The road to UTMB - Chapter 4 - Vegan Power 50k

To be honest, I registered for this race because I’m vegan too and I was interested in meeting with and running with other vegan runners.  It’s been on my radar since last year when I joined the facebook group for it.  Over time I have been warming up to the idea of doing loops.  I have always considered it boring but I have realized that when the going gets stuff, it’s much easier to imagine points you have to reach rather than miles (which might feel like forever at that point).  Though it does work the other way, if the going is rough - you get the option to quit.  I registered in December 2018 for the race and got an interesting intro to the facebook group “Vikram Singh’s ultrasignup page reads like a love story to painfully hard races…” which I hadn’t really thought about but I guess it is sort of true.

The long drive to Western MA from NYC had me fairly tired by the time I got to the race.  Bib pickup was fairly quick.  A plain white shirt with some hammer (nutrition sponsor) products.  There was a real bathroom so I used that and then took a quick nap.  The course is 6 laps on a 5 mile loop and the relay and 50k started together.  Later in the day the 25k started.  The loop was fairly flat trail with some roots here and there to keep you alert and a small muddy section.  The race started with a small speech and it was mentioned that part of the reason of the race was to prove vegans could this without animal protein.  I sort of thought that was odd since ultramarathons and being vegan seems to be pretty common.  

The race started!  The loop starts with a tiny uphill on a dirt road section before hitting the trails.  As soon as we hit the trails, some of the people around me started breathing hard which was sort of alarming to me since it was very early in the race.  I passed a few people shortly and ran behind a man wearing long pants.  I thought it was a bit odd since it was summer but maybe he was from somewhere farther up or was doing the relay and just forgot shorts?  Think it would have been doable for one or two loops.  At the midpoint aid station I passed him.  I got passed a little bit after by two people.

I ended a little behind a Lindsay and followed her till the end of the loop.  At the start of the second loop I passed her but she was close behind.  It sort of pushed me to keep the pace when you have someone behind you.  Eventually we joined Juliene and started talking a bit.  Lindsay has run the 25k race before and is now doing the 50k.  Her brother is also running the race but she considered him the real runner (she ended up being 3rd place female).  Juliene is also from NY - from Peekskill, NY and also a marathon maniac.  She’s primarily a marathoner but has done the finger lakes 50 before.  I think the company really helped me stay strong.  I struggled on the fourth loop and we got passed by Lindsay.  Juliene and I ran up to the last 2 miles together where I was able to pick it up slightly.  I was a bit sad to lose her but we were close to finishing so I wasn’t too worried about her.  

There isn’t much to say about the loop, it’s forested and exactly what the description says.  It’s a singletrack that winds a lot so that makes it a bit more difficult but by the 4th and 5th loop, you’re an expert of the trail.  Like I said earlier, you could start to visualize points instead of mileage so that helps you continue mentally.  I finished in 5:45:47, an 11:06 pace and a massive PR in the 50k distance.  A lot of the assist in this was due to running with people!  Afterwards I hung out and cheered for a bit.  They had vegan pizza which was so great.  I took a picture with Juliene and just relaxed.  Then there was some light rain and I went back to the car.  I should have rested some more but I decided to start driving back.  I had some sleepy miles on the wheel that wasn't smart.  Eventually I stopped at a scenic point and took a quick nap.

This race gave me a strong confidence boost towards UTMB.  Success seems to be on the horizon!

NYC Half 2019

The NYC half is my first race in my short build up to Lake Sonoma 50 miler.  Instead of doing a warmup marathon or 50k, and then have to spend time recovering, I thought it be better to do shorter races where I could jump back to training quickly.  This race was meant to merely be a training run but the size and hype of the race made me want to do well in it.  I wanted to go for a 1:35 as my A goal and get a PR (personal record) as my B goal.  To get the B goal I would have to break 1:39:02 which I got in the SI half last fall.  I thought this would have been pretty easy considering that I ran 25 miles the day before Staten Island.  The two days before this race I emphasis sleep (at least 7 hours) and did a simple 4 mile shakeout the day before so a lot better rested.  My training as been mostly focused on building a base to handle longer mileage weeks so I was far from half marathon racing shape but I thought I could at least pull something off my aerobic fitness.

Pre-race

Shuttle!  I didn’t know most of the people in my van but I met Colleen in it.  Getting to bag check was pretty straight forward.  Found out in horror that you had to check the bag before porter potties.  This pretty much meant I had to shiver in the cold for an hour before the race.  I never done the throw away clothes thing since it seems like a huge waste but I might have to consider it for future events.  Shortly after I finished dropping my stuff and then headed to the porter potties I met Winston and Henry.  Winston gave me his heat sheet seeing me cold.  I felt bad taking his heat sheet but he insisted that I needed it more.  I followed them back to bag drop where I met Ninam Edwin and Diana.  I realized I left my gels in my drop bag.  With so many people I figure it would be impossible to get my drop bag back.  A bit of a letdown but I guess I could survive.  I should have just packed it in my pocket before heading out the door in the morning.  We then headed through security and then the porter potties.  On the way they were giving heat sheets and Diana mentioned putting one to cover the bottom half of the body which I tried and immediately felt some warmth on the legs.  I then took another heat sheet to cover the core area.  Line wasn’t too bad for the potties, I figure since bag check didn’t close yet and most people were hovering around it trying to stay warm with their jackets and such.  A little afterwards with bag check closed the lines went crazy.  Afterwards was just talking and slowly meeting other teammates.  When we separated I met David and we walked for a bit.  Then did a quick jog warmup together.  I went back in front of my corral and met Diana again.  We did a few stretches and moved into the corral.  Diana mentioned me pacing her but I was thinking she could pace me haha. 

