Chillin' at Chabot

This past weekend I revisited a course I ran twice in a row for Brazen Racing's New Years Eve/New Years Day half marathons. I think since I had already run on these trails for 5 hours within a single weekend, I felt much more confident going into Inside Trail's Lake Chabot 30K than CTR's Steep Ravine (my first ever 30K).

Mike picked me up that morning at not nearly dark o'clock (the sun was actually up!) and we headed towards Lake Chabot for our 30K. The weather was PERFECT. The highs for the day were in the low 60s with slight wind and sunshine, sunshine, sunshine. We got started right on time at 8:30AM with a fairly unceremonious 3, 2, 1 GO! start.

The best part of this course was namely that we didn't have to go up the Hill of Horror that we had to deal with during Brazen's race. There was still a LOT of of climbing in ITR's course, but I'm really happy I didn't have to deal with that monster that hit you at mile 3 in Brazen's race.

Here's the elevation map of our course we ran on Saturday for ITR:

The run started out awesomely. You begin on a paved section for the first 3 miles with gently rolling hills that help get your legs warmed up and ready to start putting in some elevation. Then you get to your first major hill at mile 3. I was super proud of myself on this climb, as I was able to do my run 1 minute walk 1 minute strategy. First and last time I was able to do that, haha!

This first 5 miles was so so so pretty. You get to run through some awesome single track areas that take you through the Lake Chabot Regional Park. I got to see two of my favorite things on my run as well. First, I saw a banana slug:

And Lake Chabot's beautiful eucalyptus trees:

I was so happy in my forest-y running habitat I had almost forgotten about one of the most unique aspects of any run through this part of Lake Chabot forest. The frightening, scary, make you run a PR sound of a gun going off! That's right, I had totally forgotten about the gun range that happily disrupts your illusions of running through an area untouched by human hands. After a series of deep BOOMs there were a number of louder shorter bursts which I believe were pistols. Screw bird watching, a great activity at this part of the course is the "guess the gun" game. I think we were even closer to the range on this run than Brazen's, and I definitely high tailed it out of that area.

After running for my life, I was rewarded with an aid station at mile 5! Here I am, happy in the knowledge that I had survived any gun shots and that I had made it over the first of 4 major climbs during the run.

Do you see how happy I am there? That is because I hadn't fallen yet (like I did within the first 5 miles of my first 30K), and it was still nice and cool out. I only drank a small sip from my water so far, which may have been a big mistake, but at the moment I was sweating nicely, feeling strong after my successful first hill, and ready to conquer the next 13 miles.

The next section of the course was completely new to me. This was the "orange" loop extension that adds an additional 5-6 miles onto your run for your full 30K distance. If you have run with me frequently, you know there are four major things I hate to deal with when running:

1. SUN
2. WIND
3. HEAT
4. MEADOWS

The orange section of the course had all of these things combined in a nice happy little package. You are essentially running through an entirely exposed meadow with the sun beating down on you and the trail winding, never ending-ly, ahead of you. When I saw that giant meadow I had to run through, the first thing I thought was oh no. MEADOW OF MISERY. When I can see a trail stretched in front of me for a few miles, I tend to enter a state of running depression. However, I was saved by one of the things that I thought would make this section even sadder. The wind! The wind was amazing! It wasn't a heavy wind, but it was really really cool and helped alleviate any of the pain the sun might have brought on.

So, with the wind cooling me off I was able to avoid running sadness. Instead, I started thinking about what this meadow section reminded me of. It was so familiar, and I spent the first 15 minutes wracking my brain trying to figure out why it felt so familiar. And then it hit me. SUPER MARIO KART.

If you ever played Mario Kart on Super Nintendo, you will fondly remember this course:

I had a TON of fun imagining I was Toad, driving my way through this big meadow with its multiple animal holes. I was waiting at any moment for a giant gopher to come out and run with me!

Haha, OK, clearly distance running does not encourage sane thinking while running. But hey, it got me through to the 13 mile mark :) At this point I had completely stopped sweating, so I blame dehydration for my visions.

After the 13 mile mark, we headed back into familiar territory. The third aid station was set up right where the one was set up for Brazen, so that made me feel a lot more comfortable about running the final 4.2 miles. Unfortunately, I was so caught up in my reminiscing about my Brazen race that I took a sharp turn into the forest which Brazen's course followed. I got a few steps in, looked up, and then was like OOPS! Totally turned when I shouldn't have! ITR decided not to take this forest section, so I backtracked a bit and got myself back on course.

The final few miles were a little tough. My legs were definitely starting to feel the 15 miles I had already put in, and I knew there were some more rolling hills in store for me. I walked a few of the last hills, but overall was able to push myself in my last mile and really giving a strong kick to finish strong. Here I am (close to) 3 and a half hours later:

Smile not quite as happy, legs not quite as fresh, and water bottles remarkably empty. This is the dam that you have to cross over before you enter the final couple miles of the race. I really hate this dam. A lot. But I made it over and made it to the finish line! Yippee!

