Final Week in California- Weekly Log: December 2 to 8

 Last full week in California before moving back to RI. Getting back into after 4 days off.

Monday: 0 Miles

Tuesday: 4 Miles- Pasadena, CA

Rose bowl + trails north of there. Had horrible side cramps towards the end.

Wednesday: 7 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Griffith park, went up Coolidge (500' climb to start) and down Fern Canyon before an OAB on flat crystal springs/main trail. Only OAB because the main trail is still closed for construction for that section. 

Thursday: 7 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Griffith Vista del Valle + Mount Hollywood from Greek theater.

Friday: 7 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Griffith Brush Canyon to Mount Hollywood from Fern Dell. It was hot.

Saturday: 8 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Final Elysian Park run and last weekend here. Run with Matt. 

Went to the Los Angeles Zoo in afternoon- not bad, not great.

Sunday: 8 Miles- Pasadena, CA

Rose Bowl + Hahamonga Watershed with Matt. Last one in Pasadena/South Pasadena and last run with Matt.

Weekly Total: 42 Miles

Weekly Highlight: Nothing from a running perspective, but was glad to be closing in on final days in Los Angeles.

Weekly Lowlight: Weekend was really hot.

Thanksgiving Day 5K- Weekly Log: November 25 to December 1

Tried a challenging double of racing a 50K Saturday and coming back Thursday to do a 5K turkey trot. This served a double purpose of getting to check out San Diego, which I had wanted to get to for a while given the proximity to Los Angeles. Spoiler alert: I was still pretty beat from the 50K and did not run well. I won't have a separate recap so this post will serve as the race report for this one. 

Monday: 4 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Griffith flat loop from railroad. Surprisingly little soreness from the 50K (considering my legs felt tired for the entire second half), but legs still felt lifeless and had zero pop. Just dragging along the heavy legs. Definitely very far from 5K ready. 

Tuesday: 5 Miles- Pasadena, CA

Rose bowl loop. Felt much better than Monday and started to think maybe I could run a decent race. Did some hard strides to try to wake the legs up for 5K pace in two days.

Wednesday: 3 Miles- San Diego, CA

Took the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner from LA to San Diego in the morning. Really nice train, perhaps better than the NE regional. Downside of the early arrival is I can't just check into the hotel mid-morning. First took the light rail system a few stops north and then ubered over to the bib pick-up spot. It was a little inconvenient but nearly impossible to do race morning given I'd be running from the hotel and no bag drop (I'd need my phone/ID to check in, and nowhere to put it while racing). 

Got some lunch, and took the light rail back into downtown. Light rail was clean but there were a lot of characters out including a guy yelling gibberish and also pulled out a pocket knife occasionally and poked his shoe with it. Back in downtown, I walked to the USS Midway which I had wanted to see for a while. It took a few hours to see the whole thing and it was pretty awesome and extensive. I knew this was bad race preparation but I didn't care all that much about this race and exploring San Diego was more important to me. Had to walk a mile back to the hotel as well. 

Went for my pre-race run quickly and felt extremely flat on a cement route with tired legs from all the walking. Definitely much lower confidence than Tuesday. 

Thursday: 8 Miles- San Diego, CA

Race day. I believe the race was supposed to start at 7:15. So did my standard wake up 3 hours out and eat. Went for 2 OAB at 5:50, had a little time to kill when I got back, then changed into race gear and headed over to the start. I had a first-time dilemma of running to the race from my hotel, but not having a bag check option. So I didn't have a car to stash my things in but I also couldn't rely on stashing my essential items (warm-ups, room key, phone, etc.) in the gear check either. It was warm enough I could run over in race gear, but I wasn't sure what to do with my room key. Normally I'd put them in my pocket but I hadn't anticipated this issue and my shorts with the pocket were soaking wet from using the hot tub. Ended up hiding it in some dirt in front of the hotel which worked just fine. 

Good conditions with 56 and low wind. Felt pretty good on warm-up and even strides. Lined up and got ready to go, except the race didn't start on time - 7 minutes late! Gun went off and I went out pretty hard, keeping even with the other leaders. I felt off instantly and just super heavy. Hanging with the lead pack felt really difficult through half a mile and I struggled to maintain contact through the full mile, getting gapped sometimes before reattaching myself. Definitely a day where things were going to feel rough, but maybe I could gut it out and break 16?

Made it through the mile in 5:05 and got gapped which obviously was not a good sign. Held my pace through 2K before a complete breakdown where I faded as bad to 5:30s at some points. One straggler caught and passed me, but was close enough that I had something to focus on. Struggled my way to a 16:27 for 8th, managing a small kick but not a good close overall. 

Not going to do much of a race analysis here. A few quick points- 16:27 is BAD. Not going to deny this was a horrible performance. But it comes with the qualifier that I ran the 50K 5 days before. I was not recovered at all and clearly this wasn't a good decision to do the race. A bit of a screw up on my part as I was pretty consistent this season, not having a bad performance until now. I think I need to implement a new rule in my racing - not racing the week after a 50K as Loon Mountain went poorly last year as well. 

Checked off the San Diego Zoo after - impressive, but crowded. Enjoyed the train back with hardly any people on it. 

Friday: 0. Beginning 4 days off.

Saturday: 0 Miles

8 Miles hiking- Laguna Beach, CA

Checked out Crystal Cove State Park with a friend.

Sunday: 0 Miles

Weekly Total: 21 Miles

Weekly Highlight: Checking out San Diego. Really nothing from a running perspective.

Weekly Lowlight: Being completely cooked for the 5K.

Pass Mountain 25K

Pass Mountain 25K would be my final "sub-ultra" trail of the season and cap off the third straight weekend of racing approximately half marathon on trail. Of course, this has an extra 4K which could be a challenge after being used to finishing 2.5 miles earlier. This race was November 9th in Mesa, Arizona just outside Phoenix. There are quite a few large parks out here in the desert in greater Phoenix. 

This race is put on by Aravaipa running, which is one of the biggest trail racing organizations in the United States. They mostly host races in Arizona, but also have some series in Colorado and New Hampshire. The amount of races and individual events within those races is quite impressive, and they do host some high-profiles ultras including USATF championships and world class events. Check out their schedule here to see what I mean.   

My interest in Pass Mountain was solely to take advantage of racing out west and race in Arizona for the first time. I figured why not and signed up at some point but was regretting it later on as my race schedule was so heavy. My travel and race desire was also low coming off Mugu and Moab. But I had already poured quite a bit of money into this booking non-refundable flights and hotels. 

Unlike Moab, this would be a pretty short trip as I'd fly out Friday afternoon and back Saturday afternoon. One complication was my hotel was 45 minutes away from the race site. Two things I was concerned about was potentially not having service at the race site to get an uber back, and with a hotel checkout at 11, I'd have to rush back quickly. 

