Thank you for tuning in for another installment of trail racing reports. This week is brought to you by Coastal Trail Run's Montara Mountain Half Marathon. A beautiful course covering 13.1 miles and climbing 2900' in the lovely coastal town of Pacifica, CA (that link will take you to the elevation profile, take a look!).
A few things since January's Steep Ravine race:
First, that race beat me up. Man that was hard. It make me realize I have some work to do and not just with my running. I have some weak spots. In early Feb. Loren and I started on a strength routine based on the Iron Strength work out. It really focuses on getting a stronger ass, something runners tend to lack. Now, this thing starts out with like 5 minute intervals of things. Um. No. We cut everything do like 2 minutes, and ya know what? I was still sore as hell the next day. It's getting better and I'm upping the times of the intervals but it's still a workout. In this transition to strength training, I've cut down on my milage. Not that it was high to begin with but I just don't want to over do it. I figured this would really help with my trail running and hills and in the long run, my goals for the year: climbing Mt Hood and Mt Rainier.
It didn't take long to see an improvement.
Last weekend we went out to check out the course, while we didn't run the whole thing, we ran 10 miles and did the first 2 climbs. I could tell the difference, I felt like I had more power going up those climbs (the first one was 3 miles and gains about 1600"). I really like having an idea of what the course is like.
Race day: beautiful morning. Temps in the high 40s and clear clear skies. The RD said the trails were in the best condition he had ever seen them and the weather was just picture perfect. There were 4 distance: 10k (2nd half of the half so we never ran with them) half, full, and 50k. I'd say less than 200 people total for all races.
The first couple of miles were narrow single track. I wanted to be up frontish as to not be blocked out and lost in the bottle neck, but I didn't want to be so far up that I was going out too fast and causing those behind me to have to wait. I feel like I positioned myself well, we all moved like a snake up the switch backs with some passing here in there but no major issues.
I'm glad I had run up this hill the week before. After about 2 miles, we hit a service road up to the summit.
Not before long, the leaders started coming down. First a spate of guys, then 1 woman doing the marathon, and next was Loren. She was 2nd woman in the field, but first woman in the half.
I hit the top, grabbed my orange rubber band that indicated I made it to the top and started bombing down the 3 mile decent. By then the field had thinned out and there was no problems going down the narrow trail. There would be the occasional hiker but they were aware there was a race happening and were all considerate.
After that, there was a short flat with the aid station. I grabbed a 2nd gel, since my spare fell out of my pocket at the start, and some clif drink and headed for the 2nd climb.
The 2nd climb wasn't bad, about a mile long and not too steep. The thing I didn't like about this climb was coming back down. It was a narrow trail with a gash down the middle of most of it, perfect to ankle busting. I didn't get to go down as fast as I'd have liked to, not wanting to break my ass. Another small flat patch, maybe a half mile, then up to the 3rd climb: 2 miles of fun.
I wish we had run this one too. Not knowing what was coming and going up hill for 2 miles at mile 9 was tough. There were lots of switchbacks, some really steep sections, and lots of trees so I couldn't see where the path was leading me and I couldn't see anyone behind me or in front of me. It was a tough climb. I dug in and just kept going up up and up.
FINALLY, a clearing and the down hill started. The footing here was much better so I could really move. I was getting into the mid 7s going down, I knew I was almost done. I could hear them announcing winners and I was pretty sure I heard them announce Loren as the first woman in the half.
Once I hit the bottom of the hill, just a couple of turns through a flat parking lot to the finish.
My goal for this race was sub 2:20, I finished in 2:17:37, almost 10 minutes faster than Steep Ravine. It's not really fair to compare races. While it's the same distance the courses and terrain are very very different.
Results:
3/14 in age group
7/39 women
23/89 over all.
I'm happy with that.
Now a note about Loren. Yup, she won. She also set a course record (I will add this because she keeps adding it: the woman who won the marathon was a few minutes ahead of her at her halfway point. She also flat out won the marathon, first over all, but anyhooo) Loren finished in 2:03:59. At mile 8, Loren dropped her only remaining gel and stepped on it, hearing that lovely pop that a gel exploding under a foot makes. Because she is hardcore (and may have bonked otherwise) she picked up said popped gel and carried it with her, licking the gel off her hand and spitting out the gravel for then next 5 miles. I'm just glad she didn't lick it off her shoe. She ended with mocha gel on her hand, leg, shoe, and face. Sexxxy proof here.
Yup. That's my girl!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Like you were just a wish that could turn out well
It's been quiet over here at Dog Pound enterprises. I haven't been training for any big goal race or anything like that. I've been keeping steady low weekly milage and trying my hand at some local trail running. It's fun to mix it up and try something different. No pressure since every race has new challenges and all the CA trails are pretty new to me.
Saturday was Steep Ravine. This is a pretty well known hiking trail. The race also hooks up with the Dipsea trail which is known in running lore for the The Dipsea, the oldest trail race in the states. It started in 1905. Anyway, I mentioned on RWOL that I was running Steep Ravine and someone said, wait, I've hiked that trail, isn't there a step ladder? Why yes. Yes there is a step ladder. It's interesting to climb a step ladder while running a race.
