In awe

Tag: weekend

  • [681] July 4 Hike – BP (TWOT)

    I have been on the Twot loop, as it is known among us local runners but its real name is the Wild Oak Trail, many times either hiking, running, racing what not, except for biking and swimming boating or fishing.  

    It was the trail that I earned my backpacking badge.  It was my earliest known trail even before I hiked Signal Knob or Massanutten or Bull Run or the Seneca Creek trail. 

    I don’t write about it specifically, because the two races there the TWOT 100 or 200, and the Grindstone 100, I was not able to do yet to this day (to finish with an official time) even though I have run so many hundred mile races.  It does rub the wrong way for me to be on my home court and couldn’t finish it.  The trail is way harder than the Massanutten.

    But I have run, hiked, trained, and camped there many times.  Hone Quarry is near there and I visited it during the past late winter and spring this year.  (Hone Quarry 40, preview run, Grindstone 100).

    The Wild Oak Trail (TWOT) is located in Spokeville, VA, about 10-ish miles from Harrisonburg and Staunton.

    It is a place I prefer more than the Shenandoah, mostly to avoid the crowd since we are so close to the cities in east coast, primarily the DC area.  

    The AT is fine place to hike, camp and run, but the TWOT is my favorite place.  The views are just as good if not better than many places.

    Last weekend, just off the cuff, I wanted to go for camping. I did have an ulterior motive.  Since I DNF’d at the last Grindstone race, I wanted to go back to know and experience again why I did not do as well as I anticipated in it.  I knew already from my race report, but I wanted to walk back on the ground to see if there any stones I should uncover or memorize.  So it was going to be a holy experience for me.  I had intended to go back there several times after my race last September but whatever the reason I was not able to until the Fourth of July weekend.  I dragged my friend along for the fun of it. Misery loves company they say.

    I have not done a real backpack trip since summer 2021, when I visited the Smoky.  I don’t remember if I posted any about it.  Usually, I don’t like doing a write-up for things that are not running related.  If I find it, I will link it here in the future.

    I really wanted to get back into hiking/camping.   One of my big goals and always have been, is to backpack the one of the very long trails, like the AT, PCT, or CDT, or the one that goes from east to west of the country, for thousand of miles long.  The mountain is always calling me.  Except I just don’t have time.  Running have taken over my life the last few years.

    This year July 4th fell on a Friday and it was a great opportunity to do it for a long three day trip.

    I had in mind to check out or have refresher of the Grindstone 100 course, and the race is coming up in a month or so.  I would like to have a weekend on the course. 

    The short version was everything kind of worked out.

    Thursday night, Campsite unknown

    I left work a little later than I wanted.  We did not get on the road until after 8 pm.  I knew the campsite would be hard to find after dark.  Indeed, I could not find it, the one I camped at in November.  In the end it was already midnight, and we were tired. 

    We drove in the park over an hour turning at one wrong turn after another arriving at who know where.  I actually reached the place where we were supposed to leave our water around halfway through the course.  The original plan was to drive there in the morning to drop off water first before starting out. 

    We could have gone without leaving water since there is a creek nearby and a gas station too about a few miles away, but that would leave some uncertainties and extra hiking to seek water. 

    Since I had a friend with me, I did not want to cause an alarm about not having water.   (As luck would have it, we did run out of water, or due to poor planning on my part, we leave that later).

    At the moment we were in middle of the night without a camp, so the first order of business is still have a place to sleep.  We could sleep in our car until morning, which is kind of bad because we intended to do “real camping.  So I pulled the car into a place at a trailhead and dropped off the water jugs.  Then I decided to hike a little bit into the trail in the middle of the night, from memory there should be a place to camp.  I was unsure how far though.  We lugged all our packs along just in case we needed our things but I knew we would come back to the car in the morning to head to the real trailhead we original intended to go.

    We might have got to our camp after 1 am.  Then quickly set things up and went to bed.  First night was uneventful.  The night was hot.  Moon was out.  So were stars.  We just did a hike that got our blood flowing.  Now we needed to sleep.  I kept the canopy open, we slept under the stars, till it got colder and then I went out to close it.  First night usually is hard to fall asleep for me.

    Friday, the next day. A real hike.

    The next day was our first long day.  We had some decisions to make.  Since the course was a loop, we could actually start from where we camped.  However, the rest of our trip, and where we stay, and where we get water would need to be adjusted.  I felt that was too many things to change on the fly.  Again, if I were on my own, I don’t mind, but since I was with someone, we had filed a flight “plan”, we had to stick to it, you know in case something happened, people can search for us.

    We headed back to our car and drove to the orignal trailhead — the Twot Lot, and started from there. In broad daylight while driving back, we saw all the campsites we missed the night earlier.

    I signed in at the guestbook, noted other people on the trail that weekend.  Not too many maybe two other parties and we did not encounter them at all.  My friend later commented, that Frozen Ed (a famous runner in our community) checked in there a few weeks ago. It is interesting to know who has been there.

     We then prepared our breakfast in the Twot parking lot.  It seemed like cheating and not real camping experience, but we needed our calories.  The day would be long.

    A little past 8 o’clock, we started our hiking for real, going clockwise. As my convention, I gave my friend a choice of going either left or right.  I decided beforehand already of going “left”. This was to climb Lookout Mountain first instead of the Grindstone Mountain.  I have done in the counterclockwise many times but seldom hiked in the clockwise direction except for the Grindstone 100 race.  I actually like this direction because the camping and water points work out fine, as also more ways to change midway.

    The planned course was a 50 mile-ish trip.  Later, once on the trail, wisdom dictated to cut it down to half, which was part of the plan too, a plan B.  This course has several ways of making it shorter, such as heading to Camp Todd or to the start at Twot parking lot by road if needed to instead of on the trail.

    First, we went up onto Lookout Mnt, then crossed over on Hankey Mnt, was to descend to Doswells Draft, and to cross over to Chimley Hollow, then up on Crawford Mnt, down into Dry Branch, climb to Elliot Knob, to descend into Cold Springs, and hike on forest road back to Crawford to climb it second time, backtrack to Chimney Rock, up over Doswells Draft to Hankey again, (we skipped all those) but continued on the TWOT counterclockwise loop to Magic Moss, climbed up on Dividing Ridge to Grind Spring Ridge and passed over Big Bald, descended to Camp Todd, up Little Bald, and was to travel to Reddish Knob if time permits then find our way back to the Todd Lot either on Tilman Rd or through one of those trails like Reservor or Tower trail. It is a lot for the weekend.  Generally, would have to run it to cover everything on the Grindstone 100 course in 4 days instead of 2. For those who want the GPS file, they are available on the Grindstone 100 mile race website.  For future trip, if we want to make it longer, it could join up with the Hone Quarry 40 loop, to make it into 140+ mile adventure.

    So actuality, we stayed on the Twot loop our whole weekend, just 25 miles and cut out all the Crawford loop and Reddish Knob loop. 

    There were no rush for us since we had three days to do it, even out to about 9 miles a day.  I realized we couldn’t do 25 miles a day for three days straight.  I had on near 50 lbs pack.  So it was not going to happen to push the pace.

    By noon on Friday, we just reached the top of Lookout Mountain, maybe about 4-5 miles.  We decided to stop for lunch. I unpacked and had a proper hot meal. I calculated we likely reached our campsite by 4 pm. 

    After lunch we continued climbing up to up on Hankey Mountain.  By 3:00 pm we reached Doswells Draft Trail.  I was out of water by now.  I estimated it might be 3 miles to descend off the mountain to a water point (where I did the water drop the night before) or we could continue climbing up Hankey to a place I know there is a very nice campsite.  Valley always bring to mind flies, gnats, ants and other bugs.  And the place we stayed the night before seemed to have lot of ants.  I was trying to avoid it.

    After talking over with my friend, who had some water left, we went up the ridge to set camp.  There were about two liters of water shared between us.  We still had to cook plus over 16 hours left before we reached our next water source.

