Wild Runs and Wild Life

I haven’t blogged in two weeks.  Bad blogger.  School started this morning and in the past couple of weeks we seemed to be busy squeezing all we could out of the summer.  I am going to use this post to recap some of my runs over the past couple of weeks.

Last Saturday, we had a great long run down at the beach.  The weather was still uncharacteristically cool and the sun didn’t come out at the beach our entire run.  I had twenty on my schedule, but Kelly and Joan wanted to do eighteen.  I took the long way to get to Kelly’s house before driving to the pier and gave myself almost a two mile head start.  We ended up running nineteen, giving me twenty one for the day!  We ran up to “the water tower.”  I had never been on this run, but it was obvious where our turnaround spot was.  The crazy thing is that the water tower is an actual home!  They apparently live up in the round part of the tower.  Cool!


That Tuesday, I met Joan for a run in the trails.  She had shown me a fabulous trail off Weir Canyon the week before and I was eager to run it again.  It has a lot of hills and mostly single track.  At one point, we ran through a tunnel under a road.  I don't mean an underpass, but an honest-to-goodness tunnel.  At one point we couldn’t see our feet, even though we could see the light coming through the other end.  Trippy.

Joan realized that trails don’t scare me.  I don’t worry about getting lost and am willing to try a new one if it means finding a fun new route.  She asked if I wanted to try a trail she had always wanted to explore, but didn’t want to do it alone.  Of course I would!  From this point on, we explored the area, trying new trails and some areas that weren’t even trails.  We battled overgrown brush and even some giant spiders.  Yuck!

At one point, we looked up at the top of the hill and saw a deer.  We stopped and tried to wait for him to run down the hill, but he/she saw us and was willing to wait us out.  I am glad that the deer is as far as the wild life got that day.  We were out a bit later than normal and the sun was really starting to get hot.  I was very worried about seeing a snake (I HATE SNAKES), and thank goodness I didn’t.

I met Marci last Wednesday for an eight miles tempo run.  We did a good job of keeping our pace faster than marathon pace (8:45), but not quite to half marathon pace (a little over 8:00).  Most of our tempo miles were right around 8:30.  It felt good to work a little harder and remind my legs how to run a bit faster.   We ran through a neighborhood that had a lot of horse properties.  Every other house or so had a stable or corral and horses.  I was taken by surprise when I saw a ZEBRA!
You can see his buddy the llama (or alpaca) coming up behind him.  These people also had an ostrich, a pot-bellied pig, more llamas and a bunch of donkeys.   You really don’t see that every day!

We have run a couple times in the last week into the Boy Scout camp just past Irvine Park.  It is a great hilly run with a lot to see.  How beautiful is this run??
  
Yesterday, we saw a different kind of critter.  No deer or even coyotes were spotted.  Just an incredibly creepy crawly.

Joan put her hand down to give reference to show how big this thing was.  Ewwwwww.
   
And, of course, we run our beloved Santiago Creek at least once a week.  I never get tired of this place to run.  Now that we have branched out and tried new trails from this route, I know I’ll never get bored here.  There are so many trails and so many kinds of terrain.


In the middle of all these great runs was a little race called the LA Mud Run.  I will post a race report soon.  I still have to get the pictures developed, and that is something I am not used to doing.  I ran with a disposable water proof camera so I am hoping for some fun muddy pictures.

I am so lucky to live so close to such fabulous places to run.  Add all the wonderful people I have met to run with, this is turning out to be a great training cycle!

Happy Running!

Xterra Malibu Creek 22K Race Report

Holy cow…I can’t believe it has been two weeks since I have posted anything.  I have a few in my “drafts” but my creative juices just haven’t been flowing nor the motivation to finish them.  Well, what better inspiration for a blog post than a race?

Saturday morning I ran the Xterra Malibu Creek Challenge.  Challenge was the operative word.

It was a challenge to get up in the morning.  It was one of those nights when I wake up every hour, looking at the clock to make sure I didn’t oversleep.  When the alarm did go off, I was so tried.  I got up, drank my Zip Fizz, at my Luna bar and got ready to go.