You can see the course map here and the elevation chart is so lovely to look at:
I didn't have much of a plan going into this. Usually, I look over last year's results and try to figure out where I should be placement wise. This was new territory for me since I've never run a trail half and they had changed the course from last year. The course is now much more challenging.
When we got going I felt like every one had really bolted out. The field wasn't that big, less than 200 people. I tried to settle in, obviously, we go straight up from the get go. Oh and for the next 4 miles. I tried to just settle in and be mindful of my foot falls. This trail is much rockier and rootier than other trails I've run on out here. Not to mention the step ladder, ducking under fallen trees and some tiny streams.
The trail splits from pink to a yellow loop right after the aid station/check point. There was some confusion on which direction to go to the check point. After some discussion with the pack I found myself in, we decided to go right, which did lead us to the aid station. I know there can be some lingering at aid stations on trail runs but I like to just keep at it so I gulped down some sports drink and split. I was now with just 1 other guy bombing the down hill section. It is so much fun to go from 13-15 minute miles to 7-8 minute miles.
For a while, I wasn't sure I was going the right way. I could see the trail markings and I was going counter clockwise as we had been instructed but I didn't see anyone else. There were 5 races going on with variations on route so there were people all over the place just no one near me. Then some guys come flying by the other way and tell me I'm going the wrong way. I was pretty sure I wasn't and had already decided if I was, it was just going to loop back to where I needed to be and I wasn't turning around.
After a couple of miles I saw Loren. She was with a pack and said "hi, we're going the wrong way, you're going the right way so keep going".
There were a lot of confused people out there in them woods. Some poor 7 mile folks ended up doing 10 miles, some 12. I'm not really sure how they got so turned around.
I got confused again when it came to getting back to the aid station. At this point, I was with 2 other people, a man and a woman. The woman was like, ok, he's really fast, let's send him ahead to make sure this is right. He called back to us and we were going in the right direction.
Once I got back to the aid station/check point I was surprised to find Loren there. She decided since she went the wrong way and cut the course she would wait for me at the aid station so we could run the last 3 miles together and she'd DQ herself at the end.
A lot of people went off course. After the fact, the RD went back to check the course and saw that the directional arrows were no longer there, causing the confusion. He counted everyone and gave everyone race credit (there's a points competition that goes on through out the year) and adjusted times for the short course.
I am pleased with my results. While it took me a lot longer than I had expected, I set a half marathon personal worst and a trail half marathon person best with a time of 2:36:52
Stats:
Overall 47 out of 172
women 8 out of 78
AG 2 out of 21
Even though Loren asked not to be counted she finished right behind me for 3rd in AG. That may never happen again. I'm sure if she hadn't waited for me she would have been 2nd woman. She gave herself a nice 15 minute handicap waiting for me at the aid station.
It was a tough run but I had a lot of fun. I'm enjoying this for now. I'm sure at some point I'll start setting different goals and go back to more road racing. After all these years of running, I just need to mix it up a bit.
In other news, our other trail running partner in crime Barb aged up for this race and nabbed 3rd in her age group in her debut race. Way to go Barb!
Saturday was Steep Ravine. This is a pretty well known hiking trail. The race also hooks up with the Dipsea trail which is known in running lore for the The Dipsea, the oldest trail race in the states. It started in 1905. Anyway, I mentioned on RWOL that I was running Steep Ravine and someone said, wait, I've hiked that trail, isn't there a step ladder? Why yes. Yes there is a step ladder. It's interesting to climb a step ladder while running a race.
You can see the course map here and the elevation chart is so lovely to look at:
I didn't have much of a plan going into this. Usually, I look over last year's results and try to figure out where I should be placement wise. This was new territory for me since I've never run a trail half and they had changed the course from last year. The course is now much more challenging.
When we got going I felt like every one had really bolted out. The field wasn't that big, less than 200 people. I tried to settle in, obviously, we go straight up from the get go. Oh and for the next 4 miles. I tried to just settle in and be mindful of my foot falls. This trail is much rockier and rootier than other trails I've run on out here. Not to mention the step ladder, ducking under fallen trees and some tiny streams.
The trail splits from pink to a yellow loop right after the aid station/check point. There was some confusion on which direction to go to the check point. After some discussion with the pack I found myself in, we decided to go right, which did lead us to the aid station. I know there can be some lingering at aid stations on trail runs but I like to just keep at it so I gulped down some sports drink and split. I was now with just 1 other guy bombing the down hill section. It is so much fun to go from 13-15 minute miles to 7-8 minute miles.
For a while, I wasn't sure I was going the right way. I could see the trail markings and I was going counter clockwise as we had been instructed but I didn't see anyone else. There were 5 races going on with variations on route so there were people all over the place just no one near me. Then some guys come flying by the other way and tell me I'm going the wrong way. I was pretty sure I wasn't and had already decided if I was, it was just going to loop back to where I needed to be and I wasn't turning around.
