high goal they say. Until next year.

  • [Day589] Eastern Divide 50K

    Last time I ran Eastern Divide was in 2019 (report). It probably would be interesting to look back. I will do it maybe after this post goes live.

    The race captured my imagination the first time I did it. At the time, this was a hard race. I finished in 6:54 h and I thought I was slow because in a previous 50K I did it under 6 hours.

    The race used to be in June. I was a new comer then in the ultra racing and in the trail running world. I did my first 50K in December 2018 at First Landing State Park and I wanted more. Eastern Divide was that next step due to elevation of the course.

    I remembered it being hilly. I liked the point to point aspect of the course. It makes me feel I was going somewhere. The scenery too is amazing, both summer and fall have their own beauty.

    This year the race was moved to the fall. The atmosphere was different. There were less runners running this time than before. Maybe because it is colder and also fall has too many choices in term of racing. For me, this race was in conflict with 3 or 4 other events I want to do. One was the Rim to River 100.

    We used to be have total participants near capacity of 200 people. Now it was about 70 runners. Being in the fall means cooler temperature. It was actually cold for me.

    I was just recovered from a virus or head cold and was not really ready to run it. In normal time, I am afraid being cold. That day, it was very cold for me because I was weaker. I put on plenty of layers.

    I stayed in Beckley West Virginia the night prior, due to I need to get back there (actually to Fayetteville) after the race. It was about two hours away.

    So I got up around three in the morning and got to the race around 5 AM. Because it is a point to point, we were told to meet at the finish at Mountain Lake (Tree Top Adventure Course, which was a mile up from the Mountain Lake Resort) and be shuttled to the start. Note, in a former year I ended up at the resort, but luckily someone led me to the correct place. Note, the instructions of where to go were very clear on the race website, it was on my part I did not read them carefully that year. We had to be on time because the last bus would leave at 6:30. The race was at 7:30.

    As you can tell, this race has these minor particulars that if not followed, as a runner you will be screwed. You might be disqualified or missed the start and so forth. Following their instructions is important. It is not hard, but every year there bound to be someone like me, who skims through stuff and misses pertinent information.

    There were parkings available at the start but not for runners due to race permit requirements. We could be dropped off at the start, but as a runner, we could not leave our cars there, since the park wants the spots to be for park visitors. RD said, every year, there is someone who did not read the instructions and would be surprised by this.

    This year I was the second person arrived, the race director Steve being the first. He had marked the course, set up cones and signs leading to the parking.

    I was surprised to see him already there. I thought I had time to catch some sleep before anyone shows up. He told me where to park. I parked. I had my brief breakfast, used the bathroom, and settled in. I seeing him standing alone out in the parking lot, so I joined him and we talked.

    I have done a few of his races since 2019. I did all of them you can say. Old Glory (report) was next race I tried and that was his hardest. His races have a progression. High Bridge 50K (report) being the easiest due to it being on a flat course. Eastern Divide is in the middle. It is mostly on roads with some trails and country/forest roads. Then there is the Lake Ridge at Lake Claytor (report). It is a timed loop course, where a runner chooses to run either 6 hours, 12 hours, or 24 hours. I love Lake Ridge the best and have been at every single one but the corona year.

    As we waited, soon the buses arrived. Some volunteers showed up. Runners showed up as well. Steve left to show the bus drivers where to park. I was left to direct traffic into the lot. Initially, I panicked that I might misguide people. Runners are smart. They soon figured out where to park by following one after another. We made an informal parking lot out of the back of a farm.

    As it was time to leave, I gathered my stuff. It would be a one way trip, so I had to decide what to bring along and what to leave behind in my car. I needed my water pack, my running shoes. I changed into clothes I think I needed. The base layer stayed on me but I was switching my outer and mid layer. I had a buff and gloves. I don’t remember if I ran in shorts or long pants. Likely I kept my long pants on with shorts underneath.

    I was excited. I got on the bus with 20 other people. I think the other half would meet us at the start. Not everyone used the bus. The RD said every year, there would be someone arriving late. So he had two buses. The first bus left on time. The second bus was to catch those arriving late.

    The bus ride only took about half an hour. It took us into the the Appalachian, to Cascades Fall. It is supposed to be the lowest point of the course and we would run back out from there to Mountain Lake. Yes, several thousand feet of climbing. I think 4-5 thousand for the whole race. I don’t have the exact number. I am sure it is on the website. It is a lot of elevation gain. Many runners did not realize they are climbing from the valley to the mountain top.

    I did not pick up my bib the day before, so I had to pick up that morning at the start. I was nervous of being late and not getting a bib and could not run. It worked out. We got to the start as the sun was about to rise. It was still dark but the sun would rise within half an hour. We did not need a headlamp to run but it was good to have one in the early hours before the race such as using it in the bathroom. The bathroom was the warmest place. Maybe one or two would try to stay warm in there, but the rest of us, we braved the cold outside.

    Kim the co-race director gave us her briefing. I don’t remember what was said. We walked down to the trailhead by the creek, then she counted down and we went.

    I was not feeling well even early on and slowly became the back of the pack. I stayed in front of a lady and so avoid being the last runner. Slowly, I caught up a few others. I knew my pace was not good. I was probably 7-8 from the rear. Each time I passed someone I would keep the count in my head.