    There were no water to clean or wash anything.  The climb up was extremely hard but we were glad we made it. Yes, had to go to bed sticky and dirty.

    I was tired so the first thing of business was to set up camp (the tent) and then changed into dry/clean clothes.  Then I had a small meal since water was lacking, and everything I cook needed a lot of water.  I did not want to make a fire since there was no water to put it out if in an emergency we needed to (Yes, I was taught by others to pee into the fire to put it out if necessary, generally not an appealing task to do). 

    It just meant we headed to bed early.  A slight passing rain came through but nothing was really wet.  In a sense, I was hoping to refill our bottles from the rain, but it did not rain very hard.

    The next day, we headed off to an early start skipping breakfast.  I wanted to head to our water source first before having breakfast.  A side note, our mountain camp was full of spiders and ants, exactly the kinds of bugs I wanted to avoid in the first place.  The view though made it up. Plus the night was cooler. Air smelled better.  We were not disturbed up on the ridge.

    Saturday, 2nd full day.

    We descended back to where we left our water (2 Gal) Thursday night.   The water crisis was now resolved. The two water jugs were still there and in good condition.  I might have stayed two hours here to cook and rested.  The campsite actually did not have any bugs and we could have descended the night before and stayed here. It was a fairly big site for two of us and could have fit 4-5 people.

    After the big breakfast/lunch we headed up to Big Bald. This was our first hard climb of the day.  While climbing up we saw some race ribbons, likely from a past race or something.

    The afternoon was uneventful.  We friend pointed out the Bear Bog, called Bradley Pond (not the same one on Bradley Rd).  I never recalled there was a bear bog here, but I have not been this way for a long time since Grindstone course doesn’t go through here.  We took some photos and continued on.

    We reached over the other side, which was Camp Todd.  We filtered our water (actually a full gallon, 4L).  We probably needed 6L, but 4 L would do.  We then lugged the water upto Little Bald where would be camping for the night.

    It was 4:30 pm as we started off from Camp Todd.  I knew it would take a very long time to get up to the Ridge, and was hoping no more than 3 hours. 

    It was just constant climbing.  We arrived around 8 pm, backpacker midnight some call it.  We set up camp, cooked, cleaned, by the time I went to bed it was 9:30-10 pm.  It was very late and I was tired.  I think I immediately felt asleep.  This site though had very little insects, but we were drenched by the heavy dew.  So the tent was very wet the next morning.

    Sunday, last day of the trip

    Sunday, we had 7 (but felt like 8) miles remaining.  It would be all descending.  I estimated probably took us 4-5 hours to descend.  I had a lot of food left over, so instead of carrying them back down the mountain, it was good to eat them. I had a feast.  My friend had a meal package left (intended for me).  I had maybe 1.5-2 days of food myself, even after I had my big breakfast. 

    The descent was fast initially.  But the day wore on. Sun shone down. At the last part, it was not all descending but some climbling too.  Maybe we got to two miles at the end, we had to climb up maybe a mile.  That really worn us down.  We did reached the parking lot around noon and that was a good feeling we got the weekend wrapped up early. 

    We had plenty time to head home, then we cleaned up and then enjoyed a good Korean BBQ before the day was over.  There was nowhere better than home.

    Conclusion.  Backpacking doesn’t have the excitement of getting to the finish line like in a race.  It is something that takes a lot of time to plan, prepare and execute.  Like running, sometimes we have to make decisions on the fly, such as what to do when running out of water, or that we are carrying too much food, or what if we got lost. 

    Time seems to flow differently while on the trail. Like with running, a four day weekend seems like only one or two days, yes, I wish I would take a day or two off to make it into a 5 day weekend trip. 

    The TWOT loop was like my backyard kind of camping trip.  It provides just the right amount of challenge but also nearby. In no time we were home and back to the society.

    Afterward, another friend of mine reached out, asking if I be interested in backpacking in Colorado and if I have any backpacking experience.  Do I!? 

    I won’t claim myself to be an expert but I am all for going out to Colorado.  I have not done something like that, other than going to the Smoky, Patagonia or the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.  I am looking at 60,000 ft climbs and descents and 100+ miles, with the highest point at 15,000 ft. 

    We haven’t settled on how many days, we would do it in.  Likely 4-5 days or 6-7 days, plus couple days to get acclimated. (Location is the famous Silverton for the Hard Rock 100). If the trip is successful, I will do doing a lot more stuff out in the west.  Montanta, I’m looking at you and Grand Canyon.  I have plenty of trips I want to do in the high sierra, slot canyons, JMT, etc. Mt Elbert too. Until next time.

    I don’t think I ever did a proper twot write up, so I did it here for memory and reference. And indeed, some day, if I have a week time, to attempt a 140-150 mile backpacking trip at Twot.

  • [631] Old Dominion 100

    Last year, I went to the Old Dominion 100 race not to run in it but to crew for a few friends. Never in a million years, I thought I would run this. Why? Because it is too fast for me to finish. I am a slow runner. But as things have it, by providence hand, I not only get to run it but finish it as well.

    This race, I knew about it for a few years and I knew at the time that it was not one I could do. Not saying it cannot be done as a first 100.  I just struggled with a few DNFs (races I Did Not Finish) and so I was reluctant to try, like why signing up when the odds are not in my favor to finish. Old Dominion to me is on another level hard, and where people run to demonstrate their speed in ultrarunning.  The race motto is you and the course and in one day (meaning under 24 hours).

    People I knew who were stronger runners than me struggled to meet the cutoffs in this race.

    Last year, I watched my runner Greg finished and several others too, Tek, Wayne, Larry, Scott, and Sean. Some of them barely made the final cutoff of 28 hours. They are so much a better runner than me. I was at Elizabeth Furnace watching Wayne came in just under the cutoff and at the finish as well. I knew first hand the stress and effort it takes to get across the finish. I was thinking if I could pull something off like that.

    So I have been holding off from running in this race. In fact, my desire to run it was very low compare to running the MMT 100 (Massanutten), a race I just did. I love MMT and wrote many entries about it the last three years.  Astude readers would know I wrote nothing about the Old Dominion, even though they both share similar/same course in the same location.

    At the time, maybe around 2019, I was training for my first “ultra” (50k/50 miler), I got to meet a guy, Carl by chance. At the time, I didn’t know his family was deeply rooted in the MMT race, and I asked him which 100 miles to do near me if I am to pick a 100 mile to run. 

    His word to me was to run the MMT first and then do Old Dominion. I knew he was not bias in his answer. I gave me some thoughtful tips. It was funny now a few years later, after I did the MMT 100, I got to meet Carl again and I told him, hey, I am running the Old Dominion. He laughed and said, I never told you to run both races in the same year! What!? true. I did that to myself.

    Ok, how did I get into this pickle?  Running one race, MMT 100 is hard enough, adding on doing the famous Old Dominion two weeks later is just insane.

    Fortunately, I do have my friend Wayne’s footsteps to follow. He did just the two big Virginia races back-to-back last year.

    So what make me to jump the gun to do such a hard race like OD100?

    It started with the Western States 100.  WS100 and OD100 shared similar history being initially a horse race.  Then some guy decided to run on it and finished within one day (his name is on the internet/WS100 &OD history). So Western States 100 mile run was born. The enthusiasm spred to the east coast, VA especially (the RD at Old Dominion explaining in details at the race briefly each year). And two years later, Old Dominion had their first 100 mile run. There was some history of how someone, might have been the race director Pat, that led to Old Dominion. The race has been part of her family. The race is family run for almost 50 years. There is no big corporation sponsorships.  They pride the tradition. How the race is today is how it was back then.

    And very soon there were also other 100 mile races such as the Vermont 100. In short, these group of races, became part of the ultra grand slam.

    I signed up for Western States 100 this year, which is a big boy race, I decided to why not give a shot at the grand slam as well. I know, logically it doesn’t make sense, like one race is hard enough, but let do three more other hard races. But the flip side, is how much tougher can it get. Let suffer it all at once.

