The Zen of Ultra Running

*Warning: Depressing content alert. Please skip to the next blog if you want to.* This blog is not about a race or any of my workout, ultramarathon, or triathlon accomplishment. It's more about my current mental health and (no) workout motivation. Since getting back from Thailand, I've been sluggish and had no motivation to do anything. It might be because of the weather (?). The sudden change in the temperature from 90F to 20F hit me pretty hard. I had to catch up on a lot of things that I intentionally put off while I was on the vacation and constantly feel like I'm trying NOT to drown. Luckily, I still have my Saturday group runs to motivate me to get out. Two weekends ago we had a snowmageddon in NE Ohio, which trapped us in the house for 3 days. This week (yesterday and today) we have Polar Vortex, which makes the temperature drop really low (-31F with wind chill) and schools had to cancel classes (including my university). I should take it as an opportunity to wor...

Thailand International Half Marathon is always on the 3rd week of December. Last year I ran the race for the first time. Actually, I was not quite impressed with the race and its organization but the timing and distance fit my schedule. This year I asked my extended family if anyone would be interested in running the half marathon (or any distance) with me at this race. One of my cousins has recently started running and done 2 half marathons this year. She wanted to run another one especially when she knew I was going to run with her. Another cousin decided to run her first half at this race. We also persuaded her brother to join us. I had always wanted to run with my family for AGES. Tried to persuade my sisters to start running but none of them was interested. When my cousins (who grew up with me) decided to run this race, I was very excited. We started a group chat called "Happy Running" and used it as our team name when we signed up for the race. Since this race was...

My last ultra marathon of the year - Regal Beagle 50K. I ran the inaugural race last year and really liked it. Last year course was flat and fast. I PRed the 50K at this race. This year they had to re-route the course due to heavy rain on Saturday. Some part of the course was flooded and not runnable. The new course had more paved trail but more hilly. I did not go to the training run a week ago but heard from someone who went. After multiple late arrivals at the races this year, I figured it would be better to get there super early (due to limited parking space). The race was only 7 minutes from my house. I got there about 7 - an hour before the race started. Picked up my race packet, ate my pre-race breakfast, and went to the bathroom. Darn, I was so prepared this time. The weather was nice - 50 degrees and sunny when we started. Could not have asked for the better weather. Then, it got warmer during the day so I had to switch from long sleeves to short sleeves t-shirt. I saw...

Oh boy, what a busy (and lazy) Thanksgiving break! On Thursday (Thanksgiving), I signed up for the Home Run for the Homeless 4 miler (turkey trot) in Akron. I did this race last year with a colleague (and her family) and really liked the idea of running a turkey trot on Thanksgiving. So, this year I signed up to do it again. A couple of days before the race, I realized that a lot of my running friends would be there, too. That made me even more excited. On the race day, there were sooo many people making it very hard to find my friends. There was a group picture in front of Krispy Kreme at 8:45am. I did not know which group the picture was for and found out later that it was for another group that I have not even run with them (but heard of them). So, I felt bad that I appeared like I belonged to that group in the group picture. After the group picture, I slowly made my way to the front of the pack where I found E. and J. (and their friends). E. is a fast/badass ultra marathon runner...

In 2016, when I first moved to NE Ohio, someone told me about Bills' Badass 50K. I also got to run with the race director and became friends with him and the group. I was only training for my first marathon at that time and ran the marathon at Run with Scissors 2 weeks before BBA50K. After considering all the factors involved, I decided NOT to run BBA that year but volunteer at the race instead (to get the feeling/experience of the trail community in NE Ohio). I fell in love with the community on that day.  Bills' Badass 50K started 10 years ago. It's a free race because the RD wanted to make the race accessible to everyone. However, they encourage runners to make donations and each year the money goes to one of the non-profit organizations in NE Ohio.  In 2017, I ran the double marathon at Run with Scissors and had enough of the muddy, wet, cold rain condition that I did not want to run another 50K two weeks later in the same weather condition. So, I again volunte...

The first time I ran Autumn Leaves 5 miler was in 2016. I did not run it last year because I just finished the double marathon at Run with Scissors. This year I signed up with a couple of friends again. We also know the race director and wanted to give her the support. The week leading to the race was kinda...blah... It was raining everyday for a week, which made everything so dull. I managed to get some run in everyday even though I did not feel like it. On Friday, I had a curriculum summit on campus in the morning and in the evening I ran with H. on her birthday run. She turned 40 this year and wanted to run 40 miles on her birthday (pretty cool, eh?). She invited a couple of friends to run with her during different sections and I ran 5 miles with her on the Bills' Badass loop. Saturday there was a training run for Bills' Badass 50K. Many people showed up to the group run. We ran about 1.5 loops at BBA before some of us went to grab coffee at the coffee shop in Richfield....

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...