How to recover after 100 miles

Beach and Feet
Originally uploaded by thr3ee

No race report yet, but, as the photo demonstrates, this is definitely a low-motivation type of environment. OK so I did run 6 miles barefoot on the beach the morning of this picture, but I needed to burn off the margaritas from the night before and prepare for the fully loaded buffet breakfast. You see, it's an active recovery and I am continuing to take in electrolytes and plenty of calories :-).

News Flash

San Francisco Bay Area trail runner, Steve Ansell, was hit by a large truck just outside the small town of Ojai, California shortly after 6pm on Friday, March 21st. He was kept under close supervision for the next 33 1/2 hours as his condition was really touch-and-go. His vitals fluctuated wildly throughout the two day ordeal and he could be heard mumbling strange, nonsensical utterances. One close observer mentioned hearing phrases such as "22 degrees at Rose Vally, 95 at Thacher", "homemade pot stickers, PB&J burrito, giant Easter Bunny" and something about being "passed by an antelope wearing a headlamp whose feet didn't touch the ground." Steve was kept at the Rancho Grande near highway 33 where there was some sort of "endurance run" taking place. Fortunately, for him, the incredible staff of volunteers who were in attendance for this event were not only able to keep Steve out of critical danger, but are really due much credit for his very survival. Some time shortly after 3:30am Sunday morning, Steve spontaneously came to and, still relatively incoherent, began stumbling around "The Ranch" thanking people and shaking hands. After taking in some nutrients and sharing tales of the, obviously fever induced, dreams that he had of the past two nights, he was transported a few hours north where he is currently convalescing at private residence in the city of Arroyo Grande. He is expected to make a full recovery and has plans to publish the memoirs of his recollections once he is able to "sort out the scrambled eggs that used to be my brains" (his words).

Most of a Marathon

After Saturday's successful (though frustrating) jaunt up Mission Peak, I was ready for some big hills on Sunday. My mother called on Saturday to remind me that I don't come visit enough so the simple answer was Mt. Diablo. I would head over there and get in a good 20+miler and then hit the parents up for dinner. Big hills and big food. Perfect.

I didn't really want to do multiple trips up the main road or anything and I didn't have much time to plan a particularly creative route. That's OK, my good friends Sarah and Wendell over at PCTR had already done most of the work for me. I took a look at the map for the Diablo Marathon (I'm running the 50 miler later this year) and decided that I would do a modified version of the course. Instead of going up to the peak twice I would make only one trip by heading down to Rock City after Juniper and then taking the Peak Trail all the way to the top. It would cover most of the trails, but cut out about 3-4 miles and over 1000ft of climbing allowing me a chance to finish the run in less than 6 hours.

I printed out a trail map and the course directions from the web site then packed my gear and headed out leaving the map and directions sitting in my bedroom. I didn't realize this until I was at Mitchell Canyon trailhead. Ah well, I would have to run by memory. While I grew up on Mt. Diablo, we lived on the "back side" and most of my youthful wanderings were over unnamed trails on private land. I am not actually that familiar with the trails in the park itself though I knew a few of the people (or their descendants) for whom some of the trails are named. It's hard to get too lost on Diablo since everything goes up and the views are so good. I had a pretty good idea of the route.

The first part was to go up and over Eagle Peak. I'd heard of this peak and knew it by profile, but had never been up. It's a grind, but a really nice one that offers rewarding views in a very short time. I think I mostly covered the correct route here heading up the switchbacks to Mitchell Rock then on to Twin Peaks and over to Eagle Peak at just over 2350ft. Covering this in less than 3 miles was a bit like the run up Mission Peak. The trail then headed on a short, but fun single-track downhill before going back up over Bald Ridge and then down to meet the Meridian Road firetrail. This shortly intersected with the Deer Flat firetrail with which I am very familiar. I followed this up to Juniper Camp where I refilled my water bottles. It was actually getting to be quite warm and with my lack of acclimatization, it was going to be a bit like a summer run.

From Juniper I headed off on the Peak Trail, but then turned right and headed down towards Rock City. I wasn't too sure about the trail here, but just tried to stay on the main trail. When I reached a sign pointing towards Curry Canyon I knew I'd gone a bit far and made a turn right towards Rock City (as a side note, Curry Canyon goes all the way down near where I grew up). I arrived at Rock City and mostly just wandered around. It was crowded with picnickers, day hikers and people just driving through. I hadn't been here since a field trip in grade school. I stayed on the "Trail Through Time" until it came to the Devil's Slide trail. I followed this for an out-and-back not knowing if it was part of the marathon course. It's a beautiful trail and it was fun passing through the climbing area. I turned around just passed the bridge.

Now it was time for the long grind up to the peak. Its a haul, but there are a few portions of shade that make it not so bad. I made had another missed turn as some hikers were standing and sitting in front of the trail sign around Pioneer Camp. I realized this quickly and headed back up. I'm quite familiar with the last steep gravel section up to the South Peak. However, at this point I started to feel some intestinal problems. I was hoping it was just some gas, but knew the top (and restrooms) were near. It was great conditions at the peak even with the crowds. I chatted with a couple of bikers as I filled my bottles and then went to hit the restrooms before my trip down. I was deterred by the long line and decided to risk that maybe my stomach wouldn't be an issue as it felt OK at this point.

Heading down was nice especially since I knew there was only one more big climb to North Peak before the final downhill. However, the jarring of the winding downhill let me know that my body definitely needed attention. I passed a couple of hikers going down and urgency started to turn into emergency. With steep hill on either side of the trail there was no way to venture off in search of a useful bush or tree. Finally I made it to Prospector's Gap and shot off into the trees. Taking care of business was a huge relief. I felt better as I started on the trail up to the other peak. As I moved along I realized that I just wasn't feeling well overall. I started to worry a bit, but then a look at my watch told me that I was a little over 4 hours into my run. Ah...our 4...always a transition point. I sucked down my last gel, drank some water and headed up the firetrail determined to push through, but also take it at a nice slow pace.

I hadn't been up the North Peak since my mountain biking days and even then I recall pushing my bike quite a bit and eventually dishing it for the final climb. I soon realized why. The trail is steep and loose most of the way up, but the final few hundred feet are just ridiculous. It is pretty much a scramble to the peak and I was moving all of 1 mile per hour. I didn't recall if the race went all the way up here, but if it did this would be hell at mile 43 of a 50 miler! I wandered around up there and took in the views before the even more precarious downhill. One near slip was all I needed to remind me that this was no place to take a fall. Slow and easy were the word. From the North Peak the route headed over to Mount Olympia. I had never been over there an was looking forward to it. It was also some more downhill trail, but not necessarily the most runnable sort.

Arriving at Mt Opympia was amazing. It just a little peak hanging out off the ridge from the north peak, but it was so quiet and peaceful out there. The views were a little different and I decided that I would just take a little break and enjoy it for a few minutes. I sat down looking out over the delta to the east and then I noticed the Sierras poking through the clouds far in the distance. A wonderful way to spend mile 19 especially knowing that I had about 4 miles and 2300ft of downhill ahead of me. I eventually headed out and was looking forward to no more climbing. There was some real runnable downhill here though without knowing the trails I couldn't go all out. I remembered a bit of this section Zippe Trail, Olympia Road, Olympia Trail, a few others and eventually hitting the Donner Road firetrail. I knew that I was somehow supposed to get onto Back Creek Trail, but I wasn't sure how far along the fireroad that was so when it started heading down I just continued. I was also out of water at this point and had used up all my fuel as well so I wasn't really interested in anything that didn't head downward.

When I started seeing signs giving mileage to Regency Gate, I knew I was on the wrong trail. However, I was hoping that there might be water at that entrance so I just kept on going. Regency Gate is a no facilities entrance. Bummer. It did have a trail map kiosk so I could see that there was a pretty direct route over to Mitchell Canyon. The only question was how far. I headed out in that direction shuffling up the first hill. A family of hikers came down towards me and I stopped to ask them how far to Mitchell Canyon. The response was "about a mile and a quarter". I could make that even dry as I was. Then I was offered a water bottle and I felt like someone had thrown me a life line. I thanked the guy profusely and picked up my pace knowing that a I could do a mile and a bit with ease now that I had hydration. It turned out to be even shorter than expected and the parking lot came into view and I was happy. So happy that I even managed to miss the final downhill to the lot and started going up again! Oops.

As I made the final jog to my car my Garmin told me that I had covered just about 25 miles for the day. A little more than I had planned, but I actually felt pretty good. This put me over 32 miles for the weekend with a total ascent of just about 9000ft. Why, that's almost 1/3 of the mileage and climbing I will be doing in a couple of weeks. Completing this with a 50 miler the previous weekend gives me pretty good confidence that I am as well trained as I can be (given the circumstances) for the 100 miles. Now it's taper time!

To Kill a Hiking Nerd

Saturday was mostly about running errands and catching up on some long overdue chores at home. However, the perfect weather conditions pretty much made it impossible to stay indoors. By mid-afternoon I could no longer resist and had to head to the trail. I would do something longer on Sunday, but I wanted one last weekend of hills before tapering for C2M so I would head to Mission Peak and do one nice loop to the top.

Before I even arrived at the parking area it was clear that the arrival of Springtime weather beckoned many others to the trail as well. The street was lined with cars and people walking to and from the trailhead. I decided that I would do my 8 mile figure-8 route heading up the Peak Meadow trail rather than contend with all the hikers on the main fireroad. I love seeing so many people getting out and enjoying the trails, but sometimes they can be a bit of a chore to deal with especially on the lower part of the trail. There is always a certain percentage of people who seem to be oblivious to the existence of others on the trail, walking 4-across, kids wandering on-and-off the trail, people with headphones on who don't hear you coming. By the time the Peak Meadow meets the Valley View trail things have thinned out a little bit.