    Old Dominion, being the first race of the grand slam series, and maybe the easiest, I should give it a try. If I finish, the dream lives on.  If I do not, that would be the end of my grand slam attempt.

    I went in hoping to finish, but also knew from computer’s prediction at ultrasignup page had me at a 30 hour finish. So, there is a high chance I would DNF, since 28 is final cutoff. This race awards a buckle for those who finish under 24 hours, but allows anyone coming in under 28 to be a finisher. Ultra signup predictions have been usually correct for me in the past.

    My game plan: I did the usual work. Prepared a pace chart. Studied the course. Watched some race related videos. Prayed/hoped for the best. Physically, I have been running one race after another, so that wasn’t an issue.

    Looking back, since I have done MMT recently, I had still the memories (muscle memory) of some of the harder parts of the course such as Gap Creek (Duncan Hollow), Moreland Gap, Crisman Hollow Rd, Duncan Knob, the Edingburg to Elizabeth Furnace, and Veach Gap.  Even Sherman Gap can be considered like Shaw Gap.  MMT and Old Dominion shares many similar trails. Old Dominion just has more road portion (I believe almost 3 times as many), about 60+ miles of road and only 40 miles of trails compares to MMT, which was like 20 miles of road and 90 miles of trails (I firmly believe the course for MMT is longer).

    OD100 is probably one of the few 100 mile courses that is measured! Those who come from marathon running background could not believe that trail races are not measured in the same way as road races (there are a lot of handwaving estimates)!  This OD100 course is measured like a marathon race with a Jone’s wheel (something like that). This is to my favor of not having bonus ultra miles.

      I was able to tap my friend Ram to be my safety runner from mile 75 to mile 86. He was good to keep his words and showed up. I spoke with him maybe back in March during a BRR 50 training session, and I even forgot about it until he reached out during race week and asked if I still need a pacer. He was a godsends. Initially, I was prepared to run it solo, like in many of my other races.

    Pre-race: Having been to last year pre-race briefing, this year was not much different. We went over the race course. I think the course briefing was way better than last year. At least the powerpoint presentation was less confusing. There were arrows overlays on photographs of various tricky places.  Maybe I was more familar with the course, the briefing made more sense to me this year than last year.  Maybe because I was running in it I paid more attention to the briefing.

    Boyer’s in/Boyer’s out was confusing in the past, but not this time. The emphasis was to make a left and another immediate left onto the (purple?) trail. RD said don’t trust your strava Gpx file here, they were known to be wrong. Also, I crewed my runners at Four Points last year, Four Points in/out (mile 32 ish, and mile 47), was not that tricky to me. Lastly was Woodstock tower split, the signs there were easy to follow. Kim, a friend and race official told me repeatedly to watch for the race signs. Woodstock in/out, was easy. Indeed, they were clearly marked which way I should be turning. In years past, runners have gone the wrong way at these few locations.

    I enjoyed the post race briefing time. I met up with some friends. Vlad, a runner, I met at Devil Dog and Bull Run Run 50 (BRR50) was there. We were surprised to run into each other again. I helped him set his dropbags.  I met Steve C from Charlottesville, whose name I came across a few times but couldn’t place a face to until at this race. Tek also there, she had done OD100 a few times, and I met her there last year and at the C&O100. She and a few others (and Wayne, plus Fernando) were ones who inspired me to go for the grand slam and all and while proving to me that the body indeed can take the pounding of week after week of ultra-marathon running. She and those few others runs a lot of ultras weeks after weeks.

    There, I also got to meet Charles and his wife. Charles and I did MMT together and also Boyer’s 50K this past winter.

    Special mention here, also Kim O. (daughter of a former winner of OD100) was first to greet me when I picked up my bib. I knew Kim like forever since I started running ultras (at Eastern Divide 50k and the whole race series, now no longer available) but never knew she has a deep connection to this race until last year. She expresses in the past that she would like to run this race very much. Secretly, I wanted to run this race to show that slow people like me could finish OD100 too. Maybe it will serve as an imspiration for her to take that step  to  sign up.

    We dispersed after the meeting. People wanted to get a good sleep before the race. I wanted to get a good meal. The RD mentioned four or five Italians nearby. Instead, I beelined to the one of a few chinese carry-outs a mile away. I chose Happy Family and Young Chow fried rice. Yes, I picked rice over pasta! I stopped by a Food Lion to pick some snacks and drinks. The fried rice was for breakfast. Unfortunately, it didn’t taste that good at 3 AM the next day and it didn’t taste like Young Chow fried rice I expected but more a regular fried rice except with bbq pork added as protein. The Happy Family was good.

    I camped in a field near the start. We had cooler weather around 50F. Unfortunately, the interstate I-81 is like half a mile away, and it was very loud at night. It sounded like sleeping next to an airport runway with planes taking off every few minutes apart. I found sleeping in the car to be quieter, but then it got hot unless the windows are down. I survived the night like taking a redeyed flight. A hotel might have been a better choice.

    The race started at 4 AM.  I had goosbumps going out with a bunch of really good runners.  I was at the race last year as a spectator but this year, I was a participant. It was hard to believe.

    The whole field of 100+ runners rushed out. They were indeed very fast. My friend Tek and I were only ones left at the start. We were the stragglers. We took the walk and run approach and not very long we were left alone on the horse track (race starts and ends at Woodstock’s country fairground race track). I didn’t Keith S. was behind us at the time. He might have woken up late. Their were a handful who did not check in at the time the race started. Keith was a guy who ran 117 x100 milers, just an incredible guy. He got a sub 24 buckle here a few years ago.

    Out we went slowly.  It didn’t bode well for us, but I trusted my friend because in many races, her pace had enable her to finish even though it might seem slow at first. She is a stronger runner than me. In ultras, you have to be a tortoise vs the hare.

    After few miles, Tek felt behind my pace, and I left her, keeping my own pace. I was not going to wait for anyone in this race.

    The morning dawned and I moved from aid station to aid station.  The race had about 22 aid stations. Some were small (like from the back of a truck at Boyers in/out) and some big, with tent and food.  Most food choices are simple cookies, chips, and fruits. I knew if I want solid food I had to wait till 2 am in the morning at the Veach Gap aid stations since those two are served by the Virginia Happy Trail Runners (my club). So, I just had to preservere until then. (There were pancakes and sausages at cold spring, not saying there isn’t real food available during the daytime, but few).

    Slowly I reeled in runners. Some I tried to talk to them. By mile 20, I was pretty much caught up to the bottom 13 runners, (not much), but I could not run any faster. It seemed this was where I stuck. Over time, I learned these two runners, Sean and Marshall, were from Roanoke and Lynchburg. Together we spent the rest of the day running.

      They are friends and know each other before the race.  We kept near a 14 minutes pace. They believe with this pace, we could get a sub 24 hour finish. They asked if I was aiming for sub 24, I said no way, and that bus had left a long time ago.  I did not believe with my pace could get the sub 24.

    After some calculations, I had to admit that Sean was right. 14 minute average pace would get us the sub 24.

    We could not believe why others went out so much fast.  I knew each year only a few could get under 24 hours. In theory, there should be more runners around our pace. So, there were 90+ people ahead of us going for the sub 24 hour pace, we were thinking a bunch of them will blow up later. We would hope to catch up to some of them. At this time, I don’t know the numbers of how many did not finish.  While running, I did not see many giving up. Supposedly, this year, we have more than average numbers of finishers.

    In my mind, I want to pass about 30-40 runners to feel safe of not being cut.

    I stayed with Sean and Marshall. It was their first time running a 100 mile race. They were very efficient at aid stations. Usually, they got out before I do. They both had been in high pressure situations where speed is everything in their professional life (including working at professional football level), so they understand the time value dynamic between running and stopping at an aid station. We were quick with our aid station transition! I never seen anyone moved this quick through an aid station in a hundred mile race.