After a couple of miles I saw Loren. She was with a pack and said "hi, we're going the wrong way, you're going the right way so keep going".
There were a lot of confused people out there in them woods. Some poor 7 mile folks ended up doing 10 miles, some 12. I'm not really sure how they got so turned around.
I got confused again when it came to getting back to the aid station. At this point, I was with 2 other people, a man and a woman. The woman was like, ok, he's really fast, let's send him ahead to make sure this is right. He called back to us and we were going in the right direction.
Once I got back to the aid station/check point I was surprised to find Loren there. She decided since she went the wrong way and cut the course she would wait for me at the aid station so we could run the last 3 miles together and she'd DQ herself at the end.
A lot of people went off course. After the fact, the RD went back to check the course and saw that the directional arrows were no longer there, causing the confusion. He counted everyone and gave everyone race credit (there's a points competition that goes on through out the year) and adjusted times for the short course.
I am pleased with my results. While it took me a lot longer than I had expected, I set a half marathon personal worst and a trail half marathon person best with a time of 2:36:52
Stats:
Overall 47 out of 172
women 8 out of 78
AG 2 out of 21
Even though Loren asked not to be counted she finished right behind me for 3rd in AG. That may never happen again. I'm sure if she hadn't waited for me she would have been 2nd woman. She gave herself a nice 15 minute handicap waiting for me at the aid station.
It was a tough run but I had a lot of fun. I'm enjoying this for now. I'm sure at some point I'll start setting different goals and go back to more road racing. After all these years of running, I just need to mix it up a bit.
In other news, our other trail running partner in crime Barb aged up for this race and nabbed 3rd in her age group in her debut race. Way to go Barb!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Laying low and wasting time
IT LIVES!!!!
I have not updated in a while. Not that there's been much to update, but I have been internet running related laying low. I figured I would do the old year end/new year wrap up.
In 2011, I ran 1264 miles. Not setting any records there, but it was 200 miles more than 2010.
I PRed in the half, but missed my goals of breaking 1:40 in the half and 3:40 in the full. I felt like I had a lot of solid running. With moving across the country, it's taken me some time to get my running routine together. I'm still working on that. I've set no solid running goals for 2012. No marathons, no halfs, nothing really planned other than some trail races. I feel like after years of chasing Boston, I need a break for serious goal chasing. I don't think I'm done, I know there are faster times in me. I'm just going to focus on some other things.
Since moving, I've been doing more trail running. I love it. It's a nice change from road running. Time is less important. It's very mental. It's also very beautiful. It's also making me stronger which is awesome.
My biggest goals for 2012 are high points. I have 32 done. In 2011, I did 4. HI, FL, AZ, and AL. It's getting tougher to get a lot done in 1 year and several done in 1 trip. We should be able to get 3-4 in a trip to the midwest. IL is tough because it's on private property that is only open 4 weekends a year. Another challenge is the high points themselves. A sample of what's left:
Mt Rainier: 14, 410' glaciated peak.
Mt Hood 11, 239' glaciated peak
Granite Peak 12,799', 22 miles round trip, plus technical climbing
Gannett Peak 13, 804' 40 miles round trip, plus technical climbing
Denali the name says it all.
This year, we're planning on Hood and Rainier. The High Pointers club is having the yearly convention in OR so Loren and I have been in touch with people about planning a climb. An old friend of Loren's is a former professional guide and has agreed to do Rainier with us. I'm really excited about both of these trip.
This weekend, we're running Crystal Springs (the 11 mile course). We went out last week to check out the course. Should be lots of fun! As I said, I'm digging these trail runs.
I'll sign off with a picture of us at the AL high point, which was also Bea's 8th.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
I really f*cked it up this time, didn't I my dear
I'm 40 years old. I started running track when I was about 9 and continued to do so off, but mostly on since then. And apparently that's not long enough to learn not to do stupid things. This weekend I am chalking up to another f*cking growth opportunity (this is my post of profanity). I wasn't even going to write about this, but I'm actually glad it happened because I did learn a few things and I'm glad for that, even if I had a sucky race.
On Sunday, I ran the Zombie Runner half marathon. After my terrible run at San Jose, I wanted to try again. This race was put on by Coastal Trail Runs. They also put on the Diablo race I did last month. They really do put on great events. They're small and mostly train runs. This course was very flat and a variety of not very technical surfaces, dirt, some gravel, road. There were 4 aid stations on the course and I figured that would be enough and I wouldn't have to carry my own water. This would come back to bite me right in the ass.
From looking at past events on this course, I figured I could start close to the front. The half marathon and the full started together. Based on previous women's times, I figured I'd be in the top 5ish. Since it was the day before halloween, there were a lot of people in costumes which was fun. Personally, I don't think I could race dressed up, but it was fun to see others.
I started out feeling great. I fell into a nice rhythm and didn't get sucked into the faster pace of the guys ahead of me. The first aid station was at about 2.5 miles. When I went by, they really weren't set up or I didn't slow down/stop to really see, but I didn't see any cups out as I went by so I kept going.