Reunion Party!  Miles 1 - 4

I started with Diana.  I found the corral’s pace immediately slow but it was just the start so no use going crazy trying to get pass them.  First mile clocked in around a 7:50 pace.  I figure that was okay getting my cardio system warmed up and with the prospective park hill.  Second was about 7:25 which was closer to what I wanted.  I then put my arm sleeve over the watch and went by feel.  The course had one out and back in the beginning and I saw Danny, Anthony and Eric as they passed and cheered.  Then saw Akif!  A little pass 2 miles we met Colleen!  Saw Kevin cheering!  I saw Akif again a little pass the 5k mark and made my way to say hi.  Right after I met Chris’t from Hoboken and we both said that the other was looking good.  I lost where Diana was around this point but I figure she would pass me if I was going too slowly.  I soon hit the Manhattan Bridge.  It look pretty intimidating as I approached.  I switched to a shorter stride with more cadence.  Passed quite a bit on the bridge.  The bridge seemed to drag on for a bit.  I met Elver on the bridge whom I haven’t seen in quite a while.  We ran together for a bit but I soon lost him too.

Chinatown to Times Square, the painful FDR!  Miles 5 to 10

Down the bridge we hit Chinatown and the crowd there were pretty encouraging!  Going towards the FDR the road became pretty bumpy and I completely missed the honey stinger gel station.  If they were going to have gels, I wish they simply offered it in the beginning of the race.  Shortly after getting on the FDR drive I saw the sign for 3/4s of a mile to 20-23 street.  Great I thought, only a little bit till I past Baruch and then 42 street should be close after.  Those 3/4s of a mile felt like forever.  No crowds and really nothing to see, I much rather have been running on the East River Park with the nice views of the river.  I saw the 1:40 pace group whom started in the front of my corral whereas I started in the back. Catching them and passing would have been good sign and boost to confidence.  I felt like I could easily pass them and continue along my way.  I positioned myself to pass them and I gained ground slowly.  After a while they started slowly pulled away.  My mental state deteriorated and my mind started wondering.  Random thoughts popped up and in the loss of focus, I lost where the 1:40 pace group went.  As my mind approached wipeout I heard “go Vikram, go”.  Gurmit came by and said he recognized my singlet and face.  Then he told me only a little more as passed by.  This simple encouragement got my mind back in the game.  It was about mile 10.  I brought my mind back to the present by focusing on my breathing. 

To Central Park!  Miles 10 to 13.1

I used Gurmit and two dashing whippets’ runners as my pacers for the final stretch to Central Park.  Probably because they stood out quite a bit.  I just focused on breathing as I made my way across 42nd street to 8th ave.  Then we turned right and I could see Central park straight ahead!  I kept my focus on staring straight ahead to Central Park.  On my side view I briefly saw some of the kid’s race taking place.  I wonder what they thought of us runners.  I thought I could fool myself a bit and convince me that I’m pretty close to the end by looking at the park.  Turned right and on Central Park South and I was in a lot of pain.  Heard my name and this time it was Edwin’s mom and Bryan!  I weakly gave a peace sign which I then turned to a thumbs up.  Entering Central Park I was in immense pain and started going to tunnel vision.  Instead of feeling strong as I approached the final mile to the end, I felt like giving up the pace a bit.  I heard a porter potty door slam and out came Kevin with some immediate encouragement.  I focused on picking it up and still in tunnel vision I missed most of the QDR water station.  I saw Lillian cheer on the right side.  This part of the course is where I work by and by default is where I run the most.  I thought it would have been my strongest part but it was just a struggle.  I knew all hills and bumps along the way and exactly how much farther the finish line was but I wasn’t able to visualize the distance.  The feeling of pain just kept hitting my mind and trying to hang on was the only thought in my head.  800 meters away came and I couldn’t get a sprint going.  The last 200 meters I managed to let out a weak sprint. 

Post-Race

A few seconds later Diana caught up.  Medals with photos, heat shield and soon Elver caught up.  Sad to tell him I didn’t get the 1:35.  I knew I was close to PR but it was close to a few seconds.  Recovery bag was pretty disappointing but I don’t expect much from NYRR races in this regard so no surprises.  Bag check was amazing though, as I passed by I heard my number called to my surprise and got my bag in seconds.  Then there wasn’t any place to change, definitely missing the logistics of the Houston marathon here, so I quickly changed shirts and pulled sweats over my shorts.  It was a bit hard to balance myself in my state.  Found Edwin and his dad and then limped walk with them to the QDR cheer station by the last water station.  Cheered till the last QDR runner passed by, more than 90 minutes after I made it to the cheer station (so maybe like 115 minutes after I finished).  Back home I had a big lunch and then napped for an hour.  Then just hanged out till 7ish where I got in a 12 minute recovery run.  I went in pace where I could take deep breaths in and out of the nose.  The mile, though at a slow pace, went by quickly.

Manitou's Revenge

Manitou’s Revenge was my fifth finish of an ultra around the 50 mile distance.  It made all the others (North Face NY, Ice Age, McDowell, and North Face MA) look like kids races.  This wasn't surprising to me.  When I think technical terrain, I think of the Catskills.  The race took place in the Catskills, going from Windham to Phoencia, gaining close to 15,000 feet of elevation gain over 54 miles.  It was what felt like to be my strongest performance of the year so far and at 54 miles, it was technically (new distance) my 10th PR of the year.  This race ended 6 weeks of racing ranging from 10k on the flat road to this mountainous 54 miles! 

I was in the waitlist for the race till two weeks ago, after I finished the North Face MA 50 miler, so I didn't have enough time to get specific training in for the race.  Perhaps the most important factor going into this race was the 50 miler I did two weeks ago.  I usually say that 50 milers on trails take 2 weeks to recover from (equal to a road marathon) but I never really tested it.  Though my legs still felt a bit stiff the day before I feel like the North Face MA 50 miler helped me prep big time for this race.  During that race my legs cramped a little more than a quarter of the way in so this time I had a stronger nutrition strategy.  My quads burnt out during the later parts of North Face so I focused in getting in a few short workouts to work on that (still not enough time though and I worried about the quads going into the race), and it helped me mentally in that by doing the distance before my body sort of got used to it, like it doesn't freak out like the first few times.

