Saturday December 7th, 2013 Golden Gate National Recreational Area, California
This past weekend Kasia and I ran our first 50 mile race and it was awesome. Getting out on the trails in nature is one of my favorite things to do period!!! And getting to do it with my wife makes it even better. Ultra Marathons are the hardest physical thing I have done so far…..They are off road and not flat. Very far from flat….in fact they are up then down then up then down and so on for however far they may be. I felt this week like the first time I ran the marathon. My quads are shot big time. It hurts to walk downstairs and all day at work everyone asked me why I was walking funny. I then had a fun story to tell them. I ran 50 miles.
This year is special for the both of us because for the first time both of us are sponsored and racing for a men’s and women’s triathlon team. Kasia is part of the Elite team sponsored by Active Angelz and I am part of the Men’s Nytro Breakaway Training team. Many thanks to our coaches and sponsors that make this whole dream we live possible. Nutrition is my fourth sport and Cytomax really hooks our team up. Energy Drops, Cytomax Sports Drink, Monster Aminos & Protein really helped make our bodies as strong as possible. And we needed every bit of help we could get.
Over the past couple years my wife and I have been dabbling in ultra-marathons. We did our first 50K in Big Bear at Endure the Bear in 2011. We ran that race together and it was brutal. Kasia was fighting an injury and did not have the best experience. We ran/hiked the Rae Lake Loop that summer with our friend Christian (45 miles unassisted). That was awesome and cemented my love for running above the timber line in the sierras. Something I look forward to every summer. Then we did Noble Canyon 50K last year. We tried to get into the NF50 last year but it was already sold out and now I know why. This course is super sic. It is located just north of San Francisco in the Marin headlands. Some place I have always wanted to explore after visiting Muir Woods last year. This past summer after running from Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite to Mammoth Lakes (35 miles of PCT love) we decided to sign up again and test our bodies at the 50 mile distance
We flew into SF Thursday after our flight was delayed 1.5 hours. That sucked. Got our rental car and headed downtown to the Hyatt at the Embarcadero in SF. One thing we noticed is that it was cold…….way cold. That brought back nightmares of IM Tahoe this past year. But at least we didn’t have to swim then hit the bike in 40 degree shade. Next day headed to the North Face store downtown and checked into the race. Got our numbers, timing chip, and tech tee (which we gave right back to get printed at the finish line). Afterwards we spent the afternoon shopping in downtown SF, getting some dinner and relaxing in our room.
Next morning our alarm went off at 2:30 AM for the 5:00AM start. I always hate eating food really early in the morning. The anxiety plus the food does not feel like a normal day. Kasia has no problems but each bite for me is a struggle. The excitement for some reason takes away my normal appetite for some reason, but I know I need fuel so I power down a bagel with peanut butter and part of a chocolate croissant. A couple cups of coffee later and we are headed to the start through an empty downtown SF.
Got to the parking lot and hit the shuttles and before we knew it we were at the start. The race start felt empty compared to triathlons. Tents felt spread out thin. I wish they would have had a big tent with lights because we it was cold (30’s) and dark. We had to use our headlamps to pack up our bags for drop-offs. There were 4 places you could pick up your bags at. Two aid stations you went through twice. We decided to pick ours up right after ascending from Stinson beach up the Dipsea Trail at mile 30. Dean Karnaze was at the start line giving high five as we left the finish line. It was a surreal experience with all the lights.
There was a line of headlamps strung out after the start. It stayed dark for over an hour…..it was cold until we started our first ascent. When we reached the top the lights of Sausalito were visible below the ridgeline and when we hit a Eucalyptus Forest the lights of SF were visible. It was awesome to be running through the forest with the city in the background and my wife next to me. Kasia was the only one I knew at the race and my plans of taking off and running my first 50 miler solo were leaving. We had trained together for this. Mile after mile, day after day, hour after hour and now we were in the moment…… racing. She asked me to stay with her till it got light and I agreed. I was already thinking I may want to hang with her and experience this together……kind of finish the journey together. I am a lucky guy because my wife is generally down to try anything. Just after the forest ended we started the first descent. My little light on the front on my cap barely lit the way and Kasia always has a tough time descending so I hung behind her and made sure she got down safe. 6 or so miles later we looped back to the first aid station we had already passed. They had no food, only drinks, so we took a drink and headed back out into the dark trails. Instead of taking the road or climb we just took up to the forest we took a left and headed north. This was the start of us moving far far away from the start. The start of our adventure. Dawn was breaking on the horizon.