For the first two miles up the trail I encountered all of two people on the trail and managed to see one coyote wandering about near Horse Heaven Trail. With the two last weekend and the one I would see on Sunday that makes 4 coyotes in 3 runs, I consider that good juju for the upcoming race with the word "Coyote" in its name! Alas, my path would eventually take me back into relatively busy hiker territory and it turned out not to be a happy place for me. Immediately upon intersecting with the main fireroad I see one hiker just about to head onto a shortcut with a clearly posted sign saying the trail is closed. I let him know that he its closed and that he should stay on the main trail. He looks surprised, but does the right thing. Not long after that I pass another of the many cutoff trails and notice three water bottles sitting at the top of it. One is about half full so I am hoping that someone (some lazy idiot) left it to pick up later. I vow that if they are still there I will grab them on the way down. I think about how ridiculous it is as the Mission Peak rangers have gone to such trouble to place trash bins along the trail in at least 3-4 different locations. How hard is it to carry a little empty plastic bottle with you especially when you don't even need to tote it the whole way down? I would soon learn...

I always like when I get up over the saddle and onto the Eagle Loop Trail as it is, once again, a place of solitude. It's also an opportunity to stretch the legs out before the final trip to the peak. I'm enjoying the hills and the legs feel good. Taking some extra days off after last weekend's 49-miler has payed off. As I come back around to the ridge the views are beautiful, sunny and clear. I reach the peak and touch the view pole. There are a few parties mulling about as expected. And then I notice it. More empty water bottles. Just left there sitting between the rocks. I ask a couple near me if any of them are theirs. The answer in the negative. I look around and then start picking them up. Five in all. I ask loudly, "What the fuck is wrong with people!" and then head down the trail with the bottles in had (as well as my own handheld). People give me strange looks as I pass them going down. Hopefully the image of someone moving fast downhill, leaping over rocks with hands filled with empty water bottles makes them think. The most absurd thing is that the trash cans at the top are like only a couple hundred feet from the peak. I push them in with emphasis and then head down the trail filled with ire.

As I head down the main trail, my frustration with peoples inanity fuels my downhill pace. Who goes to all the trouble to hike to the top of a peak covering 2200 ft in under 3 miles and is too lazy to carry their garbage a couple hundred feet down to a trash can?!? I'm running a sub-7 minute pace down the hill. Coasting by hikers on their way up I'm not nearly as friendly as usual. As I come around a curve I see some guy that I just passed cut right across open land. I yell at him to "STAY ON THE TRAIL!!" My pace drops down to 6:30 and then below. Luckily, someone has picked up the water bottles I passed on the way up since I am in no mood to slow down. Oh, I still would have picked them up, but any kids near by probably would have been subjected to a string of expletives as I did so. The missing water bottles alleviates a little of my angst and I'm able to clear my head of the images that were filling it; dead hikers laying by the side of the trail, empty water bottles shoved in every orifice.

As I reached the bottom of the trail where it levels out, I eased up and caught my breath realizing that I'd covered the last two miles in about 13:30. I planned to do at least 20 miles of trail on Sunday and I had probably put a little beating on my feet since the trail has already turned to hard-pack after only two weeks without rain. I reminded myself of the beauty of the trail, the incredible views and amazing weather that I was lucky to be able to experience. I empty the few other bits of trash I had picked up on the trail from my handheld's zip pocket and jogged back down to my car to make for a total of 8.5 miles on the day. I tried to wipe all the bad vibes from my mind and focus on that wonderful post-run glow that inevitably follows a solid effort.

Then all thoughts turned to food as I checked my messages and received a voicemail from my wife saying to meet her and the boys at Red Robin at 6:30. An hour and a half, 8.5 miles, +/-2300ft, how many "bottomless" baskets of fries is that worth?

Bad Idea Gone Good

Pre-race Plans
Well, having managed through (a modified) version of the hill work I needed the previous weekend there was one more important test that I had assigned myself in order to determine if I should stick with the C2M plan or not. I knew that none of this was really a good idea and that my overall fitness was nowhere near where I had wanted it by this point. However, I also had convinced myself that if I could just finish a reasonably tough 50-miler three weeks before the 100 that I could stick it out for the full distance come race day.

My plan was to run the PCTR Skyline Ridge 50K. However, I would turn it into something closer to 50 miles by starting early in the morning and parking my car about 9 miles away at the Saratoga Gap parking area at the intersection of Hwy 35 and 9. I would start by running about 2 miles on the Saratoga Gap Trail to the road crossing at the start of the Hickory Oaks Trail. This was the location of the turnaround for the 23K loop of the 50K so it would be marked from this point all the way to the Start/Finish location at Skyline Ridge.

OUT..
I arrived at the parking area around 6:15am and quickly gathered my stuff together to head out. The race started at 8:30am and I didn't want to push too hard or have too much time to stand around cooling off. It was a beautiful morning and looking like perfect running weather with a nice cloud layer overhead promising mild temperatures. I hadn't been on these trails since my mountain biking days and I'd forgotten how great they are. In fact, they were almost too runnable and I had to force myself to slow down and walk some hills when my body wanted to keep going, reminding myself that I had plenty of miles to go and needed to maintain an "all day" pace. Mostly I just tried to focus on enjoying the morning and the trail alone. I did make one wrong turn along the way since the markers were set assuming that you would come in the opposite direction first, there was one location where an arrow made of sticks sent me heading back in the wrong direction and added a nice little loop for some extra miles. After this I pushed it a little bit, but then realized I had plenty of time (and an extra 1/2 mile was not a bad thing). I saw a family of deer along the way which once again reminded me that I really need to start packing a camera on these runs. Beyond this the 9.5 miles was fairly uneventful.

I was carrying two handhelds and testing out my rig of mounting my GPS watch on one of them so that I could later recharge it during the run. It seemed to be working out fine, but the one downside I discovered about 2/3 of the way into the run was that the slight added weight of the watch and charger made me think I had more fluid in my bottle than I actually did. I kept trying to find that last little bit at the bottom and, perhaps, it was due to this that a tear developed in the nipple of my UD Fastdraw Plus. It was a pain, but I was still able to drink from it by placing my lip over the hole when I drank. I also had on my waste pack to carry some food and gel for this trip out as well as the return after the race. I didn't plan to use it during the 50K figuring the handhelds and aid stations would be fine. I also had a light shell stuffed into the horizontal bottle holder. At any rate, I made it to the start area with plenty of time, maybe even a little too much as it was much windier and colder there than in the woods.

...And...


I arrived at the check-in area certainly more warmed up than I normally would be. Miki was doing the race bibs so I chatted for a bit and then looked around for others that I knew. There were a number of people I knew doing this race including Craig Slagel, Jenny Ray, Leslie Antonis and Harry Walther among others. Harry was going to run some with me at the end perhaps doing the 23K loop an extra time. However, he also wanted to put in a hard race. I however, wanted nothing of the sort and was worried about not taking it easy enough during this middle section of my run. Luckily, I also met Steve Holman who I knew was usually slower than me. I decided to take it out with him. I stuck back there as long as I could and enjoyed just chatting and taking it easy. Then, one of the steeper downhills came and there was simply no way for me to maintain that pace. Steve hollered something about needing to learn a thing or two about being a back-of-the-pack runner. I still focused on ting it easy on this loop and enjoyed the now familiar route back to the aid station. I refilled my bottles, grabbed some goodies, said hi to everyone and headed on out. About half way along the return trip, I could feel my pace and my energy level slowly degrading. Each of the legs was a little over 7 miles which would not be a big deal in terms of hydration and fueling. However, I was now around mile 20 (not 12) of my run which is generally where my needs tend to accelerate. I was regretting having left my waste pack at the start.

I finished the loop and decided to just spend a little extra time at the aid station. I ate some extra goodies including cantaloupe dipped in salt. The next part of the race consisted of two loops of about 8 1/2 miles each. However, there would be an aid station half way out so it wouldn't be an issue now. There was some decent climbing here and I was definitely feeling the hill work that I had done the previous weekend. My calves were tight and I actually felt my quads on the downhill which is abnormal for me. I was mostly worried about any ITB issues that might arise so I again focused on taking it as easy as I could. The difficult part of this loop was that the front runners in the 50K were now starting to lap me as they finished their final loop. This was a little demoralizing as (from my estimates) I would normally be working to hold off the front runners before heading out for my final lap. However, I kept reminding myself that I had extra miles on my legs and more of them waiting for me after I finished. I passed through my own 50K mark before the end of this lap in a time of around 6:15. Definitely a fair bit slower than I think I could manage on the course, but not nearly as slow as my actual finish time would be in the race results as I knew my pace would further degrade.



I met Scott Dunlap as he lapped me a little before finishing my first lap. I am always impressed by the speed he can maintain while taking so many photos along the trail. He snapped this one up on a particularly windy section. This loop alternated between windy/cool sections and still/warm ones. I decided to stick with my warmer clothing since my pace was so slow. I finished this lap at a bit over 32 miles which meant that I would have a total of close to 40 when I hit the finish. The struggle on the last lap as my average paced continued its trend from 13 to 14 minutes per mile was whether I should just do the smart thing, call it done at 40 and find someone to drive me to my car. The temptation was strong especially as I was cresting the final hill of the last loop. Then, coming towards me, HARRY! He'd finished the 50K in a blazing sub-5 hour pace just missing a top 10 placing (man there were some fast folks in this one). I joked, telling him he should have done the whole loop and caught me from behind, but really I was just happy to have him join me. He said he would continue with me on the final journey to my car if I could drive him back to the start. No problem. Now I was now committed. I finished the "race" in a little under 6:44. I'm pretty sure that this is about an hour slower than I could do on this course under very different conditions.

