The Zen of Ultra Running

Since I came back from the vacation, I started to get back on my training routine and was thinking about doing a 50 mile race at Mohican 100. When I designed the training schedule, I forgot that I hadn't run for 2 full weeks and should have taken it slow at first. I began with running back-to-back long runs on one weekend followed by a 13ish miles on the next weekend. My ankle started to scream due to the fast increase in mileages. I took a break from running for a week hoping that I would feel better and the rest would be enough to run the marathon loop at Mohican. I was wrong. Around Mile 13, my ankle started to say "That's enough!" but I still pushed it til we ended the run around Mile 23 (we had to do a couple of short cuts). After the Mohican run plus other family issues, I decided to pause Saturday long runs for now and switch to the triathlon training plan instead. The good thing about triathlon training plan is that you do more biking and swimming and less...

On Saturday February 18, a group of us went to Mohican State Park to run the marathon loop (long loop) for Mohican 100. We stopped at Mellor's for breakfast. I had two eggs, bacon, and toast with a cup-ish of coffee.  After breakfast, we drove to the trailhead and started running around 8.15. The weather was perfect (50-60F). The course is challenging with a lot of hills. Majority of the course is on mountain bike trails, which, in my opinion, makes the course easier to run compared to bridle trails. It reminds me of the terrain at Lowes Creek Park in Eau Claire. Occasionally, we had to stop and give way to mountain bikers.  Around Mile 13-14, my ankle started to act up and I was thinking about cutting it short. However, due to logistics problem, I decided to keep going with the group. Eventually, we cut it short and only went 23 miles instead of the whole marathon loop. The famous root climb. Took picture with the gnomes. Mohican 100 has 3 distances...

*This article was written for Medina County Road Runner Club newsletter* On December 17 th 2016, I had a chance to run a charity race in Bangkok, Thailand. I usually go back to Thailand once a year to visit family and friends. If you are interested in visiting Thailand, the best time of the year is from November to February because it is considered “winter” there. When I say winter, I mean 70-85 degrees. The hottest month will be April and the temperature could rise to 100 degrees. This year I signed up for a 10K at the Greenwave Oxygen Run that donated part of the profit to the National Institute of Child Health. The race was organized by a popular radio station and several “Thai celebrities” were running the race. There were two distances - a 5K (called micro marathon) and a 10K (called mini marathon). That might have answered my question why many people told me they run a “marathon”. The race started at 6am (yes, you read it correctly) to avoid the heat. It was about 70...