Wrapping your head around running 50 miles for the first time is big. Really Big. Neither of us had ever done it. I would be lying to you if I said I wasn’t a little anxious and nervous about it before…….but something changes after a race starts. We had trained for this. We were ready and the miles just start to fly by because everywhere you look is pure beauty. I love running early morning …..Its pure and only the hardcore people get it. Once you taste it you want more. Sunset is spectacular too but night falls shortly after. Sunrise on the other hand is just as beautiful but follows with brilliant warm sunshine…….the stuff that makes superman strong.
As sun broke we hit the coast and I couldn’t help but take a few pics because it was stunning. A line of runners spread out down the coast. You could see the trail zig zagging down closer to the beach. I kept telling Kasia how awesome this trail was…….it was when the alpine glow sunrise hit her I decided I would stick with her all day and finish what we started together.
A few miles later at the top of a hill Muir Beach came into view and again I was inspired by nature….it was beautiful. What an amazing place to do our first 50 miler…..bummer it was cold. But at least the sun was going to be out and that offered me some comfort.
I ran in gloves all day…..taking them off for only the climbs where I would warm up for a short period of time. After Muir beach we climbed a long hill that kept growing turn after turn. At the top we hit another aid station and I saw one of the leaders about to the hit the 30 mile marker. Kasia and I were about to head out on the out and back…….the furthest we would go from the start and finish. Shortly after we left the aid station we went into the forest and I just enjoyed every second of running with Kasia through this lush forest with beams of sunshine penetrating down to our level.
The out and back of this race is sweet single track with views of Stinson Beach below but it is also the most dangerous because you have runners going both ways and we had runners coming at us head on the whole way. Out and back we dealt with some not so nice people that thought they had a chance at winning and other very nice people that did not want to die.
Once we got off the out and back we descended into the sweet little town of Stinson Beach. Switch back after switchback we descended. At this point between mile 20 and 30 I started to feel my quads and legs, but I was stoked to be doing this…….I was in the moment enjoying it with Kasia. We chatted the whole race…..she has come so far since we first met. She inspires me with her determination and growth. She just keeps getting better and better and always has a great attitude.
The climb out of Stinson beach on the Dipsea Trail flew by and before we knew it the views were back. Once we reached the top we hit the aid station we saw the pro at earlier. Man that guy was flying. We munched on some ruffles and M&Ms which tasted so good. Also drank a cup of chicken broth which was also nice because of the warmth. A couple cokes later and we entered Muir Woods and the mystical forest I had been looking forward to all day.
The Redwoods started appearing here and there but when we reached the bottom of the valley where the river made its way down the mountain was where the big Redwoods covered in green moss lived. It was so fun to be running through such an awesome place. It felt like Endore in Star Wars. Last year Kasia and I hiked here and had an awesome grilled cheese sandwich (Marin Melt- Cowgirl Creamery Mt Tam Cheese, Pt Reyes Farmstead Cremery Toma Cheese, and Rustic Bakery Sunflower Loaf Bread) with tomato soup at the Muir Woods Forest Service restaurant. If you are there check it out……definitely worth it…..soo sooooo yummy.
From the past visit I knew we would climb out of the forest and into the sun along the ridge. Before long we found ourselves making the climb. When we broke out of the sun I got a recharge. It was later in the day but the sun still provided some warmth. Muir woods was chilly. Glad to have that behind us.
Time to move closer towards the finish. As they say what goes up has to go down and we hit the end of the sun trail and started our descent down to the next aid station next to the the parking lot for Muir Woods. The downhill hurt. Switchback after switchback. Started to make friends with other runners we had been running with all day. No matter what we kept running and before long we entered the aid station.