It was a challenge getting there on time.  I did get there on time, but I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time (it turns out I cut it a bit closer than I would like).  It was a long drive.  I tried to get some of my friends to drive up with me to run it, but they either had plans or didn’t want to run that far.  There was a 6K race, but that is a long way to drive to run only a 6K.  I left a little later than I had planned and luckily the freeways were empty and I made great time getting up there.  It took me just over an hour.

Another runner took a picture for me.  An incredible setting!

It was a challenge finding a bathroom!  After getting my bib etc., I needed to take care of business one last time before the race.  There aren’t any facilities along the way and I knew I couldn’t wait three hours to go.  This was in a state park and there were bathroom facilities throughout, but they were LOCKED.   WTF??  There were two bathrooms unlocked in a little building that had four.  Why unlock half of the restrooms in one little outhouse and not the other two??  I was told in the very long line that there were a couple of porta potties by the starting line, but the line was three times as long as the one I was standing in.  The minutes ticked by and race time was quickly approaching.  This was not a chip timed event and while I did not feel that my time would matter in the long run, I wanted an accurate reflection of my race.  So I decided that I had to use the bushes.  Lovely.

It was a challenge finding the starting line.  After my impromptu commune with nature, I ran to the registration/starting area.  My watch said 7:30, so it should be starting any second.  I couldn’t see the starting line.  I didn’t see a crowd, so I assumed they had started already.  I asked around and was pointed down a trail to the beginning of the race.  After heading into the woods and down some steps, I found the crowd of runners.  Phew!!  I didn’t miss it.

You may recall that I ran in Malibu Creek two months ago in the PCTR trail series.  Saturday’s race was basically the same course, only backwards.  It was a little over a mile shorter by virtue of the different starting/finishing area.   The XTerra race was bigger.  There were a lot more people.  It made for a completely different race experience.  XTerra had 435 finishers while PCTR had less than 125 (just under 200 total if you count the 50Kers too).  Such a large field made it very interesting.

It was a challenge getting into a rhythm in the beginning.  The mass start of all the runners was fun, but very crowded.  We did a bit of shuffling in the beginning.  We headed up a somewhat wide hiking path.  We didn’t hit the single track for about a mile and a half, thank goodness.  Still, I was right on the heels of the person in front of me and there was someone right on my heels.  We didn’t spread out until we hit the steep Bulldog Road.  I guess, since there are no chips, there is no way to send the runners out in waves.  That would have been so nice.

Bulldog was a challenge.  It was hot (with very little shade) and steep.  It was a fire road that seemed to go up forever.  Just went I thought we were approaching the top, the trail switched back and went up some more.  The grade was often around 20%.  I just tried to power walk and run when the terrain flattened out.  At one point I told myself that if I approached someone and wanted to pass them, I needed to run to do so.  It was a nice incentive to get me moving.  Near the top, just when I thought that I wanted to give up, a volunteer left a message that really perked me up.  Whoever this pre-runner was, he/she was awesome.  In addition to the flour arrows to make sure we didn’t take a wrong turn, this person left random smiley faces (and in one case a frowny face) on the course.

Almost there!

Some runners found Gu wrappers a challenge.  When I run and eat a Gu (or anything else that has a wrapper) I hold onto it until I can properly dispose of it.  I usually just cram the empty wrapper in my bra.  During Surf City, I stashed them in my arm warmer.   On Saturday, I was appalled to see these things littering the trail.  Are these elite athletes who are going for a world record and a big purse?  I don’t think so!  I picked one up and stuffed it in my bra (which isn’t the most comfortable thing).  Later, I picked up another one.   I ended up picking up SEVEN wrappers discarded by selfish runners.  And I know I missed several when it wasn’t easy for me to stop.  IF YOU ARE SOMEONE WHO DUMPS HIS/HER TRASH DURING A RUN, PLEASE STOP.  Come on, people…. who do you think is going to pick these up??  This is a trail  in the wilderness, not an urban road with street sweepers*.  Even worse than the Gu packets were the little tabs from the top of them.  They are small enough that an animal might eat them.  Occasionally, I would see a wrapper next to a mile marker.  I can forgive that, since someone will be there to pick that up.   But these are still volunteers and why should they have to pick up your spit-laden waste??  I thought that people that ran in trail races did so because of their appreciation for the great outdoors and the beauty of the trail.  How can they have such a disregard for it?  As you can tell, this is a huge hot button for me.  Littering is such a disgusting, selfish thing.  I hate it when I see it on the roads and even more so out in nature.  OK… rant done.  Back to the race report.

