Houston Marathon - Marathon #24

Despite the breakthroughs in the marathon distance in the first half of 2018, my fall marathon went poorly.  Partly because I tried to wing it, thinking that my improved fitness alone was enough (I been PRing left and right in shorter distances) and partly because I decided to skip breakfast (something new).  With the North Face 50 miler looming I decided against simply signing up for another marathon in a few weeks and decided on Houston marathon.  I enjoyed the marathon last year but my main motive was more that the timing seemed to work.  This made Houston the first marathon I returned to, my other 23 have been unique.
Training for Houston was mixed.  North Face got cancelled which provided a good opportunity to not worry about recovery and shift gears.  I did well on the 15k Ted Corbitt but for the two weeks afterwards, a final project and a final in a project management class took a lot of my time.  I had a week of work between the holidays which I used to build back up.  My longest run was about 17 miles and I feel like I didn't do enough marathon pace miles. 
I got something like the flu two weeks before Houston and that made sub 8 minute miles hard which affected my last few workouts in the sharpening phase.  It was also the first time doing a sharpening.  I realized that I didn't run enough mileage to do a standard taper.  I focused on running mostly easy with a few marathon miles here and there and a few short sprints in other runs.  I still felt the flue like thing the Thursday before the race.  This made me reassess my goals and lower them.  I aimed for a 3:25 which seemed like a reasonable pace that I could hold and then maybe try to break off at the last 5k.
Like last year I decided to fly to Dallas and then drive over to Houston.  On the way I would stop by Huntsville state park for a shakeout run.  My flight to Dallas got delayed by two hours and by the time I landed, the car rental locations had all closed.  This pretty much caused me to get to Huntsville state park the next morning pretty tired.  I choose Huntsvilled state park because I was curious to checking out some of Rocky Racoon 100's course.  Just as I started the shakeout, I went to take out my phone and go on Instagram and I then tripped on a slight downhill, landing on my face first.  After landing my face dragged a few inches down.  My cheek swelled and I got scratches close to my left eye with some minor on my arm and leg.  My legs were good however and I didn't think the fall would factor into the race the next day.  Bib pickup at the convention right after.  I stopped by the Geico booth to spin their wheel (didn't win), the Marathon Manaics (whom had a VIP tent for the finish line party) and grabbed some cowbells and 5k gloves.  Got some vegan pasta with vegan nachos at Sunshine vegetarian deli, desert at crumbville TX (vegan oreo cookie + vegan vanilla oreo cupcake), checked in and slept about an hour before going out for dinner at Green Seed vegan for a burger.
I ate 3 slices of white bread with peanut butter with a small glass of orange juice for breakfast.  Like last year I went for the free parking close to the convention center.  Easy to find a spot if you get there around 5 am.  I had to be at my corral by 6:45 so I had plenty of time to take a short nap, bag drop, bathroom, and warmup.  I love that the race starts in the convention which is convenient if it is cold (and it was in the morning).  Got my 5 minute jog and a few strides in to warmup.  Start was pretty smooth, national anthem and then started soon after.  Entries with a confirmed result of 4 hours or less are placed in the A corral. There are signs to self-sort.   I found the 3:25 pace group and started with them.  I found it interesting that there was no longer a 3:30 pace group, another indication that the reports of people BQing has not dropped.  You still need to beat your BQ time by 5 minutes to get in.  Temperature was the race started in high thirties and I thought were pretty ideal.  I took a gatorade gel a few minutes before the start. 
 The race starts downhill which leads to a fast feeling start.  The first few miles of the race felt pretty similar to last year.  The views, the scenery, I remembered it all.  I found that pace pretty comfortable and stuck with the pack.  I felt good, like I was flying and I thought how much I enjoyed going fast.  Around mile 8, the half marathon splits off.  It was about 50-50 from my position.  Around this time I started feeling my right leg IT band flare up.  It sort of came from no where, I have had IT band flares here and there but this was the second time it flared up in a long distance event (the first was my first marathon).  Familiar with the pain, I found it easy to ignore.  Around mile 10 I started losing the pack and fell behind.  They were still within my sights but I avoided doing surges to try to catch up.  I would have loved to have been right with them but I figure I would catch up.  I did start struggling with the pace.  I was extremely sloppy with the water stations.  I usually fell behind when I had to take in water and gels.  I should have looked up the water stations and made exact plans on when to take in gels at what water station instead of being like oh shoot, water!  Quickly take a gel and then water.  I even accidentally skipped one water station.  The biggest "hill" of the course was around the half marathon where you have to go over a bridge.  Around mile 17 I completely lost the 3:25 pack and had to pace myself.  I had my bluff blocking my left watch and went by feel.  I kept up a marathon effort but I knew I was slightly slowing down.  I think I also wasn't particularly motivated for a time goal so I didn't give myself that hard push.  I just kept up what felt like a strong effort.  It's quite the opposite of last year where I was really trying to break the 4 hour mark.  Around the 37k mark I noticed that the kilometers counted up so I looked at them rather than mile markers.  It was easier to see the kilometers tick off every few minutes instead of the long miles.  However by mile 24 I felt like complete shit.  I kept thinking that the 3:30 pace group would probably pass me and then I would fight to stick with them but then on mile 24 I remember that there was no 3:30 pace group.  I also saw the timer at 24 and was able to quickly do the math.  I might not even PR!  Mile 24 went fairly badly.  I received a text at about mile 25 from Hong with some encouragement which helped.  I was able to run the last .7 miles in a pretty fast and strong sprint.  I was a little surprised at how comfortable the sprint felt.  Like last year, the crowds and volunteers were great.  There were three spots for Gatorade gels which I took advantage of, though not my favorite gels, not needing water with them is pretty advantageous.  The finish leads back to the convention center where I got my drop bag and changed.  Ate a protein bar, oreos, and bananas to recover.  I skipped the party afterwards and went to a all you can eat vegan buffet in Chinatown.  I was more looking forward to real food that anything.

