2010 has officially begun! First race in the books. I had kicked things off with this race last year and was excited to do it again this year. Before the race I was trying to determine if I was more fit, less fit, or the same fit as I was this time last year. I concluded that I was either as fit or more fit. Turns out I was wrong, slightly, but enough to make a very hard race, seem a lot harder! Finished in 2 hours 2 minutes and 5th overall.
Snapshot: Gorgeous sunrise, 60 degree weather, familiar faces, a couple of gel packs, my Under Armour custom race kit, some movement prep and we were jamming from the get go.
THE GEAR
Trail Shoes: Under Armour Mirage
Sunglasses: Under Armour Draft Multiflection
Socks: Under Armour DCE Speed Sock
Visor: Under Armour Ventilator Mesh Visor
Sunscreen: Kinesys SPF 30 Cream and SPF 30 Spray
THE RACE
The chant in my head was "make this feel as easy as possible - you still have X hours to go." That only seemed to work intermittently. For the most part, no matter how hard I tried to go easy, the course was just hard, whether uphill or downhill. On the uphills I was trying to keep my upper body relaxed, take shorter steps, land in my glutes and take things step by step, without looking up too much. On the downhills I was trying to keep tension and control in my core and my legs turning over under me as fast as I could so I could keep landing in my glutes and not jarring my legs/quads. I did a pretty good job of it, although I could definitely feel when I would start to break form. For example towards the end of a really long steep downhill I was starting to hear my feet slap the ground more, I couldn't keep them turning under me and I could feel my legs having to doing a lot more work. At that point though I was unable to do much to correct it, I just didn't have the strength, neuromuscular reaction speed, etc. so I listened to the slapping and made a mental note that I would work on the things I needed to so that when I raced again, I would NOT be feeling and hearing it. I had to walk/run some of the uphills, as did most people I saw. A few of my friends and I were leapfrogging a bit in the middle of the course. That was fun. Getting slapped on the rear-end as one went by and then getting to slap him right back a couple miles later. Surprise! See ya! I was getting passed on the uphills but caught back up and screamed by people on the downhills. One guy even asked, "How are you going so fast downhill?!" I said, "Ask me at the finish!" And he did. Here's my blog on downhill running if you haven't seen it yet.
Enjoyed the breathtaking views at the top but only briefly. The course jets downhill quickly thereafter and I was really gunning to break the two hour mark like last year. Just missed it, but had fun trying!
THE END
Medals for all finishers, scrambled eggs, oranges, croissants and smiles at the finishline were all awesome. Props to Subaru for providing shuttles and helping raise funds for California Parks, including the one we ran in today: Point Mugu State Park.
Important to note: Thrills, but no spills or twisted ankles! After a year under my belt
off-road, I think my footwork has gotten better and I'm glad. Goal is
to keep everything intact this year with a little more awareness and a
lot more skill.
THE PEEPS
Generic Events puts on phenomenal races. Highly recommended. Their are 3 more races left in the XTERRA Trail Run SoCal Series and 3 in the NorCal Series. Come play!! All details are at www.trailrace.com.
SoCal:
XTERRA Mission Gorge Trail Run - February
XTERRA Black Mountain Trail Run - March
XTERRA Malibu Creek Challenge - May
NorCal:
XTERRA Chanoko Xduro - March
XTERRA Redwood Peak Trail Run - April
XTERRA Marin Headlands Xduro - June
Next up for me:
Jan 24th XTERRA Crystal Cove 17K
How about for you??
Happy Trails!!
