Miwok 100k

I was talking to Lisa the other day and she said something along the lines of how my next 50 mile race will be my second, but actually it will be my fifth. I realized that I have been very, very lax about posting my race recaps, and I do want to get them down on paper now so that I will remember it in years to come. So, here is the first of several very late recaps. I understand if you want to skip it and go read about something important, like Syria.

I put my name in the lottery for the Miwok 100k with the high expectation that I would not get in, and therefore would not have to run it. Little did I know that if you volunteer for them, you get preferential treatment for the next year's lottery. In 2013, I volunteered. In 2014, my name was picked for the lottery.

I had a good base of miles in early 2014, but then in March, I was injured (Achilles). I took about 4 weeks off from running leading up to Boston, and then had a really crappy race. Miwok was two weeks later. My goal was to finish, naturally, which seemed doable. The cut off time was 16 hours, which would mean I had to do about a 15 and a half minute pace the entire time in order to finish. However, I was still feeling the Achilles a little, and Boston had also kicked my butt, so I really was not sure what to expect. My plan was to stick with a friend of mine, Kelly, who is usually in the back half of the middle of the pack. This way, I would have moral support, as well as hopefully not overdoing it physically.

Approximately 12,000 ft of climbing

Miles 1 - 10: It started off with a pretty gradual uphill on a single track trail, where we all did the conga line for a while. This went on for about three miles and then it leveled out on the Bolinas ridge trail, which was good, except that it was still a very narrow and rutted single track through tall grass, and it was still pretty slow going, due to the conga line. It didn't spread out until maybe about mile 6 or 7, when it became a fire trail. The good part about this, is that it was an out and back section, so from mile 7 to the aid station (and turn around) at mile 10, you could see who was ahead of you and then afterward you could see who was behind. This often means cheering for a lot of your friends and/or fellow racers.

Bolinas Ridge Trail

Mile 10 - 20: There was an aid station around mile 10, where we got sunscreen and cheer from our friend Jenni. The aid station was also back at the bottom of a small hill, so afterward we hiked back up the hill, and back along the fire road. I remember talking to my running buddy about everything under the sun: her parents and their wacky ways, life in general, the price of gas when we started driving. At this point, the guy hiking up the hill next to us, who was wearing the craziest Hawaii printed swimming trunks, said gas was about .24 cents when he started driving. After that it was a really long uphill trek along the Matt Davis trail to Cardiac aid station, which is at the top of the hill. I was already starting to feel my Achilles and I wined to Kelly but she was not having any of that. She basically told me to shape up and get over it, and that there was no way I was going to quit this race. So I shut up and got over it (mostly).

Mile 20 - 30: After Cardiac, it is downhill to Muir Beach. This was one of my least favorite sections. The downhill was not too bad, but after the big downhill, you get to the highway, and have to run along that for a couple miles to get to Muir Beach. I was not a fan of the highway. After the highway, you reach the Zen center, but at that point, I was not feeling so zen. At Muir Beach, Jenni once again was there for moral support. We loaded up on watermelon and potatoes and started the climb up the Miwok trail.

Mile 30 - 40: At this point I was feeling okay. My Achilles was aching a little and my muscles were definitely reminding me that I was under-trained. At this point Kelly and I were not really saying too much to each other anymore. We had pretty much chatted non-stop for the first 30 miles, but now we were focusing on the path ahead of us. Of course it was another big uphill and another long down to get to the place I was most looking forward to, which was the Tennessee Valley aid station. Here is where I had my drop bag with lube, sunscreen, extra food and best of all, an extra pair of shoes and socks.

Changing my shoes and socks at mile 36 (TV) was the best thing I think I have ever done in my life. I felt refreshed and my toes felt happier. I resupplied my pack, threw away my garbage, grabbed a hummus and pita from the aid station and we hit the road again. Jenni was there again, which was mostly because her husband, who she was crewing, was running at about the same pace as us. I was even more glad to see her this time, as my spirits were starting to flag a bit by now. The fact that she was wearing a super woman outfit and a sparkly tutu was probably a big plus.

Trail angels

Mile 40 - 50:  The last section was a 11  mile loop around the coast and back to TV before heading on the final stretch home. This included one of the most beautiful parts of the course. First you go around on a bluff overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and the city. Then you head back around to the TV aid station at mile 47. At this point, I was pretty tired. I recovered my drop bag and was fishing around for more food when I ran into Dennis, an running friend of mine, who was pacing someone else. He told me to stop lollygagging and to get a move on. I was a bit bummed by the remaining aid station food, which consisted of jelly beans and cold pizza. I was feeling kind of hungry though, so I ate a few jelly beans and we headed out. Joining up with us was Kelly's pacer, John.

