Mud, Mud and Mud - the Sequoia 30K Trail Race

I am behind in my posting - been a busy last couple of weeks with the baby and work.  But, I have been able to get my runs in.  Last week I ran 15 miles at the Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve.  I left my iphone in the car so I was unable to get pictures.

This weekend, Saturday, was the Sequoia 30K race.  There was a storm in the area so I was quite unsure how the conditions would be.  It rained a lot in the south bay on Friday so I was thinking of backing out.  But, I have the Oakland Marathon coming up at the end of March and needed a good training run in.

I woke up early and make the drive across the bay.  I arrived at the same time as my running friends.  One was coming off an injury, another was recovering from a very long flu and another was running the 50K.  I knew they would be there, but it was great to see your running friends from the get go. I overheard someone introduce herself to someone (I was just standing near my friends waiting to start).  I knew aron was running the race and this person sort of looked like her (from what I could recall) and it sounded like she said her name was aron.  I was maybe 60% sure it was her so I introduced myself and she confirmed that it was her.  It was great to see another person that I knew on my first trail race!

The race started and I felt good.  Though, I was very conflicted.  Two of my running friends can generally go faster than me (but one was injured and one had been sick so they were taking it slower).  I was not sure if I should wait for them or keep going on.  I promised my wife I would try to be back about 1:30/2pm so I wanted to maintain a solid pace.  I ended up going ahead (still feel a little bad).  :(   I enjoy running with people and talking with people, so it can also be very fun to run with your friends.  But, I needed a good training run.

Well if I knew what was going to be a head of me, I might have waited for them.  The conditions were . . . well . . . muddy.  I hate the mud now!  There were a lot of rolling hills.  Which means a lot of downhills.  Which means many muddy downhills.  Oh, I was also running in running shoes, not trail shoes (due to my prior knee problems I only feel comfortable in 1 type of shoe and it is not a trail shoe).  The downhills were a nightmare for me.  I could not stop my speed or, frankly, my direction.  It was very frustrating.  I would try to go slow and then I would build up speed and I could not slow down.  The mud gave me horrible footing.  I felt horrible because I almost ran into a couple of runners at various times (including aron . . .sorry).  I decided (it was early in the race maybe mile 4 or so) that I would have to walk downhill if it looked muddy.  I did not want to hurt myself or, worse, someone else.

I battled the frustration of running in the mud for a while.  I actually was not having that much fun.  And, running a race is suppose to be fun.  Luckily, I ran into this:

The trail is now a little river.

It was great.  I ran through the middle.  My shoes got very wet, but already were anyway.  The good thing is it made me laugh.  I told myself that I just need to enjoy the rest of the race.  If it was muddy and I had to walk, then so be it.  If the trail was full of water, so be it.  That is the beauty of running. You can go out there and do it even when the conditions are not optimal.

So I told myself that every time I feel that I am losing my balance or I have to run through water, I will just laugh and enjoy the experience.  Soon I started feeling good out there.  Enjoying the race.  I ran into someone who was running a 50K and we talked for a little while (it was her 3rd ultra).  I than ran into one of my running friends (the injured one) - he turned around after a while because he did not want to push his recovery.  I talked to him for a while.

The next thing I knew is that I was at the aid station.  I filled up my water.  He told me it was 2.7 to the finish.  I looked at my watch and thought there is no way I can make under 4 hours.  I went ahead and tried to run a little faster to see if maybe I could get close to 4 hours.  I did not have a goal time for the race, but under 4 would be nice.  I kept checking my Garmin and it did not look good.  But, then, out of now where the finish was in site.  I thought is this correct (I had to have a least a mile more)?  This has to be the 50K finish.  Nope, it was the 30K. I finished in about 3:51.  I found out that the aid station was 2.7k away.  I just assumed I had 2.7 miles to get to the finish.  It felt great to finish.

I also came away very impressed with the ultra runners.  To run 31plus miles in those conditions . . . is very impressive!

To show that I was not kidding about the mud, here is some proof:

My pictures of the race came out horrible.  I would check out Aron's blog as she has some good pictures.  Here are some of my pictures:

And, the best part of my day was coming home to Brooklyn:

Brooklyn is two months old today and Joseph D. Grant Trail Run

Today, Brooklyn turned two months old.  It is very exciting.  At times, it seems like she has been with us for a long time.  But, other times it feels as if the two months went by very fast.

Here is a picture of her on 2/14 with the dress I bought her:

I love her so much!

Last week, I ran 21 miles a the Joseph D. Grant Park. The run was very long. There were alot of hills and we took 1 wrong turn which caused a 18 mile run to turn into a 21 mile run.  The trail itself was okay.  There were not many trees to provide cover so during summer it would be tough to do a long run.  There were a lot of hills (many ups and downs).  Going up to 2800 or so feet.  I'll show the run through my poor quality pictures:

As you can tell, lots of hills with little cover.  For the winter it is great though.  You get a lot of good views especially when you get to the top of the hills. 