30K number 2 = COMPLETE! This run was a bajillion times better than my last 30K. I didn't feel like I was going to die afterwards, I didn't fall, and I didn't get lost. All things that are equaling to a huge success for my second ever 30K. Not only that, but I scored a 35 minute PR by finishing in 3:35 and I placed 2nd in my age group!! Check out the age group medal:

So happy! This is my FIRST EVER age group medal. I've finally figured out how to place in races... out-last the fast runners in longer distances, haha! Also, there were remarkably few under 29 year olds out there running the 30K or 50K. Works for me!

Congratulations to everyone who ran on Saturday at Lake Chabot, I hope you had as much fun as I did! I also got to see a few friends out there, including Diane and Allen (although I was being incredibly timid and didn't go say hi). Mike also had an amazing run, and got to relax about 40 minutes before I ambled my way across the finish line. It was nice seeing familiar faces at a non-Brazen race. I'll definitely be doing an ITR event again in the future, most likely the Woodside Ramble 50K! They are very organized, the course was well marked, and the aid stations were well stocked.

All in all a great experience, a great morning, and a great run!

New Year, New Battle Scars.

Happy New Year! This year, I have a ton of resolutions. I want to start my own business (race directing with a friend), start my own non profit (to provide gently used athletic gear to those in need), run a 50K, and to become more involved in the Bay Area running community. I'm ready to have a great 2012!

I started the year off right by doing double half marathons, one on New Years Eve, and one on New Years Day. It was tough, but I had a great group of friends to run it with. The courses were on Lake Chabot, and the race was put on by Brazen Racing. I can't say enough about Brazen. They are one of the best race directing companies I have come across. I have not met one runner who hasn't had positive things to say about them, and they deserve it. The courses were perfectly marked, aid stations were filled to the brim with anything you could ever dream of, and of course, ITS ITS at the end! Love it!

So, the races! Lake Chabot is awesome to run at. You get to experience all terrains of trail running. There is steep incline, steep decline, flat spots, single track, switch backs, forest running, meadow running, heat, and coldness. Day 1 was challenging, but rewarding. There is about 1800 feet of elevation gain in this run, and most of it comes at the mile 3-4 incline. I struggled up the behemoth hill, but the reward of the view was absolutely amazing at the top. A friend and I leap frogged the whole way, which was fun because I was able to commiserate with someone about the pain I was in!

This picture is of me right at the beginning of the race! Smiley, happy, not feeling the steep hills yet!

This is me, coming into the finish. I may be smiling here, but it is mainly because I was almost done and was about to go eat some delicious yumminess at brunch! After the race, myself and two of the run groups I am part of went to Elio's (delicious breakfast) and celebrated a friend's birthday and our collective awesomeness at finishing day 1 of our back to back half marathons.

Fast forward to day 2! I woke up feeling tired, cranky, and not at all like I wanted to run. Running 13.1 miles two days in a row was not something I was looking forward to. It was going to be warmer that day, so I decided to wear shorts (a mistake, the consequences of which I will discuss later). When I got to the race, I wasn't feeling any happier about being there. But, I put my game face on and decided that I would just take it easy, take pictures of the beautiful sights, and just enjoy it. There were definitely fewer people there on Day 2, which was fine with me because I got to use the "real" bathrooms and not the PortoPotty! 

Day 2's half marathon was run in the opposite direction we ran previously. That ended up being awesome, because you got to appreciate all the downhills that you struggled up as hills the day before, and gained respect for the hills you didn't even notice as downhills. Here are some of the pictures I took of the course:

This was right at the beginning of the race. Beautiful Lake Chabot with the early morning sun rolling in.

Part of the forest-y paths. These trees were awesome and I couldn't stop looking at them and feeling so lucky that I got to run through a piece of nature as beautiful as this. 

The top of one of the final climbs at mile 10. You could see the entire bay area from this viewpoint, and the picture doesn't even begin to do this scene justice.

It was all incredibly beautiful and awe inspiring. However, my legs felt like jello by the time I hit mile 8 or so. There were some killer downhills on this course that I didn't really take into account from the day beforehand. My knees were torn up and my hip was angry at me. Even with all my stopping to take pictures, my legs just felt absolutely exhausted. 

This leads up to mile 11. Meghan, meet ground. Ground, meet Meghan! You two have met before, right? I KNEW I was tempting fate by running the same trail 2 days in a row. Totally wiped out, tripping over a rock. Tore up my knee, destroyed my sprint bottle, and my camera was definitely worse for wear. If only I had worn capri's, I might have had a little protection! But NO! I had to wear shorts! OY!

The race was finally over a bit after that, and I had the honor of being run in by one of the best runners I know. He ran me in through the last .75 miles, and even though I was hurting and not wanting to run in at all, I had to do my best in front of him!! So, I sucked it up, and ran my best through that last piece of trail. He really gave me the pick me up I needed to finish that race strong! 

