In awe

Tag: training

  • Day529 BRR Training 1

    Bull Run Run Training 1.

    BRR training started a week after the MMT training run. I did both sets of training last year and doing them again this year. The only difference this time is I will be running in the BRR (actual race) this year. Last year, I only did the training runs but not the race itself. It’s long story, which I am about to tell.

    What is BRR? It stands for Bull Run Run. The race has been rebranded as BROT, which stands for Bull Run & Occoquan Trail Run, but I prefer BRR better for short, because that is the name I first encountered with this race and it rolls off the tongue. Yes, it is related to the American Civil War also, the Battle of Bull Run. I don’t know much of its history even though I visited the Manassa battle field and its museum. Funny thing was during the training run, an older runner was listening to a podcast about the Bull Run Battle. He forgot to bring his ear piece, so he had it on speaker. The few of us crowded around him to listen along with him.

    Note, I use the abbreviation of BRR to refer to the race (in April) and the training runs interchangeably, but rarely will I refer to the trail itself, even though that is the name of the trail. I know, hope it won’t be too confusing to my readers. In the same way, I’ll refer to MMT as the race and its training runs, even though it is the name of that trail.

    History, my history: Since forever, might be 2017 or 2018, in my early years of running, I had wanted to do this race. Every single year, I missed the registration because either they only opened for club members or by invitation only or they were quickly filled out and I missed out.

    There is some weird procedure to get onto the wait list. You are given a random number when you registered, and then the pick is based on a particular day of the stock market closing index price mentioned ahead of time. Depending if the index goes up or down, it would determine the sort ordering, for getting people off the list. They say it is clearly explained on their sign up website and is fair since the stock market is supposed to be random.

    I just find the sign up procedure weird. And math, I love math, but for a lot of people, it could be a turn off. It is like you have to solve some high level math problem to sign up a race. They also use some Latin words on their races too (yes, it runs by a bunch of brainy older people — lawyers). I took Latin as my foreign language elective, so I love Latin. But if I am a younger zoomer/millenial, I might not sign up. I’m not knocking at them. I was introduced into the racing world using the modern way of run-signup and ultra-signup websites, so was expecting something more slick. BRR sign up site is just unusual. Anyway, I finally got on the sign up list this year, without much problem. It was like my fifth or sixth try.

    So I will be religiously doing all the training runs. The truth is the race no longer scares me as it once did and I don’t need to train for it. I could do a 50 miler on any weekend without breaking a sweat (maybe a little), as I proved last season. However, I found from last year that BRR training run was very good for my MMT and I think a lot runners who will be running the MMT would do the BRR as preparation. So here I am.

    We had a good day. The temperature was between 35-45 F, way warmer than a week earlier. It felt it was more like fall weather. They were saying last year temperature was 6 or 16 degrees. Making today a nice day for a winter run. I had expected the run to run west, where my house is, only later after finishing, I found on their Facebook page that they made a last minute change, to have the run toward east because of the trail work being done on the west side. But anyway, it did not matter. A training run is a training run. Running eastward actually was more beneficial for me due there being more hills.

    I originally planned to wake up maybe at 3:30 am but overslept until 5:30, because I stayed up too late the night before. Anyway, I got home late due to lunar eve-eve new year’s celebration. I made very little preparation unlike the week before when I prepared for the MMT training run. This was a local run, and in the city, so no need to fret about packing emergency aid, food, and everything. Water was the only thing I needed. And no need to set an alarm, so as it turned out, I overslept.

    So I got up around 5:30 and I was thinking to myself, if could I still make it. I did not think I could make it on time after a bit of calculations. The original plan was to run from my house to the trailhead maybe at most 5 miles away and from there run to Hemlock Overlook, which was also about another 5 miles, where the rest of the group would meet. At the time, I did not know the distance was 5 miles, but I was planning a 4 hour run to the real starting line. We were to meet at 8 am, so it meant a 4 am start from my house. It would have given me a lot of mileage that day, again, at the time I didn’t know how far, but I was planning for a 30-40 mile day.

    Because I was running late, I decided to drive to the trailhead instead. The actual meet location was too early for me to be there and I wanted to have some early miles done. As I was driving, I made up my mind to go a trailhead nearer to my home, Rt 28 parking lot, but it was not the lot where everyone to meet. It saved me from running 4 or 5 miles from my house, but still would give me plenty miles for the day. I arrived there before sunrise. I was the first person in the lot. I got everything ready and as first light dawned (around 7 am), I hit the trail. It is a county park, so technically we were not allowed to be on the trail when it is dark. That was the reason I waited for some light, so I didn’t have to use a headlamp and also I would not be violating any local ordiances. I doubt anyone would call the cops on me, but you never know.

    I tried this run last year too but I was slower last year and missed the group start. This year I started 15 minutes earlier and I must have run faster. I met my goal of getting to Hemlock by 8 o’clock.

    The first couple miles, I was running at a slower pace, of 15 min mile. It was very slow. I had not warm up yet and the terrain was uneven. It was a bit cold but I knew also it should be warming up by noon time.

    I arrived at Hemlock as the group just started off. I could see them from maybe 100 yards away. I was not too late. I caught up with the group as they were circling around the parking lot. There were maybe 75-100 of us, which was quite a big group for a training run. Some came late too as usual since this was in the city. There were whole lot of excitement.

    I was more familiar with the trail this year than last year. I made many posts about this trail before. Those were the days when I first explored it on my own, I think around 2020 and 2021. It was such a joy then as it is now. Now running on it again, and finally the first time with the big group, I felt great. I had previous good memories as I ran. BRR training was where I met Iris, who later helped crew me at my Devil Dog. People like Iris are dear to me. That was just last year, but it felt so long ago. This year, Iris wasn’t there. A race director once told me, that volunteers are his dearest people, so it is the same for me. Anyone helped me in a race, they are my “brothers and sisters, and mother and father.”