    About a mile in, we reached the fall. This was one of those places to take picture. The fall sight is different from summer when I first ran this. We took a series of stairs to get up.

    In this race, there is an award to be the fastest male and female to reach the ridge, I think abour 4-5 miles in. at the first aid atation. Our race director would be there waiting for us.

    I know I wouldn’t be first to get to the top but I had to try. Climbing is my strong point. I was able to pass couple people. One guy said he remembered seeing me before. We chatted and I found out he was from NC so he probably saw me at the Iron Mountain 50 Mile. He agreed.

    After reaching the Aid Station, we got on a jeep road. For the rest 20 miles or so we were on one road after another. There was no car driving on it but it was hunting season so occasionally we saw hunters or their cars on the side of the road.

    I was behind a woman. Sometimes I passed her other times she caught up and passed me. I don’t remember her name, but she said she came here with several friends and they talked her into running this. Her friend though dropped down to run the 8 mile instead of the 50K. Later her friend came out to pace and we found out she won first place for female. She was being humble saying she won by technicality because the initially first place runner made a wrong turn got lost at the last few miles and so she won without realizing. A win is a win.

    We were descending from Butt Mountain and we were heading toward civilization. We reached a small town or could be an area with some camping cabins. Then we made a long climb up to Wind Rock. It was past noon now. Carrie’s friends came out and met us saying we just have a few more miles to go. They urged us on to make the 1:30 (6 hour) cut off.

    I was hoping I would not make the cutoff so I couls go back into my car. The cutoff was near where we parked at the finish. I said if I could see my car, I would not want to continue. Fortunately, Carrie’s Friends said we would not see our car before we make the turn into the woods to an aid station (AS4).

    Our race director Steve was waiting us there (again). I think I was cutting close to the cutoff. RD Steve said it is up to me to quit or continue, he would not sway me one way or the other. We still had about 10K left and this part is the “fun” part around Mountain Lake. Indeed I like this the best out of the entire course. It was challenging in term of path finding and foot work.

    They changed the course slightly this year to avoid going through a shooting range. In previous years, they were able to negotiate with the range to temporary stop for a day.

    Why it is this part fun? It is most technical part of the course. There is no clear trail. It is a mountain bike trail but it goes all over the place. It is the place easily get off trail and make a wrong turn. I prefer to stick close to the runner before me (Carrie). We did not get lost. One time she went off the trail, and I was able to warn her in time.

    There were a lot of climbings. Soon we came out to an aid station at the top. We we ran down a mountain road that let us to the resort. At the Mountain Lake Resort, Carrie’s friend came out again and paced Carrie to the finish.

    We had maybe 2 miles left. We had to climb up a hill to an overlook. It was worth it. This part was new this year. We went around the “lake” (dry now). It would pop out to a field where the finish line is.

    I was the third from the last runner. Two more finished behind me. Two people DNF’d. I was fifth from the bottom. Two people passed me since the start (Carrie and a dude from NC). I don’t mind. I felt I tried my best in my condition.

    Also, I did hold back through the run. I felt I could have pushed a bit harder but I planned to pace a runner that night in a 100 mile race (though I planned to do only 30-40 miles), so I had to hold back. Carrie said the total milage was closer to 28 miles instead of 31. I was moving about 16.5 min per mile pace. However, because of my weaken state, even though I thought I was holding back, the race exhausted me. I ended up would not be able to pace Lynne at Rim to River that night (pacing).

    The finish line food was good. We had chili, one of my favorite food.

    My time was 7:37:55. I signed up this race thinking I could beat my previous time, but ended up finishing much later.

    Would I run it again? It usually is in conflict with my other races. If I do have a free weekend, I would like to run the course again. It is a trail race, but since most of it is on road, dirt road, gravel, etc, I am no longer a fan of road running.

    Steve said, the Old Glory one, due to not many people interested in it, it is no longer held. He said that race is expensive to host and last time I did it, there were only 20 people signed up.

    Next year, 2024, I know I would not be able to do Eastern Divide. I promise to pace a friend and this time for real, I would not try to run in a race on the same day I have pacing duty. I promise I would be a good pacer.

    (Meta/context/Note, this Eastern Divide was held on the same weekend of Rim to River 100, which I wrote couple entries ago).

    Sorry no pictures. The course was beautiful. It was a nice day

    Some civil war history. Union troop from West Virignia made a raid int Virginia and used this turnpike to retreat back to West Virginia. This place was a spa (salt/sulfur spring that was popular with the people at the time)

  • Day464 MMT TR2

    MMT TR#2 was my first real training run for the Massanutten 100 race (MMT), a race that is named after a ring of mountains where some of them create one side Shenandoah valley. For us locals, I don’t think it is anything extraordinarily beautiful but I did catch occasional glimpses of the famous Shenanoah River while running on the MMT trail, and each time is a reward for being there. Most of the time though, all I see is trees. The course is mostly running the entire ring (in a figure 8 actually, and the start is near the center of the 8). The MMT (trail) is less famous than the Skyline drive, where hordes people from the DC area would go, but it is a playground for us the more adventurous type people – mostly trail runners, mountain bikers, and backpackers/campers/hikers.

