Race Report: XTERRA Renegade (San Dimas, CA)

So.. I realize that it’s been a LONG TIME (over three months!) since this race, but I’ve only just now decided to put together a race report. The number one lesson out of this race (as it has been for nearly ALL of my races this year) is a lesson in PREPARATION (or lack, thereof). I’ve been really BAD about race prep and training this season. It’s  a mix of a lack of motivation, of wanting to do other things, of wanting to “have fun” rather than train… I know it’s a bad excuse for poor performance… but in reality, I don’t think I did THAT poorly. I’ll just blame it on the fact that I had very strong competitors.

Getting transition area set up...

Swim went off without any surprises. A swim is a swim to me, and I’m usually just happy to get it over with.

Done with the swim!

The usual routine for T1.. blow nose.. spend 5 minutes trying to get wetsuit off..

Coming out of T1

The biking leg was another thing altogether. Minh and I had previewed the course, and decided that the best place to make up time would be on the “road”. If I could tuck down and haul-it on the road section, then I would be able to close a significant gap between me and the girl who swims faster than me. Pretty good advice, and I think it worked pretty well… only the girl who swims faster than me also bikes faster than me… I ended up throwing up on the bike (that took up at least five minutes.. probably more).. on the first lap, about half way up on the first big climb (not the walking one). That almost took me out of the race, but I was able to recover reasonably on the rest of the lap and decided to power through it.

First Lap... My typical riding position.. hunched over and head down.. :-/

 

Pretty butterfly Minh saw while waiting for me to finish riding..

End of the second lap on the bike... head up this time..

I felt decent getting off the bike, but I knew that the run would be PAINFUL. Honestly, before this race, I hadn’t REALLY run since December (XTERRA Crystal Cove 21k) – what with shin splints and laziness and all… So the run was mostly a walk and a slow jog. I tried to keep a decent enough pace, and tried to finish pretty strong, but I finished knowing that I probably didn’t podium (and I didn’t).

Last turn for the run.. homestretch...

Smiling because I know the race is almost over... (note Minh all the way in the back...)

Overall, I enjoyed this race. The course didn’t change too much from the year before, and I had a pretty good time. Granted, I wasn’t completely prepared for it, but they run a good race (Renegade Racing). And.. of course… I had a great time rocking my new Run Team Sparkle Skirt:

Race Report: Xterra Trail Run – Crystal Cove

As much as I’m not very good at it, I do in fact love running. Trail running, to be more specific.

Sunday marked the 3rd race in the Xterra SoCal Trail Run Series. This one was held at Crystal Cove (YAY! for local races) and at the not too early time of 8AM. It’s still a little bit of a drive from home, so we got up around 6:15AM (or so) to make sure we had plenty of time to grab breakfast, find parking, and get checked-in. Met up with Elise and Skyler, who were also running the 17k.

Race started a little after 8AM, and I made sure to stay at the front. Even though I’m a slower runner and should probably start in the middle somewhere, I like to start near the front because it’s a more accurate race time for events that don’t have timing chips (like most trail races).

I'm not ahead of Elise for very long.. that girl is A LOT faster than me..

The course was a little different from what I was expecting, but I had run most of it before during my training runs. I did feel extremely out of shape, more so during the race than I did during the previous weekend. It was a bit of a bummer not being strong, but I did my best. Tried to run/jog when I could (especially up the hills), but my quads and glutes just felt like jello. Ended up walking quite a bit more than I was expecting to, but finished strong on a long downhill.

Overall winner.. James Walsh

Female winner and 3rd overall.. Michelle Barton.. missed the female course record by less than a minute..

Smiling on a nice long downhill to the finish..

I’ve decided that this is an AWESOME course for hill-training, since there are so many rolling hills that you don’t have to keep doing just one, you can still do a loop. Plus, Crystal Cove has some nice single track for running along the Fenceline at the top (not part of the race course, but I wish it was).

Overall, I’m satisfied with my results. Finished in 2 hours and 4 minutes, 6th in my age group out of 14. I’m a little bit bummed for Elise and Skyler, who had to “jump” age groups for this race since race age is based on your age at the end of 2011 (lame). But they both still did really well: Elise getting 4th, and Skyler getting 7th.

Didn't feel so great afterwards.. but was happy to have finished!

And with that.. racing is OFFICIALLY OVER for 2010! Now I REALLY REALLY need to get back to training.