    BRR and MMT are almost same for me in my mind. I’d lump both of them together. They were both organized by the same group of people, my local trail running group. It is quite famous here in the tri-state (DC, Maryland, and Virginia, well DC isn’t a state, but you know, we treated it like one). It’s name though is probably well known to our surrounding states as well, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. MMT is probably more well known around the nation in the trail community, since it had been around for a long time and it is a 100 miler.

    But as for the BRR, it is much more modest. It is a local race. And it is only a 50 mile compares to the 100 miler sibbling. This training run had only about 1500 ft of elevation change. The course is a series of rolling hills, so not that bad actually, at least for me who went to last week training for the MMT training run, where we did 5000 ft of climbing in a single day. Still I believe, BRR helps my training.

    I fell into my pace after couple miles. I met up with a friend from DC (Jana), and we ran together to the Bull Run’s Marina. I was surprised to see her here. She recently has done a lot trail runs, such as Naked Nick. She said though 50K is her max. I tried to convince her to try running a 50 miler, but she said she doesn’t do night time running. I said, it is only maybe an hour of darkness, and if she moves fast, she would finish before dark. I hope some day to get her to join me on longer runs.

    At the marina, we took a break at the aid station for this run. It was an out and back, so we would be back here again. It was well stocked with everything we needed, fruits, candies, sodas. And this training run was all free to us. It was festive because we had a big group there. We took a couple group photos. I recognized many familiar faces. However, I am not friend with them, like I am with Iris, Ram and Caroline. They were not on first name basis, but rather it was hey runner. Some people turned around here early to go back to Hemlock, since this is individual decision of how much or how long they wanted to be out there. For a few of us who needed more miles, we continued toward Fountainhead Park, which was about 6.5 miles away.

    Jana also went for a few miles more so that she would finish the day with 12 miles. I wanted to go until I was tired. 12 miles were too little for me. Though since I had 5 miles earlier, if I turned around then I would have 22 miles for the day, Jana told me. I did not believe her at the time, but her math did check out.

    It was too early for me to be turning around though. After saying goodbye to Jana, I continued toward Fountainhead. I got to mile 14, and turned around at the road, wolf run or something, maybe a mile or two before reaching Fountainhead. During the real BRR, this would be an aid station. By then many already turned around, and I believed I was the last one. I caught sight of Tracy and Tina — I believed I ran with Tina (from Baltimore) last year on this run, but she didn’t remember me. She arrived late last year and everyone had left, so it was me and her and she didn’t know the way and I led that time. Anyway, she was on time this year. She partnered up with Tracy. I didn’t know Tracy at the time.

    I tried to rush back so that the group if they were waiting for me would not have to wait for too long. I don’t need people to wait for me, but I am known within this group as one who likely to get lost and also one of the slowest. I was then stopped by a couple Asian hikers, because I looked Asian, they started up a conversation. They wanted to know about my parents and if I attended church, since chinese here in the area all kind of know one another. All they just need you know who your parents are and who your pastor is before long they could identify you. I stopped and started talking to them. Last I’ve been to a chinese church was almost 20 years ago. Things changed.

    Then a couple more runners came by and I believed they were part of our running group. I quickly caught up to them and joined in their run. Indeed, they were part of our training run. I was glad I was not the last person on the trail. Sorry to the asian hikers. They did not know I was in a group run. I left them behind. Actually, I stopped for way too long (maybe 15-20 minutes) and I was cooling off to the point I was starting to shake. Again, we are in two different worlds between runners and hikers. Hikers felt they have all day to talk. We runners are more bounded by time and have to get going.

    I found out the two runners started late and kind of doing their own thing but they were stronger runners than me. Josh came to the run from Virginia Beach and he did the BRR 50 miler race last year. His friend, Spencer, was the area native. They wanted to have 20 miles that day. I told them I already had 19 miles in and hoping maybe for 10 more by the time I finished. I could only stayed with them for about 2 miles and had to slow down. Their pace was too strong for me. I think Josh could run the race in 8-9 hours. Spencer is a bit weaker, but not by much. They both were in excellent built and young, maybe 5-10 years younger than me.

    We got back to the Bull Run’s Marina. Quatro the aid station captain and this training run RD, was still there. We were guessing he would have left by then. The time was around 11:30. I was glad because at least I could get water and some cookies for my return trip. From the Marina back to Hemlock is about 4 miles. I was bonking hard during this stetch. I took the red trail up to Hemlock instead of following blue circling around the base, and climbling up on the otherside. My short cut saved me maybe a mile. Of course, during the race, this would be a DNF. Today though wasn’t a race.

    Quatro was already back from the Marina. I expected that. He said couple other runners were still out besides Josh and Spencer. Shortly, we saw them came in (Tracy and Tina). I stayed for a few more minutes until Josh and Spencer also came in.

    I still had five more miles from Hemlock to my car. Slowly but surely I made it back to my car. I did come across of the group that was repairing the trail.

    For training goes, it was a run. A good run. Last week I worked on more technical stuff. This week was mostly working on the consistency in my run. I needed both types of training. The trail was runnable and so it was a good training on relatively flat ground with some hills tossed in. I had some solid “fast” miles while I was with Jana. Jana was about my pace, but I had to run to keep up with her. I believe I could out run her, but on this training run, she was stronger.

    I still have to work on to be a stronger trail runner. I crapped out too early. I need to have stronger endurance. I need to run faster uphill and also downhill. I know I would do fine for the BRR race because I am a strong hiker. However, I want to be able to run the full 50 miles instead of just hiking it. Also it would help me on the MMT in May. BRR training is complementary to the MMT training.

    BRR will give us a generous 13 hours to finish. I think I could do it in 12 hours. I hope maybe get it down to 11. Any below 11 hours would be a pipe dream. Since the training run was not a race, I finished around 2 pm. 7 hours after I started. I put in 27-28 miles. I did not have my gps watch on me, so couldn’t tell the actual distance I ran. There will be a few more training runs, one in Feb and one in March. Overall, I had a great time, a much more enjoyable than when I was at the MMT first training run. A couple guys recognized me from the week before.

