Plantar fascia acted up. Jacket too thin for outdoor BBQ lunch. Everything else felt pretty perfect.
Race postponed 30 minutes so racers had sunlight.
Made 2 wrong turns but recovered quickly. Socks were wet by mile 13; no blister.
Kicked a rock: lost very little toe nail.
Weather was gorgeous.
_TLDR version
[photos by Catherine Chen]
I signed up for marathon despite of my drop foot. This wasn’t a technical trail course. I could ask a volunteer to save me.
It was weird coming to this event without Raluca. Enabling her to participate was something she appreciated.
_logistics
7am start time meant 4:15am wake time before 80 minute drive. I was afraid to oversleep at 3:30a. I needed to learn to relax.
Event was chip-timed. I debated whether to start 20 min after the gun to avoid darkness. The decision was made for me. The organizer postponed start 30 minutes.
_goal
I had no time or placement goal. 5-hour felt doable. 4.5-hr was possible. It all depended on surface condition and how much I got off course.
_loop 1: white trail: slow start
I started mid-pack, not wanting to impede anyone. The race quickly came to standing still to queue up for 2 flooded sections. A real trail runner would’ve just skip over the water.
_negative progress
I was directionally challenged and decided to follow others. Confusion developed the first couple miles. Runners U-turned. Twice. It was funny watching how people reacted differently. I followed a well-equipped guy—in worst case, his GPS will find the parking lot.
[end of loop 1]
Air temperature went from 37 to 50 the first 2 hours. I left T-shirt, arm warmers, and gloves at the tree by the start. The sunshine was gorgeous.
_loop 2: blue trail
The blue trail marks were very visible under 9 o’clock sun. I came to a water crossing. My brain couldn’t decide what to do; legs just stepped into the muddy water. Both socks got wet. That was my only dipping and permit me to step into mud.
Left heel hurt. I sensed the limp and chose to ignore it. There were limited numbers of these events left in this body; I hoped the knee damage I incurred wouldn’t be permanent.
I thought about Kelly Catlin’s suicide. I remember my setbacks when I was a 23-year-old California grad student. That was 2 lifetimes ago.
I stopped following others and went at my own pace. I caught the first half marathoners. Everyone seemed happy.
A girl caught me from behind with a lot of liquid in her Camelbak. I kept up for a few minutes then decided I didn’t need to increase foot pain to hasten returning to the world of New Zealand mosque shooting and other disappointments.
_#’s
Garmin 630:
Distance = 24.7 mi
Time = 4:34:31
Pace = 11:07 min/mile
7 water breaks: 3 input + 2 output +2 in queue to cross
2 wardrobe changes
Chip time: 4:38:00
Distance = 26.2 mi
Place: 15th/73 finishers
John wasn’t happy with his performance. Even more disappointed was Valerie; she quietly ate BBQ next to me. I didn’t know she DNF’ed and wish I inquired about it. I wished I wore the thick jacket. I wished I had larger comfort zone.
Javier finished 2nd in 50-mile under 8 hours.
Casey achieved his 10-hour goal. Made me want to try the yellow loop. He was an accomplish trail runner now. Casey mentioned Salton Sea 2020. I want to be on his team.
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