Suffolk County Marathon – Marathon #23

The Suffolk County Marathon was supposed to be an ego boost race.  The sole reason for it was to prove to myself that I was improving in fitness.  I worked quite a bit on the summer on speed and I thought a final marathon would be a good crowning victory.  It was supposed to show me going from a 9ish minute mile marathon pace from the beginning of the year to a 7:40 pace marathon pace.  After that, I could start to consider what it would take to get to a 6:50 mile marathon pace, to start thinking of a potential BQ attempt next year.  Instead I ended up sitting in a medical tent at mile 21.5, wondering why I had no energy left in the tank.

The need for a fall marathon

A fall marathon didn't really fit well into my fall schedule.  After the Lake Placid half ironman, my focus shifted to the North Face Endurance Challenge SF.  While a marathon could be considered a good long run in race conditions to prep for an ultra, the lack of elevation gain of road marathons won’t help much in a race with 10,666 feet of elevation gain.  Getting the muscles use to vert is a significant factor.  

However, though my years of running the marathon distance has become the distance I have ran the most.  It’s not my favorite distance, trail 50ks are (better views and recovery twice as fast versus the road) but I guess due to most people I know doing road marathons, I ended up doing more road marathons.  A good PR on the road marathon would be the best proof of improvement.  

So five days before Suffolk County marathon, I signed up.  I learned about this race from the many QDR folks that run it last year in rainy and windy conditions.  The weather looked well this year around, what I thought was a flat course and close to Queens.  They even had race day pickup for a fee so that made logistics even easier.  

The day before

My original plans was to do some sort of bag transport for the QDR people running the last few miles of the NYC marathon, get a shakeout run, volunteer at Flushing Meadows and then boulder at BKBQB.  Bad weather changed that quite a bit.  I ended up not volunteering and not getting the shakeout run in.  It was my first marathon this year without the shakeout run the day before.  I started doing shakeout runs the day before marathons this year so I wasn’t too worried, for most of my marathons I have not done the easy 30 minutes jog.  I did boulder but I have boulder while traveling for races before so I didn’t consider that to be something that could hurt me.  I use to hike the day before but I have stopped that practice, figure it would still wear legs out a bit.  Hiking afterwards is still the best recovery in my mind.

The case for no breakfast

The only thing new I did for race was not eat breakfast at all.  I got the idea with from running podcasts.  I do all my morning training runs with no breakfast, even the medium long runs so I thought it made sense.  Don’t give the body things to process so soon to the race.  I usually eat bananas with peanut butter but I been fairly inconsistent in breakfast.  For the Georgia marathon, I simply ate a blueberry cliff bar.  I always eat 3 hours before race time.  From this, I had the idea that 300 calories or so weren’t really much help.  It was all going to be fat burn so why risk GI issues and stress the body a bit by giving it food to process by eating breakfast?  Instead I would eat a gel 5 minutes before the race and do my usually gel every 40 minutes strategy. 

Race Strategy - Going out hard and holding on for dear life on vs smart strategy

Race strategy was a big debate internally for me.  My only goal for this year was a sub 4 marathon which I achieved in a “smart” Houston marathon.  I glided for the first half and then started picking it up.  I did initially picked up a bit too fast but then slowed to a steadier pace.  Fought hard the last 10k to finally break the 4 hour mark.  For my marathons soon after that, having already achieved my time goal, I had nothing to lose so I just started going out faster.  I got positive splits in those marathons but I finished each race faster and faster, getting to a 3:35 in my last marathon - the NJ marathon.  In just 3 months I went from struggling to break 4 hours, a 9:07 pace to a 3:35, an 8:12 marathon pace.  This kind of got me in the mentally of going out hard and trying to hold on - even in marathons.  Part of the success of this though might have been because the marathons were so close together.  That the last marathon just ended up being a long run for the next.  For this marathon, it’s been 6 months since the last marathon.  My longest runs going into this race have been trouting on trails at a much slower pace.

I avoided advertising that I was running Suffolk because I wanted to try to go out hard and if I blew up, I didn’t want an audience to see.  Suffolk only had a 3:15 and 3:30 pace group where I thought I could do 3:20.  I was going to go out with 3:15, a 7:27 mile pace group which I knew was way too fast.  I have pretty PRed in every race this year (a few while sore) and I think that got in my head.  It starts to give you a sense of invincibility that I had when I was younger.  I also think I started underestimating the marathon distance.  I started not giving it the respect it deserves.

I got talked out of my reckless idea from Kevin, Edwin, and Jessica (most of the QDR admins) the day before the race.  Kevin broke the race into 10M-10M-10K which I heard last year from Lesie during the QDR marathon panel.  Kevin advised not running the first few miles faster than 8 minutes a mile.  I wasn’t sure if I could pace myself like that till Jessica mentioned that I could go out with the 3:30 pace group.  So I decided to go out with the 3:30 pace group for the first few miles and then slowly ease into marathon pace.  The last 10k I would fight for it to try to make up time.