View of the city from the Coastal trail.

Next you go up, up, up the Coastal trail and then down to Pirates cove and then back up to the top of the hill again before heading to Muir beach. On this section we caught up again with Hawaiian shorts dude, whose name turned out to be Bob. We had been leapfrogging him for quite some time and as we headed up the hill on the Coastal trail, we chatted with him once again. I was really dreading the downhills more than the uphill.

Pirates Cove

Mile 50 - 62: Around mile 51, we got back to the Muir beach aid station. At this point I was pretty ready to be done. I knew what I had left: the paved section again, then back up the Cardiac hill to the Cardiac aid station. I knew that once I reached this, I would be fine. However, I was dreading the final downhill from Cardiac, as I remembered it as quite steep and my quads were pretty mad at me right now. Also, I was not sure if we would make it to the finish before dark, but I really wanted to try. We headed out. As we hit the pavement, my mind said, "screw this, I am going to move as fast as possible in order to get this over with" and I left Kelly and John in the dust. Okay, not really the dust, since (a) we were on pavement and (b) I was only running a few seconds faster than them. I passed about 10 people on this section, as many of them were walking, but I did not want to slow down; I just wanted to be done.

Next was the hill to Cardiac. This was not as bad as I thought it may be. I plodded along, passing people, getting passed, until I reached the aid station at the top of the hill. At this point, the sun was halfway down and it was getting  bit dusky. The aid station only had dry PB&Js and warm sports drink, so I left without getting anything and headed down the hill. The good thing was that it was not as steep as I remember it being and I actually ran down it the entire way. The other plus was that the sun was going down and I had a beautiful view of the sunset and the ocean as I was coming down the hill.

Dipsea trail to Stinston beach

I crossed the finish line with a time of 15:11, just as dark was beginning to fall.

The Verdict? Was this my fastest race? No. However, it was all in all not as bad as I thought it would be, having gone into it with a minor injury and not enough training. Would I like to do it again? Probably, because I know that I can do it better. Was I proud of myself? Definitely. This, to date, is my longest distance ever and I finished the race before the cutoff. That is something to be proud of. And actually, I was less sore in the days after Miwok than I was in the days following Boston.

Now the question is...since this is a Western States qualifying race, will I put my name in the lottery for WSER next year? I think I have to. Don't I?

What is the longest distance you have ever run? Do you ever post recaps really late just to have a record or would you say, "forget about it" after a certain amount of time has gone by?

Read More

Quad Dipsea

So this space has become an area for race recaps and.... not much else.

I hope everyone had a really great Thanksgiving! I did. I double booked myself and had BBQed turkey and 3 different kinds of pie at my brother's house and then had second turkey dinner with homemade candy at my aunt's house. The best part was my parents made it to both, which I missed last year (they went back East last year). So it was good times, good food, good friends, good family! And I took home the carcass and made some super good stock.

So...how to burn off these two dinners (and massive quantities of dessert)? Hill work, of course.

You may remember I have mentioned the Dipsea before. It claims to be the oldest trail race and has been going on for over 100 years. It goes from Mill Valley, up and over a hill and then back down to Stinson Beach.

The quad Dipsea is up and over to Stinson, and then back to Mill Valley and then back to Stinson again and then back to Mill Valley. The first section from Mill Valley, for about a mile and a gain of around 500 feet, is all stairs. After that, it's back down hill and then you begin the climb to Cardiac.

It was about 40 degrees when we started. I opted to go with tank top and shorts because I had made the overdressed mistake in the past. I ran this as one of my team races, with an ultra team that I joined a few months back. The other members are a lot of fun and are very encouraging. We don't run together, but it's still fun to have more people to cheer on along the way.

The first climb was not bad. I had a lot of energy. I was passing people, as I often do on the uphills. I got to the top of Cardiac and skipped the first aid station. I headed back down the other side to Stinson and was still feeling great. This race was fun for the fact that once I got about half way down, the leaders of the pack started to come back up. There were so many "great jobs" and "way to gos" being thrown out and you saw so many people that you knew, whether they were in front of you or behind you. It was very encouraging, especially since trail races usually are not very well spectated, due to their difficulty to reach for most people.

I got down to Stinson Beach and fueled up with some cantaloupe and headed back up the hill to Cardiac. This section is partly trail, partly stairs and it pretty steep the entire way. This section was mostly speed hiking/jog/walking. There was barely any time when it wasn't either uphill or downhill. Usually there is some flat, but this time, there was very little. Finally, it was back to Cardiac again and then back down the big hill, back up the little hill and then DOWN the stairs, which was way harder than up, since they are all different lengths and heights. It is hard to get a rhythm, plus there are other regular Saturday walkers out and about with their dogs and kids and families.

