30 July 2011

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The Big 5K Run 2011 T-Shirt
This race was going to be my third attempt for the year to get that sub 20 minute finish or at least get closer to it that ever before. I was feeling pretty good, I had another week of solid training under my belt in preparation for the 100 miler in September and I was actually well rested.

28 July 2011

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Wow, today felt pretty good. That doesn't mean I wasn't tired or drenched in sweat I just felt better overall. I got up at 3:45AM and while I was still working on my first cup of coffee, Anya took off to get her run in. I decided I would try to play catch up as soon as I was ready to go. And so I did.

27 July 2011

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Today's workout schedule called for a slow 12 mile run. I ended up running slower than scheduled (still dealing with the humidity) and a couple of miles less as well.

26 July 2011

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I had to reshuffle my training schedule to get some (much needed) rest yesterday. As a result, today called for a hill workout. Since Richard was out, I had to find a hill with easy access, so I could start my run from my house. I ended up picking the UAH "hill". It's not really a hill, hence the quotation marks. However, it had to do for today. And according to the statistics from today's run online, it was actually the same elevation profile as the Cotton Row hill. I'm not sure if I believe that.

24 July 2011

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Today was another tough but enjoyable run. Obviously that's easier said after the run than during the run. I met up with Rich at 5AM to get in this week's long run. We had decided to go for a nice and challenging trail run. My training schedule called for 20 miles, but we ended up running just 15 something miles. While it was shorter than planned, it was quite grueling with most of the trail very technical and us either climbing or descending throughout the run.

23 July 2011

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This was the second running of the "Paint The Streets 5K" in memory of Carlene Hall and to benefit United Cerebral Palsy. My hat goes off once again to RD Jim Varnas for not putting on a quality event once more, but in exceeding the number of participants and the quality of the event (if that's even possible) from last year.

22 July 2011

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Today called for an easy 5 miler and since it's still record breaking temps all across the US, I was glad that Anya asked me to join her for her run at 4:15 AM this morning. While I would've prefered to sleep in a little, I was happy to get my run in before the temps were up in the 80s and 90s again.

20 July 2011

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4:15 AM is way too early to go for a run, but I did it in support of my better half who is struggling to find time in her very busy work schedule to prepare for her second half marathon in early September. I am actually quite grateful that she asked me to go. Otherwise, I probably would have failed to try to go for the 11 miles that my schedule asked for today.

19 July 2011

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A steady 8 mile run had to be turned into an easy 7 mile run. The heat and humidity were excrutiating today and it appears it will only get worse. So much for a slow 11 mile run tomorrow morning. If the heat and humidity levels don't come down some, I will be introuble making tomorrow's training distance.

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One word: Jello. At least that's what my legs felt like while climbing the Cotton Row hill for the twelvth time last night. My legs still felt shot from the long run on Sunday evening and the temperatures and humidity did the rest.

17 July 2011

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Wow, I am going to try to never postpone a training run again. Having been busy all day, I decided to run my long run on Sunday evening. I arrived at Richard's house near 5 Points around 8:45 PM and we decided to run a section of the Rocket City Marathon course for an 18 mile out and back. We ended up cutting the run just 2 miles short, but it was definitely a tough run.

16 July 2011

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HTC Twilight 5K Race Swag & Age Group Prize
A well-known runner/coach once said that you can't be disappointed if you come away from a race or event with a PR or placing overall or in your age group. Well, I was way off a PR, but I ended up placing second overall in my very first 5K race in the Master's division. Yes, it's true, I am officially an old man...uhm, a master runner;-)

14 July 2011

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Day 4 of my training plan called for an "easy" 5 mile run. Easy? Not really. I now realize what has been severely lacking in the training regimen...any kind of speedwork, be it tempo runs, fartlek, track workouts or even just picking up the pace during any of my training runs. I have not focused on pace at all, instead running mostly at a leasurely pace, telling myself that I have been running an ultra per month ans that should keep me ready to go at any time. Obviosuly, I won't get any better (faster) by neglecting actual pace during all my training runs, so I am glad I am finally refocussing my training.

13 July 2011

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Day 3 of my 100 mile training. Actually, I am currently utilizing a Sub 3:15 marathon training plan with an adjusted (longer) long run on the weekends and the occasional 50K or 50M thrown in. I have been feeling like I've been getting slower over the last few months, so I nice speed/pace focused training plan might do the trick, or at least I hope so.

12 July 2011

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Day 2 of my latest 100 mile training plan. Today called for a hill workout and since Richard wasn't able to do the workout in the morning, we met up after work to knock it out. I chose the Cotton Row 10K hill, part of a very popular local 10k hill that is aptly named "puke hill" by some locals.

11 July 2011

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I unofficially started my 100 mile race training today. I am planning on running a 100 miler in September and one in November of this year, so it's time to start some serious training again. In an effort to support my fiance's half marathon training, I took her on a nice 8 mile trail run at Monte Sano State Park today.

