The Zen of Ultra Running

To summarize the 2nd week of the Spring semester in three words - tired, out-of-shape, and (already) overwhelmed. I had another big deadline on Friday that I spent all week working on it. After that big deadline, together with a long teaching & meetings day on Wednesday, I felt drained and lost motivation to do anything. I was so mentally and physically drained that I skipped all prescribed workouts on Thursday (then, felt like sh*t that I missed the workouts). On Friday, I managed to go to the gym and did some strength training. Saturday was the Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) so my husband (Chef P.) cooked the traditional Chinese New Year food at home on Friday night (duck, fish, noodle, etc). It was delicious. It's been 14 years that I did not celebrate the Chinese New Year with family but we always do our own "celebration" at home (mostly eating a lot of traditional food). On Saturday, we went out to run the Buzzard Day course in Hinckley. The trails ...

Happy New Year 2020! As usual, we spent our Christmas and New Year in Asia. We went to Sri Lanka during Christmas and came back to Bangkok, Thailand around New Year. Sri Lanka trip was really fun and it's a beautiful country to visit (especially if you are Buddhist). We spent 4 days in the mountain visiting different UNESCO World Heritage sites and 2 days surfing in the South. It was the first time that we'd been to South Asia and we totally fell in love with that part of the world. We will definitely go back. Maybe we will visit India next time. Picture: We took a beginner surfing course at Weligama Beach in Sri Lanka. Great way to spend Christmas. Then, we came back to Thailand 2 days before New Year and I went to a beach town with my family and spent the New Year with my family. In November, I found an ultramarathon in Bangkok called "Ultra Park Run Thailand 100" on January 5. For some reason, I thought it was a good idea to run an ultramarathon in Bang...

This was my 3rd Regal Beagle 50K. I have run this race (and the distance) every year since it's started. The good thing about this race is that it's in my backyard (only 10 minutes drive from my house). The race is also part of the Running Forward and Giving Back race series. So I have every reason to support the race. Regal Beagle course is fast and very runnable. Many people run this race to get a 50K PR. Last year I was running well but the course was really muddy so it slowed me down. However, this year the course and the weather were PERFECT. It was about 20 degrees at the start but it got warmer (up to 50 degrees) toward the end of the race. They also changed the direction of the course this year so I felt like we were running downhill most of the time (with only one big climb in each loop). The course is a 5-mile loop. The 50K runs it 6 times. They also have a 25K (3 loops) and a 5 miler (1 loop). The week leading up to the race day I was working on a couple of dea...

Sorry for the late post. I'd been busy with a BIG deadline, grading, and other school stuff that I did not have time to update the blog about my two races in October. I am now at a somewhat critical point in my career that requires me to focus on work and less on the play. The end of October and early November is usually a super busy period (research, midterm, grading, final projects, etc). So, running has become a tool for me to release stress. I enjoy an easy run (with or without other people) and prefer to spend time catching up with friends during a run, rather than trying to do a structured run or get a certain amount of miles in each week. There were a couple of things that happened to me in October that put me under a lot of stress and anxiety. I knew I was entering the state of mind where if I did not do anything to fix it, it would become worse. So, I decided to use running as an outlet to release stress by telling myself "every run should be enjoyable and bring h...

Doan Creek Trail race in Shaker Heights, OH is one of the most technical races in NE Ohio. Every year there are some runners roll their ankles, fell, or break certain parts of their bodies. It's not the course that you would get a PR or even a fast time for the distance. This race is a "free" race with a string attached. Once you enter the race, you have to either donate or volunteer your time to clean up the trails (or both). It's part of the Running Forward and Giving Back race series where the races raise money for charities. I missed the race last year because we were out of the country for my sister's wedding. The first time I ran it, I thought the race was pretty technical but I could not remember if it was THAT technical. Or maybe because I just ran the Akron marathon last week and am still dealing with the bad ankle. This course for sure would make it worse but I already signed up for the 25K and I hated to DNS. I showed up at the race thinking I ...

It's another hot race this year! (After Hamburg half marathon and Vermont 100) I started the race injured and undertrained (as usual). The week leading to the race day I was really anxious about the race as my ankle was still not 100% and I had not been running much since YUTC 50K. Work was also overwhelming and running was not my first priority. The weekend before the race day I went out to check the back half of the course with A. (10 miles) so I knew what to expect. Worst case scenario I would just walk the back half of the course. Race morning I woke up early and drove to the finish line to catch the shuttle at 6am. Some people were skeptical about the new course and the new start line. This year the Akron marathon moved the start line to be at Stan Hywet hall. So, most people have to park at the finish (Canal Park) and take the shuttle to the start line. The process was easier and faster than I expected. Once I got to Stan Hywet I used the restroom and checked my gear ...

Great race. great course. great volunteers. Youngstown Ultra Trail Classic 50K is an old school ultra marathon event in Youngstown, OH. It's a club race put together by NEO trail running club. It's so old school that they only accept paper registration (you have to send in the paper registration form and a check). I wanted to run the race last year but I ended up in a boot after the CC100. This year I sent in my registration fee early as I did not want to miss the event. I know NEO trail club because they run one of the aid stations at the CC100. Great group of people. There are 2 distances - 25K and 50K. Of course, I signed up for the 50K. Who knew I would roll my ankle 2 weeks prior to the race? *sigh A week leading up to the race day, I did minimal running but instead did a lot of cross training to save my ankle. I was pretty bummed that no matter how much I tried to rest and do the ankle exercises, the bad ankle still hurt a bit when I walked. On the race day, I s...