My trajectory into long distance running part 2

Year three October 2014 to 2015
October 2014
I ran the wineglass marathon in minimalist trail running shoes which were size 13 (a size smaller than the Pureflows).  I brought both my Pureflows and the Merrells with me I thought my form would be better in the minimalist Merrells  shoes so I decided to wear them for the race.  I aimed for a 4:20 marathon.  With 10 miles as my longest run and no longer in these shoes, my feet swelled and the pain was great.  I finished the marathon 11 minutes slower than Disney.  I was so upset that I signed up for my third marathon - the Brooklyn marathon shortly after returning.  I would jump back into training and get injured again - this time on the foot.  One note on the return trip was that I was talking to a more experienced runner and he mentioned tempo run.  I had no idea what he was talking about and he advised me to look at a beginner training plan.  I still didn’t, I had my excuse on why I did bad - the shoes were too small.
November 2014
I ran the Brooklyn marathon with super cushioned shoes.  Cautious about my foot I finished even slower - another 22 minutes slower than the second marathon.  Frustrated, I decided that speed was not for me and that I will chase distance.  I signed up for the North Face 50 Bear mountain.
March 2015
I finished my 4th marathon - continuing my trend of running marathons slower.  I was now 50 minutes slower than my first marathon.  I didn’t really train for this marathon like the others.  It was an excuse to check out Virginia Beach.
May 2015
I finished the North Face Bear Mountain 50 miler in 13:55:17, less than 5 minutes from the 14 hour time limit.  I quickly found myself towards the back of the pack by mile 18.  I got a bit of a pickup at mile 21 and made the first cutoff at 29 minutes with 10 minutes to spare.  I didn’t believe I could finish and told it to the volunteer who immediately tried to encourage me.  It didn’t really stick and I struggled through the next few miles.  Now I was alone, anyone I passed was already destroyed.  I remember volunteering for the NYC marathon back in 2013 and being inspired by seeing how people pushed through pain.  Here I saw the opposite.  The back of the pack of ultras showed me people that tried and gave up.  At mile 35ish I made it to an aid station that had ran out of water.  A man had water in his car and he rushed to get some.  A woman filled my bottles with ice while I waited.  I was advised to not drink too much water.  The volunteers took me I had to book the next 10k to make it to the cutoff at mile 41.  Their encouragement got me and I started running hard and I entered a mode where I felt like I could sprint forever.  I kept replaying their encouragements.  I made it to another aid station and was advised by a lady to run what’s runnable.  I ended up making it to that cutoff with 2 minutes to spare.  Around mile 45 I made it to another aid station where I was stuffing my face with candy.  The man told me to not linger too long.  I wasn’t sure why till I started moving again and my legs felt like bricks.  After a little bit I was able to run again and made it to the finish.  Hugged some strangers who also were struggling since mile 41.  I think this race showed me more than anything how important the mental game is - and how much the right words at the right time could make all the difference.  (I wrote more about this race in my blog).
The rest of the year has me running 9+1 events.  I don’t really race them, choosing to run with friends instead.  At this point I made a handful of running - hiking friends that I got to do weekly weekend adventures with.  I didn’t care about PRing but racing became a sort of an adventure.
Year 4
October 2015
Portland marathon - I finally beat my first marathon time and got a decent PR - 4:17:30.  Still no training plan or anything that resembles training but the 9+1 helped with being more constant with running.  The next week I did the Mount Desert marathon in a much slower 5:01:34.  The race had a meal at the end which I enjoyed more so because of the chance to talk with other runners.  Doing two marathons within 15 days got me into the marathon maniacs - my first running club.  I never really got involved with the club, despite buying lifetime membership, but I looked at their challenges and their Facebook group with interest.
November 2015
I run my first trail marathon on my birthday weekend.  The marathon is still one of my favorites due to how scenic Moab is.
January 2016
