Sunday, April 4, 2010

PCTR Sycamore Canyon 30k

P1010711 I have said it before and I’ll continue to say it that PCTR races are some of the best on the block, well organized, friendly people, good challenging courses and beautiful locations, I mean c’mon what’s not to beat. This weekend was going to be extra special as I was hoping to meet up with some of the folks I know through blogging, Twitter and in person and with the exception of a couple of people I missed it all panned out, which is more than can be said for my day.

Unlike me I managed an earlyish night 10:00pm and unlike our kids I only got woken once at 4:00am and so by the time my alarm went off at 6:00am I was in pretty good shape, my cold/cough thing was still lingering and it had settled into a night mucusy hacking lung thing, but the shakes and aches had gone and my head felt clear. Breakfast was my usual and the drive was uneventful other than spotting dolphins swimming in the ocean which along with the fact that I was meeting friends and running on trails was enough to put a smile on my face like I had slept with a coat hanger in my mouth!

4-4-10 003 L-R Me, Andrea, Dave, Billy, Josh, Emil, Kristen, Colin and Andee (photo Billy…well his camera and a stranger)

I checked in, got my number and hung out chatting until the race announcements started, shortly afterwards I along with another 100 or so folks were off. Today there were four distances; 8k, 18k, 30k and 50k. Everyone except the 8kers started in one go and I soon lost sight of everyone I knew, which was fine; there is an unspoken rule that you run your own race. I hit play on my iPod and got on with things. My expectations for this race where really to treat as (a) and good long run and (b) time on my feet, I had in mind 3:30 for a time so fairly conservative I thought. Last year I completed the 30k of the 50k I raced in 3:33 but was running at a 50k pace.

image I’ve run this course before so I knew to expect, up and down and not much in between. For the 30k it’s basically three hills, three miles up, three miles down for each. I managed to run the first two miles up and resigned to walk the last one. I stopped to take some photos and was recognized from this blog which is always nice and surprising at the same time, I am sorry I never got your name.

I hit the top and started the three mile decent, around mile 4 my ego got he better of me and I started clicking off some pretty quick miles ; 9:14 and 8:11! Stupid me! I reached the bottom at mile 6 and blew past the Aid Station, I had two 26oz bottles and had hardly touched them.

The second climb is trickier, once you’re into it proper it’s a lot of steps cut into the rock face and some narrow single track, added to which all the rain we have had this winter has accelerated the spring growth, although the upside of this is all the spring flowers that are in bloom and this trickle of a waterfall I have never ever seen before!

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The climb goes on interspersed with a slight down and here I was overtaken by Dave who was racing the 50k but who kindly stopped to take a photo of me, thanks Dave!

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Once you top out you left running through an elevated plateau, as you can see the cloud was low and it was a bit breezy which was welcome after all that huffing and puffing to get to the top. From here you loop around and basically run back down the first half of what you climbed up.

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I was mostly being overtaken and while a bit frustrating I kept reminding myself of my job. My nutrition was good; I took a swig of Chocolate#9 gel, about 2/3’s of a pack, from a bottle every half hour, my hydration I screwed up and while there was no noticeable impact during the race I ended up really dehydrated; in total drank about 50oz of a Cytomax/Nunn mix, that’s it…not good!

I hit the bottom, skipped the Aid Station and started on the last 3 mile climb, I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty and it was just a case of getting it done. I trudged up the hill until I got to the top…and then I trudged along the top…and then I ran a bit, trudged some more down the other side and ran a bit, stopping to grab the occasional picture.

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I was spent by mile 15 my legs were done along with thoughts of 3:30…then 3:45. Crapola I’ll be damned if I was going past 4:00 hours I am was a friggin’ ultra-runner! Finally I reached the final straight and I bumbled across the finish in 3:54 and change!

I met up with Andrea who ran the 18k and Billy and Josh who ran the 30k, Josh came in 2nd overall and Billy was about a half hour ahead of me. We swapped war stories from the day and as you would expect the conversation got round to what’s next, I mentioned RNRSD and Billy said it was sold out! Shit, I hadn’t registered! Shit really? Well kinda, but more on that later. I bid my farewells and set off home.