I was glad to be done and the soup at the finish line was very welcome. However, was also getting pretty stiff in the legs and Leslie was tempting me with a ride back to my car. I refused, but certainly thought about it. Before Harry was ready to head out I found my waste pack and put my shell on. I needed to keep warm if I didn't want to totally freeze up before these final 9 miles.

...BACK
Harry and I headed out slow. Very slow. I was stiff and could definitely feel my ITBs. To further frustrate me, my other water bottle had also developed a hole in the nipple. I wander if Ultimate Direction really tested these things over the long haul. With his hard race on his legs, Harry was happy to take it easy as well, but I still had trouble keeping with him on the uphills. I was estimating about a 2 hour trip back to my car. This would put us there right around 5:30pm. About a mile into our run, Harry realized that he didn't know what time the lot at Skyline Ridge closed. His car was parked inside the gate and the last thing he wanted was to have it stranded up there. He tried to find cell reception at various locations and I suggested that he could head back. Heck, I would go with him if he would drive me to my car. Dauntless, we pushed on. He finally found a connection and left a message for Sarah about his car. At this point we were pretty close to the 3 mile point and turning back wouldn't be that much better than continuing on anyway.

We also decided that once we reached the 7 mile mark at the intersection with Skyline Blvd that we would just take the road back to my car. We were thinking it would cut about a mile off the trip. I certainly didn't have any burning need to hit exactly 50 miles. The trip was already going to total well over 10 hours for me and that was more than enough to convince me that my endurance was not totally lost. In fact, somewhere in there I actually ran a bit of the uphills. Running being more of a shuffle at this point, but still it was encouraging. Somewhere around mile 5.5 of this leg we saw a sign pointing towards the road. We decided to cut off the trail a little early thinking it would be quicker on the road. Well, I'm not sure what the distance was that the sign indicated, but it wasn't exactly a direct route to the road. Somehow we ended up on this private dirt road running through some dilapidated old houses culminating in a nasty climb up to the Hwy. At a little over 47 miles we were on asphalt moving along the shoulder where we could. Not only had we hit the road about 1/2 mile earlier than expected, but it wasn't the "mostly downhill to the parking lot" that Harry had promised me. Furthermore, I was out of water and trudging along the road with cars whizzing by was just annoying. I was wishing that we had stuck to the trail where we could at least have been distracted by some nice scenery. I didn't mention it too much as I could tell Harry was worried about his car.

Eventually we crested the hill and then a little longer before coming to the final curve into the intersection. We were both happy to see the parking lot and Harry ran on ahead of me. I did a little lap around the lot to assure that my GPS watch hit the 49 mile mark (my software later measured it as a little bit longer). It was now just after 5:30 and my total running time came to just under 10:34. Not a bad days work. We made it back to Skyline Ridge just in time to see Sarah and Wendell about to leave. We chatted for a bit, got a few extra snacks and drinks from their van and said our goodbyes. I was definitely feeling satisfied with my effort and was now, more than ever, determined to get on with the Coyote Two Moons 100.

My stats looks something like this.

Total Distance: 49.16mi
Elevation Change: +/-7800ft
Total Time: 10:33:53
Average Pace: 12:54 mpm

I certainly didn't run negative splits as my average pace on the various sections tells quite the tale.




Post-race Whine and Cheez
I was sticking with Coyote Two Moons. However, I had definitely decided that I wanted to be in an earlier start group. Harry had done 45 miles for the day and was clearly way, way beyond my fitness level. Even if he was at the front of our start group, I would be chasing the cutoffs at the back. I didn't need that added stress so I was going to have to beg the race director to let me start in the second to last, rather than the middle start group. I had friends in this group as well since it included Craig, Leslie and Chris Marloff.

I sent off a message to the RD, crafting it to convey just the right amount of temerity and levity to convince him of my earnestness. He accepted my humble request.

I spake thusly,

Chris,

I know you mentioned "final whining and winnowing" in your
message, but please believe me when I say that I really
intended on sending out the following bit of whining,
begging, pleading, etc. yesterday, but was delayed due to
that nasty work stuff that often gets in the way of
running.

Well, speaking of things getting in the way of running, I
have basically spent about half of the first two months of
this year with one variant or the other of the cold or
flu, culminating in a final blow to the lungs that was
taken care of with the help of Strong Medicine(tm).
Basically, my training has been far less consistent than
the color of the junk coming from my lungs and nasal
passages. Better judgment would have me dropping from the
race all together, but I am not in possession of a
particularly large amount of judgment in the first place
and even less of the better sort. Furthermore, being sick
so much I haven't been able to beg, borrow, bribe or steal
any decent judgment from to make up for my own lack
thereof. Long story short, I was finally able to start
training again a couple of weeks ago and I convinced
myself (not a difficult task) that if I could complete
a training run of near 50 miles last weekend, I would
stick to my guns and show up at C2M ready to roll.
Unfortunately, I accomplished that task and so I am
committed to finish this bit of insanity ... I mean
extreme fun ... you have put together.

OK, so the punch line is that I would like to request to
move to the A2(6pm) start group. Believe me that it is
definitely not out of a desire to finish in the front
rather than the back of a group that I make this request.
Consider it an effort on my part to simply maximize the
number of hours of fun I have out on the trails during
your event. Clearly, the way this year has started, I am
critically below my quota of "fun on the trail" hours.

My promise, if in your eternal wisdom (or idiocy), you
grant this request, I swear under threat of being beaten
about the head and body with a rubber chicken that I will
not cross the finish line before 4am on Sunday morning.

-Steve Ansell

Post-post
The best news is that, while I was pretty sore and very tired after driving home Saturday night, I awoke to much less stiffness than expected come Sunday morning. I had no mobility issues and made sure I walked around as much as possible including taking a nice neighborhood stroll with my wife before bed. Monday brought on the expected DOMS, but nothing very severe. Lots of stretching, self massage and the use of various rolling tools allowed for a nice, short and easy recovery run of 4 miles on Tuesday. Yesterday and today I am back at my normal weekday runs with a little extra tiredness in the legs, but nothing to cause undo caution. In other words, things are looking good. I'll try to hit some hills this weekend and then try to take it fairly easy the next two weeks. However, I will be adding more hill (or treadmill incline) walking as that is what I expect to be doing a lot of in a race with over 28,000ft of climbing.

Hill Repeats

Well, I think my strategy of simply resting the body most of the week and focusing on the weekend actually worked. I managed to rid myself of the bug and got in as much running as I could fit in the last 3 days.

Thursday I tested the health with 3 miles on the treadmill walking at 12% incline just under a 4mph pace. I followed that with an hour of yoga. My original plan for this weekend was to attempt four repeats of Mission Peak. However, between weather and time constraints, I knew that I was not going to be able to fit in a single long run. I didn't want to try to run through the heart of the big storm that was coming and my son had a basketball game and his 16th birthday this weekend. I decided I would simply head out to Mission Peak whenever the schedule and mother nature allowed and do as hit the peak as many times as I could.

By the numbers, I ended up touching the top 5 times over the course of 3 days, making 4.5 repeats of the full climb which added up to a grand total of 32 miles and over 9500ft of each climbing and descent between Friday afternoon and Sunday evening. The best part is that I felt good the whole time and could have done more had time and conditions allowed. Here's the details.

Friday 3:30pm, 2X MP - 14mi, +/-4300ft
My original plan was to do repeats of my 8 mile, figure 8 Loop, but given the recent rains, I knew that the Peak Meadow Trail would be very muddy and slippery. The last time I ran that route after a rain my ITB was sore from sliding around on the uphill. I also knew that the final bit of the Eagle Loop would be a total mess as the trail gets little use and would likely be ankle deep mud. I decided that I would stick to the main Hidden Valley Trail that has enough gravel to not get too muddy. I would include the Eagle Trail around the back of the peak to make 7 mile "Lollipop Loop" repeats. The overall mileage would, of course, be less, but the elevation gain for the distance would be higher overall with each loop being over 2100 ft of climbing and descent.

My first loop went well and I kept a pretty strong pace; much stronger than I would have had I been planning more than 2 loops. I hit the peak in 58 minutes and completed the whole loop in about 1:25. Not exactly a sustainable pace, but since my run would be spread out over the weekend some increased intensity would help fill the gap. I definitely slowed it down on the second loop, reaching the peak in 1:02 and finishing the last stretch in the dark which really slowed my downhill for a loop total of 1:35 and right around 3 hours for the full trip. I wore my heartrate monitor and was able to confirm something that I have always suspected.

On my second trip up I was heading up one of the steeper hills doing my normal shuffle/jog at about 18min/mi. My HR was staying around 152. I decided to drop it to a power-hike and my pace dropped to 20min/mi, but my HR went up to 154 and stayed there. Just to be sure, I returned to my shuffle and just as my pace dropped, my HR did too. Not sure what to say about this other than that I am simply more efficient at that slow shuffle jog (aka "the shlog") than I am at powerhiking the hills. I have been working on my walking pace and it is possibly that some of this is due to transition and getting the breathing pattern right once I am at the new pace. However, I also actually feel like I am working less when I'm shuffling. I would simply give up on walking and decide to shuffle all the time, but I think my calves would probably explode over the course of a 100-miler.

It was dark on the way down the second time so my pace was much slower. While normally a slower pace would translate to an easier run, on the downhill here it actually meant more impact and a harder run to me. Being a natural downhiller, I usually let the pitch of the trail set my pace. However, when I can't see, I obviously need to be more cautious which mean more breaking on the legs. Also, I have found that it also means that I get much more of a core workout as my stomach muscles are always engaged with those careful foot placements. Just before the bottom I saw what I thought was a hiker coming down a side trail with a flashlight. Then, suddenly the light was next to me. I have occasionally seen hikers who see a runner and decide to try running downhill. However, even at my slower pace here, they don't normally catch me. It turned out to be another runner. It was a guy named Radu whom I have met out on Mission Peak a few times before. He is a wicked fast runner who generally does runs out to Rose Peak and back. He would likely be one of the top ultra runners in the area, but he chooses not to race as he says he doesn't like the injuries that come with pushing himself too hard. We chatted a bit at the parking lot, before heading out.

