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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
peihan's LiveJournal:
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| Sunday, April 27th, 2008 | | 8:33 pm |
Adventure Trail Run 24 Hour April 26, 2008 8 miles per lap, total of 64 miles completed Weather: low 55deg, high 88deg, bright sun during the day, intermittent showers thunderstorms at night Intro Loop course in Prince William Forest in northern Virginia, about 2 hours from Charlottesville. Arrived in time for pre-race briefing, picked up packet, won a raffle for a nice microfiber towel. Sweet =) Talked to Christina a bit, ended up sitting next to John Laird but didn’t talk to him much. Not sure if he recognized me =P Stayed overnight in cabins, got a cabin to myself =) Read a book for a while on the porch, dozed off for an hour or two till ~9pm. Got ready for bed, realize that there is zero cell phone reception but hope for a call from Mike anyway. Ended up getting a voicemail beep around 4am, but couldn’t check voicemail =/ Woke around 6am (overslept!). Had some cheese ravioli for breakfast, successful potty trip! Figured on 50 mile minimum, hoping for 75-80. Definitely want a slow start, but hope to take advantage of daylight hours because I’m a slow night runner and I’ll be sleepy and tired by nighttime. Lap 1-2: miles 1-16, 7am-11am Took these both pretty easy, ran with small groups and chattered the whole time. Focused mostly on getting comfortable. Planned to run this section like the first part of Bull Run, and basically feel fresh after these first miles. Didn’t drink much the first lap, but had 1.5-2 bottles of gatorade on the second lap. Start temp around 55deg, noticeably warmer by second lap. Sunny. Made sure to grab handfuls of snacks to eat, especially with these longer loops. Good times =) Right around 2hrs each. Lap 3: miles 17-24, 11am-1pm Little bit slower on this one, stayed with a group of relay runners, but they started slowing down a lot by the halfway point. Stayed with them for the comraderie for most of the way, but finally had to leave them behind. Still feeling good, but definitely hot out. Drinking plenty of Gatorade. Something like 2:10 for this one. Had half bottle of ensure, couple of ravioli, some random sweet snacks and chips. Little too much to eat, stomach slosh for first couple minutes of next lap =P Originally planned to take a longer break after this one, but changed my mind. Wanted to keep laps in pairs, with breaks after each pair, or something like that. Peed at the beginning of this one. Girl asks me if I’m Mike’s fiancee which was totally random, said that he got her to sign up for the race. Really confused for a while, but then vaguely remember Mike saying something about a girl that was running it, and might be around my pace. Unfortunately, we keep being a little off schedule and never end up running together. John’s flying! Lap 4: miles 25-32, 1pm-4pm, the really hot lap Took it easy at first because of excess food, and legs feeling it a bit, so decided to start easy. Very hot. Lots of sun and little shade or breeze. Drank a lot of Gatorade but kinda warm and not really satisfying thirst. Saw a big black snake slithering off into the grass. Neat =) Slowed way down, sat on log in shade for a bit. Stopped at 4mi aid station to sit for about 10min because I was so tired and feeling pretty drained. Had a succeed here. Slogged out the rest of the lap with plenty of pauses and walking. Sky got overcast and sun went out for the last mile (bad timing on my part!) Pretty lightheaded by end. Pulled out ipod for most of second half… helped some. Felt hot all over even several minutes after finishing, so went to go wash off face and arms with cold water. Wiped off a lot of salt and yellow pollen. Have some heat rash on stomach, ew. Felt much better! Changed shirt and sports bra, cleaned up a bit, and lay down in cabin for 15-20min. Dozed off a bit. Totally exhausted. Probably about an hour before I went back out. Ate some pierogies and some more ensure, oranges were really good =) Lap 5: miles 32-40, 5pm-7pm, rainy cool lap Started off easy, but legs were much refreshed. Warm and humid for first bit even though sun was gone, but finally the rain came, after a long time of thundering. So good! Kept up a good pace, still drinking plenty of water and gatorade. Good times =) Peed again. Not as fast as the first few, but not bad. Something like 2:20? Started taking longer breaks between laps here, legs and feet and definitely getting tired. Plenty of food, and good stuff too, like canned pineapple with the juice in it, mmm =) Ensure seems to be good for keeping me from getting too hungry before the end of laps, even if it is a little sloshy at first. Still having about half a bottle per lap. Took an ibuprofen. Lap 6: miles 41-48, 7:30pm-10pm, getting dark lap Took a somewhat shorter break to try and take advantage of a little daylight remaining. Slowing down and tired, but tried to run more at the beginning, knowing that I would slow way down in the dark. Unexpected: millions of tiny little gnats, all lit up by the light, as well as big beetle things that would also come to the light and bonk into your head. Very gross. But it rained some more and got rid of most of the bugs. Rain has been very irregular and intermittent, sometimes very light sprinkle, sometimes complete downpour. Trail integrity is still fine, not much has soaked in yet. Still tried to run as much as I was comfortable, but not used to headlamp yet. Walked last bit in with two guys who were having light/battery problems. Good thing I brought the whole pack of batteries, gave them a bunch. Ran most of this lap alone, listened to ipod for the second half of this one too. Left knee hurts when running downhill =/ Definitely front center, below kneecap itself =/ Nothing else hurts, amazingly. Tons of little brown and white frogs out! All sitting in the middle of the trail, soaking up the rain and looking generally pleased. Funny because they don’t move off the trail at all, or seem fazed, even when I shine my light on them. Lap 7: miles 49-56, 11pm-2am, weird guy lap Longer break before this one, definitely starting to feel less motivated =P Hot dinner started being served too! Peed at beginning of this one, realized that there was a bathroom cabin at the very beginning of the loop. Much better than peeing in woods! Finally got going, back into the dark and rain, planning on just moving forward, not necessarily much running. Cooled off while sitting around in damp clothes so changed into long sleeved shirt. Getting sleepy, so had some Starbucks frappochino drink with ensure. Interesting combination =) Finally see Dave Snipes coming in on a lap on my way out. He will lap me several times tonight. Started off alone but ended up walking most of the way with some guy from Massachusetts who had very strong (albeit bizarre and illogical) opinions about everything. It’s all industry and the man trying to convince us of the way things are. Like the unnecessariness of, oh I don’t know, pap smears and child car seats, and the paranoia about identity theft. Note that this guy is 65, has been in mental institutions, doesn’t like working and is thus on medicaid, and doesn’t own a car. Friendly enough guy, just weird. Convinced that I am shy because I don’t want a bridal shower or a walk down the aisle. Can’t conceive that someone doesn’t want to be the center of attention =P Nice to have company and legs felt prety decent by the end of the lap. Ate some more hot pasta, ensure. Switched over to water instead of Gatorade. Took another ibuprofen after this one. Lap 8: miles 57-64, 2:30am-6am, drag my ass out lap Planned on taking a longer break and start at 3, but figured I might as well get it over with. Dragged myself back out after talking with some of the relay runners I had run with earlier today… everyone’s so nice and extra friendly after finding out that I’m here by myself =) Ate some more hot dinner food… different stuff out every time. It’s amazing! Start out mostly walking, but start very short running bits just to get moving. Realize that leg muscles can do it, but feet hurt much more after running =/ I think the starbucks drink or something made me feel all hot and jittery and antsy for the first hour or so. Very weird. Tried to run it off, but feet and knee hurt. Sit on logs a few times, but eventually keep going. Have to poop twice but stomach feels much better after. Noticed something before I left the lodge but didn’t think about it. Glad I had my paper towel with me! Finally get to halfway station, and ask the nice EMTs if I can sit for a bit. Hang out for 10min or so, Jessica (Mike’s friend who recognized me) is there, hurt her knee and was waiting for a ride back. Apparently weird Massachusettes guy passes by while I’m there. Hear a big splash into the water, which freaks me out. Way to big to be a bull frog! After talking to people afterwards, figure it was likely a beaver. Makes sense with all the chewed up trees =P Make it the rest of the way out, definitely anxious during the last two mile of the lollipop and running as much as a I can, as fast as I can. Soooo glad to be done. Longest lap ever. Glad I made the effort to do that last one… 100K+! (even if freakishly slow) Sit. Drink some ensure. Sit. Eventually drag myself over to take the coldest shower ever, but man did that feel good. Chilly after. Grab a plate of tasty looking breakfast food but only nibble a bit. Raging hunger during the race has disappeared entirely. Chat it up with some more people. Good times =) Get a plaque =) Endnotes Good times, talked to lots of people. Overall happy with results of the day, even if slower than expected. Blame it on the heat, which drained a lot of energy out of me, and the lure of being back at the start/finish each time, and ability to hang around without pressure to keep going again. Alex is good about asking if I was gonna go back out for another one. Good thing I was, because it really sucks to be wussy and say, nah, I’m done for. No one wants that =P Sore, but no sharp pains anywhere, doesn’t look like I have any noticeable chafing, even. Feet are wet and puffy, callouses and hot spots, but no blisters. Not too shabby. Not sleepy anymore, but take an hour or so nap in sleeping bag in back seat of car before driving back. Smooth drive back, except thought I was lost (I wasn’t, had to go a little further) when in Charlottesville already =P Eat, sleep, repeat. Ended up using most of the clothes I brought (in addition to clothes I started out in: technical t-shirt, north face shorts, sports bra, thorlo trail socks, vasque blurs): changed shirt and sports bra after afternoon heat, changed into long sleeved shirt for lap 6, added windbreaker for last two laps. Jacket was a bit much for the most part, but heavy rain was chilly, and nice at the very end when I was really slowing down, inside and out. Didn’t end up changing shoes or socks, though I did empty out pebbles twice, and there was lots of grit in there by the end. Didn’t switch to camelbak because waistpack didn’t chafe me. Didn’t bring backup flashlight because had planned to carry it in camelbak’s pockets. Ensure was good, ended up only having three and one starbucks drink. Ravioli was good for drive in and breakfast, but day was too warm for it to be safe all day. Freezing the ensure didn’t do much, think day was too warm. Only stayed cool for the morning. Doesn’t taste that bad at room temp anyway. Did a good job with eating all day, only got lightheaded during the really hot lap, so that was good. Peed every couple hours, even if dark the first few times, so hydration was probably acceptable. Hands weren’t noticeably swollen (at least before I put ring back on), so electrolytes were probably pretty good too. Not too shabby =) | | Monday, June 4th, 2007 | | 11:48 pm |