Strategy

This was the first race I really looked at race reports for.  An important thing I got for them was to run the runnable sections, even if it's only 50 feet before you have climb again, run!  I looked a lot at the times of the middle of the pack runners and their times were a big warning to how difficult this course was.  You had to qualify to just enter this race so these weren’t newbies to the distance. 

For nutrition I pretty much stuck to gels every 40 minutes like North Face but this time I also added one salt tablet per hour.  I didn't cramp at all during the race.  I snacked on some fruit and small sandwiches at aid stations but real food was more on feel.  Towards the later quarter of the race I lost the ability to keep track of when I was eating gels so I went by feel.  If I felt hungry, I ate.

For running, I pretty much jogged uphills that I could see the top of, hiked/climbed up other uphills and ran the flats and downhills.  The only uphills I could see the top of were in the first few miles.

For the last year and half I decided that I would be racing ultras so I stopped taking pictures.  Then Rene took a few pictures during North Face MA and still finished well.  I decided that I would bring my cell phone and quickly snap a few pictures if I made up a hard climb.  I think overall this thought made me more relaxed going into the race.

Race morning

I had to take the bus from the finish to the start at 3:30 am so just like North Face I got 3 hours of sleep.  I also got some in and out sleep on that bus.  I had stuffed everything I needed in my drop bag and started setting up on a table at the start.  There were only 5 aid stations for this race and I looked at average splits between them to see that the average person spent at least 2 hours apart between some of them.  That was too long for me to not bring my ultimate direction racing vest.  For my last two 50 milers, I had used a combo of hand bottles and hip belt in hopes of being lighter and thus faster but I found that it doesn't seem to really make a difference.  I had a 1.5 litter bladder with two nuun tables (about 60% of what the directions say), a hip belt with 6 gels with one pocket open specifically for gel garbage, and 8 more gels and a zip lock bag with hammer gel salt tablets.  There were no gels at the aid stations so the only place I could restock was my drop bag at mile 30.  Good thing I volunteered for North Face NY and had just the stockpile of hammergels (leftovers that they let the volunteers take home).  In addition to hammer gel I had some muir energy, powerbar gels (from the Brooklyn half) and science in sport gels.  It seemed like a lot of the runners ran the race before and that they only got a few new people each year.  I was surprised at how many people had hiking poles!  I picked up my bib and found out I was in wave 8.  The last wave!  I guess my qualifying race wasn’t that impressive (I used McDowell Mountain Frenzy from last December).  I think wave 8 were barely expected to finish.  I would pretty much spend the entire race passing people. 

The Great Wall of Manitou (escarpment trail)

I started off 5:40, there was 5 minutes between waves.  There were 15 of us in wave 8.  I started running around the 11 minute pace for the first 3 miles on the road.  A couple of the runners of the wave were ahead of me.  Just before we turned into the trail was an aid station 1 but I skipped it.  Then we hit the trail and I quickly passed all of wave 8 but two.  The initial trail mile was very runnable, even the uphills.  We then hit the escarpment trail and started south, starting the climb to Blackhead.  The escarpment trail is a 21 mile trail in the Catskills and I always have overlooked it because of the more famous Devil’s path.  There were parts of the climb were I had to use my hands to pull myself up, similar to what the Devil’s path would be.  I soon caught up with a pack of runners who I assumed were wave 7.  They were a bit slow power hiking uphill but it was early so I went behind them.  Then they continued walking on the flats, I waited a minute and when it was clear they were not going to run I asked if I could pass.  They were quick to get out of the way (experienced trail runners - so much better than North Face MA).  I soon caught up to a woman from my wave.  I thought I would run with her for a bit but I passed and she didn’t keep up.  A few miles later I caught the last of wave 8, a man that I recognized from another local NY trail race.  I reached the second aid station at about two hours and a half.  That’s about the median time and I adjusted my finish time to 17:30 instead of sub 16 hours.  I made it here at high sprites and having fun so I wasn’t worried yet.  At the aid station I ate the last peanut butter sandwich.  I heisted at first but the volunteers insisted.  I moved quickly through the aid station starting the climb up.  Passed a few more.  I listen to a few songs on the radio on the drive up and the song broken got stuck on my head.  After I couldn’t get the songs out I started playing the beats to pace myself.  I used faster parts to pace downhills while using the general slower beat for the flats.  I passed an airplane crash and turned around to take a picture.  A man behind me said he didn’t notice it the first time around.  The views were beautiful, I could see why it inspired the first art movement in this country.

Reached the third aid station.  From here I noticed that they had signs with distance and elevation gain and loss to the next aid station.  It was 5 miles downhill so I ran the next section hard.  It also wasn’t technical and I got to a 10 mile pace.  It was long though and I was worried that it would do a number on my quads.  At the North South Aid station I refilled my bladder with tail wind.  Passing the aid station the trail split and I got second doubts on where to go.  I didn’t pay attention and with a little rain on the rocks I got my first fall.  Nothing major.  I passed by parts of the North-South campground and the views here nice!  I have to come back and camp here.  I also didn’t realize how high up the campground was. 

The Long Path

The 4^th Aid station was at the end of the descent and I grabbed some fruit, crossed the road and briefly ran on the road before merging with the long path.  The long path is long distance trail that technically starts in Manhattan (though the trail part starts in the palisades across the GWB).  I met two Canadians and asked how they were.  They asked how I was doing and I said I was fine.  I got some remark that it was because I was young.  The next part wasn’t technically but very steep fire road type of road.  I struggled a bit here but no one caught up.