Saturday 9:00am, 1X MP - 7mi, +-2140ft
The sky was clear Saturday morning even though the brunt of the storm was scheduled to come in later that day. I hit the trail again getting up as early as I could without sacrificing too much of the rest that I knew would be important to keep my body healthy. I was happy to find that I wasn't too sore at all and things loosened up after the first mile or so. I will say that heading up that first mile was tough as I was trying to focus on finding the easy maintainable pace trying to trick my mind into thinking it was in the middle of a long race. Also, the wind was picking up as the there was a pretty serious storm headed our way for the afternoon. I felt good though and kept a reasonable pace hitting the peak in just over an hour (1:01). I am generally lazy on weekends so don't much get up the peak in the morning. There were a lot more runners out there at this time of day than in the afternoon (meaning more than one). I saw a few coming down as I headed up and others heading up as I was coming down. Near the bottom I saw local Will Gotthardt just starting up the hill with young speedster and ultra newbie Ryan Commons. This 26 year old has been tearing it up lately at the PCTR 50K races. I said hi to Will and wished them luck with the weather.

I finished my loop in about 1:28 and managed to beat the rain as well. I didn't have time for any more as Freddy had a basketball game and so I needed to head home. As I was coming into the parking lot, though, I noticed a woman walking down the trail caring a microphone on a big boom. It seemed an odd thing to be taking on a hike so I asked her what she was recording, figuring it was some sort of scientific thing or something. It turned out she was interviewing Ryan as she is doing a paper on "hitting the wall" or some such. Interesting. The rest of the day was spent watching basketball and watching the storm come in. I felt good still, but was determined not to risk anything by running in the rain. In fact, even on the runs I had done, I was bundled up a lot more than I usually would be for the weather. Two layers with my REI Taku jacket on top. While it meant I sweated a bit more, I chose to remain warm and then change into dry clothes immediately after completing the runs.

Sunday 4:15pm, 1.5X MP - 11mi, +/-3220ft
Sunday we spent shopping at the Valley Fair Mall with Freddy and his friend. Afterwards we went for an early dinner/late lunch at an Italian restaurant on Santana Row. It was pretty good food, but Chicken Cacciatore and a glass of red wine aren't exactly the best pre-run fueling options. Ah well. After dropping Freddy off at his girlfriend's I headed back to Mission Peak once more. I knew I didn't have time for 2 full loops so I planned to do one and then add some miles. Heading up, I again felt good and was keeping a better pace than I expected especially since the trails were much muddier after the rains on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. I hit the top right around an hour. It was quite misty up at the peak, but overall the weather was warmer than I expected.

With plenty of time, I decided I would add some more hills heading down the backside of the Peak Trail fireroad to the intersection with Mill Creek Road. It is about a mile, but is almost as steep as the front side so it would be a good workout. Unfortunately, my dinner caught up with me about 1/2 way down the hill (and about 1/2 mile after passing the outhouse). I had to make an emergency pit-stop before heading back up. Note to self, rich food and hard running, not good. As I reached the intersection again at the saddle I checked the watch and saw that it was not quite 6pm yet so I decided I would make one more loop to the peak. However, as I headed around back, the weather started picking up. The rain picked up from a drizzle, and the mist became denser and denser as I approached the peak. I tried to keep my legs moving as it was also becoming quite cold. By the time I started to head back down the visibility was near zero. It was going to be one slow trip to the bottom. I could definitely feel my quads getting there work in as I gingerly negotiated the steep downhills.

Between the mist, the rain and the growing darkness, it was like running blind. It was kind of a spooky environment, but it was also very enjoyable. I took my time getting down enjoying the final run of the weekend and the feeling of fitness that had returned. About half way down the hill I could see the lights of the valley starting to appear. Below the mist the rain let up and the temps were not nearly as cold either. The final mile or so was very enjoyable and reaching the final bottom exactly the type of the sense of accomplishment that I have been missing.

Review
Even without a single long run, I feel like I am pretty close to being back on track. Running multiple trips was certainly not the arduous run that a full 4X MP run would have been. However, it had its own unique challenges. Starting the second and third trips was definitely good training to get pacing and effort levels set when already a little tired or sore. Also, I my overall average pace was higher than it would have been had I done all the trips in one go. This was a trade of higher intensity over extended effort. I can image that a forth trip in a single day might take as long as 1:45-2:00 for the trip with a lot more walking on the way up. While I still need to test my overall endurance level, I definitely think I got in some needed hill work. I will be doing close to 50 miles next weekend at the Skyline Ridge 50K doing extra miles before and after the official race. Based on how I feel after that, I will make a decision on whether or not I want to request an earlier start time at C2M. Right now I am feeling like sticking where I am and simply challenging myself however that could just be the afterglow of being excited to be back to doing some "real" running.

Looking for inspiration

Well, just as the stuff in my chest cleared up and I had, once again, re-imagined my stalled training plan, some new bug decided to attack. This one apparently preferred my head and sinuses to my chest or throat allowing me to believe, for a brief period, that I could just "run through it." Thursday I succeeded; Friday I finished feeling weak and shaky. I knew any plans for a weekend long run were off the table. So instead of running the bulk of the long weekend was spent down at our place on the central coast doing pretty much nothing, but resting which is a lot like just vegging out while pretending it had a purpose. OK, I did run Sunday night, but only a bit over 6 miles and I'm resting again today.

So, with no long run and a weekly total of just over 30 miles, I am just over a month out from the toughest race I have ever planned to undertake and looking for inspiration.

---

There are few more inspirational athletes, or people for that matter, than 70's tennis star Arthur Ashe. So, with a few key quotes from this great American, I will examine my current situation.


"One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation."

As far as the preparation I had originally laid out for the Coyote Two Moons 100-miler, I am pretty far off. I did manage to complete one 50K race last month so there is still some base fitness there. However, my plans for consistent 60-70 mile weeks and long runs integrating serious hill training have not exactly taken flight. In fact, it has been three full weeks since I completed my last real long run. In light of this, what is the best course of action? Do I simply accept that I am not prepared and unlikely to be anywhere nearly as prepared as I had planned to be come race day? Should I consider dropping the race altogether? Moving to a slower start group? Simply embrace the very real possibility of heading into my first DNF? Can I somehow acquire the necessary self-confidence in absence of proper preparation? Or, is there maybe some other type of preparation that might be even more crucial than simply logging the miles before the race?

As ultrarunners we often hear (and even more often repeat) the mantra that finishing these long races is mostly mental. Preparing oneself psychologically is at least as important, if not more important, than the requisite physical training. So, we say. Is this saying more than mere platitude? Certainly it doesn't mean that one should enter a 100-mile event pigheadedly with no endurance training. In fact, what would it even mean to claim one's mind is strong enough for the task if it has not yet been tested in pushing one's body through a series of tough events. On the other hand, I've often remarked about at how quickly endurance fitness can be regained after time off. Both last year and this I was able to do the Fremont Fatass 50K on very little training. Furthermore, I am convinced that when training for long events there are a few key runs that really matter and the rest is mostly filler. Mind you, if one is aiming for specific performance measures then other types of training may be critical, but in terms of just doing the distance what matters above all else is getting in those few runs where the mind and body work together to convince you that, "yes" you can accomplish your goal.


"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."

In a sense, my 50K earlier this year may be the only real training I've done so far for the upcoming 100. However, I might also include the barefoot hike/run in Purisima as it really solidified my ability to maintain a consistent pace that was not a run. Finally, I still have a few more weekends to get those other key runs in. I have decided that feeling 100% is more important than all of my mid-week running and so I am aiming this week at only getting well enough to hit some major hills this weekend. I may be out of shape, I will be slow, but I am going to attempt to close in on 30 miles of steep hills. My focus will be quite simply to do what ever I can to complete the distance. I will focus on the mental aspect. Early on I will imagine that I am at the beginning of my race and going very easy to conserve for an all day (and night) effort. If things get tough late in the run then I will imagine that I am finishing the final 30 miles and .

If I can finish that then all my focus will turn to the following week. I'll plan some recovery runs during the week and then attempt something close to 50 miles at Skyline Ridge the following weekend. I will be running a bit over 9 miles to the start of the 50K race. I will then by taking it VERY easy in the race itself before heading back a final 9 miles to my car. My goal is to do the distance feeling good and finish with plenty of fuel left in the tank. I believe that a 50 miler 3 weeks out from a 100 is a good last long run and I am also convinced that if I can finish it feeling good that I will be prepared for the longer distance. These two runs will serve as the check of "where I am" in terms of preparedness for the race. I will wait until then to make any sort of final assessment or decisions. Just like during the race, my mental attitude is one of, "just keep going a little further and see where things are."


"You've got to get to the stage in life where going for it is more important than winning or losing."

One of my favorite parts of the longest and toughest ultras I have done is when I reach the stage where I let go of all my race goals. There comes a point in every event where finish times or place or even the internal measure of how I ran the race no longer matters. Simply moving forward and continuing onward become the only goals. Certainly all the mental games and tricks come into play at this stage, but also there is something deeply liberating about dispensing with one's self expectations. So what if I have to walk the rest of the race, can I finish? Someone else passing me? Good, I will no longer feel that pressure from behind. It is at these times when I am truly running my own race. I'm out there and I'm "going for it" on my own terms. It is really the reason I have an attraction to these long distance events in the first place. With this in mind, I look forward to race day. I look forward to seeing what I can do and how prepared I will be.

I think I've found my inspiration.

