Once again, life picked up its pace and I got behind on my blogging. Between a work conference in Miami and then two weeks of following Olympics, it has now been over a month since I ran
Coastal Trail Run's Golden Gate 50k! Oops. Despite the delay, I still want to report on the race because Coastal Trail Runs put out yet another great event and I look forward to running it again next year.
What is better than a cool, summer race with views of the Pacific coastline and the Golden Gate bridge? Not much... unless you throw in Grape Nuun and peanut butter GUs. :) (My new favorite.) On July 14, Burnout Bear and I both ran in the Golden Gate event. Burnout Bear ran the marathon and I decided to "splurge" and run the 50k in order to fit in more training. This would be only my second 50k, but I figured that it would at least be slightly easier than the Ohlone 50k with "only" 6300 feet of climbing. I knew that the views of Pirates Cove and the Golden Gate bridge would be outstanding, so I decided to go for it.
Since my cookies were a hit at the San Lorenzo Marathon, I decided to bake again for the Golden Gate event. This time, I whipped up two batches of peanut butter cookies and iced an orange bridge on top of each one. Maybe baking cookies would bring me good luck again?
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| Peanut Butter. Yum. |
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| Burnout Bear and Chris Jones at the Marathon start (courtesy of Chris Jones) |
The morning was extremely cool, with temperatures starting only in the 50s. While it made for a chilly wait for the start, it was perfectly comfortable for running. The first 5 miles / orange loop up to Pirates Cove was a challenge and included some steep climbs and even stairs, but the the views of the ocean cliffs were worth the effort. Then, it was off to two loops of the half-marathon course / pink loop. I was taking it easy on the first loop to reserve energy for the second one and to make sure that I didn't go off-course. While the trail marking was superb, I tend to zone out when I run... I usually try to study the course beforehand and forgot this time. Not good. I actually missed a turn at one point and started running up a big hill. Luckily, I heard another runner dressed in army garb and a backpack yell up to me, "Hey! Are you running this race?" Good thing I wasn't wearing any headphones yet and came running back down. Close call.
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| Golden Gate course map. |
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| A glimpse of the shoreline (courtesy of CTR) |
During the first 18 miles (orange loop and first pink loop), it was hard to tell what place I was in since there were a lot of 30k runners mixed in, as well. Once I started the second and final pink loop, I was able to better gage where I stood. There was another runner dressed in red not far ahead of me, and I was determined to catch her. I plugged in my headphones now that I knew the course and stepped on the gas. I caught up to her 3-4 miles later and was felling really good. So, I kept up with the pace and told myself that I would not walk any hills for the rest of the course. There was a chance that I could be in first place and I wanted to hold onto it. Plus, I had peeked at the course record before the race and saw that it was 5:46; I thought that I might have a chance to break it.
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| Burnout Bear finishes his third marathon! (courtesy of CTR) |
Six miles later, I reached the final aid station. This time, I remembered to grab some soda before heading to the finish (unlike during the Ohlone 50k). They didn't have any more Coke available, but they did have Sprite which I gladly drank. It tasted amazing and I felt instantly re-energized. Along with some electrolyte drink and Perpetuum, I was ready to jog it into the finish.
The final 1-2 miles of the course is on a paved road following the coastline. Once I pulled onto the road and out of the woods, I saw that there was another female about 100 yards ahead of me - ack! I could have sworn that she was running the 30k based on how fast she flew out at the start. She saw me and sped up immediately. My legs were feeling tired at this point (maybe I shouldn't have run all of those hills?) and I didn't have enough power left to break into a sprint and catch her. I tried keeping a good clip to close the gap between us, but she just kept doing the same. It was exciting to feel like I was truly racing the end of my second 50k, but it was exhausting. She ran a great race and I never did catch her. We both ended up breaking the old course record. I crossed the finish at 5:32, only a minute and a half behind the first place female finisher and new course record holder. I was disappointed, but now I have a new goal for next year. :)
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| Bear and Turtle after the races - I earned my first Coastal 50k coaster! (courtesy of Chris Jones) |
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| Receiving my First Place Age Group award from Race Director Wendell Doman (courtesy of Chris Jones) |