A story about turtles
Once upon a time, there was a baby turtle that was born on the shores of the D&R canal. He decided to go out for a run (albeit a very slow one), when he realized that it was very hot out and there was no water to be seen! He craned his head out of his shell as far as it would go, but he couldn't figure out how to get back to the nice cool water. But, as he was wandering around, a giant came along and picked him up! Having never been up so high before, the baby turtle goggled at the things he could see while holding on to the giant's finger with his tail. The giant put him down by the water (upside down at first), and the baby went on to live happily ever after as a giant snapping turtle. Okay, this is actually supposed to be a report on the 2007 running of the Towpath Train'ing Run, but a story seemed like the best way to start =) That actually did happen while John Grieco and I were running along, so John gets credit for a good deed to cancel out all the bad ones that I'm sure he's been doing ;) But anyway, I started my day after 3 hours of sleep to meet Ken Mangin at Johnson Park, since he was driving Bill and I to Trenton, being the good (or absolutely insane) soul that he is. As I'm entering the park, I see someone whom I presumed to be Bill (never met him before), as well as a police officer in the Grove 5 lot. He's shining his light at Bill's plates, and then at me as I pull in. I was apprehensive, but turns out he was a nice guy and didn't give us any trouble about the park being technically closed. Good thing he didn't know about all the beer in Bill's van, else he might not have believed me! Bill tried to take a picture of us at the start of the towpath, but since it was only first light, and the camera had no flash, I'm sure Bill got a lovely photo of two suspicious looking silhouettes outside of the Salvation Army Rehab center ;) Not that Ken and I are suspicious looking or anything! We got started in the warm and humid morning, with promise of more heat to come. We kept up a pretty good, steady pace for the first 12 miles while talking about everything from what toothpaste is made of to the effects that significant others have on distance running =) We met Ray at Kingston for gatorade, cookies, and pictures. Also made the mistake of thinking that we were running really fast and had run 2mi further than we really had (I'll make this mistake again later in the day). So Bill had to hurry to catch his ride back, and we headed out to Rocky Hill where other runners would be getting dropped off, and I'd leave Bill's company. I got a head start on the other runners, knowing that I'd slow down during the day, and wanted to minimize the gap, so I spent much of the next 6mi or so alone, free to admire the morning scenery. At 14 miles to go (I forget what road this is), I come in to find a large group ready to join the train, as well as John Grieco, who was my running buddy for almost the rest of the way home. As many of you probably know, I now live in VA and rarely get to come back to NJ to join the group for a run. The towpath run is the one time a year I get to see most people. So I hadn't seen John in a whole year-- that's a lot of stories and jokes to catch up on! Fortunately, I was pretty tired by this time and going pretty slowly, so we had plenty of time. The miles flew by like nothing, despite a lot of moaning and groaning from me =) At some point, the baby turtle incident that inspired the story above occurred, I can't remember when =P John had to hurry on ahead to save the pasta sitting in his car from spoiling, so went on ahead when we reached S. Bound Brook. And here is where I made a big mistake of thinking that there was only 5mi to go, instead of the actual 7.5-8mi. I realized my mistake when I reached the 287 bridge and remember that *this* was 5mi to go! Oh no! I was pretty tired by this time, and it might've ended poorly for me if Mary Foley hadn't decided to come back for us stragglers and found me for the last 3miles home. And this is after she'd already biked 34+ miles! But we finally made it home to the sound of much applause (to my complete embarassment!) and the smell of delicious food! So. I owe a lot of people thanks for helping me finish the whole distance a second time, despite some stomach problems and the heat! Ray, of course, for organizing another great year, and for convincing me to try the whole 34.1 in the first place back in '05 =) Ken, for driving Bill and I, at a god-forsaken hour of the day, all for the sake of a handful of cookies! John, for keeping me company for so long, especially at such a slow pace, and listening to me complain about how tired I was. And Mary, for helping me to seal the deal at the very end, and dragging my sorry rear end into Johnson Park. And everyone at the water stops, thank you! The gatorade in my camelbak was body temp by about 6:30am, so the cool drinks were amazing. The cheerful faces and encouragement was always a huge boost too =) I'll be back for the Turkey Swamp race day in August, so hopefully I'll see some RVRR folks there! Otherwise, happy running, till next year! P.S. I am making some of the weirdest faces ever in some of those pictures. Please ignore. Or at least please don't use them to blackmail me. I swear I'm not really a slack-jawed yokel in real life =) http://public.fotki.com/rvrr/2007/towpath-training-run/6207020.html | | Tuesday, April 17th, 2007 | | 4:53 pm |
Bull Run Run
Bull Run Run
April 14, 2007
6:15am
Clifton, VAtotal time 11:21 average pace 13:30 246th out of 300 finishers Stream crossing early in the race =)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjcbur/460712624/in/set-72157600081180655/Before I arrive at Hemlock Friday night around 8, too late for the pasta dinner, the pre-race briefing, or packet pickup, but with plenty of time to lay out my sleeping bag, snack, and relax before bed. I show up, not many people around, when I first realize that I have no idea how to find the women’s cabin. There are usually 2-3 men’s cabins, and one for the women. I approach one, where someone is coming out… turns out it is Durt, from coolrunning! That was fun. He guessed who I was because I said I'd be one of the only asian women there... guess it worked =P There’s only one other woman in the cabin, which is surprising, because when I stayed in the bunks two years ago, both rooms were pretty full with 8-9 of us. I take the other room, set up, and sit down to do a bit of reading while snacking on some tortellini, combos, and grapes. Weird combination, I know, but it tasted good =) It’s a bit chilly in the cabin, so I grab an extra fleece blanket from the car. Two other women arrive later while I’m in the bathroom… a first time 50 miler named Hunner (Harriet), and her crew, Christine. We chat a bit, and soon go to bed around 10pm. I was cozy warm in my sleeping bag when my watch alarm goes off at 4:15am, so I decide that there’s no reason to get up so early. I reset the alarm for 4:30 =) I finally drag my lazy butt out of bed, go to the bathroom, drink some water, go pick up my bag, and eat the rest of the tortellini. Around 5:45, I hit the bathroom one more time, and head to the lodge where everyone is hanging out. I eat a quarter of a blueberry muffin (yum) while people watching. I’m pretty calm, and yawning a bit, but I mostly just want to start. I wait till the last minute to head out to the start since it is a bit chilly. I’m comfortable in my jacket and tights, which means that I will be too warm soon, but who knows what the day will bring! Centreville Road, start to mile 7.2 Started at about 35deg and overcast. Nothing too exciting going on yet, just mentally going over what I remembered of the course, and reminded myself not to go out to fast on this early section. The first 16 miles are relatively flat, mostly going along the river and bluebells... also notorious for being muddy as the norm. Everyone is also still pretty packed for this section, making it difficult to walk and take it easy, since you just get caught up in the crowd. We start in a parking lot and do a short loop around before coming back and hitting the trail. There's always a bottleneck at that first stream crossing, because no one wants to get their feet wet <10min into the race =P This year it was barely wet, and we could just tromp through. Bodes well for the (lack of) muddiness for later today, yay! All the tortellini I ate for breakfast gave me a tiny bit of acid reflux, but that settled down and was fine. Either I remembered it differently, or they changed the course slighty, because the first section was a lot more woods and rolling hills than I remembered. No one else commented on it, so I must've just forgotten. So we ran along, didn't do much talking, which is normal for this early on. I tend to cling more to people and become more of a chatterbox as the race progresses and the pace slows. Now I'm just reviewing my race 'plan' and prepping myself for the day. I'm fairly undertrained this year, with no real long runs on the AT... mostly just Seneca Greenway 50K a few weeks ago, so I'm a little nervous. Goal this year is to make the cutoffs and finish! I wore (Mike's) tights, a light long-sleeved synthetic shirt, and took along my windbreaker because it was supposed to start raining around 3pm. Also took a baggie of Combos because my performance suffers quickly when I don't fuel enough, and sometimes I make poor decisions at aid stations. So bringing my own food provides a good backup, which I need a few times today. I knew the clothing would likely be overkill, since it was supposed to reach 50deg, but I figured I'd rather be safe than sorry, especially if I was going to be reduced to a slow trudge near the end of the day. My caution paid off last year, when everyone else was huddling under garbage bags! Also carried a 20oz bottle of dilute Gatorade, some Succeeds and ibuprofen, and a gel. The top of my right ankle bothers me a little, as it has on and off in training, from the shoe pressing on it, so I hope fervently for it to go away. I’m warming up quickly, and soon take off my jacket. I end up stuffing my combos in the jacket pocket after a women warns me that they are falling out of the bungee cord I have on the fanny pack. Stupid bungee cord! We go through the woods, cross a long green grassy section along the river, sections of bluebells (tons of them out this year, very pretty!), and a couple rocky sections, like what I'll see at the very end. And finally reach the Centreville Rd aid station, where I grab a cookie or two, some chips, and top off my bottle (I finish about half the bottle in each section). This will be the pattern I follow at almost every stop. Centreville Road, mile 7.2 to 11.6
