CLE Trail 50K - Why did I think it was flat???
Last week was very emotional in our family. Our dog, Tofu, who was 15 years old hadn't been drinking nor eating for a couple of days and she seemed "different" from her normal self. I decided to take her to the vet on Tuesday and we found out from her blood work that her kidney was failing. On Wednesday, the vet called and told me that she might only have 10 days or so left according to her blood results. We were heartbroken. We had 2 options 1) treat her with fluid right away, which might have prolonged her health for a couple of months to a year but we had to give her fluid daily with needle injection, etc. 2) put her to sleep. We researched the first option and talked to the vet. He said fluid treatment might also come with other complications such as high blood pressure, etc., which could result in more medication and pain. We went with the 2nd option and decided to spend as much time with her as possible. Tofu crossed Rainbow Bridge on Friday May 11 morning at 10.30am.
This is my last picture with Tofu. I adopted her when I was in the 2nd year of my PhD program (Tofu was 6 years old). I was lonely and depressed. Tofu fulfilled my life. She went with me everywhere and even traveled to Thailand twice. Everyone loved Tofu and she was once the most famous dog among Thai students in Champaign-Urbana, IL. Tofu would stay up with me all night while I was writing my dissertation. She helped me practice my research presentations and job talks (Yes, I gave research presentations to my dog). Tofu was with me through the happiest and most difficult time of my life. To me, she was more than a pet. Tofu was a friend, a roommate, and, sometimes, a psychologist. RIP, Tofu.
I signed up for the CLE trail 50K long time ago as part of my training. I heard good things about the race and the RDs and wanted to run their races (another race is Conquer the Castle). Not sure why I thought it was flat when I signed up =_=' CLE trail has 3 distances - half marathon, marathon, and 50K. Each loop is 13ish miles (half marathon). The marathoners run 2 loops and the 50K run 2 loops plus extra miles at the end.
On the race day, I showed feeling like cr*p. I did not sleep well on Friday night and skipped the pre-race dinner because I was not hungry. I still could not deal with the fact that Tofu was gone for good. However, I got up and drove to the race realizing that I would not have done anything on that day either. The race gave me something to think about. I had no goal for this race but to finish within 8 hours.
I saw a couple of friends at the start line and chatted with them a bit. The first couple of miles flew by and suddenly my stomach felt weird. I really really needed to to go the restroom. Thankfully, there were plenty of restrooms along the way (almost at every aid station) and I used the restroom 3 times during the race even thought I didn't think I ate anything adventurous the day before. After the 3rd time (within the first 9 miles), I almost gave up and thought about DNF. Then, I ran into 2 other runners (T. and E.) who were walking on the trail. I talked to them and found out that they just ran O24 the week before (T. ran 96 miles and E. ran 47). They were also doing the 50K at CLE trail. So, we decided that we would walk together.
After the first loop, I felt a bit better but did not want to start running yet. So, E. and I power walked for another 4-5 miles before they stopped at the aid station but at that time my legs could not stop otherwise they would never want to move again. So, I decided to keep moving. About 22 miles in, it started to rain and I got really cold. Thanks to my friend, M., who volunteered at an aid station and she lent me her rain jacket. After the 2nd loop, I started to feel better (it also stopped raining at that time). I knew I only had 5 miles left so I started jogging. I crossed the finish line in 7 hours and 51 minutes.
The race was well organized and the volunteers were wonderful. The course was challenging but doable. I will definitely run the race again in the future to get a faster time.
This is my last picture with Tofu. I adopted her when I was in the 2nd year of my PhD program (Tofu was 6 years old). I was lonely and depressed. Tofu fulfilled my life. She went with me everywhere and even traveled to Thailand twice. Everyone loved Tofu and she was once the most famous dog among Thai students in Champaign-Urbana, IL. Tofu would stay up with me all night while I was writing my dissertation. She helped me practice my research presentations and job talks (Yes, I gave research presentations to my dog). Tofu was with me through the happiest and most difficult time of my life. To me, she was more than a pet. Tofu was a friend, a roommate, and, sometimes, a psychologist. RIP, Tofu.
I signed up for the CLE trail 50K long time ago as part of my training. I heard good things about the race and the RDs and wanted to run their races (another race is Conquer the Castle). Not sure why I thought it was flat when I signed up =_=' CLE trail has 3 distances - half marathon, marathon, and 50K. Each loop is 13ish miles (half marathon). The marathoners run 2 loops and the 50K run 2 loops plus extra miles at the end.
On the race day, I showed feeling like cr*p. I did not sleep well on Friday night and skipped the pre-race dinner because I was not hungry. I still could not deal with the fact that Tofu was gone for good. However, I got up and drove to the race realizing that I would not have done anything on that day either. The race gave me something to think about. I had no goal for this race but to finish within 8 hours.
I saw a couple of friends at the start line and chatted with them a bit. The first couple of miles flew by and suddenly my stomach felt weird. I really really needed to to go the restroom. Thankfully, there were plenty of restrooms along the way (almost at every aid station) and I used the restroom 3 times during the race even thought I didn't think I ate anything adventurous the day before. After the 3rd time (within the first 9 miles), I almost gave up and thought about DNF. Then, I ran into 2 other runners (T. and E.) who were walking on the trail. I talked to them and found out that they just ran O24 the week before (T. ran 96 miles and E. ran 47). They were also doing the 50K at CLE trail. So, we decided that we would walk together.
After the first loop, I felt a bit better but did not want to start running yet. So, E. and I power walked for another 4-5 miles before they stopped at the aid station but at that time my legs could not stop otherwise they would never want to move again. So, I decided to keep moving. About 22 miles in, it started to rain and I got really cold. Thanks to my friend, M., who volunteered at an aid station and she lent me her rain jacket. After the 2nd loop, I started to feel better (it also stopped raining at that time). I knew I only had 5 miles left so I started jogging. I crossed the finish line in 7 hours and 51 minutes.
The race was well organized and the volunteers were wonderful. The course was challenging but doable. I will definitely run the race again in the future to get a faster time.
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