Mile-by-Mile: Crystal Cove

Sunday I had to get in a long run. Minh said to put in the effort, since the race is two weeks away. The plan was to do the 10-mile loop around Back Bay + some to get a full 13 miles in. But, when I got up on Sunday (after laying in bed for a couple hours), I decided that the day was too nice to spend running around Back Bay (which is nice, but can be boring at times). I decided instead to do a trail run through Crystal Cove. Trails were pretty nice after the rain, and I knew I would get a good workout with the hills. I ended up doing just shy of 11 miles in 2 hours and 30 minutes (ish). Slow.. but mostly because I stopped every mile to take a picture and I took a break at the ranger station around mile 5. Here’s my run, mile-by-mile…

Mile 0: Start at Ridgeview Park Entrance

Mile 1: Just hopped into Crystal Cove State Park for an "easy" downhill to the Ranger Station

Mile 2: A little bit of single track to keep me on my toes..

Mile 3: Beautiful skies and bits of grass growing from the recent week of rain

Mile 4: Breathtaking view of the ocean on the final downhill before hitting the Ranger Station

Mile 5: A new(ish) bridge and some construction for the new parking lot and picnic area

Mile 6: At the base of "I Think I Can"... will I make it up?

Mile 7: Almost at the top of "I Think I Can"... soo tired...

Mile 8: A nice steady descent after the "big climb"

Mile 9: Rolling hills all the way back to the car

Mile 10: Last bit of single track to finish up the run.. And we're in the HOME STRETCH!

FINISH: And we're DONE!!!

It just so happens that Crystal Cove is actually A LOT more interesting than my pictures show. But.. the interesting parts didn’t exactly line-up with my mile-marks. Oh wells… better pictures next time.

Race Review: Xterra SoCal Trail Run #1 – Point Mugu 18k

Sunday marked my first venture into Xterra country with the start of the Xterra Trail Run SoCal Series. Four hundred or so runners headed out to Point Mugu State Park (just on the edge of LA and Ventura counties, between Malibu and Oxnard) for the Point Mugu Trail Run. I had previewed the course in September, so I more or less knew what to expect. Goal time was 2 hours (that’s about a 10:45 min/mile pace) – I knew I would be able to handle the flats and the downhills, but it was the climbs and the singletrack (getting stuck behind people) that really made me worried I’d be on the slow side.

Sunday morning came, and Minh and I got up EARLY (5AM) for the drive up to Malibu. The plan was to leave by 5:30AM for the 2 hour drive. We made it to the race earlier than expected (7:00AM), either due to Minh’s crazy speedracer driving or the lack of traffic, or both. I was asleep most of the time, so I can’t really say. We got a pretty good parking spot, since we were there early. Checked in and hung out in the car for a little while.

The essentials for the race.. number, GU, and Garmin

Marked for the run... I haven't put one of these on in YEARS...

At about 8AM, I decided to go for a warm-up run and hit the potties for the last time before the race. I have been suffering from a mild case of shin splints for the last couple weeks, so I hoped that the compression socks would do the trick.

Off on my warm-up.. see you later..

Practicing "technical" stuff on the warm-up.. this isn't even the half of it..

Course talk from the "devil" (race # 666)... "watch out for the unavoidable poison oak."

Even though I’m not the fastest runner, I always like to start these races near the front. It’s a little disheartening to get passed by 100+ runners early on in the race, but it beats adding a few minutes on my overall time from starting in the back. I tried my best to keep to the side so that people could pass me easily too. I may have expended a little too much energy at the beginning though, because I was feeling it pretty hard on the ascents during the first few miles.

"And they're off!!" Already getting passed by atleast 100 runners...

After the start, Minh headed off the assigned meeting location (somewhere between Mile 5 and 6, where the 11k course meets up with the 18k course). He took some pretty nice pictures of the trail, so you can see how much MORE technical it is compared to our local OC trails. I’ve never run anything like this before, and I’m pretty sure we DON’T have trails this technical in OC. Most of our trails pretty smooth, and even the rocky ones are pretty wide.

It was pretty foggy throughout the whole race..