Clearings

Looks like our little spell of winter weather here in the Bay Area has broken. There's nothing like clear skies and temperatures in the high 60's to low 70's in early February. It was the perfect weather for a nice long running adventure somewhere along the ridge encircling the San Francisco Bay. Unfortunately, for me, my health has not returned to the level where that was an option this weekend. My cold/flu symptoms abated about a week ago, but the whatever was in my lungs just didn't seem to want to clear up. By Wednesday I could no longer take it so I hopped on the treadmill in the morning for an easy mile to see if it would help clear the phlegm or make me feel worse. The result: I made an appointment to see my doctor for Thursday. After listening to my chest and telling me that it sounds "bad" she had me take x-rays to assure it wasn't pneumonia. It was nothing so dire and she put me on some antibiotics for the next week. Antibiotics are generally hit-or-miss with bronchitis as it really depends on weather the cause is viral or some sort of infection. Since mine had gone on beyond the other symptoms there was a better chance that it wasn't just the initial virus still at work. The good news is that within a couple days the "gunk in my trunk" was already starting to dissipate. I planned to still take the weekend off to be safe and start things back up in earnest this week. With only two full weeks off, I should be able to ramp things back up fairly quickly this week with a reasonable length run next weekend followed by something more major on the next weekend and then the Skyline Ridge 50K(++) three weeks before C2M. If I can execute on this plan I will feel much more confident about the 100.

Well, this weekend came and it was clear that the weather was just plain going to taunt me. Saturday was simply gorgeous, but I was resolved to keep disciplined and continue to rest. I took advantage of the weather by grabbing a blanket and a recent issue of Ultrarunning magazine and lying out by the pool in the backyard to read. At least I could enjoy the sun and think about running. It was hard to believe, but Sunday brought even nicer weather. Driving my wife across the bay to her office, I decided I just had to get out and do something. After a few errands I would head up to Purisima Creek Redwoods and do some hiking. Since all I had on my feet were my "nubby" sandals, I decided that I would go barefoot. I reasoned that even if I couldn't get a real aerobic workout, I could at least work my feet. Besides, heading down some of the steeper rockier trails such as the North Ridge Trail without shoes on would help me resist the urge to run. It actually worked at first, too!

I remembered the last part of this trail as consisting of three steep hills which I dubbed in my mind as steep, very steep, and "how do the rocks keep from tumbling down this hill" steep. What I didn't remember was that there are actually some very nice, relatively flat little sections of this trail. Furthermore, with all the rain we've had this season they were covered with foliage. I ask you, how can any self-respecting trail runner resist a gentle slop covered in soft grass under his bare feet? Oh, it felt good. So good in fact, that I decided to run easy on some of the slightly steep parts after the turnaround. That first 3.8 miles just sort of flew by and I had all afternoon to kill so I decided that I felt good enough to head down the 2.2 miles of Whittemore Gulch Trail. This gentle downhill covered in soft pine needles was equally as irresistible. I couldn't walk. However, I kept my pace very slow partly forced by my desire not to trip or step on anything sharp. There were a few steeper bits and a few rocky sections that required me to return to walking pace, but mostly I was just enjoying cruising along at a what I would call a slow jog. I was enjoying this immensely. With no goals and no pushing to go fast it was like regaining that sense of "play" that first drew me to trail running. Barefooting through the muddy sections near the bottom made me feel even more like the "wild child" of my youth when I would wonder the hills near our house on Mt. Diablo, often sans shoes.

Once at the bottom, I had to, of course, return back up. I opted to head up Harkins Ridge as it was steeper and a bit shorter to the top. I was supposed to be hiking after all. Well, I felt really good the whole time so I ran what I could and power-hiked the rest. I think I found an even slower running gear. Somehow the steep hills didn't seem as steep or long as previously when I have run here. Perhaps it is the difference in pace or perspective. When running, the steep hills seem to represent a huge slow down and I also have trouble finding the right effort level when switching between such different gears. Since my overall pace was so much slower on this day, the transitions were smoother and the effort of the harder parts seemed relatively easier. Heading up that trail, I can't tell you how many people asked if I had lost my shoes, but just as many simply looked at me like I was crazy and said nothing. This kept me smiling. I made it to the top and got a little more, very slow, running in before the finish. My feet felt OK though I expected soreness later. I did get a few scrapes and scratches, but nothing major. One was a result of my own stupidity in trying to rub some mud off in the tall grasses that ended up cutting the top of my left foot. The other was just before finishing when a lack of concentration resulted in a stick jabbing between two of my toes. Ah well, what's a good trail run/hike without some mementos to bring home.

Looking at the map, my total mileage came to 9.5. It took about 2 hours and 50 minutes to cover those miles. That's pretty fast for a hike, but for a trail run that seemed nearly glacial. Heck, that's not much more than 3 miles per hour. I didn't care. It was progress and I felt great at the end. That made me happy. Then I started thinking about it and realized that at 3 mph it would take a little over 33 hours to cover 100 miles. Wait a sec. Isn't that exactly what I estimated as my finish time for Coyote Two Moons? All I had to do was keep close to that same pace I had just managed for another 90 miles (and stay awake through two nights) to hit my goal. And, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna go with shoes for that one. Maybe it was a good training "run" after all!

False Start

After one great week I thought I was on my way to the mileage ramp-up that I'd planned for the start of this year. However, Monday night after doing some fastwalk work on the treadmill I felt a bit more tired that expected. The next morning brought the answer. Apparently some new bug had it me and it come on hard and fast going right for my lungs. Two days of missed work and not a single mile of running and I am still working on getting rid of this thing. Most of the flew symptoms have abated, but my chest still doesn't feel right and taking a deep breath results in wheezing and/or coughing. Apparently, this bug has hit a lot of people I have talked to. People at work, family, friends, it seems that nobody is to be spared this season. Hopefully, it will not choose to stick around too long as I really need to get my training ramping up. Next weekend was my (revised) plan for a 4X run up Mission Peak. That seems pretty unlikely at this point. I'd be happy to just be able to plan a run of some sort by this coming weekend.

Aside from feeding my general paranoia about not getting better and watching my fitness slowly dwindle away, I think the most frustrating thing is that I've lost my "outlet". Work is pretty busy right now between my missed days and an important deadline coming up and there have been some stressful things on the home-front to boot. Without my lunchtime runs to recharge the batteries or a planned weekend long run adventure to look forward to I let the stress lead my mind to darker places and I allow bad eating habits back in to fill the gap even knowing full well the vicious circle to which that leads. OK, melodrama aside, I'm thinking I should be up for a test run in a day or two. I am going to try walking on the 'mill tonight. I just have to keep reminding myself that the much greater danger is pushing too much too soon and risking greater goals for nearer ones.

A Kick in the 50K

Donation to the Weather Gods
With travel plans postponed and an open weekend, I decided to go back to my original plan and run the Fremont Fat Ass 50K that Mike Palmer and Catra Corbett arranged. I could really use more hills in my training at this point, but given the weather I decided that just getting the miles in on would be more important and more productive. Also, speaking of weather, I really didn't want a repeat of my Monday drenching. With massive storms pummeling the Bay Area, I decided to head over to the Fremont REI to finally buy a real running rain jacket. I checked out an ultralight model, but Catra, who works there, told me that it was unlikely to hold up to any real rain and recommended the REI Taku Jacket which had good weather proof cred and was reasonably breathable. So, $200 later and I was ready for whatever Mother Nature decided to throw our way. Of course, what this really meant was that when I woke up on Saturday morning the storm had broken. The skies were clear, the air in the 50s and the news forecasting no rain until that evening. Wow, purchasing that jacket kept me drier than I ever imagined! I would be going with a lightweight shell after all.

Goals? What goals?
I did this run last year and had a good time. It starts in the Quarry Lakes park, mostly follows the Alameda Creek Trail going out to Niles and back then heading out to do a loop around Coyote Hills before returning back. The route is almost completely flat with only one real hill in the Coyote Hills. It is also mostly on a bike path that with the majority gravel, but about 1/3 of it paved.


Because of the flat, fast nature of the course, I was able to set a 50K PR at the time being completely out of shape and not even trying. While I am definitely not in top racing shape right now either, I still wanted to better my time. I've run faster than last year's time on much less flat courses and I have always wanted to establish a 50K PR that was below the 5-hour mark just for my own edification. I figured I could do this without even needing to really push it or go out like it was a serious race. I was just going to go out running in the low-9s and see how long I could hold that pace. If I felt good I could kick it in on the way back for something more dramatic.

Small group, big fun
Only 12 people showed up at the start this year. Apparently, quite a few who had previously contacted Mike or Catra had backed out after Friday night's storm. Too bad for them as this was a perfect day to be running. When Mark Tanaka pulled up a few minutes before the start, it was pretty much assumed who would be leading the pack. Even if he had only gotten a few hours sleep and didn't know the course, this guy actually wins real races, a claim to which none of the rest of us could make. Ultraholic Chihping Fu also showed up in his usual fashion eschewing automobiles and running to the start. He lived fairly close so he didn't have to sleep in the dirt at the start of this race. There were a few others like Ernesto whom I'd met before and some new faces as well. Also, well known ultrarunners, Barb Ellia and Linda McFadden (who together may have more miles to their names than the rest of us combined including Catra) started early and were already out on the course. We all started together and ran through the Quarry Lakes part, but quickly split into two main groups as we headed out on the Alameda Creek Trail. After the Niles turnaround things split up a bit more with Mark and Ohlone 50K RD, Rob Byrn disappearing out in front. After the water fill-up at Isherwood, Chihping fell back along with Claire and Scott while I sort of hung a little ways back from Brian Koo all the way going into Coyote Hills. I caught up with him just around the backside near the bay which allowed me to help him with the route as it is the one place where the course gets a bit tricky.