Looked for M&Ms but they only had skittles. Bummer….They did have potato chips and coke so took some down and headed back out with Kasia. There were a couple runners sitting down in blankets looking not so good. They probably didn’t make it. Next section to Muir Beach was flat and very welcomed. That was just what we needed. Kasia got in front of me and set the pace. We didn’t say much for a while until we got closer to the town. We crushed a couple miles at a descent pace. The race up until this point had been really hilly (This is not a flat course). It is a very hilly course but not very technical except for the out and back. Muir beach aid station welcomed us in with cow bells.
At this aid station one of the race directors was getting headlamps ready for the upcoming runners. He said to us “You guys will make it right before it gets dark”. That was comforting as the sun was starting to set in the west. Right out of this aid station is a big climb. It is a fire road cut in some places straight up the hill. A couple mountain bikers passed us. I thought to myself how fast I could crush miles on the wheels…..and then I thought how fast I could crush these hills if I was fresh. I started to day dream about what my legs felt like at the start. I was trying to think of anything but being tired and feeling the pain in my quads and legs……but we pushed on. Past 35 miles was new to us this year. The summer run was less than 35 by a mile or two. In training we went up to 35. So when we hit 35.1 I was a little excited.
Now we could count the rest of the race in aid stations. Two left. We strategized what we would eat at the next aid station hoping they had ruffles and M&Ms. The descent to the second to the last aid station really hurt but we did it. This was a big aid station with everything we wanted. We filled up and hit the road. We didn’t spend very much time in any aid station. Only what it took to fill my camelback and eat what we wanted. At this point we were not liking the hills anymore. We wanted to be done but less than five miles to go. The last hill went on for what seemed like forever. Bend after bend, more and more, but as we crested the top I recognized we would go through the eucalyptus forest we went through right after the start. We were almost done. The end was in sight. When we ran through the forest I could see the city lights once again and was energized. One more descent and a little climb and we are done. During the final descent the sun set and when we hit the bottom it was dark. We had run all day. I mean we ran during every second of light. Run, eat, drink, run, eat, drink, etc…..all day.
We approached the finish line with one guy in front of us so before we got into the light I congratulated Kasia on an amazing effort and had her wait up a sec so the guy could have his own moment. We then ran across the finish line together holding hands in a time of 12 hours 39 minutes. It was awesome to experience our first 50 mile running race together and what an amazing place to do it.
I never saw the start/finish area in the light. Only in the dark. There was no food and no beer (bummer), but we did find some coffee which was awesome. The coffee was warm and it was super cold now that we had stopped moving. We got our finish line bags and changed into some warm clothes and headed to our car. The heat and the seat on the bus/shuttle felt so good. When they dropped us off at the car I ran over to the rental car and started it up and revved the engine to about 4K. The heat started pouring out of the vents minutes later. We sat there as the car warmed up reflecting on what we had done that day. After we got comfy we drove back into the city back to our hotel in Embarcadero. We parked the car and hobbled through the lobby to our room. We dropped off our stuff and turned right around back to the hotel restaurant. The food tasted so good. The beer even better. We grubbed pretty quickly and headed back to our room. We were beat big time! Kasia fell asleep sitting up. I tucked her in and hit the sack. I was out immediately!!
We both slept like crap. Tossing and turning with pain in the legs. Dawn came what seemed quickly.
We got up the next morning and hit up a SF favorite of ours…….Ike’s Place (sandwiches). We ate them in the car where it was warm. They were so good!!! I love that place. They have killer GF bread that Kasia loves.
Afterwards we hit up twin peaks for killer views of SF. I have always wanted to check that place up and the views were worth it.
After chilling for a few we headed back to the SF airport to drop the rental car off and catch our flight. One thing that is awesome about living in San Diego is coming home. I thought it would be warmer and feel great but when we landed we found it chilly as can be. But it felt good to be home.
Like most endurance events you do for the first time it takes a little for the whole experience to soak in. It has soaked in and we want to try that distance again. We are thinking about signing up for the PCT50 for 2014. Registration opens January 1st This time I will run solo and see what time I can post. It occurs the weekend after Ironman St. George 70.3.
Who’s in?????
Who’s in?????