    I have been training locally in my neighborhood this winter to get myself ready for the race but nothing compares to stepping on the actual course itself. I had an opportunity to do so last month, but ended up missing the first opportunity to do so at the official training run #1 due to it being conflicted with the Waterfall 50K which I was so hyped up about it, but was eventually canceled due to bad weather. Part of the MMT 100 is also in the Waterfall 50K, hence the reason I wanted to run the Waterfall race. Since that race was canceled, I kind of started my training for the MMT a little later than I wanted.

    When the second MMT training Run got posted by the race organization itself, the Virginia Happy Trail Runners (VHTR), I jumped on it. I say it was a good start for my spring training. Technically, I could go out there and run on my own any time but I prefer to do it as a group. The course is about two hours away from where I live. It is not far but not near either, the four hours total traveling time is something I don’t just willy nilly drive out and do it.

    Another reason for not going out there earlier back in December or January, is that MMT is the hardest race I’m attempting to date. I want some hand holding and let some former runners show me the way. I know it is an excuse. The weather actually was not favorable back then. It is also to show the trail proper respect. I mean it can be dangerous, and having other people around makes it less so, because they can help if there’s an emergency.

    Like almost any big race I do, it has been on my mind forever since I first knew about it, maybe as far back as 5 years ago when I first started running. VHTR is our local running club so naturally any trail runners in the area would know about them and their races. Any club that can host their own races is not too shabby. MMT is their signature race.

    I have been avoiding signing up all theae years because it was too hard for me. In the early days indeed I was not ready or even dare to dream of running on trails myself. I was not a trail runner at the time nor an ultra distance runner. I normally ran 5/10K and marathon distance was the longest I did. Then last year, I met a runner whose father used to be one of the race directors. He recommended me to try it.

    MMT is at a place I passed by many times whenever I go for camping or anywhere far. It is almost unavoidable because of its location. It is at the corner of two interstates (I-66 and I-81). They are the highways we would be driving on in order to get to anywhere out west. MMT is also known for one of the few ski slopes we have in our area (our winter is usually too warm for snow, so it is a treasured place, even if it meant artificial snow). This also shows that the course has some decent elevation. The lure is I know and heard of people who run on those mountains. I would look at the mountains there whenever I pass by and dream of some day that I get to run on them too especially in the MMT race itself.

    After finishing two 100 mile races, I felt more prepared to tackle it. I signed up before I ran the last 100 mile race, so that I can’t back out due to my indecisiveness. You know, usually after doing a 100, you don’t want to sign up for another, so the idea is to sign up for the next one right before the race. Oh by the way I am thinking of the next 100 mile race (three in fact or even four) right now before I even started training for this. Doing one usually opens the door to another.

    The course for the training run was modified this year due to Covid. The training runs in the past was to cover every mile of the actual race course in four training sessions. The second session I assume would be covering from the mile marker 25-50, which would involve shuttling from starting to the finishing.

    But due to Covid, shuttling wasn’t a good idea when everyone is trying to avoid being in close contact. So instead of the normal point to point route, we had a loop course. This means that some portion of the race day course is not covered. I am not complaining. To me any run is just as good. I tell you it was sufficiently hard. I am mostly familiar with the rough terrain our area has to offer, having hiked in the surrounding areas before and I know it is a tough course. Running on it demands extra attention and skill. I have to say, the run was tough though not impossible. This was the first time I am seriously running on it and not just hiking.

    Do I think I can do it? I think after the training running, it is a yes with reservation. I studied the entire course over the weekend before the run. There are significant climbs but the elevation probably is like the Laurel Highlands race I did last summer, which was a 70 mile race, and I did it in 22 hours. In this race I will have a total of 35 hours, meaning 13 more hours to run an additional 30 miles, meaning I have to do 15 miles in 6 or so hours, and that should be feasible (2.5 miles per hour at the last third of the race). It means as long as I stay on my feet, I should be able to finish.

    Laurel Highlands has 12,000 ft (not sure what that means whether gain or total), MMT has 17,000 ft (again I hope I am comparing apple to apple), which both are pretty much the same as having an average of 170 ft gain/lost per mile. Of course there will be some sections where we will be climbing 1000 ft in a mile or so. The finish will on the road and also there is maybe a fourth of the course on relatively flat stretch. My personal goal is trying to get this race under 32 hours, however, I know I should not push myself too hard and jeopardize the entire race. It is a good soft goal to have (as I have finished the last two 100 mile races under 32 hours).

    I did about 25.5 miles in 8 hours during the training run. It was not a fast time, yet not disappointing one either. In theory I should be able to finish the race within 35 hours with this pace. It might be a close call. 8.5x 4 is 34 hours, and I have 1 hour to spare for the slowing down in the second half. Granted that’s not a big margin for me to goof around. Ideally, I would like two hours or more as buffer because I need some time too to be off the trail at the aid stations (we will have 17 aid stations, and if I make each 10 min stop, it can easily use up 3 hours). I need to limit myself to keep my stop under 5 mins. During the training run, I did not go as fast as I could (and there was only one aid station), but I think it was a very good pace if that was my 100 mile run. I am worn out just by doing the 25 miles. I know I need to have better sustain if I am to repeat the feat for three more times in one go. I have to remember not to start out too hard on race day.

