The Zen of Ultra Running

Regal Beagle ultra (50K). Super cold and windy.  After I finished the Run with Scissors marathon, I came down with a cold and had to travel the week after the race. So, I was out for almost a week. The week after I got a booster shot on Monday (while still recovering from the cold) and felt pretty crappy for the rest of the week.  The week leading up to the race I was still feeling under the weather and was not sure if I would want to run the 50K at the race this year. I signed up for the 50K but the RD said we could drop to 25K if we wanted to. I picked up the packet on the race morning and was still unsure if I wanted to do the 50K or the 25K. The weather was very cold and windy (but at least it was not raining or snowing).  I saw K. and B. at the start line. K signed up for the 50K and B. signed up for the 25K. The RD said many people had switched from the 50K to the 25K due to the cold temperature. The weather did not really bother me as much because I had run in wors...

It's been a while (again) since my last blog. Things were c-r-a-z-y at work and I also felt lost after the Akron marathon where I had no big race or short-term career goal to look forward to. As a goal-oriented freak, that put me in the deepest sh*thole I had ever been (besides the time during my PhD program but that's another story).  Here is the recap of what happened while I was not blogging.  September was a pretty busy month. I submitted the tenure packet one day before my A race (Half IM). Two weeks later I did a 100-mile bike ride and the last weekend of September was the Akron marathon.  Update on the Akron marathon - I had cramps from Mile 20 to the finish and ended up having to walk a lot. Things were not pretty but it was good to see friends along the course. Akron marathon #4 - check! I also ran Regal Beagle in November but decided to cut back to the 25K coz I felt like I did not train enough and honestly my head was not there. I started to treat racing like a...

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...

My last ultra marathon of the year - Regal Beagle 50K. I ran the inaugural race last year and really liked it. Last year course was flat and fast. I PRed the 50K at this race. This year they had to re-route the course due to heavy rain on Saturday. Some part of the course was flooded and not runnable. The new course had more paved trail but more hilly. I did not go to the training run a week ago but heard from someone who went. After multiple late arrivals at the races this year, I figured it would be better to get there super early (due to limited parking space). The race was only 7 minutes from my house. I got there about 7 - an hour before the race started. Picked up my race packet, ate my pre-race breakfast, and went to the bathroom. Darn, I was so prepared this time. The weather was nice - 50 degrees and sunny when we started. Could not have asked for the better weather. Then, it got warmer during the day so I had to switch from long sleeves to short sleeves t-shirt. I saw...

When I first heard about this race months ago, I thought this would be a nice race close to home. I was not sure about the terrain and knew nothing about the race besides it was a new ultra race in NE Ohio and it's only 10 minutes from my house. I was also training for the double marathon so I completely focused on how I would finish the big race of the year and did not think much about what I would do after the big race. After the double marathon at RWS, I began to look for other races. First, I considered BBA as another 50K but the condition was too similar to RWS so I did not run it. Then, I thought about Buckeye woods 50K, which I ran last year but decided to run the 25K instead. The day before Buckeye Woods 25K, I came out and ran on the Regal Beagle Ultra course (there was a training run on the course) and ran one loop with them. The course is a 5-mile loop. There were 3 distances - 5 miles, 25K (3 loops), and 50K (6 loops). The course was described as fast and great for ...