  • Day509 TR4 – Halloween

    What a weekend! In a bad way. I worked over this weekend so i’m kind of dead (a zombie) now. There’s no partying for me tonight. Certainly absolutely there was no party over the weekend. I’m boring. My mom wanted to kipnap me to celebrate my birthday, but I escaped. Oh there was the MCM, Marine Corps Marathon, but I deferred it, so no, I won’t say anything about that, except lucky runners had such a beautiful race. MCM probably will be my tradition birthday run some day. Yes, next year.

    I also did my training run over weekend. It was the last run before the race. What race? The Stone Mill 50.

    This race originally was not too special. I did my first 50 miler at end of 2019. My first attempt of Stone Mill was in 2020, during the pararoma. My grandma passed away while I was running it. Last year, I did not plan to sign up but I believed after attending one of the training runs, I got hooked and did a quick sign up before the race, ah I remember, the friday of, they didn’t even have my bib ready (or at least the volunteer couldn’t find it)! Last year on this day my mom was in the urgent care (Kaiser) after suffering a stroke (she has completely recovered now). So this race now has a bit of personal history, both sadness and celebration!

    This year I am happened to recruit two of my friends to run this. It will be two weeks from now, so knock on wood nothing will happen to us. My friend David probably gave up (deferred) his NY Marathon entry to run this. I am touched. I truly believe he can do both (like on back to back weekends). This guy could finish a 50 mile under 10 (while I am trying to beat 12 hours). He seemed modest in his approach but if I were him, I run both.

    The other guy Alex also super athletic. He said he won the age group award in a race. He probably could run it under 10 hours too.

    I don’t really need to do a training run myself but I know if I don’t go to them, I am too lazy to train on my own.

    So it is the end of the month and our company needs to close its book, which means a lot of work for all as we try to get everything done and recorded for this month.

    I was stressed out. But on Saturday, I showed up bright and early at the trailhead with several other people. This week run was long but the number of people coming out was fewer than previous weeks since there were two 50K races happening this weekend in our area. Most of the guys (and gals) normally came out were in those races. I, in fact, contemplated running one of them (PB&J 50k and the Patapsco 50k).

    The weather was beautiful. We went from around 35F to 65F during the day. I really wanted to be back out the next day to do it again.

    I put in 20 miles plus 5 mile hiking around Cloper Lake (I renamed it as Seneca Lake). The run itself, I was not putting too much effort into it. I was kind of the last guy in the pack. Mostly because my mind was occupied by work.

    I so happened to roll my ankle, because my mind was else where. First the left, then the right, and then the left again. Finally, while hiking, I really put too much force and I rolled it the third time on my left and boy was that painful.

    First time, didn’t hurt. Second time, hurt a little. Third, it was ouchie ouchie limping pain. I walked it off. Now they are better, but still there is a bit of soreness.

    Sunday, I did not go back out. It was a beautiful day. Here are some pictures.

    On the Seneca Ridge/Greenway Trail and at the Seneca State Park, where I will run a 50 mile race in November

    We hope we will have such nice weather on race day. Enough with all the training runs. Happy Halloween!

  • Day505 Stone Mill TR2

    Stone Mill 2nd Training Run. For those who like to compare what it was like last year, I was able to find the last year entry (SM TR21, day445).

    I have nothing much to write about since I am grounded. No, I mean I have no where to go and it felt like being grounded. It was fun last couple months when I traveled everywhere to run. Now, I am back in my local area every single weekend.

    Training runs are as exciting as they get. I don’t actually need to train for Stone Mill. It is a race I’ve already done twice and I am familiar with it but it wouldn’t hurt to go for the training runs. It also gives me something to write about.

    Note, I just reread last year entry, and even with this close to the race day last year, the surprising thing was I at the time did not intend to run in the Stone Mill for a second time. I guess I must have sign up later after the training run.

    It has been my policy not to rerun a race. Apparantly that was no longer apply to this year plan. I knew very early on I was going to do Stone Mill the third time (and as well as the Devil Dog, and Iron Mountain).

    Last year, around this time in the season I was burnt out from running. I start to have that feeling again. I started to think do I really want to do this. I don’t remember how I got over it. Maybe it was a new season that got me out of my mood.

    I still run a lot. In fact, I just signed up a bunch of races. Nothing too earth shattering. I added the Bobcat Trail 11 Mile Run. A short one but I think it is technical – the stuff I like. It is from the famous director of the MMT and the Cat 50. I had ton of fun and heartache from his past races.

    I also added a 5K, this weekend, nothing to write about except that I can still run fast! This is probably my 2nd 5K this year. I almost thought I couldn’t be able to run it under 30 mins. I did it in like 25 minutes! I would like to have 24 or less, but I will take 25 mins any day.

    I added a marathon (NCR) for the Saturday after Thanksgiving. At first, I was going to do the VDM (Vicky’s Death March, a self run), but then I am probably too lazy to get myself to do it, so NCR it will be. I have done the NCR before. Usually, I don’t rerun a race unless it is very special. NCR doesn’t meet that standard. oh well. It is something to do on an empty weekend.

    Note, in last year entry, the focus was on the race following the training run, but this year, I didn’t want to talk about the race. Not that it was anything bad, but I felt my experience was so more exciting at the training run.

    Now about my training run, we met on an early Saturday morning. The meeting time was 7:30 but I wanted to be the first guy arriving, so around 5-ish I was up already. In fact, I did not sleep much after 2 AM.

    The run was 18 miles on easy rolling hills. This will be my third time running Stone Mill, so nothing in race really challenges me. I am aiming to get a faster time (maybe under 12 hours). The race will be in about 3 weeks.

    Was the training run necessary for me? No, but I like having a refresher of the course. It also motivates me to run, otherwise, I would be lazy and stay home.

