A Tale of Two Trail Races---Part II

Part II of this Tale

Mt. Diablo Trails Challenge (Brazen Racing) March 19, 2011

When you finish a race and see the following statement in the race-director’s post-race email, you know that you can feel incredibly stupid proud to have even completed the course:

"Thank you to all involved for coming out to our race in what were some of the worst race day conditions we've ever had the opportunity to experience.”

In the week after that glorious trail run described in Part I, the weather and weather forecast became gloomier and gloomier and wetter and wetter.  Bottom line: It was GOING to RAIN, not just on the day of the race, but for much of the 36 hrs before the race.  Translation for trail running:  MUD MUD MUD.  So I knew the conditions were going to be horrible and downright dangerous.  Scrap the original plan to run (or at least start) with my friends, Ron and Katie, in the Half Marathon (sorry you guys, maybe next time).  I would be doing the 10K [this minor detail added after its absence was so kindly pointed out by G]

Me, Ron, Katie before the start

And with it beginning to rain again at the start, there was only so long that I was willing to slog in the mud AND rain.  Ron, on the other hand, thrives on suffering; his list of planned events is appropriately titled “Upcoming Torture Sessions.”  He takes that title very seriously when he chooses his races.

Ron with his "game face" on; he would need it for this "Goliath" of a race.
Note the "Samson" hair as well.

Katie doing a pre-race warm-up dance in front of the generator--the only heat source anywhere

And Katie…..she would end up running so fast that most of the rain and mud wouldn’t even make it to her skin because of the airflow generated by her speed ;)…..(did I mention that she is FAST?).

The first mile...it only got worse

With the two of them off 15 minutes before my start,
I was able to get a little bit of a warm-up in, but it still wasn’t enough.  The first 1.5 miles were mildy uphill.  Normally, this would be the perfect kind of start for me to allow my joints and muscles to warm up properly.  However, with the wet, cold conditions, it took over 3 miles for my lower leg muscles to not feel like they weren’t going to infarct from lack of oxygen.  After 1.5 miles, we hung a left and then had to ascend steep, MUDDY singletrack—translation: bottleneck.  There was no way you could pass anyone on a narrow, slippery trail—admittedly, I got a bit frustrated here, but that is part of trail racing. 

The “heart” of the course consisted of two big  “bumps” with steep ups followed by steep downs.  The biggest challenge was trying to stay upright during all of this.  I have never seen so many people fall in a race….or heard so many curse words. I was proud that I survived the course and did not fall once on my own.  I did fall once when another guy slipped into me and pushed me over—that doesn’t count.

I had given up all hope of a decent time for this distance and difficulty/elevation gain.  I did, however, look at my Garmin after the final turn to get back onto the gentler graded trail, and I saw that I had a shot at 1:30.  For some nutty reason, focusing on coming in under that time helped motivate me and provided a distraction from the conditions and made the last 2 miles seem less like torture. After all of the survival techniques that I had to employ before then, I surprised myself by being able to actually push the pace during the last 2 miles rather than the near-death plod that I sometimes have to resort to in the longer distance races.  If nothing else, it allowed me to mentally get through the “river that was the trail” for the half-mile out to the turnaround and the ankle/knee-deep water crossings that seemed like rivers at that point.  By my calculations, I would easily come in under 1:30, but the course was long by my Garmin and I missed 1:30 by 12 seconds.  Not a big deal, but, because I didn’t know that the woman I had closed the gap on in front of me was in my age group, I chose to allow some space for her to get a good finishing picture and NOT sprint by her at the end (something that, as a purebred sprinter, I AM good at) resulting in missing a 3^rd place age group medal by ONE second!  That’s the last time I’ll be nice to someone at the finish ;).  And, remember that guy who slid and pushed me over in the mud?  Well, now I hate him for costing me a lot more than ONE second!....(just kidding).  I ended up 4th out of 10 runners in my age group.

Garmin stats: 6.35 miles / 1179 ft. elevation gain / time: 1:30:12

A very wet "me" at the finish

Holding the finisher's medal.  I was slow enough, that, by the time I finished, it was a nicely tarnished color (actually, Brazen's medals are some of the nicest around)

The "sweat check" tent--
the only clothing that DID stay dry!

This race was definitely one for which pictures would have “spoken louder" than words.  Unfortunately, because of the rain and the need to have all four extremities available to negotiate the trails, I was not able to bring the camera along for the race. What pictures I did get will have to suffice for the picture/caption summary of my MUD FEST, perhaps better described as SH*T FEST because of all of the sh*t from "you name it" species that was visible in the trail.  I don't even want to think about what WASN'T visible.
Sam, Brazen’s RD summarized the course conditions well in the same post-race email referenced above:

“There was mud way beyond anything that could ever be intentionally created for any kind of "crazy mud run", there were more creeks than we even knew existed on the course, there were course markings obliterated and blown away (our apologies to all half marathoners who got "bonus miles" because of that) and then there was the comparatively small matter of getting blasted with rain and/or hail for just about the entire time.”

The two funniest quotes in the “Race Day Instructions”, given the day's conditions:

"This being a trail run, it's important to balance the enjoyment of the beauty around you with the importance of checking out where your feet are going."  

"All courses are marked with ribbons and flour." ...more like "dough."

The best thing to remember about running in the mud:  falling into the mud probably won’t hurt you (just your ego); trying to prevent that fall once it starts may result in hurting something much more important than your ego.

The best thing about running in the mud (besides finishing) is that you can’t get lost—just follow all of the muddy footprints…

…unless, of course, you’re in the front like Katie (she did go off course and still won the Women’s Division for the HM).  Congratulations, Katie…for successfully confusing all of the other runners who were behind you! (Just kidding—you did a GREAT run in terrible conditions).

Katie & me right after she came in 1st place woman in the HM
Congratulations, Katie!

The worst thing about running in the mud:  having to clean up these:

The mud on these would have been 10 times worse had it not been for the 2 stream crossings in that final 1.5 mile stretch

Thanks to Katie and Ron, who both put forth commendable efforts in the HM that took some of the sting out of missing my AG bling.  Congrats to my friend, Carol, too, for braving the elements with a great effort in the 50K distance of this race.

How I'd like to remember this race:
Dry, not muddy, and all smiles with one of my favorite, funniest sources of inspiration.

Finally, Medals of Honor are awarded to Sam, Jasmin , and all of the insane and brave Brazen Racing volunteers for doing the best job possible in those historic conditions.  Without all of you, most of us would be still out there stuck in the mud!  Thanks also go to Whole Foods for providing a nice post-race BBQ and to Peet's Coffee for TRYING to keep us all warm from the inside.

You guys always make me smile.  Thanks for adding some of your sunshine to this day :)

So my “Big White Ball Theory” has been renamed “Big WET Ball Theory.” I thought it “never rains in California”………

Remember to Celebrate Life Each Day!  Ann


*--This post written and posted while traveling (again) with limited internet access, resulting in lateness and omissions in original version.

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.