A nice runner offered to take a picture when I stopped to get a picture of the view near the top of Bulldog.

The weather was a challenge.  It was much hotter than I had anticipated.  When I pulled up to the park around 6:45, it was pretty chilly (in the upper 40’s, I think).  I knew it would warm up, so I wore my tank top and then slipped on my arm warmers at the last minute.  Um, yeah… I had to take those things off in the first two miles.  I tied them around my awesome new iFitness belt and kept going.  It must have been humid, because it didn’t take long for sweat to start running down my face.  I decided to take a couple of Endurolytes and I’m glad I did.  I ended up taking four all together and still started cramping a bit at the end.  I am sure the Endurolytes (and the Gatorade at the aid stations) helped me.  I carried my own water and refilled it at an aid station half way through.  Thank goodness for my handheld.  The logistics of the course made the aid stations few and far between.  There were two in the first two miles and then not another one until almost mile 7.

While not the most attractive picture, it does show the beautiful view and how hot and sweaty it was.

Yup… that is the Pacific Ocean.

Did I mention that the hills were a challenge?  The downhills were almost as hard as the uphills.  At least I am getting better at running downhill on the trails.  People would pass me going up (note to self: hill repeats) and then I would pass them going down.  At first it was fun and free to fly down the trail.  It started getting harder and harder.  There was a long stretch of downhill grade with no flat spots or inclines.  You would think that would be a welcome relief to the endless climbing, but I was starting to yearn for a leveling off.  I read in an article that trying to slow down or “braking” on the hills is worse than just going with it.  I tried to relax and run down the hill.  The slope was pretty rocky and I did roll my ankles a couple of times.  Luckily, I didn’t really injure them, but they are pretty sore still today.  I was building speed and slowing down took effort.
 
When the bulk of the downhill ended, we hit a road.  During the PCTR race, we didn’t run on this road, but crossed the creek instead.  That would have been a welcome relief.  I would have enjoyed the cold water on my legs and I didn’t particularly like running on the shoulder of a somewhat busy road.  At least we didn’t have to run on it for long.  We soon turned into the park area and then into a single track section.

Single track was a challenge.  In the beginning of the race, we were bottlenecked in the single track, but people were moving pretty quickly.  At the end of the race, it seemed like everyone was walking up the single track incline.  I am not saying that I would have scurried up quickly, but I am pretty sure that I would have run a bit more than I did.  Passing was a difficult task.  I did pass several people where the trail widened a bit, but there was often a line of about six people.  If I passed one, I probably needed to muster the energy to pass the group.  It was easier to sit back and follow.  The frustrating thing was that when the trail headed back downhill toward the finish (one mile to go), the people in front of me were moving in an easy jog.  I really wanted to push it on this section, but it was nearly impossible.  Once we got to the bottom, near the campgrounds, it opened up and I passed at least six people.  There was a volunteer there telling us that there was on 4/10 of a mile left.   I turned it on.

I crossed the finish line in 2:50.  My Garmin shows a 12:01 average pace.  I was hoping to average under 12:00, but I’ll take it.  My main goal was to finish under three hours, so I was happy.  The official results show a 12:29 pace, which is what it would be for a 22K.  This course was longer than 22K; even the race director told us that.  It was just over 14 miles (a 22K is 13.6 miles).

Results:
Overall: 244/435
Women 40-44: 15/38

It wasn’t my best showing, but it taught me that I have a lot of hill training to do.