    I know what I have to work on for the next two months. Having run on a lot in flat land (my neighborhood), my legs are weak on trails especially ones that require the finer control of foot placement. After the training, my legs were sore in weird places, like the side of my hip, my inner thigh and back of the legs, mostly smaller muscles, and some muscles around my ankles. My major muscle groups are strong. It was a good kind of pain, but during the night while in my sleep my whole legs cramped up and it woke me up, and that was miserable because I couldn’t find a perfect position to get into to ease the cramping. This was telling because it means I over did it during the training. I hope this won’t happen on race day. I need to run on the trail a few more times to develop the needed muscles and I should be good. In terms of speed, I might not be able to improve that much, but I can definitely work being better with the hills and making swift transitions at the aid stations. I know my speed will improve. The thing for me on trails is not so much about the burst speed but about running/hiking efficiently in long hours. Generally the pace is almost a hiking pace, but you need to do it quick and relentlessly. Efficiency is the key. Overall my time will improve if I get the technique down.

    Last story: About 50 of us showed up for the training run. The small parking lot could barely have enough room for all of us. I think we fitted about 20-30 cars. I didn’t know anyone there but Carl who actually introduced me to the MMT trail when I went and ran with him last summer. Most runners were pretty fast. They have long legs. Pretty soon I was the last one. Toward near the end I caught up with a group of five or six people. Some I kind of recognized and I asked them if I have seen them before, they said sure, we ran together at the last few other training runs, such as the BRR#1, BRR#2 and MMT#1. I know I was not at MMT#1, but they have seen me before. I just did not remember meeting them.

    The next training run, MMT#3 will be held at the end of March. I am looking forward to it.

  • Day366 Wild Oak Car camping

    I ended up going to Wild Oak. This place has a lot of memories for me because it was there where I got my teeth cut for my first backpacking experience.

    My hiker friend back into 2017 planned the trip to go there for like over half a year. I didn’t know her then. However, every time she decided to go, something happened, she had to reschedule 7-8 times. From her write up of the trip, it was supposed to be a super hard trip and it was to be done in the winter with numerous water crossings (she mentioned like twelve). Unfortunately for her but fortunately for me, the trip was postponed till mid summer, when it was just me and her. Like most trips we did, instead of canceling again, she decided to move it forward.

    So I got to do the trip with her, and my first ‘real’ bp. There were only two river crossings. One of them has a bridge to walk across! We ended up didn’t backpack at all but hiked the whole thing in a day, partly my fault, since I was super excited about my physical endurance having just done my first marathon early that year. I was ready to show the world what it like to walk 26.2 miles. It was one of the toughest hikes I did, with a full pack. We were supposed to drop pack and camp midway but our hike was super fast and by evening time, we thought we had only couple miles left (it was like 10 instead because they remade and extended the trail and added like 4-5 miles, and we were using an old map). We laughed at it every time it is mentioned, because it was so stupid, to carry a heavy pack and did not use it and for 28+ miles no less.

    Since then I have gone back to this place year after year. Last year, we were there during the Columbus Weekend and we happened to encounter a race happening that weekend. If you know anything about me, a race is like the reason for my existent. I almost couldn’t control myself to run with runners instead of backpacking that weekend. So I said to myself, I got to come back this year to run with them.

    There is a tradition for this race, not sure since when, maybe for 10+ year, the Virginia Happy Trail people would come out here to fatass this trail – that is to unofficially race on the trail but without requiring signup or payment. If you remember I recently did the ‘VDM’ with them last weekend. All their races are kind of weird/informally done like that. They are really too old school for my taste, especially with the no-signup thing of a year in advance. I think because it is on government land, they are not supposed to have an organized race, but they got around this by having a group of informal private citizens that happened to gather during a particular weekend. Now the race is no longer tied to Virginia Happy Trail (I think to avoid being sued), but people still informally come on Columbus Day Weekend to run it.

    So this year, I decided to go there on Columbus Day weekend to run. I ran on the trail by myself last year when I had the Lyme disease. I think I did it in 8 hours, which was pretty good (I think is the par for the course). But this time I did it in two laps. The first was on Saturday at 3pm and I didn’t finish until midnight, which took about 9 hours. In the morning the next day, I ran another lap, started at 9 am but didn’t finish until 8:30 pm. It took 11:30 hours.

    The Virginia Happy Trail people didn’t show up in force though. They decided to have it the next weekend instead, which I think kind of nice to us the holiday visitors because the parking lot was kind a small (can only hold about 10 cars). There wouldn’t be enough space to park if everyone showed up.

    I ran into three other people, who were also running the whole loop. They were fast. I think it probably took them under 7 hours. They ran in clockwise direction while I did the loop counter-clockwise. We met up around 2 pm. I was at mile 11, about 1/3 of the way while they were probably at mile 17 or 18 (2/3 of the way). I told them I probably wouldn’t get back to the parking lot until 8 pm. I had 6 more hours to go, while maybe only 3 more hours for them. Lucky! Though secretly I was hoping to finish by 6 pm (at the 9 hour mark). I didn’t want to be caught on the mountain in the dark on a cold and rainy day.