The idea is that this is to eventually be an official race with aid stations and all so some of the routing is due to where they are considering to put aid and checkpoints. In Coyote Hills it first comes around the west side of the Bayview Trail and then goes to the Dairy Glen. After that it heads back up and over the hill on the Meadowlark Trail loop before returning to Dairy Glen. It then heads over to the Quarry Staging Area and out the Tuibun Trail to the loop around the Chochenyo Trail to the Visitor Center and finishing the Bayview Trail back around to the Alameda Creek Trail. On my second trip to the Dairy Glen I saw Catra and company coming in for their first trip and was quite surprised to see Mark and Rob with them. Apparently, they had missed the point near Ardenwood where you are supposed to take the overpass and cut over to the paved side of the trail to get to Coyote Hills. They were into bonus miles.

What the tail wind giveth, the head wind (more than) taketh away
By the time I returned to the Alameda Creek Trail I was all alone and leading the run. A rather precarious position for a lifelong mid-packer such as myself. I fully expected Mark and Rob to catch me eventually even with my few miles of lead and I also figured Brian would catch up as well since he was a pretty descent marathoner in his past. However, the only thing I really cared about was breaking the 5 hour barrier. My average so far was about 9:10 per mile and I was even thinking that a 4:45 might be possible. Heck, I even thought about the idea of approaching 4:30, but some mental math and my tired legs immediately threw that out as total folly. Well, either I hadn't realized how much of a wind was at our backs on the way out, or the wind was seriously picking up. The head wind going back on the Alameda Trail was pretty brutal in parts and I suddenly I was having trouble even keeping my legs going below 10min per mile! Not only that, but pushing hard against the wind was draining. Even if the wind were the same as when we had headed out, the advantage of a direct tail wind never really matches the obvious disadvantage of a direct head wind. You are left with the choice of watching your pace slowly degrade or pushing hard to maintain pace while your energy dissipates or a little bit of both. I tried to take whatever advantage whenever the wind wasn't directly pushing on me and tried to run relaxed as much as possible otherwise. I thought that the course was a little shy of the standard 31mi, but I wasn't sure and my time was edging closer to that 5 hour limit as I approached the Quarry Lakes again. I filled my water bottle at Isherwood and decided to drop off my waste pack and jacket which I hadn't worn since about mile 4. There were about 3 miles left and I wanted to lighten the load and ease the pressure on my gut which was giving me a little trouble probably pushing into the wind.

The Fattest Ass
I just wanted to survive the mile or so of head wind before entering back into Quarry Lakes for the final run to the start where the wind would be back at my back. At this point, I knew I'd make my goal even if not by a very big margin. I also knew that the course was going to measure up a little short according to my GPS watch. As I came towards the "finish line", it read 30.3 and so I decided I would continue a little further to make sure I knew that I had run a full 50K. If you are going to try for a goal that is just for yourself then you better make sure you actually hit it. As I finished my final little jog back to the parking lot I realized that nobody had actually passed me on the way back. However, there was someone in what appeared to be a Dick Collins jacket waiting at the end. It turned out to be Brian Koo who, after some discussion, realized that he had stayed on the paved side of the path beyond Ardenwood and must have crossed back over in front of me. Oh well, I didn't get to win my first race after all. However, I did get the experience of a lifetime which was seeing a real front runner like Mark Tanaka come into a race finish after me even if he did have to run a few extra miles to make it happen. In the end, I met the one goal I set for myself and finished the 50K distance in a time of 4:57 and change. Looking back at it I think it is possible that in better condition and without the rain I could possible push down to something close to 4:45 and perhaps even wee bit lower if I were rested and in a supported race. However, relentlessly pushing for PRs is not really exciting to me and, given my schedule for the year, it will likely be the last time I try for a while.

Recovery or gear check?
Sunday and the rain returned. I had already decided that I would do a short run on this day partly to recover, but also to hit my weekly mileage goal. With the rain it would also give me an opportunity to test out my new jacket. Also, I did want to get a little hill work in for the weekend so I decided I would do my 5 miles by running up to the Mission Peak saddle and back down. I know, Mission Peak and "recovery run" really don't belong in the same sentence, but I really would be using very different muscles than I had on Saturday. Finally, there was one more bit of gear testing I wanted to do. Since becoming addicted to my new Garmin Forerunner 305 gadget, I have been looking for a way to make it last for much longer runs beyond its rated 10hour limit. Craig Slagel turned me on to the Energizer Energi To Go, portable cell phone charger that included a model with a mini-usb adapter that would work with the Garmin. The disadvantage is that to charge the watch you need to use the cradle and it then doesn't fit on the wrist. I hit on the idea of using my Ultimate Direction Fastdraw Plus hand-held bottle to solve the problem. The charger would fit in the pocket and I could then strap the watch with cradle around the pocket to keep it in place and attachable to the charger.

The parts - hand-held, charger, cradle, watch:

The Full Rig:


The jacket held up great keeping the rain (even the horizontal stuff) completely off. After the first half mile or so, I realized that, while my watch was rated as water resistant, I wasn't so sure about the cradle or charger. I took the rig apart and moved the questionable parts into my jacket pocket and the watch to my wrist. I only wore a very thin base layer of Patagonia Capalene 1 below the jacket to test how cool I could stay. I definitely didn't overheat and was actually even cold during parts of the run. I never felt rain getting through either. For longer runs in the rain, though, I would definitely go with two layers as it was a bit cold overall and I did experience some wetness from sweating which might have been better with the traditional base+outer layering strategy. Overall, the run in the rain and wind was perfect test for all my gear. Furthermore, I felt great physically after it and definitely feel like I am back in at least minimal ultra shape.

Ill and Ill-prepared

Well, I definitely got the cold bug and it pretty much took me out completely from Thursday through Saturday. I did a paltry 1.5m on the treadmill Friday morning, but that was about it. Saturday I slept and rested most of the day and managed to feel quite good come Sunday morning. In an attempt to salvage some of the weekend (though I missed the one nice weather day), I did get a run in Sunday evening. I kept it on the road and local sticking to one of my routes that has lots of options for turning back short if I didn't feel well. I figured that 8 miles was about the extent I could handle. However, I felt great so just kept on going all the way to the Mission Peak trailhead. The 10.5m route was one I hadn't done in a while and is a pretty nice run as far as roads go since there is a nice view of the bay at the turnaround. I think this run really helped clear all the "gunk" out of my system. There really is nothing better than the post-illness LSD run to really clear everything out. No, this is not a long run, the initials in this case stand for:

• Lung-butter
• Saliva
• Discharged nasal-mucus

This run brought the week's total to just over 32mi which is just about 1/2 of what I had hoped. However, it ended up not being a total loss and I was happy to recover so quickly.

I felt so good that come the Monday holiday I wanted to hit the trails at least for a bit. I had a lot of errands and chores to get caught up on so the run was once again postponed until afternoon. It was no sooner that I announced to my wife my intention to head up to Mission Peak than it started to rain. I didn't remember the forecast calling for any heavy showers so I only brought my light shell though I did add an extra layer of underarmor beneath my running shirt. My timing was once again impeccable as the rain seemed to just pick up the closer I got to the top. On the way up I took my standard route on the Peak Meadow fireroad which adds some extra distance. Being as this trail is not graveled over like the main fireroad the mud added significant time to my run. I was sliding all over and trying to run on the grassy side of the trail as much as possible. Even walking didn't seem to help as my road shoes just have no grip in the mud. This is one of the few times when I wish I could find some trail shoes that fit. I also wonder if anyone has every tried attaching traction devices to their shoes for the mud like they do when running on ice.

Eventually, this meets up with the main fireroad and I was able to pick it up to my normal slow shuffle. When I finally made it to the ridge I was happy to hit the downhill around the back side of the peak. However, this is where the storm really picked up. My shell was useless in the heavy downpour and the cold rain soaked right through all three layers. I could also feel that my legs were pretty worked from all the extra work trying to keep stable in the slippery mud. My intention was just to push on through, make it to the top and head down the main firetrail as quickly as possible. I decided to skip the Eagle Loop as I realized that this was not the best conditions to be running in having just gotten over a cold. As I reached the ridge again the rain came down harder and I could hear and feel it pelting my hood. As I looked up at the mist-enshrouded peak, I realized that this rain was no longer liquid. Even though I was almost at the top, I know from experience that conditions at the peak can be much, much worse than just a 100 feet below. Feeling my muscles starting to tighten up in the cold, I decided the wiser plan was to just turn tail and head back down the way I'd come. This was definitely the smart decision as I was freezing at this point. I kept having to squeeze my hands to keep them from stiffening up and I really just wanted this ill-advised run to be over.

I've never done the "pee on the run" technique in a race because I think it is totally rude and, quite frankly, I'm just not fast enough for seconds to matter. However, to avoid freezing I have to admit that I partook of this moving relief as the last thing I wanted to do was stand still for even 30 seconds. As I made my way back around the peak and to the other side of the ridge all I could think about was the last couple miles of downhill and wanting to get my body moving down it. Normally I can't run too fast down this hill as the ground tends to be quite hard and there are usually lots of other trail users. Both of those conditions were negated by the storm. In fact, the ground was so soft that I was able to just go all out. The last two miles of this run were taken completely at sub-7 minute pace with a top speed (Garmin measured) of just below 6. I was swinging my arms and moving my legs as fast and as much as I could just to keep the blood flowing. When I finally made it to my car and changed out of my wet clothes the temperature gauge read in the low 40s. I can only imagine that it was at least 10 degrees lower up top. Looking back it seems like a little mini-epic adventure. However, I think it was perhaps one of the stupider things I have done in terms of my recent running.