A view of San Jose

A look out over the hills:

Another view of San Jose:

The trails were wide and open for the most part.  Lots of room:

People in my running group coming up a hill:

One of the lookouts (this one is about 2500 feet):

Another view of the hills:

We were not alone out there, here is someone that kept us company:

Sequoia 30K signed up and please lower the TV!

Attempt number 2.  I just spend 15 minutes typing and then lost all of my words.

In summary:

1.  Last weekend, I ran 14 miles at Steven's Creek Trail to Shoreline.  I think it was 14 miles.  My Garmin froze on me.  Very annoying, but what can you do?  Run!  So with a frozen Garmin, I ran in the rain and cold a good 14 miles or so.  It was a nice easy run.

2.  The weekend before I ran 17 miles at Rancho.  I ran up to Black Mountain and then around Rancho.  It was a difficult run, but a great day for running. The weather was nice and cool.  Great views of the Silicon Valley (pictures below)

3.  I signed up for the Sequoia 30K trail run on Feb. 27th.  My first trail race.  I thought it would be good training for the Oakland marathon.

4.  I have still been using the treadmill at work often to get my weekday runs in.  My one issue is why do people have the TV so loud?  I mean I am 25 feet away on the treadmill and that thing is blasting.  It is loud for me to hear.  I don't understand.

Six weeks old! And, January Update

I started blogging because I wanted to log my running activities and keep a record of important events so that I can look back and see my thoughts/words. I am going to try incorporating Brooklyn into my blog more and how she relates to my running (at times even how she does not relate to my running).
My running is very important to me (not as important as Brooklyn and my family). For me, it is very important to stay in shape. Before I started running, I was overweight and had high blood pressure. I am going to be 40 this year and with a newborn, I want to stay in solid/strong shape as she grows. I love running so it is something that I can do to stay in shape.  Here are two pictures before I got back to running (pictures in late Feb and early March of 2008) and a picture after my last marathon:

Brooklyn is now six weeks old (on 1/30/2010). I cannot believe how fast the time has gone. She was born on 12/19 (after a 48plus hour labor). I took the next two weeks off work . . . or at least tried to. I had some urgent client matters so I ended up having to work some from home. That was very stressful - trying to work from home with a newborn. I wanted to take a little more time off (at least 1 more week), but it was clear the client matters would not die down and it would be too stressful to be at home trying to get the matters done so I went back to work on 1/4.

Here are some adjustments that I had to make:

One big adjustment has been working from home. Before, I would always have my laptop open and be able to get back to clients even if it is 11pm or past midnight if something urgent came up or if I just could not fall asleep. My wife, Jill, is on maturity leave so she is with Brooklyn all day. When I come home I have tired to watch Brooklyn. Jill would go to sleep about 9pm or 9:30pm and then I would take the next feeding. Well, those days working an hour or two at night have disappeared. It seems that Brooklyn tends to get fussy from about 10pm until midnight or so. So I generally have to hold her or walk her. Although at times it came be frustrating (when a baby is crying), I'm thankful for the time it gives me to spend with her.

Another big adjustment is my appreciation for the treadmill. I am thankful for the Treadmill! Yes, the Treadmill! Brooklyn loves it. She can be fussy and crying and crying and crying. Yet, 95% plus of the time, all I have to do is turn on the treadmill and walk. Within a minute or two she relaxes. I generally get a mile to two in. Often she will fall asleep and I can put her down after. I do not walk too fast on it (maybe only a 20-21 min a mile pace), but generally I will use the incline and feel like I get a good walk in. I do read, on blogs, a lot of complaints about the treadmill . . . however; in my case I am so thankful for it. It is amazing to help calm her!

Another big adjustment is with running. It is difficult to get runs in. I can not plan on watching Brooklyn and hope to get a run in while she sleeps. However, the treadmill has also been a major help. In Jan. my running log for all my short runs shows either "treadmill at home or treadmill at work". If my wife is nursing (when I get home), I can jump on the treadmill for a 1/2 an hour or so and get 3-4 miles in. Or, I've been forcing myself to take my lunch (generally later in the day) on a treadmill at my office (we have a small gym with three treadmills, other machines, and weights. I will jump on it for 3-4 miles. So the treadmill has significantly helped me get my runs in.

Sleep is also a big adjustment. Generally, for the past 15-20 years, I have been able to function on 4-6 hours sleep a night. So it has not been too bad. The major problem is "falling back a sleep". As I mentioned, I take a night feeding as I watch Brooklyn. The time my wife takes over seems to vary it can be from 1:30am to 3am. It just depends on how Brooklyn is doing that night. Most times I fall a sleep with Brooklyn, either on the coach or in her room. Generally I only get an hour or two of sleep before it is time to wake my wife. The problem is falling back a sleep. There have been many nights when it is 4am, 5am and I'm still flopping around trying to fall asleep . . . knowing that my alarm is set for 7am!