After a bit of a climb we descend a bit towards aid station 5.  It rained a bit but my body felt super light at this point and I cruised though.  I passed by someone I recognized on Instagram being from mountain peak fitness.

Aid station 5 was the only place to have a drop bag.  Since no aid station had gels I had packed 30 plus gels in the bag and my head lamp.  I reached a little before 2 pm but I remember that the race director wrote in his instructions that it may seem silly to have a headlamp leaving at 2 pm with 30/54 miles done but you would thank him.  Volunteers checked if you had a headlamp leaving too.  There was definitely an emphasis on having one.  There were a lot more runners at this aid station and I figure that I caught up to the middle of the pack.  A volunteer got me my drop bag quickly and he put it away after I was done with it.  I wish I had pre pack the bag with exactly what I needed instead of shifting through and counting how many gels  I needed (I would end up bringing too little).  I ate some tortillas with peanut butter and jelly which I liked better than P&J sandwiches.  This was the biggest aid station and I could understand why many would spend time here.  After 30 miles we were about to hit the climax!

The Devil’s Path

We took a blue trail from Palenville to the devil’s path.  On the way there a fellow runner cracked a few jokes about my shoes.  My brooks puregrits are ripped on both sides of the feet (I think because my feet swelled on them).  I mentioned that the lugs under them were still good and he said he had the same problem.  That his shoes rip from the sides way before the lugs under break off.  It was nice talking for a bit.  I soon passed on a flat section as I was continuing to run what was runnable.  I never been on this short blue section before but if you look up maps of the devil’s path you end up with a Hudson Valley Hiker’s Devil’s path plan.  For some reason they start their hike from Palenville too.  This skips the first easy miles of the Devil’s path and goes straight to ascent of Indian head.  I passed a lot of runners getting to the devil’s path, it looks like most people were preparing for a long hike.  The climb up Indian was steep and at parts I had to once again use my hands to climb.  I quickly understood why a younger version of myself, new to hiking 4 years ago, got easily crushed by this trail.  Indian head went pretty smooth, I ran good sections of it.  Then the climb up Twin Mountain.  I knew exactly where the viewpoints were and where to go.  The descent down Twin Mountain was tough, rocks were just shooting out at different directions everywhere and I had to hike a lot of it.  Then the climb up Sugarloaf.  Here I started losing my ability to ascend strongly.  I was so worried about my quads going into the race that I forgot that I needed my calves for the steep uphills.  I caught up to a woman named Sarah and two other runners and we ran down Sugarloaf together.  They sped through aid station 6.  I took an extra minute, drinking 3 cups of coke before I headed out.  I got hyper and started running hard up Plateau.  I quickly passed the group but the climb up Plateau got to me.  I caught up to a man named Ryan and as we struggled up we talked.  He done two 100 milers, Devil’s dog and Grindstone.  He was also signed up for Easterns 100 which got cancelled.  He didn’t have access to technical terrain and despite his accomplishments this race was crushing him.  He was also from wave 3, though he thinks most of wave 4 passed him.  I didn’t mention my wave.  At a runnable section I lost him.  At this point, the technical terrain was really draining me.  Running was actually my recovery.  Bouldering after long runs might be good practice with this.  I remember a story about Scott Jerek who was struggling to do a 24 hour fells challenge in the UK.  He was struggling going through the technical terrain but the author remarked that he’ll be okay once they get on runnable terrain.  I finally understood what that meant.  Shortly after passing the summit of Plateau we moved out of the Devil’s path and descended towards Silver Hollow Notch.

Edgewood Mt and Tremper

I passed by an older runner who I told I was happy that the hard part was over but he warned me that it wasn’t over yet.  I started tripping at the downhills.  The rocks were wet, and a combo of fatigue and mud on my shoes made me lose grip.  I almost face planted into some rocks but I was more worried that both my feet that hit a sharp edge of a rock.  I still descended strongly and passed by two runners.  One was Mendy who cheered as I passed by.  I heard them talk about the Schunemunk mountain race and I wanted to badly join in the conversation but had to keep running.  I thought about how mountain races have almost no crowds and that it’s pretty much up to us runners to cheer for each other.  Sure they are volunteers and crew but they are limited to a few spots.  Then I tripped and landed my right knee.  This hurt and I briefly walked before starting to run again.  My descents now became slower.  I started braking more, using trees to come to a complete stop to regain myself before continuing.  Eventually I figured out that if I land my feet at a slight angle (instead of straight down) that I had better control of slipping.  After the descents I talked briefly with a woman from Central PA.  She was a 4 hour drive away from the Catskills and said my 2.5 hours away was lucky.  We talked about how we didn’t really want to use our headlamps.  Then I passed.  I was a bit sad but the talk helped motivate me.  Then came the climb up Edgewood Mt.  The climb was a struggle and then we descended crazy.  Now started the last large climb.  It felt like forever.  I ran out of gels but still had some salt tablets.  I accidently got water instead of tailwind at aid station 7 so I had less calories than I wanted.  I was also no longer tracking calorie intake, I wasn’t able to remember when I last ate something.  I guess I could write it down later stage calorie intake like people do with split times.  Anyway the climb toward Mount Tremper was horrible mentally.  Finally made it to aid station 8, the last one.  Mendy and the central PA women shortly caught up.  I stuffed two half peanut butter jelly sandwiches in my belt to eat later, I couldn’t figure out where in the vest to put them.  I ate some veggie noodles in broth. 