Race morning

I woke at 5 am, got ready and drove 40 minutes to St. Joseph’s college.  The race recommended parking there and taking a shuttle that runs every 15 minutes.  Seemed simply enough.  They had volunteers check the bags before we boarded.  Not really sure why but I guess if you did have a banned item, you could simply return to your car and drop it off.  The shuttle bus ride was 7 minutes and it was nice talking to people in the bus.  It was pretty obvious that most people were half marathoners but that’s usual for races that also include the half marathon distance.  I did VIP bag check so I didn’t have to go to Suffolk on Saturday, I thought the extra $25 was worth saving the two hours.  Bib pickup was easy enough, I got my warmup run in and drills done.  I sort of got doubts if I was running for the right reasons.  I remember something Danny mentioned the day before about people who showed the joy of running when they ran.  Here I was running to fulfill my ego.  I reminded myself that I run for fun.

There weren’t cups of water at the start but they had water bottles so I took a bottle.  As planned I took a slow burning muir gel (140 calories) 5 minutes before and some water.  Threw the rest of the bottle away (felt bad since it was such a waste).  I didn’t see the 3:15 pace group but I did see a 1:40 pace group for the half marathon group.  I stuck to the plan though and went out with the 3:30 pace group.  It was a small race, so 3:30 was pretty close to the front of the pack.  The first few miles I was a bit in a drowsy state but I found the 8 minute to be pretty easy.  This was the opposite of the NJ marathon where I went out with the 3:30 group and it was a hard pace right away.  At 4 miles I took my first gel.  It was supposed to be every 40 minutes and for so long in a marathon, 4 miles meant 40 minutes.  I forgot I was moving much faster now.  I didn’t make that mistake again.  After 4 miles I decided to slowly advance and go into a 7:50 pace.  I figure I go for 7:50 pace till mile 10 and then go into marathon pace.  I remember a story that Jona said during the Jack and Jill marathon where the 3:30 pacer was a minute behind early on in the race and rushed to catch up which killed a lot of the group.  I wasn’t worried about a few minutes because I knew I could make it up.

The first few miles when through the town and then it kind of went into more just roads by the side of a highway marathon before turning around.  I would consider it the usual environment that a small city or town marathon is.  Kind of what I’m used to.  I thought the race would be flat but Kevin mentioned there were bumps and I see 500 feet of elevation gain on my garmin so bumps is accurate.

After separating from the 3:30 pace group I was pretty consistent with the 7:50 pace.  I found a group of people and ran with them.  A little past 6 miles most of them took the turn for the half marathon.  Now the race felt pretty empty.  Mile 9 had some hills and perhaps I took it too easy because the 3:30 group passed me at mile 9.  Mile 9 is also when I started feeling a lack of energy.  After 2 miles of dragging along I decided to push myself to catch up to the 3:30 group.  I decided that I would just try to stick with 3:30 till mile 20 and push the last 10k.  At mile 17 I almost caught up but by mile 18 I hit a hard wall.  The rest of the race I fell apart.  I started walk running at mile 21.  At mile 22 I was invited to stop by the medical tent and sit for 5 minutes.  Think I saw for like 10 minutes and eat a bag of pretzels.  Got heart rate checked.  I talked to them about what could have been the cause of my lack of energy.  My legs felt fine, I just couldn’t pick them up (mile 24 I started feeling soreness in the legs).  I talked to the staff about what could be wrong and the no breakfast is the only new thing.  I continued to walk run the rest of the race.  Some hard miles.  The thought of DNFing crossed my mind a few times but I figured it would be too inconvenient.  A lot of passing runners gave encouraging words, things I usually hear in an ultra-marathon. 

So not 100% sure what happened.  Hard to blame it solely on breakfast, could just been a bad day.  Maybe no breakfast could work but waking at 5 am and racing at 8 am might just been too much of a gap.  I felt especially bad since I got a whole lot advice about the race and I kind of just let them down.  Afterwards I met Roy who I ran a few mile with in the Brooklyn half marathon last year (the Rock and Roll one).  Roy ran two back to back marathons the weekend before and ran a 4:20 marathon.  He was also going to run the NYC marathon the weekend after as well.  Marathon maniac indeed.  Before the start I saw a stand for some plant based protein.  I was looking forward to trying that but they were gone by the time I finished, too slow.

On the bright side, a year ago I would not have been able to do a 4:25 marathon with 6 miles of mostly walking.  Afterwards I debated whether I wanted to try again in two weeks in the Bucks county marathon but that would mean a painful 50 miler the week after.  Better to refocus on bigger goals for my next marathon. 

Lake Placid Ironman 70.3

Lake Placid Ironman 70.3 “Anything is possible”

Backstory You can Skip

Signing up

A little over two years ago I decided to go out to New Hampshire and watch Cathy in the Timberman Ironman 70.3.  It was quite the experience, seeing how the pros moved around transition like a machine was pretty cool.  I was inspired by Cathy’s performance added doing one to my bucketlist.  I always had the idea of doing a full ironman but no timetable to do one at that point.  A month later registration for Lake Placid 70.3 came up and I got tagged by Cathy on FB.  I signed up shorty later!

Backstory - The Swim

After the race, I started going back to the pool to relearn how to swim.  I took classes 8 years ago at Baruch College.  I was one of the three people in the class who had no idea how to swim.  I would spend an extra half hour or so practicing after class ends which was a lot for me back then (but now thinking about it, once a week wasn’t much).  I managed to swim my first lap without stopping at the exam in the end.  I stopped swimming as soon as the class ended so it was 6 years of no swimming where I started up again. I practiced in the kids section as the lane swimming was entirely deep end and that was scary.  The pool for aquatics center closed for yearly maintenance and I stopped going.  March 2017 came and I signed up for Ridgefield tri, a sprint tri in June.  I moved to western Queens and got LIC YMCA membership for their pool.  The non-deep pool ended up being a good starting point.  I swam my second pool lap without stopping about 3 weeks before Ridgefield.  You could kind of see where this goes.  I got pulled out of Ridgefield tri within 4 minutes.  That was my first time in a wetsuit and in open water but at that point I wasn’t even comfortable with the deep end of a pool.