I have still managed to get in long runs during the weekends. My wife has been great in allowing me to continue the long runs on Sat am. I try to get back before noon so that I can help out with Brooklyn . . . the rest of the weekend. My wife has also tried to get out of the house for a little while (dinner with friends or a movie). We also have a horse (she is not ridding now due to the C-section). But, after my runs, she will be able to go to the farm, while I watch Brooklyn. So it seems to work out.

Here are some pictures of Brooklyn in her first six weeks

Me and Brooklyn

Brooklyn taking a bath

Resting

Jenny and Brooklyn

So even with Brooklyn, I was able to continue running.  I logged nearly 120 miles this month.  One long run during the week and 3 times a week a run of 3-4 miles on the treadmill (at work or home).

Dipsea run (when you can) - Mill Valley to Stinson Beach

I am officially one week behind.  :( 
I had a very busy week at work and then when I get home at night (about 7:30pm-8pm), I watch Brooklyn.  It is hard enough to get my runs in; I'm falling behind writing about them.

Last weekend Sat. (1/23/2010), we ran the Dipsea trail from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach.  Our goal was to generally follow the route of Dipsea Race.  The Dipsea Race is the second oldest race in the USA, behind the Boston Marathon. We planned to run the "Double Dipsea", which is an out and back version of the race.  The trail climbs up from Mill Valley, over the top of the hills, through Muir Woods and down into Stinson Beach.
Here is a Dipsea Race course description:  It begins in downtown Mill Valley with a sprint down Throckmorton to the Old Mill Park, then up three flights of stairs as tall as a fifty-story building, and up some more through an old horse ranch to Windy Gap. Then it plunges down into Muir Woods across Redwood Creek and begins a tough grind up through the trees over trails named "Dynamite" and "Cardiac." At the top of Cardiac, the course levels out before it plunges down through the "Swoop", over the rocks and roots of "Steep Ravine" and the discouragingly steep climb up "Insult Hill." Finally, as the course follows the relatively gentle slope of The Moors toward the ocean, Stinson Beach is in sight a mile ahead.

We met at 6am at a park and ride spot in the Silicon Vally to head up to Mill Valley.  We arrived in Mill Valley a little after 7am for the run.  Here are pictures, along with my thoughts on our route.

It was raining most of the week and was raining when we arrived, but we were all very excited to run this historic route.  One of us had run the route before, but not in a while, so it took us a little while to find the stairs.  Three flights of stairs to start off.  Hundreds of stairs throughout the trail (over 600).  Here is a picture looking back down of one of the sets of stairs.

This is the last flights of stairs.  We made our way up. These were nicer and more modern.  The rain made the stairs difficult to run; unless you wanted to risk falling back down.

When we got to the top of the stairs, we had good views to enjoy:

After the top of the stairs you have to run on the street for about a 1/2 a mile or so until you get the Dipsea trail:

This part of the trail is open with some hills to climb.

You do run close to houses and the street - that will change.  However, before we could get away from civilization we had to cross a street and get back on the trail.  After crossing the street we came across this sign: 

Oh no!  We were only about 2 miles in!

We had a map and knew that we could follow the street and hope to connect to the trail. We did not know if we would be able to get back on the trail (whether it would be open) but it was worth a shot.  And, it worked!  We were able to get back on the Dipsea!  Yet, after another mile or so, we came to another sign that the bridge was flooded.  And, it sure was.

Even though the bridge was out, there was a fire road which we could use (about 3/4 a mile away) that got us back to the trail .  The fire road and dipsea trail were very steep as we went up, up, up and over hills.  On the other side of the hills, you had to go down to get to the beach.  There were hundreds of stairs, which were unrunnable.  The trail thought was very nice.  Great views. My one complaint is that I wish there were not as many unrunnable parts (due to the rain the stairs were very slippery).

The fire road:

The Trail:

Trail blocked off:

Going over a hill:

A real great run to the beach:

Getting closer to the beach:

We made it to the beach:

Then, we turned around and headed back.  We were going to take a different trial back.  Got a nice rainbow:

Here are some of the many stairs:

And, we got to climb a ladder on our return trip (another trial):

Great views heading back:

We took the ben johnson trail to Mur Woods.  The Ben Johnson trail was very runnable.  Mur Woods had a lot of people so the last mile (through Mur Woods) was a bit of a pain (weaving around people).

After Muir Woods we were still about 2-3 miles away.  We got back to the Dipsea trail, took some streets and finally the stairs:

Overall, it took 17.05 miles to complete (some added miles due to the dipsea trail being closed).  It was a great run. Well worth it.  I wish there were less unrunnable parts on the way out (maybe, that was because of the rain).  Yet, I'm very glad I did it and highly recommend it.  Maybe, one day I will even do that actual race.