I fell in with 2 guys, 1 doing the full and 1 doing the half. I knew there were 3 women ahead of me. Far ahead of me. As we came up on mile 6, I took a gel knowing there'd be another aid station soon. I could see the tent and as I came up on it I grabbed a cup as I was running by.
It was empty.
@&*^*%^!!!!
I'm now 6+ miles in, I've got gel mouth, and no water. I was not happy. I was, however, still on 1:40 pace but knew this was going to get tough. The next aid station wasn't until 8.5 miles.
In the distance, I could see 3rd place woman coming back to me. I kept my eyes on her and made it a goal to pass her. Once I did, I dropped her like a bad habit. I think she may have gone out a bit fast. I knew not far behind her was Loren who had a sore hamstring and was just running easy.
By mile 8, I was slooooowing down. I was so pissed. Dude I had been running with earlier came up on me with encouraging words. Before the next aid station , I took another gel, which hit my stomach hard. When I hit the tent, I gulped 2 cups of water but I knew it was too late. From the way the course snaked around, I could see Loren was gaining on me, or rather I was slowing so much I was going to fall behind her.
For the last 2.5 miles or so, there was an out and back and another aid station at mile 11ish. I took more water and Loren was really close to me. I was running like 8:15 pace and couldn't go any faster. Ugh.
While I was feeling like complete ass, it was fun to see all the other folks on the out and back in costume and being very encouraging, that did help even though the last mile was total hell. With about a half mile to go, Loren passed me and said not to worry she had no kick. I was like please, no kick? I go no nothin. This is it for me. The finish could not come soon enough.
So in the grand scheme of things...I ran a 1:45:25. Slower than San Jose by about 20 seconds. Continuing with the them for the year, I was 4th woman (22nd over all) and I won my age group. Little consolation, as I said to my pal Flo, I'd rather have a good race than an AG win. Loren was 3rd woman and won her AG. Since her birthday is soon, this is the last time in a while we won't be in the same AG.
There are 2 big things I came away with:
1. Water. Carry it. If there isn't aids stations at like every mile from now on, I'm carrying water. Clearly that was a huge mistake on my part.
2. I'm not in shape to run as fast as I'd like. After these 2 races, I've put a lot of thought into this. ALL my PRs have come when I'm marathon training. When I'm marathon training, I'm running higher milage. This was the first time I trained just for a half. Clearly, I'm not running enough. This is something that can be easily fixed.
Another part of this is I'm still adjusting to a new city. I have some running routes mapped out that I do but it's not the same comfort level I had in NYC.
So I know what I need to do. I'm not in any hurry to get out and race another half, I want to put in some more milage, do some more trail running and set this goal on the back burner for a few months until I feel more ready for it.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
What you had, And what you lost
I ran the San Jose half today. This race has been on the calender for a while. I decided to take a break from marathons for a while so I set my sights on actually training for a half and FINALLY breaking 1:40. I set up a training plan and enlisted Loren to run as well. Best laid plans and all of that, turns out she had to go to HI for work. Rough, I know.
My training cycle went well. I felt really good about this race going into. I did until Friday anyway, but I'll get to that in a minute.
2 guys from the CA forum on Runner's World offered to run with me since they had similar goals of running under 1:40. Very sweet of them and I took them up on it. It lasted about 5 miles. I just did not have it today. My legs felt heavy, I tried to rally and it just wasn't happening. Actually, it really went down hill after 10k (I was pretty on pace until that point). I phoned it around mile 7 and just ran to finish. Not like I could have run any faster if I wanted to. I finished in 1:44:01. No, it's not a bad time. Yes it's way off my goal. I can deal with that. I'll pick another race and give it another shot.
I know what's partially responsible for my poor run today, though as I was running I told myself I was not going to use this as an excuse.
As I was getting ready to leave the house on Friday morning, I was reading Facebook when some horrible news came across my feed. Yes, this is how we find things out these days. My old friend from my HS days posted that his sister, someone I was also friends with and who I went to HS with, passed away while giving birth. Her son also did not make it.
This news is beyond horrifying and I instantly burst into tears.
Even now...it's totally surreal. The last few days have been a sea of sorrow and reconnecting with people from the past.
My high school experience was not the best. I very much looked forward to the day when it would be over. I had a great extended group of freakish friends from out side of school, a very John Hughesesque group of kids. Gia and her brother were both a big part of that crowd. Going to see Rocky Horror, trips into Philly for all age punk shows, and nights dancing at Revival. Scott is a year older than me and went to a different school, Gia a year younger. It was great to have Gia at school during the day, an ally in otherness.
We had kept in touch over the years, though college and when she came to NYC for grad school we'd hang out.
Like most people these days, we had connected again on Facebook. It was great to be back in touch, see how her family had grown to include her husband Charlie and their twin boys, Charlie and Nate.
She was so excited about being pregnant again and sharing all the changes and how her boys were adjusting to a new one coming along. I was excited for her and looked forward to her updates. She was always supportive of my adventures.