Afterwards I took advance swim beginner lessons in the Y.  I didn't get much out of it.  The instructor was a college student and was teaching adults for the first time.  He didn't have much of a structure to the class and just went with what people wanted to do.  I also went to Coney Island for open water and Lake Tioritti in Harriman which helped a lot but never ventured beyond where my feet couldn’t touch.  Lake placid came and this time after freaking out for about 20 minutes I got coached by John in a kayak and made it about a mile before getting cut from the swim (an hour and 25 minutes in the water).  I credit the experience, the keeping going when everything seems hopeless, for my 100 mile finish a few weeks later.  My focus was the 100 miler and I didn’t get enough swimming practice in.  I was still not comfortable with pool swimming at that point.

I knew that I would try again and when registration for 2018 Lake Placid came I would try again.  My approach to training wasn't too different.  I still slacked off in swimming but my time in Mirror Lake gave me experience.  I was more aware of how water environments could influence the body and had some backup ways to fall back on.  I signed up for Ridgefield again and this time I was able to finish.

Backstory - The Bike

Of the three sports, cycling was the only one I started in childhood.  Much of my elementary school summer days was spent doing one mile loops on a cheap mountain bike.  Though the internet eventually took over my hobbies at middle school I never forgot the balance I learned as a kid.  When I finally brought a road bike after my undergrad years I picked up cycling quickly.  I never struggled with clip-ons and such.  Everything came back naturally, as if I only been off the bike for a year or so, not 13 years.  When I did ride, I loved it but getting myself out the door for bike rides was a challenge.  I did fewer than 8 bikes rides a year till I moved to western Queens.  There I found it quicker to commute via bike than subway so I got citibike membership. 3 miles on citibike was most of my time on a bike.

Backstory – The Run

I wrote a bit about getting into running before so just a quick summary.  I started running a year after undergraduate college as a way to lose weight.  I started with the goal of jogging 4 miles without a walking break that soon became a half marathon in a few months.  Friends got me to sign up for my first and second marathon.  As my fitness improved I quickly moved into trail ultras as a way to train for long hikes.  After getting injured on my second marathon I lost interest in speed and went for distance.  50 miles, 100k, and eventually 100 miles.  After going vegan and rapidly losing weight I started getting free speed which brought the idea of speed for the first time.  Joining Queens Distance helped push me causing me to also improve as a runner as well.  As my main sport, I knew that no matter how beat up the swim and bike left me I could do decent in the run.

Summer 2018

Summer came and my focus was once again at what I love.  Trail ultras.  The more rocks, roots, and boulders, to climb on the way – the more fun.  I went through three 50 mile races and did my own 50k.  It was August by the time I finished and I decided to devote a month for tri training towards Lake Placid.  It wasn’t till I started the training that I realized how little time that was.  I crammed in as many as three workouts a day.  During my ultras I realized that hiking muscles were not the same as running muscles and if I thought about it further I would have realized that running muscles are not the same as biking.  My calves got more and more sore the more I biked and I was trying to get faster at running at the same time.  Finally after Percy I reduced running miles, something hard for me to do to allow time for more tri training.  The cramming eventually burnt me out about a week before the race.  Lucky it was in time for Labor Day weekend which I was hoping to make it to.  The weekend before Labor Day weekend I had a great swim in the Long Island sound in LI.  It lead me to think that cycling was going to be my big weakness. 

Pre-race week

The Monday before I race I went to Lake Placid to swim in Mirror Lake to practice in the swim course of the lake.  It went badly as I dealt with similar issues as the year before.  Later on the day I saw the transition area being set up and my stomach turned.  I started panicking and it took me two days to mentally recover.  I find it weird that it was seeing them set up the transition area, not Mirror Lake that caused me to panic.  It was as if my brain remembered how nervous I was last year and all those feeling came back in full force.  Convinced that I was going to die I looked at my life choices that led me to here and I went through a range of emotions.  I think I just had to sort through my thoughts. 

I decided to drop cycling and running and just focus on the swim.  I swam at Baruch for two mornings.  It’s the coldest pool I knew and I wanted to eliminate the shock of cold water.  I also swam continuous in pool practice for the first time, I usually take a break after 50 meters or so. 

I arrived at Mirror Lake the day before the race at 7:30 am.  Around the same time that the race will take place the following day to swim in similar conditions.  By then a lot of athletics were already swimming, biking, and running.  A lot of swimmers swam 2 buoys down and then cut across to the return lane buoys and swam back.  About 15 minutes swim for them.  Some Canadians complained about how warm the water was.  I swam back and forth about 80 meters out, not quite making it to the first buoy.  I was still too scared.  I swam for about 20 minutes.  Then I biked out to the 86 and returned, this way I got the last few miles of the cycling portion done.  Cycled for about 35 minutes.  During the bike I realized how stunning beautiful the bike course is.  I noticed it before while driving but seriously, I won’t mind biking 112 miles with views like that (hint hint).  I still had some time so I decided to do a 2 mile run at an easy pace to finish my own triathlon.  Then ate brunch at a vegetarian place before meeting up with Michael and Jackie at bib pickup.

Bib pickup went pretty similar to last year except they didn’t weigh us this time.  We got our numbers, filled out waivers, got the bib and swim cap and then the shirt.  We then got our bikes and moved to the village/transition area.  Compared to previous years there was a lack of brand ambassador promoting products at the village.  Guess they’re getting cheaper?  (I remember the Timberman village two years ago being more alive when I wasn’t even competing, a bit more dead last year and pretty dead this year).  I picked up the Lake Placid Ironman bag which in the merch tent which I guess was available to me last year as well but no one told me.  Dropped my bike off.  I listened to the “mandatory” pre-race briefing (they don’t record you attending so not sure how mandatory it was).  I found it more informative than last year. 