09 July 2011

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So I finally arrived back in the US of A this Thursday evening after spending the last 2 weeks in India and China, trying to maintain some type of running routine which was nearly impossible. Fortunately, I was able to get in one really great run on the Hong Kong Trail. Now back in the US, it was time to reconnect with my running buddy Richard for our, as of lately, favorite trail run from the bottom of Monte Sano mountain to the top (at the burnt down ranger station) and back.

04 July 2011

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The Novotel Bauhinia, my home for the last 3 days in Shenzhen, China.

On my last morning in Shenzhen, China, I figured I'd get a quick treadmill run in before leaving for Shanghai, China. Being unfamiliar with the area, the treadmill at my hotel seemed the easiest choice, even though I hate not running outdoors when visiting other cities, especially outside North America.

02 July 2011

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Initially, I had planned to run the entire 50 kilometers of the Hong Kong Trail, but things turned out quite differently. The trail chewed me up and spat me out, in short, it kicked my Arsch. In the end, I was only able to complete the first half of this magnificent trail. Since I had placed this run on my personal race calendar as a self-supported 50K, I am calling this one a DNF.

The Hong Kong Trailhead at the top of "The Peak"

After getting a fantastic "pre-race meal" at the Ruth Chris Steakhouse (filet and red wine) here in Hong Kong on Friday evening, I had set my alarm for 6AM on Saturday morning. After getting up, getting dressed and making myself a quick cup of instant coffee, I headed out of the hotel and waved down a taxi. 40 Hong Kong dollars later, I arrived at Victoria Peak (or "the Peak", as it is locally referred to), Hong Kong Island's highest mountain peak at 1811 feet. The first thing I saw was the "rice bowl", a large building who's architecture resembles a rice bowl. The next thing I needed to do is get my bearings with the assistance of a little hand-drawn map. I had visited the local running shop of "Racing The Planet" who's headquarters are located in Hong Kong and an extremely helpful employee and fellow runner at the shop had provided me with some very helpful trail info before I picked up some energy gels for my run.

The aptly named "Rice Bowl" as seen from the trail

I quickly located the trailhead and started with a slow jog. Barely a minute later I stopped to take in the breathtaking views of the highrise buildings of Hong Kong from the trail. This would continue throughout the run as there were strategically placed viewpoints along the trail, inviting you to stop and take pictures.

Large sections of the Hong Kong Trail are paved

No matter where I was on the trail, I would either have a view of the city and the surrounding islands or I would be surrounded by the beautiful nature of the local mountains. When you first arrive in Hong Kong, it is hard to believe that such a beautiful and extensive trail could exist within sight of the hustle and bustle of the city. Not only that, but this trail crosses the entire island of Hong Kong, leading runners along the side of the mountain range. Furthermore, I was constantly climbing or descending for most of the run. This run was way more challenging than I initially anticipated.

Views like this greet runners all along the Hong Kong Trail
Skyscrapers as far as the eye can see

I continued to stop along the side of the trail to take in the views and take pictures. The entire trail was identified with markers in 500m intervals, which ensured that I would always know if I was still on the proper main trail and that was absolutely necessary as there were numerous trail arms and intersections that were quite confusing, causing me to double and triple check if I was still on the Hong Kong Trail.

Hong Kong Trail and Distance Markers

As I continued to run on section 1 of the trail (The Peak - Pok Fu Lam Reservoir Road 7.0 km), I noticed lots of locals out for a morning walk or stretching, exercising or meditating at small picnic areas along the trail. Maybe I should have followed their lead instead of trying to run this trail. I had barely been running for 30 minutes when I started to struggle with the heat and humidity. I did not expect that the weather would be such a huge factor this early in the day. Apparently, the weather does not cool down over night. After an hour, I was completely soaked from head to toe and the little creeks running down from the mountain and feeding the numerous water reservoirs around Hong Kong looked more and more appealing to me.

Bridge crossing one of the many creeks along the trail

 Two hours into my run, I finally stopped at one of those creeks to cool down my head and face. I started to consider cutting the original goal of 50K down to a shorter distance and as the run progressed and I continuously had to ascend and descend, I decided that I would only go half the distance. I also became more and more worried about getting lost, because the trail would widely vary in terrain, going from a wide and paved trail to single track dirt trail to concrete sections to stone stairs. It was often hard to tell if I had taken a wrong turn, but as I continued to pay attention to the signs and markers, I started to figure out how things worked.

One of the may trail intersections

Since I started my run at the trailhead on top of the Peak, I figured my run would just be an easy breezy downhill trail run for most of the first half of the trail....wrong. This trail had more climbs than I could have ever expected. Unfortunately, I never did get my hands on an elevation profile of the trail before I attempted the run. As a result, I moved a lot slower than I had planned. I expected to be slow because I wanted to take lots of pictures, but the climbing made it much worse. I could use a lot of excuses, like just having completed the 150 mile desert race two weeks ago, or not having had a lot of sleep during my trip or... Instead, I blame myself for not being in better condition to run the entire trail and underestimating the weather conditions and trail difficulty.