I slept well as much as I can remember and took an uber over to the start. Had a little downtime then warmed up and got ready to go. Only for the race to get delayed 30 minutes (from 7:30 to 8) because some people weren't ready. I was not happy about this at all and it really took me out of the race mindset. Especially because I was about ready to do strides and toe the line and now I had an extra 30 minutes. It would also be really tight to get back to the hotel in time and this was worrying me. I'd rather not deal with this now but it would definitely bother me in the race so I called the hotel to request late check out which was completely useless as the front desk never picked up and the other line told me to speak with the front desk. I ended up scheduling an uber and really hoped the course wasn't slower than I expected. I didn't feel like racing after the delay and my worries about check out but I actually kind of had to so I could get back in time. 

I lined up in the third row to keep myself anonymous and not go out too fast, but overdid it as the top runner went out quickly and gapped me. For some reason, I didn't expect this to be too competitive but I quickly found myself in 8th. I thought the leaders would run about 6:30s in the initial miles (very fast/non-technical dirt singletrack) but they went much faster than that, which caught me off guard. I covered the first mile in 5:54 and was 10-15 seconds back from the two leaders and just behind another guy. Passed into 3rd and the good news is they went out a little quick so by maintaining the pace I was slowly gaining on them. I wasn't sure if this was the case as they were still a ways ahead of me at 2 miles. This effort definitely felt hard but if I wanted to win, it would probably be hard to do so if I let them go right away. My plan at this point was to catch up to these guys, run together through the first half and make a move on the hardest parts of the course. Based on how they went out, I assumed they were more road runners and I would have an advantage on the harder parts.

Eventually the second runner got dropped. I ran the second and third miles in 5:59 and 5:45 and passed into 2nd at 2.5 and caught the leader at 3 miles. I allowed him to dictate the pace here, although this section was once again quite fast and after using a lot of energy to catch up, it felt uncomfortable just hanging with him. This not only didn't feel sustainable for 25K, but the leader sounded a lot smoother than me as I was breathing loudly and he wasn't. Just before 5 miles, one of the right turn signs was knocked over. I was able to see it quickly and told him it was a right, but for some reason he hesitated giving me a small gap. He caught so quickly I had little confidence that I would win the race. Yet, suddenly he just stopped, hunched over and started coughing. I looked back several times and he clearly stopped for a while, giving me a generous lead.

After a hard first 5 miles under 6 minutes, I eased way off the gas to make sure I could get through this thing without a blowup and have a little in the tank if I got caught. The next two and half miles were pretty enjoyable running largely stress-free and seemingly building my lead. After 7 miles, the terrain got quite a bit harder (technical) and I came up on the 50K runners and it now became a challenge to pass them. There was one point where I saw white and blue flags (instead of orange or pink) going right and had to pause and check my watch to make sure I was going the right way. Turns out the white/blue flags indicated the wrong direction, which I did not know. 

8.5 to 11.5 had a climb of 800' and was also fairly technical. I was starting to feel tired and felt I could have done a better job. Similar to last week I felt my footing was sloppy as well. I turned around at a switchback towards the top and could see 2nd and 3rd running together not too far back. It was at least a minute behind but I really couldn't tell and coasting the last 4 miles was not an option. 

All downhill from here and I was confident in my ability to close well. However due to some technicality, a lot of sharp turns and many 50k runners on the trails I still was not going that fast and was definitely running scared as I felt if my effort could be a lot better, people could be closing in on me. After 12 miles it started to get quite rough as I was running out of energy and was getting really painful blister sensation every time I stepped on a rock. I had some hot spots earlier in the race but it didn't really bother until now and it really hurt unless I could get on smooth terrain. 

This section felt really long and I felt good about finally getting to 2 miles left. Except on one of the sharp turns, my ankle inverted and I sprained it quite badly on the ground, hearing the typical ankle sprain pop. I ran slowly on it for about 30 seconds before realizing it was pretty bad and I'd have to stop. This was especially nerve-wracking as the 2nd placer could be right behind me. I moved it around for about 10-15 and then resumed. After a few more minutes of running it felt unstable but not painful so I tried to run as fast as I could while being very careful not to turn that ankle again. 

When I got to a mile left, the terrain got a little quicker and I still couldn't see/hear anyone behind me so I thought I finally had the win locked up. Right around 15 miles, a race photographer started running behind me before his footsteps stopped. I then heard other footsteps, I turned around and 2nd place was right there! (This was the runner who was dropped initially and in 3rd when I took the lead). I picked it up significantly but was really worried about holding for a full half mile. Fortunately I recognized the trail section from the warm-up and realized I only had a quarter mile left. I absolutely sprinted the last 300m as I really couldn't tell where he was and held on for the win.

1st place in 1:47:44, with 2nd only 18 seconds back. Results here. I was pretty happy with this one, although had not I not won it would have been a different story. For the last few years I've mostly only won races where I dominated from the start. So it felt really good to win a close race and one where I did not lead until 5 miles in. I felt my effort for about 10 miles was really good and then I fell apart a bit, leaving the door open for 2nd place to nearly get me at the end. Almost a really great race, but still a pretty good effort overall. 

My ankle was quite big and I had to leave immediately to get back to the hotel. I also had the worst blister of my life as many layers of skin were just completely gone. Fortunately, this ankle sprain was far less painful than others with similar swelling. The downside is it's 7 weeks post race writing this and it's still noticeably bigger than my left ankle. I'm not super concerned about long-term implications for trail running as I have plenty of time to work on it but it definitely seems possible that it will take a long time for it to look normal again. 

Ankle aftermath

Blister aftermath

Roadrunner!

Race was pretty well organized, only complaint was the start time delay. I really like their website and live results page. They even mentioned me on a podcast they do and said something like they weren't expecting someone from Rhode Island to win!

A few other notes: Desert landscape was quite cool with the saguaros and big rocks. It was sunny out nearly the whole time and I got a bit roasted. I'm kind of frustrated with the ankle roll as I've neglected doing band work for it this year and that worked really well for me in the past to get from weak ankles post 2022 sprains to zero significant sprains in 2023. I really only have myself to blame for that one. It was a bit of a random unlikely accident, but those are bound to happen trail racing sooner rather than later and I could have done much more in terms of prevention. As for the blisters, I've never had issues with these before but clearly I need better socks to prevent this from happening again. This took a long time to heal and proper gear can prevent it from happening. 

Moab Trail Half Marathon

While many of the races I chose for my Fall 2024 racing season were events I wouldn't fly out for living on the East Coast, Moab had been on my bucket list for a while. I went back and forth on whether to do this one, but the two reasons to do it this year were 1) Utah is a lot closer to California than is it to Rhode Island, and 2) I was racing trails this fall, will likely be racing roads in future years. That was enough to convince me as if not 2024, it might have to wait until my 30s. 