    But as luck and my ability would have it, I ended up spending seven more hours out there. They told me hope I can descend before dark. It was good I tossed a small handheld flashlight in my hydration pack before setting out, thinking just in case but likely I wouldn’t need it. The last hour coming down the mountain in pitch dark was something I don’t want to do, but ended up doing. The light from my handheld was just barely enough to lit the few steps in front of me. It has barely enough light to see anything. I think it was the fog and my beam was not penetrating it. I think there was maybe just a candle worth of brightness. It flickered on and off and I was praying hard, please have enough battery to last the trip down.

    The trail was not easy. It was not the hardest trail there is but they have enough steep uphills and downhills and there are portions that are rocky and technical. The first climb was over 7 miles! The last descend was 5 miles long! Quad killer indeed. Ankle and knee killers too. It was not a hike for the average city folks.

    I rolled my ankle twice on the first lap around at mile 8/9. On my second lap in the same place I rolled my ankle twice again. I tried to stop to find the stone or root that tripped me. The sad thing was that part of the trail was gentle and smooth. There were many places that were rougher or tougher. I usually roll myself at the easiest places. The part that is hard to accept is on my second lap, I had my poles with me – this kind of rolling shouldn’t happen because my weight should have shifted to my arms. I had to pause to consider should I quit, since hiking 8 miles back is easier than doing 20 miles forward. I decided to risk it by moving forward (sunk cost fallacy). Luckily I didn’t roll again, but that was a pretty gusty decision.

    One thing I did that almost put my life at risk was the tropical storm Delta (down graded from Hurricane Delta) arrived at our area that morning. I knew about the rain and wind. I packed a rain jacket but at the start of the run, I felt I don’t need it and left it behind. It was not raining then. When I did the first lap (in the evening), I was not cold. I was hoping the temperature would remain constant. But on the second lap once the rain came, and temperature dropped, I was freezing. I was halfway through by then distance wise, with the time around 3-4 pm. I was thinking how I wish I have my rain jacket with me. I might go into hypothermia and it was late Sunday. If something bad happens, no one will be on the trail to rescue me until maybe next weekend. I got to get off of this mountain myself before my body freezed.

    Throughout the run, I dared not think of the time remained to the parking lot because even if it takes an hour, it was just too long to accept. I was focusing on the distance instead. I was at mile 15, and in my mind I told myself just need to get to the next peak which was like 3-6 miles away. I knew the trail is about 27-28 miles long. I kept thinking in that line to give myself hope.

    Maybe the cold and tireness affected my thinking. I got lost on the next peak, Hankey Mnt. When we went there as a group, we got lost there too. The night before though I didn’t get lost because – my hiking friend told me she fixed the sign and I found her small beaten fixed sign and followed it down. With full confident that I wouldn’t get lost again on Hankey in day time I ascended (I could bypass it that peak if needed). However, when I ascended I found the campsite my friend told me about (something I didn’t see the night before), but her sign I didn’t find. In place of her sign I found a new and official trail sign clearly marked ‘WILD OAK TRAIL’, so I took the left turn there. I thought it was a left. This is where the confusion came in. Apparently by taking the left I ended back up at where I was about a mile away. Exactly, how on earth did I hiking backward on the trail without realizing it! I think though the backtracking was on the *old* trail except it was newly blazed or earlier I was on the old trail while ascending! I blame the forest park people, why blazed an old trail. They got the sign confused there. I was at mile 18 earlier. However the extra backtracking added an extra 3 miles (an hour more).

    If anyone is reading this and planning to hike The Wild Oak Trail, don’t ascend the Hankey Mountain, leave the Wild Oak trail take the Betsy trail instead to go around it instead because there are some confusing signs up on the top that would loop you back around. The funny thing is they don’t blaze the other side of Hankey Mountain where Wild Oak merged into Betsy (or Betsy into Wild Oak Tr), so even if you are on right trail you won’t know it until five miles later. So just avoid ascending Hankey altogether.

    I kept telling myself only one more peak to go (Lookout mountain at mile 22). It took maybe 7 more miles before I got there (and that was about 3 hours later). The time then was 6:30 pm, that was original my goal to finish by. However, I was not upset. We get there when we get there.

    I was pressing for time. I didn’t know how long it would take to descend Lookout mountain. My guess was 4 miles. I know it would get dark by 7 pm. The mud was slick and I was not wearing my trail shoes but the normal road running shoes. So basically I was skiing, sliding, and slipping all over the places. Based on the previous day, it took me an hour and half to descend. So I tried to do it again this time as fast as I could. But I didn’t have a bright flashlight on me this time. The one I had I could hardly use to see. I kind of make out a shadowy path in front of me.

    At one point I almost went over a cliff. Thank God, I stopped in time. That was mostly my fault too. The previous day, the city light below the Lookout Mountain was beautiful, and I tried to see if there were any light (It was foggy). While trying to look, I walked straight out into the edge because the path has curved at that point.

    Over all it was a good experience. I had 27 miles the first day and 30 miles the second.

    I brought my tent but too lazy to use it. I slept in the car both nights, a real definition of car camping. The first night, I sleep in the flat bed of my truck. I was not afraid of bugs. The second night was rainy and I slept inside. The backseat only fits half of me. I slept in like hammock position, V-shape. My head was up and my legs were up. I didn’t get much sleep. I left the rear window opened for air.