On other running-related notes, Zane and I have had to postpone our Costa Rica trip that was planned for the end of this week. Our main reason for going was to see my wife's nieces. They are not going to make it back into the country in time for us to see them so we decided to move the trip to March. This is actually a much better time. It is during Frederick's spring break so we are thinking to have him bring a friend and join us. We have also been able to extend the length of the trip so it can be a real vacation. It will be the week right after Coyote 2 Moons so it will be the perfect locale for me to rest and recover from the race. What better way to celebrate a tough 100-miler than a vacation trip to paradise?

The change in plans leaves this weekend open. I could return to my original plan and do the Fremont Fat Ass 50K. However, some friends who are also doing C2M are planning a training run up in Marin. If I can work the logistics out that would be a better option in terms of hill training as the Fremont race is as flat as they get. I'm also leaning much more towards the Andes Adventure run in July. I have printed out the form and just need to send it in with the deposit check. With TRT100 out and a desire to do something at higher altitude before heading to the Andes, I am considering doing the Bighorn 100 in Wyoming in late June. It has a similar altitude profile to TRT and while it is nothing close to what I will experience in the Andes, I think it would help make sure my conditioning is at its peak before I head down there. I need to look at logistics and the family summer schedule especially in terms of my son's basketball as he will have school summer league as well as AAU going on. If I do end up signing up I think that fills the calendar for most of the year pending some decisions about the last few months.

With hope for no more illness or ill-advised, ill-planned adventures, it's time to get back to my training ramp up.

Weekend by ear

My attempt to completely avoid the bug that seems to be going around seems to have failed. Right now it is just a bit of a throat/sinus thing that I think I can still run through. I will see this afternoon. As for my weekend plans, I will definitely not be signing up for an organized race. Doing my original plan of a Quad MP is also pretty much going to have to be "played by ear". I to start the run at 7am on Saturday and invite anyone who was interested to join me. At this point, I am going to have to see how my body does over the next couple days.

I'm it!

I thought now that we were well into January that I had avoided this trail runner blog tagging thing, but apparently Chihping Fu just tagged me so I guess I'll answer the call.

1. Most memorable moment on the trails in 2007.
My most memorable moment on the trails last year has to be the point during Headlands Hundred in the wee hours of the morning when I found myself off course at the bottom of the Pirate's Cove stairs. I know, one would expect that it would be when I crossed the finish line and that realizing I had taken a wrong turn late in my first 100-miler would be the low point and not the high point. However, the question was about "memorable" moments and this one will stick with me for a long time. The most memorable part of the experience was not the disappointment in realizing I had gone wrong, but the surprise at my own mental reaction to it. Once I knew where I was I simply became even more determined. In fact, it was at that very point where I knew I would finish the race no matter what. As my mind became more focused, my body followed and I actually ran a good portion of the rest of that leg even on some of the steep uphills.

2. Best new trail discovered in 2007.
This is a tough one. I could pick one of the new trails at one of the races I did such as the beautiful desert at Javelina. However, when I think of new trails my mind automatically goes to some of my training runs. I have run some beautiful trails in a great variety of terrain, but, in my mind, the best trails are the ones that you get to run the most often. Discovering Garin/Dry Creek Pioneer Parks up in the hills of Hayward was probably the best new discovery. The trails are nothing spectacular. They aren't as brutal as my Mission Peak training grounds and offer nowhere near the distance options of the Ohlone Wilderness and Sonol. They aren't nearly as beautiful as the trails further north up at Chabot or in the Oakland Hills. It doesn't even offer the continuous "bit loop" option of Pleasanton Ridge. However, nothing beats finding a new option for running some hilly trails within easy driving distance from home.

3. My best performance of 2007.
This, without a doubt, has to be my finish at Javelina Jundred. I went into that race with one goal and that was to notch a sub-24 hour 100-miler. I did it with plenty of time to spare. In fact, I took the last mile or so easier than I have ever run any final mile of any race, savoring the knowledge that I had reached a goal that I had set for myself.

4. I don't know how I previously survived without...
Oreo Cookies! I love discovering what new foods work for me at different races. For some reason, during the heat of Javelina, those cookies from my childhood just seemed to do the trick. I would have put Ensure ahead of them since I have learned that it really does help me get through those longer trail races, but it just doesn't have the fun factor of two chocolate wafers with white sugary goo in the middle!

5. The person I would most like to meet on the trails in 2008.
I really enjoy meeting new people out on the trail, getting to know them a little, sharing stories and what not. In some ways, trail races have actually become my social life (sad though that may sound). However, all of my most special moments on the trail have been by myself. My solo training runs are my sanctuary and meditation time. Those moments in tough trail races where I just go inside myself and find the means to endure are also very special to me. So, as far as meeting any particular people out on the trail I can't really pinpoint any individual except perhaps one very important person: my wife. She has decided to get her exercise routine back in order this year and has asked me to take her out for some short trail runs. I will be doing some of my Sunday recovery runs with her.

6. The race I am most excited about for 2008.
I probably would have answered this question differently a week ago. With a plan to do 4 100-milers I certainly would have named one of them in response to this query. However, now that I am being encouraged to go for an Andes Running Adventure by both friends and family, I think all of my excitement is starting to focus on July

The Full Purisima

Plans
My original plan for this weekend was to do some loops on Mission Peak. I needed at least 25mi for the weekend to meet my mileage goals and I need to start hitting the hills in prep for Two Moons. However, I wasn't quite up for the full 32 miles of my Quad MP concept, yet. My wife had to go into work in San Mateo on Saturday so I decided I would get my run in on that side of the bay. Purisima Creek is sort of the old stand-by as it is the closest serious trail to her office and is also a beautiful park right off Skyline Ridge. It starts from the ridge and goes down to meet the road into Half Moon Bay. There are three main trails that travel from top-to-bottom covering between 3.5 to 4 miles on the trip from the 2000ft ridge down to about 400ft at the bottom.

The Full Purisima...almost
I pulled out the trail map and started calculating to find a route that would give me at least 20 miles for the day on a couple of down-up trips. As I started playing around, doing the math, I realized that, if I planned my route properly, I could traverse just about every trail in the entire park over a course of between 25-26 miles. I would have to leave out the Bald Knob, Irish Ridge and Lobitos Creek Trails as they would add another 7+ miles traveling directly out-and-back from the main preserve area. They would also require that I either carry more than my planned two water bottles or deal with further logistics of an extra water drop off Tunitas Creek Rd. As for the the planned run it could be done with just one drop. There are two main parking areas off Skyline Blvd., one at the start of the North Ridge Trail and the other at the Purisima Creek trailhead. I would stash a water jug and a bag of trail goodies in the bushes at the first area and start my run down at the other area down Purisima Creek Trail. Once I realized the concept, I knew I had to do it. However, I had a time limit and would need to be done by 4:30 at the latest which meant starting no later than 11am.

Summary
For those who are impatient or who simply don't want to wade through my long-winded account of the run, here is the full route that I planned (I took one slight variation noted by *'s):

• Purisima Creek Trail (down 3.1mi)
• Borden Hatch Mill Trail (up 2.7mi)
• Out-and-back to Tunitas Crreek Rd. (up-down 0.6mi)
• Grabtown Gulch Trail (down 1.5mi)
• Purisima Creek Trail (down 1.2mi)
• Harkins Ridge Trail (up 3.0mi)
• North Ridge "Hiking Only" Trail (0.5mi)
• Get food/water stash, eat, drink, fill bottles
• North Ridge Trail (down 2.3mi)
• North Ridge Trail (up 1.5mi)*[1.3mi]
• Whittemore Gulch Trail (down 2.8mi)*[2.2mi]
• Harkins Ridge Trail (up 2.1mi)
• Soda Gulch Trail (mostly down 2.6mi)
• Purisima Creek Trail (up 1.8mi)

Total: 25.7 [24.8mi] from map values

My GPS-measured distance came to a bit over 24.7mi which seems pretty accurate.

As for elevation gain, all I could say at the end of the run was "lots". Some of these trails were much steeper than I expected. My Forerunner 305 is notoriously inaccurate and gave a reading of greater than +/- 10K ft. Importing the route into various mapping programs and web sites produced varying results. One of them gave even higher numbers than the GPS and another was so low as to be impossible. That particular web site is very inaccurate and has given me elevation measurements in the past that are actually less than the difference of the highest and lowest elevation points. How does that work? The one I am learning to trust the most is from a desktop program called SportTracks that I would recommend for anyone with a GPS watch. You can actually tweak the amount of smoothing that it does over imported elevation and pace values in the 2.0 beta version.

Based on this data the summary for my run is as follows:
Distance: 24.7mi
Time: 5:03hrs (5:13 with stops)
Elevation: +/-6800ft (approx.)

Here are some pictures for those who like visual aids:

Map of the route with start/end at far right

Elevation change over the course of the run

The Full Details
OK, that's the stats. Let's get to the details...

Purisima Creek to Borden Hatch
When running in this park I usually either head down Whittemore Gulch or Purisima Creek. I've done runs all the way down to Half Moon Bay and back from both starting points. Purisima Creek is a wide fireroad that does less twisting and turning but has more distance overall covering about 4.2 miles directly to the bottom. This time I would add an extra loop of trails about 3/4 of the way down. The whole Purisima Creek park is heavy covered with Redwoods and the fallen needles plus the rain soften dirt made for a very plush trail. Even trying to take it very easy my pace on this downhill often dipped below 7 min/mi. It is a beautiful and fun trail to run down as the many little "moguls" (what we used to call "whoop-de-dos" when mountain biking) can be used to catch a little air and a big smile. The one thing I noticed about halfway down was that the entrance to the Soda Gulch Trail was marked as "Closed due to storm damage." I guess I would have to decide how important it was for me to hit all the trails or whether I was going to need to find another route on the way back. I decided to wait and see if the other end of the trail was marked the same as they sometimes leave these signs up well beyond necessity. I eventually reached the start of the Grabtown Gulch Trail and continued down to the Borden Hatch Trail to start the loop choosing to repeat the small section between the two rather than skip it completely.