    I wanted more miles so I added 10-12 miles. I did not know how many miles to add to it, but in my mind, I wanted to run until I bonked — that is couldn’t run any more. Later, while on the course, I settled to go around Lake Clopper which was about couple miles away and would take four miles to run around. This gave about 12 miles. Of course, I got lost a few times trying to find the trail and that added couple more miles. I finished with 32.5 miles for the day.

    One thing I like about the run was we had beautiful fall weather. I took a few photos.

    A deer blocking my way. I had to wait till it moved out the way

    There was one new thing I learned. The trail was blazed (color painted on trees to give direction) with a blue bar. Occasionally, the blazes changed to a slash. In previous years, I had no idea why they did that. On this run, it occured to me the slash indicates the trail is turning. Forward slash (slash to right) means the trail is shifting to the right. And the backward slash, (slashing to the left) means the trail is curving to the left. I just thought that was interesting. I have been hiking for 5-6 years, and only now I got it. Actually, I haven’t seen this convention being used on any other trails.

    I also noticed on bike trails, the trail blazes and markers are painted near the ground (because) bikers keep their eyes glue to the ground, instead of higher up at eye level. I did not take a picture of this, but I thought it was interesting.

    I have two more training runs in the next two weeks. Another neat thing was I got to see how the Lake change from week to week. I didn’t take photos the first week, but trust me, the leaves were still green the first week, and last week, the leaves were turning. I wonder what the leaves going to be next week. By race day, I bet there won’t be any leaves left.

  • Day491 IMTR run #2 (Training week 5)

    I went to Damascus (VA) and had my second and last on-site training run for the IMTR (Iron Mountain Trail Run), a race I will be doing in a couple week.

    This is similar to the trip I took about amont ago in July. Last time, we covered the second half of the course, from Skull Gap to Skull Gap (a loop, shaped like a p) which is from mile 15 to mile 35 on race day.

    This time we covered the first half (mile 1-15 and mile 35 to mile 50) from the town of Damacus out to Skull Gap. It is almost an out and back, with the first 5 mile being a loop, and follow by a 10 mile of out-and-back, think of it being a like a lowercase letter d. The full course is like a q and a d stack together, connected by the handle, or think of it as an elongated figure 8, where the middle is stretch out really long.

    My expectation was this first half (30 mile in total) is easier than the second half (which is on 20 miles). I don’t think I was wrong, but these 30 miles are just as hard too.

    The first half is not a walk in the park as I first thought it would be.

    A reason I might have the wrong impression was, we have 5 miles on the Virginia Creeper Trail and this is the easiest portion of the race, for being flat and on a bike trail. We ran this portion with fresh legs and so it felt fast. Then there is a mile of climb using Bleech Trail to get onto the Iron Mountain. This is hard stuff, probably the hardest part of the entire section, or the whole 50 mile course. After that, It is generally a roller coaster ride of ups and downs to Skull Gap, but I believe mostly up. Here my last year memory apparently blocked out all the ups. There were at least half of the 9 miles being climbing. And when it is not climbing, it is slightly on an upward incline. There are some descends too. The trail in this portion is not technical. However, I am probably out of shape as I couldn’t get into a good running stride for a long substainable time. I was exhausted at the turn around at Skull Gap. Of course, on race day, we would have to do the 20 mile loop out to Hurricane Gap (as we did on the first training run), plus a 13 mile back to the start.

    About halfway to Skull Gap is FS 90, where on our race day will be one of our aid stations. During training run, this was a life-saver, because we had our water there. On race day, that will determine if I will get cut or not.

    I was fortunate to be able to run with Greg (someone I met) on the return portion (about last 13 miles). Greg generally is a much faster runner than I. He was a mile ahead of me by the time I was near halfway. Because it was an out and back, I turned around and ran back to the start when I saw him. He has done the race 5 times and this year would be his 6th. He is well familiar with the trail and the race. He shared some of his race strategies. He said he normally allots 7 hours for the first half and 5 hours for the second half of the course (first half meaning from Damascus to Skull Gap and back to Damascus). Coming back is supposed to be easier than going out.

    On our training, it took us 7:18 minutes to do the out and back. Greg considered that was decent for a training run. It might have taken me a bit longer because I skipped a mile. I imagine it should have taken me 7.5 hours, if I had run the full length as Greg.

    The second portion took me about 6 hours during the last training run. The combined gives me an expected time finish time on race day of 13.5 hours. Note, the race only allows for 12 hours. I have to run faster meet the cutoff on race day.

    I am in a serious trouble of not being able to finish on time on race day. If I must, I can drop down to a 40 mile option. However, I really want to flex that I can run a 50 mile in 12 hours.

    I went back out on Sunday, doing the same loop, hoping I could shorten the time. On Sunday, I was actually slower. It took me 4 hours to descend from Skull Gap to Damascus and it took equally as long from Damascus back to Skull Gap, where I parked. It ended up 8 hours.

    The time is not indicative of what it will be like on race day. I hope I will get faster. I know I run faster when it is an actual race than on a training run.

    Even though I did not reach my target time, I enjoyed my training runs. The weather was generally much cooler. I haven’t been able to have a 70-75F day since the Catoctin Run. It has been 90+ everyday the last few weekends. So this weekend, we were lucky. Sunday, I ran in the rain during the afternoon. The rain felt refreshing. Not just the rain, but the sound of raindrops on leaves and the mist that came as the result was amazing. It was foggy. I like fog.

    Originally, I thought I would have trouble with the logistics being that it was an out-and-back run. On the first day, we had a water drop at FS 90 (halfway point) and I ran out of water exactly by halfway (maybe 8 miles in). However, on Sunday, there was no water drop because I was by myself and I did not know the way to FS 90 where the trail crosses to leave myself water ahead of time. I was concern about where to get water for my run. Then the idea came to me to park my car at Skull Gap and run down into town. I could then go to a gas station to get water and then run back up to Skull Gap. I did just that. While I was in Damascus, I got myself lunch at a Subway. It also was a good practice to ser how fast I could get down from the mountain (no fast as I original had expected).