    I think I was not supposed to sleep/camp at the trailhead, but there is no one around to enforce it. This was kind of reminescene of the first trip where we had a tent but ended up didn’t use it.

  • Day304 feeling defeated

    I am feeling a bit deflated. Maybe it is just a natural progression after a long weekend trip.

    I drove up to PA to meet with couple guys who were running a section of the Laurel Highlands Trail. None of the people in my group was running the whole thing that day but after I got home, I saw on Facebook some other people did do it, the whole 70.5 miles.

    The 8 mile section we did was tough. We only did it once when originally we (mostly me) wanted to do it twice and at night with very little of sleep (in a delirious state).

    The run was harder than I anticipated. I hiked the trail before and I thought I have improved a lot since then and I could take on running it. How hard can that be? It was hard.

    I ran with couple hard core ultra guys. Those guys didn’t even sweat and I was out of breath the first mile. Then came the climb. They could run uphill but I could only run downhill. I got a blister on one of my toes from it. Dang it. Later on at the last three miles I rolled my ankle. Did it twice. Run was over for me. What a disappointing end, as I hobbled back to the car.

    One of the guys, he was the fastest in our group, and the guy who invited me to run with him, shared about his DNF (Failed to finish) of his last race at the Black Forest Ultra. He said he tried his best and still could not make it to the last cut off time. He was over by a minute. He shared how he was in a funk since then.

    That kind of put things in perspective for me. I don’t want to fail in a race. This guy I thought he is my idol and fast and there is a race out there, and he couldn’t make it. The race he failed was also one I wanted to do.

    I am trying to find the motivation in me to run. My past weekend trip helped me to see how much more I must train to get ready for the real thing. The weekend was like a practice run and my wheel came off. The real race will be taken place sometimes in September – the race date hasn’t been set yet due to the coronavirus.

  • Run report

    Day 228

    Last week was low mileage for me with a total about 9 miles. Lowest so far after having 50+ for last three consecutive weeks, but I figure I needed the low mileage rest.

    As usual, Monday was a rest day. After three weeks of running, I was grateful for Monday

    Tuesday: 4. Easy run with group. The weather is getting warmer. Legs were heavy.

    Wednesday: 2nd rest day

    Thursday: 5 miles. Also was a group run. Legs were still heavy but a bit better than Tuesday.

    Friday: 0. traveling

    Saturday-Sunday: *3-4ish. I would like to say it was supposed to be a run but turned out more a backpacking hike. Saturday, hiked 24 miles and Sunday 12. I won’t count them running though my body was sored from the activity.

    ~~~~Long version~~~~

    The highlight was I went to Laurel Highlands to check on the trail, which I will be racing on it in June. The trail was not extremely hard, definitely runable in most section (‘groomed’ trail some say), but it is considerably a step up from my last ultra due to hilly terrains. It was not the most technical terrain I have seen, but I will be killed by a thousand cuts. It is flat on the elevation profile but it is anything but flat. 70-mile is not an impossibility but it won’t be a cake walk. People said to train for it as if it is a 100 mile race. One suggestion was to do 10k ft of hill climb per week. I intend to do just that.

    Due to the trail being a point to point (not a loop), it was difficult to plan the training run logistically. I decided to ‘play it safe’ because of the cold weather and I camped at the race to-be checkpoint #1 (Mile 18) and intended to study the trail from mile 18 to 0. I was very tempted to run the whole thing in a day, knowing my ability I can do 18 miles any given day, however because of the remoteness and ‘what-ifs’, I decided to backpack by hiking it instead. It was definitely a wise decision.

    I was much weaker than I anticipated. Even with just the hike, it exhausted me. If the previous weekend running in the woods an indicator, this weekend’s message was loud and clear: I was in no condition to ‘trail run’ it. I might call it running, but if I couldn’t put up 3 miles an hour, it was anything but running. On race day, doing 3 miles an hour will not get me to the finish line under 22 hours. I am not alarmed, given I have about 12-14 weeks left, I could train up for it.

    The first night there was just straight camping. I hiked around for an hour looking for camp but that was just my stupidity of not studying the map before hand. I figured the camp was only about half mile at most from the parking area and I could bump into it. You can only go north or south on the trail, how hard can it be in finding the camp? I walked first north the back south and turned around went back north (I was so near then before turning around!) and explored some of the side trails, while really needed to use the bathroom! Yes and it costed me an hour wandering around in the middle of the night. The camp was really half mile away (South). It was 2AM by the time I close my eyes. My hiking leader would be laughing at me if she knew (she didn’t go; well if she had gone, I wouldn’t be in a jam).

    Camped in the snow on the first night; happy to arrived

    The next day, bright and early, I decided to take my pack to camp#2 (at Mile 6), which is about 12 mile hike. Trust my plan, I kept saying to myself. Luckily, the snow on the ground was not much and they were fresh, about quarter to half an inch of snow on the ground. It didn’t make running impossible but the cold was a big factor for me to play it safe and decided to hike it with my pack instead of dropping the pack at where I parked and running the thing. Indeed, the ground was icy in part and I took too many falls to the ground myself. I left my trekking poles at home when the time I needed them the most was now; I had micro spikes in my pack but I was too stubborn to put them on — again my hike leader would shake her head if she saw me, like for all these years of camping and I still haven’t learned.