Not much here, just trotting along, people are starting to look familiar around me, but there is still enough passing that I don't see most people for very long. This section is a little tricky, with a lot of two way traffic, with people on the way back. It's a lot of fun if you know other people, since it's one of few chances to see them, or the leaders. I got a few extra cheering words from Dave Snipes and Alex Papadoulopoulos, which was fun, because I never really expect people to remember me. Anyway, we reach the turnaround soon enough, where Chris Scott (past race director) and someone else were watching, looking *very* pleased with themselves. They had some sort of odd marker for the turnaround, but I only noticed there were bluebells coming out of the top at the time. After seeing the pictures, turns out the 'cone' was made of two coffee cups and a beer bottle. They had something about the people who commented on the components of it: beer bottle, mostly men; coffee cups, evenly divided; flowers, mostly women =) And we head back to Centreville again! Hemlock, mile 11.6 to 16.6
Coming back along this section, I made the mistake of getting caught up running with some other people. (I also peed soon after the turnaround, having wanted to for a while… too many people around!) Turns out I ran about a 10min/mile here. Oops. Also turns out that the two guys I ran with for part of this section will keep me company for the next 10+ miles… Chris and Jay. Something along the outside of my right calf and my left hip flexor start aching slightly, both of which will be sore tomorrow! At this point, I just hope it doesn’t get worse. I always have mixed feelings upon coming back to Hemlock… it’s at a point where I’m always just tired enough to really start doubting myself. I guess it’s just the temptation of being back at the start, where my bunk is, where all my stuff is, where my car is. It’s too easy to want to stop. Of course, I don’t, but somehow, 50.4mi looks oh so far away then. I always take a good look around (particularly at the race clock), knowing that the next time I see it again, I’ll be a different person =P Also, a lot of people have friends and family that are camped out there, and it’s kinda lonely running through by yourself. Oh well, heading on out into the unknown! Marina (in), mile 16.6 to 21.1 This section was definitely the low point of the race, which is surprising, since that doesn’t usually happen till much later. Definitely worrisome at the time! My legs felt awfully tired, probably from running that last section so fast =P Walk a bunch, play some mind games, but it never gets so bad that I contemplate dropping. There’s always some point during a race where I honestly tell myself that I will reconsider dropping, but I gotta make it to the next aid station first. This was the only time today I had that conversation with myself, and even then it wasn’t so bad. I told myself that my goal today was just to make the cutoffs and finish, and the first cutoff was at 28.1, so I would decide then. The Marina aid station is always excellent, in terms of food and volunteers, and this year was no different. I was revived with cantaloupe, which was insanely good for some reason, strawberries, and the requisite oreos, chips, and potatoes =) I leave feeling much more optimistic about the day. Wolf Run Shoals (in), mile 21.1 to 26.1 This was a good section. I run it with Chris and Jay, after we’d passed and repassed each other a few times. Nice guys. Turns out they ran Bel Monte this year… they looked familiar, and I though they were the Army guys that Mike was talking to the year before, but nope. Lots of rolling hills through the woods, good times. The day is definitely starting to warm up! I snarf half an ice cream sandwich… mmm =) Chris has one, while Jay looks at us like we’re crazy, and laughs at my pleased face =) Fountainhead (in), mile 26.1 to 28.1 Don’t remember much in particular about this section, except that I’m still running with Chris and Jay. More woods, more hills, still no mud =) Do Loop (in), mile 28.1 to 32.5 This section is less good. Seems like I’m alternating good and bad sections =P Probably ran the last part too fast and paying for it now. Think this is the section with the soccer fields, which I detest. They ruin me mentally for some reason, especially on the way back. This year I tag on to someone and follow them through, so it’s no so bad. And it’s not so muddy either. This section is notorious for its deep mud. I lose Chris and Jay in here, and don’t make it to the next aid in time to catch them. I won’t see Chris again, and will only see Jay briefly near the end after he bonks. I thought the Do loop started at mile 28, and get confused when I see people coming back. I get to see the leaders again, and get cheered on by Dave and Alex again… Alex is ahead now. Some bigger ups and downs that are definitely less fun. I try to run the flats and downs, so that the fast people won’t think I’m a total wuss, but I’m starting to care less =P I’m glad when I realize that the Do loop is actually the next section, but that’s probably because I don’t ever remember anything about the loop, despite its infamous reputation. Do Loop (out), mile 32.5 to 35.5 The actual loop starts about a quarter mile after the aid station. I felt pretty good, and the first half of the loop is pretty tame. Lots of nice flat trail that is very pleasant to run on. Of course, the Do loop didn’t get its reputation that way. The way back is full of steep ups and downs that don’t let up. Your legs burn as you walk up the hills, only to be greeted by a steep, rooty downhill almost immediately. You have no option but the start running the downhill, unless you want to walk this entire section. It sucks =P I complain to no one in particular. There aren’t many people around, but it’s over soon enough. I tell the volunteer at the intersection that I was very, very, very glad to see him. He laughs and says that he hears that a lot, but only from people coming out of the loop =P We walk in the last bit to the aid station, where a nice volunteer mentions baby wipes. I get to wipe some grime off my face, which was surprisingly salty =P Very refreshing =) Gobble down some food and head on out. Only about 14 miles to go! Fountainhead (out), mile 35.5 to 37.9 Don’t remember much about this section or the next, except I’m glad that they’re only two miles apart each time. I start looking forward to the aid stations, based on a 15 minute mile =P I remember feeling good and running an awful lot, except according to my splits, I’m still going pretty freakin’ slow. Whatever, mentally and physically, I still feel surprisingly good. I think it was somewhere along the Do loop where my quads were feeling crampy, which made me nervous, because there’s not much you can do when your quads are shot. I think I pounded down some of those early downs a tad too hard =P But that went away, and then my calves started getting really tired on the downhills for some reason. Doesn’t matter— I’m close enough to end that I just keep running! Wolf Run Shoals (out), mile 37.9 to 39.9 Still good, still running a whole lot of the flats and downs. Still surprised that my feet aren’t sore (kudos for not wearing old shoes like I tend to do) and that my mind is still clear. Marina (out), mile 39.9 to 44.9
I was concerned about this section, since it’s longer between aids, and that can sometimes wreak havoc on me mentally, especially after being spoiled with seeing people every half hour or so. But I’m still good! I just keep my fingers crossed that this second wind of mine will last long enough. I actually see Jay around mile 42 or so… he’s suffering badly from a mental bonk. Said he lost Chris back in the 30s and was just trying to make himself jog short sections. I walk with him for a while and try to cheer him up, but eventually leave him with good wishes. By the end of this part, my running sections have definitely shortened, and I’m starting to get very tired. But the aid station arrives just in time, and I get to have some more tasty snacks that revive me some, though I am losing my appetite for cookies and such. I take an extra cookie with me for later… don’t want to make any nutritional errors this late in the race! Finish, mile 44.9 to 50.4 Ahhh, the last section. In some ways the best, knowing that there’s no more pressure, and there’s pretty much nothing keeping the finish from you. Knowing that you are far enough ahead of the cutoffs that even if you walked it in, you’d still finish in time. But then, also the worst section, because now it’s hard to focus on the now, and you start looking for the finish. Which is exactly what I proceed to do and torture myself with for the next hour+. I go over what little I remember about this section. I remember the very end, of course… bluebells, then turn right to go up the big staircase, to finish across the green field and the last bit of trail along the cabins. But before that, I remember there is an annoying rocky section along the river. What I don’t remember is how long the first part in the woods was. I was so antsy to reach the bluebells that when I finally did, I was incredibly relieved (prematurely, too). I started pushing the pace through the bluebells, convinced the finish was near. And yes, I was looking at the time… I just didn’t think I was going *that* slow. There are a long of long, slow uphills in the first part of this section that we all just walk up… and it adds up to a very slow pace after a while. I keep looking for the rocky section, and when we finally hit that, I’m excited again! I start pushing myself, only to be faced with a neverending litany of more woods, more bluebells, and more turns. Turns out that there are TWO rocky sections. The second one is close to the staircase, but not as close as I thought. I was almost frantic with frustration in the last mile and a half or so. I kept looking for the staircase, but all I would see was a person in the distance, still running in the lowlands. When I finally saw the staircase, I almost cried. Seriously. Well, I stomped up that baby, eyes on the ground only two feet ahead of me, not daring to look farther. Reach the top with less pain that I thought, as I do every time. Realize that I’ve reached the meadow with a guy that I had seen/passed/run with through the entire race, but never talked to because he was wearing headphones. This time he heard me though, when I asked if we should finish together. He was very pleased with the idea, especially when I said that I didn’t need any competition this late in the day! His name was Steve, and we had a very happy finish! =) 11:21!! After We got our finishers jackets, grabbed a cup of Coke and a slice of pizza, then headed up to the lodge, where they said the awards ceremony was going to be (I’ve never finished in time for the awards!) Turns out no one was there but another tired fellow, so we sat and chatted before dragging out tired selves out for the drive home. I head up to the bunks to sit again, and gather my things, before finally heading out to the car, gingerly inching my way down the hill. I’m glad I got to park near the buildings, instead of across the stream where most people are! I take an ibuprofen before leaving to stave off some pain later, take off my shoes, and drive barefoot. Lots of congratulations from everyone around =) Call Mike to announce the good news, as the rain begins in earnest. I must’ve been in good graces with someone, because we missed most of the rain during the day, and though it rained for the drive back, there was none when I had to grab myself and head into the house in Charlottesville! | | Thursday, March 22nd, 2007 | | 5:56 pm |
