Adventures in Onionism

So my May races sucked, but then I went to Pennsylvania and had a good time running the Laurel Highlands Ultra .  I got a ride up with a member of the early-morning-type-A runners and his pacers/crew, and it was fun to talk to them and not have to get up stupid early to ride the bus to the start. The race is a point-point that is 100% singletrack along the Laurel Highlands trail, with the exception of the first mile or so to get out of a State Park and its parking lot and such. The park has a nice small waterfall at the start. There are nice views. The ferns are really big, and there are a lot of them. Seriously though, it's really cool. I would love to go get some spores or a small sample and try and grow them in my backyard. The trail was runable for the most part. I kept telling myself to run every runable step, and for the most part I did. I stopped at one aid station after about 40 miles and changed my shoes and socks and felt refreshed. I dropped a friend fro...

After my disappointing performance at Farm Park, I didn't really have high hopes for Massanutten Mountain Trails100 . It was going to be hot again, and the course is very rocky. This rocky And this rocky So you basically have to look at the ground the whole time. And I feel like you're using your core a lot more, almost like you're squatting or in a wrestling stance, in a much different running form than usual, and it really wore me out. Also, my knee quit working at about mile 24. Sucks I blame my La Sportiva Akasha shoes, that have a high (12mm) heel drop that I'm no longer used to. The aid stations were well-stocked, so I was able to ice it and just walk. It was really hot (85, 90? Can't quite remember) and humid. I walked and walked, and it got dark, and I started losing my mind a bit, and I just wanted to lay down somewhere, anywhere, and sleep, but every time I sat down I found ticks, or another runner would pass me and ask me how I was doing,...

It's almost November, and I still haven't written about my May or June races. In March and April I performed well at Shamrock Marathon and Cherry Blossom Ten Miler, finally breaking 3 hours in the marathon and running just over my goal 6:30 pace in my first 10-miler ever. I thought I had a lot of leg speed built up that I'd be able to use in ultras throughout the year, kicking butt at the Massanutten 100-miler in late May, for example. That did not happen, however. Farm Park Challenge May 4 I ran the Farm Park Challenge . It's a bit like a last-person-standing race, but instead it's a fastest-person-on-the-last-lap race. You run a 5.2-mile loop every mile, and there are multiple races held concurrently, a 3-hour, 6-hour, and 10-hour. The last hour/loop of each event is the real race, you just have to run a full loop every previous hour to compete in it. It sounded fun and some runners in the group-for-which-I-cannot-wake-up-early-enough-but-of-whom-I-am-jealous w...