As I was running today, my mantra became "sorrow into strength" but honesly, there was none of that. I haven't slept well the last few nights. My mind is constantly thinking about this huge loss.
I'm sure I could go on and on but I'm not going to, there just aren't the right words for this.
Gia was an amazing person. Smart and beautiful and full of talent. The loss is immense for all those who knew her and most certainly for her family.
If you're the praying type, please keep her husband, her boys, her brother and mom in your prayers. If you're not the praying type, please keep them in your thoughts.
My training cycle went well. I felt really good about this race going into. I did until Friday anyway, but I'll get to that in a minute.
2 guys from the CA forum on Runner's World offered to run with me since they had similar goals of running under 1:40. Very sweet of them and I took them up on it. It lasted about 5 miles. I just did not have it today. My legs felt heavy, I tried to rally and it just wasn't happening. Actually, it really went down hill after 10k (I was pretty on pace until that point). I phoned it around mile 7 and just ran to finish. Not like I could have run any faster if I wanted to. I finished in 1:44:01. No, it's not a bad time. Yes it's way off my goal. I can deal with that. I'll pick another race and give it another shot.
I know what's partially responsible for my poor run today, though as I was running I told myself I was not going to use this as an excuse.
As I was getting ready to leave the house on Friday morning, I was reading Facebook when some horrible news came across my feed. Yes, this is how we find things out these days. My old friend from my HS days posted that his sister, someone I was also friends with and who I went to HS with, passed away while giving birth. Her son also did not make it.
This news is beyond horrifying and I instantly burst into tears.
Even now...it's totally surreal. The last few days have been a sea of sorrow and reconnecting with people from the past.
My high school experience was not the best. I very much looked forward to the day when it would be over. I had a great extended group of freakish friends from out side of school, a very John Hughesesque group of kids. Gia and her brother were both a big part of that crowd. Going to see Rocky Horror, trips into Philly for all age punk shows, and nights dancing at Revival. Scott is a year older than me and went to a different school, Gia a year younger. It was great to have Gia at school during the day, an ally in otherness.
We had kept in touch over the years, though college and when she came to NYC for grad school we'd hang out.
Like most people these days, we had connected again on Facebook. It was great to be back in touch, see how her family had grown to include her husband Charlie and their twin boys, Charlie and Nate.
She was so excited about being pregnant again and sharing all the changes and how her boys were adjusting to a new one coming along. I was excited for her and looked forward to her updates. She was always supportive of my adventures.
As I was running today, my mantra became "sorrow into strength" but honesly, there was none of that. I haven't slept well the last few nights. My mind is constantly thinking about this huge loss.
I'm sure I could go on and on but I'm not going to, there just aren't the right words for this.
Gia was an amazing person. Smart and beautiful and full of talent. The loss is immense for all those who knew her and most certainly for her family.
If you're the praying type, please keep her husband, her boys, her brother and mom in your prayers. If you're not the praying type, please keep them in your thoughts.
xoxoxo
Sunday, September 18, 2011
The Devil Inside
This week was a very sold training week, I was tired from our trip to AZ, but things went well:
Tues 6.4 miles with 5x1k
Wed: 3.6 easy
Thurs 13.1
Sat 3 easy, 4 mile race
Sun 3.25
I went into the week tired and was pretty much running tired all week, but ran everything as planned.
Last month, my ol' training pal Claudia (we've been running together since the late 90s and have done 2 Ironmans together) told me her and her GF would be in SF for a few days, they planned on doing the Diablo Trail Run. The race has several options: 4 miles, 10 miles, 12 miles, marathon, and 50k. They all have a significant elevation gain. Since I have my sights set on San Jose in a few weeks, I said I'd do the 4. They were doing the 10 and surprisingly, Loren said she'd do the 10 as well. That's a real role reversal, I usually run the longer stuff.
According to the race website:" The 4 mile course is relatively flat and fast within Mitchell Canyon" The key word there is RELATIVELY. The elevation gain for the 4 is 400', the elevation for the 10 is 2420', the half is 3420', and on from there. In other worse, none of it is flat or fast.
Here's the profile for the 4 miler
My plan for this race was run fast. I didn't really know what to expect, this being the 2 year of the event and me having never run on the course. I warmed up for .75 of a mile on the course. Ok, not bad, gradual uphill but I can handle it. Back down I noted where the half mile to go was so I had a good idea of when I should try and kick.
For the start, I wanted to be up front since I knew the 4 mile group wasn't too big (and oddly, mostly women. 44 out of 58 runners) and the folks running longer would not go out fast.
First mile and I felt a little off. It was harder than the warm up! And I noticed I was weezing. Dust. It is a trail after all. There are about 5 guys ahead of me and a few women passed me. I could tell by number who was running what race. I just tried to hold steady. I have done races before that go straight up then straight down. I have to say, they're a little odd.
The 2nd mile, I had gotten into a rhythm though I wasn't flying. Another woman caught me and we together for a bit.