This would be a long road trip from Los Angeles to Utah and back, but I got Andrew to sign up as well so I'd have him for company for much of it. I think at some point I wanted this to be a goal race as it would serve as the USATF Trail Half Marathon championship, but race week rolled around and I hadn't done a whole lot of workouts, plus I was dealing with significant calf issues. My calves got extremely tight post Point Mugu, and were a concern going into the race when they were still quite tight by Wednesday. Fortunately I got this one resolved just in time to race without a handicap. Also first time running and racing in Utah.

The race was Saturday, November 2nd. Started the drive Thursday, from Los Angeles to Provo. Provo was a little out of the way but I went up there to meet Andrew as Moab is nowhere near major airports. Long, 9 hour drive but once I got into Utah the speed limit was 80 and not many cars on the road. I went for a 10 mile run in Three Peaks Recreation Area, mostly a mountain bike spot. Hardly anyone there and temps in the 50s plus some snow patches felt great compared to hot, sunny LA. It was pretty windy. This was just outside Cedar City. I really enjoyed this run, mostly lightly technical singletrack but seeing the snow and big mountains in background was really cool. Got into Provo late.

Friday was a much easier travel day. Andrew and I did an OAB on a bike path in Provo. Temps in the mid-30s felt great and I also felt really good. Strides then drove into Moab (3 hours), picked up our bibs, and had a really good dinner at Pasta Jay's.

The race wasn't until 10am so a rare "sleep in" kind of morning. Drove just a few minutes from the hotel to the elementary school where we took shuttles to the start. Hung out for a bit, then warmed up 3 miles out and back. Course was significantly more technical than either of us anticipated, lots of big rocks. Got back and the bathroom line was insane, fortunately didn't need to go number 2 and could go pee behind a tree. Did some strides on the dirt road before heading to the start. One thing I've noticed for this half marathon trail races is I'm in the minority of faster runners wearing a pack, as almost everyone carries a bottles. I find the pack adds zero time/discomfort and having a bottle in one hand would probably be uncomfortable and lead to imbalance. Interestingly, almost no one else feels the same way. I had to pin the USATF championship on the back, which went on my pack fine. 

This race was 8 miles on double track, some points pretty technical and the rest a mix of singletrack and dirt road. 1,500' of climbing but no mile had more than 200' so nothing crazy. Race start right around 4,000' elevation so some mild altitude effects.

I wanted to go out conservative and not push until mile 4, as it would be all uphill until that point. The race went out super packed being a USA championship and I just tried to stay on my feet for the first half. A lot of the women went out really fast and I found myself passing a bunch of them the first mile. The terrain for the first 4 miles was a slight uphill on doubletrack with a lot of big rocks and occasional rock slab. I found myself after a mile out of the big pack and with a bunch of collegiate runners on the same team that I went back and forth with. I felt incredibly flat after the mile, my legs just felt super heavy and tight and while this was probably a slightly conservative effort, it felt so forced with my garbage legs. I felt really slow and just settled for keeping pacing for those around me. Felt so uncomfortable on the techy terrain, especially the rock slab which is always awkward for me to run. 

I thought I'd be able to run everything today, but the final section of uphill was a bit steeper and just felt so forced and terrible that I walked along with some others for a bit. Things instantly got a bit better better transitioning to the downhill, which was also smooth for the first time in the race. It was smooth and downhill through 6 miles and I ran around 6:30 pace, which is probably not nearly as fast as I should be. But at least feeling in control again. I have zero recollection of miles 7 and 8 but these were decently quick as I ran 7:30 and 6:54. 

I was feeling decent again but at the same time probably not quite hitting half marathon effort. The race had been fairly crowded up to this point, but we now had 2 miles on singletrack and it spread out quickly. These miles were on a ridge/cliff and got fairly technical. These singletrack miles were also stunning with amazing scenery of the canyons below, and just great trail running. There were some smoother sections interrupted by the occasional big boulder drop-down where I'd have to stop running to maneuver. I largely held my own on this section but did have to move over once to give way to a faster runner. I was annoyed at one point where a marathon runner did not move over for me despite multiple verbal warnings, but I decided not to push him off the cliff. The last bit of this was really steep and was out of my comfort zone, taking brief pauses to figure out how I'd get down the steep rock slab. 

Exited the trail and onto a dirt road with a 300' climb and 200' descent over the next mile. Once again my effort was solid but I couldn't quite match the intensity of last week's race. I tried to use the easier terrain to relax and pull out my flasks for a drink. We had another brief bit of awesome singletrack before the trail turned to soft sand for half a mile. This was frustrating as I felt I had more in the tank and had another runner in my sights but could only go 8:30 pace. 

Back onto the dirt road at 12 miles and I tried to kick things into gear as I went past the runner ahead of me. The last half mile felt never-ending as we got right near the finish then turned away and ran on some narrow singletrack for a while. Tough finish up some steep steps before a short straightaway. 38th place.  

Post-race setup was pretty good with soup, quesadillas, and various packaged snacks. Waited for Andrew and then got out of there and had more good food in Moab. My performance was...fine. Definitely a step down from last week but the technicality and altitude got to me a bit and I started out feeling flat. My second half was definitely stronger but I think there's so much time to take off on this course with the right training/race strategy. I don't have many complaints about the race organization, things were pretty smooth, only issue was big bathroom lines. I largely enjoyed this event but would have liked more singletrack. I believe this was my 7th USATF national championship event (3xLoon Mountain, Whiteface, Gate River, Dash to the Finish Line). 

We went to Arches for a short hike to Delicate Arch. Easy/boring hike out but really cool Arch/views at the turnaround. Long drive out to Las Vegas, where we went for a nice run in Red Rock Canyon the next day, which was awesome.

Golden Gate Spartan Trail 50K- Weekly Log: November 18 to 24

Big week of the season is finally here as I run my second 50K/ultra in San Francisco. Really my only goal race of the season as I was more having fun with this season and exploring/running fun trail races. Taper and last minute resolution of last week's issues.

Monday: 5 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Relatively flat 5 in Griffith. 

Tuesday: 7 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Tune up session in Griffith with 2x5 mins hard uphill. Went way too hard so it didn't feel amazing, but the lack of good pacing comes from the lack of consistent workouts. My effort was good with 4:55 GAP on the road uphill and 5:15 GAP on the dirt. I had chest discomfort on the hard stuff, possibly indicating I was not 100% recovered from the cold. 

Wednesday: 6 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Had confirmation of going too hard yesterday with a tight spot in hamstring. Totally preventable error as I should have kept the effort much more controlled. I was kicking myself a little for this one. Good news is the workout succeeded in making my legs feeling really fresh/good. Like before Moab I didn't truly resolve this one until just before the race and was not certain during the race that it would hold up. 

Thursday: 5 Miles- Pasadena, CA

Rose Bowl loop.

Friday: 4 Miles- San Jose, CA

Drive up to the Bay area Friday. This run was fine but I noted on strava that I had several issues that were not quite 100% with the hamstring, ankle, and blisters. All feeling fine for 4 miles but questionable for 50K.

