The (top 5) best week of my life?

Or at least in Seattle I guess

Well, the week is just over, and yeah, lots of stuff happened. Let’s not think of work-related stuff…. cause that was pretty mid-bad overall lmao.

But this week also includes probably a top 3 12-hour span in my life.

Monday — Was pretty sore from Sunday long run (18 miles + 12 trail), right hip/IT area felt bruised/weird but overall had a nice MMMMMM run with CHBz. During discussion I did say my goal for the week is to accomplish a goal(s) in my goal list for the week, which is:

• Tuesday FF run
• Wednesday hot yoga w/ Priyam/Tyler
• Thursday morning WWTBC run + evening FF run
• Friday morning WWTBC run
• Saturday run to cougar mountain (14 miles) for a trail (14 mile) race — said it jokingly I guess, but was semi-serious after the Sunday effort from before + inspired by other people doing things much harder than that lol.
• Sunday Lake Union 10k

When I said that, everything was quite uncertain still. Sunday’s effort was pretty tiring, considering that I only had like <200 calories during the entire session so I was super gassed at the end, and the right side body wasn’t feeling 100%. But……

Tuesday — Usual morning peace park loop. Then the 10k with fleet feet. Was sore, but pretty strong. Hill parts felt tough. Then quick chipotle after, and went to see Olivia Rodrigo! So good, so awesome (I didn’t put concert in goal list since I got tickets night before lol), really felt like I had to go since I listened to her so much over the last few years! Then did a quick jog back home from the arena — ate some chipotle leftovers then was in bed around midnight! Yikes!!!!

Wednesday — Hot yoga first time ever!! But wait I decided to do a morning peace park loop (modified to be under 8 miles) — as a homage to last year when I did super early morning classes for a week and wanted to get in a run before to get out of the way ;). Well not as early this time but still had to wake up at like 4am eeeeekkkkk. Hot yoga was so hard. But pretty fulfilling with the low-impact suffering. By the end, I was soooo out of it; had to catch my breath for like 10 minutes — Priyam/Tyler were so good, inspirational, and gave me a nice prize of a cold brew! :)

So yeah from like 6pm Tuesday till post yoga 7am Wednesday, it was a super eventful (and sleep-deprived?) time! Lots of exercise! Lots of musical fun! Really pushed the limits in a sense. Fun!

Thursday — Morning WWTBC trail run at carkeek park, so had to get up early again to run there. Small group as well. Overall was solid, got to learn minor WWTBC lore. Then run to light rail station since none of the usual ‘free uber’ people were there (lmao ripppp). Solid overall I guess. Still was 14 miles-ish. Then evening fleet feet thursday run.

Friday — Morning WWTBC run, but ran there the long way in the Peace Park loop with Arjun; my first time doing that sort of loop route non-solo! Cool! Had a great time, and whatever that vegan cake was there was probably the GOAT cake I ever had (ice cream cake doesn’t count) — delicious, fluffy?, but taste was great and slightly savory and zero after-effects.

Saturday — Yeah executed the plan of running to cougar, then trail race, then jogged back to bus stop (not all the way lmao). Was scary at first — left house around 5:30am, was not sure if I’d make it, but luckily was fast enough to have good amount of time spared. Shoutout Google maps I guess. Some new areas that I haven’t ran before! Also there was like >1000 ft of gain in the last 4 miles to the trailhead! Bruhhhhhhhh.

Purchased LOTS of gels from fleet feet friday evening. I had to… needed quality quick nutrition compared to last weekend! I know that I will be hella exhausted during the trail race since there’s like 2600ft total elevation gain! And I want to give it a honest effort overall; obviously not all out given how sore I’ll be, and how sore I DON’T want to be for Sunday’s 10k.

The trail race was cool. Started off easy. Then picked it up along the way. Went semi-hard with power hiking for all the uphills. Downhills were meh. Some of them were controlled bursts, but some are a bit technical and rough so I hella slowed to relax on em and stuff. Also did not want to risk falling and stuff; I know that I got bunch of miles on my feet over the last few weeks (and current day) so my legs were already weak and a small slip up might cost me everything. Had a few close call with rolled ankle since some rocky parts were trash. But overall, super solid.

Listened to music for the first time in a ‘race’; really nice Folklore+Red TV combo! Volunteers so nice at aid stations, refilled hella electrolyte drinks. Gel plan was also solid. I felt very strong overall throughout the race. Made it so fun! Very end, was able to kick low 6 minute miles. Felt strong… and didn’t feel super destruction later, so I was semi-confident I can run despite a long Saturday.

Then got some snacks and took in lots of fluids at the end! then had to run to bellevue bus stop so I can go home nicely. Too bad I didn’t bring any sunscreen. Also I trolled the route, so ended up with +5 miles, bringing me to over 33 miles for the day. Woof! Ouch! damnn….. But I didn’t feel super bad; maybe the stimuli from last Sunday paying off? Maybe I took the trail race wayyyyyyy too easy? I am not too sure tbh.

