On with the run recap!
Total Distance: 20 miles
Elevation Gain: 3627 feet
Average Pace: 14:23
Starting Temperature: 41° F
Ending Temperature: 52° F
Quote of the Day: “It hurts so good!”
Pre-run Consumption
·
Fruity Cheerios with almond milk
·
Starbucks Caramel Macchiato, grande
·
Mayesa, Cacao Original
Run Consumption
·
64 oz water
·
10 Metasalt Capsules
·
Quaker Chewy Bar, Oatmeal Raisin
·
Quaker Chewy Bar, Dark Chocolate Cherry
·
Mayesa, Cacao Mint
Immediate Post-run Consumption
·
8 oz water
·
½ of a Honey Stinger Waffle, Vanilla
·
Dos Equis
The morning started off less than ideal. My daughter was
not interested in dream feeding so I had to pump. Of course none of my boobie
pump parts were clean so I had to clean those suckers up. There’s 5 minutes
gone. Then my letdown was being more than stubborn so my usual 5 minute pump
took close to 15 minutes. Drag! There was no way I was gonna hook up with my
running group at SDRI before they left. Still in PJs I grabbed my gear (smartly
tossing it all in a bag the night before) and started the over one hour drive
to Anza-Borrego State Park. A Starbucks stop was in order…another 10 minutes
wasted. By the time I got to the Sunset Trailhead the rest of the Dirt Devils
were chomping at the bit to go. I ducked behind my truck and changed out of my
PJs into my running gear (sans technical socks – drat!) in the crisp 40-degree
air. I was hurriedly cramming my trail goodies into my backpack as most of the
Dirt Devils took off. Two guys stayed behind to help me catch up to the pack. I
had never run this trail so I am incredibly thankful for them.
At about 2 miles one of the girls took a stumble that
ended her run that day. The timing was unfortunately fortunate as there was only
a half mile or so shortcut back to the cars. Alternating shoulder carrying and
piggybacking four of us helped her along the single track back. Hobbling back
on her own could have caused further injury so we were more than happily
obliged to assist her. I believe she is okay although I don’t know the extent
of her injury.
Back on track now and ready to get grooving we entered
the overgrown brush. Lesson: Get a good trail description before heading out. I
wore my Moeben technical dress with compression shorts and my bare legs got
scratched up over the next few miles. It took a good mental block to ignore the
increasing intensity of the scratches. I blissfully ignored the fact that I
would have to run through the same brush on the way back.
A much needed jeep trail section was next. One other Dirt
Devil was keeping the same pace as me and was game for hitting 20 miles that
day even though the others were doing 17 miles. The miles down toward the desert
floor went by rapidly thanks to great conversation. It was refreshing talking
to someone who shared the same attachment parenting values that I held. On the way
down we passed the leader group heading back up and quickly were forewarned
about the “death march”. Wonderful. We kept running only stopping for a photo
op when the view was too beautiful to pass. We passed the 8.5 mile turn-a-round
and kept going to 10. The desert floor was so close and incredibly tempting to
run down and touch but I wanted to finish this run in good form. I don’t want
to exhaust myself on training runs. My goal for each training run is to be able
to feel like I can run another 10% of the miles I just did. Turns out that my
new running buddy’s longest run before today was 16 miles so we agreed it would
be best that the desert would have to wait for another day.
My left toenail was now bothering me a tad from the
beating it took coming down. Lesson: Trim toenails before hitting the trails. Pain
aside we turned around to start the death march. More parental talk and me spewing
about my depressing Peace Corps experience had made the death march somewhat
more bearable.
Conquering the death march was a great feeling but knowing
that I had to pass through the brush again…not so much. We opted for a little
stretch out first. My hamstrings were pretty stiff and took a couple minutes to
relax. At the start of my run I could touch the ground with my full palms.
I pushed through the thorns and no lie, it hurt. Between my
thorn aversion, walking the ups, my partner’s calf cramps, and a few stumbles
over roots with now heavy feet the last 5 miles took one and a half hours to
finish. Could we have pressed it? Sure but neither of us wanted to feel crummy
the rest of the day. There came a point though where we entered a sharp switchback
and we stopped and stood there wondering how could the trail just end like
this. Turned around and (derp!) there it was heading clear the other way. Lacid
had finally made her appearance and apparently she is related to Elmer Fudd – I
vewy much wuv wunning! Huh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh!
Now, as far as any breastfeeding concerns I have, I
pushed the limit on this run and will have to pump for any distance longer. I
really should have pumped before driving home but I didn’t think to bring my
electric pump. Instead I opted for a nursing vacation the rest of the day. I
felt noticeably less “full” but my daughter reversed cycled that day with no
problem and the day after I feel "full" again. Although I don’t like using it I
bought a manual pump that fits in my backpack so I can pump at the turn-around
during the race. Maybe I can find a way to have someone bring my electric pump
to the race aid station.
Overall it was a great run and I want to run it one more
time in mid-February and touch the desert floor. As I said before, after running
directly on the Oriflamme course my confidence has spiked. I know what the worst
section is and I can handle it. The portion I didn’t cover is a little bit more
death march and flat desert and totally doable. This will be great!
You are a stud!
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