The food spread afterward was great.  They had several types of fruit, muffins and scrambled eggs.  They also had grilled burgers, which really hit the spot.  The only thing missing for me was an ice cold Coke.  I love cold soda after a dusty trail run.  There is only so much water and Gatorade I can drink. 
Getting home was definitely a challenge!  Where it took an hour to get there from my house, it took twice that to get home.  I have no idea where so many people were going on a Saturday afternoon, but driving through LA was pure torture.  It wasn’t that bad in March when I did that drive, I’m not sure what was going on to make traffic that bad!  It wasn’t just one freeway… it was all of them in two counties.  Geesh.

All in all, it was a good day.  It was a good race with great volunteers.  My only suggestions would be more bathrooms, better signage at the start and more medals (while I received mine, they ran out of medals for the later runners).  I wasn’t super pleased with my performance, but I was glad I did it.  I never would have done a tough 14 mile run on my own and I needed to kick up my training somehow.  I always love running on the trails and love other trail runners.  This was a gorgeous trail on a gorgeous southern California day.  What more can I ask for?

Happy Running.


*And you shouldn’t be throwing trash on urban roads with street sweepers!!

OC Chili Winter Trail Run Series #3 Race Report

 The first race in this series was my very first trail race; I suppose it was the gateway drug, so to speak.  The second was equally as fun.  Saturday was the last race of the series and it didn’t disappoint.

The weather was warmer this week than it was the previous two races.  Maybe because the other two were actually in the winter.  The series should have been called “Two Winter, One Spring Trail Run Series.”  I had on a long sleeve tech shirt because it was a bit chilly in the morning.  At the last minute, I through on a tank top underneath.  I ended up just going with the tank top.  Spring it here!

Heidi and I arrived a bit later than the last two races, so we didn’t hang out before as long.  By the time we used the bathroom and picked up our bibs, it was time for things to start.  With very little fanfare (just a recording of the Star Spangled Banner), we were off.

I immediately knew that my fitness level was lower than it was a month ago.  Spring break and general lack of motivation has taken its toll on my endurance.  This week I ran twenty-three miles, which is the most I have run in over a month.  I have not run more than seventeen miles since the week of March 14.  But I think that this week marks a turning point.  I am ready to start training again.

The course was reversed from the last two times because they couldn’t get the same start/finish area.  It was an interesting twist.  We began the race with a long stretch of pavement and then a gradual incline of single track.  The steeper fire roads were now in the second half of the race.


I liked being able to go a bit faster on the downhills in the second half.  However, there was no shade during the second half and it did start to get a bit warm.


I started to feel in the groove toward the last part of the race.  It helped that it was mostly downhill.  However, once we got on to the pavement for the final stretch, I was able to kick it up into another gear—one that I thought had disappeared.  I ran my final mile at just under an 8:00 pace!

Just when I was feeling good about being able to kick it up a notch at the end, one runner blew me away.  I was totally impressed.  There was a little girl running with her dad (or coach).  She looked like she was about nine, but looking at the results, I found out she is eleven.  I was going back and forth with her and her dad during the uphill sections of the course.  He was definitely coaching her on how to climb and descend.  When we hit the blacktop for the last section of the race, he told her “this is the home stretch.”  She started picking it up.  A LOT.  As I glanced at my Garmin and saw that I was averaging 8:10, she was pulling away.  Several other runners and I commented on how fast she was.  As she turned into the final straight-away, she was in a full on sprint.  She ended up finishing 45 seconds ahead of me and she was behind me with about a mile to go.  Wow!  

Question:  when can I start my kids running??  How young is too young?   But that might be a question for another post.

I finished 4.85 miles in 47:39 (9:50 average pace).  Even though I didn’t feel as strong as last month, I averaged three seconds faster than the March race!  I think that I am getting better at running downhill and was able to pick up my slack on the downhill sections of the race.

After I finished, I waited for Heidi and cheered for her as she came in.  She did pretty well considering that she hasn’t run much lately either.  She ran pretty comparable to the first run of the series, but not quite as good as last month’s.

We hung out for a bit, socializing with other runners and eating.  They had chili (which tasted surprisingly good after a hot run), raw food bars, bananas and licorice.  They then gave away the raffle prizes.  For three races with numerous small prizes and only a handful of runners, neither Heidi nor I won a single thing!!  That definitely beat the odds.   I really am due for winning something at a race.