Then I saw the turn around cone and was ready to blow down these 2 miles. This should be fun. From the looks of it, I averaged 8:47 going up. I figured if I ran 7:15s going down, I'd be happy.
As I turned around I looked over my should and there was a woman close behind me and I heard "hey!" Guess who? Flowy shorts! Small world! Ok, now I had to really move, I know Shorts has a kick and I didn't want her catching me.
Ah down hill. I was FLYING. At one point, I looked at my Garmin. It said I was running about 6:30 pace, yet my heart rate was 147, which is low (in fairness, it topped out over 180 for the day). I was running as fast as I could, my legs couldn't go any faster but my heart wasn't working hard at all. Weird!
After the turn around, I saw Loren, she told me I was 4th woman. My theme for the year and really for this race. Then I saw Claudia and Evelyn as well. Claudia is recovering from a broken elbow so she wasn't running hard.
I was coming up on the heels of woman #3. I didn't want to pass her too soon only to have her pass me back, so I let her pace me for a while. Well the point of passing her became moot because she took it into a gear I just didn't have and dropped me.
I got to the half mile to go point, which also had a nice little uphill. My legs were so confused: run hard up hill, run hard down hill, up, now down!
I didn't know where shorts was but I wasn't taking any chances, I pushed. I came in @ 31:30 for 8:05 pace (the official course distance is 3.9)
Wow. That was hard and fun! I then cooled down for 1.5 miles and waited for the girls to finish. Loren came in 2 woman (4th over all) and won her AG in 1:37:41. Today, she's sore. She said it feels like someone turned her upside down and hit the bottom of her feet with a hammer.
my stats:
4th woman out of 44 women , 4th AG (the 40-49s were FAST yesterday!) There's a real 4 theme here. I was 6th over all out of 58.
Mile 1 8:24
Mile 2 9:17
Mile 3 6:37 (!!!)
Mile 4 6:54
Me finishing:
Loren finishing (she says she looks like she doesn't know where her legs are going to land):
This run was put on by Costal Trail Runs. I gotta say, these guys do an awesome job. They have trail races all year and every event has different distance so there really is something for everyone. I'm looking forward to doing more of their events.
Loren and I capped our day with a party at Clif Family Winery and Farm (yup, the Clif Bar people). It was a great event on their farm/vineyard. Lots of food, of which we ate tons. Even though my race was short, it felt like an effort for something along the lines of a 10 miler. A really cool event. They have a garden that grows enough food for a small CSA and are starting to grow olives for oil as well as making wine. Man can not live on clif shot alone!! Ew, that would be gross.
2 weeks left until San Jose, I'm excited and feeling really ready.
Tues 6.4 miles with 5x1k
Wed: 3.6 easy
Thurs 13.1
Sat 3 easy, 4 mile race
Sun 3.25
I went into the week tired and was pretty much running tired all week, but ran everything as planned.
Last month, my ol' training pal Claudia (we've been running together since the late 90s and have done 2 Ironmans together) told me her and her GF would be in SF for a few days, they planned on doing the Diablo Trail Run. The race has several options: 4 miles, 10 miles, 12 miles, marathon, and 50k. They all have a significant elevation gain. Since I have my sights set on San Jose in a few weeks, I said I'd do the 4. They were doing the 10 and surprisingly, Loren said she'd do the 10 as well. That's a real role reversal, I usually run the longer stuff.
According to the race website:" The 4 mile course is relatively flat and fast within Mitchell Canyon" The key word there is RELATIVELY. The elevation gain for the 4 is 400', the elevation for the 10 is 2420', the half is 3420', and on from there. In other worse, none of it is flat or fast.
Here's the profile for the 4 miler
My plan for this race was run fast. I didn't really know what to expect, this being the 2 year of the event and me having never run on the course. I warmed up for .75 of a mile on the course. Ok, not bad, gradual uphill but I can handle it. Back down I noted where the half mile to go was so I had a good idea of when I should try and kick.
For the start, I wanted to be up front since I knew the 4 mile group wasn't too big (and oddly, mostly women. 44 out of 58 runners) and the folks running longer would not go out fast.
First mile and I felt a little off. It was harder than the warm up! And I noticed I was weezing. Dust. It is a trail after all. There are about 5 guys ahead of me and a few women passed me. I could tell by number who was running what race. I just tried to hold steady. I have done races before that go straight up then straight down. I have to say, they're a little odd.
The 2nd mile, I had gotten into a rhythm though I wasn't flying. Another woman caught me and we together for a bit.
Then I saw the turn around cone and was ready to blow down these 2 miles. This should be fun. From the looks of it, I averaged 8:47 going up. I figured if I ran 7:15s going down, I'd be happy.
As I turned around I looked over my should and there was a woman close behind me and I heard "hey!" Guess who? Flowy shorts! Small world! Ok, now I had to really move, I know Shorts has a kick and I didn't want her catching me.
Ah down hill. I was FLYING. At one point, I looked at my Garmin. It said I was running about 6:30 pace, yet my heart rate was 147, which is low (in fairness, it topped out over 180 for the day). I was running as fast as I could, my legs couldn't go any faster but my heart wasn't working hard at all. Weird!
