Pacifica Goes Long(ish)

So I'd been thinking this past week that I could more than likely run past the 21k PCTR race in Pacifica I'd signed up for today, and that I would aim for completing the 30k course (an extra loop of the 9k portion of the 21k course). Well, when I turned up at registration this morning, turns out I must have been thinking along those lines a few months ago when I registered -- I was already on the 30k list! Which was great, absolutely no wiggle room to back out after that!

It was a glorious run on an amazingly beautiful course; I had no idea the area around Pacifica looks like that back in the hills. Most of the trails were lush with ferns, berry thickets, forget-me-nots, eucalyptus groves, and many varieties of thick, broad-leafed jungley-type plants. The weather was perfect; coastal fog and mist, cool and a bit breezy but not chilly. It was like running in Hawai'i with air conditioning. Plenty of elevation (that I may be fondly remembering in detail tomorrow) which made for some fun climbs and even better speedy descents -- love running downhill!

I run alone pretty much any other time but racing so it was such a wonderful change to hear the conversations and footfalls and passings of other runners. Between the sanctuary of the open space and the companionability of fellow trail-heads, I had no desire to break out music of any kind as I now usually do when I run. By the last 9k lap, though, with a slight twinge in my knee and my feet balking at the latest sock trial (see 2nd post for today), I was ready to let little Kermit pace me to the finish... and I have to say as awesome as it was to commune with the sounds of nature and of conversation with fellow runners for the first 2/3rds of the race, it was an equally incredible if different experience to be moving through such stunningly beautiful surroundings listening to music of peace, social justice, and human potential.

I felt on top of it with minimal training, did not need any "sugar boost" from gels or sports drinks to make it through as I used to, and I bounced back more quickly afterwards; ever since I went completely raw I have found that my body is more resilient in every direction, it's just too cool. The power lifting at the gym and all the deeper work and inversions we've been doing in yoga lately can't have hurt either...! And it finally happened, I ate my first trail -- every trail runner I know has taken a tumble at some point, I've been wondering when my time would come and now I can safely say it's over and done with. Happened about halfway through the course, and I must say I'm proud of the fall: with all the core-stength training I've been doing, I was strong and stable enough to save it from being a bad one, and was able to pick right up, laugh it off and keep on tearing madly down the hill. All in all, it was a great start to the running season as my first run-event of the year. Thanks Wendell and Sarah for another great personal-achievement race in a beautiful place :)

>> update 7/4: results. as usual, smack in the middle, not stellar but not too bad, especially since i haven't been training on trails much. ah well, maybe that 7 minute mile will come around next year...