Pacing a friend at Eagle Up Ultra
This past week was kinda blurry. I started my week with a 4-hour research meeting on Monday, which made my head hurt. I was still tired from sweeping the course at Mohican on Sunday. Luckily, the meeting was quite productive so I did not feel like it was a total waste of my time. I was going to bike on Monday night after the meeting. It turned out that I was too mentally and physically exhausted to do any active exercise so I went to a slow yoga class instead.
A long meeting Monday was followed by an all-day training on Tuesday. Again, I was too tired to get any run or bike in on Tuesday night and decided to go for a nice dinner with hubby instead.
It seemed like my training plan fell apart last week due to heat, rain, and exhaustion. Ran and swam on Wednesday and did another short run in a hot and humid weather on Friday. Turned out that the track at the school near my house was open so I threw in some intervals (yippee!)
On Saturday, I paced a friend (L.) at Eagle Up Ultra in Canal Fulton, OH. Eagle Up Ultra was a 24-hour race, which runners run a 5-mile loop on the Towpath many times until they reach their set goals. There were different distances - 50K, 50 miles, 100K, 50/50 (50 miles + 50K), and 100 miles. L. signed up for the 50/50 (81 miles). She had me pacing her in the afternoon and another friend pacing her in the evening. It was also my wedding anniversary so I had a dinner plan and had to be home by 5pm.
I ran with L. for 15 miles (3 loops) and she reached 45 miles when I left. I got to know her better while we ran. She told me about her ultra running journey, ultra races that she's done, etc. She is basically a badass ultra runner.
We ran about 12 min/mile in the first loop and power walk the other 2 loops. In ultra running, it's important to learn how to power walk because you would move forward quicker without having too much impact on your knees.
The aid station at Eagle Up Ultra was AMAZING. There were so much food and drink, and support. These guys knew how to throw a good ultra race. Pacing L. at this race inspired me to do longer races and I'm seriously considering the Double marathon at Run with Scissors this year (sans costume).
A long meeting Monday was followed by an all-day training on Tuesday. Again, I was too tired to get any run or bike in on Tuesday night and decided to go for a nice dinner with hubby instead.
It seemed like my training plan fell apart last week due to heat, rain, and exhaustion. Ran and swam on Wednesday and did another short run in a hot and humid weather on Friday. Turned out that the track at the school near my house was open so I threw in some intervals (yippee!)
On Saturday, I paced a friend (L.) at Eagle Up Ultra in Canal Fulton, OH. Eagle Up Ultra was a 24-hour race, which runners run a 5-mile loop on the Towpath many times until they reach their set goals. There were different distances - 50K, 50 miles, 100K, 50/50 (50 miles + 50K), and 100 miles. L. signed up for the 50/50 (81 miles). She had me pacing her in the afternoon and another friend pacing her in the evening. It was also my wedding anniversary so I had a dinner plan and had to be home by 5pm.
I ran with L. for 15 miles (3 loops) and she reached 45 miles when I left. I got to know her better while we ran. She told me about her ultra running journey, ultra races that she's done, etc. She is basically a badass ultra runner.
We ran about 12 min/mile in the first loop and power walk the other 2 loops. In ultra running, it's important to learn how to power walk because you would move forward quicker without having too much impact on your knees.
The aid station at Eagle Up Ultra was AMAZING. There were so much food and drink, and support. These guys knew how to throw a good ultra race. Pacing L. at this race inspired me to do longer races and I'm seriously considering the Double marathon at Run with Scissors this year (sans costume).
Several friends showed up at the race to support L. and it's always good to see running friends at ultra races. We had a good time but too bad I had to leave early. L. kept going and finished at 100K. I'm happy and proud of her.
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