I arrived back at Mill Valley and my family was there, cheering me on. My Mom snapped this photo; it makes me look really fast.

After another handful of canteloupe and a piece of pumpkin pie (I love ultra food!) I headed BACK up the stairs. This was not too bad either. Of course, this time, I was not moving as fast as I had the first time! But I was still feeling good. At Cardiac I ran into a friend who was taking photos, gave him a high five and headed back down the hill again. Before I reached Cardiac, the front runner passed me heading the other way. The next person behind him was at Cardiac at the same time as me, making him about 20 minutes behind the leader. It was pretty impressive. He was just blowing down the hills like a maniac!

On the way down to Stinson, I still felt good. I saw a ton of people I knew and the "good jobs" were still flowing! I got to the beach, ate, and headed back to Cardiac. This is where is got a little difficult. After Cardiac, the long downhill was a bit muddy and rocky, with roots and rocks and bumps in the ground. My knees were starting to get a little tired, but it didn't seem like a big deal. Then one of them really started to bug me, so instead of overdoing it, I slowed to a walk for a while. I got passed by a bunch of people, including 2 girls (darn it!) at this point.

When I got to the stairs, I took it easy, and got back to the end a little after I wanted. I had set a goal of 5:45, but I came in at 5:52. I was still happy to be under 6 hours though!

Total elevation gain: 9200 feet

The winner set a new course record of 3:48. You can read more about it here. The second place runner got 4:15. The first girl got 5:06. I call that impressive! I was the number 10 female out of 72, and the 59th out of 249 overall.

I don't know if I burned off my two turkey dinners, but I sure had fun trying! (PS I went to the gym on Monday and there were at least 2x more people than normal. I am not the only one trying to burn off that turkey!)

How did you burn off your turkey dinner? What did you do for Thanksgiving? Do you participate in a turkey trot or any Thanksgiving day exercise?

Read More

The Dipsea

Like I said yesterday, I have to tell you guys about this funny local race we have. It's called the Dipsea Race and it's supposedly the oldest trail race in the nation and one of the oldest foot races in general. It began in 1905 and aside from a couple of missed years during WWII, has been going strong ever since. It goes from a town called Mill Valley to Stinson Beach and is 7.5 miles long.

starting the climb

To get from the start to the finish, you first climb a series of stairs and then a large hill, before heading back down to the beach. The fun thing about this race is you can get there any way you want. If you know a shortcut, you are allowed to use it. There is also a handicap system in place, based on your age, so it's not always the youngest who win the race. In fact, the 2012 winner was 72 years old.

Up, up, up

After the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, my family, who lived in the city at the time, moved out to Mill Valley, and my relatives ran this race shortly after that. When I was one month old, my entire family ran this race and I was there to cheer them on.

My Dad and Aunt getting ready to run.

It is difficult to get into. They only allow about 1,500 people and they have a very strange entry system. If you have not run it before, it is really hard to get in. If you ran last year and you were one of the first 500, you get a chance to register early for this year's race. After that, the application is posted online at noon on a Saturday and you have to print it out and send it via snail mail and the first 500 who get there first get in. For the next few hundred or so, there is a lottery and then the remaining slots can be bid on, sometimes going for hundreds of dollars.

Heading down to Stinson Beach

There is a wild card. If you have a "sob story" you can include it in your packet to attempt to get in. We did this. Our story was how three generations of our family have run this and we would like the fourth (my brother and I) to be able to join the tradition.

We did not get in.

The race is this weekend, and like I said yesterday, last weekend my brother and I decided to hike the trail instead, in honor of my Dad and his family who have run it. What I learned is that we probably want to practice, as it is quite a climb (2,200 ft). Also, we need to practice in order to beat the old guys! They were passing us as we were hiking and they really know their stuff. I don't want to get beat by a 72 year old!

So, we will rework our sob story and we will try again next year!

Have you ever really wanted something but didn't get it? Did you try again or give up? What do you think a better "sob story" would be? 

Read More

Hood Mountain & Mt. Tam

My family likes to scale tall things. I have mentioned before how my Dad and his friends like to climb to the highest points in each state, but we also like to climb anything tall. Or taller than something else. Or not tall at all. So...pretty much anything.

For instance, we have climbed to the top of Mt Shasta before. The last time we did it was June of 2009. So we figured we were about due for another trip. (However, I just read the recap from last time and I realize it's funny how easily we forget how difficult things are!)