I really enjoyed this race series.  It was small, but well-organized.  The runners and the race staff were all very friendly.  The t-shirt, which was optional, was actually pretty cool (pictured above). I will definitely be back again next year.

Happy Trails

The past couple of days have been those beautiful Southern California days that make me remember why my mortgage is so high.  On Sunday, it was crystal clear and 70 degrees.   And I was able to fully enjoy it…

First, I woke up in the dark (dang, it wasn’t dark at 6:20 on Saturday!) after too little sleep to go to the “new member” run for the Southern California Trail Headz running group.  I was a little nervous, since I was meeting new people for the first time.  However, I knew that Glenn would be there and we were running in Peter’s Canyon where I have run before, so I felt comfortable if I had to run on my own.
Everyone was very welcoming and I wasn’t the only newcomer.  I was there for a few minutes and then I saw Glenn join the group.  He was going to run a shorter distance, since he is tapering for the LA Marathon next weekend.  The president* of the club gave some welcoming remarks and we were off.
I started running with two people.  Jen (who was also new) and the guy (I forget his name!) were very nice and we chatted for a few miles.  After a while, I realized that their pace was a little aggressive for me.  I let them pull ahead.  I was officially “dropped.”  I didn’t mind.  I had brought along my iPod and decided to listen to some music and enjoy the trails.
 

I ran around the lake and then took a different path back.  This one went up over the ridge and had some pretty big hills.  It was a good workout.  One of the members of the group, David, caught up with me and we ran the last part of the hills together.  I ended up doing a little over seven miles, I think.  I had forgotten to charge my Garmin, so I ran without it.  Because of the hills and the miles I ran with other people (who were a bit faster than me), it was a pretty tough run.  It felt good.

The group was great.  There were all different paces.  However, it seemed like everyone I talked to had run an ultra.  This is the group I need to join if I am going to run that 50k.  Nearly all of the big trail races have at least one member running.  This would be great for car pooling etc., not to mention having a friendly face around.

There were snacks and chatting afterward.  I really enjoyed it.  I am leaning toward officially joining the group!



After my run, I came home and told my husband and kids that it was a beautiful day and we needed to get out and enjoy it.  We went on a great hike at Oak Canyon Nature Center, which is a couple of miles from our house.  It is wonderful that such a fantastic trail and nature center is minutes from our house.


All in all… it was a great day.  Running with new friends and hiking with my family.   Life is good.


***************************************************************************************
*Funny story and post script…. back in January when I ran the Southern California Half Marathon, I mentioned seeing a woman wearing Crocs running alongside of me at a sub-two-hour pace.  I was, and still am, impressed that someone could run that far and that fast in Crocs.  She helped to motivate me in that race.  I didn’t want to be beat by someone wearing Crocs.  LOL.  I also saw her during Surf City.

Well… she is the president of the Trail Headz!!!  I ran back to the park with her and chatted and she is as nice as can be.  She is also an ultra-stud.  Not only does she run half marathons and marathons in Crocs, but ultra marathons!  Seriously!  She is also training for Vineman Ironman Triathlon.  She is a serious athlete.

So “Croc Lady” is no longer just a story.  She is a real person with a name, Lorraine.   It’s a small world.

Happy Running.

OC Chili Winter Trail Run Series #2 Race Report

Last month I ran the first race of this series and had a great time.  Today Heidi and I came back to do it again* 

I thought it was going to be much warmer.  It was warmer at the start, but never quite warmed up like it did last time.  I wore a tank top with arm warmers and was pretty happy about it (although I was pretty chilly before and after the race).  The weather turned out to be perfect running weather: mostly overcast in the 50’s.

It was a little smaller than last month’s race.  I’m not sure if people are running Catalina Marathon or tapering for LA (although this would be a great taper tempo run).  It was such a nice, friendly atmosphere. 