The final stretch included a 300 foot gain but then it was all downhill.  Mendy left the aid station a few seconds before me and let me pass saying I was faster but I kind of knew that she would catch up on the 300 feet climb.  I played around with headlamp on and off and decided to keep it on.  There was a bit of fog so you couldn’t see that great with them but I guess once it’s on you get used to having more light.  Mendy and another man caught up.  Not sure where the guy came from but he was surging through with his pacer.  I did recognize the pacer from the start and saw her waiting at the aid station after sugarloaf.  We briefly talked about how cycling could help strengthen the quads before they both passed.  On a straightway I caught up with Mendy and pasted.  Finally made it up on Mount Tremper firetower.  Now it’s all downhill.  Ryan earlier had said that the fireroad may be easy.  To be honest, I didn’t believe him but the trail became wide and steep downhill.  I shortly caught up to the pacer who had gotten dropped.  She said he felt good and went on ahead.  I mentioned that it feels good to be on this trail.  After a little while the descent got rocky and I slipped and fell over one of the rocks.  I knew it!  There are no easy miles in the Catskills.  Talyor Swift’s 22 song played a bit in my head, no idea where that came from.  Soon I caught up with another man who had blew up his knees who said he was lucky to have his trekking poles to slowly climb down.  Later on I would hear stories up how he charged uphill.  After a brief check I passed by.  I definitely heard animal sounds in the distance.  Here and there I thought I would see a street light, think I was close to the road, only to find out that I was definitely still in the woods.  Eventually the ground passes a stream which I use as a sign for being close.  Takes a few more minutes but finally emerge out of the woods.  Just before I got on the final 1 mile road run two men gave me a reflective vest.  Running world magazine logo on it.  I fumbled a bit to put the vest on and then on to the final run.  I think I ran it about the same pace I started off at, a slow 11 minute jog.  Mendy passed me a bit in.  She was running super-fast, looked like at 7 minute mile to me.  Finally made it to the finish!  It was a pretty simple setup.

Afterwards I went inside the Parish hall and ate some food.  I was able to talk with a bunch of the people that I passed since the devil’s path and I hanged out for an hour.  The guy that cracked jokes about my shoe made it and Ryan also made it with pretty good timing.  After an hour I started the drive home.  I would have loved to have stayed and cheered on a few more finishers (time limit was 24 hours) but I forgot a change of clothes and I definitely would have needed a jacket.  Plus I was hiking the next day so had to get back to NYC and get some sleep.

I finished in 16:27, about an hour faster than my B goal.  A goal was sub 16 but still pretty happy with the result.  Now with break from racing I could focus a bit on the trail 50 mile nationals!

NJ marathon 2018

The NJ marathon was my 22^nd marathon, my 4^th marathon this year and my season A race!    

The training

I started training for this race the holiday week 2017 (around Christmas).  I started off with 5 weeks of base building, slowly ramping up my mileage.  I focused a lot on cross training (swimming, bouldering) at this time.  February I added strength training 3x and a core focused bootcamp 1x a week.  Then I had about 5 weeks of race (2 marathons + 1 ultra) where cross training went to zero and strength training to 1-2x a week.  I had about 6 weeks after the Georgia marathon to train solely for NJ and I wanted to focus on speed but I jumped into training too soon and got a strain.  I ignored it at first and continued on but the pain got worse to where it hurt while walking so I went into a 4 week taper (instead of the 2 weeks as I originally planned).  I cut my miles by half and skipped a few key workouts.  I spent a little more time on swimming and got back to strength training 2x a week.  I got to race day with plenty of rest and recovery but not feeling super confident because of the missed workouts.  I usually do short one week taper so two weeks was already a lot for me but 4 weeks!   :/.  The week of the race I ate more salads and greens, two days before I started eating more carbs.

The Day before

After a longer than expected drive (huge traffic different between leaving at 9 am and 10 am!), I made it to the expo with Francis and Neena.  Met Cathy + Nate inside the expo and met Rene on his way out.  I ended up talking to Rene for a while.  I took some notes since he was aiming for 2:50-2:55 marathon =O.  One thing I found important was his reminder to hydrate properly the day before, something with the traveling I was forgetting to do.

The expo was super small…even smaller than Atlanta and I got through it in less than 5 minutes.  No freebees but they had a cool photo print station.  Afterwards we did a shakeout run!  The shakeout run the day before a marathon is something I got from QDR.  I chose to jog on the beach barefoot for 30 minutes; it gave me a chance to enjoy the beach while I was still in the mood.  I was pretty sure that after the marathon the beach would be far from my mind.  I only did 2.5 miles in the thirty minutes but that’s okay, it was never the miles that mattered but time on my feet.  I also thought of the run as form work (as it been getting warmer I been doing a few short runs barefoot on grass as well).  Next was lunch where I got to walk around Long Branch and check the town out briefly before an early dinner on the way back (I drove back to Queens for the night).  I got to check out two vegan spots – Karma café and Vegan tree.

Once at home I found my blue sharpie in my archery bag (backup for initialing arrows) and wrote "This is what you came for" on my arm with an arrow pointing forward.  I wrote this as my mantra, I chose to come here to push myself to the breaking point - I'm here to dig deeper and find the strength to break through it.  It also reminds me that I'm here because I love it.  I focused a lot on the love I have received over the years through running.  From struggling to just jog a mile without stopping 5.5 years to learning what taper is two days before my first marathon to surviving a 100 miler to my PR streaks of today.  It has been a crazy journey and I'm grateful for all the support I have received over the years.  I been last place or near last place in quite a lot of races and I'm finally at a place where I’m getting a lot better (still baby steps).

 

I also prepared a running playlist.  Like the Georgia marathon I was planning to listen to music for miles 10-20.  In Atlanta I had the two songs that the iphone came with and just hated it.  This time I brought jaybird Run true wireless which allows me to play music on one ear (with one ear piece).  I also choose songs that people have recommended to me in the past for running.  I'm not much of a music fan but listening to those songs reminded me of the person who recommended it.  Then my laptop itunes wasn't syncing with my iphone so I had to transfer to dropbox and find an app that could play a playlist off dropbox.  I ended up with 4 hours of sleep.