I ran the Mississippi Blues and First Light Marathons in the same weekend.  I was a bit sad to miss the Blues crawl Saturday night since I had to drive immediately from Jackson to Mobile.  Every running step of First Light hurt and I had to tell myself jokes 10k in to take my mind of the pain.  This back to back - 2 marathon in one weekend only puts me mid rank on the marathon maniacs.
April 2016
I ran the Breakneck marathon in 10 hours and 15 minutes - my slowest marathon ever.  The elevation gain with a crazy 10,000 feet but I mostly underestimated it.  I have hiked breakneck so many times so I really should have known.
May 2016
I ran my second 50k once again in Bear Mountain.  I finished strong this time around and finished with quite a bit crowd at the finish line (at least for trail running).  This was my second race to buildup to the Ice Age 50.  It was also the first time I started doing racing as buildups.  However i didn’t really factor anything other than distances (Ice Age was a flat 50 miler so a moderately hilly 50k is a bit different).  My second 50 miler was in Wisconsin, much less technical and flatter than Bear Mountain but the x-factor was a 12 hour cutoff.  I finished in 11:13:35, I did not have to chase cutoffs this time around which was a big surprise to me.  What I loved about the race was how chatty the people of  Wisconsin were.  I made some quick friends talking with people as they warmed up in the first 10 miles.  I also started experimenting with hiking form for uphills and found ways to move quicker.
June 2016
To recover from my 50 miler I did the Cayuga trail marathon.  I went into the race with no sleep whatsoever, I hung out with friends that night and then had to drive 4ish hours to arrive 5 minutes late and grab my bib.  I also started off running the wrong way.  The rest of the race wasn’t too fun but Itacha is gorgeous and I was able to do future trips there with friends thanks to learning about it’s beauty from the race.
August 2016
I traveled to Montana for a hard 50 miler - The Elkhorn endurance challenge near Helena, the capital of the state.  It’s a beautiful area but I struggled with altitude during the race.  I felt like I couldn’t run the easy uphills and missed the time cutoff for the 50k mark.  I blame the altitude but it’s probably just not being fit.  This was my first DNF.
September 2016
I took part of the Erie marathon as a final buildup to Mountain Lakes 100, my first attempt at the 100 mile distance.  Here I DNFed as well.  My quads burnt out around 30 miles in and I couldn’t run.  It turned dark and I wasn’t able to keep warm.  The sweepers caught up and kept me company.  At mile 55 I had a choice, the hard cutoff was at mile 70 so I could keep going.  It was a 15 mile loop but time wise I knew I couldn’t do it.  My mind already gave up.  Still I wanted someone- a volunteer or race official to tell me to quit.  No one did, they left the choice to me.  The sweepers even offered to run with me, saying it would be good company.  I was tired and cold, I chose to quit.  It was a choice that haunts me once in a while.  You sort of have an image of yourself - that you’re not a quitter.  That no matter how hard things get, it’s just one foot in front of the other - that you’re a fighter.  After I quit, I went into the warming tent, put a sleeping bag type around me and I sat in front of a heating fan thing.  I shivered every few minutes or so and wasn’t able to get warm.  Eventually, after a few hours, a volunteer drive me back to the start, the heated seats finally got me warm.  I still have a bit of aversion of running in cold nights.
Reflections:  Years 3 and 4 had me go full in towards running races as an adventure.  I think the foundation was sort of there from the beginning.  While I made friends that were running for more than a bucket list item, I still wasn’t surrounded by people trying to run faster so I didn’t think about getting faster.  I didn’t know anyone getting coaching or following training plans so I didn’t consider it either.  I think my first two marathons ending up being destination races got me in the mindset that  races could be adventures.  An excuse to travel.  Since I wasn’t really into speed, I sought to challenge myself in different ways - marathons and ultras in close approximation to each other, increasing my distances.  However, as I started getting into harder 50 milers and 100 miles I found that winging it didn’t work and got my first DNFs.  These DNF would hurt my motivation to run in the upcoming months.

