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.