    Slowly we reeled in a few more runners by halfway. We passed about 10 more or so runners. There were still 80+ runners ahead of us.

    My pace was pretty steady by mile 47 (Four Points Aid Station).  The first 50 miles were mostly on the road. I knew the bottom 50 miles would be harder.

    By halfway, Sean and Marshall were no longer keeping up with me. So I went alone doing what I have been doing the whole day, that was to keep moving.

    The day was not too hot, but I was given ice in various aid stations. Ice kept me cool. 

    The ATV trail, an infamous section, was not too bad. I did get some hot spots under my right foot from the gravel and sand. I saw some ATVs on the trail but they all parked while I went by.  It had been my biggest concern of sharing the same trail with the ATV, I would be breathing all the fumes, smog and dust. It became a non-issue.

    Night came, I passed a few more runners. Now it was about 30 runners behind me and 70+ were in front. I came across Charles.  He was usually ahead of me. Unlike at MMT, he did not stay back with me to talk and run. We did talk when we were at aid stations, but usually he was ahead of me.  I was lucky to be able to finish with him in the morning.

    My pace slowed down a lot during the darkness hours but I knew I would get to Elizabeth Furnace (mile 75) at about 10 pm.  My pacer/safety runner, Ram, would be meeting me here at 11 pm.  I was an hour ahead, and I thought I might miss him.  Fortunately, he arrived early and we recognized each other voices in the darkness at the aid station parking lot by chance.  He hurried to the Elizabeth Furnace aid station to pace me.

    I took at least 10 minutes to change shoes and fixed my feet for the midnight run. This was probably my longest time spent at an aid station for this race.

    We would be going up Sherman Gap, the hardest climb in the whole race.  I knew about this tough climb before this race. It is infamous of being hard.

    Indeed, it was very hard.  It took me about an hour and half to climb it. It was slow going. Every step I felt like fainting and falling over. My safety runner constantly reminded me to drink and eat every 10-15 mins. We took breaks when needed.

    Then there was Veach Gap.  My running club (VHTRC) served the two aid stations at either ends of Veach. It was like homecoming. Larry, last year finisher, was there as the station chief eith his wife. Jamie gave me a big hug while I was still drenched in sweat from just the hard climb and descent from Sherman Gap. The Veach East was boisterous. I flopped into the chair they had. They were efficient and refilled my pack with water. I was given real food. I don’t remember what, but I took everything. Also the coffee was great. I wanted to stay there for a long time, but they kicked me out after 5 mins.

    At the pre race briefing – I was standing next to Charles (fellow runner) and his wife in the back. We were not in the picture. We were intended to hit the exit once the meeting is over

    By Veach-West (mile 87), I dropped off my pacer/safety runner.  I was able to move faster on the downhills and caught up to a few runners.

    By now, I had 13 miles left.  Past 3 am. I remember thinking I had one hour to get to finish for a sub 24, joking to myself. There were 5 hours left in the race to the final cutoff and I knew the finish was certain.  It still took me another 3 hours before getting to the end. (6 am).

    The final bit was an uneventful climb up to mile 97.  There was an aid station at 770/758. It was mostly constantly uphill. Ram gave me two gels packages before I left Veach. The first package got me to 770/758. The second got me over the Woodstock Tower.

    Kim O, was driving around from the Woodstock AS. I got some encouragements from her when we met. She is part of the race org, so I guess technically she was allowed to be driving around to check on runners. My stayed at the Woodstock station was brief. I took a cup of coffee and left. I knew sun would be rising soon.

    There was still 7 miles left. Descending from Woodstock was not too hard. I still had the energy to run. My feet had not locked up like at MMT. I had about an hour to get to town for a 6 AM finish.

    By time we reached the last aid station at Water St, the sky was conpletely lighted. We had maybe two miles left and quarter mile to go around the horse track. It probably is measured in horse distances.

    I reached the track as the sun was rising over the mountain. It took me maybe 5 minutes to go around. It felt like a mile long, but I had extra burst of energy. I forgot what was my official time, but I saw on the clock was still 25:55. I reached it under 26 hours. (My Official finish time is 25:56:16)

    Having been at the finish line last year, I knew my expectation that there would not be any fanfair or greetings from the race director. It is low key. It was very subdue.  There was the official timer (Henry) who has been the race timer since the first Old Dominion race.  I was lucky that Charles’s wife was there waiting for Charles.  She greeted me and cheered as I came in. Charles came in a few minutes after me.  I waited for Charles before going to my car to change.

    Later, after getting myself comfortable, I went back out to the course to see the golden hour finish (final hour before the race ends).

    Several other people also came out to watch the race. Mordy, Tek, Terence from NY, and Janna was there. They are all my people. I met Mordy and Janna here last year too. It was a bit more festive than before. My friends Sean and Marshall finished and came in. They had their families there greeting them.

    Then, there was the breakfast and awards presentation.  They let every finisher to give a short speech. I found it was very unusual but I enjoyed it a lot.  Last to be presented the award was John Kelly, the first place finisher.  He gave a good speech about Old Dominion being an old school race and that he enjoyed running on the country roads and surrounding trails the Old Dominion has offered. Indeed, he summed it all up for us. It was the same John Kelly who finished the Barkley this year.

    My take-away:  There were many memories. I did not get to share about Jeff P. who was at the Mountain Top aid station. He got me ice and a popsicle, plus his presence was enough. The dude is a genius. He said the time he ran OD100, he cried when night came because it was so hot during the day. He knew firsthand what ice could do for runners.  He actually predicted/urged saying he and I will run the Old Dominion this year when we were at the race briefing last year and I blew it off as he got to be joking. Then he said, you don’t believe me? He ran this race like 10 times. I took his bet and signed up. If not for Jeff, I might not have been in the race. If anything, I wanted to be like Jeff.

    I was able to spent some good time with several friends.  VHTRC of course was amazing to serve runners in the middle of the night at Veach. I was grateful for Ram to have paced me. His encouragements got me through the night. I was glad of making new friends, such as Amy from Florida, Terence from NY, Ike Kim from MD, Sean and Marshall, my fellow runners from VA. Why I love running ultras, because of friends and people I get to meet. This post won’t be as emotional as MMT100, but I glad I got it behind me. Now onto Western States in a few weeks.

  • [616] MMT Training 2 (mile 35-65) Second winter storm

    We have a total of four training for MMT 100 mile race. The past weekend, we did the second run. Each run is about 30 ish mile and over four training, we would cover the entire course.  For me, the training runs are more fun the the race itself.

    Night before the run, we had a quick winter storm system swept through the area.  The initial forecast was that we would received up to 6 inches of snow. Note, we had not had snow in our area for about two years until couple weeks ago. Now we had another. The governor did not declare a state of emergency but everyone was getting ready to brace the storm.

    A friend asked if I would head to the training location ahead of time.  To me that is silly talk.  I love my sleep. I’d rather wake up early at 4 am to drive out than to camp out a night early. 

    As I was getting off work, the cars on the roads seemed getting nervous and maybe it was just me.  I changed my plan to go home as soon as I could and packed my things. Everyone I know too was skipping town ahead of the storm.

    I made it to the site by 8 pm. The night was cold. No snow yet.  Our RD also arrived ahead of time and he built me a fire that potentially could last the night. 

    By midnight, he left to check the course and various locations.  I let the fire died out and went to bed.  It started raining a bit.  By the time I woke up, the whole place was in a winter wonderland.

    Everyone showed up.  We left our cars at the finish and carpooled together to the start.  I had a good day.  My run was 30 minutes slower than last year.  I was being careful of not to fall.  And I was wearing my hiking boots instead of my trail shoes. 

    RD said, we need to carry headlamp in case some of us would be finishing at night.  I had mine but I was telling myself, I don’t want to finish in the dark.  I got back as the sun was setting and so were the last few of us.

