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.