After the turn around, I saw Loren, she told me I was 4th woman. My theme for the year and really for this race. Then I saw Claudia and Evelyn as well. Claudia is recovering from a broken elbow so she wasn't running hard.
I was coming up on the heels of woman #3. I didn't want to pass her too soon only to have her pass me back, so I let her pace me for a while. Well the point of passing her became moot because she took it into a gear I just didn't have and dropped me.
I got to the half mile to go point, which also had a nice little uphill. My legs were so confused: run hard up hill, run hard down hill, up, now down!
I didn't know where shorts was but I wasn't taking any chances, I pushed. I came in @ 31:30 for 8:05 pace (the official course distance is 3.9)
Wow. That was hard and fun! I then cooled down for 1.5 miles and waited for the girls to finish. Loren came in 2 woman (4th over all) and won her AG in 1:37:41. Today, she's sore. She said it feels like someone turned her upside down and hit the bottom of her feet with a hammer.
my stats:
4th woman out of 44 women , 4th AG (the 40-49s were FAST yesterday!) There's a real 4 theme here. I was 6th over all out of 58.
Mile 1 8:24
Mile 2 9:17
Mile 3 6:37 (!!!)
Mile 4 6:54
Me finishing:
Loren finishing (she says she looks like she doesn't know where her legs are going to land):
This run was put on by Costal Trail Runs. I gotta say, these guys do an awesome job. They have trail races all year and every event has different distance so there really is something for everyone. I'm looking forward to doing more of their events.
Loren and I capped our day with a party at Clif Family Winery and Farm (yup, the Clif Bar people). It was a great event on their farm/vineyard. Lots of food, of which we ate tons. Even though my race was short, it felt like an effort for something along the lines of a 10 miler. A really cool event. They have a garden that grows enough food for a small CSA and are starting to grow olives for oil as well as making wine. Man can not live on clif shot alone!! Ew, that would be gross.
2 weeks left until San Jose, I'm excited and feeling really ready.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
In every moment there's a reason to carry on
After last week's less than great tempo run, I was hoping to have a better one. I did. 4 miles at 7:30 pace. Right on the money. I love how a good work out can make up for a bad one. I felt really good.
As I said last time, I knew my training for the week would be thrown off with a high pointing trip. At this point, I'm more willing to scrap long runs than speed sessions, which is more my weak point.
On Friday, Loren and I left for Arizona for what I like to now refer to as my Annual Mid-September Media Blackout™ (how could I possibly ever forget when I am constantly reminded?). We landed in Phoenix in the late morning and headed up to Flagstaff. Right out of Flagstaff, we got hit by a crazy ass storm. Off in the distance, we could see the very dark clouds and amazing bolts of lightning. Within about 15 minutes, it was right over us and raining hard. The big heavy drops quickly turned to quarter-sized hail and pinged and bounced off of everything, causing traffic to come to a literal stop. It was amazing and over within about 8 minutes or so. The emergency broadcast system broke into the radio station AFTER we had driven through the storm.
We made it to Flagstaff and hung out in the cute little town, got some food, checked the weather, and headed towards Arizona Snow Bowl, where Humphrey's Peak, the AZ high point, is located.
There was a chance of rain over night and a chance the next day. Thunderstorms gather very quickly up on this mountain and serious weather, like that hail and even snow, can blow in with little notice. On top of a 12,000' mountain is not where I want to be when there's hail and or lightning. We decided on a sunrise hike.
Can I just say the National Forest service is really cool? On the way up to the mountain there is a dispersed camping area, meaning there are camp site with no services, but nice spots for tents and fire pits and totally free. Awesome. Loren and I found a nice spot, pitched out tent, set an alarm for 5 AM and lights were out by 9.
We had planned to be on the trail by 6AM but due to a road closure for construction, we were slightly delayed. By 6:40, we were on the trail along with 4 other people. We went back and forth with them for most of the hike up. A few miles in, we were passed by a woman just FLYING up the trail. Granted Loren and I weren't going slow, but we're also not acclimated to the altitude (the trail starts at 9500'). While we were taking a water snack break, she passed us again headed back down. I was like like wow, you got up there fast! She said, no, I have limited time today so I set an alarm on my watch to turn around. I'd say she' got within a mile or so of the summit and did so very fast. I was impressed.
Around 9:30, we hit the top. The 4 people we left with got there right before us. We hung out, took some pictures, had a snack, and watched the clouds gather around.
This is #31 for me and #33 for Loren. Here's a lovely piece of trivia: I have worn that hat on most of my high points. It's a 1998 Yankees World Series hat. Loren has also worn her Blue Buffalo hat on most high points. It use to be dark blue and she almost lost it when it blew out the window of the car somewhere in OK last year.
I can't tell you how glad I am that we went up early. It was a parade of people headed up as we headed down. I'd say at least 50 others. This is a popular and accessible trail, I just haven't seen that many people headed to a high point in a while. We were down by about 12:30.