    No big conclusion. I am fatter and heavier. I regained much of the weight I lost before the MMT event in May. I have been slacking in my training. It shows. I do want to be better. I have three weeks to get myself in shape. I was out of breath.

  • Day489 Training week 3

    I am procastinating, if anything involving effort.

    I know in the last blog post, I want to do a review of how I am doing in reaching this year resolutions. What I made resolutions? Ya, something at the beginning of the year but now I don’t remember what they were.

    Yet, that can wait till the next post or some time in the near future.

    I had another night run. It felt so good. After four days without running, and I felt I absolutely have to get out there.

    It was hot even though it was 9 pm. I was swimming in my own sweat. It got better later. The rest of the night, while I was still sweating, I was able to feel the cool breeze. Three hours did not feel long. Miles seemed to fly by. This is kind of runs I love a lot.

    There are many reasons why I love running but one of them is just able to park my mind, not think of anything, well I am always thinking in deep thoughts or daydreaming, but running is something that interrupt my thoughts and I am in a dreamy state for 2 to 3 hours with nothing coherent, and it is therapeutic. I was in a meditative state during my run. I love it.

    The houses and my surounding just melted away. It was just me and the pavement. I was not in pain. I just kept pounding on the pavement and it seemed too soon I reached home again. I asked, that’s it?

    My biggest dream, romanticing, is to run and not stop, forever going on and on, till I go around the world. I know actually doing it probably not that fun, but it is something I wish I can do.

    In my last blog, I wrote how our team is 80% at circumpolar-running around the world, virtually of course, meaning our miles added up will equal to the circumference of the earth or more. It’s a 50000 km race.

    Not sure if I ever will pull it off but that is my dream, a small version of my ideal dream of running forever and not stop.

    What am I trying to get at? Not sure. I have been feeling low in motivation to run. I used to be able to run everyday but now I am like running only one or two days after I feel “guilty” or dread that I am failing at my training.

    One way to feel better is searching deep within why I am doing what I am doing. Where is my love and passion?

    I was able to meet up with a running friend one night. Her passion is photography. And when she talks about them, her eyes lit up. She asked about my running and my eyes lit up and I could talk breathlessly on all the things. She was also into running. She was one of first few running friends that got me started on the road of marathons. A friend sharing the same passion really give that push I needed to get back into running. It was not forced, but the passion was enough.

    A reason I like racing is to get to meet other like minded people.

    She asked me if I have run a 24 hour race? I told her my Devil Dog race (an upcoming event) and a 24 hour race in September that I have waited for at least 3 years to have a chance to run in (Pemberton 24). We will be running a 5K every hour for 24 hours. You ask me, why is that fun? For me it just is.

    For a run addict, any form of running is fun, especially in a format I have not done before.

    What does this all mean? I really don’t know. I think I might have signed up too many races and am a bit burn out too. I just want to stop for a season or so and take a deep breath. I don’t know. At the moment, that is what I feel.

    To my readers, it seems to be an inconsistency, that I want to run forever and I don’t feel enough to go out to do my weekly trainimg and need to stop for a time. Ya. I haven’t able to solve this problem of how to get plenty of rest and at the same time to put out high level of performance.

    I’m not getting anywhere with my questions. Until next time, happy running.

    TLDR – just some ruminating to get my passion back

  • Day488 Training week 2

    The next four weeks between now and until IMTR (my race), there is going to be very little activity except for training.

    This year, I have hard time with finding motivation to train. I know training is necessary. I’m not a prodigy with natural running talent. Some people, if they are young can just go out and run a 100 miles because their body has a limitless supply of energy and they are like Wolverine that can self regenerate after an injury. I am not one of those monsters.

    My hardest problem with training is geting out there. Once I am out, I have no problem in running for a long period.

    I have not run much lately. What is shocking is how hot summer is getting. It shouldn’t be a suprise since it is not my first summer running. I found it is hard to adjust to running in the hot sun. Even night time is hot.

    I had couple nights of running at very late hours. It brought back the old feeling of me being out there alone. I love it. At first, it was like poor me, sun was setting and I still had miles to go before I sleep, but then it brought back memories of several races, especially the first time doing a night run, when a runner came by and pointed me to the sky. We stopped and I looked up and blessed the unforgetable view. It was so beautiful that I got goosebumps.

    I think I am back at ground zero with my training like six months ago. I can’t run for long. People said I do walk and run strategy. True, that was how I trained for the last 100 mile race. However, now I want to be able to run say 30+ minutes without having to stop. I have being doing stop and go not because I want it but because my body couldn’t take it to sustain the run for more than 5 minutes and I’d have to walk. I remember maby beginner runners are frustrated that the can’t run. I wish to rebuild my cardio that would allow me to run far in one breath. I struggled with this at the start of MMT training back in winter.

    I have been at lost. I know where I am headed, like I have all the races for this year and next year mapped out. There was a blog post I held back from publishing, that goes into details of why I am struggling. The tone of it does not sound right. General rule is readers want a happy tone. Even if it is not, there should be some kind of hope or redemption. I haven’t find my magic to solve whatever I am going through. The gist is I am living between a fantasy and the real world. I need money to live the lifestyle I want to live, yet at the same time, I want to leave everything to pursuit the dream of exploring around the world. I guess we all are, its called life.

    I know what I want five years from now. There are some really big bucket list items to do (like once in a life time thing). What I am kind of in the fog is what am I doing right now. Half of the year passed. I know in the past, I have quarterly update to keep me moving in the right direction according to my mid term and long term goals. I was not planning to do a refocus session for another 12 weeks, till near the end of the year, but that might be too long to wait for. I was thinking of doing some kind of review in the interim, sort of like half year realignment.

    Don’t mind me, I am kind of at lost this week.

    What update I can give: CRAW – our virtual race around the world with nine other people, we finally reached Alaska. I’m lucky to have other 9 people to share the mileage, but there are crazy teams out there that have only one or 2 people doing this, and it is taking forever for them to finish.