Seneca Greenway 50K, 3/307
Okay, so first post in a year+ As you can see, I don't post here very often, so I wouldn't recommend that anyone keep checking back here for new stuff since I'd most likely email you about it first anyway =) So there are pictures at my flickr account, which is here: www.flickr.com/photos/peihan17 There are a lot more, I just chose a few that best represented the race conditions... and I exaggerate not-- it really was either solid ice or deep, deep, shoe- and soul-sucking mud. Just skip through all my silly crafting photos, they're in there somewhere. And somewhere further down are pictures from when Mike and I went to San Francisco/Yosemite this past winter. They're mostly of me just because those were the ones my mom wanted, not because I'm *that* narcisstic or anything =) Anyway, here it goes (it's long): Seneca Greenway Trail 50K Start 8am Total time 7:52 Race morning Breakfast was ½ egg, salsa, and cheese burrito. Went to the bathroom and did my business, but turns out I needed to go again during the drive over… this turns out to be a problem, since there are no bathrooms at the parking area (this race is point to point, and runners are bussed to the start), and only 3 port-o-potties at the start. Peed, but I can’t do anything else with a huge line of people waiting for me to get out, oh well. An email from the race director a day or two before the race warned us of patches of ice, including one that was like a “black diamond ski slope”. Still, it’d been ~50deg the last several days and there was no ice to be seen anywhere near Charlottesville or DC. Mud might be bad, but that’s pretty much all I was expecting. No problem with my new Vasques… more worried about my foot and hip, even though I’d been taking it easy running the gym all week. Carrying camelbak filled with dilute Gatorade, a gel, couple succeeds, couple ibuprofen, and a package of cookies. The website said to not expect anything but water (no cups) from the aid station, though it turns out that there were superbly stocked (and some did have cups!). Start to 15mi Start on a paved bike path, which was ice-free for about 1/10th of a mile. Then everyone near me screeched to a halt, since the entire path was a slick piece of ice. We all squeezed off to the side, where it was a little better, but could only do with walking or careful tiptoe-like runnning. Onto trail, which we hoped would be less icy, or at least have stuff sticking through the ice to give us some traction… but this wasn’t the case. Still tons of ice, thick ice, but now also with the added joys of up- and downhills, and the sometimes tilted trail. Somewhere around here, I start chatting with Lauren, who ran very fast along the clear sections, but had a lot of trouble on the ice, where I’d pass her again. She was wishing for the yaktrax that she’d turned down, saying that people she knew that were slower than her, but had yaktrax, were now much ahead of us. I’ve never worn these things, and I’m used to being near the back of the pack, so I shrugged it off. No point in complaining now! Also start heading toward the river, which we’ll be following for a while. Mostly okay, as long as you went slowly and carefully and walked often, except for two sections. The first was a curving downhill section along the river. The short, but relatively steep section was right next to the river, and ice in all directions, so that it wasn’t possible to step off to the side of the trail for better grippage. I heard the girl ahead of me say “uh-oh”, and looked up to see ~5-7 people clinging to trees like bugs. And these were often not big trees either. Every once in a while, someone would let go, and either careen towards another tree, or just promptly fall down and slide somewhere. I took a look at this ridiculous scene, then sit down, and slide on my butt down the hill. Now this would’ve worked perfectly, except remember how I said that the trail curves? Right. Next to the curve is the river. Oops =P Luckily there is a log the stops my crazy sliding. Unluckily, there is a girl perched there, who I almost knock in to the river. She moves on, and I stand up. Lauren is still at the top, so I encourage her to slide down too (madness needs company more than misery!). I told her I’d catch her, and still doubtful, she gives in. Fun times =) The next icy downhill section was next to a road. Lots of people tried to circumvent the section by running on the road itself, not realizing that they had to come back on the trail. And walking up a sheet of ice is not an easy thing to do! Here I had a chance to redeem myself by grabbing the arm of the girl I almost knocked into the river earlier as she oh so slowly slid towards the edge. I was holding on to a tree, and so dragged her back up with me =) I’m not sure where this is relative to those two sections (it was a long day), but we reached an area in the woods that was completely flooded. Like ankle deep water with shards of ½” thick ice all over the top. No trail to be seen, but a woman pointed out that there was a blue blaze on the other side. Very cold, very muddy water. Again, no point in complaining about that, because about a minute later, we had our first stream crossing at mile 4. I think there are usually stepping stones to get across, but these were completely flooded over (as in, even if you stepped on the stones, you were still calf deep in water). There was a lot of hollering and even some cheering as we approached, to gear up our courage, I guess =) Someone pointed out that at least there was no ice in the stream, but I’m pretty sure they just washed away, as the current was moving pretty fast. Very cold, very numb feet up the bank (aided by nicest volunteers ever, one of whom was standing in the water for some reason). Grabbed 1-2 girl scout cookies and a handful of chips from the aid station at mile 7. I’ll have approximately the same thing at each aid station. Sometimes there are chocolate covered cookies, but I’ll mostly have some sort of small peanut butter sandwich-type cookie. Miles 15-19 (lake loop) Just a little while before getting to this aid station, I ran a bit with a man and we chatted some. The popular question the last few miles was to ask if the other person was doing the marathon or the 50K… aka sane vs. completely mad =) When I asked this guy, he said that he was stopping here/at the next aid station, because he was much more tired than he expected, and since it was just a training run and he lived nearby, he was going to drop at the lake aid station. I was a bit surprised, but he seemed cheerful about it, so I let it go. After talking to Mike (2+ weeks later), I somehow put two and two together, and realize that most likely, this guy was Mike’s friend Jerry Cook, who dropped at the lake and just ran home, he lived that close, apparently. Just a weird coincidence =P We still don’t know what went wrong with Jerry that day. Anyway, I was so relieved to get to the aid station at mile 15 that I barely understood when a nice volunteer asked me “Marathon or 50K?”. I think I just stared at her blankly till she repeated herself. Somehow, despite debating with myself over the last several miles whether or not I really wanted to subject myself to an extra 4mi of this torture, I had forgetten that runners are given the option to choose their event here. Therefore, I stood there, rooted to the stop, trying to force my brain into making a decision. In the meantime, a guy that I had run near a few times (Wayne) came in to the aid station, where another man whom I’d seen earlier (Paul, great at navigating on ice) was waiting for him. They both headed out, and since we had all been running at nearly the same pace, I figured I’d do the loop if I had company. That and I’d feel like a total wuss if I only did the marathon. And the marathon way was down a paved road, while to lake was a trail. The first half/two thirds around the lake was great… dry trail up a little ways from the lake, mostly flat, got to talk it up with Paul and Wayne. I think I ran faster around that lake than I did at any other point that day. But then came a section where the trail got icy. Darn. Then the trail went toward the lake. Like, right next to the water. But it didn’t matter because I was tromping through the bushes way off trail, watching that cold water lapping at the icy trail. I wasn’t the only one either, because there were lots of footprints through those bushes. Turns out at least one person did fall in the lake. I’m surprised if there was only one, though that must’ve sucked big time. Anyway, made it around the lake, stopped at the aid station again for some cookies and potatoes/salt. Apparently still don’t need water because my camelbak’s pretty hefty, so headed down the road. I had lost Wayne and Paul at the icy parts, but caught up to them just as they were leaving the aid station. Mile 19 to 26 This section was definitely the low point of the race. Very long, and I ran it all by myself, except the first 100 yards or so. I ran with Paul and Wayne for a bit, but the tiredness is definitely kicking in since we’ve been out for 4+ hours now, so they head off, and I don’t see Paul again. Wayne I glimpse later far ahead before the next aid station, but we don’t run together anymore. At first it’s nice: thick, piney woods (dry!) with some small ups and downs where I take my time and eat the cookies I had. But soon we head down a series of switchbacks and descend into my own personal hell (sorta kidding). Ever since last year’s Bull Run, I’ve been wary of mud. I used to love running in mud. All splashy and messy and good times. I detested mud and avoided it at all costs for a long time after Bull Run. Well, this section was Bull Run 2006. It was so similar that I really started to get confused as to where/when I was. The mud was the same, the terrain was the same (river on one side, high embankment on the other, raised but somehow still super muddy trail in between). It’s awful. Serious mud after my legs were already tense and tired from unaccustomed running on ice. I might’ve given the mud a better shot had it not been late in the race and post-ice, but as it was, I decided that mud sucks, and I’m not running through it, and no one could make me. So I walked through 90% of that mud. Probably cost me a lot of time that way, but you know what, running through mud blows. Your hip flexors get super tired from yanking your feet back out of the mud with every step, that it’s just not worth it. I should probably get over this mentality before April =P Anyway, I drag my sorry self out of the mud (finally) and we start back in woods, which still have mud in random patches, but I run through some of these because at least it’s not endless mud. See more signs declaring the wonders of tofu and the next aid station. Since I’m very tired and dispirited by this point, I’m definitely looking forward to cheerful people and a snack. And the signs were pretty funny =) “When the going gets tough, the tough get tofu!”, “All you ever wanted in tofu—and less!”, “Don’t like tofu? We also have cardboard!”, “You scream, I scream, we all scream for tofu!”