The cold was a big concern, 32 degree in the morning so we went around shopping.  Most stores were already sold out of cold biking gear.  Jackie and Michael then went to get in quick swims.  I was tempted to join them but I knew I could only hurt myself at this point.  Michael explained to me the difference between mirror and clear googles which should explain how much of a newbie I still am to swimming.  Afterwards we checked in to the Airbnb, went back into town.  Got food and ate with a beautiful view of Mirror Lake.  We then went to Price Chopper to get some beer and breakfast.  Had a celebratory toast and then a call with Cathy getting some last minute tips.  Watch the Office 5k episodes before going to sleep.

Race Day

We woke at 4:30 am and left by 5:10 am.  After parking we took a shuttle bus to the start (it was a 5 minute walk but meh).  Got our body marking and set up our transition areas.  We were informed that this was the coldest Ironman start in history.  I then went out of transition to swim start for a no line porter potty upon the advice of the transition area announcer.  I wish I brought my camera because the fog/mist coming out of the lake was an amazing sight.  They allowed us to have morning bags, a bag which you could drop off right by the swim start.  I didn’t pack an extra jacket with me so I decided to wear my causal running shoes barefoot and then use my causal socks as gloves.  I would save my jacket for the bike ride so I left it in transition.  On my way to swim start the second time around, as transition area was closing I forgot my socks so I went sockless on my shoes for no reason.  I met with Michael briefly and dropped off my shoes in the morning bag.  I decided to go in the warmup area of the water to get in a few strokes for confidence.  Michael went to the warming tent.  I intended to join him but after I was ready there was a long line of people waiting to enter the swim blocking the entrance to the warming tent.  So I went back into the water.  Despite the water being warmer than air temperature I was shivering.  Swim times are self-assigned, you could by pace rather than age and gender as many other tris.  If you go into a pace group faster than you, you simply will get swam over by faster swimmers.  It’s not pretty if you are slower.  Had some small friendly conversations with others waiting in the water.  I joined the last group and entered the water at 7:59.

The Swim

I had the choice of using my long sleeve wet suit or the sleeveless wetsuit that I borrowed from David Corona.  The long sleeve wetsuit might have kept me warmer in the wait for the start but I loved how easy it was to take off the sleeveless wetsuit.  I didn’t notice a change in buoyance. 

It should be known that my form for open water swimming is horrible.  I breathe every stroke.  I started off swimming pretty well.  Lake placid has a cable three feet under the water that runs down the swim course.  I avoided the battle for the line by being one person left of the line where I could still see the line but not get swam over by people right on top of it.  I ended up preferring to swim next to someone on the line.  Easier to see a person than a cable.  About a third of the way, I gobbled in some water and instead of calmly breathing it out and getting back to my rhythm, I went to my back to catch my breath.  To my surprise there was a pack of swimmers behind me and they all passed in my break.  I lost some time here dodging them and getting back to the line.  Back to the front and at the turnaround point I found that the cable also does a turn.  I previously thought I would have to sight till I got to the return buoys but not at all.  I saw a man swimming backstroke the whole way and wonder how he could tell where he was going.  The return felt like forever and I started feeling tired.  My neck hurt, probably from constantly turning my head right to breath.  I flipped over for a break and then continued.  I started to switch between my normal pool form where I breathe every 4 strokes and the every stroke open water form I was doing.  I noticed an immediate difference in speed.  About 400 meters left I got a cramp on my right calf.  I don’t usually cramp so I went on my back and kept my leg straight as I attempted to teach myself backstroke.  A standup paddleboard person saw me and I swam over to take a break.  After a minute I continued along my way.  My right calf cramped again shortly after and I once again went on back.  The lady on the standup paddleboard came back to help but I said I was okay.  I figured the cramp would go away and I wanted to keep moving.  I don’t know how to do backstroke (freestyle is the only form I know) but I know you could float on your back and raise your arms halfway up and then bring back down to move a bit.  It was slow but I used that to keep moving as the cramp went away.  Back to the front and a little later my left calf cramped up.  Same thing again.  Maybe I should have drank some electrolytes before starting the swim.  I soon left the yellow cable.  I found someone else swimming and swam next to them.  I used them to sight for me instead of sighting for the last 100 meters or so.  Lucky, they went the right way.

T1

Finishing the swim was pretty emotional for me and I cried as I ran barefoot to my bike.  I was also happy that people stuck around to cheer for the back of the pack swimmers like me.  My transition spot was close to the changing tent so I opted to completely get off my wet clothes in the changing tent and switch to my cycling clothes.  I forgot to bring my towel into the changing tent but to my surprise I was pretty dry (water didn’t get in the wetsuit).  After the cycling clothes I put a jacket on and cycling gloves.  Put the helmet on and off to the bike ride.  I think I did well on time despite using the change room.  I forgot my water bottle in the car, I was planning on drinking an entire bottle of hammer heed electrolyte drink but had to settle which my science in sport gel instead. Forgetting the water bottle would have big consequences later on as the next aid station where I got fluids was on mile 20 of the bike ride.  I also decided to go sockless on my cycling shoes.  Something I practiced once before 40 miles bike ride with Jess and Omar.