    For us, we only have 4500 miles left. We will run down from Alaska, cross over into Canada, and then run down the plain of the US and to the Mexico border, where we all started about two years ago. 100 running teams have already finished. The race for a prize ended last year. For our team, we are happy if we even reach the finish this year. We are likely will be the 117th team or team 118 to complete this. Probably will take five months. We aim to finish before December 31. There are about 20 teams in front of us and 20 teams behind us. I was told this race will continue on until next year, so we are not in any risk of being dropped (DNF). As long as we continue to make progress the next five months, it should be an easy finish. Our team is a bit beat up though. Even myself, I’m kind of worn out. Several of our star runners have injuries (as expected) from over doing it.

    After we finish, there is an extended CRAW (for another 10 or so regions) that starts in Africa and cross middle east and then into Asia to the Pacific. We likely will not do it since mentally I am beat.

    My display board of the map showing the regions we passed have arrived last night. I haven’t opened it yet. It will be a good motivation to keep on.

    We have done this race virtually (like a mental excercise), though that does not mean it is easy. I wish one day I can do it in person. Of course, I probably will skip couple regions like the south pole or the north pole. It is pretty cool there are people who actually do walk/run around the world. It won’t take just a year to complete in real life, it probably takes 4-5 years runing 40-50 miles a day. For me, it might take 10 years. The reality is, I am running out of time, unless I start this journey right now. Still, I keep my hope up that one day I get to walk around the world.

    Why I share this? It is kind of esoteric. No one knows or cares that we ran virtually around the world. I think the cool thing as the race director mentioned it, is training in itself is boring, but if we imagine we are running in actual places, training can become another level of fun. Are we actually running around the world the last 2 years, no, but do we feel like we ran around the world, absolutely!

  • Day487 Imtr run#1

    Iron Mountain Trail Run (IMTR) is a 50 mile race in Damascus, Virginia. This year I put on my big pants and said why not, lets run this 50 mile. There are other options like 40 mile, 30 mile and 16 mile event.

    The 40-mile was too easy for me last year, but 50-mile might be a bit too challenging. We don’t know. Some of us were whining why not give us 13 hours or 12.5 hours. Nope, 12 it is. Note, originally I thought it was 10 hours, and was freaking out.

    I have my doubt running this race because I only finished a 50 mile under 12 hours once (long time ago) and that was done on roads (flat land). update: I must have gotten the wrong impression or info that the race requiring finishing under 10 hours, I double checked after written up the post, and found the cutoff is 12 hours, so my chance of finishing this has now improved significantly. I went back over and corrected all places where I was calibrating / planning for a 10 hour run. However, I will still train and aim for a 10 hour finish (5 pm finish, instead of 7), only that I have a lot of breathing room. 12 hours is still hard for me but not as impossible as a 10 hour run.

    The race is on the trail but nothing too crazy like the MMT. The trail is mostly smooth and there is a significant portion of the race being on the road. During the training, I was chatting with the race director of how my perspective has changed from last year and this year. Previously IMTR was the hardest thing I did. Now, coming back the second year, it does not seem that scary, especially after running the MMT..

    I think about 15-20 miles are on the road. And another 20-ish miles are on decent / runnable trails, I call them buttery smooth trails. There might be a few miles (5-6 miles) that are too hard for me to run like either too rocky or too steep to climb/descend while running. Sure, fast runners would destroy the hills like breakfast.

    The harder part for me is the climbs. I have different numbers regarding the elevation somewhere between 8000 and 13000 ft. I think the 2000 ft climbs are at the beginning and at after hafway point. Most of run are gladual changes because we are on the ridges but they suck up lot of energy too. It is not remotely as bad as the MMT, but enough to make it won’t be a walk in the park.

    I went out the past weekend to do the first training.

    If preceeding weekend of the Catoctin run was epic, this Iron Mountain Run is nothing less. I am anticipating the race day would be many times so.

    It was only a training run, the first of two weekends. Damascus is a 6 hour (sometimes 7 ish) drive for me, so I can only afford to go there a couple times and not every weekend. I’m lazy too. I went to all the training runs last year and I wanted to redo again this year, just like for the Catoctin.

    I am slow or fast depending on who or what I am being compared to. I felt fast in the Duluth Marathon. I finished it hours ahead of people. I wrote like I ran fast at the Catoctin 50k, also, but I am actually quite slow in that race, barely avoided the cut by 5 minutes. Too close. The point was I finished under the generous time given.

    This race (IMTR) has a tighter cut off. I fear this race more than I fear the Catoctin. Cutoff is a big reason I want to run this race. Catoctin was not hard, just a lot of climbs.

    My training run kind of proved the point. It took me 6 hours to do a 24 mile run. Note, if it were a road marathon I probably get it done around 4 hours ish (4:30). I believe then my predicted finishing time will be 13 hour, which is an hour over the final cutoff.

    So why did I sign up if I don’t think I could do it under the cutoff? I think sometimes you just have to try to know. I want to try. I believe it will improve me as a runner. My goal for this season is “speedwork”, in quote because I’m not sure how fast I will get, but speed it will be. I have a BMI of 26, considered overweight, but there is a chance that I can pull it off. I don’t know how good a chance (I estimate 65%), but a chance nonetheless. I want to see growth and changes from my training and I bet my readers too like to see that I strive for tougher goals and reach them.

    I hope readers would enjoy reading on my planning phase. Many times I blog only on races I already did. They seem easy (and hopefully motivating). Recently, I been hitting my limit and it was not so fun aby more (Devil Dog and MMT come to mind). Fun and game until someone took away the punch bowl.

    This is one of a few where I write on a race I haven’t done yet. This might also be a race I will get a DNF (fail to finish), but we don’t think about that now. The race won’t be until Labor Day Weekend (first week in September, in case my readers are from oversea). I have about 6 weeks to train and get myself up to shape.