My trajectory into long distance running part 1

October 5th marks my 7th year anniversary of starting to run.  To celebrate, I’ll slowly write about my trajectory into long distance running.  From someone who couldn’t run a mile to someone who would attempt some of the hardest ultra marathons in the world.

Year One October 2012 - September 2013
I tried multiple times to get into running via treadmill beforehand but it never stuck.  It was too hard.  I think I always liked the idea of running but I was struggling doing 2 miles in 30 minutes on the treadmill.  Then, on my sister’s birthday I decided that jogging the 2 mile stretch of the Vanderbilt parkway in Alley Pond park and back (totaling 4 miles) without stopping would be a good sign of fitness. I couldn’t run a mile at that point without stopping so I started off doing a half mile - then walking a quarter mile - intervals till I reach 4 miles.
October 2012
I start off run-walking 4 miles but I reach my goal in a week (at a pace slower than 12 minutes a mile).  I decided to continue along the greenway to see where it goes and  got to 6 miles.  For the most part, I stuck to 4 miles 3x a week.
March 2013
 I learn that a half marathon is 13.1 miles.  It seems doable.  A distance worth paying for...why would I pay for a 5k or 10k?  I could already do those distances.
April 2013
I find the cheapest half marathon I could - Suffolk County Half marathon.  For $25, there was only gun time and a cotton shirt (which surprised me - never expected to get a t-shirt).  I did my second longest run - 9 miles two days before the half which was a good confidence booster.  I ran the half carrying a ziplock bag of white sugar, which I attempted to eat at mile 8 (a good chunk of it missed and went over my beard).  I ran two 5ks shortly after but more so because friends were doing it.
May 2013
I do the LIC half marathon because I thought a friend would do it (he ended up not being able to go).  My first big race, I found out that you can’t just drive to race site 15 minutes before the start and that there are big lines for porter potties.  This time I used a gel and broke 2:10, 7ish minute improvement from just a month ago.
A few of my dragon boat friends were doing the Disney World marathon and invited me to join.  Kelvin tells me that he is doing the Goofy challenge - a half marathon on Saturday and a full marathon on Sunday.  He says he will take the half easy and it sounds doable to so I signed up as well.
June 2013
I do my second hike.  Where the 4 mile bear mountain hike wiped me out on Labor Day 2012, I was easily able to complete this 6 mile hike in Harriman.  This showed me my improved fitness and from here, I started hiking frequently as my love for being outdoors grows.  Like running however, I didn’t have any mentors and the road to knowing what I was doing in hiking was fairly long, full of lots of mistakes but that’s a different story.
September 2013
I finish the Yonkers half marathon, my third half and talking to an officer afterwards, I declare that marathoners are crazy.  I also bought my first running shoes.  I been using nike trainers - designed to be gym training shoes as running shoes.  I got Brooks pureflow and went up a size to size 14 upon the recommendations of the salesperson.
Reflection:
I started running alone.  With no school team sport experience, running friends or running club/team, I didn’t have any expectations of what running should look like.  Running gave me a space to think and meditate on the current events of my life.  I was content with my 11-12 minute miles and had no desire to run faster, no desire to do races.  Running helped me mentally feel better, it was not a means to test myself.  With my background in archery and dragon boat - I knew how important form was.  Looking at google for running form in 2013 and you would see the minimalist movement and born to run come up so that’s the way I leaned towards.  I started recording my runs on map my run a week into starting so I have a good record of these early times (which to be honest surprises me - to see how dedicated I was right away).