Borden Hatch - Grabtown Gulch Loop and on
I headed up Borden Hatch which I hadn't been on since my mountain biking days. I remembered it being a pretty tough climb on the bike. As a run it wasn't horribly steep, but I could see how the mud and plethora of tree droppings would make it a very tough ride. It is a nice trail and much more secluded than the main thoroughfares of this park where one often sees hikers especially near the trailheads. I was really enjoyed the quiet and the grade did provide some good uphill practice climbing nearly 1000ft in a little under 3mi. I paused briefly at the Bald Knob trailhead and glanced up it. I've never been up that way and it looks like a nice trail. It would have to wait for another day as I had a time limit today needing to finish up the run in less under 5 1/2 hours. I little further on was the intersection to the Grabtown Gulch Trail. However, before heading down this I took the little .3mi extension out to Tunitas Creek Rd. so as not to miss any trail. This also let me scout out this remote trailhead as another option for a water drop on a future run here. After that it was all downhill and I have to say that Grabtown Gulch was a blast! All downhill and some wonderful twisty single-track to boot. All good things must end and this one did back at the wide Purisima Creek Trail after a mile and a half. Then it was a bit over a mile down to the bottom where the folks from the coast enter the park at Purisima-Higgins Rd. It was less busy then one would expect given the perfect weather of the day due to the fact that the Mavericks Surf Contest was on just above HMB.

Up Harkins Ridge
I don't think I'd ever been on this trail on foot before and it was quite nice starting in the deep trees along the creek. A little ways on it turns and heads up the ridge and out into the exposed sun. It was quite nice out and I was surprised at how warm it actually was given that we are in the middle of winter. Gotta love California weather. Heading up this trail has some really steep hills and it was time to start working on some of my power-hiking skills. I also wanted to preserve some energy in the middle of my run on this trail which is the shortest path to cover the 1600ft climb back up to the road. I did notice that Soda Gulch was closed here too so a decision would have to be made about my return. The last section of this is all open ridge and I could see the ocean from the vantage point. The sun also kept me plenty warm and I drained my water just as I reached the intersection with the North Ridge Trail. No worry as it was only another half mile to the parking lot via the "Hiking Only" trail that I planned to take on the way up. This option is a little longer than the direct route, but is much more runnable and a nicer option for heading up. Taking the direct route down is always recommended for making good time.

Aid Station
At the parking lot I went into the bushes and retrieved my little drop bag and jug of water. I got a couple of weird looks from hikers as I stuffed myself with Pringles, cookies and Ensure as well as downed a bunch of water. I then filled my bottles and re-stashed my goods planning to pick it up after I was done. I took in as much water as I could as the warmer-than-expected temperatures meant that I was going to likely be pushing the two bottles on the return trip which was going to be a little longer than the one I took getting here. Just as I was about to leave a couple of runners came up the trail. One of them was wearing a race shirt from some 50miler I didn't recognize, but he saw my TRT shirt and asked about it first anyway. I turns out he did the 100 last year when I did the 50. I believe he said his name was Mark and he looked like a pretty studly dude so it may well have been Mark Gilligan, second place finisher in the 100. Given that one of his planned runs this year is the 100K national championship race, it seems even more likely now that I think about it. He also told me that they had been on Soda Gulch Trail and that it wasn't too bad. So, my return trip was going to go as planned. I'd wasted enough time at my self-made aid station and bid him and his friend (Kay?) goodbye. I told them about my water/food stash and to grab whatever they wanted as I headed back down the trail.

North Ridge Trail
The North Ridge Trail is the main fireroad leaving the parking lot and is the most common route down. However, most people either head down Whittemore or Harkins as the North Ridge continues on to a dead end at the park boundary. I'd never been down there and new nothing about that trail section. What I learned was that it was steep. And, then, later on it is really steep. And, then, still further it is ridiculously steep. Before I get to that part, though, I had a surprise waiting for me on the trail. Just as I headed up the first uphill on the way to the turnaround I saw a guy coming down cleaning branches off the trail. He looked very familiar, but before I could call out to him he yelled down "Steve!" It was local ultrarunner Chuck Wilson who has probably run more races than I have miles. He was doing some volunteer work on the trail so I stopped and chatted for a bit. He said that the trail wasn't very runnable even with his cleaning job, so I better get going if I needed to make time. I learned pretty quickly that he wasn't kidding. The final downhill (and return back uphill) was crazy. I honestly don't know how the rocks stayed on that steep loose trail. Luckily it wasn't very long, but in the end the whole steepness of this trail up-and-down was more than I had planned. I decided to alter my return just slightly and take the short-cut over to Whittemore Gulch Trail. While this would mean missing 0.6mi of trail, it would take almost a full mile off my return trip and given my water situation as well as my time limit, I decided it was necessary. I could see Chuck up above me as I headed over to the cutoff. I decided not to yell up to him as I didn't want to waste too much more time. However, before going through the gate I paused and took in the vista. It was such a clear day I could see the ocean and Half Moon Bay perfectly. If I'd have brought binoculars I probably could have watched the surf contest from up there.

Down and back up
Whittemore Gulch is a wonderful with lots of twists and turns that I remember having a blast on when biking. However, today it had so much down tree foliage that it was actually hard to keep the momentum. My pace barely dropped below 9min/mi as I was constantly having to jump over branches or watch my step through brush. It was still a reasonably quick downhill through lush woods that helped keep me from draining too much more water. I hit the bottom at about 18.5 miles just after my GPS watch complained about low battery. I accidentally left it on the other day so I wasn't able to fully charge it before this run. I wasn't sure it would make it for the rest of the time as I headed up the long grind back up Harkins Ridge. I had decided I was going to take Soda Gulch and my mind was focused there. I knew that once I reached that intersection it was over 2 1/2 miles of flat to downhill running. I pushed it a bit up Harkins shuffling up whatever I could. I made it to the intersection in about the same time from the bottom as before despite being much more tired being 20 miles and 4 hours into the run. I also knew that my water was just about gone and that I would be making the final climb to the road bone dry.

Flying towards Hell
Soda Gulch wasn't bad at all in general. The trail was in decent condition and relatively clear of debris allowing for lots of running along its gently winding downhill path. However, there were a few downed trees that required climbing over or dipping under. A couple of these left nice trophy slashes on my legs. Also, there were two spots where the trail was washed out, but both were easy to bypass with careful navigation. Other than that it was a classic single-track that I had previously only taken in the opposite direction. Going down this beauty was definitely the recommended way. However, at the end that meant that I had just that much more climbing up the final trail of Purisma Creek to my car. It was just under two miles and about 1000ft to the top. I had no water and, without water, couldn't really take in calories either. Those last couple miles were over a half hour of slow painful grind. Each of those fun little bumps that I enjoyed so much on the way down just added insult to injury on the way back up as each one require a few extra steps of even steeper climb for barely a half step down on the other side. I shuffled as much as I could figuring this was all good ultra training as in a real race there would be aid at top of this "bad spell" to refuel and keep me moving relentlessly forward.

Done
I made it to the top and my watch read a little past 24.5 miles total. I felt like I had done much, much more than a marathon. With all the climbing, I felt easily as worked as in many of my 50K races. Looking back now, it is clear why since this shorter run had as much or even more climbing than many races of much longer distance. However, the elevation gain and the distance are both about 1/4 the distance of the Coyote Two Moons 100 which is a pretty scary thought right now. There is no way I could have done that route 4 more times! However, I will be ramping my training and will definitely start much easier come race day. Of course, if I run the first 25 miles of a that hundred miler anywhere near 5 hours time, I will be headed for some serious hurt later in the race. I drank up and ate up at my car and headed out as I had to pick up my wife and then get home to take my son to his basketball game. I stopped at the other parking lot first to clean up my stashed drop bag and water. Just as I was about to head out I saw Chuck coming up the trail. I stopped and chatted again with him briefly. However, I realized how much time I had wasted as it was already 4:30 and my son had to be at his game by 6 so I high-tailed it out of there and managed to just get him there on time.

Looking Forward
I followed up Saturday's run with a nice easy 4.5mi recovery on Sunday night. I am learning to use my Garmin and heartrate monitor to do "real" recovery runs. I put the watch in a mode where I it shows my HR, but not my pace or distance and then I run a known route trying to keep my HR in the 70-75% zone. With that final run my tally for the week comes to 54 miles which is right about where I should be in my ramp up. Had I been further in my training I might have done a 10 or 12 miler on Sunday and gotten closer to 60. To get my mileage up much beyond that I am going to have to figure out how to get a few extra mid-week miles along with some longer Sat. runs.
As for my race schedule, there are some potential changes. I definitely dropped Zane Grey from consideration as it is just too much with Diablo and Miwok. I may decide to do the Pacifica 50K next weekend if Freddy doesn't have practice. In which case I would save the Quad MP until Feb. As for the races in that month they are all up in the aid. Woodside seems unlikely as it is now on the 2nd and Freddy has a game that night and the night before. While I believe I could get the race done in time, I don't know about getting there after a later than desired Fri. night. Sequoia will also be a "wait and see" as that will be during the likely time of basketball sectional playoffs. Feb may just be lots of self-planned long runs. I am committed to Skyline Ridge for March as my last training before Two Moons. Diablo and Miwok are confirmed, but the rest of the season is still a bit spotty. I may actually end up bailing on TRT100 in July. Chuck was trying to convince me to join him and Beat at a "once in a lifetime" opportunity of a running adventure in the Peruvian Andes. It is the last time the organization will be doing this particular run and it looks quite simply amazing. I love South America and my wife is actually encouraging the endeavor. The amount of altitude is a bit scary, but perhaps I can find a high-mountain 100 in June to help prep me. I do have to admit, my it looks amazing!