2013 recap

Hello loyal readers! All two of you! :-)

There are a few things that make me excited about restarting my blog. Yes, I don't even call it continue to blog, but rather restart.
First, looking back as 2013 winds down, this last year was pretty adventurous! I admit the number of nights slept outside was zero, it was the first year since I moved to the US, that my National Park Pass did not pay off (shame on me!), the first year that I have not been to Yosemite since I moved here, but still it was packed with adventure.
It started out with a week of backcountry skiing in the Tetons with the awesome folks of Exum Mountain Guides in February. After that I spent most of the spring building base mileage on the trails for a great racing season in the summer and the fall.
The goal for this season was to qualify for UTMB, the Ultra-Trail-du-Mont-Blanc, in Chamonix, France. Having finished the TRT 50 miles last year, I needed another 50 miler and a 100k race this year. I was fortunate enough to claim a spot for the Waldo 100k, before it sold out in 28 minutes. Waldo takes place on the third weekend in August, so I figured I'd have enough time to recover and train for the Northface Endurance Challenge 50 miler in December. With these two events set at goal races, I looked around for opportunities to fill in preparation races, etc. Just as the planning reached a critical point I got an invitation to a wedding in Italy! A quick look on the race calendar showed that the Cortina Trail 49k, was happening in the town of Cortina d'Ampezzo the weekend before the festivities!
A trip was happening!
Coming back from Italy it was all about peaking and then tapering for Waldo. And a five day trip up to Oregon for the race. It was fun to get back to PDX and to hang out with KRay, who also majorly kicked my butt in the last ten miles of the race, so that I managed to cross the finish line just before 15 hours, and hence qualify for the Western States 100 lottery.
Having accomplished the first part of the years goals, all the focus was on the NFEC 50 in the Marin Headlands. I went up and did a couple of recon-/ trainings runs on the course, which was extremely helpful on race day. The day itself was unbelievable... not from this world! Absolutely outstanding :-)
Things just clicked, and it all fell in place. Although I have been running 'ultra' distances for over 3 years, I felt like an 'ultra-runner' for the first time. I managed to take 1:21:00 off my best time on the same course. Parts where I struggled on my first attempt two years ago, felt downright easy this time around. I am definitely looking forward for more!
This excitement for more adventures is the second point that makes me excited about sharing these experiences here, as I mentioned above.
The third point is that I was selected to be a member of the GU crew! This is a huge honor! I have been using their products for a few years now, and I wasn't able to find better race/adventure nutrition so far.

I hope you guys had a good 2013 as well, and that you are as excited about the next year as I am!

Cruising the last three miles at NFEC

Coastal 50k

WOOOHOOO!

I finished a goal race! Well, better even: I started! :-)

This may sound ridiculous, but after last December's CIM and last months Santa Rosa 1/2 marathon, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had trained well for both of these races, only to be unable to sleep the night before, and not toeing the line at all.

Not so last week! I made it to the starting line in Stinson Beach, and after 31 miles, and 5800ft of climbing and descending I also made it to the finish at Rodeo Beach 6:09:40 later. This was a bit slower than planned, but at the same time the course was a lot more challenging than expected.

I may have gone out a bit too fast as well: The first three miles were rather challenging, climbing up the Steep Ravine trail to Pantoll ranger station.

Around mile 20 I struggled with a bit of nausea, completely disgusted by the gels I had with me. Definitely a first! On top of that I had lost my little ziploc bag with my salt tabs, so that my quads were a little twitchy on the descent into Rodeo Valley... But all this aside it was an awesome event! The organization by Coastal Trail Runs was flawless and pretty much everyone had a great time.

The finish (start) was definitely good for my head, and I think I am ready for the next challenges this year.

Last Saturday I drove up to the North Bay for a long run. I planned to run around 16 miles, so I picked a 25km loop from Stinson Beach to Pantoll ranger station, down to Muir Beach, back up to Pantoll and back to Stinson.

Over the last few years I had heard and read a lot about the Dipsea Trail, but I had never actually run it. It was definitely time to change this. From the beach parking lot I started out on Arenal Rd, which leads straight to the trailhead. After about 1.3 miles the Dipsea trail intersects the Steep Ravine trail, which I chose for the climb up the side of Mt. Tam. Aptly named, the trail climbs about 1200 ft in just under two miles. Although steep and technical (there is a 10ft ladder about two thirds up the trail), this is a gorgeous trail. Lush Redwoods and ferns, and the creek make for a great scenery. At the top of the climb I turned right on the Coastal View Fireroad leading to the Coastal View trail. Leaving the forest, the Redwoods were replaced by all kinds of wildflowers. A rather unexpected view for me, since they are not around in the South Bay anymore at this time of the year. As the trail opens up it offers sweeping views of the ocean and the coast line below. The miles just flew by on the descent into Muir Beach. The next mile on the Redwood Creek trail was pretty much the only flat section of the run. It leads back to the Dipsea, which I took back up to Pantoll. From the parking area I picked up the Matt Davies trail for the last 4.2 miles back to Stinson Beach. The first two miles of this trail were rather pleasant, before the gradient increases dramatically, and turns the last two miles of the loop into a hammering of the quads through steep, narrow switchbacks.