    My strategy on running this race is to keep an even pace when going out for the first 15 miles. Many people go out too fast. I did too last year. The Virginia Creeper Trail, being flat and easy can deceptively tired runners before the first major climb. It is actually a gradual climb, hence deceptive. Once I reach the climbing section, literally at the foot of the mountain, I should take it easy to get onto the ridge. Last year, this almost had me throwing up. I was jostling for an early position (you could read last year report, if I not too lazy I will add the link eventually, here). I ran too fast and then faced with a 2000 ft climb. I pressed on the climb and next thing I knew I was dizzy. Once up, there are probably remain a lot of people in front, I should not rush to pass anyone until after mile 15 (Skull Gap / the 2nd AS), by then half of the people probably would be slowing down or turning back (which is the turn around point for the 30 mile distance) and the trail then would be open up to me. I have last year experience of not making the same mistake.

    From Skulls Gap out is a gradual climb and descent to Hurricane Gap in 7 miles, short for ultra distance but might take 2 hours. Here I probably could run faster. After Hurricane Gap, AS3, is a 10 mile loop circling back to Hurricane (where AS 5 is, probably there is one aid station at Rowland, AS4), mostly decending on the roads. This is probably the easiest and hardest part of the race. If I want, here is actually I could run very fast, and key to “win” the race (I don’t mean first place, but reaching my goal for this race, i.e., to finish under 12 hours). It is a 5-6 miles sweet descent to Rowland Creek and a very hard 4 mile climb back up from Rowland to Hurricane. From Hurricane Gap, it is a gentle climb back to Skull Gap (AS6) on the FS 84, on the road this time, also 7 miles. There is a branch off onto Iron Mountain TR, watch for it, look for going SR600. Most people will walk, I probably will walk, since I will be out of energy. However, if I could survive till Skulls Gap #2, then I likely will finish within the time limit. It is 13 miles from Skulls Gap to the finish back using the same trail (Iron Mountain).

    Note to self. Rowland to Hurricane is probably the deal breaker for this race. I must do it fast but not overly exhausting myself here. Fast because of the downhill. Everyone runs on downhill. But it also the hardest and longest climb back. We run down on the road but climb back up using trail. Yep, it will be frustrating hard, especially the fast run down destroy your body. It is a balancing act. Fast, because of the cutoff at Hurricane #2. (by 2:40 pm, 7:40 elapsed, 4:30 remaining). There is still 20 miles left in the race, a long way, and I might need 5 hours for this 20 miles. So 2 pm back at Hurricane is the goal for me.

    The Saturday Training Run (only 24 miles) was on an out and back from Skulls Gap, took me shy of 6 hours. The goal was to finish under 6 hours (5:45). On Sunday I went out again. Ran the same course. It took me 6:30. Granted, I made a long stop and talked to two local elderly couple, and they were a friend with a Latin/Greek teacher at my high school and asked if I knew him. I did not. I think, I had a different Latin teacher, or I look younger than what they think my age was. I don’t think my high school offered Latin after I graduated. They then showed me the most poisonous mushrooms in the region, called north american eastern death angel or killer angel. I don’t remember the exact name. It looked like a normal mushroom to me, snow white beautiful, but of course, I was not going to touch or try its potency, killing myself in the process. We are talking about real plants here and not drug.

    Anyway, my second run through took longer, but was somehow my better run. I stopped often to take pictures of mushrooms. I felt I was not as tired and I did not cramp up like on Saturday. The first day after I finished, I could hardly keep my eyes open (I was sleepy). I went to bed early. On second day, I was stronger. I think I acclimated back to ultra distance running after being couple months off. The body remembers.

    Still taking 6 hours to do 24 miles was not good enough. I need to bring the time below six hours.

    I am hyped for this race. It will be a long and hard training under the hot summer sun. I don’t have any other races at the moment. I am looking forward to a successful outcome at the end of summer.

    Not related, but more like note to self, during the run, I met a guy from the Rim to River 100 race, Jonathan, I vaguely remember him, note, my glasses broke during Rim-to-River, so I couldn’t see him well, but he said he recognize me and I kind of recognize him by his built. I met up with Greg and Lorraine, sweet people who have done the race last year, and I vaguely remember them. Lorraine is from a far away place, might have drove up during the same morning and immediately drove back. I drove up night before and stayed an extra night. Lorraine and Greg dropped down to the 40 mile distance this year because running for the cutoff is too stressful. I looked up their last year time. Indeed. Note, these people were so much faster than me and they are in their 60s. It was kind of a surprise they dropped down while I went for the longer distance.

    There was Tim and Carrie, they will run this race first time. Tim will be doing the 50-mile and Carrie will be running the 40-mile. I will be keeping an eye on Tim since he is likely will be around my pace. He seems like a guy who won’t go out too fast. Tim will be doing the Cloud Splitter 100 in October. I am itching to do that one too, but not this year. I think it is cool to share, because I have one more race to look foward to. Also couple people were talking about the Devil Bathtub, a race somewhere in Harrisonburg, around Grindstone course. Grindstone too is one of my races to do. And another was talking about Deet (a race, not the bug killer chemical). They say I should try. Of course, Chaz, probably was not his real name (couldn’t find him on the entrant list) from Ohio was talking about Burning River. These people are fast. When runners get together, they talk about races and shoes. Yes, we did talk about shoes. I was wearing Brooks Cascadia (not sure what version, shoes have numbers). I like my shoes because of the color, orange edge on dark gray, just beautiful. My favorite pair so far, but they are quite bad on rocks and when wet. Some can vouch running in Hoka Speed Goat 7 as being the best shoes in the universe (note, there is no Speed Goat 7 Hoka, well maybe there will be). I would like to be a speedy goat. These were the conversation around me during my long run. Well most of the time I was alone by myself.

    TLDR – nothing particular, I’m training to run the IMTR 50 mile, and to be sucessful I have run fast in the middle section, I think

  • Day471 BRR volunteering and Easter

    The Bull Run 50 mile Race, took place last weekend. At the last minute, they reopened their registration, however, I already had other plans especially since I signed up to volunteer at one of their aid stations. It would be bad karma to promise to serve and then go back on my words.