    Tiny shelters (huts) down in the valley. I had the whole campground to myself at my second day camp site

    I arrived at the second camp by noon, exhausted, and also not haven’t eaten breakfast. I dropped my pack, set camp, ate and by 2 PM then proceeded to hike/run the remaining six miles (to Mile 0) on an out and back.

    reached mile marker 0

    They say these six miles would be hardest in the race in term of elevation gain. It is probably a joke to those on the west coast that we complain about a thousand or two ft of elevation gain over couple miles, but to us here it is hard running! Everything is relative.

    Indeed, I could hardly run it. I came across many runners on the trail in this last (first) section and one of them has ran the Laurel Ultra a few years back. He said, he knew of no one who would run up it, specifically on Spring Hill.

    Next morning, woke up with body pretty much in a bad shape (bad meaning I didn’t want to run). I felt I couldn’t walk another mile. I asked myself, do I want to repeat to run to mile 0 and back, since it would be a perfect day for running it. It was much warmer and snow had melted. It would make great numbers for my runner log.

    I pretty much knew the answer. I can’t find any resolve to beat my body any more but to hike (crawl) back to the car. I could definitely do it if I had to, but it would be pushing myself beyond uncomfortable. I knew it was not happening. It was really pointless to stay another night if I am not running it. Also I only had carried one day of food with me on my pack and I ate them the day before…unless I go back to the car. I always had more food in the car. But if I go to the car, why not just go home. The hike back was literally a crawl for me. That’s a wrap for the weekend.

    someone’s snow graffiti
    hunting parking lot – it advises runners/hikers to wear bright orange color clothing. PA has a lot of public hunting grounds. Larel highlands trail runs through some.
    around mile 13-14

  • course preview

    Day 188 JFK prep

    There are a lot things to say. The most important was I was out on the trail running again. I haven’t run that much due to various reasons. Weather, scheduling conflict, and probably plain laziness.

    I ran on Tuesday. Didn’t do it on Wednesday because of church. Thursday was because of the weather and I had to fix my car (it had a recall for defective airbag). I finally took it in to have it serviced. Friday was my nephew’s birthday. Normally I do my long run on Friday!!! And skipping it really hurts. Yet it was for my nephew. Also I am just lazy trying to find excuses to skip out on my long run.

    So today, I had my run. It was out of this world awesome. I woke up at 3 again 3 in the morning to make it clear. I left the house a little before 6 and drove to Harper Ferry, a place north and west of where I live and where Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland meet.

    It is a beautiful place and has historical significant, just don’t ask me what it is. It was mentioned in my history book.

    I got there just in time before my shuttle leaved. I was there because a volunteer has offered to shuttle us to Boonsboro about 30 minutes from Harper Ferry, where we would run the first portion of the course for the JFK 50 mile race later this month. We would run from Boonsboro to Harper Ferry on the AT (Appalachian Trail).

    I love trail running and just not doing it enough because mountains are so far away. I know I only live about an hour away and I am complaining that it is far.

    I am awesome on the trail compare to many city runners because I go backpacking and hiking frequently. My feet just know where they are supposed to land and I don’t have to look at the ground. I run on uneven surfaces as if I am on the road. And I am strong on hill running. I can run miles now up steep hills because I am an ultra runner! It is like I am in my element when a race takes place on a mountain. Best of all I don’t easily get lost.

    I am bragging of course. But most runners because they are coming from road running, are very careful about where they are stepping and so would miss the trail or get off to a wrong trail (because they don’t look at where they are going). This is no lie. At the very first mile onto the AT, there is a side trail leading to a camping shelter for backpackers. Many runners would inadvertently ended up at the shelter because they were too focused looking down. The JFK has been around for years, and so over the year, the path to the shelter were widen by lost runners! I can’t help but laughed when I saw the situation. Our driver has warned us not to end up at the shelter.

    In fact the whole AT trail in Maryland are widen (and eroded) by us runners. What can we say? We even made the AT feels very flat in Maryland.

    Though I think I will do well in the JFK 50. I will run conservatively. On the trail portion, I will walk (keeping a 16-18 min mile). Then on the Canal portion, it will be a normal marathon. I hope to run it in 5:30 (5 and half hours). The final 10K, I will just have to endure through. The whole race will probably take me 11 hours. People are telling me to break the race down with a 2 mile warm up, a half marathon on the trail, then a normal marathon gravel, and a final 10K on road, and a 2 miles cooldown walk/run.

    It was so beautiful this morning. I crossed into Harper Ferry before the sun was up but as we ran, it was just gorgeous. The trail were filled with laughter and people. Look the leaves are turning!

    Where is this? It was maybe 3 or 4 miles into my run. It was so cold. I was freezing. Temp was around 32 or 33 (yup freezing). Luckily there were no wind. I ran in two layers until the sun was up and I got rid of my outer layer. After the run, It took me 6 hours to warm back up. Yup, I crawled in my bed after a nice long and warm shower and stayed in bed after. But I love the cold so much. Yup, up since 3 AM.

    I met Kathy, Wendy, and Amy on the trail. Kathy though didn’t finish. She might have gone off the wrong trail. I waited for her for an hour at the end but she didn’t come out. I then left after Wendy and rest arrived.