We started after listening to a recording of Carrie Underwood singing the Star Spangled Banner.    There was very little fanfare and we were off.
As we headed into the single track and up the hill/stairs, the runners were moving a bit faster than last month.  It didn’t feel like quite the bottleneck that it did last time.  I felt like I was moving at a nice clip, alternating between power hiking and jogging up the hills.  The trail widened into more of a fire road and runners were nicely spread out.
The hills were still a little steep, but weren’t quite as steep as I remember.  I think the fact that I have run two other trail runs since the first one has changed my perspective on hills.

 It still is no slouch of a hill....

It was a beautiful course.  I think I am going to have to take my camera along on all trail races from now on!

I carried my water today so I didn’t have to stop at the water station.  It made a difference and I was able to pass quite a few people that way.  Once we hit mile two, the course went downhill and I was able to fly.  It was fun.  I think my confidence is increasing on the downhills.
The course went down a road for a while and then went back into single track.  It was really fun.  There were a couple of spots that had sand.  That wasn’t so fun.  I don’t remember that from last time.  I think that it had rained the day before.
 
See that guy in the distance?  I passed him at the end.  Woo hoo!  There was a guy right on my heels during the single track part.  I kept moving over to the right to let him pass, but he didn’t.  After a while, I decided that I didn’t want to let him.  It was nice feeling “chased;”  it kept me pushing myself.
*Kelly had stuff going on today and is also nursing a sore knee, so she didn’t make it with us.

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PCTR Malibu Creek 25K Race Report

I ran my first Pacific Coast Trail Run today.  I am officially hooked.  It was so much fun.
I was in a good mood as soon as I woke up.  It wasn’t raining.  I could see clouds to the west, so I knew that it could still rain during the race, but we definitely weren’t experiencing one of the El Nino storms of late.  I threw in all sorts of items into the car to prepare for the weather.  I had my windbreaker jacket, a garbage bag, dry clothes for afterward, including my Ugg boots. I didn’t need any of that.

As I arrived in the park, I was struck immediately that this race was well organized.  A race volunteer was collecting money for parking and directing us to the correct parking area.  There were two other volunteers with flags, showing us the way.

I went to pick up my bib and saw a volunteer who I recognized.  Danica!

Shortly after that, my phone rang and it was Penny.  She was in the parking lot and still very tired.  I was excited to finally meet her.  We have run in so many of the same races and missed each other.  It was great hanging out before the race. 

It was soon time to start!  The Race Director was making announcements about the ribbons and following the trails.  He then told us about the river crossing.  He said it was thigh deep.  THIGH deep???  A murmur swept through the crowd.  All the reports from previous years said it was shin deep.  I had been nervous about it before and now I was a tad bit scared.  Luckily, I had asked various people about it and they told me not to worry.  My trail shoes would drain the water just fine and I wouldn’t even notice after a few minutes.

I would soon find out that the river crossing was the least of my worries.  The climbing was way harder than walking through a creek.  It wasn’t quite as steep as the last race I did, but it went up and up and up.  The course basically climbed until after mile 9.  There was a total elevation gain of 3000 feet.  Check out the elevation profile from my Garmin.  I have labeled some of the key spots.


A. The Start.  We were off!  Penny encouraged me to go ahead.  I wished her well and ran off.  I kept with the flow of runners for a while until I looked down at my Garmin and realized I was running pretty fast.  I settled into a nice rhythm and started to climb.  It went into single track and the climbing wasn’t too bad. Yet.
   *
B.The River Crossing.   I was chatting with a guy who was telling me he was going to bypass the creek.  He had no desire to go in thigh deep, cold water.  There was a way to run to the road and cross a bridge.  I considered it, but I wanted to experience the entire thing.  It somehow seemed like a cop out to go across the bridge.

So he and his daughter turned off the trail to the road and I kept following the marked trail.  And then I came upon the river.  I had thought that maybe the RD was exaggerating when he told us about it.  Nope.  It was thigh deep.  Crotch deep for some of the shorter runners in places.  Check it out.

 
My husband made fun of me for not running across it.  I couldn’t make him understand that we were walking on slippery boulders and I was just hoping not to fall.  The reason my camera work was so goofy in the video was because I was focusing on not falling instead of what I was filming.
The crossing was so much fun.  The cold water actually felt good.  So much that I was tempted to go back and do it again after I was done.  I even joked afterwards that I was tempted to do the 50K just so I could cross the creek again.  “What’s stopping you?” one of the runners asked me.  Hmmm….