Year Two October 2013 to September 2014

December 2013
I buy my first garmin watch.  I do my first 15 mile run with the help of my Disney marathon friends.  This will be the longest run going into the marathon.  I get a bike and start riding after 14 or so years.  I pick up my balance in cycling almost immediately and do a few 20 mile rides.
January 2014
Goofy challenge - I walk miles 7 to 10 of the half marathon but can’t help myself and run the last 5k hard.  I get sore from the half marathon and despite my attempts to stretch, I go into the full marathon with sore legs.  With 3 songs in my playlist, I run with music for the first time and achieve what I wanted - I ran the marathon without stopping (4:53) and did not get passed by Debby (she did run faster than me but she started in the last corral due to not giving the race a half marathon time when registering while I was up ahead).  I slowed down around mile 20 and felt pain in my knee for the first time.  Upon finishing the marathon, I was put into a wheelchair and pushed into the medical tent.  I made sure to requested my two medals (one for finishing the marathon, the other for finishing the Goofy challenge).  With some fluids and a pain killer I started my crawl to my friends.  The next quarter mile would take an hour to walk, with every volunteer in sight asking if I was okay.  I would not be able to walk normally for two days.  I  got also injured me - IT band  and I was not able to run for a few months.
April 2014
TD bike tour!  Also my return to running.
May 2014
I do the Brooklyn half and get a major PR, getting close to the 2 hour mark.  Cathy asks if I’m considering doing another marathon this year, to which I wasn’t but  “Oh...it sounds interesting.  why not?  I'm going to sign up for it!” and thus I was in for the wineglass marathon.
June 2014
I do my first trail race which happens to be my first ultra.  I thought it was weird to see people stop at aid stations and walk on the uphills.  I charged up them.  My quads blew up by mile 20 and the older folks were passing me by the marathon mark.  For the first time, I was worried about not being able to make the time cut offs and DNFing but made it after 8+ hours.  The next week I would attempt the Devil’s Path.  Not understanding the concept of recovery, my quads blew up and I had to bail out at mile 16.  My friend Greg had to do the road walk to the car and come rescue me while I sat on the side of the road - trying not to fall gently into the good night.
September 2014
After two months of focusing more on hiking, my monthly mileage slows gets to 100 miles a month, I have a marathon to run!  My longest run towards my second marathon will be 10 miles but no worries, I ran the distance before.  Think I could still do a massive PR.  I mean, this time I don’t have a half marathon the day before...should be easy.
Reflections:
Year two had me starting to challenge myself in running.  However I never looked at any training plan.  The idea of looking up how to run a certain distance was still foreign to me.  I just ran what sounded logical.  I was quite ignorant of my abilities, of recovery and I was learning everything the hard way.  I just knew that when I got injured I wanted to get back into running - the thought of not running didn’t occur to me.

Schunnemunk Hill Training

I find that while there is plenty of resources for beginner hikes for around the NYC area, there is barely anything for trail runners or hikers looking to train.  I'll be starting to post some of the workouts I created.  This should help give ideas on what you could do.

Schunnemunk Hill Training
Free trail map at https://www.parks.ny.gov/parks/attachments/SchunnemunckTrailMap.pdf
From it's eastern side, there are 4 trails that go up the mountain.  Two in the north east meet at the top and the two at the south east meet at the bottom.
Parking:  Schunemunk Mountain Otterkill Road Trail Head (appears in google maps)
The route:  Lollipop
Distance from Queens - About 65 minutes from Astoria, 80 minutes back (increased traffic)
10.3 miles, about 3,3000 in elevation gain
Note:  The park has hunting here in the fall.  Make sure to wear bright colors!
There's a 10 mile and 20 mile trail race here in October - the Great Schunemunk Traverse!

From the parking lot, head left and look for a clearing on the right side to enter the trails.  It's a very short walk/jog .  Trail markers lead the way.

