Me at the check-in tent.
This is my second trail race of the year. I had a good excuse last time for dropping from 11 miles to 5 miles in Woodside Trail, Hepatitis A was really killing me, but this time, I am fully recovered, I have to give all I could give. The success of running the whole PG&E trail in San Antonio Ranch somewhat gave me a little confidence about tackling hardcore trail running.
"As long as I keep a steady pace, though slower, I might still manage
to the finish line without burning out all my fuel, or get a cramp
on my leg again" I said to myself.
The problem about the race is: sometimes, or I should say most of the
time people will get too excited and forget about
there is a long trail ahead with unknown condition. Haha I am one of
them. The result, as you could imagine, running will become walking and
finally got passed by a lot of people. That will be quite frustrated ..
So, my goal this time is : steady pace, don't get too crazy, and try to keep running. Shouldn't be too hard . I guess.
Back to the race day. I got up around 4:30AM, still quite sleepy.
I checked in all my gear, had a light breakfast, and headed out right away.
It was a clear sky but the wind was blowing hard.
5:30AM I picked u Yi at his place and headed north.
It was still very dark outside ,but I like this kind of feeling, smell like an excited adventure.
6:40AM, after about 1 hour drive on HWY 880 and turned into HWY 80, the stupid GPS wanted us get on to Hwy 24. The map must be too old, Yi told me.
So we totally ignored the robotic sound from GPS and continued HWY 80 until
we hit the exit : Bucknan Ave
The winding road took us into a residential area with a very steep climbing.
My impression about Berkeley and Oakland was really bad from the TV news lately,
so I was kind of at the edge of my seat, and watched out for any movement outside.
To my surprise, it was a pretty good neighborhood, beautiful and quiet,
Within 10 minutes we found out way out and the entrance of the park was on the
left of the road.
6:55AM.
The cloud was darker here and the temperature dropped to 50F. It was not as cold
as the CIM race. But this unseasonably cold and humid, I still needed to continue moving to keep warm.
7:30AM race started right on time. Yi will transform to a non-stop train after the race starts.
and I was right about him. After about 10 minutes, he was out of my sight totally..
Who said "I am going to take it easy today, and take more pictures..."
I just can't keep up with his "easy pace" at all..
The trail condition was not good (it is a trail running, what do I expect)
About 2 minutes after we started, there was a big muddy section right in the middle
of the trail. I hesitated for about 2 seconds about where to land my foot, and all the people behind me already passed me and went forward without any delay.
What the hell was I doing, I came here to get dirty, not kept clean!
No second thought, I followed the crowd and headed forward.
Wet shoes on the steep climb trail, not a very pleasant feeling, the steady pace strategy didn't work at all, it became steady walk and then slowly walk and I was gasping for breath already. Where did all my endurance go ?
It seems forever to get to the top of the long hill, on the first short downhill, I finally could catch some breath, but right at the moment, I found I lost one of my power gel.. Oh my God ..
I was planning to enjoy my seasonal limited edition vanilla gingerbread GU for the returning route, looks like I had no choice to get to it now...
To the top of the hill , snapped some pictures , and also got passed by three people ..
Around 4 miles, I reached the first top, and followed by a steep downhill to the aid station.
600 ft drop in 0.5 mile ! It was kind of slope you wished you wouldn't need to climb back again.
When I was descending, I really prayed for not coming back from here on my return, and what do you know, my dream "came true", a really bad one.
The bottom of the first V is the aid station.
somewhere on the trail
I didn't remember how did I wander to the second top of the hill , but when I saw the beautiful view
there, I almost forgot about my shaking legs and hunger. It was dark gray color background , but with some imagination, I could realize how beautiful it is when the sky is clear.
San Pablo Reservoir on the left, and Briones Reservoir on the right.
Then, it was the happy time , around 2.8 miles easy downhill, I could finally smiled and enjoyed my speed up for the first time in this race !!
However, the happiness didn't last long, when I saw the aid station again, I knew the bad dream started . "This is the last hill, and after that, it will be all downhill to the finish line" The guy said.
It was "the" hill, I just almost tumbled down.
There were 4 people at the aid station and we took off together after a quick refuel with the snacks.
I followed a guy on my way up and kept my focus on his feet, and the two girls ahead just talked their way up to the top, then disappeared. Again, gasping for air , more air, even with my headphone on, I could still hear my heartbeat bumping loudly.
The last 4 miles downhill seems never end, turn after turn, up and down, down and up, I was all by myself, and at one moment I felt like I was lost. Then I found the ribbon again and a sign said "To the finish line" . I was relieved. Finally, I saw the familiar mud and ran right though it, and back to the paved road again. Finish line !!
my running through finish line moment and Yi was taking photo for me.
The finish line.
Final time, 2:41:05 on my watch, and another beautiful view of the race -- post race snacks!!
my steady pace strategy failed, but I didn't get a cramp on my legs !! Not very happy with the time, but at least I reached one of my goals. So, where is the next race ?
