Serious Fun.

Hello! It's been a while. I thought I'd update my devoted readers (which I think includes between zero and two people) on a few races I've run since I last updated.

The title "Serious Fun" was printed on the bibs we got at Armstrong Redwoods. Running races with little training, as I have been, can be pretty fun. No expectations, infinite excuses. But now I think I might try to be a little more serious. Because being serious can be fun, too, especially when you're really fast as a result! So stay tuned for a report from a race (maybe marathon or ultra) next winter/early spring that I might actually train for.

Woodside Ramble, December 13, 2012

Last December I ran the Woodside Ramble "Half Marathon" with Clara, Jake E. and KB. It was supposed to be a half marathon, but my Garmin only claims 11.63. Dima ran the 50k. Thanks to Jake's pacing and company, and in spite of a sad attempt at winter training (28 miles in November!), I ran it in about 1:53 (barely sub-10:00 miles), snagging me a 2nd place in my age group and 20/113 overall. The course was fantastic. Bouncy pine-needle-covered trails through redwood & oak forests. I'd really like to do this race again in December 2013, possibly for my first (completed) 50k.

Armstrong Redwoods, May 4, 2013

At the beginning of May Clara and I ran a 30 km (18.6 mile) race in Sonoma County at the Armstrong Redwoods SNR. I think we decided to do this the week before? It was quite spontaneous. Again, I hadn't really been training for a race of this length (or any race at all), but Clara and I had been running a little more in the spring than we had in winter (my best month was April, with 4 weeks of ~30 miles).

I ran it in 3:34:54 (~11:30 miles, 13/45 overall, 2/16 female, 1/5 age group), which included a good deal of walking and a lot of standing at aid stations eating all the potatoes I could stomach. This was a tough, rugged, hot course, but it was a lot of fun overall (the delicious aid station offerings, the huge redwoods at the beginning, and all of the stream crossing/creekside parts were the highlights.) Here we are at the start/finish. Note the beautiful redwood backdrop! Also our bibs say "Serious Fun."

Sawtooth Relay, June 8, 2013

After Armstrong Redwoods I essentially took May off except for a 24-mile run on my 24th birthday. Pulling my weight in the Sawtooth Relay would have been much easier if I hadn't done that. Sawtooth was a short (62-mile, 6 runners/team) relay in the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho. My teammates (Girls Heart Rockets runners Serena, Kelly, Henrietta, Kate, and Jordan) were all blazing fast, so of course, we won the women's team category. Also we were 8th overall out of more than 300 teams! Our overall average pace was a bit slower than 7:30/mile (at ~7000' elevation, with some climbing), and my two legs (5.03 miles gradual uphill, & 4.64 miles gradual downhill) were both at about 7:30 pace. The course was beautiful (though roads aren't my preference), and the beer at the end was fantastic.

Ragnar Trail Tahoe, July 26-27, 2013

I ran this as a member of an "ultra team" of GHR runners (Serena, Stephanie L. and Jenn). "Ultra" meant 4 of us each had to run twice as far as the regular 8-person teams. So we each ran 34 miles split into 3 legs. The results are still preliminary because of timing technology malfunctioning, but I think it's safe to say we won the women's ultra category as we were the only team in it. We ran this extremely difficult, but rewarding, course in ~28.5 hours. The course was very loopy -- each of the 3 legs involved running 2 of the 3 loops (so my 3 legs consisted of Green Loop + Yellow Loop followed by Red Loop + Green Loop follower by Yellow Loop + Red Loop). Green was 2.6 miles, yellow 6.7 miles, red 7.7 miles (including a ski lift ride!)). In total, subtracting the ski lift ride elevation gain, I think about 5500' was gained (starting elevation was around 6800', so the air was quite thin), and the terrain wasn't always runnable on the downhills. I thought the course was a lot of fun, but I think the organizers should have better warned/prepared everyone for how challenging it was going to be. It seemed like too many teams had to double and triple up runners (have 2 or 3 runners running their legs at the same time) in order to finish on time. And a lot of runners I talked to were unhappy with how underprepared they were. Some of the scenery looked like this (stolen from instgram/ragnartrail):

I wish I had taken photos at Ragnar Tahoe, but I was super sleep deprived and grumpy the whole time, though I still say it was a net-positive experience. I far, far exceeded my expectations. I think I should do more crazy trail races like this in the future.

I'll leave you with these to inspire you to run in beautiful places (here, Wildcat Beach at Point Reyes):

Happy trails!