The workout:

1. Hope you are warmed up a bit from the car ride, the white trail (Trestle trail) immediately starts ascending and you want to red line it.  It's about 1.3 miles uphill so be prepared for some hard breathing.
2. The trestle trail ends and immediately joins the red on white (Barton Swamp).  You want to take it left, look for a clearing.  If you ended up taking it straight you would join orange, this is the wrong way.  Shortly the red on white trails joins the yellow (Jessup).  You want to descend it hard.  It's about a mile downhill
3. The yellow descends down and joins the red, just before some train tracks.  Follow the red (Otterkill trail) to the right.  This is you recovery phase.  It's about a mile to the next climb.
4. Take the white trail (Sweet Clover) on your right.  It's a gradual climb, about 1.2 miles.  Red line it as well.  There's a break on the top for a bit before you descend so don't be afraid to push a bit harder.  
5. The trail joins the yellow, Jessup again.  Take it to the left and use it for recovery.  Now is the time to whip your phone out as you will pass 2-3 viewpoints.
6. Take the black (Dark Hollow) on the left.  It's initially a bit bushy and then has a surprise uphill but then descends nicely downhill.  Push it!  You will pass some viewpoints again but you're training!  Focus!
7. Back on the red Ottercreek trail, take a left and start heading towards the yellow (Jessup) again.  Take this portion easy.  This last climb won't feel easy.
8. The red joins the yellow (Jessup) once again, make sure to follow the yellow and turn left with it.  When you first see the yellow, it may look like there is a trail to your left going back up.  The trail back up is marked!  This is your last climb so make it count!  Alternatively you could continue on the red which will lead back to the car to skip this last climb.
9. The yellow hits the red again, take the red on your right!  It shortly reaches the white.  You're almost done now.  Just smash the white as you make it back to the road where your car is parked.

UTMB reflections

UTMB was my 23rd ultra marathon and despite it going much shorter than expected (DNF due to not making the time cutoff at the 50k mark), it was a fairytale race.  I knew people called it a dream race but as I headed over to France to the start line, I was ready to call it my retirement from ultras race.  I burnout from training almost 8 weeks prior and while I was mentally prepared to go through the hell of a hundred miler, I really wanted to take a break from racing.  In early June I performed poorly in the Eagleman 70.3 half ironman.  At that point I had a choice of whether to defer my Ironman Lake Placid or attempt to train both for a hard 100 miler - UTMB and my first Ironman.  A bit beaten from the race, I accepted the challenge and knowing I was behind on training, I poured 2.5 to 3 hours a day into training.  I often sacrificed sleep and trained alone to fit everything into the day.  I ran the Vegan Power 50k on June 22nd in a strong PR in the 50k distance, I even beat some of my slower marathon times on the road.  However, just two weeks later on July 4th my IT band flared up on mile 40 of a what was supposed to be a 50 mile bike ride (that got reduced to 45).  Two days later was the Finger Lakes 50 where I intended to do the 50 mile distance as my longest run for UTMB.  I had to drop to the 50k and walked the last few miles due to IT band pain.

I recognized I was over training and backed up training the next few weeks.  I ended up DNFing Lake Placid Ironman, my quads being shot from the Whiteface Sky race the week before, my legs struggled on the bike portion of the race and I didn’t make the cutoff after the first loop.  It was tough, mostly because of how much the costs to do an Ironman but other than that, it was a relief.  The finish line of the Ironman was an amazing atmosphere but after some reflection, I really don’t like to spend that much time on the bike (I enjoy 30 to 50 miles bike rides with friends on scenic trips with plenty of breaks but training 50 miles is just not fun for me) and I am not going to further pursue that route of athletic endurance.  The time between Lake Placid and UTMB was pretty short, just a month.  I was happy to get back to hiking with friends and spend time outdoors in the mountains as part of training but I didn’t mentally feel inspired to do a hundred miles.

However, all that changed when I got to Chamonix and saw how beautiful the alps were.  Over the next few days the running community would help in reminding me of why I started running in the first place.  To explore and go on adventures!  It’s really as simple as that.  For most of my running history I didn’t really care about times and PRs or about being “smart” about training and I was able to do some crazy things.  In my quest to become a better runner, I have poured over training books and listened to all things running related podcasts.  However, I may have ignored the adventure aspect of running that fueled my love of the sport in the first place.  I started doing races more for their timing in my calendar than actually wanting to explore the place.  So despite my “A goal” of the year being what one could call an utter failure, I left France excited for my return to UTMB.  It may take a few years to get back on the start line due to the lottery but that’s okay, there’s plenty of adventures and places to explore on the way back to that infamous starting line.  I’m far from retiring from ultras!