C. The Climb.  So in wet shoes (which didn’t seem to bug me for very long) we started to climb.  And climb.  And climb.  I walked quite a bit.   I would walk up the incline and then jog when it flattened out or went downhill a bit.  But it seemed to never really level out.

The scenery was stunning. 

D. Ocean Views!   We were soon treated to views of the Pacific Ocean.  I was so glad I brought my camera.  I knew that I wasn’t racing this race, so I thought I would get plenty of pictures.  Another runner even offered to get one with me in it.


E. Little Moab.   One of the other runners told me that one of the areas is known as Little Moab.  I love Moab, Utah and had a fabulous trip there a couple of years ago.  I asked her why and she told me that it was like Slickrock.  That it was.  It was interesting running up (and down) this rocky surface.

F.  Weeeeeeeeeeeeee…….  Running down the hills was so much fun!  I really had to watch my feet, but I felt way more confident than I did during the last trail race. 
It was a lot like skiing moguls or mountain biking; you need to pick your line and go for it.  I would find a good line down the hill that looked to have the least amount of rocks, crevices etc. and I pointed my body that way and ran.   I passed a lot of people during this time. 

At one point I was following a couple of women.  We had a few miles to go.  There was an intersection and they headed to the left.  Intuitively, that felt wrong since I was pretty sure the finish was toward our right.  Then I noticed the trail marker.  I called out to the women who were going up the other trail.  They thanked me for saving them that extra hill that they would have climbed before realizing they were off course. 

G. The Flats.  We ran past some old rusty cars that were left over from the filming of M.A.S.H.  The sign was pretty cool.  It pointed to Boston, Seoul, Coney Island, San Francisco, Tokyo, Burbank, Death Valley, Decatur and another city I can’t make out.  The t-shirt for the run has a drawing of a similar sign with names of the various trails the course goes over. 


H.  More Single Track.  The course went back into some nice shady single track.  By now, it was actually getting warm.  My feet were starting to hurt.

There were a couple parts of the trail where going around the water would be more dangerous than going through it.  I welcomed the cold water on my feet.  I also had some caked mud on my shoes and I felt like the water took some of the weight off.

For as much rain as we had the day before, I was surprised there wasn’t more mud.  These last few miles were the muddiest

I. The Finish.  The end was somewhat uphill.  It was on the roads in the park and it was tough.  I kept trying to remember the beginning of the race to know how long I had to run on this road.  Man, I was tired.  I had been watching a woman in a blue shirt for the last few miles and it was my goal to pass her.  I am not sure if would have finished so strongly if it wasn’t for trying to pass her.   I did, by the way.  And she called me on it afterward, with a smile and a twinkle in her eye.  Trail runners are really nice people.

As I ran to the finish, I gave it all I had.  A guy was walking past and said, “great job, way to finish strong.”  It made me smile.  Then as I ran into the corral, a volunteer looked up from her clipboard and said, “nice job, Lisa!”  I love small races!

I had hoped to finish around three hours, but I really had no idea.  I finished in 3:11:12, which is about 12:15 per mile.  I was thrilled to find out that I came in fourth in my age group!!  The woman that came in third, beat me by twenty seconds.  I am pretty sure I know who she is… she and I went back and forth quite a bit and, in the end, she had a stronger finish. 

They had a nice spread at the end.  By the way, the same spread was at each of the aid stations.  I had never eaten a banana mid-race before—yummy!  It was nice to choose from everything from M&Ms to potato chips.

 
 

It was a wonderful, beautiful day and a really fun race.  I am more convinced than ever that I need to run a 50K.  I couldn’t have done two laps today, but with a bit more training, I know I have it in me.  Either way, I know I’ll be back to this race next year.

Thanks for reading yet another one of my epic race reports.

Happy Running.

*I stole the first single track picture from Penny’s blog.  Mine turned out blurry.  Thanks, Penny!