 

The internal focus the night before gave me the confidence to aim for 3:30.  The week before, I debated what time to aim for.  I felt that 3:40 was a safe bet, 3:35 was mostly likely doable and that 3:30 was a bit crazy.  It adds up to just 12-13 seconds per mile but that add up to a lot over 26.2 miles.

 

Pre race

I arrived at the race parking lot at about 6 am, took maybe 5 minutes to park.  I like coming to the race 90 minutes early if I'm not staying within walking distance to the race.  It took me another 10 minutes to gather my stuff; I almost forgot my running shoes!  I had plenty of time to go to a real bathroom with a small line (waited like 5 minutes), met Jeff and Gabe, take team photos, do a 5 minute shakeout run (a habit I picked up from Julie during the NOLA marathon), take shelter from the rain with more hanging out, eat a waffle cookie and my gel and get close to the start of my corral.  I definitely didn't need any stress of rushing to the start line; the marathon is 100% mental!

 

Miles 1-10

I broke off the race to three sections.  I would stick to the 3:30 pace group for the first 10 miles.  Then I would cruise the next 10 miles with the help of music and then struggle though the real start of the race during the last 10k.  I started the race with Rinchen so we were close to the 3:20 pace group.  I had to back off slightly to allow the 3:30 to catch up.  They ended up passing by too quickly.  I struggled with the pace immediately, it felt more like a half marathon pace but I decided to hang on.  I also started chafing immediately, I'm not sure why but I just ignored it.  I found two Dashing Whippets and a Van Cortlandt runner going at 3:30 so I paced with them till mile 4 where I lost them.  As I approach mile 4 I was ready to eat my first gel but I decided to see if adjusting my shorts would fix the chafing problem which lead to me dropping the gel.  Did not stop to pick it up.  I usually take a gel 15 minutes before, first gel at mile 4 and then gels about every 3 miles till mile 20.  Then I switch over to drinking Gatorade.  This race I also ate a waffle cookie before the race because I felt hungry.  I guess my two bananas with chocolate 3 hours beforehand weren't cutting it.  I was able to keep the 3:30 within sight for this time.  Around mile 9 my feet started feeling sore.  I had decided to wear my minimalist Topo shoes instead of my 800+ miles wore out Brooks’s shoes mostly because the Brooks shoes had holes in them and it was raining.  I knew my feet would get sore but this was a bit early.

 

Mile 10-20

I was struggling at mile 10 but this is where I would use music!  Except that I have no idea how to turn on my earpiece.  At mile 11 I even tried looking it up on my phone but got general directions.  After fumbling for a bit I decided to just put the jaybird in my right ear and I got it to work at mile 12.  I like this setup - being able to listen to music in one ear but with the other ear open I am able to hear everything around me.  Mostly the cheers that spectaculars are giving!  A runner passes gives me a double high five and then runs on (she had quite the energy).  A man says go Queens, best borough to which I cheer at but then he continues and says next to Brooklyn to which I make a face.  My strategy was to get through the struggle of pace was by distracting myself.  I feed off the energy of spectaculars, swung my arms in dancing motions to some of the songs.  I probably was wasting energy but it kept me distracted.  Also around mile 10 Kathryn caught up and we run around each other for 3ish miles and then miles 13-15 together before she passed by.  At mile 15 I almost caught up to the 3:30 pace group too.  At miles 18 and 19 I saw Kathryn and Rinchen at the turnarounds which gave me a boost.  Around mile 20 I saw Francis and Cathy for another boost!  The turnaround was good mentally for this.

 

Miles 20 to 26.2

I lost sight of the 3:30 pace group and at this point I was slowing down.  It didn't feel like the wall, it kind of felt like I mentally faded.  I used mantras and then aimed for the buildings as targets to run strong to and then set another target.  Step by step.  I caught up to Nate who was also going for 3:30, I wish I saw him earlier and got a chance to work together with him towards our goals.  He was struggling at this point.  A team in training coach just started running with him and I guess was going to give him some pep talk.  The coach told me the course is all downhill from here and I joked that's what I been telling myself.  A runner says there is only 4.5 miles at which I dread thinking about.  At around mile 22 I see Kenny which gives a big boost.  The miles here were pretty empty of people so it was a bit rough mentally, the boost from music had long wore out and my midfoot felt like they had been burnt.  At mile 24, feeling the end of the run I started picking it up again.  Also there was more of a crowd which helped.  At 24.8ish, the ground became a smooth broadwalk and I was able to glide through (much to the happiness of my feet).  I run the last mile strong but just 10 feet or so shy from the finish I get a sudden cramp on my right hamstring.  It was so painful that it stopped my run and had me hop over the last few steps.  Not a great finishing pic :/.

 

I struggled to walk with the cramp and volunteers asked if I needed help but I figure I just needed some electrolytes.  The cramp went away and I immediately caught up with Rinchen, Rene, and Kathryn.  They had some awesome finishing times. I got my drop bag and went to the changing tent.  Realized I couldn’t pull my clothes on without holding on to something and then I met Mike.  I met him before in the easy run with Scott Jurek during his book event.  He offered me a seat and we caught up briefly.  Air relax boot massage with Cathy and Nate and lunch with some QDR people to end my NJ marathon experience.

Georgia marathon

The Georgia marathon was my 21^st marathon!  It was my third marathon of 2018, just two weeks after the New Orleans marathon!   It was my hilliest road marathon with 1534 feet of gain (hilliest trail marathon is still the Breakneck Point marathon with 10000 feet of gain).  The course was scenic and the crowds were awesome!  I felt a lot of love throughout the course and I’ll remember it as one my favorite races.