I got passed quite a bit during the run, but I was still keeping a good pace. I ran when I could, but had to walk a lot of the ascent. I didn’t feel too bad though, because I didn’t really get in anyone’s way. For the most part, I slowed to a walk/hike when the people behind or in front were also slowing, and I always stepped to the side when I could to let people pass. I picked up the pace a little bit on flats and downhills to make up for whatever time I had loss on the climbs.

The first water station wasn’t where it was supposed to be (around 4.5 miles).. but luckily I still had enough water to sustain me until I did hit the water station (a little past mile 5). I also didn’t cover myself in poison oak like they had warned would be inevitable. There was poison oak all over the first half of the course, but I was able to avoid it. Even the one spot that was COVERED in poison oak overgrowth didn’t affect me…. perhaps I’m one of the few lucky ones that’s not sensitive to it? Minh’s not even sure if he saw any poison oak.. but then again.. he doesn’t know what it looks like.

FOG! You could hear the ocean, but you couldn't see it..

Just before Mile 6, and the last long steady uphill of the race, I met up with Minh for the bottle hand-off. He prepared a bottle with Heed and a gel for me. It was nice to get a COLD bottle, since my bottle was starting to become not satisfying. Luckily, the weather was cool and foggy, instead of sunny and hot like the preview run. It stayed nice and foggy the entire morning, so it made for PERFECT running weather.

Ready for my bottle hand off...

18k and 11k course merges for the rest of the race

Once we hit the top of the last climb, I was feeling good. I knew that the rest of the course was just downhill switchbacks, and I decided to just let my momentum carry me to the bottom. My knees were starting to hurt, but my shins were feeling pretty good. What’s great about this downhill is that you can occasionally see the start/finish area, and you can HEAR the announcements going on. It’s really motivating to get to the finish. I passed a few people on the downhill, but mostly I just stuck to my pace and tried to finish strong.

FINISH LINE!!!

The picture being taken by the guy in red can be seen below..

Pretty cool picture... I'm gonna buy it.. but haven't gotten around to it yet..

FINISHED... see you at the next one!

I finished in 2:03:13, which is a lot better than the preview run and about what I had expected for myself. Things to work on if I want to be competitve (and I do)… overall speed, hills, ability to recover after hills (this probably goes for cycling and general running also).

Xterra Trail Run SoCal Series #1 – Point Mugu 18k
2:03:13
6 out of 15 AG F25-29 (190 overall)

After this first race, I’ve decided that trail running is a million times BETTER than road running (marathons specifically). On the road, it’s pretty boring. You don’t see anything interesting and it’s just the same road over and over again, 90° turns, and thousands of people around you the whole time. With trail running, sometimes it’s just you and nature, the terrain changes completely from wide and flat to technical singletrack to switchbacks. The views are INCREDIBLE, whether it be of the ocean or the mountains or a wide open field. Sometimes you see someone ahead or hear someone behind, but for the most part it’s just you and nature. It’s great. I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to road running only… Maybe if I think I’ll qualify for Boston. That’s still a goal in the back of my mind somewhere.

Gear: Avia Stoltz

I recently ordered a pair of new Avia Stoltz Running Shoes for trail running. I read reviews online that these are great for trail running, and I was in dire need of retiring my old trail shoes (that were never meant to be running shoes in the first place). Because I couldn’t find these at any local retailers, I ended up purchasing them from FinishLine online…. in chrome silver/firerose pink/yellow glow/black, of course. Took them out to Peters Canyon for a short trail run to test them out. Also, put a pair of Berry Superfeet in them for good measure.

The run felt great. The shoes have great support where I need it, but isn’t too tight or confining like some of the other trail shoes I’ve tried. They’re also super light, probably just a tad heavier than my race shoes, but lighter than my training shoes. The toebox is extra roomy, so I could still wiggle my toes, but not lose stability or support.

Of course there are some “cons” to the shoes. First being the stock laces. The laces are pretty thin and slippery feeling, so I’ve read that they don’t tie that well. To make up for this, they come with one of those spring adjustable cord-pull/lace-lock things  (I dont’ k now what they’re called, but they come on drawstring bags and the like). But, when you tighten them, you’re left with some extra lace length dangling over the top of the shoe, which then needs to be tucked away or tied off somehow. I’ll probably replace the laces with some Yankz! when I get around to it.

The other downside was that even though I love all the room in the toebox, it allows a little too much shifting around on really steep downhills. I think, though, that I can get rid of this problem with some more practice on my downhill running form.

Overall, a great shoe.