The road to UTMB - Chapter 8 - The Fairy Tale race

With UTMB starting a 6 pm I decided to sleep in race morning, I ate breakfast at my apartment.  Strava had another event with just met and greet athletes after their run/hike event.  I didn't want to do any physical activity before the race on race day so I skipped their running event.  At the event I met Paul Leak who I have heard before in the runners of NYC podcast.  He recognized my Queens Distance running shirt and we talked briefly.  He works for marketing in Strava now but use to work for NYRR run center and knew Kevin Montalvo.  I got some strava socks and free coffee from the event.  Next was a nap and then I went to the pre race buffet.  I ate some plain pasta loaded with egg plants and mushrooms.  Got some water and french bread.  Next was dropping my gear bag.  I had my second pair of shoes, a size up Altra Lone Peaks, along with gels and a third headlamp (in case one of my two headlamps I had to carry went bad, I wanted to always have two headlamps with me).  Bag drop was where bib pickup was and noticed for the first time it was a rock climbing gym.  Took a final nap.

I headed to the city center for the race.  Had to take a bit of a back entrance to get to the city center, there's arrows leading the way but the main area was already full of runners at 5 pm, one hour before race starts.  I wanted to be in the back anyway but if you want to be near the front, you would have to be there well before the 6 pm start time.  I started back near the church.  I was sort of hoping to see Jerry and start off with him but it was late already and I didn't want to shoot a text this late in the game.  No need to add any potential stress at this point.  I found it annoying that family members and loved one of the runners kept zigging in and out of the area where runners gather.  Some pushed their way through pretty aggressively without any apology.  

From the screens I could see a bit of the elite runners.  Music started playing and the runners seemed pretty hyped.  Did not seem like they were going for a 100 miles, most of them would be out there for 42ish hours, but instead a fun 5k run.  I ate a gel and then the race started.  It was jog walking getting out of the city.  It was too crowded for anything else.  The crowds were amazing, tons in the city and many were out as we left Chamonix on the road to the trails.  The first three miles are fairly straight road and then it climbs a tad bit here and there following the river till it reaches Les Houches.  I jogged my way through, probably near the back of the pack.  Then the route starts to climb on road.  People seem to start struggling right away and I pass a few with easy.  It turns from road to a wide trail, seems like a ski trail to me.  It is pretty steep but manageable and I feel like I make good progress.  Then the steep downhill where I hold back.  A few pass me and I pass a couple.  I didn't want to blow out the quads just yet.  Made it to Saint-Gervais in fairly comfortable and good shape.  My glutes did start feeling a tad sore which was unusual but I was sure it would pass.  I grabbed two pieces of French bread at the aid station and refilled water.  I started with only 500 mL of water, one bottle and it was good to fill up the second one here.  I continued jogging forward.  It was fairly easy terrain and we got to Les Contamies.  

