The Zen of Ultra Running

Yesterday I finished another 50K race. It's the Forget the PR 50K, which I signed up last year. I heard good things about the race and many of my friends have been running it since its inauguration. Last week when work got crazy and stressful (April and November are the worst months of the year for teachers) I had some thought about quitting ultramarathons and just sticking to the marathon or shorter races. Training for an ultra is time consuming and requires a certain level of commitment even when you just want to finish. Then, a couple of friends in academia told me that I inspired them to keep moving and reminded them of a work-life balance. The comments made me feel better and reminded me why I chose this kind of lifestyle. On the race day, I woke up at 4am to leave for Mohican. I got there a little bit before 7, picked up my packet, and chatted with friends. The weather was nice (50F) but we expected some rain in the afternoon. My goal for the race was 1) not to die 2) to ...

I just realized that the last time I updated this blog was after Thailand International Half Marathon!! Well, that's not totally true. I started another blog post after my birthday race (10K) in Bangkok but did not get a chance to finish it. It's been a busy semester and I felt like I had no time to take a break from work deadlines, running, and other life commitments since I came back to the US. After new year, R. started to run in Hinckley on the Buzzard Day course. I joined him and others on the Saturday after I came back from Thailand. The weather was UGLY on that day and I went from running in a 85F, humid park in Bangkok to -10F with a blizzard in just 6 days. I started my A race training plan a couple of weeks after I came back from Thailand but was able to loosely follow the plan since life got in the way (too many work deadlines and responsibilities). January and February flew by in the blink of an eye. At one point, I felt like I only had 2 things in life - workin...

Some of you may already know from the race report last year that I am from Bangkok, Thailand. Every winter I go back to visit family and friends for 3-4 weeks (and also to escape the “mild” Ohio winter). For the past two years that I was in Bangkok, I signed up for 10K races. I only wanted to keep to a shorter distance because of the weather. It’s usually 85 degrees in December in Bangkok and I am not sure about my ability to deal with the heat coming from a single-digit weather. This year I was more confident in my ability to run longer distance. So, I stepped up to a half marathon this time. I found Thailand International Half marathon on the weekend that I would be in Bangkok. Running has become such a popular sport in Thailand that you could find a race any distance on every weekend. Thailand International Half marathon is a race that starts under the bridge. First, you run up the Rama VIII bridge (about 0.5 miles) and the whole race was on the bridge. The race started...

When I first heard about this race months ago, I thought this would be a nice race close to home. I was not sure about the terrain and knew nothing about the race besides it was a new ultra race in NE Ohio and it's only 10 minutes from my house. I was also training for the double marathon so I completely focused on how I would finish the big race of the year and did not think much about what I would do after the big race. After the double marathon at RWS, I began to look for other races. First, I considered BBA as another 50K but the condition was too similar to RWS so I did not run it. Then, I thought about Buckeye woods 50K, which I ran last year but decided to run the 25K instead. The day before Buckeye Woods 25K, I came out and ran on the Regal Beagle Ultra course (there was a training run on the course) and ran one loop with them. The course is a 5-mile loop. There were 3 distances - 5 miles, 25K (3 loops), and 50K (6 loops). The course was described as fast and great for ...

Last year Buckeye Woods 50K was my first ultra. The race is free to all Medina County Road Runners members and the annual membership fee is only 20 dollars. The club does a lot of great things including multiple free races throughout the year, group runs, banquet, etc. I found the race on Facebook and it claimed that the race was flat and fast, and good for your first 50K. So, I paid the membership fee and signed up for the race. This year I just ran the double marathon at Run with Scissors last month and am still recovering from the race. There is also a new ultramarathon race near my house, which will take place next weekend. I was considering running that race if I decided to do another 50K. Therefore, I took it easy at Buckeye woods 50K by signing up to do only the 25K (3 loops). Since it's only 25K, I did not really prepare for the race. I drank a couple of glasses of red wine the night before and did not do the usual pre-race carb-loading routine. I showed up 10 minutes b...

After the double marathon at Run with Scissors, I spent most of my non-working moment thinking about the goals for 2018. What should I do? What should I focus on? It usually takes me a while to come up with a training routine. I like to plan my week ahead and know what I will be doing on each day for the rest of the week. Planning takes a good amount of time. As we are entering the end of the racing season, the focus should be on maintaining the level of fitness and working on the weaknesses. I have decided that I am not going to do any triathlon race longer than the Olympic distance in 2018 (half and full Ironman can wait). I figured that Olympic distance training for a triathlon gives me time to focus on ultra marathons. I am not built to be a competitive athlete. As much as I would like to be faster and run longer, my most important goal is to stay injury-free. Next year, my goal is to focus on a couple of ultramarathons. This week I signed up for Mohican 50 in June and a mara...

I usually write a blog right after my race. For this blog, I let all feelings and emotions sit for a couple of days before I started writing. First, I was overwhelmed and still could not believe that I just ran 53 miles...53 miles in the woods and cold rain. Second, I have been going through a typical emotion roller coaster known to multiple ultra runners after their big race -> post-race blues. I was lost and was not sure what to do with my life. It took me a couple of days to get myself back together and thought about "What's next?". Now I have a pretty solid plan in mind regarding the 2018 races and goals. However, until the plan is elaborately laid out in an Excel spreadsheet, I cannot stop thinking about it. My 2018 races and goals will be announced soon :D Alright, back to the pre-race, race day, and post-race recap. Pre-race: I knew I wanted to do the double marathon at Run with Scissors after my Mohican 50 miler had to be cancelled due to ankle injury. In...