Saturday: 33 Miles- San Francisco, CA

Golden Gate Spartan Trail 50K. Race recap coming eventually.

Sunday: 0 Miles

4 Miles Hiking- Big Sur, CA

Checked out McWay Falls and Tan Bark in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park on the California Coast. Nice, but not quite as amazing as I had expected given the reputation of this area of California. Definitely worth checking out though. I stupidly never mapped out/saved the Tan Bark route and it wasn't well marked so I bailed mid-way and came back.

Weekly Total: 61 Miles

Weekly Highlight: Pulling off a successful race over the longer distance.

Weekly Lowlight: Going into a goal race with some issues and uncertainty, given some of that was completely preventable. 

Movies Watched: The Gift

Banged Up- Weekly Log: November 11 to 17

I was healthy throughout the trail season, probably partially due to not going 100% in on training. I didn't work out or do long runs all that often as I really just wanted a mental break and to have fun racing on the trails again after a long stretch of hard training on the roads. Additionally, running soft surfaces nearly every day and doing your hard efforts on soft surfaces also minimizes injury risk. 

So very low overuse injury risk, but there's always the risk of other things such as ankle sprains, and I got a triple whammy this week with a cold, ankle sprain, and blisters. So a bit rough and really just trying to get to Golden Gate Spartan Trail 50K in one piece. I had planned on going for an FKT in griffith park this week, but with these issues it would have been a really bad decision.

Monday: 6 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

My ankle sprain history/timeline is something like this:

2019- Horrible ankle sprain in Barn Island, took 6 weeks to run again.

2020- Super healthy, lots of successful trail running with zero sprains.

2021- No one significant bad ankle sprain, but constant minor rolls that comprised joint strength. Never confidently ran on technical trails. 

2022- ankle healthy again by june, then a horrible sprain in Bear Mountain, NY. Did a much better job with recovery this time around and was running again in 2 weeks, but had to use the ankle brace often on trail runs and didn't run confidently on technical trails the rest of the year. Sprained other ankle in a XC race which led to a DNF and two days off, but easy recovery.

2023- Nervous due to coming off 2021/2022, but a fantastic year. Returned to peak technical trail abilities without any concerns or sprains.

2024- No issues, some occasional minor rolls until November with another bad sprain in the race. 

So I was on a good stretch for a quite a while before unexpectedly spraining it during the race. Like many other sprains, this was not on a technical section but a very sharp/angled turn. Compared to my 2019 and 2022 sprains, the initial feeling and swelling was nearly as bad. However, it wasn't anywhere near as painful or immobile which allowed me to finish the race and run two days later. So as far as ankle sprains go where I feel the pop and instantly considerable swelling, this was a best case scenario.

I did the usual ibuprofen + foot in ice water combo, which helped. But things were nowhere near as painful or stiff as 2022 which meant I could walk without much pain and get running two days later. This was a bit stiff and turns were really awkward, but got through with no pain and this helped significantly to reduce swelling and improve mobility in the joint. OAB on griffith main trail as I'd stick to flatter/less technical surfaces initially.

Blister status: Very uncomfortable, even with moleskin. The problem is the moleskin just falls off after a while. 

Tuesday: 10 Miles- South Pasadena, CA

This was a good run, after this one I knew my ankle would be fine if I didn't reroll. But I added issue #3 as I could feel myself start to get sick. 

Wednesday: 9 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Elysian loop, so reintroducing hills. Can't remember much ankle discomfort, but blister and especially my cold really bothered me on this one. Felt horrible, and significant chest discomfort. Dripping snot/sneezing rest of day.

Thursday: 10 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Griffith eastern/main trail loop. Ankle felt a little stiff on steep uphills, otherwise not bad. My chest and breathing felt absolutely terrible for 3 miles then wasn't bad after.

Friday: 8 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Central Griffith park/popular trails. Felt really bad chest-wise for a mile then not bad.

Saturday: 12 Miles- Pasadena, CA

Nice trail loop with Matt, quite cold out (for LA standards) at 43 degrees, by far the coldest run I've done in SoCal. This was mostly singletrack and some climbing, no real issues and the cold felt much better today. Still some slight blister discomfort but also getting a lot better.

Sunday: 9 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Griffith eastern/main trail loop with Matt, but cutting off Northern section.

Overall, very happy with the ankle healing progress of this week. Things could have been so much worse and it's a good wake-up to be more consistent with injury prevention in the future. Blister is healing is so slowly and quite frustrating, but finally manageable towards the end of the week. Cold is also frustrating but again improving towards the end. As much as this triple-whammy sucks, really good it happened this week when I have time to get these things right before the 50K. 

Weekly Total: 64 Miles

Weekly Highlight: Ankle healing so well

Weekly Lowlight: Blister and cold bothering me

Pass Mountain- Weekly Log: November 4 to 10

 Final third of the half marathon trail race trio with the Pass Mountain 25K in Arizona Saturday.

Monday: 9 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Usual Elysian Park.

Tuesday: 10 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Griffith Park, but changed it up instead of sticking to the usual fire roads that I'm pretty familiar with now. Went over some singletrack in the middle of the park, which is very steep and overgrown. Completely lost the trail at one bit and did some crazy bushwhacking to get out of there. I was pretty tired by the end, and it was warm. 2,000' elevation gain.

Wednesday: 10 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Griffith Park usual Eastern/main trail loop.

Thursday: 10 Miles- South Pasadena, CA

Usual Arroyo Seco loop. I have zero memory of this specific run.

Friday: 6 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Pre-race OAB and strides on the Griffith Park main trail.

Saturday: 18 Miles- Mesa, AZ

Pass Mountain 25K. Full recap to come. This race was rough for many reasons, but mainly as I sprained my ankle pretty bad late in the race and also had the worst blisters of my life. 

Sunday: 0 Miles

Decided better safe than sorry with the ankle which was quite swollen. We'll see what happens with that.

Weekly Total: 63 Miles

Weekly Highlight: Winning the Pass Mountain 25K in a close race.

Weekly Lowlight: Getting horrible blisters and spraining my ankle in the Pass Mountain 25K. 

Moab- Weekly Log: October 28 to November 3

Big travel week, driving to Utah from Los Angeles on Thursday, return Sunday. Moab trail half marathon, an event on my bucket list for a while. It was the USATF trail half marathon this year and felt like this was a good opportunity to cross it off. Not just because I was on the west coast and it would be more convenient, but also because I'll be focusing on road seasons in the fall for a while going forward. 

It was actually tough heading into the race because my calves were totally wrecked from Point Mugu. Never had that before. Super tight and sore calves for quite a while. 

Monday: 9 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Elysian Park. 

Tuesday: 11 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Griffith. Did a loop I've done before several time, but in the opposite direction. The only thing notable was that I usually go down North trail and going up it was pretty brutal (700' climbing in 1.2). The hardest climb on the main trails in the park for sure. 

