To put it frankly -- I was intrigued by ultra marathons.
How my interest in races longer than 26.2 miles (technically anything 50K and up is considered a true ultra marathon) is a story that goes back to February 2015. I was scrolling on my phone one early morning, half awake, when I saw a post by a local running group that a man named Adam Kimble was planning on running across the US. The group had organized a run to send Adam off, and we could run with him for the first 4 or 5 miles. His starting point? The Huntington Beach Pier! Right in my neck of the woods! However, it was that very morning he was setting off - something like 5 am, and here I was, lying in bed, at 6 am. An excited yet nostalgic feeling washed over me, thinking how cool it would've been to see him off. Even more exciting, Adam was trying to break the world record for this transcon run. The record at the time was 46 days, 8 hours, and 36 minutes by Frank Giannino in 1980. (Update - since Adam's attempt, a new record has been set. Pete Kostelnick ran from San Francisco City Hall to New York City Hall in 42 days, 6 hours, and 30 minutes.)
Whew. I just felt so inspired as I typed that!
Naturally, I wondered who is this Adam Kimble and why would anyone want to run 3,000+ miles? I found out he is a talented ultra runner who's done many 100 milers, the Gobi challenge, 100Ks...the list goes on...like the race distances. Then, through more of my wondrous research, a couple of the big name ultra athletes such as Dean Karnazes rang a bell. I remember hearing about Dean as a teen and being aghast at the magnitude of his athletic accomplishments. (And this was me as a teen, huffing and puffing trying to complete a mile - and my times were always over 10 minutes. Running was my least favourite sport growing up.)
And here I was, contemplating with excitement to enter the world of ultra running.
So around Christmas 2015, after letting the idea fester, then settle, I began scouting the running race calendars online, much like how one would prep their normal calendar for the upcoming year. I choose my races not just to race, but as a motivator for making sure I put in the miles -- and gradually, too. It just doesn't work to wake up with a sudden surge of enthusiasm and say, "Alright! Today I'm going to put in 10 miles!" when the most you've done was a 1 mile walk. Progress in running has to be gradual, which requires great discipline and tenacity. Instant gratification? Forget it!
In researching ultra marathons, I realized many of them took place in hills, the mountains, or trails. It made sense to keep it off road - how could many miles of roads be closed off for a race covering so much distance and requiring 8+ hours? I realized I hadn't done much trail running. And so -- the XTERRA Laguna 10K caught my eye.
So this foggy morning in June, I arrived at Crystal Cove State Park. I smelled excitement in the air - along with the neoprene from the triathletes wetsuits. There was busyness going on as the entrants scattered about, getting their race numbers tattooed on, setting up their bikes at the station - but this made me appreciate the simplicity of the runner. Show up with decent trail shoes, a hat, your bib number, and you're good to go. There seemed to be fewer people just running the 10K, and I was glad for a relatively non-crowded start.
The views were absolutely gorgeous, and the weather stayed cool and overcast!
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| What's better than a fog machine at night? Real fog in the morning |
Not another hill! Oh yeah. This is a trail race. These races are known for being hilly.
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| It's hard to tell the level of steepness here but your legs will let you know |
The course was fairly tough. In case you were wondering, we do mainly "power walk" the hills. Some of us jog. And the elite? They're way outta sight...
Around mile 4.5, my knee started acting up, so I had to take it easy. I wasn't glad to -- this was on a downhill of all places! In fact, I believe it was around Poles - for those of you who've set foot in Crystal Cove, I'm sure you remember this notorious section! It's roughly a 1 mile stretch of a steepness, which makes ascending it AND descending it tough. You can't miss it. You can't forget it. My Garmin clocked the total elevation gain at 1,100 feet. Now that's some strenuous fun!