    Signal Knob, the start of our training run

  • [615] BRR Training

    It has been a quiet week.  After the Icy-8, the next day I went out on the Bull Run trail to run.  This is the trail in my neighborhood.  We have a race called Bull Run Run (BRR) 50 (mile).  I ran it last year.  It is usually at the beginning of April and was a quite popular trail race, that usually sold out. Only last year was my first time getting in. They say, you have to be fast or lucky to sign up. I got in again this year, so I have to train for it. There used to be a lottery system because it was so popular.

    I want to run better than last year when  finished with only 15 minutes to spare. My secret goal (or not so secret) is to run it under 12 hours. This is hard.

    It has some good climbings. Nothing too serious but the first time I ran on it, it was a what-the-hell moment.  Now a year has past, and hills there are not too threatening.  I would still walk up on most of them instead of running. I am no longer get out of breath.  The goal is to be good enough to run on them even when I am tired.

    So the last few Sundays, I have been covering the Bull Run trail. Usually I put in 25-30 miles.  I call it my long run day.

    This past Saturday, we had an official Bull Run Run training run at one of the notorious sections called the Death by Do-Loop. I suspect whoever came up with the name is a computer programmer because there is something called the Do While Loop. The concept is the same, you keep doing until it expires and for computer, it means go on forever (in an infinite loop).  So our training was to run on the Do Loop until we can’t any more.

    The portion we ran was about 7-8 miles long.  There is a 1.5-2 mile loop at the end where many people usually get lost.  I got lost there last year during my BRR race, so this year, I said I must run it so much that it would be impossible for me to get lost again.

    I did get lost.  I ran only two loops that day.  My first loop was fine as I was following other runners.  By second loop I was by myself.  It was when the fun began.  I was mostly deep in thoughts.  And somehow I never exited the Do Loop but kept walking and running back and forth.  I was not really lost but the trail was still new to me and I was surprised how it looped me around at some portion when I was not paying attention.  So I went back and investigated how that happened. A friend, Ram came along and helped me and led me through the whole Do Loop again and I finished it.  I did a partial 3rd and 4th Loop with another friend until it was near sunset before quitting.  I had a good day.

    I had an admirer who was impressed because I got into the Western States 100.  We talked about Wasatch (another 100).  They laughed when they found out I signed up for about ten 100 mile races this year.  They said I must be rich! Not only is the race expensive, but flying there and the hotel cost would be through the roof.  I said, I haven’t told my boss yet for the days I would be off. I am counting all my PTO.

    My left ankle took some beating from the weekend training. I did not roll it.  It felt numb after spending a day on the Do Loop.  I have not been on trail that much the last couple months since the Devil Dog.  Now suddenly I am back on the trail my ankle is complaining.

    The very next day, I hit the Bull Run trail again. While it was raining a bit, a friend came and join misery. There was a lot of mud. We slipped and slided around. It was fun, satisfactory fun that we put a good training. I finished the day with a bowl of hot soup.

    I am proud that I have been consistently trained on the Bull Run. Definitely, I will run better this year.

  • [Day581] off week / non racing week report

    Life happened. I don’t remember much what happened during the last two weeks.

    Running front not much to report.

    I was going to run the Army 10 Miler, which I ran last year during the Columbus Holiday weekend. I was not going to do it again this year but couple of my friends wanted to do it, so I decided to join in (was pressured to join) for the fun of it. We signed up probably back in June or July. For some of them, that would be their longest run ever.

    Supposingly I’ve heard my friend looped in 20+ of us to sign up, but only about 8 showed up for the run. The one who gathered us all to run this jokingly said she should collect a fee from all the no-shows. We should have paid her instead of the Army Ten Miler! Easy money.

    Something happened to me and I did not get to run it though I signed up and paid for it.

    It was on me. I lost track of the day for picking up the bib. No bib meant no racing. They did not allow race day bib pick up.

    I was planning on going after work on Friday for the bib pickup because my workplace is closer to downtown where the race and pickup was. However, a last minute urgent task came in at work and I was stressed over in completing the task. I am blaming work but I know it was on me.

    In my mind, I already crossed off picking up the bib and so did not plan to go to downtown on Saturday. I had a training run scheduled on the Saturday. I did the training Saturday morning and went straight home afterward totally forgot about going by downtown for the bib or the next day event.

    It completely escaped my mind. By Saturday evening, I was mentally rehearsing through what I would be doing on Sunday and preparing for it. It then occurred to me I did not have my bib.

    I knew it was too late then. I did not know anyone who worked for the race organization to get it for me on a private channel. It is such a big event and there bound to be someone who know someone and possibly can get it during off hours. There were still 12 hours before the race. It was not happening. No way could I reach someone to get me a bib for the run.

    To say I was disappointed was a mild way to put it. I was frustrated at myself and the whole thing. I was fuming the whole night and all Sunday. I was sulking the whole Sunday (the reason I didn’t post this).

    I had this long 3 day weekend, normally I would fill it up with a long trip, like running or camping at somewhere far away. Now what was I going to do. I ended up doing nothing.

    The race fell off my schedule. I had nothing to cover for it. Ended up I did not do anything on Sunday either.

    Monday came. The holiday. Columbus Day. I was going to use it for my training. Then my good mother wanted me to take her to a park. That basically messed up whatever plan I had left for the weekend.

    I did not want to do it. I was like, my Saturday was ruin. My Sunday too and now my Monday. I wanted to head up to Shenandoah. My mom believed she “saved” me from my trip. She thinks I went on too many trips. I was a bit miffed and irritated by it. I took her to the park.

    In the end, no one to blame but for myself. I am very jealous of my own time. There is a tug of war: me or the world. I have been “winning” for a long time and this weekend was one of the “bad lucks” in that I did not get to do what I wanted. I gave in not because I lost, but because my heart was not in it any more.

    Summary, very little running was done comparing to my usual volume. My ankle though does need the rest. It recovered much since July trip to Ohio, but it never is at 100%. It does not hurt any more, but it does not feel strong. It always feels like I bump on the funny bone type of sensation when I run on it. It is a strange feeling. I don’t like the cracking sound it makes whenever I try to stretch it. It probably missed a bit of cartilage there.

    Whatever happened, I know it was meant to be.

    Other than running, I have been ruminating on my next year run schedule. I have been at this for a month with very little progress.

    I know what races I want to do. Yet unlike this year, I don’t have anything bold I wanted to try. This year was the Massanutten 100, Blackbeard’s Revenge 100, and Grindstone 100.

    I will run the Massanutten 100 and the Grindstone 100 again, but they won’t feel like I will be shooting the moon. They are not as challenging as before. All my runs of these past few years always have been me trying push the boundary of what I am capable of. Each time I pushed past one, it felt I have reached a new level. Eventually, I reached where I am today. It makes me pause like what’s next.

    I have to find my focus.

    I am proud of what I have become. I like running long. I don’t get tired. 30-40 miles are good distance for me. 50 mile runs feel really good. 26.2 are really easy now.

    I have a vague idea of where I am heading. A few new friends have a goal to attempt the grand slam (run 5 famous 100 milers). It would be nice for me to try those harder races.

    A 200 miler is also in the play. I think I can do it. Next year is not the right time yet. The one I wanted is cowboy 200, but I promised to pace a friend there. I am not serious yet to run a 200 at the same time. Maybe 2025.

    Another idea was to do fifty states for 100 miler. Two friends of mine are attempting. I don’t have to follow them. I know I will eventually do it since 26.2 no longer as appealing. I started on it already. However, I can’t run as many races as marathons. I already ran 50 marathons to-date but only 5 100 milers.

    I am paralyzed by indecision with regard to what races. I want to feel sure about what I am going to sign up. If a race no longer has the “feel” than I don’t want to force myself to run it. In the end I am running because I like it and not because I have to do it. Forgotten Florida 100 seems like a good race on paper, but I don’t have the passion for it, while Red Dirt 100 doesn’t seem to be as a good race, but I really want to do it. They are both on the same day. Normally, yes follow your heart! My head would not let me though. Red Dirt is “harder” in term of logistics.