The overall loop took me about 3:26. Quite a bit longer than expected, but I also didn't expect the trail to be as technical as it was in sections. I tried my new hydration pack for the first time on this run as well. I am not quite sure if I like it. The fit and comfort were fine, and offer nothing to complain about. The problem I had was that I was reluctant to drink constantly, since I could not see how much liquid I had left (not a problem with handheld bottles, which I usually use on shorter runs). This resulted in having about one liter (out of two) left in the pack upon getting back to the car. I'd say that's a sign of a failed hydration strategy. I guess that's the reason one tests things like this on training runs :-)

After this outing I can only confirm all the good things I heard/read about the trails on Mt. Tam, and I am sure I'll be back for more!

Los Gatos Jungle Run

Last Sunday I joined 740 fellow runners for the Los Gatos Jungle Run 10k.
It was my first road race in quite a while, since December 2009 to be exact. My primary goal was to beat my time of 45:22 from the 2009 Turkey Trot in San Jose. Furthermore it was to stay under 45 minutes. With about 200ft of climbing the course was not quite as fast as the San Jose course. Still I managed to finish in 45:03, good for 38th overall.

What's going on?

OK, yet another post starting with the remark that I haven't posted in a while.
What's different this time is the fact that there was simply nothing to write about. No adventures at all in quite a while. I realized that a few weeks ago, when I was asked at a party what my last adventure was, and I really had to think hard.
Life has been pretty busy in the last few months. Between a new job and a new housing situation there was simply not too much time to play. Even now, as things settle down I am rather happy to unwind on the weekends instead of hitting the road/mountains. A good example is last weekend. I went down to Whitney Portal, to scope out the approach to the Mountaineers Route and/or Whitney's East Face, East Buttress. I spent a rather unpleasant night, sleeping for about two hours, and when I woke up I realized that I didn't really want to be there. That was really a first! As the outdoors usually have been where I was happiest. I'm wondering what's going on, and try not to freak out about it...
On the other hand, I have been increasing my running mileage. For now the plan is to run the Jungle Run 10k in Los Gatos tomorrow, and the Santa Rosa 1/2 marathon in the end of August.
These two races will be followed by the Coastal 50k from Stinson Beach to Rodeo Beach in late September.

Alpine Meadows skiing

The streak of changed plans continued last weekend. The plan was to fly to Boise, ID for the holiday weekend and spent a few days skiing in Sun Valley with Juliana's cousin. We got to the airport well before the departure time, since we both had skis to check in. Just after we swiped the credit card and got charged for the checked baggage we were told that the flight was canceled due to a mechanical problem. Furthermore, we were told that we could not expect to be on a flight in the next two days. There went the holiday weekend plan...
We decided rather quickly that we go to Tahoe instead. While I tried to sort things out with the airline, Jules got on the phone and secured a room in Truckee for Saturday night.
We left the Bay Area shortly before 5am on Saturday morning. Getting to Alpine Meadows at 9:30. The last miles from I-80 to the resort were definitely the slowest of the entire trip.
The weather and the conditions were fantastic. The skiing couldn't have been any better anywhere else. The previous week had seen four feet of powder, and there were plenty of untouched stashes.
After a few easy runs to warm up I went to Scotts Gully, a double diamond. What a incredible run! I am not sure why, but the run just felt awesome... Either it was the new skis, or I am finally getting a hang on steep, deep runs. After a few runs here, I could not get the grin off my face.
After checking in to the hotel we had dinner at the Bridgetender in Tahoe City. If I remember correctly I was asleep by 8:30.
Sunday saw more skiing in the morning, but the temperatures dropped significantly in the afternoon, so that we left around 2. Although the second day was rather short I am absolutely happy about the skiing I got in.

Mount Shasta

This winter started out with some epic early storms in late November and early December. January on the other had saw almost no snow fall in the Sierras. Obviously this is bad news for skiing. The new Mantras with AT-bindings just got a three day work-out in Chamonix in December, but had to stay in the closet back here in Cali.
On the other hand the stable high off the Northern California coast allowed for good conditions for a winter ascent of Mount Shasta. The Casaval Ridge seemed to be in pretty good shape during the first weekend of February. Just the right thing for a quick weekend dash, similar to my previous ascent of Shasta. Or so I thought.
The plan was to leave the Bay Area Saturday morning, get to the trailhead around 3pm, hike to Horse Camp, set up camp in daylight, get an early night, set the alarm for 2am, get going by 3am, summit, descent via Avalanche Gulch, break up camp, head back to the car, make the drive back. Simple enough, right?
The first part worked just fine. We arrived at Bunny Flats around 2:30 on Saturday afternoon, got the permits, re-packed some gear and got ready to go. Just as we were about to leave two parties got back to the parking lot, who had started out that morning. Both of them tried to climb Sergeant's Ridge, but turned around due to high winds. They reached a high point of around 9400ft. One of the climbers had soloed Casaval Ridge the previous weekend, and confirmed that the conditions had been great. With these mixed news we were in our way at 3:30pm. The hike to Horse Camp was rather mellow, and eventless. By 6 we had set up camp, eaten dinner and tugged away in our sleeping bags... This is were things deviated from the plan: High winds made sleep practically impossible. It didn't help that I had a congested nose either. Given the sleepless night, high winds, a missing pair of gloves and a malfunctioning headlamp the summit attempt stopped right there.
Objective not achieved... But I still had a good time. A wonderful sunset, a night spent outside... What more can one ask for?