. So after many of these signs, you’d think that you were getting close to the aid station. But no, just more trail, winding its way along, teasing you with the idea that the aid station was right around the corner. Finally see a sign that informed us that the top of the hill was the aid station. Okay, up the switchbacks we go… only to reach the top and see a big meadow with no aid station. According to the flagging, we have to run a ways along the meadow to get to the aid station. So this whole time, I’ve been running by myself, not seeing anyone ahead or behind, but apparently everyone’s hanging out at this aid station, because there were at least 6-7 people here. Grab a handful of cookies, handful of chips, and ask the volunteer if I could have some coke. He tells me to just chug some. There are several mostly empty bottles around, so I grab several big gulps, hoping the caffeine and sugar will cheer me up a bit. I suspiciously eye the jugs of Ultima (I hate Ultima. Ultima is bad, very bad stuff), before adding some to my camelbak since it’s pretty much empty finally. I head out after the others, jog a bit and walk a bit as I eat. Mile 26 to 30 This section was actually pretty good… probably because we’re near the end and I found someone to run with again =) I pass an older man and woman who are going slowly. The woman mentions that she had hurt her calf somehow but could still run a little. Unfortunately, it really was only a little, and her running speed matched my walking, which was definitely not fast! They let me by, commenting on my fresh legs, and I say something totally inane, like “constant forward motion”, which seemed to entertain them. I move on, and run a bit with an asian guy (only comment on this because there aren’t many asians that run these sort of races). He must’ve crashed hard, because he looked like he ought to have been running pretty fast. We catch up to the next couple, and I head off while he walks with them. Eventually around here, I end up passing most everyone except this lady named Beth. Beth was very nice, and ran slowly, but she ran pretty much the whole time that I was with her. Through mud, uphill, whatever. So, since my running speed was faster than hers, but I walked a lot, we stayed mostly together and chat often, which was great =) We surprisingly reach another aid station (I wasn’t expecting any more), where we meet up with another group of a man and two women. The guy seemed to know the course well, as he mentioned that we had another big stream crossing to go up a big hill from the road, but we could go up the road a little further to skip the stream. I didn’t want to cut the course, but he said it was an option, and it was flagged (it was, but apparently not many people knew about this option). A little suspicious, but whatever, Beth and I follow the group up. After some steep icy bits and some bushwacking, we’re back on track. Mile 30 to finish More mud/dry trail, with some more ice for fun. I think it was somewhere in this section, where there was a particularly large flooded part. There was really no trail left, just a just pond of mud and branches to run through. I came upon a small group of relatively well-dressed (compared to me, which was not saying much, being salt and mud encrusted) younger adults that were clinging desperately to trees and picking their way through, trying not to get muddy. This was very entertaining to me, since I had long given up on trying to avoid getting dirty, so I just splashed/squished my way right down the middle of the path. They all looked up and stared though I’m sure they saw other people on their way through, so I waved and commented on how I though my shoes were already kinda dirty anyway =) Anyway, still with Beth on and off, till we finally pop out of the woods onto a dirt road. I didn’t recognize it till I saw a car that looked like mine (it was), and I realized it was mine! And that meant we were very, very close to the finish though I wasn’t sure just how much further we had. I was so excited that I shouted back to Beth that we were really close and that we should run it in together =) I waited a bit for her to catch up, and she told me that was really sweet =) So we run along the road, passing the trio, and meet up with Beth’s husband and sons who were waiting for her. It was really cute, how proud the husband was, and telling the kids how great their mom was. So we all ran in together (really fast! But probably not really that fast), even though it was really far (not that far) and I was tired. So we split into our respective marathon and 50K chutes, where Mike was waiting for me with a banana and cookies that he had saved for me =) Done! Hosed off shoes, sat, ate most of a hotdog, but too tired of sweets to eat the cookies Mike got for me, which made him sad =( I ate them later though, and they were really good! Chatted it up with all the people I ran with, and Dave Snipes and Alex Papadolopoulos (or something). Good times =) Only slightly faster than my first time at GEER, and much slower than the second time. | | Saturday, July 29th, 2006 | | 5:24 pm |
and 9 months later...
... a LJ post is born! (since my last post last October. Yes, I know it's not funny, but that's what 9mo reminded me of.) Yeah I don't have anything to say on this thing anymore, but this is too cool to not write about. So I'm running along the Appalachian trail (AT) this morning, kinda tired, kinda zoned out, and I head this weird rustling noise in the leaves up ahead of me, so I stop. Didn't sound like a chipmunk/squirrel/deer/little lizard guys that I normally see, so I'm kinda weirded out. Five seconds later, two rattlesnakes tumble down the slope and onto the trail! Me: lots of expletives. They were all twisting around each other and kinda kept falling down, so that they were gradually sliding down the slope, across the trail. Definitely rattlesnakes, because every time they fell down, their rattles would just kindof unintentionally get shaken. I was so amazed that I stood there for a while (from 10ft away), watching them, until two hikers arrived and we all stared for a while. I'm a dork so as soon as I got home (well, post-shower and eating and all that), I looked up the snakes that I saw. Turns out they are timber rattlesnakes and found all over the country. And what I took to be a courtship dance was actually two males battling it out. Apparently they wrap around each other and try to throw each other down to the ground in a show of dominance. Whatever it was, it was super cool. One was yellowish, and the other was black. Seems that timber rattlesnakes come in different phases, which is just a fancy word for colors, as far as I can tell =P Here's some pictures:   Badass, huh =) Anyway, I saw a mom deer with three fawns a few miles later, which was fun too because the fawns are never particularly scared of you and only trot a few steps away, only to gawk at you some more. I talked to these little guys and one actually started walking towards me. Poor things, gonna get eaten by a cougar if they don't get more paranoid. That and triplets don't usually all survive. Um, and on that cheerful note, I'm gonna get out of here. Races wise, I've got a 50K planned in August in NJ, a half marathon Labor Day weekend in Virginia Beach (both scheduled as runs with friends, hence the geographic differences). And then the big one every fall is the Great Eastern Endurance Race (GEER) at the end of September. I had been (still kinda am) seriously considering the 100K version this year, instead of the 50K that I've done twice now. The main thing is that I won't be finishing till after dark, and I don't have much experience running at night, and definitely not through rocky, technical trail. I'd go and practice now, but I'm not so confident about doing it by myself. No one but Mike would come with me on such an adventure, and he'll be (has been) out of state till late October. So either I gotta find me a training partner, or I gotta just grow bigger cojones and quit whining. Or I could just resign myself to being a marshmallow and do the 50K again. We'll see. | | Wednesday, October 12th, 2005 | | 9:59 pm |
| | Monday, October 10th, 2005 | | 10:48 pm |
Busy weekend, so here's updates of where I've been running =P Friday was an off day, just went for a short bike ride before work, ~8.5mi. Saturday-- tons of rain still all morning so we opted to wait on the AT long run and just do a short run today: http://www.mapmyrun.com/view_run.php?r=c3e4035af2a1cde9f21e1ae1951ac80b Kindof hilly with some long downhills =) A bit faster than I had planned and kinda died in the last mile. Still crazy humid so it doesn't feel all that cool. Sunday-- long run with Mike on the AT... can't really show you where I ran though. Did about 20mi... Mike asked me about elevation changes, and it's about 3000' gain as close as I can guess. About 60-65deg, damp and cloudy, pretty nice =) Not muddy as I had feared, and the water levels of the stream crossings weren't even that high, which was a tad disappointing ;) Didn't go biking today because I was tired and a wuss. | | Thursday, October 6th, 2005 | | 8:43 pm |
Thursday run on my own since CRR cancelled their run today due to possible rain and rolling stones. But here you are, for those that are really bored =P http://www.mapmyrun.com/view_run.php?r=d79c6256b9bdac53a55801a066b70da3Went out too fast... first ~3mi to the track in sub-8:00min/mi. Haha that's what I get when there's a lot of people around, or something. | | Wednesday, October 5th, 2005 | | 8:27 pm |
| | Sunday, September 18th, 2005 | | 12:44 pm |
Great Eastern Endurance Run 09/17/05
So I signed up for the Great Eastern Endurance Run again
this year even though I remember perfectly well how much it hurt last year
=P Goal this year was just to beat my
time from last year (7:55) and not feel like death for the last 10mi or so
=) Sunny and hazy, humid, 62deg at
start, 85deg at finish. Race report as
broken down by aid station...