Another amazing view from the trail

Even though my pace was considerable slower than I had originally planned, I was struggling with the heat and the humidity in particular. I had brought my Salomon XA 10+3 pack with a 2 liter hydration bladder and two bottles of water (compliments of my hotel in Hong Kong) and 2 hours in, I had finished off both bottles and started to dip into the hydration bladder. However, even with the new shortened goal, I still had a long way to go. It wasn't so much the length of the trail as it was the constant up and down and the humidity.

Trail climbing Hong Kong style

Stairs like the ones above were frequent on this trail. To draw an ultra running comparison, this 25 km section of the trail had way more stairs than the 35 mile Laurel Valley Whitewater Run. There were a lot of stairs. After completing section 1 of the Hong Kong Trail, I continued on to section 2 (Pok Fu Lam Reservoir Road - Peel Rise 4.5 km). During this section, I finally encountered some local runners. However, all of them were headed in the opposite direction, which was kind of odd. I did notice that none of them carried any water, which led me to believe that they were running short loops rather than long Hong Kong Trail sections, but I could be wrong.

Trail switchbacks Hong Kong style

The second section went by fairly fast. I continued to count the trail markers to see how far I had to go. Once I reached marker 50, I knew I had reached my new goal. During my run, I also passed two large water reservoirs (Pok Fu Lam Reservoir and Aberdeen Reservoir), adding to the already beautiful countryside.

Aberdeen Reservoir as seen from the trail

I passed the Aberdeen Reservoir during section 3 of the trail (Peel Rise - Wan Chai Gap 6.5 km). This section also seems to be very popular with local runners as they continued to pass me coming from the opposite direction. I can see how this trail is very popular with anyone who's into running. Not only is it beautiful, but it also allows the locals to train in some seriously hot and humid conditions. A great way to get ready for races in other locations and easier conditions.

The views are spectacular from any spot on the trail

As I completed section 3 of the trail and entered section 4 (Wan Chai Gap - Wong Nai Chung Gap 7.5 km), I stopped a couple of local runners to get some details about transportation at my new proposed "finish line" or bail out point at the half way mark of the trail. Thankfully, they confirmed that the end of section 4 connects to a road that would have easy access to a bus or taxi.

Free foot massages along the trail

All along the trail, there were little picnic areas and rest spots for locals to relax. I also noticed a sign stating "Foot Massage". That was really confusing to me. Was there actually someone giving foot massages to weary hikers and runners? What a great concept, I thought, but how would that work in the middle of nowhere?

It didn't make any sense so I decided to further inspect this phenomenon the next time I saw the sign. As soon as I approached one of those areas, it became clear what it meant. It was actually a little area layered with large pebble stones, allowing people to take off their shoes and walk across the pebble stones in a small loop while holding on to a rail. Very inventive and useful at the same time. Who hasn't wished for a foot massage after a long trail run.

One of the many pebble parks along the trail

 While it looked very tempting to take off my shoes and get a free massage, I was ready to complete my run. I came across trail marker 48, indicating that I had only to more markers to go to complete my run.

Self-portrait near the end of my run at marker 48

When I finally reached the end of section 4 of the Hong Kong Trail, it was bittersweet. I really had wanted to run the entire trail, but I was very happy to have had the opportunity to run any section of this trail. The trail dumped me out onto a road atop the "Black's Link" neighborhood, which seemed to be a very, very exclusive neighborhood of Hong Kong. After a short walk down this road and not really knowing were the Hong Kong Trail actually continued (honestly, I would have been in trouble had I wanted to run the entire trail, because I was clueless as to where it continued), I was able to wave down a taxi to get back to the hotel. All I can say is thank goodness for pleather seats in Chinese taxis, because I was soaked and feeling really really bad for the cabby. I paid him almost double my actual fare just to make up for my current state (i.e. being really really sweaty) since the language barrier kept me from even being able to explain and apologize.

Maybe I will get the opportunity in the future to run the second half of the trail. While this report is more of a photo album than an actual race report or training log, the pictures in this blog only scratch the surface of the pictures I took. The entire collection of pictures I took during my run is located here.

The final statistics of this run show 25 kilometers and no less than 8000 feet of elevation gain and 8500 feet of elevation loss for a total elevation change of 16500 feet. That is one serious trail and not at all what I expected when I read that most of this trail was paved. I imagined an easy trail. Instead, I encountered a challenging trail with some serious climbs and amazing views.

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RACE CALENDAR

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  • Cocodona 250M (Black Canyon City, AZ) - May 6-11, 2024
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