There I found out there was only 10 minutes till the aid station closes.  I got some rice in soup and moved forward.  There seems to be an area where crew could access you.  I wasn't aware of course cutoff times at all to be honest and had I knew, I would have pushed more on these easier parts.  I started running more harder after this on the flats but the course got uphill soon.  I made good time on the uphill but made it to the aid station La Balmc with 4 minutes before closing.  Now I started panicking, I refilled water and was able to grab 3 pieces of oranges before I left.  If I paused a bit I should have stocked up on food as I only had two gels left but I didn't think it through.  I knew what items was the aid stations but didn't have a plan for them and how to restock with enough calories to keep going.  We were required to wear jackets from this point.  I was feeling warm but had to do it.  It got cold a bit farther up so grateful for this requirement.  I continued forward strong in my opinion upwards.  Saw some cows with cowbells on them.  The trail turned a bit rocky and less steep and I felt more at home here.  I started passing people but eventually the trail got steeper and smooth again.  Eventually my calf muscles, not being in this sort of activation for so long before started wearing out.  I slowed down and it got colder.  I took a break, put on my running tights and kept going.  Took a second break and then on my third I put on gloves.  Thankful to the mandatory gear as it kept me warm.  Altitude was probably affecting me as well.  Eventually I was moving alone.  I couldn't see anyone ahead.  I should have taken this as a warning of going too slow but it didn't register at the time.  I must have totaled 12 minutes at break.  I ran out of gels and soon got hungry.  Looking back now, I should have packed a lot more food.  I had the space for it in my running pack.  I should have also gotten more of those 250 calories speednut spring energy gels or the 200 calories Trail Nut butter if I was concerned about pack weight.  It kept looking like the uphill was going to head but every few minutes I would look up and there was still more to go.  The stars were out at full force though and it was beautiful.  Despite the dark I could also tell the terrain was nice.  I made it to a checkpoint where they scanned my bib.  The group seemed pretty quite, maybe they already knew that I would DNF soon.  

The downhill came and I wasn't really able to make up time.  From trail marker to trail marker I saw the different routes to move downhill and I sometimes took a 1-2 second pause to figure out the best one.  Maybe if I was following people it would have been easier to figure out.  I was comfortable being out in the dark with my headlamps to this point but now when figuring out downhill routes I was starting to feel inexperienced.  I hadn't practiced running at night at all for the race.  I passed 2-3 people on the downhill and made it the 50k mark at Les Chapiex.  There I found out I missed the 5:15 cutoff by almost 30 minutes.  I was definitely disappointed, despite not feeling strong in the last few miles I was no where near hitting the wall.  I just need some time to refuel in calories and I was sure I could continue strong.  My Garmin Fenix 3 in ultra tranc mode showed 36 miles and seeing the course profile showing that I was instead at 50k (31 miles) was a bit demoralizing and there was another good climb right after which more demoralizing.  I stuffed myself with three bowls of rice in soups, some French bread, and Overstims bars.  The bus to take us to Courmayeur was coming in a half hour so we had time to relax.  The others looked pretty beat.  I think I saw a few Taiwanese runners there with me, a stand with Hong Kong statement on their packs.  The bus ride to Courmayeur took a while and there I got my gear bag and took a short bus ride to Chamonix.  Courmayeur was beautiful and a bit of me wanted to check out the area, maybe take a gondola up to the mountain but I was sweaty and still ran a 50k.  I wanted to go back and recover as soon as possible.

It was seeing cool seeing runners from everywhere but I didn't talk to people like I normally do in American ultras.  Maybe farther down the line people would have been more talkive?  That aspect of the race felt weird.  The crowds however were super amazing and I enjoyed it more than any world major.  I hi fived 20 kids in the first few miles, by the third aid station got offered beer three times and my name was called out more times than any race before and I didn't even make it to the 1/3 mark.  Chamonix was stunningly beautiful.  I didn't try to get a crew to come with me, the thought of having people traveling all the way to Europe, take a bus for 1-2 hours to see me for three minutes for 40 plus hours seemed like a way too much ask.  Crew however would have been able to better supply me and probably knew what the time cutoffs were, could have pushed me to succeed.  The problem with the race is that with one drop bag, crew's ability to resupply you is a huge advantage.  When I got to Chamonix and realized how beautiful it is, I realized that crewing won't have been that bad of a ask.  It could be a mini vacation.  It was also difficult figuring out fun things to do when you are alone in a new country and all of a sudden have free time.

For something that went right in the race, I was happy with the Salomon Advance Skin 12 liter bag.  A lot of kangaroo like pockets - my water, gels, head lamps, and bowl - spoon were easily accessible while the layers were in the main pocket in the back.  I was happy with the pack weight, though I could have shaved off some weight with a long sleeve and wind jacket combo instead of a thick - fleece type of long sleeve but I thought the fleece be more useful if I actually needed it.  I was fairly comfortable running with the weight.

