The Zen of Ultra Running

In my life, I never imagined I would run a marathon. NEVER. As a matter of fact, a year ago I was still skeptical of the marathon distance. Who would have time to train for a marathon? Not a tenure-track assistant professor for sure. Then, I began to run more and more. Started with a half marathon, 25K, and more half marathons. The idea of weekend long run is not an alien to me any more. 12-15 miles have become pretty normal. I would not get home until 11am or 12pm on Saturday when I go out for a long run. The mileage has increase and so does the running duration. After I finished the Muddy Paws 10 miles in July (3 weeks after I moved to OH), I wanted to do another trail race and was thinking between keeping at the half marathon or move up to a marathon. Talked to Stacie and she told me about the Run with Scissors marathon. I was not sure if I could do it as I just started my new job and was afraid that the training would be too demanding. After discussed with Steve and Jen (trail ...

Because my FIRST marathon is at the end of this month, I was obliged to do another 20 miler. I wanted to run on the trail and, if possible, on the marathon course. My friend, S., has been involved with the race for quite a while and she agreed to lead me on the run. Another friend who is also training for her first full at Run with scissors joined us for the 20 miler. We had fun and chatted along the way.  By the time we reached Towpath, it was 10 miles. We were supposed to turn back but our race director appeared to run the full marathon at the Towpath marathon. So, we waited to cheer on him.  After we saw R. passed Szalay's, we turned around and headed back to our car, which were parked at Ledges. Luckily the weather was nice and I had very good companies. 20 miles passed by really fast. We pretty much walked the last mile because we were all tired but it's OKAY to walk in trail running (that's why I love it!).  I think I am ready for the Run with...

Can't believe it's been 2 months after my last yoga class. After the unlimited pass ended at the end of July, it's been too warm for hot yoga (August/Sep). I bought a 5-class pass, which ends in August of 2017 so I am in no rush to use it. My right ankle has been bothering me lately and I think part of it because I did not do much cross-training even though my weekly mileage increased. Now I run about 30 miles a week. Some weeks I swim and some weeks I bike but it's not consistent. Last Thursday was the first time I did yoga in 2 months. Every part of my body hurt. I'd also been upset with things at work so much that it cluttered my thoughts making me unproductive. One session of yoga at home on Thursday helped a lot. Got the photos from the half marathon on Saturday. Too bad I did not have a free download like other people (that may be because I used a free code to sign up). This weekend I needed 14 miles for the long run. A friend of mine was suppo...