    My next event would be pacing a friend at Rim to River 100 in West Virginia in November. Yes, I gave her my word I would do it. It is coming up in three weeks.

    That’s that. Nothing new to report except for my whining. Until next time.

  • [Day580] giving back at Yeti 100

    Grindstone 100 is still big on my mind. After a few days of rest and pondering, I committed myself to the next year event. Pre-registration actually opened before we even ran this year event. Some runners were offended by the “money taking” move. However, I am glad they open the registration already! Because I can sign up at a discounted price. It is about $20 more than than last year, about 6% increase. Inflation, what can we say, but please take my money.

    I have been feeling great so far. After Burning River in July, I was crushed, not so much because of the DNF, but something about that race just did not sit well with me. I did not run much for two months after that. It just sapped my energy.

    I was in motion but was not getting anywhere. I tried to sign up for other races next year, but was not able to will myself.

    After reading a friend’s post, it reminded me that, I possibly was having a burnt out at the time. For doing too much in things I no longer find joy in.

    I don’t mean that I have been running too much. As for the amount of running, the “much” part is relative. Some considers running 100 miles in a month being too much. I do that amount in a weekend.

    Grindstone helped me find or rediscover my mission. I did not want to run races just for the sake of it. I know I have a longer term goal of to run in all 50 states, because that was fun to me and it gives me a reason to travel, which I really enjoy. But that my mission has a component to help others achieve their running objective! I think that what energized me over the weekend.

    Something about Grindstone, that my neighbor said I looked more recharged. This is rare because usually after doing a 100 mile, I am beat up. My neighbor was asking what has changed in me. I said just a race!

    This was for the first time, I actually finished the race feeling more refreshing than going into it. My outlook changed too. The past whole week has been great. I have been asking myself, what races to do for next year. I am upbeat. I did sign up for Grindstone again for 2024.

    This weekend, I helped a friend with her 100 mile race. She was with me at Grindstone (Lynn). It was tough for her to do two big races back to back. Her third big race is in a month from now (and I might help her in that one too). On a side note, I checked the entrant list, and saw a few familiar names of those who ran Grindstone with me last week. There are some amazing people out there. I was rooting for my runner. I am excited for her and of her ambition, and so I was willing to help what I can to get her through this.

    From Grindstone, I had more realistic expectation as a pacer. My experience helped Lynn through her difficult times.

    Just a small update, I originally wrote this entry before Lynn’s race, and was going to publish it, but somehow did not have the time. Lynn finished her run. As a pacer, I could not take any credits for it. It is her own strength, she found somewhere to get her through.

    I was with her from mile 49 to miles 85. 34 miles-ish.

    I met her around 6:30 from Damascus crew station and we arrived back 6:30 in the morning.

    She was the first person I paced who actually finished! It was not easy for her. My job on the otherhand was quite easy. I just stayed with her and made sure she’d keep moving.

    The exciting part is sharing her finish. It was her hard work, yet I got to say, I helped! Back to the topic of finding joy! Yes, I had a good time. I met several other runners at the finish, and they were surprised to see me there, and I said, I paced my runner!

  • weekend [Day555]

    Being a bit time crunch but I wish to get this out.

    MMT 100 is this coming weekend. I should be ready. There are a lot I need to do. Get my pace chart ready, dropbags prepared, and make sure I get to start. This is the race I have been looking toward since last year.

    Over last weekend, I drove down to Dublin, VA, to do the Lake Ridge Endurance run (at Lake Claytor State Park), – 12-hour category. This year I only ran 44 miles, 4 less than last year. I blame the weather being hotter. I also did not have a good night rest the night prior, my fault. I was very sleepy during the first 6 hours of the race.

    It was my third year running it. I stayed over night after. I met Steven, who is this year winner. It is not a race per se but he has the most miles done for the 12 hour category. Fitz won the 24 hour. Fitz is Stuart’s son. Stuart will be at the MMT next weekend. We will see each other again since Fitz will pace his father at mile 62.

    Chrissy paced me the last 10~ish miles. I was glad she did otherwise, I might only have done 36 or so miles instead of 44. As the night approached I was able to regain my strength and ran my “full” speed of 15 min mile pace. Chrissy recently moved to area. She ran the High Bridge 50K in 5.5 hrs, impressive to me. I recommended Eastern Divides ultra to her, which I signed up already. The race will be on the first week of November.

    In the morning, I got one more lap in for my morning run. It doesn’t count toward my miles but I like to have my morning exercise. I went and did the lap with Katherine. She is a new friend I met. She did Vol State a few years back.

    In closing, I was very tired. It took me more than 8 hours to drive back home, when it should be about 4-5 hours. I made many stops along the way. Slept a bit in a rest area to catch up on needed sleep.

    I also started arranging my race schedule for next year. I signed up for Roanoke Doubler over the weekend (April 20, 2024). My cousin in Sydney sent me a save the date for her wedding. That is next year in March. I tried to look for a marathon there so I could hit two birds with one stone, but unfortunately, so far, no marathons found in Sydney in that time frame.

    Other news, I am still streaking for the GVRAT. Day 14 so far. It has gotten easier after day 3 during my Canada trip. As for tapering for the MMT, I wish I don’t have GVRAT to do, because it gets my legs tired. But oh well. I chose this path. MMT will be interesting in that I am not entering it with a 100% fresh body. My next report will probably be the MMT race report or similar.

  • Day538 10-Mile Race

    I love racing.

    How many times have I done this one, I have no idea. At least twice.

    Back in 2017 and 2018, I ran every race that is available held by the local running store (Potomac Running).

    As I took on bigger races, I mean longer distances, like 50 mile and 100 mile races, I don’t have time for the local ones. I still run them whenever I can. I sign them up on the spur moment.

    Reston 10 Miler is a familiar course to me. I ran many 5Ks and 10Ks there year after years. The 10 mile course mostly was stitched together from 5K and a 10K. I recognize every turns and every hills.

    Timewise, I was not impressive with my finishing time. It was not any record shattering. I was not slow. I haven’t had the heart to dig up past races to compare. I finished at 1:40. It is a 10 min pace so I should be glad, especially after running a 50K last weekend.

    Yet I remember my fastest 10 miler was under 1:20. I used to be able to run at a 8 min pace. That was impressive.

    Everything’s relative. I have to live with the body I have today, not the one I had a year ago or 10 years ago.

    Sometimes I feel like I am in an arm race with myself. I improve my time, yet I get heavier. So I trained harder to be stronger. I do improve. Then I get a faster time again and then I get heavier. The cycle starts again. The last two years, I know I improved. Yet this time, my body has overtaken me. I gained too much weight over the pandemic. Not sure if it is something related to that or just I am just getting older.

    A 60 year old man beat me innlbthis race. I recognized him from prior races. Note, because I live in Northern Virginia, people don’t make casual comments, unlike when I do races farther way. People avoid eye contact here in the big city. I have seen this guy many times in other races, but he acted he doesn’t know me and I same. Not complaining, just saying. I have been in the area for at least 20 years and that how we work. (Remember both Jeffs I met at the other races, how nice people are in the country side).

    True everyone is racing against their own. But if a 60 year old man could out run a 40 year old, it means something.

    On one hand, it is not hopeless for me. I could work harder to be able to run like that when I am 60.

    The flip side is the dude is impressive.

    As I stepped on to the course today, I was thinking what was I trying to get out of this. It is cool to set records and such. It is cool to run fast. I ran pretty fast, faster than any of my usual training runs. I usually go 15 mins or slower per mile and today I pulled a 10 min mile for whole 10 mile. I enjoyed the weather. I enjoyed the morning run. Only a race could get me up at 6 am in the morning. Normally, if left to my own device, I do not get out the house until like 3 or 4 pm in the afternoon. I am a lazy runner.