Wednesday: 10 Miles- South Pasadena, CA

Usual Arroyo Seco lollipop. When you do the same routes every week and write your blog a month late, I definitely have no memory of the individual runs. The only thing notable about this was suddenly having to go number about 2.5 miles and kind of jogging/waddling to the bathroom. I realized at this point in the week that the calf issues might be a serious issue for the race.

Thursday: 11 Miles- Iron County, UT

Near Cedar City/Enoch, but much of the West is unincorporated land. Drove 9 hours from Los Angeles to Provo, Utah where I'd stay the first night. This broke up the drive about 6 hours in. Three Peaks Recreation Area. Mapped a loop of the perimeter, which ended up being mostly non-technical rolling dirt singletrack, although some technical rock slab running towards the end. 56 degree and 16 mph wind, which felt quite windy with the open terrain. I really enjoyed this run - the different scenery, new trails and generally just enjoying exploring and being able to do things like this. I had worked on my calves quite a bit the previous night and fortunately the left calf was much looser although right calf just still as tight. This was going to be one of those issues that would come down to the wire (I might be able to just get it 100% right before the race, but will need every day). Also there was a little bit of snow in places!

Friday: 7 Miles- Provo, UT

Met Andrew the night before, it was nice to have company especially on a trip with so much driving. We did an OAB on a bike path and some strides. Mid-30s felt fantastic and I really missed skipping out on two real fall seasons being in Southern California. Calves felt better, but not 100%. 4,500' elevation.

We made the 3 hour drive to Moab, and picked up our bibs. Got a pasta dinner at a local restaurant, Pasta Jay's, which was excellent. Saw Andy Wacker there, which is actually the second time seeing Andy Wacker eating at an Italian restaurant before a trail race (Whiteface 2022).

Saturday: 16 Miles- Moab, UT

Moab Trail Half Marathon. Went well, but probably not my best performance either. Kind of one of those "B" races where you can't complain but didn't knock it out of the park either. Race was mostly on wide stuff, but considerably more technical than I expected and I felt like garbage in the early miles. Full recap to come.

Post-race Andrew and I hiked Delicate Arch, the famous arch in Arches National Park. Crowded, unremarkable OAB except for the turnaround/arch which was fantastic.

Glad they told me not to use the floor!

After that, we had a 7.5 hour drive to Las Vegas. Which isn't as bad in Utah, great highways in this state. 80mph speed limit and hardly any one on the road. Arrived just south of Las Vegas.

Sunday: 8 Miles- Red Rock Canyon, NV

I had planned 14 miles on a cool trail loop, but had two delays on the way over - having a traffic stop as the Las Vegas marathon went on the road to the trailhead and another stop waiting in line to enter the park. We had to get back for hotel checkout, so I opted to run only the most scenic section of the route which unfortunately would cut it down to 7.

Once again very windy. Which felt a bit cold in low 50s. 700' of climbing in first two miles, then came out to White Rock Canyon which was really pretty. Red Rock Canyon is amazing from how big the rock formations are. Finished up, went to the MGM buffet for refueling, which wasn't all that good and then left Andrew to die in Vegas. Drive back to Los Angeles is only 4.5 hours but it was kind of miserable as I was tired, unlike the Utah roads the speed limit is 65 and there are many, many cars on the highway, and I hit horrible traffic back in Los Angeles.

Weekly Total: 71 Miles

Weekly Highlight: Trip to Utah. State really has a lot to offer.

Weekly Lowlight: Calf issues nearly threatening my race. 

Point Mugu Trail Run

October 26, 2024

Malibu, CA- 8AM

Unlike many of my recent trail races, which I had decided to do at some point in the summer, this one had been on my radar for quite a while. I was familiar with the SoCal trail race organization, but this one particularly had my eye due to proximity to my home in Thousand Oaks, being very familiar with the route, and knowing Chris Garvin had raced it before. There's something nice about racing on trails that you run on a regular basis. The event was scheduled for April, and had a few late changes. The first was that the old distance of 17K (?) was changed to a half marathon, incorporating some flatter dirt road running. The second change was a bit more drastic as a few weeks before the event, the date was moved to October! Zero email was sent out notifying me about this change, which was a little frustrating. Fortunately, the October date worked for racing it and I'd likely be in much better shape than I would have for April. Small downside was I'd be living in Los Angeles then so the drive was an hour instead of 20 minutes.

I knew this wouldn't be a super deep field, but wasn't sure if there would be a few really strong runners, as can be the case in these events. I found one strong-looking runner on the ultrasignup list who ended up being a no-show (understandable with the date change). My goal for this one was to win. I had a few frustrating 2nd place finishes this year and only one win at Surf City. It'd be nice to get another and I felt this was my best opportunity of my remaining races. I also hoped to be in the range of Chris' effort on some of the segments as I felt his race effort was pretty strong here. 

Pre-race was smooth, although I felt quite sluggish and out of it. I was going to do 2.5 miles out and back for the warm-up but I had to use the bathroom towards the turnaround and knew it would be closer to get to one if I kept going. So warm-up ended up being a little longer than usual at 3.6 miles. The bathroom lines were too long to go again at the start unfortunately and then I had to line up. So few races order enough port-a-potties. Spotted one pretty fast looking guy on the line and no one else looked super serious or wanted to line up in front. There's only 200 meters of road before hitting narrow singletrack, which I had been worried about. Go out too hard for position and risking burning out, or go out too slow and risk losing the race being stuck behind people. My plan was to stick in 2nd or 3rd on the first climb and decide where to make a move depending on pace. 

This was a hilly race with 2,100' of elevation gain but not-technical whatsoever. I had run about 85% of the course before, which was absolutely an advantage. Basically two 1,000' climbs and descents. Race started and I went out very easy to allow others to take position/assert themselves. But everyone else essentially jogged and I found myself at the lead at 6:30 pace. Approached the trail in first, so I just took the lead and went for it as clearly no one was going for a really big day. If I'm going to lead, I'm not giving anyone a free ride, they're going to work to stay with me. I immediately got quite a bit of separation. I ended up hitting the first half mile pretty hard and went through the mile in 7:35 (450' of elevation gain) which was a 5:20 GAP. While my legs felt good, the sluggish feeling of the warm-up remained as I felt quite low on energy. I felt like I was struggling significantly for the remainder of the climb and feeling pretty bad. I was disappointed to see my splits climb into the 8s but turns out these were still fairly solid splits. 

Ray Miller a quarter mile in

Ray Miller just after 2 miles

The race turned onto dirt road, which would be uphill for a little longer but less steep and pretty fast. This gave opportunities to look back on certain sections. There was one long section where if I couldn't see the next guy, I knew I had a pretty big lead. I ended up seeing him right before the turn, but I knew I had at least a minute on him. The next mile was only gradually uphill and my fastest yet at 6:24. The next 2.5 miles would be downhill and pretty fast, dropping back down. 