My trip to Chamonix, overall was pretty good price wise despite me doing everything last minute.  I flew to Paris roundtrip for $400ish, my apartment reserved via Airbnb was $330, the race was $280 , transportation from Paris to Chamonix would have totaled about $160ish.  I do think next time I would fly to Geneva and pay the extra to fly there to take off some stress of navigating the French public transportation systems.  Food was a tad cheaper than NYC prices and much cheaper than food I found in Geneva but that maybe because I went for vegan only places in Geneva.  I usually did two meals a day, a post run brunch from grocery stores and a lunch-dinner meal for Indian food.

I have new ideas for training and things to do next time.  I would either invest in a treadmill or find a gym that has 40% incline grades or so (not sure if gyms would have that so probably will have to buy).  I would also do more races focused on preping me for UTMB.  Maybe a 100ks in the spring to prep the legs a bit, and more sky races in the US (or Europe even if flights are cheaper).  I definitely think, as someone that lives in NYC and trains primarly on road, I could do it.  Some thoughts for races to help prepare near NYC are the breakneck marathons, it gets 10,000 gain in 26 miles, a higher ratio than UTMB, Maintou's Revenge which gets 15,000 gain in 54 miles (about the same ratio as UTMB) and the Whiteface Sky race which gets 8,000 gain in 15.5 miles (this one is a bit of a drive but doing the ascent one day which gains 3,300 feet in 2.3 miles and then doing the full skyrace the next day seems like good training).  

I however would not qualify for the UTMB lottery next year.  I used my 2017 races to qualify for the lottery last year and this year.  I didn't do a 100 miler last year and was planning to use UTMB to qualify for American races and perhaps enter the lottery again for next year (with the intention of probably winning in 2021).  UTMB wasn't a dream race for me till I got to Chamonix and saw the beauty of the mountains and the amazing community.  Now I really want to try again but I try to calm myself.  I could run the Oman by UTMB race during Thanksgiving weekend which would kill both the North Face Endurance Challenge SF race and the California International marathon, in addition to a whole bunch of money, and bypass the lottery for UTMB next year.  I still think I would need the points and that I'm not sure about.  I'm still a bit confused about the new point system.  The points are reduced to 10 points instead of 15.  However, I believe that the point system is now by distance instead of distance plus elevation gain.  Previously races with elevation gain kind of got an extra point.  So a hilly 50 miler had 4 points while a less hilly one has 3 points (compare North Face NY vs SF, the NY has less than 7000 gain and SF has over 10,000 gain, while NY is much more technical and SF smooth trails, SF gets 4 points vs NY's 3 points).  Now it looks like all 50 milers would get 3 points so I would probably have to do two 100 milers to qualify.  That's a bit difficult to do in a year on my current fitness.  I would qualify for the CCC lottery (33% chance of getting in) so thinking of doing that and perhaps the Val d'Aran by UTMB (really want to explore the Pyrenees mountains) on July 4th weekend to start the process of qualifying for the lottery in 2021 and maybe getting in 2022?  Still easier than getting in Western States!  I'm also thinking of running the course over 4 days, with 19 villages the course going through, it should be easy enough to resupply food and find sleeping accommodations for.

Really excited to try again but going to focus on finishing off the rest of the year.  Next is the Berlin marathon, NYC marathon, North Face SF marathon and then CIM.  Next year I'm already signed up for Houston marathon and Altanta marathon.  I want to do Maintou's Revenge next year and will probably look to do Breakneck marathon in the spring to help prep for it.  Have to decide about Val d'Aran, registration opens 10/7/19, with 10,500 meters gain I would have to make sure I'm on top of my vert game.  Breakneck and Maintou seem like good build ups to it though.  A winter speed focus on marathons for speed, then shifting to vert focus for a few months sounds like a interesting year!