Sycamore Canyon 50k 2012

This race was one of those races that I really wanted to complete because the past two times I've ran it, I've always stopped at 30k due to various reasons. I also had some volunteer credits with PCTR, so I decided to use that and run the 50k. My right ankle was still somewhat sore from the Safari Park half marathon last weekend, but my only goal was to finish. I was also trying out brand new shoes, The North Face Single-Track.

I got to the parking lot a little after 7am. The parking permit dispenser had not yet been opened. I waited around for the park folks to open the machine. Then I waited around some more for the bib pickup. As the start of the race got closer, I started to see more familiar faces. About 30 minutes before the start, I went back to my car to drop off the jacket and pickup my handheld.

A few of my super endurance athlete friends

I wore my DFL gaiters along with some Adidas arm sleeves as calf sleeves. I guess it's advantageous to have skinny legs. They actually felt better as calf sleeves. They were kind of short for arm sleeves. I only have 2 pairs of calf sleeves and both had not yet been washed.

Our shoes

The race started at 8:30am. There was really no race strategy other than start slow and try not to hurt the right ankle too much. I started at the back of the entire pack with my friends. They were going to take it easy running either the 18k or 30k. They were going a bit slower than I wanted, so I wished them a great race and jogged off. Even though I wanted to go slow, I still had to make sure I stayed ahead of all of the time cutoffs.

The Walking Diva!

Nice and steep up to the fire road

Going out on the pink loop was probably to only time that I felt very comfortable. But the long downhill single track to the La Jolla aid station really took a toll on my right ankle. I ate boiled potatoes with salt then started the yellow loop. The earlier section was pretty technical. I usually pass people here because I like rock-hopping. When I got to the big open fields, I got passed by everyone that I passed earlier. The camber really hurt my ankle. I had to stop and take pictures to help alleviate the soreness. I tried to jog here and there but always tried not to do too much to aggregate the right ankle.

I like the rock-hopping section

There's a Coyote on my tail!

Lady running her first trail race, 30k

There she goes!

This part of the course always reminds me of The Lord of the Rings

I caught up to some of the runners that passed me in the fields during the technical section. They were very cautious going down, but I just love rock hopping. I don't blame them for going slow, this section was pretty treacherous if you're not careful. We all have different strengths in our running. I tend to do much better in the technical sections.

Again I had boiled potatoes with salt and refilled my bottle with some Clif Shot electrolyte drink at the aid station before starting the pink loop back to the Sycamore aid station.

La Jolla aid station

Everything was going okay until I reached the fire road going down to the Sycamore aid station. The right ankle was just very sore and could not handle the slightest camber or unevenness in the road. It was pretty depressing to be walking the downhill sections. Again I forced myself to jog a little here and there to mix things up. Once I got back on the flat road leading up to the turnaround, everything was fine. The ankle was definitely fine with a flat surface. When I rolled into the aid station, I briefly considered calling it a day. But I didn't want to get so used to dropping out. Plus I had 4 hours to cover the final 18k. So I refilled my bottle, ate some food, and headed back out.

Even though we had overcast for most of the day, there were spots in the lower elevations where it was starting to get sunny and hot. On that steep climb up to the fire road, I just stopped to take in the views and also take a picture of some flowers.

On the way down to the La Jolla aid station, I got to see everybody that was ahead of me. When it was my turn to turn around and head for the finish, I saw that I was second to last. I was hoping that I didn't get caught by the Walking Diva! She is always a very steady and strong walker.

Fortunate for me, I caught my second wind going down the fire road. The more I ran, the better I felt. Since I'm used to only running 26.2 miles, it was very weird to have that feeling at about 28 miles into a run. I was even able to run pretty fast to the finish line. One guy at the finish line was wondering why it took me so long when I looked so good at the finish. I told him it was runner's high and my ankle will be really sore shortly. :)

1: 1:08:02 pink out
2: 1:45:16 orange loop
3: 1:33:34 pink in
4: 1:39:51 pink out
5: 1:35:18 pink in
Finish: 7:42:04 (watch), 7:42:13 (clock)

The amazing Walking Diva!

After finishing, I grabbed a Coke and went to my car to change. I came back to the finish line to get a photo of Yolanda finishing her race. Even though she came in last, she got 3rd place in her age group, and set a PR.

It's well known that PCTR has been having problems. I hope that they have turned the corner and is headed in the right direction. Unfortunately word of mouth spreads in the running community and the turnout for this event was very sparse which resulted in me getting 3rd place in my age group. There was only 3 people in my age group that ran the 50k. It was a good thing I didn't drop out at the 30k mark again. I finally got my 50k finisher's coaster! :) One guy was manning both aid stations at La Jolla and Sycamore for the last of the 50k'ers. Which meant that he was driving back and forth to take care of us.