  • Sunday reflection

    Day 118

    I like to spent Sunday to reflect on and review what the past weekend has been. It has been a normal weekend. There were weekends when I had a plan like a race or a backpacking trip. This weekend started with a plan and as the day approached, the plan kind of unraveled. It was not a bad weekend but it could have been even better.

    Originally, it was going be a hike on Saturday with a group of people. It was another hike for noobies. I was looking forward to it. Then the hike was placed on my shoulder and one by one people dropped out. It is typical that people drop from an event, speaking from experience. I don’t think it was just because I was leading it that people were dropping out. In the end it was me and another dude. I was counting on him not showing up because over the week he never reached out about ride and where to meet.

    I ended up doing the hike by myself. It didn’t bother me a bit. It was better that way because I could hike faster by myself. When I got to the trail parking lot, it was full, so I did some exploring driving a bit farther down the road and found another lot. There was no cell signal to contact the other guy about a last minute change of location. The other lot was secluded. There were only two cars there. I checked one of the cars out and it had an ultra trail running sticker on and I know there must be probably a trail around and the driver was probably running on it.

    I pulled out my map of the area and saw the trail connects to the AT (Appalachian Trail). I had all my running gear with me and I was planning to run on the trail any way if no one showed up. I put on my Nathan 7L camelpak (don’t know the real name/ it was quite big, it holds 2L of water, I don’t use the water pack though). I packed my lunch and snacks and water. Put on my trail running shoes – Salomon 3. The trailhead was around the bend on the other side of the road. As I started, a hiker just finished his and I asked how long it is and he told me 4 miles to the AT. It was much less than that (I think about about 2).

    I started running. The trail was kind of nice to run on. The uphill portion was gradual. I ran and walked. Actually, I am quite out of shape for uphill. I could only run a few minutes before I was out of breath.

    At the top at the Pass Mnt Hut, I came across a thru hiker (one who attempts to hike the whole AT, about 2000 miles), Lost-n-Found. He started two weeks ago from Harper Ferry doing Flip-Flop, now SOBO (South Bound). He did part of the north bound portion last year. We talked. At the time, I didn’t recall his YouTube channel, but afterward, I think I saw some of his videos before. It was very cool to chat with him in real life.

    I got to Mary’s Rock and stopped there for lunch. I only had a sandwich and I was rushing to start that I didn’t put any spread.

    Mary’s Rock was kind of cool. I was there maybe two winters ago but that day was very cold and I didn’t go out to the outcrop, and I didn’t know how beautiful it is. I took some pictures. It was foggy but I love the rock formation.

    The original hike was calling for 6 miles and Mary’s Rock would be the turn around point. I felt it was still early, around 11AM and I could put in more mileage. I decided to do my ‘weekly’ long run. I checked my map, if I want to get to the original parking lot – BuckHollow (one that was full), and come back, it would add 15 miles. Currently I had done about 5 miles up to Mary’s Rock. Twenty miles would be the total. Sorry if my math doesn’t seem to add up.

    Surprisingly, I got to the BuckHollow parking lot at 1pm. I ran out of water by then, but I had with me a Sawyer water filter. I replenished my water by the stream. I love drinking from the stream! I took a different route back, using Buck Ridge instead of BuckHollow. Boy that hill was tough. It is two miles straight up. The photo doesn’t do justice how steep it is.

    I forgot how hard it is to run up this hill. It was maybe a 2000 ft change in elevation. It was tough. I gave up running up that thing after maybe five minutes. Even walking up on it, was tough. I calculated that with my current pace I wouldn’t be back to my car until 7 pm. K and I in our previous hikes here, saw runners running up and down this as if it was flat!

    The hill goes on forever. My friend K, named this hill the Heaven Hill because you will see heaven once you get to the top. I got back to Mary’s Rock, sometimes after 2. I stayed at the Rock a bit, having my fruit cup. It was beautiful. I was very hungry then. The two slices of bread I had earlier did not provide enough calories. Rain started. As I got off Mary’s Rock, I ran into lost&found, the thru-hiker I met earlier. We chatted some more. He told me he got some trail magic from someone.

    Rain was on and off with some drizzling. I picked up my pace.

    Running downhill, I came across many people. I rolled my ankle several times, mostly on my right ankle (the stronger one) this time. It didn’t hurt but it put the fear in me to not run too fast when I’m tired. Doing downhill was easy, but every time when I came to uphill, I was too tired to run.

    I got back to the car by 4:30, way ahead of my expected time. It was my longest trail run practice thus far, totalling 20 miles and took eight hours to complete. Not spectacular. If it were my 50k race, I would get a DNS (did not finish within the specified time).

    The trail is not smooth and it is rocky on some parts. It is worse than running on concrete, but it was very beautiful. Wild flowers were all around.

    I enjoyed running on the trails a lot. It was very peaceful. It wasn’t easy. Mentally, it was very satisfying. I don’t remember what went through my mind, however, I felt it was a time well spent with God. All my problems from life disappeared at the moment (escape mentality), though I think I can deal with real life now because of the run.

  • Long run

    Long run

    I am more tired today than last weekend when I did the marathon. I went out for a long run today. I wanted to do a three hour run. I started at 1:30 (more…)