Bike

I got my tri bike a few weeks before the race and I still wasn’t set for it yet.  I lower the seat and raise the handlebars a bit but I still need to work on fitting and was still not use to changing the gears on it.  Still I knew I was faster on the tri bike than on my road bike with the same amount of effort and I wanted that free speed.  My unfamiliarly with changing gears caused me to stand up on all the uphills to use more muscles to push through higher gears (this is something I do often on the citibike, stand up on the ride up Queensboro bridge).  I passed a lot of people but initially people would pass me on the downhills.  Then I remember last year, Omar taught me about aerodynamics positing and how to get into a faster position on downhills which helped.  I ate a hammer gel and cliff block without any water trying to get calories in.  At mile 20 I finally got to an aid station.  I had no idea what they would look like.  How do cyclist get water during a race?  The aid stations are set up pretty much the same as running water stations except they give out full bottles.  The volunteers were set up on the right side and lucky I’m more comfortable with my right hand being free.  I took a Gatorade bottle, even with slowing down to grab one I felt like my hand hit the bottle a bit hard.  I didn’t have enough time to drop it in my bottle cage so I freed up two fingers on my right hand and grabbed a cliff block with those fingers.  Pretty successful on my first try.  I immediately drank half the Gatorade bottle.  Around mile 35 I decided to start pushing hard to the finish.  I went to max gear and was going at around 20 miles per hour.  It felt like I was flying but it was too soon and by mile 40 I was burning out.  At the next aid station I took a water bottle but the Poland Spring sports bottle was thinner than the Gatorade sports bottle and it didn’t stick to my C shape bottle cage.  I only was able to drink a quarter of it before it fell over (lucky no one behind me).  I also ate the cliff block I got from the aid station.  At the final aid station I got another Gatorade bottle and drank a third of it.  Then we approached the three bears climb which I did the day before and I knew we were near the end.  I wasn’t able to push harder however.  Overall, I think could have done better on the bike if I actually trained for it.  My inexperience caused me to push harder (like in an inefficient way) and push to finish too soon.  Also by using a jacket over my cycling jersey I got cut off from my back pockets and struggled a bit with using my jacket pockets with storage of gels.  I would opt for using a gel flask instead too to make it easier for one hand nutrition.

T2

T2 was quick.  I took off my cycling shoes and put on hiking socks.  My darn tough hiking socks were nice and wide so I didn’t have to struggle to quickly put them on as the usual thin running shoes are.  I had my running shoes already double tied so I just slipped them on.  I put my Queens Distance jersey on which already had the bib pinned on it.  Quickly went to bathroom and took a cup of water before heading out.  I had a cliff gel and a hammer gel in cycling jersey pockets.  I immediately notice it bounce around and didn’t like it. 

The run

My feet immediately felt hot as I started running.  I think it might have been a combo of being sockless for 56 miles on the bike and then putting on thick hiking socks.  No blisters developed though (but those are already extremely rare for me).  I started off at a strong pace.  Around 8 minutes in the start falling back to 8:30ish.  I should have looked at a map to know where to expect the aid stations.  The first one came too soon for me to eat a gel and drink water so I just took some Gatorade.  Got a gel in the second one.  At mile 2.6 I saw Jackie on the out and back and gave a high five.  A little bit later someone yelled QDR and then I saw Michael shortly after too, I think 3.9 miles in for me.  I felt pretty energized, seeing my friends and that random QDR shout helped.  I bonked hard at mile 7 and I even started to feel dizzy.  This was new!  I think it was due to not drinking enough fluids and not taking in enough nutrition in the bike ride.  I did have to go to bathroom (which might indicate I’m hydrated) before I started the run but that might have just been from water ingested during the swim.  Maybe I drank too much lake water and ended up flushing out electrolytes?  I struggled the rest of the way.  I used a lot of my mental strategies – thoughts of friends and family to push myself during the bike ride so burnt out of those usual fallbacks, I went to the basic aim for a cone.  After you reach the cone, aim for the next one.  I started drinking two gatorades at the aid stations which helped me feel better.  I craved fruit but there was always someone blocking the one person giving out fruit and I didn’t want to stop to take some.  I didn’t recover, the race wasn’t long enough for that but my finish probably looked a bit strong because I knew it was over. 

Finish

Upon finishing I felt pretty weak and I would have probably collapsed but a volunteer walked with me.  She allowed me to lean a bit on to her and then a EMS came to help me as well.  Off I went to the medical on the promise that there was broth there.  Surprise, it was chicken broth so I had to settle on crackers to get some salt in.  They checked my vitals and it was fine which I knew.  I got some soda and fruit in.  I was advised to eat whatever felt good.  I then went back to the finish where they were some food.  I was disappointed at the lack of vegan options but I guess this isn’t an ultra, can’t expect much.  They had turkey and ham subway sandwiches, pizza, mac and cheese and fruit.  I’m too use to trail ultras where they have real food at the end.  I met with the group shortly after and they helped me pack.  They finished more than 40 minutes before me!  After some finishing photos at the parking lot we drove to Poughkeepsie for Thai food for dinner.  Thanks to Michael for keeping me company for most of the drive back down.  It was really good hearing about how the race went for him.

Cayuga 50

“We don’t rise to the occasion, we fall to our level of training”

The Cayuga trails 50 was my sixth 50 miler and fourth ultra this year!  This race was originally a C race, just a long run to prepare for Eastern States 100 but Eatern's cancellation caused me to form some type of time goal for this race.  Rinchen joined the race which also put some pressure in me to at least keep up with her for half the race.  My fastest 50 miler was in the flat and completely runnable Ice Age 50 in Wiscon two years ago at a time of 11:20.  It's hard to compare trail races since they differ so much terrain wise but I decided I would attempt a sub 11 hours in this race which has more than 2.5 times the elevation gain of Ice Age but was also a very runnable course. 

