Diablo 25

Yesterday was day 0.
The day of the PCTR Diablo 25k.
For me this was a special event for two reasons: First it was the first trail run I signed up for, and second it was the longest event I ever signed up for.
I could definitely have trained more for this race though, especially since the profile was quite nasty. Almost 4500ft of elevation gain, most of it in the first half of the course. Well, I had gotten most of my mileage in on perfectly flat grounds right at the Bay.

Anyway.

The start was scheduled for 8:30, so Lesley picked me up around 6:45. Sunday mornings are nice, since it's pretty much the only time in the Bay Area, that is not crazy with traffic. It took us about 55 minutes to get the the Mitchell Canyon trailhead in Concord. After picking up our bibs we sat down in the shade and waited for the start. The organization of the run was amazing, and all the folks around were super nice... Although there was an aid-station every 8km, the organizers insisted, that the runners took water along. Given the temperatures in the high 80's this was absolutely justified.

After a few words of motivation and a short description of the course the race started at 8:30 sharp. The course followed mostly a single trail from the Mitchell Canyon trailhead to the summit of Mt. Diablo. I thought it was a little disappointing that it was a single track, right after the start, since it led to quite a 'traffic jam'. Soon enough it became steep enough though, that essentially everyone was walking. It took me about 1:20 to get to the aid station at mile 5. I was almost right on my plan, which consisted of being at mile 5 at 1:30, at the summit (turn around point) at 2:00 and back at the finish at 3:00. I spent a few minutes at the station refilling my bottle and eating some pretzels and some candy. I also had two cups of Gatorade.
The next section of the course was amazing: it led slightly downhill through some meadows. It was a good cruising experience! After an other uphill section, exactly 2:00 into the run I reached the summit, turned around and headed back to the aid station. 15 minutes later the runner behind me heard me screaming! I had rolled my left ankle and was swearing quite a bit!
While he was going by he made sure I was ok, before heading off. I walked a bit, but was able to resume the run soon enough. Back at the feeding grounds I knocked back some Cokes, Pretzels and a few Clif Shot Bloks. After refilling my water bottle I started downhill again. The course back was different from the uphill section, mostly following a pretty steep fire road. Too steep for me! It showed that I hadn't done much hill work in my preparation and also the heat really started to take a tribute. All the way down I had to deal with cramps. Once one leg was fine, after stretching and walking the other one would cramp up. Again, the other runners were super nice and supportive, when they saw me struggling down the mountain. Finally the trail leveled out again, and I was able to resume running. Of course the second half of the run took way longer than anticipated, so it took me about 3:51,58 to complete the 25km.
The 14:58 pace is nothing to be proud of, but it felt quite good to complete this event!
I'll make sure to run more hills before the next trail event!

Since my legs are quite tired today, and my knees are pretty shot I'll take it easy on them in the next few days, probably only climbing at the gym, or doing some yoga.

The last run before Diablo

Wednesdays yoga class was not such a great idea.
It was the first class in ages (ok, roughly two months), and my hamstrings were really sore on Thursday and today. I did a very easy jog to loosen up my legs this evening...3.5 miles in 31 minutes... :-) Really relaxing!

Tomorrow I'll spend most of the day with runnung errands and working...
I'm looking forward to Sunday though!

A new category!

Welcome to a new category in this blog!
The Angry Rambling!

Ok, last night at the gym I pointed out a magazine, whick people read on the treadmills or the stationary bikes to Daniela. Her comment was: "If you want to read do it at home!" She is completely right! If you work out, work out hard! Doing things half-assed doesn't get you anywhere! Get the heart racing and the sweat dripping! If you can read during a workout you are wasting your time and use up gym space for people who want to work out!

Doing things in parallel seems so basic to this culture though! Doing the make-up, shaving, talking on the phone while driving for example. Do these things sequentially and drive safer!

gym climbing

I had an awesome gym climbing session with Daniela last night.

We spent about 2.5 hours in the gym. In that time I climbed 8 routes, including a 11.d (a first!), 2 11c's, a 11b, and a 11a. before that I warmed up on a 10b and a 10d, doing a 10a in between the 11s to loosen up.

It felt really good! I didn't feel that pumped afterwards, which is very good!

There was an ad in the gym about an "Intense crossfit course" a 2 day weekend class with 4 hours per day, in the end of June... I think I will sign up!

Tonight I'll go to a yoga class the first time in forever. I am looking forward to it!

I am also deliberating on getting a hangboard and some rings...

Diablo 25 -5 days

Ok, 5 more days to go before the Diablo 25k.
I did my last hilly trainings run this past Sunday. It was pretty good. Although the uphill part still kicks my butt, the downhill will be good :-)

Just figured out the logistics for race day...
Packet pick-up at 7:30, start at 8:30...Shouldn't be too hot at that time!

A week of good workouts

Sunday: an easy 3 mile run, which felt really good
Monday: a gym climbing session, 6 climbs, felt very poor, I was not doing very well :-(
Tuesday: more gym climbing, an awesome session: 9 climbs, 4 of which were leads, I need to build a little more endurance though.
Wednesday: awesome 6.5 mile run on SCT. 8:15 pace. A first over that distance.
tonight will be another climbing gym session, tomorrow probably a long run at Rancho.

I still have to see about the weekend plans: climbing in the Sierras? More long runs? Some mountain biking? Lots of options...

Thursday evening update: Another awesome climbing session...7 climbs today, slowly getting back on track. Still don't feel much like climbing outdoors though :-(

"This needs some love!"

That's a quote from Daniela, when she last saw my mountain bike.
I last used my bike about half a year ago, and the last time I worked on it, e.g. cleaned it was...
well, never.

So I devoted this afternoon to bike cleaning and tuning. I have to admit that I don't have a clue about bikes, but Wendy is a pro...She build up one of her bikes from scratch. She was willing to show me the tricks of the trade. It was quite fun to take the thing almost completely apart, clean the components and put it back together.

After we finished I wanted to go for a ride, but having an eye on the Diablo 25 in two weeks I decided to go for a run instead. It was just a quick 3 miles on the Stevens Creek Trail, but I am looking into logging a long run at Rancho San Antonio tomorrow afternoon. I am really looking forward to the race on Mt. Diablo! I just hope it won't be too toasty!

I was supposed to climb Washington Coloumn this weekend, but I didn't feel to great in the last couple of weeks, so I cancelled my plans. And looking at the weather in Yosemite yesterday that was a good choice. I hope that I/we will be able to try the South Face route later this year, perhaps in September, when the temperatures in the Valley are back to bearable...