Recovery

Important to this race was to recover from the New Orleans marathon two weeks before.  I took two days off and then ended up running almost 12 miles which was too much.  So I took another two days off.  I hiked the Saturday and did one strength training session with a few boulder sessions.  Kept myself active but didn’t run too much.  I only did 17 miles that recovery week.  The week of the race the focus were on a medium slow run (7 miles) to regain some aerobic fitness on Tuesday and a track workout to practice running fast under some stress (2x2 miles after running 4 200s and then 2x400) on Thursday.  Special thanks to Kelvin for leading that workout and the rest of the queens distance runners for the company! 

Shakeout! – Day before race

I wanted to start my weekend in Georgia off with a sunrise from a mountain.  Found out that many state park s open at 7 am so had to go to a national forest.  In my search I found that Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the AT trail was only two hours away.  Despite it being cloudy and zero chance of sunrise I decided to drive up and do a morning trail run up and down the mountain.  Springer Mountain doesn’t have the best view either but it was more of a symbolic trip.  Shortest route is 2 miles and longest is about 10 miles and I found one that was 4 miles.  Perfect for a shakeout run!

After shakeout, it was a 2 hour drive back to eat lunch at Udipi Café in Duluth (NE of Atlanta) for some south Indian food.  Then to the expo center at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.  It was a tiny expo which made packet pickup quick.  Then the aquarium, 50% off with a promo code from the virtual goodie bag of the race.  The aquarium was similar to the NASA museum in Houston where they are focusing more on experiences rather than simply showing items.  I wanted to do dinner at Herban Fix but there was a 40 minute wait so dinner at mellow mushrooms.  I ended up eating a 14” pizza slice which was a fairly heavy dinner; something I don’t normally do (underestimated how big the pizza was).  Afterwards I did a scout of the starting/finishing area.

Race morning!

Six hours of sleep, a cliff bar mint chocolate bar that had some caffeine in it and a banana to get me to the starting line.  It took longer than I thought to get ready and I got in a 3 minute warmup jog instead of 5 minutes before heading to my corral.  I moved myself a little behind 3:45 pace group.  I planned to run with them for as long as I could.

The entire race is pretty much either uphill or downhill.  I know people always seek flat courses but I find hills to be mentally easier.  For the uphill I breathe in my nose and out my mouth and then was the downhill I breathe in and out my nose and focus on relaxing my breathing a bit.  You could always see the top of the hill on roads so while uphills are slowing you down you know you only have to stick at it for 2-3 minutes and then you got a nice downhill to enjoy.  The course is fairly scenic, a lot of beautiful green even in March!  The temperature started at 55 and climbed to 66 but it was fairly cloudy so I felt like it was near perfect.  I was afraid of getting hot so I sipped half a cup of water and threw the rest on my head at every water station.  There is also a half marathon and the course felt pretty crowded for the first 7 miles where the half marathoners split off.  They did do a good job separating the two races in the end though (otherwise I would have bumped into the walkers of the half near the end).  The course is also not completely closed to traffic and I saw one or two instances where a runner had to stop because a car was going through.  There was also food on the course!  I ate three half oranges and a half of a banana.  Fruit always feels better than gels.  They also had pretzels at one station and the volunteers were singing a rhyme for them (which I found cute) but I didn’t take any.  I used my usual gel strategy of one gel pre-race and then one at mile 4, afterwards one every 3 miles till mile 19.

I found parking within a 5 minute walk to the finish and about 10 minutes to the start line fairly easy (even with my truck).  A 7 am start in March after daylight savings starts means that you start the marathon in the dark but you get a glimpse of sunrise!  I was in corral B which went off 3-4 minutes after corral A.  I immediately lost the 3:45 group getting to the start line; I should have positioned myself right behind them.  I tried to go in with the same mentality as New Orleans where I wouldn’t look at my watch but I found myself looking at my pace most miles.  I didn’t do any calculations about end time or total pace; I guess I was just curious if I was keeping up. 

1-7

The start of the race felt pretty crowded.  That’s usually normal but I found myself weaving through more often than I’m use to.  The course starts of at a slight downhill with a few bumps for 3ish miles and then a short hill.  Mile 4 goes through historic MLK site. 

7 – 16

After mile 7 the course really cleared up with the half marathoners gone.  I could now see the 3:45 pace group ahead of me, maybe .2 miles ahead.  I would have loved to do a surge to catch up but too risky.  There were a lot of people here cheering.  A volunteer or member of the Atlanta track club rode by several times and gave tips multiple times.  It really helped out.  Mile 15 I particularly remember feeling a lot of love from the crowds.  Going through Decatur there were signs giving messages in sequence order.  Like a poem and “keep going” which kept me pretty entertained.    

Miles 16 to 22

Hit the druid hills and there was a lot of uphills with the steepest uphills being around mile 20.  I originally planned to try something I haven’t tried since my second marathon, listen to music!  I was going to put headphones at mile 12 but I felt so good that I finally decided to put them on at mile 16.  I hated it and by mile 20 I took them off.  I was still feeling great at this point but I was slowing down (and I knew it).  I saw the 3:45 pace group at mile 24 at a short out and back, about 3 minutes ahead of me.

Miles 22 to 26.2

Now back closer to downtown.  As my feet started hurting I started to struggle on the uphills around mile 23.  At mile 25 a marathon manic started talking to me.  It was her 31^st marathon and she was trying to do under 4 hours for all 50 states.  We talked a bit about 50 states and then she told me I had a bit more of a go.  With that I sped up a bit to the finish.  I kind of needed someone to tell me I still have a bit more go left.

There was much afterwards after the finish line besides your standard banana, pretzels and granola bars but I enjoyed the journey!

20th marathon - Rock and Roll NOLA

The Rock and Roll New Orleans was my 6th race this year and my 6th PR, beating my marathon PR set only 6 week before!  Conditions were fairly bad for me but through mediation I made it to mile 18 without too much of a struggle.  The next six miles were a struggle and then my toes started hurting causing the last two to be pure suffering.