Two years ago I ran the marathon version of this race (1 loop instead of two).  It was my first in a race with no sleep - I went swimming the night before and then late dinner with friends, I barely had time to pack and head out the door.  I ended up arriving a few minutes late, missed the start and when finally starting I headed off the wrong direction.  Much of the rest of the race was a blur but I do remember how beautiful coming down the last 5k of the race was.  I decided to come back later that year to spend more time enjoying the Ithaca area.  It's a beautiful place and the Ithaca area is easiest one of my favorite spots in NY.  I went to train in the course itself two weeks before this race.  The training helped create a strong mental map of the course.  I pretty much knew where everything was and I was able to break up the course to smaller chunks which helped mentally.  Special thanks to Ami who helped me not get lost in that trip!

With two 50 milers done in June I knew I had the endurance and nutrition down so I focused more on speed and strength in the three weeks post Maintou's Revenge.  I spent time doing track, yoga, weight training and core bootcamp type workouts.  My weekly mileage was on the low side (averaged 42 miles the three weeks) but I did end up spending a lot of time in training.  I didn't taper much going into the race, I did my usual training till Tuesday and then took it easy.  I still felt pretty drained during the easy days leading to the race.  I wasn't really able to catch up on sleep either which might have factored in a bit.  Lucky, Jordan and Deki were going to support.  Jordan drove most of the way there giving me a chance to get some sleep on the commute.

I learned a lot from my previous races which gave me more ideas on prepping for this one.  Part of the reason why I went to Ithaca two weeks beforehand to practice on the course was because there really isn't anything similar to the historical steps in the trails around here in NYC.  The only thing close I could think of is the steps going from the shore trail to the long path in the palisades.  I brought new running shorts, I specially wanted mesh pockets where I could store trash.  I have to eat quite a bit during ultras and while I could use one of my hip belt pockets for trash, it's a bit clumsy.  The risky part was that I got my shorts two days before the race and I tested one pair out for an easy 7 miles on road and track.  Trail running is different (something I found out with my New Balance split shorts in the NJ marathon where they were great on the trails but caused chaffing on the road).  I spend more time prepping my drop bags.  Instead of throwing things I think I might need in the bag and then fumbling around and figuring out how many I need, this time I organized using containers to store a predetermined amount to withdraw.  Extra gels in a talenti jar, waffle cookies with hazelnut banana gel spread in another container, salt pills in another pocket, etc.  I knew the aid stations were going to be well stocked and I did plan on mostly using them but I wanted to have backups just in case.  I was once again using an old pair of Brooks trail shoes where the soles were worn out (it wasn’t a technical course so I wasn’t worried about grip) and I also stashed my merrels trail shoes in a bag as a just in case.  I prepared two drops bags, though there was an option to have a bag at each of the 4 aid stations of the course.

I met the Jordan, Deki, and Rinchen at 12:45 am on Saturday morning (race morning) and then drove a little more than an hour and half before Jordan took over off the rest.  I had about 2 hours of sleep at home and got another 2.5 in and out during the drive.  Think that's the best for a 50 miler this year!  Arrived on site at 5 am, an hour before start.  It was pretty dark, but lucky I had a headlamp and flashlight in the car.  Wasn't a long walk to North Shelter where the racing HQ was.  I should have gone to the bathroom right away but instead I scouted around to figure out where bib pickup and drop bags were.  Then told Rinchen, got my bib and went back to the car to drop off the singlet and get my drop bags.  I met Jeremy who asked if I was ready.  He asked how the course compared to Bear mountain and I said something like it was more runnable so you should expect faster times despite more elevation gain.  By the time I got to the bathroom there was a long line.  Next off to the start line.  Didn't get much of a chance to warm up.  There weren’t any waves for this race.  Rinchen stayed near the front of the pack but I moved to the middle where Jeremy was.  A horn got blown to signal the start.  A few minutes into the race I took a look at my watch and saw I was at an 8:40 pace which I recognized as too fast so I slowed down.  Jeremy passed me at about the mile mark.  Jeremy is a much stronger runner than me so that makes me think I didn't slow down enough for that first mile.  I completely lost Rinchen by this point and got worried that she might be going out too fast.  I got into a pack of runners and we stayed pretty steady.  Got through Robert Treman Park, did a mile loop that we had to do on the way back as well but not at all on the second go around (26 miles first time, 24 second).  Then the course changed a bit from the last time where it doesn't go back into the rim trail of Robert Treman but continues on a different trail as we exit Robert Treman state park and head to Buttermilk state park.  More trail trail this way and less stairs this way which I don’t mind.  I was fearful of the stairs on the last quarter where you quads are spent.  