Took in lots of fluids and calories at home. I felt decent for tomorrow…. though I was really scared! Hard to describe, but given my ‘waste’ of $80 for the trail race, I was just scared since I had to put up a decent result for the 10k the next day……….

Sunday — Super duper scared. Opted for vaporflys. Still solid race shoes, but worn out compared to some other ones that I have…. but still solid enough for the race. I WAS SO SCARED… my main goal was to PR (a officially timed 10k… I know that there’s little chance I’ll break my 35:xx track 10k from 5 years ago)… which was 37:08 from 2 years ago….. and I ran that like 30 minutes after running a sub 18min 5k. So clearly another fake PR. And I will be super sad vibes if I can’t beat it…. even though I ran 33 miles yesterday?

Yeah so I did not know what to feel. I was scared though. Hopefully can get sub 37 min… I’ve done that a bunch on the track 5 years ago… 18:30min back to back 5k’s don’t sound that horrible…. BUT I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I AM CAPABLE OF SINCE I ALREADY RAN 90+ MILES THIS WEEK. So much confusion.

But I saw some friends, and boosted my confidence by a non-zero amount which was cool. And I know the main plan is just to gun 6 minute miles until my legs fall apart; if not, I can probably split a bit faster than 6 min to get that sub 37.

Split roughly 6 minutes and X seconds mile 1. Felt solid still so went a bit faster next few miles, like 5:5X. Felt solid, but a bit tired. Very familiar landmarks on the course (up until Eastlake, which I rarely run). Some BLAH hills around mile 4–5. But overall hung in there! Sub 6 min miles all the way through basically! Last mile was fastest! Cool!

Just breathe, just relax, it’ll be okay

That went through my head most of the race. (opening lyrics from Electric Touch — Taylor Swift) To calm myself. I couldn’t be scared, I had to believe that I was strong enough for it! Which I was!

Kinda sad that last half mile I didn’t kick as hard as I could. Posing for some photos (night night steph curry celebration ofc) costed me a bit, but I was still working super duper hard! But from past experiences, I know that I could’ve worked even harder. And hence I was <2 seconds away from winning age group :((((((((((( (technically top 3 are excluded from age group so ye)

Finished in like 36:2X! Super solid time! Pretty confident for 35 low-mid on a average day. And maybe sub 35 on a nice,semi-rested day ;) very very happy on the inside! Accomplished my goals quite easily! New PR! Was in semi-shock on the inside given how much I have run the previous day and the overall week! Proud of myself in a certain way!

Also was super hype seeing all the other CHBz people finish! And Andrew winning- wow I wish I can have that talent, speed and dedication in training one day…. not even close with my current lazy work ethic lol, why am I so dumb doing random ‘fun’ runs all the time, and too lazy to do real training runs :(

But it was a bit hard to show happiness on the outside I guess. Still lots of work to do… and a backyard ultra potentially in 6 days…..

Well, afternoon I went for my very first solidcore class with Tyler, who nerfed himself to do it with me! Very tough. Some parts were even harder thanks to all my soreness…. ugh. But pretty cool still.

By end of day, I picked up the Coros Apex 2 Pro… and really good running/sport GPS watch? Why? I felt like I needed one for next Saturday, which I am so scared of… 10000x more scared than the 10k I just did. Needed one with solid battery. And got it from REI which I can hopefully abuse the electronic 90-day return policy ;)

The week felt so good, yet I am scared for next week… How will I feel? Will I really sign up to do an ultra => rent a car and drive out to Spokane?

Mentally the last few weeks, I kinda wanted to do this. Supporting Tyler would be the main goal, since feelsbad he is flying there without a crew or much… + 18 hours (basically Saturday + 1 loop on Sunday) would also be main goal — to minimize pain and hurt while maintaining run streak nicely! 24 hours would be the main goal. Cool 100 mile milestone I guess. But scary. No idea how hard the course will be. So confused too ughhhh why do I do this to myself. Why can’t I just stick to the usual peace park loops until marathon season like last year ughhhhh.

Well, also scary that I signed up for monday+tuesday early classes (need to use up Tyler’s free trial that he gave me nicely lol). Ugh. Typing this out ~9:30pm on Sunday is suboptimal. Hopefully things go well.

To future Stanley — I will be so proud of you if you can do 18–24 yards next Saturday. Even happier if I can crew (or assist ;)) Tyler to a fat W. Even nicer if I can youtube his journey lol. Just be safe, and get rest I guess. Hope everything goes well, and recovery from the weekend goes well too! If you are injured, then oops. Uh. Sigh. Please get better. Right now, my left shin is off as per usual, but everything else is fine-ish. Hope it all goes well! And continue the dumbest run streak to exist for no reason at all ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!