Preconditions:  The biggest factor going to this race was that I ran a hard ultra 8 days before this race.   I ran the Mount Mitchell challenge, a 36ish mile race with 4,324 feet of elevation gain and my legs were still sore going into this race.  I also moved (across the street to anyone curious) midweek which took time away from some recovery swims and workouts.  I did manage to get in some easy pre-lunch runs and a shakeout run the day before.  The day of my flight we got hit by a noreaster which caused my flight to be cancelled and I got rebooked the following day arriving at NOLA at 6 pm.  The expo ended at 5 pm so I would have missed bib pickup.  It was a stressful morning.  I wasn’t able to find any earlier options but Rock and roll allowed me to do bib pickup on race day.  Having the day before to relax and walk around the city would have been great instead of traveling but guess this happens once in a while.

On the same flight to New Orleans I met Kieran who ran the QDR long run #2 in Alley Pond park a few weeks ago.  He also ran the Houston marathon as well and signed up for this race 2 weeks ago.  We talked for a bit and got a uber into the city.  Then I was off to the hotel and met up with teamate Julie.  Special thanks to Julie for dealing with the hotel booking issue, getting vegan pizza, granola, hammer and vega protein bars, and even a sandwich for tomorrow morning (that's dinner, breakfast and post race recovery covered)!  The race site was a 5 minutes walk from the hotel and we did a practice commute to race start.  Early to sleep afterwards.  Got 7ish hours.  Unfortunately heard a lot of in and other from neighbors through the night so I woke often.  Still felt pretty rested going into the race.

I ate a little bit of granola and a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast 2 hours before.  I brought 6 Science in Sport gels with me to the race.  I got to use a few of them on my ultra the week before and while I think it has too much of a sugar taste I should finish my stack before buying more gels (I would probably think differently if this was my A race).  Got my bib without any issue and got a .6 warmup run in before the race.  I started doing warmup runs before races since the 2 mile race in Van Cortlandt I did with Kevin and Maria.  Before that, I didn't do any warmup runs or drills before a race.  I think it's been helpful!

Going into the race I had no idea what pace to run.  I told some of my friends that I was going to do a crash and burn where I would attempt to run the race for a massive PR and then hit the wall and struggle through it.  I figure the experience would help me for my A race in NJ in the end of April.  However, still being sore from the ultra brought back painful memories of the Chicago marathon where I attempted to PR in the marathon distance two weeks after my 100 miler.  Julie was aiming for a 3:36 goal and I decided that I didn't want her to wait too long for me so I should go for the crash and burn.  I would hit the wall and I would struggle to finish the marathon but that's okay.  

To delay hitting the wall I decided to not look at my watch at all (of course I could hear my watch beep and see the mile markers but I would not think about the distance left).  I wanted to just focus on moving right now.  I tried to not think at all.  Here and there I would change up my breathing (in and out of nose, mouth and mix of the two) and think briefly on cadence.  Sometimes I focused on relaxing my breathing, relaxing my arm swings and just stared far ahead, looking at the branches of trees.  My idea was that if I was running more relaxed I could delay hitting the wall.  I might have listen to a podcast about Japanese runners on my flight to NOLA.  I had to remind myself of this plenty of times during the race.  

The race started with an out and back along St. Charles street.  I remember mostly thinking about how unique the trees were in this stage.  Then it goes quickly through some of the touristy places of the till it hits the corner of City Park.  Then it follows City park and does two out and backs along Lake Pontchartrain before heading back along City Park and ending in the park.  A lot of the later miles had no shade and were on the boring side.  The course was very flat with a few small 30-40 feet gains from a few small bridges.

The race was hot!  It started in the 60s and ended in mid 70s but it felt hotter.  I ran in North Carolina the week before and NYC had a few spring days so I thought I was ready for the heat.  That quickly become untrue.  As always with heat I started consuming gels more often.  The race had three gel stations and at the first one (around mile 4) the gels were in a box.  Not wanting to lose speed I quickly reached in the box for a gel.  I ended up grabbing five and just ran with them in my hand.  I usually do one gel after 4ish miles and then one every 3 miles after but from miles 10-20 I was consuming one every 2 miles.  I grabbed another gel on the course as well and ended up only using two of mine.  After mile 20 I started drinking gatarode instead of gels and throwing a water cup over my head at every water station.

I was able to run at what I felt was a sub 3:50 pace for 18 miles.  Then I struggled to maintain pace for two miles before my brain started to slow me down.  After 20 I lost my meditative state as well and just struggled.  I'm normally pick it up after 20 miles but i wasn’t mentally strong enough.  I been here before so I kept moving, only thing I could do.  I definitively got passed by a quite a few people.  With 5k to go I broke my rule of not looking at time and distance left.  I realized I was comfortably in PR zone but still couldn't get myself to finish the last miles strong.  With 2 miles left, my toes started hurting and I couldn't block it out.  At the last bridge I noticed I was heel striking the ground, my running form was breaking down (something that has happened in my early marathons but not anytime recently, I blame it on my ultra the week before).

I saw Julie three times during the race and always tried to cheer her on.  I saw Kieran twice as well and waved.  He was pretty fast (he got a 3:16 something marathon).  I caught up with Julie around mile 16 and tried to tell her what I been telling myself the whole race about not thinking about distance or looking at watch.  Talking to her made me feel a lot better.  I started to encourage other people as I passed afterwards for a bit.  At around mile 18 I met a man from Mississippi who was doing his second marathon, also going for sub 3:50 and we talked for a bit before he had to slow down at a water station.

I was able to make a final push, sub 8 minute pace upon seeing the finish line.  Sadly that was only a .2 distance but I finished with a little more than a 4 minute PR.  Not too shabby!