Running back to back half marathons was difficult, and my legs felt rubbery afterwards, but I think running a full marathon was still tougher than the back to back halves. I was cranky on Day 2, but the miles seemed to fly by during the half. Before I knew it, I was halfway done, and the miles just kept flying. During my full marathon, I was counting every minute, trying to brave through every mile, and feeling like I was about to fall apart mentally and physically from mile 18 on. My ankles hurt, my knees hurt, my mind hurt during the full. During the back to back halves, I experienced moments of "WHY am I DOING this?" But that was mainly on the most difficult hills and overall I thought it was a lot of fun! I would definitely recommend to anyone who is looking for a challenge to do back to back halves. It doesn't require nearly as much training and preparation, and you don't want to give up on life by the end of it :)

Anyways, now that day 2 was over, I earned the best medal of all, the BRAZEN RACING NEW YEARS EVE/NEW YEARS DAY MEGA MEDAL!!!

How cool is that thing? Definitely worth the the 2 day! In the end, I had a blast over the two days. I wouldn't have been able to do it without amazing friends to support me, a great RD company in Brazen, and my own stubbornness not to give up. I am going to have to get used to this though! If I want to get my training right for the 50K, I need to start doing back to back tough trail runs like these every weekend! I guess I'll just have to get used it :)

That's all for now! Thanks for reading, and keep running! 

Big Things, Little Mileage

OK, so it's only been a little while (forever) since I last updated, which attests to the amount I have been running over the past few weeks (not a lot!). Life has been crazy, between getting married, running a marathon, moving to a new place, and having my job changing, I haven't gotten a lot of time to write on here. Well, I finally have a little time, so here goes!

After my marathon, I really needed some downtime. Having a job in the running industry is amazing, but my life got a little over loaded on running in the month or so leading up to Nike. Between running 40+ miles a week and working with running on my mind 40+ hours a week, it was getting to be a LOT of running, whether I was actually running, thinking about running, or working on running stuff for my job. So, I needed some "away" time. Didn't run with my running friends, took a few weeks off from running altogether, and made the conscious goal not to talk about running as much as I usually do on my "off" time (my now husband is probably willing to attest to the fact that I think I failed at this goal). 

Well, my break lasted until last week when I fell in love with running all over again. I guess absence does make the heart grow fonder. Or maybe I just remembered how *awesome* it was to be outside, running with nothing holding you back. No training plans, no commitments, just running. I think I needed that realization. And the views on my trail runs didn't hurt either: 

Quicksilver Park

San Andreas Trail

Yup, trail running is my new obsession. I love it (except for when I fall and almost break myself). Road running is amazing, and it has given me the opportunity to meet some awesome people, but trail runs are just plain old good for your soul. They challenge you, show you where you need to improve, and reward you just when you think you can't go any further. Plus trail shoes are pretty kick ass. 

There are some pretty crazy trail runs in the Bay Area, and I am really excited about exploring more of them. My friend and I made a running pact a few weeks ago. We were both feeling out of sorts about running, and we were run/walk-ing a trail in Rancho San Antonio, and we were both feeling the pain. We decided then and there that we would re run Rancho every so often over the next few months to prove to ourselves that we could do it and that we were improving. A couple weeks later, we ran the PG&E trail (one of the toughest runs I have done) along with our run group, and I am proud to say that my friend and I pulled each other through, and we kicked that trail's butt! Ah, the power of peer pressure and friendly support on a tough run... and hopefully I can report back in a few weeks that we are feeling even stronger on the evil elevation of the PG&E!

I've also gotten back into racing, with two races this past week, the San Jose Turkey Trot and Brazen Racing's Quarry Turkey. I was DEFINITELY not prepared for the Quarry Turkey, and decided to do the half marathon at the spur of the moment. I am SO glad I did! It was a great course, beautiful weather, and Brazen as usual put on a top notch event. Plus it was great to have friends there supporting me!

Me, running like a turkey at the Quarry Turkey Half Marathon!

This was an interesting half marathon to run. It was the longest distance I had run since Nike, and I had a big mental block about running a half marathon again. I decided to run it at the last minute, which I think was for the best since I didn't over stress myself about it. I showed up, didn't even bring any water with me, and came with only a pack of chomps. I told myself at the beginning of the race I wasn't going to push it, and that I would walk through every aid station. Well, I followed my plan, and I honestly think I felt better during this race than any other, even a normal training day. I guess I just needed to chill, not build the mileage up so much in my mind, and not have a competition with myself like I usually do. Usually miles 9-10 are the hardest for me. I always approach those miles feeling totally drained and need to walk for a couple minutes. BUT, I powered through!! I was so proud of myself, and felt like I really accomplished something in this run. I need to stop listening to the negative thoughts in my head while I am running! I didn't finish the race with a PR (or even close to one), but I really hit a personal goal on that mile 9/10 and I felt awesome about it.

So, 5 weeks off apparently was what I needed. I'm ready to get back into the swing of things, run with my run groups again, and start kicking off training for my upcoming 50K on Mt. Diablo (yay?). I guess I needed some time to bounce back, and I am so glad I took it! I was getting burned out on running, and I hated feeling that way. I have a few big runs coming up, including a 16 miler in Quicksilver Park this weekend, which I am terrified of. But I will be running with friends, and I know that I can make it (as long as there is a delicious breakfast waiting for me at the end!!).