    One thought I reminded myself was yes running a 50K last weekend was impressive. Today running a 10 miler was no less an accomplishment. I told myself many times, if I could run just one more race, I would be in heaven.

    In this view, I should only run 5Ks or 10Ks, to save money and time because it gives the same utility, from an economic standpoint. Nah, I believe, if I have the ability to run longer distances, I should do it. This is the reason I am grateful and happy that I do have the means and the ability to do something extraordinary.

    If I close out the blog here, it would be good. I have just a bit more to say. Things or an idea seems to be at the tip of my tongue but I just couldn’t bring forth. I have been searching something all weekend. It has been a recurring theme since I finished the last big race (MMT) of last year. It is related to motivation and of why I do things. I wrote a post on new year’s day about my resolutions and all.

    I think, things have gotten a bit easier lately, after I ran the 100 mile. I still have tons of goals to do and some are out of this world hard, but overall, a lot of my goals, I thought was impossible are a bit easier. I mentioned about the 50 states marathon goal. If I really want to, I think I could do it in a year. Many of my goals are like that. If I really want to do it, I have now the means to do them. So they seem a bit boring. And I keep asking myself, what’s next. What is the next badass thing to do? The answer is not that I don’t know, but I am afraid to look.

    This blog post like any others will be closed with a hanging. To be continue. I wish life would be simplier. I could wake up and say I would do this and that and do them. That is it for now.

  • Day534 overflowed

    What an interesting week! Where should I start? I wish I had broken this into four or five entries. There were just so much.

    The proposal: TWOT

    The number one thing I was asked if I want to run in October the Wild Oak Trail. I wrote about this in the last two posts. I went out to Wild Oak couple weeks ago to do a test run. At that time, I arrived late in the day and I rolled my ankle at the first mile and the run was pretty much over.

    This run and a race was what I wanted to do last year ago, but I did not get in. I have been eyeing it all the time. It is hard.

    As mentioned, I got to know the race director in the last training run for the MMT (Massanutten). This weekend, the race director asked me multiple times, if I want to run it this October, he will save me a spot.

    If anyone else, they would immediately reply to the guy, Yes save me a spot! I wanna run it.

    To me it is like winning a million dollar prize too. Yet now I am asking myself can I do it? So this weekend I went out there on my own and tried to run it. I finished 25 miles in 12 hours. You know, people who run this normally do it around 8-10 hours. And they have to keep that pace for four loops (for 100 miles). Note, it is not actually 25 miles but somewhere between 26-27 miles, so four loops, would be over 100 miles.

    Enough said. I will sleep on it.

    II. TWOT. The run – I arrived Saturday night while TWOT 100 race was going on. TWOT is the Wild Oak Trail Race. I had thought the race would be over by then, thinking normally a 100 mile race usually over by the second day in the afternoon. A normally 100 mile race, people finish around 24 hours.

    The RD saw me, and he recognized me from his training run the week before, and asked if I want to run that night. People showing up at the Wild Oak are all hardcore, they could run any time. He was expecting me to say sure, it was only 8 pm, let run on the mountain and see you next morning, a loop, might take 10-12 hours.

    I was not that bold. I did however started the next day at 9 am. I did not finish until 9 pm. Everyone already left by Sunday. I knew. I did not expect anyone to be there since I wanted to do it on my own. There was a special feeling when I felt it was only me on the mountain.

    It was an awesome adventure. The scenery was popping. At night, stars came out. Wild animals howled. There were sounds I never heard before, probably coyotes mating or bobcats. What surprised me was I thought I could have done it in 10 hours, but pretty early on, I realized it was not going to be fast. It took me 3 hours to go the first 7 miles. The trail was about 4 times that, so ended up with 12 hours. I did get lost a bit, but also I was glad to have enough sense to realized I was lost and was able to find my way back.

    New sign – not where I got lost. I got lost on a section I was too sure was the right way, but wasn’t
    Camp site
    Just so beautiful
    frozen pond. In the summer, it is a bog and very yucky

    III. The Race: Holiday Lake 50K – As I said, there was so much going on. I had a 50K and I went down to Appomattox, VA, last month to run around the lake. This weekend was the real thing. Friday night after work, I drove directly there. I arrived late and missed the dinner and opening ceremony and the Race Director’s briefing. All I left to do was go to bed. I slept in my truck. It was not too bad. It was toasty, and I had my windows down to regulate the temperature (25F, cold). I had my 32 F sleeping bag, so it was good enough.

    The next day, the race started at 6:30. We had 200+ runners. The 25K runners ran counter clockwise around the lake and we 50k people ran clockwise on the first loop, and counterclockwise the 2nd loop. What happened was we would cross path halfway and were able to see everyone.

    I met the Race Director Kevin and his wife Ann from Iron Mountain, a race that means a lot to me. They both were in this race. I was one of the few they knew by name. I will do IMTR again this year, and hopefully will finish it. RD Kevin was so strong when I saw him on the trail. He ran the MMT 5 times, a guy I totally respect. Also Kristen and Chris, who I ran with on the training run, were there. I ran an hour faster than my training run on my first loop, but Kristen and Chris were faster still. They blew me out of the water. Note, in the past, I was faster than them but they improved. I finished in 7:07 and I am happy with my time, though I was the last few who came in. Everyone was so fast!

    A word about this race. They provided dinner the night before, breakfast the morning of and lunch after we finished. They were all buffet and good food. Also during the race, the Aid Stations’ food was so good. Next time if I do this race again, make sure to eat my fill!

    IV. For the Love of it 5K – You might ask one more race? This was run on Feb 14 weekend. Yes I ran it. I ran Run your Heart Out 10K and this For the Love of it 5K, almost every year. If you do one and you have to do the other. I arrived pretty much at the right time, 30 minutes before the race. It was a cold morning. We had a snow shower right about when the race was to start. I stayed in my car, thinking what clothes to wear. Should I put on a rain jacket? Should I wear a fleece? Neither. I put on a shirt I just got from the race swag, and lined up. There were many people. Off I went. I don’t remember my time now, but I was able to do it under 30 mins (I think I got 28). I was racing with a 12 year old boy, I won by a hair. It is bib time, so he might still bested me. I know sooner or later, he and others will be faster than me.

    This reminded me I met Jeff at the Holiday Lake race. This is a different Jeff than one I met the previous weekend at the MMT training. He is maybe 60 year old and he passed me when we had about 6 miles left. I tried to keep him in sight but soon he was out of sight. My goal was to finish near 7 hours. When I came in I saw Jeff already had a plate of food in his hand. So I asked him, if he finished under 7. He said, he just missed it by a minute. We sat down and talked about races. He mentioned he did Massanutten twice, twenty years ago. Must be an amazing runner when he was my age. I asked if he still wants to do MMT, but he said those days are over for him. He had run many 100 miles races.

    Note to self. I met #72 too. She and her friend will be at BRR (Bull Run Run 50). She volunteered last year. I was too. This year she is running it. And she was at the MMT volunteering, Camp Rossevelt. She was saying she ran Holiday Lake last year while 5 month pregnant and was the last to come in. This year, she was much faster, for sure. She will be at the MMT too, running it this time. We are likely be on course buddy since her pace and mine are about the same.

    Conclusion: There’s none. I had such a full weekend. I got back on Monday, Presidents’ Day. I slept for 12 hours. I was sick afterward. But my heart was overflowed with joy of all the races and runs I did and so many new friends I made. Looking ahead, I will be traveling this coming weekend. I will write about it once done. I’m excited. I like to keep it kind of a secret, though my race schedule is not a secret.

  • Day503 Run – Stone Mill TR1, plus weekend

    Columbus Weekend with lot more running

    This brings an end of my 5 week streak since Labor Day where every weekend I ran a big race.

    Post marathon blue kind of set in this week. I kept it from me since the Iron Mountain 50 mile, after Labor Day. Maybe I did not have time to be sad, when I had the Lake Ridge 12 hour run to do. After that was Pemberton 24 hour 5k, and right after that was Ann Arbor Marathon. Rock n the Knob was somewhere in there. It was just one big event after another. I woke up each weekend and asked what is next. Finally, this week is calming down a bit.

