Nutritious Humble Pie

It has been a couple weeks since my last post, so I figured that I would catch up while I sit icing my knees at the end of my last long run weekend before the Ohlone 50k.  It has been a busy couple of weeks full of humbling experiences.

Burnout Bear (middle) runs through a shady stretch.

Two weekends ago, Burnout Bear and I ran Brazen Racing's Diablo Trails Challenge Half Marathon.  We knew that it was going to a tough race when the high temperature for the day was predicted to reach the upper 80s.  Mount Diablo can feel scorching on warm days due to its exposed trails, and this day was no exception.  Luckily, there were 25 creek crossings on the course.  Normally, I wouldn't have been psyched about running 13 miles with soaked shoes and socks, but it actually felt refreshing that day and I looked forward to splashing around in each upcoming creek.  Burnout Bear had a tough time with the heat and I managed to catch up to him at mile 9.  We ran the rest of the course together and even crossed the finish line hand-in-hand.  I was hoping to find a Brazen volunteer taking pictures at the finish since Burnout Bear and I don't usually cross the line together, but no such luck.  We knew that it was not a spectacular performance, but we were further disappointed when the clock at the finish read 2:16.  We had worked as hard as we could and only ran a 10:25 pace!  To make matters worse, the top 3 females finished within seconds of one another (and over 10 minutes before we reached the finish), all breaking the course record.  So, obviously the conditions were not that bad and their success only amplified our feelings of defeat.

Trying to stay ahead...

The "Grizzly Peak Bear" cools off in a Diablo creek.

So, since then, Burnout Bear and I have tried to keep our chins up and focus on our Ohlone 50k training.  The humbling Diablo race experience served as motivation to get stronger.  Our final long training run was approaching and we had to figure out where to run 26 hilly miles on our own since we couldn't find a local trail marathon to participate in.  At the last minute, we decided that it was best to run the race course itself since the temperatures and trail conditions would probably be similar on race day.  To make sure that we would complete all 26 miles without quitting, we planned to run the entire Ohlone trail from the Stanford entrance at Mission Peak in Fremont all the way to Del Valle Lake in Livermore.  This, of course, required some vehicle coordination, parking one car in Del Valle Park early in the morning and then having to retrieve the other car in Fremont at the end of the day.  We ran into some of our friends from the Mission Peak Striders running club on the other side of Mission Peak, and it was a nice treat to catch up with them for a few minutes.  (They must have began running super early in the morning as they were running over the peak and back and were already on the return stretch.)  Burnout Bear and I continued running down into Sunol and stopped to fill up on water.  I looked into my Salomon pack and the bladder read over 40 oz.  I was surprised to find so much water remaining and decided not to fill it up any further.  This was a big mistake.  Apparently, you need to remove the bladder from the pack to acquire an accurate volume.  I ended up having less than 30 oz remaining and this is not enough to reach Rose Peak on a warm day.  We were both dry 3 miles before the peak - and that's 3 miles left of climbing.  So, I swallowed my pride, walked up to a group of hikers and asked if they could refill one of Burnout Bear's bottles for us.  Luckily, they were loaded with fresh water that they just filtered from a nearby pond, saving us from dehydration.  We were so incredibly thankful.  It was not long after Rose Peak, however, when both Burnout Bear and myself began to tire.  The trail bumps along for about 4 miles after the peak, which is very fatiguing after just having climbed both Mission and Rose Peaks.  From then on, we started walking each climb, feeling more and more discouraged.  We had hoped to hold a 12 minute pace as I did during the Grizzly Peak marathon, but we were much, much slower than that at this point.  Our enthusiasm was crushed, increasing our respect for anyone who has ever completed the Ohlone 50k.  We completed 26.5 miles and can only hope to finish all 31 miles of the course on race day!  Our goals for the race are:

• Finish!
• Carry enough water and nutrition.
• Enjoy our first 50k as much as possible.

There is going to be a new moon the evening before the race and a solar eclipse during the late afternoon on race day, so there are already signs that this will be a memorable day!

As for today, I had to complete my final 10 mile "recovery" jog around Brushy Peak.  It was another warm day and Burnout Bear couldn't join me due to work obligations.  So, I was on my own to push through the miles.  I felt embarrassed when bikers passed, or when I had to shuffle past hikers and wished that I could wear a sign reading "I just ran a marathon yesterday!" to explain my sad state.  My goal was to reach Brushy Peak without walking.  This was a tough challenge on tired legs, but I managed to keep putting one foot in front of the other until I successfully reached the peak.  I celebrated by stopping to look out over the town of Livermore for a few minutes and sucked down a warm gel that tasted like raspberry pie.  I realized that this is why I am a trail runner: every day has its own unique challenge (weather, terrain, fatigue) and this keeps the sport interesting; some days you succeed, and some days you just have to eat a slice of humble pie.

Now, taper time!...