Mile marker Miles
betw. Lap Split Pace/mi
2.1 2.1 0:23 0:23 11:00 Blue
Ridge Parkway
8.0 5.9 1:00 1:24 10:10 mountain, first pass
11.1 3.1 0:35 1:59 11:20 Mt. Torry Rd, Coal
Rd.
16.3 5.2 1:40 3:39 19:14 Torry
Ridge, first pass
21.4 5.1 1:43 5:22 20:12 Torry
Ridge, second pass
24.5 3.1 0:36 5:58 11:37 Mt. Torry Rd, Coal
Rd.
30.4 5.9 1:11 7:09 12:02 mountain, second pass
32.5 2.1 0:16 7:25 7:37? Blue Ridge Parkway
Pre-race
Up at 3:30, but
don't eat much-- just a bit of wheaties+milk, and a little piece of banana
bread, and a bunch of water. Turns out
to be a mistake since I get hungry pretty early in the race. Get to the start at about 5:15, with plenty of time to check in, pee
twice, and drink some more. I was kind
of worried about the early heat, but still opted to just carry one 20oz bottle
(1/2 powerade + salt) instead of the full camelbak. I carried two bottles with me last year, but
only used the second one occassionally.
0.0-2.1mi
Race start was at 6am,
and since sunrise isn't till almost 7am,
this section was completely in the dark, with the sky lightening up by the time
we hit aid station #1. But I think this
part is the most fun because when else do you get to run on the Blue
Ridge Parkway before sunup with a big group of
people that like running as much as you do?
It's all quiet 'cept for little clumps of people chatting and footfalls
of all around =) Definitely don't notice
what turns out to be a significant uphill as we start heading up the first
mountain. First aid station comes at the
end of this section, after only ~2mi, so most people don't stay too long. I remembered that this marks the beginning of
the infamous switchbacks that caused me so much misery on the way back this
year, so I get a bit nervous.
2.1-8.0mi
Take a deep breath and head out onto a small road of rolling
hills. The sky is definitely getting
brighter now, and people are starting to spread out a bit, so I start looking
around and enjoying the scenery. It's
neat how there's a threshold where suddenly color comes into the world. Like there's a cutoff where all of a sudden
all of your cones activate, and instead of fuzzy gray people all around,
everyone's in bright color =) Mostly
running alone, but there are people all around.
I get a bit worried that I'm sweating pretty significantly, as this
doesn't bode well for the rest of the day's heat. Maybe I should've brought the camelbak after
all. I tell myself that there's nothing
to be done about it now, so might as well not worry about it. Just note to myself to hydrate well in these
early sections before it gets hot. As we
head down the switchbacks, I make sure to count how many there are (five left
turns) so I don't end up like last year not knowing when they would end =) Pretty comfortable pace all the way down,
talk for a bit with a lady that remembered me from Bull Run, though I felt bad
for not recognizing her also. Aid
station #2 has me filling my bottle (only about half empty) and grabbing a
cookie or two. Don't stay too long, and
head out to the real roads that will start taking me up to Torry Ridge!
8.0-11.1mi
Short section on Mt.
Torry road-- not many cars out this
early in the morning, so I tag along with a group for a bit, and then head out
on my own. I make sure to note landmarks
for the way back-- I know I get easily discouraged when I don't know how much
further there is to go. Soon turn onto Coal
Rd, a dirt road that's bit rocky. Nothing particularly memorable here... just a
little break of mostly flat running between mountains =P Make sure to fill up my water bottle at aid
#3, as it might be a while before I hit the turnaround. Grab some potato chips and cookies. Oh, and they didn't have any oreos at this
race, which was disappointing-- only chips ahoy, which aren't half so good. I didn't carry any of my own food with me
this time for some reason... totally slipped my mind.
11.1-16.3mi
The real fun begins here as we head up to the Torry Ridge
trail. As we head up, I end up with a
group of other people (same thing happened last year), which helps break up the
monotony and frustration of marching up a really big hill. Some rocks and downed trees, but nothing too
deadly =P Near the top, the rocks reach
peak ground coverage, and we have to step carefully to keep from falling or twisting
something. We keep a pretty brisk pace,
and heart rates climb. It's on the way
back down that I drop behind some people because I get paranoid and am often
overly cautious on these steep gravelly downhills. As it turns out, I do slip on one section,
and do a split. Nothing injured, and I'm
not bleeding, so no big deal. At one
point during the steepest downhills, I come upon the sole race
photographer. I usually try to run and
look chipper when I see a photographer, but that really isn't possible on this
section, so I think he ended up taking pictures of me inching carefully along
while grabbing onto branches for dear life =P
Finally get down off the mountain, hit a short section on road, and
another brief bit on trail before popping out at Sherando Lake. Head into the aid station with some other guy
and we talk for a bit. I take my time at
this stop-- have some watermelon, potatoes, cookies, and chips. They only have something called E3 at this
aid station, or water, so I grab some and hope it doesn’t destroy my stomach
with some weird chemicals. It is the
halfway point, after all =) I'm still
feeling surprisingly chipper, but wonder if I felt this way last year too, and
I still crashed... I decide to stay conservative and be careful till the
switchback section.
16.3-21.4mi
Back up to Torry Ridge!
This section isn't the same as the way out-- we turn off and go through
a campground before heading up a much steeper route. Steep, rocky, and hot. I take off my shirt somewhere along here, and
start catching up to people. Big stone
steps, and incessant uphill that doesn't let up, but I think the steeper way up
made for more flat at the top this way.
Too bad the top was so rocky that it didn't allow for much running
anyway. Rejoin our original path and
keep running the smoother parts and trying to walk quickly over the head-sized
boulders =P Soon realize that it's much
hotter than the way out, and I'm likely to run out of water, so I start trying
to ration, which doesn't really work.
End up figuring that it's better to drink earlier to stave off
dehydration, rather than drinking at the end, right before the aid
station. I actually don't run out till
only about 20-30min out from aid, so it wasn't so bad. Catch some more people here, even on the
downhill, which surprised me. Do that
weird split-fall thing again, except this time I land a bit harder, and my quad
feels semi-crampy for a while. Glad to
see the aid station, immediately gulp down a cup of water, grab a bunch of
food, and take another Succeed. Such a
long section! Legs felt okay going up,
but start hurting somewhere at the top/on the way down. Those downhills really destroy quads. Meet guy at aid station with floppy hat, whom
I'll meet up with again later on.
21.4-24.5mi
Back out on Coal Rd, try to keep up with floppy hat guy but
he leaves me behind pretty soon. It's
pretty hot and dusty, especially when a car drives by. Walk a bunch here. Bit of nausea, so I take another Succeed. Not too bad though, and soon get back out
onto Mt. Torry Rd. No shade at all here, and lots of cars, which
aren't so fun in my tired and brain-benumbed state. Take my time and look around, cheching out
the farm-y type people driving by, who are prolly wondering what the heck I'm
doing. Keep thinking I head footsteps
behind me, but there's no one in sight, ahead or behind. Getting pretty hot and tired of sun, when the
aid station suddenly appears. Drank lots
in this section, since I was walking a bunch and in the direct sun. Again ate a bunch, a grabbed some to go. Stomach bothering me again, so down another
Succeed.
24.5-30.4mi
Try to plan out what I'm going to do on this next section
(dreaded switchbacks), so I don't fall apart mentally like last year. Physically, legs and feet feel okay,
definitely not so dead like last year, but I'm worried about how to attack this
long, moderate slope. Can't walk it all,
but hard to run uphill at this point.
Keep telling myself that there's only 8mi to go, but it doesn't really
help. End up setting my timer to 2min--
2min run at whatever pace I can manage, and indefinite walking in between. Figured it was too much to expect myself to
hold to scheduled running and walking.
Works well on the flat road before the switchbacks, and I catch several
people. End up cutting it back to ~1min
running up on the hill, but I seem to be eating up the distance fairly
quickly. Tick off the five switchbacks
in much, much less time this year.
Running up the hills isn't so bad after all, and walking for long times
starts to hurt more than running, anyway =P
Catch a black guy who tries to keep up for a while, but eventually drops
back. Near the top of the switchbacks,
meet up with floppy hat guy (Alton,
who works at UVA), which really surprises me since he was going at a pretty
good clip on Coal Rd. We pass each other once or twice, and exchange
encouragement. I end up suggesting that
we just finish together when we’re about a mile out from the aid station, and
he agrees so we head over. The aid
station comes upon us kind of suddenly, and I greet the lady with open arms
=) Just a quick stop before the finish,
grab a cup of water since there’s still some Gato in my bottle.