    This BROT (Bull Run/Occoquan Trail) 50 Mile Race is the race I have been wanting to run but was never able to catch their sign up. I joined them a couple times on their training runs (BRR #1 and #3) recently. BRR stands for Bull Run Run and is how the training runs are named. BROT is the abbreviation for the trail name and I think it is the official race name.

    When I heard the registration being reopened, I was torn. I needed some longer runs for my 100 mile training. A 50 mile race would be about right. However, being this near to the 100 race, it might not do me any good. I am about a month out from my race.

    I knew I was going to volunteer when they made a call for us. And volunteering was fun. We made a lot of runners happy. Our station was the first stop at about 7 miles into their race. Many faster runners did not need anything from us. The course was an out and back in both directions, with the race starting near the middle (Hemlock Overlook). We were stationed near the Bull Run Park end point, so we saw runners coming toward us and back again for a second time after a turn around at Bull Run. By 9 o clock, all runners had passed us. We then were able to close the station and go our way an hour and half ahead of our scheduled time. There is no official cutoff at our station, but the extremely slow runners knew and was partly encouraged by our station manager to drop from the race if they couldn’t get to our station by 9-ish.

    I brought my running gear with a hope to do my long run right after volunteering. I explored the Bull Run Park end of the trail. Because it had rained the previous night, the park wouldn’t let the race take place in a loop in their park (the usual turn around point for this race). Thus, I think the race was about 2-3 miles short from a true 50 miler, but I don’t think runners mind. The Bull Run’s end was indeed extremely muddy. I ran there out of curiosity to check and did a loop around the park, the part other runners were not allowed in. By the time I finished, I was like 2 hours from the last runner of the race.

    The trail was open to the public. I felt I was far behind from the pack so people wouldn’t confuse me as being in their race.

    I did not have a goal when I first started. I hoped I could get about 20 miles in for my long run day. While on the trail, I felt great and decided I could push for a 50K. I knew running a 50 mile was out of the question since I started late in the day. I planned to push for 10 miles out toward the Fountainhead side where runners were and come back before getting back to my car. I already had about 10 miles in and just needed 20 miles more for a 50K.

    I passed by their finish line (and it was their starting line too) at Hemlock Overlook. It was past noon, but no one had finished yet. I went for a few more miles and saw the first place runner coming in. He was ahead by 3 miles of the 2nd and 3rd place. He cracked a joke saying if I see the second place, to give a shout so that he would know how close the second place is behind. There was no way a second place would be on his tail that day. I did see the second place a long while after. I kept running until I was at the Bull Run Marina, which was another Aid Station. By then I think 5 or 6 runners had passed through on their way back to the finish. Normally, Bull Run Marina is my turn around point.

    It was still early in the afternoon. I had about 15 miles. I still needed a few more miles before turning around since I wouldn’t be going again all the way to Bull Run. So I ran to the next aid station from there. In this section, I saw more runners coming through on their way back. When I reached my turn around point (my mile 19), the midpack runners arrived. These runners walked the hills more often. They are still strong compared to me. They were all fast. All of them passed me. For them it was their mile 40. I haven’t even reached my mile 25 yet. I hustled with them.

    I was pretty tired by the time I got back to the Marina. It was after 5 pm by then, a bit later than I had hoped. I was out of water. I was pretty sure they wouldn’t mind if I asked for some at the station. I forgot to bring my own filter. In the past, when I ran on this trail, I used to be out of water too and had to filter water from the creek. While I was debating to stop for water a fellow volunteer recognized me and called. I, therefore stopped and asked for their water. Of course, they filled me up. Their station would be open for another hour and half.

    I was nervous I might get to my car after dark and the park might tow my car since where I left my car does not allow overnight parking. I had about two hours and at most three hours before sunset. For some reasons, I felt my destination was much farther away and I might not make it.

    At least five or six runners caught up to me in this stretch. Probably 30-40 in total had passed me by then. They were all rushing to the finish. These were the 11 hour finishers (strong runners). About a mile out from their finishes, they were all sprinting. They all knew they were near and there was a bit of a competitive spirit among us. They didn’t know I was not in the race I think. Of course, I couldn’t keep up as I had no reason to. I still had five miles to go before reaching my car, beyond their finish line. I walked by then after I made my turn off toward my trail away from their trail which leads to their finish line. I was hitting my bonk. I was at my mile 27. My water soon ran out again, but I knew I only had a few miles left to go. I had my gels leftover from my last weekend race. They came in handy. I slurped them and after a mile or so, I regained my strength. I reached my car before 7 o clock with the sun still up. The fear of getting there after dark was moot because we have like an hour more daylight.

    As for the race, runners still had an hour left. They had 13 hours to do it. Personally, I don’t know if I could run 50 miles on that trail under 13 hours. I felt I might need 14 hours or more to do it. I only did about 30 miles and it took me about 8 hours. I think another 20 miles might take me longer. However, that was not my race. I was just happy I got my training run in. I reflected on if I were running my 100 mile today, what condition would I be, knowing I still have 60+ miles to go. I should not be this tired yet. I believe my 100 mile is on a harder trail.

    The next day of course, I was still tired. My friend from DC messaged me (the same guy I did the marathon together a week ago) if I want to do a bunny run since it will be Easter coming up. He likes to draw shapes using his runs. He planned to draw a bunny on Strava (gps map) this weekend. He planned the run, and I was there just for the fun. He called up a few others to join in. I asked him how many miles. He said 8. Eight was a reasonable amount I could do after a 50K. Some streets were closed. My bunny turned out OK. It had some extra features/an appendage, because I didn’t want to pause my watch for the road detours. Some of you already saw them on my Strava.

    Bunny Run for Easter Celebration

    I told him, his run was my recovery run. I was happy for my weekend. It was not a race but I got my runs done both the BRR and a little fun run on top. Happy Easter everyone!

  • 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.

  • Day434 New River

    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.