The Zen of Ultra Running

Three days after the Superior Spring Trail I was out running another trail race in Eau Claire. This race was the second race of the CVTR Dirt Series organized by Chippewa Valley Trail Runners. The theme of the race was The Last Crusade (from the movie Indiana Jones). Runners got a bonus point if they took back a "mysterious object" in a box located somewhere on the trail. This time I volunteered to bring post race snacks to the race. My ideas for snacks were from the aid station at the Superior Trail race last week. Brought cookies, chips, gummy bears, m&ms, and orange. I love preparing post race snacks! The weather was warm but we still had fun. The course was a little bit harder than the last race. The good thing about running the Superior Trail race is that any hill around here seems so flat. I even ran down some hills. Great group of runners showed up as usual. I thought it would be nice to ask P. to be the photographer at the race. He agreed to do it. We

At the end of last year, J. asked me while we were running together one morning if I would be interested in a trail running race in May of 2016. Without hesitation, I said 'yes'. I did not know about the race, just started trail running about a month, and was very naive about what I was about to get into. She said her friend was looking to enter the Superior Spring Trail race as a team. To form a team, it must be a group of 6 people. I looked at the calendar and it's after the finals week so I thought I should be fine. Due to limited number of space in the race, the registration was via lottery process. If the team got chosen, all team members would be able to run the race together. I signed up for the race during the winter break and our team was selected to run this race!  The next step was training. 25K is about 15.5 miles but trail running is so different from road running and it requires training on trails. In my head, I thought I'd already run a half mara

Since I started to run more and participate in longer races, golfing seems to become a lower priority when I have free time. However, it's an activity that both my hubby and I can do together (besides drinking and trying new restaurants). After the first race of the season started, I only had a chance to golf twice. Every weekend was a race since the beginning of April and I feel that I have to spend more quality time with P. So, I arranged to get my last long run in (before the Superior Spring Trail next weekend) on Saturday morning (10 miles) and went golfing on Sunday morning. On Saturday night, the temperature dropped to below 30F so the golf course froze up overnight. We booked the tee time at 8am but did not go out until 8.20 because we had to wait until the frost melt. Well, it's Wisconsin. We sometimes get snow in May. This is not unusual. 9 hole walking was good and relaxing :)

I've been sending my yoga pictures to the family group chat. Every time, my sisters would make fun of my poses by comparing them to animal pictures T_T Well, I take it as the way my family says they love me.  Last night my sister sent me a compilation of the funny yoga pictures and called it "Zoo Yoga" as you can see below... 

My next goal for the challenging yoga pose is to be able to do a forearm stand (Pincha Mayurasana) away from the wall.  Of course, like every challenging pose, the wall is your best friend. With an increased intensity in my running, I don't really have time to go to a yoga class that fits my schedule. So, I have to practice at home.  Yoga practice at home gives you the flexibility and convenience as you can practice whenever you want. I find it helpful when you have a specific pose that you would like to work on. I downloaded a sequence that builds up for the forearm stand from the internet. I used it as a guideline and modified some poses based on what I felt like at that time (e.g., added sun salutation A & B). This is the sequence that I use ( Forearm stand sequence )  I also watched a lot of Youtube tutorials on how to do this pose and tips. They are really helpful in breaking down and understanding the pose.  As they said, practice makes perfect. I sti

One week after the half marathon I'm out running a 12 mile long run (on trail). In the past, I found that if I did not stay active after the race, I would feel down or sore for at least a week. This year I went to an easy yoga class at the gym a day after the race (found it too easy with so little movement that I was frustrated with the instructor >_<) Because I have another race, Superior Spring Trail 25K, in two weeks, I needed to do another long run on trail before beginning to taper (again). Indianhead track club crew joined me for the run on Mother's day. We started at 10.30am because one of us had to do a mom's duty (spending time with the family) in the morning. I "planted" the water on the other side of the park prior to the run so everyone could make a water stop there. Running vocab - To plant the water - means to create a temporary water stop on the long run route by leaving bottles of water at a specific location. I first heard of this wo

My friend just started to run. Last year we invited him to go to one of the brewery running series at Indeed Brewery with us in Minneapolis. He did not run but hung out with P. while I ran 5K. We came back and drank beer. Of course, that was a good time. This year I asked him if he would be interested in one of the brewery running series run. He happened to be able to make it to the Lynlake brewery run on May 7. So, we set a date and he began to train for his first 5K. Before the run, he would send me updates on his training, which he made a progress every week :) This weekend the weather was very nice (sunny and not too warm). It's a good day for someone's first run. We started slow and kept going. We were stopped by the lights a couple of times but that's okay. This year they also had a water stop at Mile 2. After we came back to the brewery, they gave us a token for the beer and we could choose between a pint glass or a coaster as a souvenir. Another friend

The first race of the Chippewa Valley Trail Runners (CVTR) Dirt Series of the year - Spring Splash. The race is small and friendly, organized by CVTR at Lowes Creek park. Originally, the race was supposed to be in the evening of Tuesday (May 3) but due to predicted thunder storm, the race organizer changed it to be on Thursday (May 5). Then, the race organizer put on a poll on Facebook group for people to vote if they would like the race to be on Thursday or Friday (Friday was forecast to be hot and humid ~80F). Finally, they changed the race to be on Friday. I could not make it to the Thursday race because I already had a plan on that evening. So, I was super glad that they changed to Friday (though some people were disappointed as they couldn't make it on Friday). I always enjoyed running with CVTR as they are a friendly, easy-going group. Trail running is also so much fun. It was very hot on Friday. I got out of work early so I decided to get some miles in before the race. R

I was super excited for this race. I ran my first half marathon at the Eau Claire marathon last year. The weather was warm on the race day last year and I had to slow down and drank water a lot. However, since last year was my first race, the expectation was low. I just wanted to finish the race (never imagined I would be able to run 13 miles). This year the expectation was quite different because I know how running 13.1 miles would feel. I have also joined Indianhead Track Club and did all my training with a group of runners who later became friends. We ran the EC marathon route so many times that I could imagine each mile. Lately I started to run without music because I want to be able to focus on my breathing, the road, and the surroundings. I feel that I run faster without music. This morning (the race morning) I woke up, ate breakfast, and stretched I would do on every long run day. Got to the start line at 8.30am. Walked around and went to the bathroom. It was such a beautifu