30.4-32.5mi
Alton and I walk
out of the aid station, anticipating the finish… so close! I ask him if he’s ready to crank out some 10min/mi,
and he says that he’ll certainly try, but if he can’t keep up, not to slow down
for him. I was just being optimistic
about the 10min/mi, but who knows, right?
So head out, feeling surprisingly comfortable. I don’t like this section much really because
there’s a bunch of traffic on the Blue Ridge Highway
at this time of day (1-2pm), and the
road is banked steeply in some sections.
But who cares, we’re almost done!
We hit the 1mi marker in 10:16,
so I’m super happy and start picking the pace up a bit. Alton mentions that it’s probably slightly
less that 2mi because they moved the start/finish a bit up the road this year
=) Pass a biker and someone walking that
cheer us on—I give them thumbs up and smile.
Sooner than expected, I see a tent and a bunch of dirty people and ask Alton
if he wants to head on in, but he tells me to go on ahead. We’re only a few hundred feet away so I
really turn it up and “sprint” it in.
People cheer me in and clap, and that’s that. Francesca takes the little tab from my number
since I can’t seem to function properly, and congratulates me. And I get a second medal =)
Not sure how much I drank because my bottle wasn’t ever
completely empty, except the second time over Torry Ridge. I drank a lot though. Took one Succeed an hour starting at 3hrs. Looking back, I probably should’ve started
earlier. Didn’t take one at 5hrs because
that’s when I was almost out of water—took it at 5:30
instead, and another at 6hrs. Knew I had
to take them when my stomach started getting all sloshy or I would start
getting nauseous. I was probably taking
the minimum salt I could get by on though—should take more next time in this
sort of weather. Also next year—eat more
before and during. | | Wednesday, August 31st, 2005 | | 8:02 pm |
okeigh rhymes with sleigh!
Taken off a recent post in the runner's world forums... "... almost all melons seem to be ohkeigh" "Was ohkeigh, but not as good as soup." Hmm. Am I the only one perplexed by this? What would possess someone to start spelling a simple word in such a complicated way? I've never seen that spelling before, and I've seen weird things like... neway, u r so koOl becuz i luv 2 giv advise 2! *shudder* | | Saturday, July 30th, 2005 | | 11:50 pm |
Fooling around online. Went for a short long run this morning. And no, that's not an oxymoron-- it was this week's long run, but since this week is a rest week, it's shorter than usual. So not the usual billion miles =P I uploaded a picture of what happened to me, damn the people that told me that Foxhaven was a great place to run. Lies, all lies. And the picture doesn't show how my hair, arms, and shirt were all covered in spiderwebs, which then proceeded to make all sorts of debris stick on me. I whined to Rich for a while after I got back and that made me feel better. Also, googling various people's names. If you do mine, you get about 4-5 pages of old race results, as well as three pictures of me. Which makes me way to easy to stalk... you can easily see where I've lived the past few years, as well as what kind of shape I was in =P But I got the idea in my head to compile these old results into one list. I mean, I always keep track of my times, but all on little scraps of paper that have been lost or are tossed somewhere randomly. This is what I came up with: 00/00/97 Morris county track 5K 28:18 10/29/98 XC championships 5K 26:12 10/17/99 East Brunswick 10K 10K 53:58 10/29/00 Race for the cure 5K 30:21 11/12/00 Hashathon 6mi 1:15 04/01/01 Indian trails 15K 1:39 3rd 15-19 10/27/02 Trick or trot 4mi 34:20 06/20/03 Run for the roses 5K 27:06 08/19/03 Twilight 8K 8K 43:51 11/29/03 NCT marathon 26.2mi 4:20 01/04/04 FARC series 5K 24:55 1st 20-29 01/11/04 FARC series 5K 24:23 2nd 20-29 02/01/04 FARC series 5K 24:13 1st 20-29 04/04/04 Run with aimee 5K 24:28 2nd 20-24 05/15/04 Capon valley 50K 6:01 09/04/04 GEER 50K 7:55 04/09/05 Bull Run Run 50mi 12:06 Kinda neat. Also brought to mind that I'll have been running for nine years come this September. I'm old! Thanks goodness that it looks like only xc results are on there from high school, my track times were downright embarassing =P | | Sunday, July 17th, 2005 | | 4:33 pm |
Courtesy of http://www.run100s.com/Quotes.txt, in order of how hard I laughed when I read it =P Don't worry, I only put 15 of them here. "You can never run a hill too hard, you will collapse before hurting it." - Submitted by Adam Born "... slowed my pace to the point that I could have been rear-ended by a sleepy snail." - Dave Olney "The race continued as I hammered up the trail, passing rocks and trees as if they were standing still." - Red Fisher, Wasatch '86 "The best long distance runners eat raw meat, run naked and sleep in the snow." - Alaska Airlines advertisement honoring Iditarod dogs (from Dana Roueche) "You can sleep when you die." - Roger Rehwald (seen on a T-shirt) "Nobody should ever run a race where they are lapped by the sun." - friend of Alex Swenson, referring to 100 mile races "The race continued as I hammered up the trail, passing rocks and trees as if they were standing still." - Red Fisher, Wasatch '86 "Pain is good. Extreme Pain is Extremely Good ..." - Navy Seals "I have to find another port-a-tree." - Ellie Thayer "If you get tired on a trail run, lie down in the middle of the trail in such a way that no one could pass you without waking you up - it will insure your finish line position." - Glen Zirbel "All the disruptive arguments among my friends as to whether or not I was sane when I took up marathon running have been entirely resolved since I ran my first 50-miler." - John Kendall "The finish line is just ahead." "The aid station is just ahead." "Trust me ... this is the last hill." "You're almost there." "The trail is well marked." - Unknown "You hear about how runnin' ultras is all mental; well, I sure wish it'd hurry up and get mental, 'cause it's feelin' awfully physical right now." - Ken Loveless "No matter what hurts at the beginning, by the end of the race something else will hurt worse." - Bob O'Connor "A race is just a race, but a friend who paces you is a friend for life." - Joseph Franko | | Friday, July 15th, 2005 | | 2:09 am |
I'm very, very awake. This is a problem because it's like 2am, and I actually need to be in work earlier than usual tomorrow. I was laying in bed staring for like an hour, and finally just decided to get up... mostly because I was hungry again =P I think I gotta lay off my post-work nap and late evening runs. I already skipped out on going to the Salv. Army today and feel kinda bad about that, but I was unusually busy at lab today and I was tired. Haven't even been staying awake through the full hour of Simpsons lately! Anyway, I'm gonna go wander around on the interweb and prolly make some unintelligent purchasing decisions =P I need to get a camelbak before I start doing my summer long runs again anyway. So this spending of money is justified! And Ken, I'll start posting more often just for you since you seem to derive the most enjoyment from it =P Hey, it's not my fault the rest of you guys actually buy clothes from places like the Gap! | | Thursday, July 7th, 2005 | | 11:40 pm |
And apparently type 9 would be most compatible with a type 1 (perfectionist) or 8 (aggressive), neither of which seem very appealing to me. Maybe because I'm laid back, so a perfectionist wouldn't bother me too much? And if I'm pretty passive, and avoid contention, an aggressive person would just take the lead? *shrug* | | 11:34 pm |
Took that Myers-Briggs personality test... http://similarminds.com/embj.html Enneagram Test Results | Type 1 | Perfectionism | |||||||||||||||||| | 73% | | Type 2 | Helpfulness | |||||||||||||||||| | 73% | | Type 3 | Image Awareness | |||||| | 30% | | Type 4 | Sensitivity | |||| | 13% | | Type 5 | Detachment | |||||||||| | 36% | | Type 6 | Anxiety | |||||||||||| | 50% | | Type 7 | Adventurousness | |||||||||||||| | 60% | | Type 8 | Aggressiveness | |||||| | 26% | | Type 9 | Calmness | |||||||||||||||||| | 76% | Your main type is 9 Your variant is social | Take Free Enneagram Personality Testpersonality tests by similarminds.com | | Tuesday, June 28th, 2005 | | 9:59 pm |
i'm on a posting streak! =O
So litte time, so many things to do... ( ) smoked a cigarette ( ) smoked a cigar. ( ) smoked a joint ( ) "almost" crashed a friend's car ( ) stolen a car (x) been in love (x) been dumped (x) shoplifted (x) been fired (x) ate a bug (x) snuck out of your parent's house (x) had feelings for someone who didn't have them back ( ) been arrested ( ) made out with a stranger ( ) kissed two different people in the same day [on the lips] ( ) gone on a blind date (x) lied to a friend ( ) had a crush on a teacher ( ) been to Europe (x) skipped school ( ) seen someone die ( ) had a crush on one of your myspace friends (x) been to Canada ( ) been to Mexico (x) been on a plane (x) seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show ( ) thrown up in a bar ( ) purposely set a part of myself on fire (x) eaten Sushi ( ) been snowboarding (x) met someone in person from the internet (x) been moshing at a concert ( ) been in an abusive relationship (x) taken painkillers (x) love someone or miss someone right now (x) laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by (x) made a snow/sand angel (x) had a tea party (x) flown a kite (x) built a sand castle (x) gone puddle jumping (x) played dress up (x) jumped into a pile of leaves (x) gone sledding (x) cheated while playing a game (x) been lonely (x) fallen asleep at work/school ( ) used a fake id (x) watched the sun set ( ) felt an earthquake (x) touched a snake (x) slept beneath the stars (x) been tickled ( ) been robbed (x) been misunderstood (x) petted a reindeer/goat (x) won a contest (x) run a red light ( ) been suspended from school (x) been in a car accident (x) had braces (x) felt like an outcast (x) eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night (x) had deja vu ( ) danced in the moonlight (x) hated the way you look ( ) witnessed a crime ( ) pole danced (x) been obsessed with post-it notes (x) squished barefoot through the mud (x) been lost (x) been to the opposite side of the country (agree w/ jamie. the underside? the outside? which side?) (x) swam in the ocean (x) felt like dying (x) cried yourself to sleep ( ) played cops and robbers (x) recently colored with crayons/colored pencils/markers ( ) sung karaoke (x) paid for a meal with only coins (x) done something you told yourself you wouldn't (x) made prank phone calls when you were younger ( ) laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose (x) caught a snowflake/rain on your tongue (x) danced in the rain (x) written a letter to Santa Claus ( ) been kissed under the mistletoe (x) watched the sun rise with someone you care about (x) blown bubbles ( ) made a bonfire on the beach (x) crashed a party ( ) gone rollerskating (x) had a wish come true ( ) humped a monkey (x) worn pearls ( ) jumped off a bridge (x) screamed penis in public ( ) ate dog/cat food ( ) told a complete stranger you loved them ( ) kissed a mirror ( ) practiced kissing on the back of your hand ( ) sang in the shower (x) have a little black dress ( ) had a dream that you married someone (x) had a intimate dream of someone (x) glued your hand to something ( ) got your tongue stuck to a flag pole ( ) kissed a fish (please, someone, check this one-- I have to be able to say that I know someone who did) (x) worn the opposite sex's clothes (x) sat on a roof top (x) screamed at the top of your lungs ( ) done a one-handed cartwheel (x) talked on the phone for more than 6 hours (if IM counts) (x) stayed up all night ( ) didn't take a shower for a week (x) picked and ate fruit right off the tree (x) climbed a tree ( ) had a tree house (x) are scared to watch scary movies ( ) believe in ghosts ( ) have more than 30 pairs of shoes (x) worn a really ugly outfit to school just to see what others say ( ) gone streaking ( ) gone skinny dipping (x) played ding-dong-ditch (we didn't call it this though) ( ) played chicken ( ) played mercy and won (i used to always lose... damn these noodly arms) (x) pushed into a pool/lake with all your clothes on ( ) broken a bone (x) been easily amused (still am) ( ) caught a fish then ate it (cooked) ( ) killed and animal (cow, pig, etc), cooked it, then ate it ( ) caught a butterfly (x) laughed so hard you cried (x) cried so hard you laughed ( ) mooned someone (x) had someone moon/flash you (x) cheated on a test (x) drove without any license ( ) have a Britney Spears CD (x) forgotten someone's name (x) slept naked (x) French braided someone's hair (tried to) ( ) grown a beard (tried to... kidding, obviously) ( ) belong to the KKK. (x) rule at life. (i rule at everything) (x) didn't know how to explain yourself to the person that loves(-s +d) you | | Saturday, June 25th, 2005 | | 5:53 pm |
lazy days and Jay's pants
So... because I just woke up from a 3+ hr nap and don't feel like going running yet (it's frickin hot out there), I treat y'all to an update! I got up early this morning to go to the city market-- figured that I should go at least once since I've lived here almost a year now =P It was fun... just kindof the standard vegetables and fruit and flowers and baked stuff. So I bought some squash and peaches. We ate peaches while walking around, but mine wasn't so great. Jay apparently liked his though. Eh, I'll try another one later. Anyway, Jay needed some more pants for his showcase, so we went to the mall. I love going to the mall to go clothes shopping! It's true. This mall is the best because it's got, oh, I dunno, maybe 20 stores total? And out those 20, this mall has a Starbucks, Abercrombie, Gap, J. Crew, Express, um, I forget, but like every trendy, preppy clothing store ever invented. Except Banana Republic, that's in the neighboring shopping center. So anyway, Jay got these pants from Gap last time that were like $50, which is already kinda silly because they're just regular dress pants. But anyway, I always feel like I stick out like a sore thumb in these stores and it's neat how the salesgirls studiously ignore me as I point to things and giggle (often not that quietly either, sorry). But the Gap couldn't fulfill Jay's pants needs this time, so we had to go explore the rest of the stores. We went to all the other ones, except Abercrombie, because that one's clearly not meant for straight men. Now, that may sound offensive, except that it's true. I never would've thought of it myself, except an old friend of mine told me this, and I suppose he would know. Besides, take a look at their advertising campaign... http://www.abercrombie.com/anf/lifestyles/html/homepage.htmlThe last time I checked, such photography doesn't appeal to straight men. Anyway. Jay wouldn't go in till last, and then only out of desperation. What we found inside was astounding! First, it smelled good. Kinda creepy, but it really did smell good *shrug*. And then we found jeans that would make any hobo proud-- not fancy Starbucks-drinking hobos from DC, but a real hobo. So torn and ridiculously stained and faded, like you wouldn't believe. Seriously, check this out... At only $198.00, these pants come with holes and stains, as if you just escaped from Alcatraz... in some *really* fashionable jeans. http://www.abercrombie.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10901&storeId=10051&parentCategoryId=12202&childCatgroupId=12837&categoryId=12837&productId=220853&langId=-1So now, if you win the lottery, you can still look terrible! Oh, and why do the new girls tops all look like maternity clothes? Does it mean that teen pregnancy is a-ok now? Or is it just a mechanism to hide excess chub? I don't know, but it's unattractive and strange to go into Gap, look at the girl's clothes, then go into "Modern Maternity", and then see the same clothes, often for cheaper and in more attractive patterns. At least moms-to-be don't feel the need to wear jeans that look like they got shot with a hotdog and then run over with a lawnmower =P Okay, that's my fashion rant =P Now I'll just go back to wearing my race shirts and jeans, and if you don't like it, well, you can just... go over there. I'll start dressing like a ho one day too, I promise. Wow. *rereads* I sound really angry and bitter in this post. That's pretty funny. I'm gonna go ogle the Abercrombie models some more ;) | | Thursday, June 16th, 2005 | | 6:46 pm |
Oh, and fun Simpsons quotes =) Homer: It all begins when the nulecule leaves its nest... Marge: She [Maggie] isn't afraid of bunnies! Homer: She will be now! | | 6:29 pm |
long awaited update =P
Because "someone" claimed that I haven't updated this thing in a year, which is totally untrue =) So what has Peihan been up to, you ask? Not much. Did the train'ing run from Trenton to New Brunswick on the tow path, which was fun. I mean, when else do I get to run around Trenton at 5am? So yeah, got a bunch of scratches and scrapes from that, and now I'm a co-record holder too =) Started back out in the lab that I'll be doing my thesis in, which is nice, though now that I'm not rotating any more, I kinda have to work and stuff =P Just getting my rig set up and ordering equipment I need and kicking things when they don't work like I think they should =) The lab does work in pain and anesthesiology (we're affiliated with the hospital, but no, we don't work with people), though I don't know exactly what my project will be on yet. I'm kindof leaning towards the pain aspect of it, but who knows =) Still been running though it's been crazy hot this last week and that makes it less fun. I'm starting to wonder how I'm gonna carry all my water with me for longer runs later this summer. I might actually have to invest in a camelbak even though I've been putting that off =P I've been spending more time on the treadmill which is sucky, but eh, that's what I get for living in the south and getting practically no snow all winter, huh =) Been kinda busy with mentoring on Mondays and Salv. Army on Tues. and Thurs... kinda stressing me out so I think I'm gonna cut the Salv. Army to only Thursdays. The guy that runs the program means well but he's pretty slow and inefficient and I think he scares away some volunteers with his long-winded lecturing. There's one part of his spiel that I particularly dislike-- about how the kids we work with aren't "at-risk"... we're trying to bring them up to being at-risk because they've already fallen. I dunno about you, but I think that's a horrible thing to say. For the most part, these kids are good kids though they've had hard lives and don't have the best habits. But they aren't like, wallowing in their badness-- they are trying to improve. So that doesn't make them "fallen" in my mind. But anyway. Speaking of which, I gotta head out there in a few min, so I'll do this thingy that Jamie wants me to do =P 1. Total number of books I own: Many less than my friends, apparently... prolly because I only buy books that I've already read because they're expensive. Definitely less than a hundred. Maybe 75? Plus textbooks? Yeah, still less than a hundred. Most of which are here in VA with me. The ones still in NJ I don't like as much, and are slowly being transported to the Salv Army. 2. Last book(s) I bought: Trinity by Leon Uris and Maps in a Mirror by OSC 3. Last book(s) I read: both books above 4. Five books that mean a lot to me: Hart's Hope by OSC, Mill on the Floss by George Eliot, A Little Princess by Frances Hodgeson Burnett, Complete Book of Running by Jim Fixx, Lord of the Rings books by Tolkein. 5. Which 5 people would you most like to see fill this out in their blog? Well, two of three people whose blogs I read have already filled it out, so Jason, I guess you're the only one left =P |
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