Shortly after we made it to Underpass aid station.  In the last race you had to go through two waist deep stream crossing.  A dry spring led to only one stream crossing which water going up to only the calf.  I quickly refilled my bottle and got some oranges before I headed off.  I started following someone that was heading to the road before a volunteer called us back and correct us.  That was the only time I almost went the wrong way.  The course was well marked.  A little before mile 8, at a massive uphill climb I saw Rinchen.  It took a few minutes of power hiking to catch up.  We then started running together.  I think from the moment I caught up with her she had doubts about starting the second loop.  I wasn't really sure how to respond to that.  It was about 90 minutes in and I asked if she had eaten any gels.  She had not so I told to take one.  I tried to remind her about every hour afterwards to eat one.  By then I was on my second gel (one twenty minutes before, another 40 minutes in) and getting close to my third (I did one every 50 minutes).  We joined another pack which I somehow ended up leading till we got to the picnic area of buttermilk state park before entering the rim trail.  There was a short road run where the group broke up.  I talked briefly with a man who does Spartans and was doing his first 50 miler with two friends.  They broke off to the bathroom.  At buttermilk I took a little more time at the aid station stocking up on calories.  I tried Gu's waffle cookie and it was delicious.  I also had some watermelons.  Now was the journey back to the start!  The Spartan group caught up and we ran together after going back and forth for a bit.  Towards underpass aid station I said hi to Ami who was running the marathon version.  At underpass aid station I restocked on some gels and over ate on oranges.  They froze the oranges and the coldness just felt so good.  I felt a bit full and decided to skip on a gel because of it.  We ran with the Spartans till close to the next aid station (Old mill ) where they broke off.  Around mile 21 I got into a low point (hit the wall feeling) and I started struggling mentally.  We passed by a man who was walking.  He seemed very beat and looked like he was going to walk a lot of the rest.  He accepted it and seemed resolved to finish.  At Old mill aid station I drank 4 cups of ginger ale and the sugar helped me feel much better.  At the last 5k back to the start on the gorge trail of Robert Treman state park Il I felt revived.  I started saying good morning with high energy to the many tourist checking out the park.  I talked briefly with another man who was doing his first 50 miler.  He's done a few marathons and this was the next challenge.  I shared with him that I felt better with the ginger ale.  I saw Jeremy on his way back and he seemed a bit tired (but who wouldn’t about 28 miles in), I estimate he was about 30 minutes ahead of me.  At the final downhill before arriving back at the start Rinchen pushed the pace a bit.  She usually pushed me a bit at the flat and wider trails.

At the start once again, I quickly went to the bathroom back and then proceed to eat.  There weren't any watermelons at this location to my disappointment (I was motivating myself thinking of the refreshing watermelons).  I stocked up on some of the GU salt tablets before starting the second loop.  Rinchen continued as well and she didn’t seem to be thinking about stopping.  In my head I broke the rest of the race down by aid stations.  Aid station to aid station wasn't that far so in my head I broke it down to get to old mill (3ish miles), then to underpass (another 3ish miles), and then a bit of a long stretch to buttermilk (6ish miles) but once there I'm heading home which I figure would give me a mental boost.  So run a bit to the aid station where you get rewarded with some fruit and soda before continuing.  Towards the gorge trail I joked to some of the runners returning to the start that there was an all you can eat buffet down there (in reference to the aid stations).  A little farther on the way to old mill the runner I told about drinking soda caught up and thanked me for the tip.  I saw Ami again, I think close to underpass aid station again.  A little farther we went back and forth with a woman in the 45-49 USAT age group competition and she eventually passed us (life goals).  Between underpass and buttermilk we passed a man who was having stomach problems.  Sadly this was at the long stretch part and the aid station was close to 4 miles away.  After talking to him a bit to make sure he didn’t emergency help we passed by (couldn’t really help).  Towards Lake Treman, going up a small set of the stairs that overlook the lake, we passed a man.  I joked that passing people on the uphill was dangerous (in terms of blowing up later on).  This whole stretch, I definitely didn't feel as light and quick as the first time around running in the pack. 

Towards the descend down buttermilk I briefly lost Rinchen but she caught up at the aid station.  Then the path long stair walk up the waterfalls of buttermilk state park towards bear trail to the finish.  Rinchen started getting tired so after climbs I tried to emphasis taking a deep breath before starting to run again.  It made me feel better so I thought it might help her.  I continued to drink a lot of soda at the aid stations.  Around mile 45 Rinchen asked for a break so I said walking break and we did a brief walk.  Around this point we caught up to Romain who we passed but he was able to hang on to us pace.  Close to old mill aid station we all got passed by Lizzy.  When she passed I started pushing in hopes of keeping up.  It’s easier to follow someone else’s pace so it was nice to not be leading for a tiny bit.  I mentioned to Rinchen that at the final aid station I was going to walk by.  I had to make sure they got my bib number, otherwise I might have just ran by.  Rinchen took a break at the aid station so I lost her here.  I did want to finish with her but I was really excited at the thought of finishing.

The final 5k was mostly downhill and Romain, Lizzy, and I started pushing our pace.  I initially took the lead (steep downhills are a favorite of mine) and carved out a path through the tourists of Robert Treman park.  As I said excuse me to get people out of the way I warned that there were two more runners.  Sprinting down stone steps is a unique experience and it’s a lot different than any other downhills on road or trail that I experienced.  About halfway through the final 5k, Lizzy passed.  I tried to keep up but slowed at the small rolling hills.  I ended up finishing a minute behind her.  At the final grassy stretch I turned my head and saw Romain catching up.  Nope!  I sprinted hard to the finish.  He finished 11 seconds behind me.  I congratulated him on his strong finish.  I thought Rinchen might take a little longer to finish so I went inside to get some food.  She finished about 10 minutes after me which is really good for a first 50 miler.  I ate some portabella tacos with some beer (only cold thing) and peaches. 

After resting a bit, the race director Ian gave out some fun rewards.  Person who had the most sunburn, best spouse crew, people that love gu.  It was nice.  They gave out the rewards for the top 10 USAT overalls.  We went to the camping bathrooms to take a shower (you could drive right in front of the bathroom).  I talked a while to a guy who DNF at mile 40 a bit on the way to the bathroom.  He had knee surgery recently so had to stop.  Back to the finish line I had to wait for my drop bag from underpass to return.  I met Ami again and we talked for a bit.  I got some more food.  Then I saw Deki ran toward the building near the start and come out with my drop bag.  I then headed back to the car.  I would have loved to have hanged out longer but it was getting late and the drive back is 4 hours.  

Got some sleep and went hiking the next day to recover!  Despite being alright on the hike (the uphills were a bit hard for me), later on Sunday I got the marathon legs.  I struggled a bit going down the stairs and by 10 pm I was beat.  I mostly felt in in my calves the following few days,