We spent the rest of the day hanging out in Flagstaff, eating. That night we headed toward Sedona where we rented a cute little cabin for 2 nights. While Sedona is beautiful, the landscape and all that, I could really do without the super tourist aspect of things. Luckily, it only takes hiking a mile or so to really get away from it.
The night of our hike, we had dinner at Elote which is a pretty hyped up place but I'd say it lives up to it. The food was really good.
The next day and a half we spent exploring some trails and hikes in Sedona, including a run on Soldier's trail which was pretty awesome. I'm posting this picture of Loren running because I love it.
People look at us like we're nuts when they come across us running on hiking trails. It's a great away to get a run in and see everything. Plus, when we got the trail head, it was closing in an hour so we didn't have a lot of time!
Monday morning we got up early again to get 1 last hike in before catching our flight. We headed to Cathedral Rock. It was nice to be there early before the heat and once again before most people. It's a short steep climb up to a really beautiful view. A great way to end the trip. It also reminded me how far I've come in the last few years in my hiking. Not long ago scurrying up rocks like this would have made me pretty nervous. Not that I'm not careful still, I just don't see it as big of a deal as I use to.
As I said last time, I knew my training for the week would be thrown off with a high pointing trip. At this point, I'm more willing to scrap long runs than speed sessions, which is more my weak point.
On Friday, Loren and I left for Arizona for what I like to now refer to as my Annual Mid-September Media Blackout™ (how could I possibly ever forget when I am constantly reminded?). We landed in Phoenix in the late morning and headed up to Flagstaff. Right out of Flagstaff, we got hit by a crazy ass storm. Off in the distance, we could see the very dark clouds and amazing bolts of lightning. Within about 15 minutes, it was right over us and raining hard. The big heavy drops quickly turned to quarter-sized hail and pinged and bounced off of everything, causing traffic to come to a literal stop. It was amazing and over within about 8 minutes or so. The emergency broadcast system broke into the radio station AFTER we had driven through the storm.
We made it to Flagstaff and hung out in the cute little town, got some food, checked the weather, and headed towards Arizona Snow Bowl, where Humphrey's Peak, the AZ high point, is located.
There was a chance of rain over night and a chance the next day. Thunderstorms gather very quickly up on this mountain and serious weather, like that hail and even snow, can blow in with little notice. On top of a 12,000' mountain is not where I want to be when there's hail and or lightning. We decided on a sunrise hike.
Can I just say the National Forest service is really cool? On the way up to the mountain there is a dispersed camping area, meaning there are camp site with no services, but nice spots for tents and fire pits and totally free. Awesome. Loren and I found a nice spot, pitched out tent, set an alarm for 5 AM and lights were out by 9.
We had planned to be on the trail by 6AM but due to a road closure for construction, we were slightly delayed. By 6:40, we were on the trail along with 4 other people. We went back and forth with them for most of the hike up. A few miles in, we were passed by a woman just FLYING up the trail. Granted Loren and I weren't going slow, but we're also not acclimated to the altitude (the trail starts at 9500'). While we were taking a water snack break, she passed us again headed back down. I was like like wow, you got up there fast! She said, no, I have limited time today so I set an alarm on my watch to turn around. I'd say she' got within a mile or so of the summit and did so very fast. I was impressed.
Around 9:30, we hit the top. The 4 people we left with got there right before us. We hung out, took some pictures, had a snack, and watched the clouds gather around.
This is #31 for me and #33 for Loren. Here's a lovely piece of trivia: I have worn that hat on most of my high points. It's a 1998 Yankees World Series hat. Loren has also worn her Blue Buffalo hat on most high points. It use to be dark blue and she almost lost it when it blew out the window of the car somewhere in OK last year.
I can't tell you how glad I am that we went up early. It was a parade of people headed up as we headed down. I'd say at least 50 others. This is a popular and accessible trail, I just haven't seen that many people headed to a high point in a while. We were down by about 12:30.
We spent the rest of the day hanging out in Flagstaff, eating. That night we headed toward Sedona where we rented a cute little cabin for 2 nights. While Sedona is beautiful, the landscape and all that, I could really do without the super tourist aspect of things. Luckily, it only takes hiking a mile or so to really get away from it.
The night of our hike, we had dinner at Elote which is a pretty hyped up place but I'd say it lives up to it. The food was really good.
The next day and a half we spent exploring some trails and hikes in Sedona, including a run on Soldier's trail which was pretty awesome. I'm posting this picture of Loren running because I love it.
People look at us like we're nuts when they come across us running on hiking trails. It's a great away to get a run in and see everything. Plus, when we got the trail head, it was closing in an hour so we didn't have a lot of time!
Monday morning we got up early again to get 1 last hike in before catching our flight. We headed to Cathedral Rock. It was nice to be there early before the heat and once again before most people. It's a short steep climb up to a really beautiful view. A great way to end the trip. It also reminded me how far I've come in the last few years in my hiking. Not long ago scurrying up rocks like this would have made me pretty nervous. Not that I'm not careful still, I just don't see it as big of a deal as I use to.
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