Finished out the dirt road section, and then had a 1.7 mile descent on the Wood Canyon Vista Trail, dropping about 800'. I had run this several times, and usually came out to around 7:00 pace. One time I pushed it a little harder and ran around 6:30. So I figured race pace here would be close to 6 flat or just under. Not even close- I ran this trail at a 5:24 average pace, much faster than anticipated. I actually felt pretty good too. It helped that the overgrowth from the previous times were cleared, but you can run so much faster on singletrack with the mindset that you're going to hammer compared to running casually. Other than the last few tight switchbacks, I felt I never lost much momentum and moved quickly and consistently. 

Next was 2.1 miles on the sycamore canyon fire road at a very slight downhill grade (about -50'/mile). This would be a great section to hammer and maybe run 5:30s but I was feeling pretty sluggish again. I had been taking gels every 35 minutes in these trail races, but had to wait until hitting the dirt road at 42 minutes to take it here as it'd be too difficult to consume running hard downhill on singletrack. I ran at a more comfortable effort and ran just under 6 minute pace. 

Next would the last climb, up the Fireline trail- 700' in 1.3 miles. Unlike the rest of the course, I had not run on the fireline trail before, but it was steeper than any of the trails I had run. I was expecting a brutal climb and surprised that the first half of it on switchbacks felt pretty manageable as I ran 8:30 pace. I got a good view of the fire road I had come from and was also surprised 2nd place was not in sight (meaning he was at least 2-3 minutes back). It seemed like the win was mine and I could let up if needed, although you never know. Although I think I knew if I ran the wood canyon vista descent well I probably had an unsurmountable gap. After thinking I totally overestimated this climb and it was not bad at all, I hit the last bit- 250' in 0.3 miles (about 16% grade, compared to the 7% on Ray Miller) and this felt absolutely brutal. Took a lot of willpower to just continue running instead of walking. Although at this grade, just running was still a good effort. Hit the top and the rest would be on the overlook dirt road back to ray miller to complete the loop.

End of Fireline trail climb

There was still 200' of climbing left, although spread out over a mile- so pretty runnable. However, my drive was completely gone after the steep climb and I could only manage 10 minute pace initially, actually quite a bit slower than what I've done on easy runs for this sections. It felt so rough and we also hit the 10K runners here. I was barely going faster than them, and these were the mid-packers. I slowly shook out that inability to push and was able to gradually ramp it up until I was back at a race-appropriate pace. Now for the final Ray Miller descent- although I now faced two challenges I had not up until this point in the race. 1) I was overheating a bit. It wasn't that hot- mid 50s but I think the hard effort over hills and more humid than I'm used to got to me. and 2) A problem I've faced in a lot of these races- the people in the other distance were on narrow trail ahead of me, meaning having to slow for them if they can't move over immediately and constantly announce my presence while tired. In this race specifically, there were people going both ways which hadn't happened yet.

I got through most of the traffic in the first half mile but occasionally would have to pass someone else. Interesting I slowly picked off the top runners for the 10K, and I think I caught all but the top 2 or 3. Some of them were hesitant to move over, and it seemed like they thought I was in the 10K and passing them. They probably thought I was rude asking them to move over as if I was in the 10K I was probably only going marginally faster and putting them at a disadvantage to repass. Either they figured it out when I dropped them quickly, or thought I paced it really poorly. 

I felt really tired and drained on this final descent and really just wanted to get it done, plus the overheating was only getting worse. I definitely felt like there was room for improvement on the descent as whole, both having to pass people and I kept the effort at solid, but not not quite 100% as I knew I'd win. Basically went for a "good enough" effort where I had a low risk of blowup and didn't have to suffer. With a quarter mile to go, the race photographer ran behind me to take video. I had no idea he was going to run behind me, and it totally spooked me to hear someone matching my footsteps. I instantly panicked and turned around, shocked that the second placer caught me before realizing what happened. Nearly screwed up the following turn up by turning around. I took it pretty wide and nearly fell off the trail. Finished it up a little faster but didn't really try kicking. It'd be so difficult to actually race someone on this narrow trail to the finish. If you move over, you essentially concede defeat as there won't be an opportunity to repass. If you stay ahead, it might be seen as a dirty move as it'd be nearly impossible to pass. Fortunately, this was not an issue for me as I crossed the line first in 1:28:15. Results here. 7 minute victory, so there was really never any reason for concern but you never know in a trail race as it's often hard to see more than 30 seconds behind you. I can't recall ever having a bigger margin of victory than this.

I felt pretty rough post race for a bit. Like three sisters and kodiak, there was breakfast included which was essentially the same for all three- eggs, beans, tortillas. Unlike those races, this was one was well cooked, seasoned and actually tasted pretty good (the other two races were bland and/or undercooked). I had trouble eating for while as it's tough after a hard effort like that. I talked a while with the 2nd and 3rd place finishers. I feel like that's much more of a trail racing thing, to talk a while with others. Whereas road races usually I just handshake/fist bump the guys right around me and we go our separate ways. 2nd place guy was a triathlete who was just getting into running races for the first time, so that was an interesting perspective to hear. I think the sport of triathlon is really cool and in some ways, more complex and interesting than running. He lived in San Diego and was saying how it was a great place to train. I can't think of anywhere in the US where it would be better to train for triathlon. Anywhere else you can swim year around in the ocean would be really hot.

Overall, I felt this race was well organized and I liked the course. But I really can't justify the insane $147 entry fee. Most of the trail races I did this season cost around that, and it's just crazy to me that most New England trail races are in the $20-50 range and most ones out here are in the $100-150 range. I don't get it. Two additional complaints are 1) changing the race date to 6 months later, not offering any refunds at all, or even notifying the participants. Who does that? And 2) On the website/race email, it shows the winner will receive free entry into the Crystal Cove trail run in December. I couldn't do the race anyway as I'll be driving back to RI, but this was never offered to me in person or emailed to me. A plus was the free (and high quality) photos! It's tough writing 90% of these race recaps with zero photos because almost every race hires photography companies that watermarks and charge over $50 to download the photos which is absolutely not worth it. 

As for my performance, I was pretty happy with this one. It's always reassuring when you can run well when not feeling your best. I felt sluggish and weak for much of this, but my splits were still consistent and strong. I think the most room for improvement would be the dirt road section on Sycamore Canyon as you could run some really fast splits there. These were also my only miles with a GAP over 6 minutes. Being pushed always helps as well. I was also happy to get the win. I had not won any race since Surf City 5K in February and I knew this would be one of my best opportunities to win. The field ended up not being very strong, but I ran a strong, consistent effort throughout in time-trial fashion. Only disappointment with that is I haven't won a close race and I'd really like to do so as it feels that isn't in my skillset as I typically get dropped late or outkicked in races like that. This effort felt close to my best, whereas some other races like Three Sisters or Kodiak I feel like parts of my race were really not close to half marathon race effort (I was running much slower than my best). 

Point Mugu- Weekly Log: October 21 to 27

 Back to racing. Had my eyes on this for a while back when I was in Thousand Oaks.