The quick after race round up is that my base is close to being non existent, I am nowhere near as fit in my body as I am in my mind, this time last year I was knocking in two 50ks in three weeks SUB 6 houring them and PRing in both! This year my longest run is, well, today’s and that gave me a good ass kicking, in fact it’s my longest run in 6 months.

And so I am heading back to the drawing board to regroup and replan my return, suffice to say it involves a lot more dirt and a lot less tarmac!

Garmin Connect doesn’t work with Windows 7 and Chrome…at least I can’t get it to work so here’s a ST screen shot….no laughing please and today’s photos all jazzed up!

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18 comments:

  1. Nice photos Stuart! Thanks for sharing them!

    Wow. I can't believe that SD RnR is sold out! Must be the half marathon option they added this year that filled them up...

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  2. Your longest return-from-injury run was the race?! You are definitely still an ultra trail runner. ;) I'm glad you decided to run the race and return to your favorite running grounds- the gorgeous trails. Best wishes for your "revised" running plans.

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  3. Great to see you back out on the trails where you belong! Good effort out there - that was NOT an easy course.

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  4. Stuart it was great to see you yesterday. Thank you for the great photos! See you out there...

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  5. Well ... at least the photos are nice. :) The course profile looks pretty sweet, and trails are very inviting. I might need to check this one out sometime.

    You'll always be an ultrarunner - you've earned that title in spades. Good luck getting back to where you want to be fitness-wise.

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  6. Nice meeting you on Sunday! Great pics and recap! It was a tough course and I only dd the 18K

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  7. Saw your pictures on Billy's site. Sweet photos, nice trails, good looking hills. I bet your time and overall feeling of "out-of-shapeness" was affected by that bug that gave you the cold/cough thing. I'm willing to bet that once it moves through your system you will find that you are in better shape than you think you are.

    A few years ago there was this nasty cold bug that was going around during the holidays and it took weeks to clear out of the system. Two weeks after I got it my watts was still down on the spin bike even though I felt fine and was no longer hacking mucus. Two weeks later watts came right back up to normal levels for the same effort.

    Good luck on ramping back up the run training.

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  8. awesome meeting you out there yesterday! congrats on your finish and x2 to billy - trails are definitely the right place to be!

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  9. You are a fantastic trail runner! Hell, you would have been miles ahead of me if I had run...but I was in my bed sick...and seeing the pictures makes me even more upset that I didnt get my fat ass with a sore throat up and out the door!

    Fantastic job!!! And if it makes you feel any better, I ran the 25K at malibu Creek in 4:23, so you would have slaughtered me in the 30K! You are my trail running hero!!

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  10. we DID get our legs at the same place!!! Hahahah, you comment made me laugh so hard. Great job on the race!!! Love all your pictures too, such a different race atmosphere than the road races that are typical around here, amazing!

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  11. Gorgeous looking course! Makes me trail hungry. ;-)

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  12. Good job on the finish. And you're right, PCTR ROCKS! ;)

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  13. What a beautiful race! I, too, can't wait to leave the tarmac behind, once all the damn snow melts (and stops falling).

    I run a Mac, but can't get Garmin Connect to work with Chrome, either. Rather, I can't upload from within Chrome, but once everything's loaded in there through another browser, Chrome seems to work fine, for viewing anyway. For what it's worth . . .

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  14. Hi Stuart! I'm the mystery fan who didn't introduce myself properly. The pics from the course are amazing- and I agree that having a cold doesn't do you any favors when running, so don't doubt your ultra persona! I originally found your blog after searching for pics from the Bulldog 25k a few years ago, and have been trolling it ever since. I'll say hello properly when our racing trails cross again!

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  15. Great meeting you Stuart! And excellent job - that course was brutal! Hopefully see you out there again soon :)

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  16. Booooo hoooo!!! This was supposed to be MY race, too! Glad you had a great time and are getting back where you love to be - the views are amazing.

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  17. Great job on the race and gorgeous pictures! You make me want to be a trail runner....I'll have to participate in some PCTR races in SoCal soon! But man, tough course!!

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  18. hahaha! Oh, sorry :-) You still are an ultra runner... I don't think pace is a requirement!

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