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Roscoe Ramble 2026 - Funsies in thunderstorms

By Orangy -
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My first multi-day ride - Roscoe Ramble. This ride was organized by the Akron Bike Club. The riders can choose between 1) 55 miles per day or 2) 75 miles per day. I had always wanted to do this ride but since it's always in September, either between my big races or before a big race, I had not had a chance to do the ride.  This year, after finishing IM Ottawa, I was debating whether I should do another race (Portage Lake Triathlon) or do a fun two-day ride at Roscoe Ramble. After considering how much stress I was under before a race, I chose to do the long ride for fun.  Roscoe Ramble long ride started in Canal Fulton, OH. I was lucky that many people in the Saturday ride group were going to do this ride anyway, and I was able to tag along with them. We kicked off from Canal Fulton around 7:30am. The weather was perfect at the beginning of the ride. Around 10am, we arrived at the first rest stop (around mile 33) for snacks and hydration. I did not check the weather forecast be...
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The Final Cassadagaman :-( (First place AG)

By Orangy -
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Originally, I was going to go to Cassadaga, NY, to cheer on my friends who were going to do the race. I just wanted a quick girls' getaway weekend as it's a long weekend in the US (Labor Day weekend). I did not feel like I had had a break since I got back from France (bike accident -> summer teaching -> Ironman -> volunteering, etc -> Fall semester started). August just flew by in the blink of an eye O_o.  Two weeks ago, my friend (T.) texted the group saying that this would be the last year that they would hold the Cassadagaman race because of low participation. I did this race as my first 70.3 distance in 2020. Then, I did another one in 2021 before I stepped up to the Ironman distance. Because this race was always on Labor Day weekend, it did not work well with my Ironman training schedule. However, I decided to sign up for the intermediate distance as it's going to be the final year. So, I went from "having a fun non-racing + knitting weekend" to ...
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2026 Ironman Ottawa - A Gift in Life

By Orangy -
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“Considering what you have been through, doing an Ironman is a gift” - My coach  One month after the bike accident, I finished my 3rd Ironman at Ironman Ottawa this past weekend (Sunday, August 2).  I was supposed to do this race last year, but #life happened, so I deferred it to this year. Going into the race, I was not sure how it would turn out. Exactly one month before the race, I had a bike accident, broke my front teeth, and had multiple wounds on the face and body. I had to pause the Ironman training for more than a week. Considering that I was undertrained to begin with because I just got back from spending a month in France, I was not sure if I would even start the race.  Slowly and carefully, my coach and I worked together to rebuild my confidence on the bike. I tried to get as much open water swim practice as possible with two weeks left. Compared to the preparation going into IM Mont Tremblant and Chattanooga, I think the amount of training this time was not e...
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2026 catch up and summary

By Orangy -
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Wow. I can't believe I have not updated this blog for almost a year. Time does fly when you are busy! Here is the recap of the first 7 months of 2026. After Portage Lake Triathlon in 2025, I ran the Akron marathon (#7!), the half marathon at Run with Scissors (which was officially canceled but we ran the course anyway), and the 50K at Regal Beagle. The 50K went well and I waited until the last minute to decide if I wanted to run the 25K or the 50K. I bit the bullet and signed up for the 50K because my training was kinda going well.  Half marathon in Brescia, Italy 2026 started off with a half marathon in Brescia, Italy, in March. We signed up for this race because we had Delta credits in the account due to the flight cancellation in December. We used the points to buy tickets to Milan then I found a half marathon in Brescia. So, it was a quick getaway Europe trip :)     Pleasant Valley Duathlon in May Four days before we left for France, I did a duathlon at Mohican State ...
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Last triathlon in 2025 - Portage Lake Triathlon (Sprint)

By Orangy -
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My training was on and off since I came back from Portugal in July of last year. There have been a lot of life changes and adjustments. I also took the students to Thailand on the study abroad trip in May so I lost 2+ weeks of training. That's why I made the decision to defer Ironman Ottawa to next year (thanks so the Flex90 program).  I came back from Thailand in July, and 2 weeks after that, I did an Olympic distance tri in Buffalo, NY. It was a hot and humid day and I struggled greatly. I signed up for that race because I thought it would help me get ready for the Ironman but after I deferred the IM race to next year, I was stuck with this race.  The race was actually very nice. We swam in Lake Erie, which was pretty choppy and I had minimal training in open water. However, I finished and that all that mattered.  For the Portage Lake sprint tri, I decided to sign up because 1) I wanted to know where I am in the training and 2) I wanted to do one last tri race before it...
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Back in the game after a year! First triathlon race since 2023

By Orangy -
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 Woahhhhhh it's been a while since I updated this blog!  I just saw that the last blog update was in January 2024 O_o All I can say is "life happened".  In 2024, we spent the first half of the year in Portugal. I received the Fulbright award to conduct research and teach in Lisbon for 4 months. We ran several trail races when we were there including the Azores Ultra Blue Island, which I considered the most beautiful race I have done to date. Chef Pat also ran his first trail race there (10K). I am so proud of him :) Then, we were really busy adjusting back to life in NE Ohio after we came back to the US in July. Many things happened that kept me busy from training and updating the blog. I ran my 6th marathon at the Akron marathon in September and did a couple of local trail races here and there but nothing long or eventful.  While I was in Portugal, FOMO led me to sign up for IM Ottawa (the new venue in 2025) in August 2025, and I kind of regretted it. I took a break...
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Last race of 2023 - Fly Green Charity run in Bangkok

By Orangy -
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*Late post alert* Last race of 2023 was the Fly Green Charity Run 10K in Bangkok, Thailand. We signed up for this race because I wanted to keep myself active while in Bangkok. This race happened to be near my house in Bangkok so it was perfect.  I signed P. up for the 5K distance. The race started at 5:30am to avoid the heat and humidity in Bangkok. This race was organized by Thai Vietjet Air and every participant will receive a discount on their plane ticket (500 THB coupon for the 10K distance and 300 THB coupon for the 5K).  The event did not have many participants (not as many as we thought it would). They also gave out their mascot for the first 100 runners who crossed the finish line at each distance so we both got it.  The route was nothing new. It was a typical 5K loop around the park and the 10K had to run it twice. Because the race had an environmental theme, the medals were made of recycled plastic.  What I like about races in Thailand is the post-race foo...
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