Base camp is at approximately 7,000 ft. The top is at 14,179 ft. It really is pretty much straight up on the way up and if you are lucky, it is snowy, and you can glissade (slide on your butt) half of the way down. That's an approximate elevation gain of 7,000 feet. After races like this, it would seem easy, right? It's not. The high elevation really takes every bit of energy you've got out of you.

So Broski and I are "training" a bit. We never intended to train, but I had a free day a few weeks ago, and he and I decided to hike what we thought** was the tallest mountain in his county, Sonoma County. This is called Hood Mountain (#1), and is about 2,733 feet.

1: Hood, 2: Tam, 3: Diablo

It was approximately 3 miles each way and the day we did it, it was about 100 degrees. We did not bring enough water and there was no water along the way. To top that off, I ran into a poison oak bush with my face near the top and so we ran down to try to get to a stream to rinse it before the oils set in. However, it was a pretty cool hike. From the top you can see Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley and the Pacific Ocean. (**note: the tallest one is actually Mt. Saint Helena at 4,342 ft. Boy were we off by a few feet!)

View from the top of Hood Mountain

Next up was Marin County, where the tallest is Mt. Tam (#2), at 2,574 ft. As a sidenote, there is a really famous trail race called the Dipsea, which I will actually probably tell you more about tomorrow because otherwise this post is going to be way too long... Let's just say that we took the long way to the top of Mt. Tam (via the Dipsea trail), so our hike lasted all day. It was a great hike though, taking us past the ocean, through the redwoods, and to the top of many a grassy knoll. If we would have went straight up, it would have been about a 2,500 ft elevation gain, but we took a detour, which caused our climb to be about 5,000 ft instead. This hike took us about 9 hours, since we did the detour, which caused our total mileage to be about 22 miles.

This time we brought enough water. In fact, Broski carried about 8 liters (and two beers!) and I carried 2.5 liters. We were so paranoid after the dehydration from Hood Mountain! However, there were places to fill up your water this time. But we were really glad we brought our own because we froze all the bottles so we would have cold water and it was so nice, since it was about 90 degrees that day and was really dusty to boot!

From the top -- with view of the TINY city in the background

Up next is Mt. Diablo (#3), the tallest in Contra Costa county, at 3,849 ft (source). We are ready!

I am not sure this will truly ready us for the thin air of Mt. Shasta, but it's worth a shot and it's fun to do regardless of whether or not it's helping! Of course it's much easier to hike with a tiny Nathan hydration vest rather than a 40 lb pack!

Do you like hiking? Do you have a favorite type of hike? What is your weekend hobby?

Read More

Miwok 100k

For a minute there you thought I did a 100k this weekend, didn't you? Well, as much as I would love to say that I did, I did not. In fact, none of the people who ran this race did a 100k. Let me back up a bit. The Miwok 100k is a 62.2 mile trail race with over 12,000 feet of elevation gain. It is held in Marin County, in the Headlands, which are just north of San Francisco. It is a beautiful place to run and the race is world renowned.

Rodeo Beach

Just a little *extra* Ultra info for you: one of the most widely known races is called the Western States 100 (mile) and it's held in Lake Tahoe. To get into the WSER, you have to qualify, just like Boston, so it's a big deal. To qualify, you have to run certain races within a certain time. For a 100km race, you have to finish within 15 hours to qualify. Then you have to enter the lottery and only a handful of people (369) are chosen to run the WSER.

The Coastal Trail

On Saturday, I headed to the headlands very early in the morning to get a run in before helping man the Tennessee Valley aid station, which was supposed to be mile 36 and 48 for the runners. I ran a loop around the headlands that shows some of the many variations of flora in the area. There were Eucalyptus, grasslands, and brushy areas; there were views of the rolling hills, the city, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Pacific Ocean. I started off around 5 am, in the dark and so I got to see a beautiful sunset light up the sky just as I was nearing the top of a hill where I had a view of San Francisco.

San Francisco in the distance

THIS is why I run.

I got back to the aid station and got straight to work. However, I soon found out that the threat of fire had caused a red flag warning which had shut down parts of the race course, making it no longer a 100k, but roughly a 60k instead.

However, like ultra runners do, people remained in good spirits (even though this was going to mess up their chance to qualify for Western States). We were now mile 12 and 25. The first guys passed us in about 1:40. With my limited math skills, I still call that about an 8 minute mile. On the trails! These guys impress me so much. By the way, the first girl was not too far behind them!

Coastal Trail with coast view

I had a great time making sandwiches, cutting potatoes, filling bowls of peanut M&Ms,  handing out water and making sure people were doing okay; the camaraderie was unmatchable. There were even two random guys who had biked over with their Go Cam and jumped in to help volunteer for a couple of hours while they were waiting for their friend to pass by.