    This weekend I had just the Army 10 miler. What could I be stressed out about? Nothing much except for the logistics of getting myself to the race and running on tired legs. I still treated it as a simi big race because I haven’t done a 10 miler for a long time.

    What was so crazy right, was I did a long run the day before. I was wondering if I could still run fast the next day. The 26 miles was to stay in shape for my longer race later in the year. The 10 mile though did drain everything from me.

    I don’t know what I like better, the Saturday training run or the Sunday race. I guess I like them both together.

    I have been trying to up my mileage to 50 miles on the weekend trying to get ready for a 100 miler race in December. This weekend, I started the Stone Mill training series. Don’t worry about all the names I am throwing around. I am using races too as my training runs. Readers will hear a lot about races like Stone Mill and Devil Dog here as the season intensifies.

    The training was a “short” 20 mile run long and so I added an extra 6 miles at the end to make it a 26 miles just for the fun of it, and to brag I did a marathon again. My take is, my body can do a marathon every weekend.

    I was tired from it, indeed. The run started early at 7:30 and I had to be up before 6 to get ready. I think I set my alarm at 5:30 or something. It was god early hour. I did not want to get up. Normally I don’t get up this early for anything. but for a run? You bet, I didn’t want to miss the run.

    The training run was easy the first 13 miles. I ran with a friend who kept me on a nice easy pace. We were behind an older gentleman who looks like he is in his 60s or more. Not really that old when compare to my age. He was leading the pack for the first 4 miles until his pace started to lag and people started to pass him.

    My friend stayed with him. I personally wanted to pass the guy, but for the sake of my friend I stayed back too. My friend will be doing the Stone Mill 50. It will be his first, but it will be my third. I have a bunch of 50 milers under my belt. The trails are not unfarmiliar to me since I also ran the Seneca Greenway 50k there too annually, which uses almost the same course.

    I was pretty sure my friend could run faster. He finished his first 50 miler last year around 10 hours, while I’m still trying to bust my butt to make it under 12 hours. Soon the older gentleman stopped and turned back (our run was an out and back). My friend and I wanted at least another 5 miles, and we continued on. By mile 10, my friend turned around. There was another runner with us (Jackie), so my friend wasn’t alone. I didn’t want him to get lost. I wanted some more miles by myself.

    I stayed on the Seneca Greenway for 3 more miles and then ran along a road south to the Seneca Ridge Trail. I took Seneca Ridge back to Rifleford where I separated from my friend earlier. But it was a slow march back for me especially without a companion. I did not get back until after 2 pm. Hours after I was supposed to be back. The last mile crushed me. I like this kind of exhaustion training though. I like runs where I just lay everything down and had nothing left to give.

    What does my run have to do with what I am about to tell next? Nothing really. I just like flexing.

    The next day, getting up for the Army Ten Miler was hard. I had to get up even earlier so as to be out of the house by 6 am. The race did not start until 8, but knowing I would be fighting for a parking spot with 20,000+ other cars, I had to be there early. I was right. Roads were closed by 5:30. Google map estimated driving time was way off. Luckily, Google map was aware of the road closures and was able to direct me around them. The remaining open roads were congested (at least for those who used Google map and such). We had to make a few big detours.

    I headed south away from the Pentagon where to race was to be held and looked for a parking in Crystal City. Off topic, they renamed part of the area as Capital Landing for where the Amazon HQ2 is located (new to me) — also Crystal City shopping area has become a ghost town to my disappointment.

    I took a long stroll (maybe 2 miles), from my parking to the Pentagon — but we followed a wrong crowd who wanted to see the sunrise and so we all ended taking a long way to get to the Pentagon. Normally, they say it would be about a half mile walk. The walk became a good warm up.

    I got to my corral in time, maybe about 30 minutes prior to the start. We saw the paratroopers landed as we were arriving at the pentagon and we made it before the singing of the national anthem. There was the helicopter (I don’t know the model) fly-by.

    I was assigned to the fourth wave. It was not bad. I think it was right for my pace. Though during that morning, I had no idea whether I was with the right crowd or not since when I went to pick up my bib, they asked me to pick a color and I randomly picked blue. I did not know that each color corresponds to our pace. I was aiming for a 1:40:00 run, a 10 min mile pace.

    The first mile, I did it in 10:05. It was about the right pace. I was a bit behind the pace needed for the 1:40 finish but I did not let that worry me.

    Generally everyone run their fastest on the first mile. I think I did too. My left back side started to have stitches from the lack of oxygen and from the lactic acid build up. I always had them in weird places (most people have them in the front). They made me hard to breath as with each inhale my back was hurting. I continued to press the fast pace until the pain was gone. There was a guy in front holding a big the flag and I used him as my target. By mile 2, I passed him.

    Because we ran with a lot of people, there were a lot of faster people in the rear and they caught up and passed me all during the race. I passed many people in the front of me too. I don’t think I was slow.

    When each wave started, they fired off the cannon (not sure what gun, probably a howitzer). I was keeping track of the sound. We could hear the cannon blast through out the course. Those people from the back waves surged up to us.

    I was trying to find the gap between my wave and the immediate wave before us. We had a seven minute separation, so in theory, there should be a gap. I never was able to find that dead space. I think over time, the space was filled in. There were always people around me.

    I tried to look at the bib color. I started with the light blue bib crowd. The white bibs were the wave behind me. Green and red were ones ahead. The yellow (gold) bibs were for the fastest runners. There were no exclusive elite runners as with the Cherry Blossom Ten Miller. The elite runners join in with the gold bibs.

    Supposingly we were seeded into our wave based on our predicted finishing time. They want the fast people to line up in the front and the slower people in the back. During the race, all the color were mixed up. I saw many of the supposingly slower people ran fast and sped their way to the front. The front crowd supposingly the fast people were dropping back and I passed so many of them. I caught up with a lot of the green and red bibs people. This usually means someone lied about their estimated time or they were really clueless and might have used their 5K time to estimate their pace.

    How did I do? I finished around 1:29:45. I think 1:20 was my fastest 10 miler ever. Not a bad time. I was aiming for a 1:40 finish. I must have gotten a bit faster after the first mile. Indeed, after checking the 5 mile split, 10k split, and 15k split, each time I was a second or two faster. I was averaging a 9 min mile pace. My first mile was probably my slowest mile of 10:05.

    I believe I had enough breath to sustain me on my run. I was kind of sad about the race not being a half marathon, so I could run longer. No point in the race was I out of breath. Somehow though I was not able to push myself hard enough to run faster. I hit a sweet spot of a 9 min pace and hang on to it most of the race. I tried to go a bit faster but was unable to do it. Not sure if my leg muscles were not strong enough or what was holding me back.

    I ran this race when I was 18. I did not remember much about that run, only that I woke up very early ran it and we had to leave as soon as possible to get back to our college. I did not have a car back then, so when people I was carpooling left, I left too. I tried to look up my 18 y.o. time, but it was no longer available online.

    The experience this time was fuller. It also gave me a perspective that this race overlapped the same course as the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) and it is a blessing for us locals to test run our race strategy for the Marine Corps using this race. Note, MCM will be taking place on the last weekend in October, a couple weeks from now. It is a big race for us in the area. Light went up as to why some people ran this. Why did I not think of this when I was training for the MCM a few years ago? I am not running the MCM this year, but I defer it to next year, so the Ten Miler is not helping me much.

    I stayed till 12:30-ish and went for lunch at the Pentagon City Mall because Crystal City mall was kind of dead. I actually walked to Crystal City first, but did not find anything appealling before going to Pentagon City Mall. I remissed on the memories from my first run even though they were hazy and I don’t remember much.

    P.S. I met a man who ran this 24 times!

    Some pics.

    bright and early at my starting Corral