The Zen of Ultra Running

Yep, it's that time of the year again. This past weekend was the 2018 Run with Scissors race. I ran this race as my first marathon in 2016 (4 months after I moved to NE Ohio) and first 50ish miler in 2017 in the worst condition one could have asked for (rainy and muddy). This year I was "voluntold" to be the aid station captain at Pine Hollow. This aid station was the first aid station that the runners will run through (4 miles from the start/finish). Originally, I thought about running the double marathon again this year but because my ankle was still in the not-yet-100% condition and I wanted to help my friends, I agreed to be the aid station captain. About one week before the race day, the RD (S.) emailed me the information and turned out that my aid station had to be opened from 5:30am to 8pm! I was freaking out about the duration of the aid station hours. Not because I did not want to be there but because I did not know anyone who would show up in the wee hours o...

The weather had changed dramatically in one week. Last week I was still biking in a humid 70 degree weather on Sunday and stopped by the Towpath marathon to cheer on the runners. This weekend I ran two races (5K and a half marathon) in a 40-50 degree weather. My colleague signed me up to run Komen Race for the Cure 5K on Saturday. I thought "why not?". The race was at the Rubber Duck stadium and we ran as a part of a team that her friend created. The race was to raise money for and awareness to breast cancer, and to celebrate breast cancer survivors. We arrived at the race about an hour prior to the start. It was cold and rainy in the morning. The race was fun and we went to a post-race brunch party at her friend's house. and of course, after the brunch, I came home to shower and went to Brewnuts (as usual). My husband wanted to go somewhere to study for his upcoming test. Where would be better than a donut and beer shop? I was supposed to work while he was st...

After the Canal Corridor 100, I was in a boot for 3 weeks. I admit that I kinda lost my running mojo after being in the boot and being away from the trails. My left ankle still hurt every time I ran on trails especially bridle trails. I also shifted my focus to triathlon training. In other words, I was all over the place. A good friend who is also a triathlon coach kindly sent me a brief training program after seeing me freaking out about the Akron marathon. After getting out of the boot, my longest run was still at 12 miles 3 weeks prior to the marathon. Two weeks before the marathon I ran 20 slow miles on uneven trails and that made my injured ankle worse (Yes, I admit that it was a stupid decision to train for my road marathon on trail but I missed trail running and my running friends). Then, we traveled across the world to attend my sister's wedding and were super busy while we were in Bangkok. However, I got a chance to squeeze in 12 miles on Saturday (a week before the mara...

Portage lake triathlon was the first and last triathlon race for me in 2018. Because my main focus since the beginning of the year was on the Canal Corridor 100, I did not allocate much time for swimming and biking (let along Brick workouts). Originally, I signed up for Vermillion triathlon (sprint) but I felt that I was not ready before Vermillion so I emailed the race organizer and asked to defer the race to Portage Lake. They were very understanding and switched my registration to Portage Lake sprint tri. A couple of weeks leading to the race day, I'd been biking with B. and K. on Sundays but did not seriously "train" for the race. I was glad to clip in and out of the bike shoes without too much ankle pain. Wednesday before the race I did Brick (bike and run) for the first and last time before the race. I did not have any expectation with this race at all. On the race day, it rained really hard and the temperature dropped to 50+ degrees that morning. Many people ...

One good thing about not training for any big race is my weekends are more flexible and I don't have to think about how many miles I have to cover on Saturday & Sunday (aka I don't "need" XX miles). As I wanted to slowly get back to running, I did not want to do any "crazy" long run on Saturday. Also, I missed the first Doan creek clean up this year because I ended up in the boot the day before. I decided to go to the 2nd Doan Creek clean up this weekend. It was great to see more than 30 people showed up to do something good to the community. Together we collected over a hundred bags of garbage in Rockefeller park in Cleveland. As I was picking up trash on the trail and on the street, I admit that I was mad at those irresponsible people that did not think about others in the society but themselves. We picked up a lot of beer cans, bottles, snack bags, clothes, fast food containers, etc. Cleaning up Doan Creek makes me want to be a better citizen and a ...

No running or biking means more time to swim! Last week was a "swimming week" for me. I'm glad that the doctor still allowed me to swim and do easy yoga. After being an inactive couch potato last weekend, I felt like a worthless piece of 💩. By Sunday evening, I was already looking forward to Monday night swim in the lake. The lake only allows weekday swim. I ended up swimming 4 days last week and felt more comfortable swimming. Surprisingly, my ankle also felt better every time I swam. On Friday, we had a pretty good turnout for the morning swim. I figured I will not be able to train on the bike (not enough time between getting off the boot and the race day) but I can still practice swimming. I want to make sure that the ankle is completely back to normal before I start running/biking again. I was supposed to pace a friend at Burning River 100 (she was attempting her first 100 miler) but I could not do it because I ended up in a boot. I was pretty bummed becaus...

"When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."  - Alexander Graham Bell Yes, I'm benched for a couple of weeks - no running or biking or doing anything that I have to use my ankle and toes. I am allowed to do yoga but have to avoid certain poses like tree pose or other standing poses. I can bike on a recumbent bike (ugh) and swim. Wahoo! I can still swim... At the PT (Physical Therapy) visit last week, I explained the symptoms on my left ankle to my PT. She said it should still be a tendonitis but there was a chance that I could have a stress fracture in the ankle. If I did not feel better by the next visit, she said I should have imaging done on the ankle to see if there was a fracture. Well, I did not wait until the next PT visit to find out. I was supposed to pace a friend on her first 100 miler at Burning River in 2 weeks and if I could not do it, I...