Monday: 0 Miles

Tuesday: 9 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Griffith. Was going to workout but the combination of flat legs and having a short time window before an appointment made me bail. Explored a new trail.

Wednesday: 11 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Car was being worked on, which is tough as running from my apartment is pretty terrible (sidewalks, busy area, ghetto) but sitting on public transport drenched in sweat post-run isn't ideal either. Split the difference and took public transport out and ran back. First 8 miles were fine as I stayed on my typical Elysian Park loop, last three were terrible going through downtown on sidewalks with frequent traffic stops. Super hot day, got up to the mid 80s and I stupidly didn't bring water so it got rough. I felt fine running but felt like I had to vomit when I stopped. 

Such a dirty city

Huge homeless encampment on Sunset

Thursday: 10 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Griffith post-car pickup which meant an evening run. The nice thing about the evening is the sun has gone down, but it's never a great time for me as fueling is difficult and I was full on this run.

Friday: 10 Miles- South Pasadena, CA

Arroyo Seco loop minus the top part. Still ended up 9.5 miles with strides, which is a bit long for pre-race.

Saturday: 17 Miles- Malibu, CA

Point Mugu trail run. Race went well.

Sunday: 10 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Griffith loop. Sore from yesterday. Generally didn't feel great on this one and had to poop mid-way. Walked around for 15 minutes before finding a bathroom.

Weekly Total: 67 Miles

Weekly Highlight: Good race

Weekly Lowlight: The other runs didn't feel great

Yosemite- Weekly Log: October 14 to 20

 No race this week, used the opportunity to get a long run in at the famous Yosemite National Park.

Monday: 9 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Elysian Park loop. I had been parking at the Los Angeles State Historical Park which costs $5 to park there. So changed it this week to park in the actual Elysian Park for free. But not the best timing to switch lots as there was a Dodgers playoff game (Dodger Stadium is in Elysian Park), which made parts of the run a bit different. Fortunately able to find parking just fine, although the first few miles had so many cars parked on the road compared to usually just a few. 

Tuesday: 11 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

I run in Griffith Park 2-4 times a week now so there's not much to remember these individual runs by. The first few times I ran here with Matt we went through the popular areas: Observatory, Mount Hollywood, Hollywood sign. But those areas are not only more crowded, but require an OAB at some point. So running from the railroad or Greek theater (Eastern side of park) is usually better to make a good loop. This one was from the railroad, with the last 5 miles on the flat main trail.

Wednesday: 10 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Griffith Park workout. Ran hard up to the observatory and mount hollywood, and then finished out the 3 miles with a little bit to vista del valle. Overall 880' of climbing and 360' of downhill. I paced this effort much better than last time I attempted a very similar workout and overall was pretty strong. This was a good effort.

Thursday: 10 Miles- South Pasadena, CA

Arroyo Seco lollipop. This route is pretty mediocre, but the few miles of trails just north of the Rose Bowl are nice. 

Friday: 23 Miles- Yosemite National Park, CA

Long run checking out Yosemite. One great thing about trail race training versus road race training is you can just have fun and explore. Road race training is generally a long time suffering on a boring, familiar loop. Trail race long runs you can go to some really nice park or trails and enjoy being out in nature while also building your endurance and getting time on feet. So this and Sequoia run served a dual purpose of getting to check out cool California national parks and train for the 50K. 

Unlike Sequoia, or most runs I had done in 2024, there were some long steep climbs and actually a few sections that would get up to sustained 20% grade climbing. The drive was just under 6 hours, so I drove up to the Fresno area the night before. Driving on I-5 in california is so boring.

Found this guy in my hotel room

About 2 hours in the morning. 38 at the start, which felt quite cold to me and I wanted to get going quickly. About 2 miles at a gradual climb (8%) grade on road and then a washed out dirt/paved road before hitting the trail. The singletrack was quite a bit steeper with about 1,600' of climbing over miles 3 and 4. And my legs pretty flat, so I had a few stretching breaks. But tried to run most of it. Really beautiful forest here. 

Much of the difficulty of the run was in the first half so it was nice to get climbing out of the way. Unlike Sequoia, I felt pretty good and got the miles done quickly. The vast majority of the route was in a thick, beautiful pine forest with the occasional scenic viewpoint of the famous yosemite valley and cliffs. Great views on a clear day. After 12 miles, it got quite crowded. Final point on the ridge at 14 before the big descent. My knees started bothering me here. There weren't as many streams as Sequoia and at one point I ran out of water, but I managed. I can't imagine going for long runs in the desert as I have no idea how you'd get water.

The descent wasn't that fun due to really sharp switchbacks, crowds and some of it being paved. My knees were also starting to bother me, likely from all the elevation. Last three miles on a rolling, non-technical and I forced myself to gut it out but I was definitely bonking a few times.

Good run- 23 miles with 5,700' of gain in a really cool environment. It was so nice to be in a forest again as the SoCal shrubland landscape gets old quick. And the fall weather felt amazing as there are no seasons in Los Angeles.

Saturday: 10 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Griffith easy loop. Hot.

Sunday: 10 Miles- Los Angeles, CA

Griffith harder loop. Hot. 

Weekly Total: 84 Miles

Weekly Highlight: Great week, highest mileage week of the fall and PR for most elevation gain in a week at 12,372 feet. Best run was Yosemite of course.

Weekly Lowlight: It's so depressing to come back to Los Angeles after a cool run like that and experience the heat and lack of shade.

Kodiak 23K

October 12, 2024- 9AM

Big Bear Lake, CA

After a few travel races in the Bay Area and Oregon, this one would be closer to "home" with only a two hour drive from Los Angeles. However, it wasn't the usual Southern California terrain I was used to as Big Bear Lake sits above 6,000' feet and has quite a bit of pine forest (compared to the dry shrubland at sea level). 

This race had been on my radar for a while because it was a UTMB world series event. These serve not only as races to obtain points (running stones) for non-elite athletes to qualify for the big one, UTMB but generally are high quality and competitive trail races. One thing that sets UTMB world series events apart from other series is that they often have very long distances of 100K and 100M. This isn't applicable to me now, but I don't think any other series or organization can match their options for those distances. Being mid-season and still inexperienced at ultra trail, I opted for the 21K. This one didn't conflict with other events, was local, courses looked nice, and would start my journey of obtaining UTMB running stones. It was a no brainer to do it.

One key wildcard for this race was it starts at 6,700' and climbs up to 7,800'- this would be my first race at altitude. Many high profile trail races are indeed at high altitude, but being a lifelong sea level resident this would definitely pose a challenge for me. I definitely considered the possibility at one point of either running it for fun, or going out extremely conservative. However, by race day I had done several training runs above 6,000' and some hikes that went above 8,000 including Mount Langley which went above 14,000'. I hadn't struggled with any of those and I think gained enough confidence that I forgot about it. More about that later.