THIS is why I love the running community.

In longer races, the runners get crew and pacers. The crew are fun; they wait for the runner and then douse them with water, ice and sunscreen, jam a Gu in their mouth and hand them a new water bottle...and they're off! The pacers only get to run the last section with the runner, which would have been about 20 miles, but turned out to only be 12. Everyone there was energetic and supportive and having a good time. Even the runners I met who were dropping out were still positive about things.

Verdict? I would volunteer for this race again in a heartbeat. Also, maybe someday I will even run it!

Have you ever volunteered for anything? Did you learn anything from it? Would you be mad if your race was nearly cut in half on the morning of the race?

Read More

The Last Half

Last week I asked my brother if he would want to run one last race with me in 2012. It was a trail race and there were four options: 8k, Half Marathon, 30k or 50k. I was going to run the 30k and assumed he would want to run the 8k, since it was a pretty steep race and I figured he would want to take it kind of easy for his first trail race.

He chose the half marathon. So we did it together.

It was good! It started off in Rodeo Beach in the Marin Headlands and the first mile was a half mile out and back on a road. We missed the turn and followed some other runners, so ended up running about an extra half mile right at the get go. Then it started uphill.

For the next two miles, we climbed about 700 feet. Broski wanted to run the hills, but I was trying to be the voice of reason and remind him that we sill had a long way to go!

Once we got to mile four, the trail went downhill again by about 500 feet, where we stopped for some snacks. Broski had to lube up and luckily in most trail races they have everything you need at the aid stations! We ate a few pretzles and a swig of coke and then it was back uphill for another 700 feet. We walked it and were passed by quite a few people at this point.

At the next aid station, which was at mile 10, Broski admitted to being pretty tired in the legs and said he "hoped there were no more uphills or steep downhills!" Luckily there weren't. From there it was a pretty steady decline to the end.

About a tenth of a mile from the end, I was enjoying the view while running down a small hill and I tripped on a rock and fell, scraping up my hands and knee pretty bad. Luckily only a couple of people saw me! Because that is what really matters...

We finished in 2:37 with smiles on our faces. Okay that was a lie. I had a grimace because I had rocks and dirt stuck in my knee and I was bleeding everywhere. Broski had a grimace because his legs felt like rubber rocks and he just wanted this to be over with.

So now my brother will probably never run with me again.

Total Elevation Gain: 2,200 ft
Average pace: 11:19
Kicking your brother's a**: Timeless

Have you ever run a trail race with a significant elevation gain? What is the hardest race you have ever run? Have you ever fallen down and skinned your knee (as an adult)?

Read More

Weekend Activities

Last weekend was a crazy busy one. The last weekends of summer are upon us and everyone is trying to cram everything in while they can! I had two great days with family and friend filled events on each one.

Friday night included drinks out with friends at the Pier 23 cafe in San Francisco.  They were giving away free samples of Air, which is a beer mixed with carbonated water. It was gross. I was not compensated to say that.

Saturday started early with a really nice walk with a friend in the morning. After that, it was my grandma's 80th birthday party. She is my father's mother. My father is one of six kids, each with kids and some of them with kids! In addition to that, there were several cousins, step this and thats, in-laws and other friends of the family. I think all in all we were maybe 50, maybe more. It was held in the North Bay Area, in a park where there was a fabulous view of the city across the bay. We ate WAY too much food, but I did it in the name of carb-loading. A perk of being a runner? Everything is in the name of "carb-loading".

My favorite part of the party? My cousin made us color coordinated name tags. I was wearing a yellow shirt. By saying that, I just realized that I didn't get any photos of myself that day.

After the party, I raced to get to the race expo in time to pick up my bib. Then I went over to my brother's house and he made us a hearty carb loading Mexican Fiesta with fresh veggies from his garden! We had steak, fresh made salsa, black beans and rice! It was delicious! And I was so busy visiting I didn't take any photos of that either!

I got up early on Sunday morning for the marathon where I ran my buns off. My family was there to support me and luckily the course was conducive to their being able to see me several times. I will do a real recap in a couple of days, but for now, just check this out!

Holy crap; I am so excited. I don't think it hit me until I was writing up this post... I mean... WOO HOO!

After the race, I had a great brunch with my family at the Omelette Express, did some grocery shopping, watered the garden, made my lunches for the week and then passed the heck out! I feel like I need a vacation from my weekend!

How was your weekend? Are you trying to cram it all in at the very end of summer? Have you ever been to Sonoma county?

Read More