The Zen of Ultra Running

Another year of CassadagaMan 70.3. I could have done other 70.3 races but it seemed like many people got deferred from last year races and it was hard to find other races nearby. So, I signed up for this race again this year despite the hilly bike and run courses. The timing was perfect for me as it was on Labor day weekend and I don't have to teach on Monday. The hardest part of this race was to convince my husband to go with me because he said there was nothing to do in the area or the town where we stayed at.  I had a big deadline the week leading up to the race day so my whole attention was paid to that BIG deadline. I submitted my work on Thursday and took Friday off to prepare for the race. We left the house on Friday late morning and stopped in Cleveland for lunch before heading to Cassadaga, NY. This was our mini vacation although P. did not think so.  We arrived at the packet pick up around 3pm. I picked up the packet and we also drove the bike course to remind me what it

Not exactly sure what I was thinking when I signed up for this race. It's the weekend before the fall semester began and I was super stressed out as I revamped 75% of one of the courses this semester.   The purpose of this race was again to practice race strategy and nutrition. I was very glad that there was a race in Cleveland/Northeast Ohio after HFP sold their races to another company based in Columbus and they moved all the races (including the ones that I already signed up for) to central Ohio :( So, it was a no-brainer to sign up for a race close to home.  Except for that, the race was two days before the semester started.... The inaugural Tri CLE Rock Roll Run was very well organized and the communication was very clear (if you took time to read the athlete packet that they sent out before the race). The race took place in downtown Cleveland and T1 & T2 were in different locations. This was the first time I did a tri that the transitions were not in one place. The swim s

 I cannot believe that the last time I updated this blog was after Regal Beagle 50K in November 2020. Has it really been 9 months?  Oh well, I forgot to write a blog about Outrun 24 race in May. I showed up at the race with a goal of just to finish a 50K because I wanted to save my legs and energy for the Olympic tri race at Deer Creek. At O24, I ran 35 miles and went home. Then, I got sick a week before Deer Creek and did not go to the race :(I was very disappointed as I was training pretty well and felt like I was "ready".  Then, we took off on a 2-week vacation in the Galapagos Islands and Ecuador and I felt like my training went backward a little (with minimal running, biking, and swimming during the two weeks). However, the vacation was something that P. and I really needed after more than a year of staying at home and no traveling.  After coming back from vacation, I saw someone posted in the Cleveland Tri Club Facebook group about the Spring Classic Sprint Tri (in Youn