The race was supposed to be 21K and have a cool loop course south of the lake, but due to wildfires in the area, it became a lollipop course north of the lake that didn't look nearly as neat and had quite a bit of dirt road. The course's "stick" (OAB portion) would climb or descend 800' in 2.7 miles and continue to 3.5 miles on singletrack. 4.5 miles of downhill or flat dirt road, before a 600' climb and another 2.5 miles on singletrack before returning. So about 6 miles of the 14 on dirt road, nearly half. Being a UTMB event, I knew the competition was decent and was expecting to be in the top 5 to 10 range. I was ranked 10th by my UTMB index going in. 

Race Day:

I drove the two hours over to Big Bear, with the second half on winding mountain roads. Short shuttle from parking to race site. Felt a bit chilly, and did a 2.5 warmup on the bike path. I went a little too late and had to cut a half mile off. Before the race, a volunteer came up to me and asked if I knew where I was going. I asked him if about half was on dirt road, when he replied "There's no dirt road.". Which is kind of weird because I knew for a fact there was quite a bit of dirt road. He also told me the first climb was extremely steep and technical (it wasn't) and that there were mountain lions on the ridge (I suppose technically that's true). This race required you to carry your phone, which I stupidly didn't test out where to put in my pack prior to 10 minutes before. I tried just below my flasks and it was jabbing into my rib. I tried putting in my back pocket but it was bouncing around. Less than 10 minutes to go, so it would have to do. Fortunately didn't bother me much during the race. I lined up in the second or third row. I got something sticky on my hand and pushed a little water out of my flask to clean it and accidentally violently sprayed the guy ahead of me. I looked down and pretended it wasn't me. 

The whole reason not to line in the front row is to go out easier, but race instinct kicked in and I weaved around a bunch of people right away until I was in third. One guy blasted out way ahead and I settled in behind a fast looking runner with a singlet. I kept a solid pace through half a mile and while the effort felt appropriate, it felt extremely draining and it was super hard to breathe. The second guy began to pull away towards the end of the mile and I could not match him, while I had opened a gap on fourth. Solid first mile in 7:29 with 272' of gain. Except I was going backwards fast. I had either forgotten about potential altitude effects or had been overconfident as it was hitting me hard. I slowed dramatically to what felt like easy run pace but there were zero drive to pick it up as I simply struggled. I guess it was hitting other people too as 4th place wasn't gaining on me quickly. After 2 miles of climbing that felt like absolute hell, we finally crested the top and began the downhill. I ran the next two miles close to or over 9 minutes despite having similar elevation gain to the first. The 4th guy slowly gained on me during the climb and then was right behind me on some downhill singletrack, so I pulled over to let him pass. Went past the aid station and started the dirt road section.

This was downhill on a smooth dirt road and surely a place to rip some sub-6s, but I hadn't recovered that strength and had to settle for 6:30s. The good news was the 3rd placer wasn't really gapping me by too much, but I got caught by the first female and moved back to 5th. I wasn't feeling amazing about my race at this point, getting 3rd sounded really cool and at this point I was absolutely in damage control/survival as to whether more people would catch me. I didn't feel great about getting "chicked" right away but then I remembered we were at a UTMB race so it was quite possible that she was an elite runner. We started to hit the back of the pack 50K runners and there was were some vehicles on the road. The girl passed into 3rd and surprisingly the guy came back to me as well as I moved into 4th. 

Got to the second climb and I still hadn't really recovered from struggling in the beginning, so it just felt brutal plus this was 400'/mile instead of the 300' from before. Don't think I did anything special on this as it was probably easy run pace but I worked at it and caught and gapped the girl to move back into 3rd. There were quite a few people I passed, which wasn't a problem here on the wide dirt road, but I got to the second aid station, which was a complete zoo. I didn't need aid but had to stop and walk here because it was just clogged with the 50K runners. 

The next 2.5 miles was singletrack on the Pacific Crest Trail and it probably would have been quite nice, if not for constantly passing people on narrow singletrack. While I hadn't been hitting "racing" splits due to the altitude struggle so far, this wasn't really "racing" either as I couldn't go 20 to 30 seconds with coming up on someone as having to slow way to carefully pass them with little room. Most people were fine, but you'd have the occasional person who wouldn't hear me, wouldn't move or would go the wrong way while I was passing them and I'd either bump into them or have to put my hands on them. Kind of awkward, but I'm racing here. After passing probably 100 people, finally got back to the cut off and the final 3.5 miles of descent. 

I finally felt decent again and like I was able to push. I had no idea where the people behind me were and tried to keep the hammer down to not get caught. I felt I ran decent on the last downhill. 7:30s on the initial section that was moderately technical and I wasn't used to that then the last mile was really fast and I was able to run close to 6 flat. I figured 1 and 2 were long gone and was shocked to hit the last quarter mile on the road and 2nd was right there. Absolutely hammered the final 400m, but the gap was too much. Was a little frustrating as I absolutely felt I could have caught him had I known he was there, but that's trail racing. Someone actually said 2nd place wasn't far from me with 2 miles to go but I didn't believe them. I found the 2nd placers strava and I ran the last mile a minute faster than him! Note this was the guy who went out really hard in 1st, the second placer I stuck for a half mile dominated the race and won by 10 minutes. 3rd place in 1:48:28, 3 second back from second. There was actually little risk of being caught as 4th was 2 minutes back. The top woman and other guy I had been racing with on the dirt road actually fell back to 6th and 7th. 

Talked a bit with the 1st place (from Canada), 2nd, and 10th place finishers. Awards were not for quite for a quite a while so I opted to leave. Had stomach issues immediately after. They had breakfast but it wasn't great (bland). 

Overall, I felt the course and event was pretty good. I feel like trail courses that are varied surface and have multiple ups and downs like this are always fun. Trail races with little variation or climbing are not so great. Of course, running into the 50k runners was a big issue but I couldn't complain too much as that was probably due to the last minute course change.

This was a mixed bag of a performance. I was really happy to rebound after struggling and fading to 5th to get 3rd comfortably and actually nearly get 2nd. This wasn't super competitive for a UTMB event (the 50K was absolutely loaded and the top 3 actually ran a faster pace than I did) but 3rd at a UTMB event still felt pretty good. Quite happy place-wise, my pace/time/effort certainly had a ton of room for improvement. I struggled quite a bit with much of the course and felt the final descent was the only thing I ran strongly. Not a super strong effort, but a course like this is going to be very different coming from altitude. Overall an okay/acceptable effort. Week off, then final trio of sub-ultra trail event before the goal race.

Notes on UTMB Index:

The UTMB index is an interesting way to analyze race performance. I'm not sure how they score it. I originally thought I did really well at Quebec Mega Trail 50K but I got much better scores for Headlands and Kodiak. I guess that makes sense given I was more looking to finish the 50K versus being competitive at the other shorter ones. I also felt my performance at Headlands was stronger than the one here, so the scores check to me out.