A Tale of Two Trail Races—Part I

This race report is overdue.  The excuse(s):

#1--I was sooooo disappointed to get off the plane and realize that my “Big White Ball Theory” is wrong ;)  (I didn’t think you’d believe that one…) 

#2--One glorious day of running at the Canyon Meadow Trail Run event on March 12, 2011 was all it took to cause enough of an adrenaline rush to erase all prospects of concentrating long enough to write a race report.  (That’s believable)  After that, all I wanted to do was get out in the day after day of sunshine.  And that, I DID……

……..NOT do, as day after day went by, and there was hardly any sunshine.  In fact, since that first trail race, it has rained practically every day for the past week or so, at least a little.   So I can’t even use the excuse that I was outside every day doing long hikes or runs, because I wasn’t (although I did get out for 1-3 hrs a few of the days and shorter periods on the others.  I’ll have pics up in a later post).

In reality, blogging while traveling when one is using old technology (my laptop is 6 yrs old) combined with no convenient wireless access to post pictures from said laptop is hard and time-consuming. ** Blogging while traveling is hard, period. (At least I didn’t forget my camera USB cable like Chris K did). 

So now that I am finished with my “other” obligations, I am going to do my best to complete at least Part I of my race reports BEFORE I fly home, even if it means I have to see what it’s like to be like my friend, Stacey, and hardly get any sleep!  Stacey was kind enough to take me out to lunch yesterday, which ended up making HER sleep deficit even greater and delaying my race reports even more, but I LOVED IT (and HER—but she probably hates ME now because of it) …..in any case, thank you, Stacey.




Stacey and me.  She spoiled me--again!
(this one's for you, G)

  So on to the race reports:

Preface: This “Tale of Two Races” could easily be renamed “The Jekyll & Hyde Races.”  One could never have predicted that there would be such a difference in weather and trail conditions for 2 races located within 30 miles of each other and just 7 days apart, especially in the SF Bay Area, where, for at least most of the year, the consistency in temperatures from week-to-week and lack of rain make it one of the nicest places to live.  Unfortunately, I have been told that I’ve been the victim of the “worst weather the area has had all winter.”

Part I of this Tale starts with glorious weather.  The Canyon Meadow Trail Run, put on by Coastal Trail Runs, has 5 mile, Half Marathon, 30K, Marathon, and 50K options (talk about having “something for everyone”).  It starts and traverses through Redwood Park in Oakland.  There are lots of beautiful redwood trees, which can make for more compliant trail surfaces because of the natural redwood debris that covers the trails.  I was signed up for the HM.  Because of recent illness that set-back an already difficult training winter, and with this race being on trails and being my first race of any kind for the year with another one coming up a week later, I opted to drop down to the 5 mile race to give my joints and body a more gentle break-in.  As per my previous post and decision to look upon this race as a gift of life given all that has happened recently in other parts of the world, I took my camera along and took several pictures along the way.  So, instead of lots of word details, here is the summary of my run in pictures and captions:

The registration tent and lots of excited runners

RD Wendell giving instructions through his faithful bullhorn.

Me seconds before the start.  I barely got this one before...

...we're off!  Here we go!

We start with a modest uphill, but very quickly, it gets STEEP...



This is a typical CTR Trail Run start.  Not even 1/4 mile in, 2:26, and my HR is already 160!



Everyone else was huffing and puffing.  I wasn't...but only when I was standing taking pictures.




The extend of the "mud" for this race, even though it had rained the day before.   I didn't like it at the time; boy, would that perspective change 7 days later (Part II of this Tale)

 

Misery loves company...lots of company. It's up...

And up...

And not so steep, but still up...



Oh no, more steep up...

Wow, there are still so many runners behind me--I must be hallucinating from oxygen debt.

What? No more uphill?  Wow, this is gorgeous!  Once I made the turn for the 5 mile course, I "lost" my running companions.  This is what I am used to seeing after a few miles into most races--no runners, just beautiful trails

My friend, Bob, who is 67 yrs old, does these races practically every weekend. He and I have done several of the same events, and distances, without planning it!  He got 2nd in his age group. He is an inspiration.    

In the end,  I enjoyed a beautiful run with minimal mud and gorgeous views, lots of blue shies, and cool, near-perfect running temperatures.  My Garmin passed it’s first race test.

RD’s stats: 4.8 miles, 744 ft elevation gain

My Garmin: 5.0 miles, 731 ft elevation gain

My time: as per plan in previous post-- [IT : DOESN’T : MATTER]

I ran hard at times, hard enough that my running muscles were tired and mildy sore for the next few days.  But I otherwise enjoyed and recorded the scenery and nature and chatted with other runners, cherishing this life opportunity.

The irony of it all: 

In every other trail race in which I have run without a running buddy, I have focused on MY TIME (allowing limited time for taking pictures) trying to “win” a medal or points for a point series in my age group or at least run a PR or CR. 

This time, running with the mentality that a time of [IT : DOESN’T : MATTER] is OK.....
.....I WON MY AGE GROUP  (and I wasn't the only one in my age group, either).

Co-RD Phyllis and me wearing my 1st place age group medal

Thanks again, Wendell and Phyllis, and all of the faithful CTR volunteers who make one able to "Have Fun Out There!" (the CTR slogan) and run these trails as a life opportunity!

Part II if this Tale (the “Jekyll” race): coming soon.

Also, congratulations go out to the following:

Carol--for finishing the Uncool 50K (32 miles with over 6500 ft of elevation gain)

Katie--for blowing away her old PR at the Shamrock’n Half Marathon running a blistering 1:27:54 and coming in 4^th woman overall.

Ron--for becoming an “Ultra Runner” by finishing his first 50K. 
         Ron, YOU ARE [a] WAY TOO COOL [finisher]!

 

Remember to Celebrate Life Each Day!  Ann

**- Pictures uploaded and blog posted from the Apple Store, Palo Alto, CA--thank you for letting me use your wireless :).  I'll be getting an iPhone soon.