I was not feeling too bad from the previous days run. Although I did notice that my calves were pretty tight. Later I realized that this was from powering up the uphill sections so aggressively. Of course I discovered that much much too late to actually do anything about it.
This time we started at Foresthill elementary and we were going to be bused back to the start at the end of the run. I wisely left a drop bag of dry clothes at the finish- the weather was still pretty cool most of the day. It warmed up to the 70s but when you finished you would get really cold if you were standing around in wet clothes. Also, due to the mountainous terrain, the weather fluctuated- it would be cold one minute and hot the next and go back to cold without any real warning. Not to mention that Saturday and Sunday it rained in the afternoon (unexpectedly) and the temps dropped like a rock.
This was certainly a downhill section. I tried to run it well, without overdoing it. I tried to concentrate on leaning forward and really attacking the downhills. My plan was to try to save my quads- as this was so runnable. I managed to keep a pretty steady pace for most of the run. The scenery was simply gorgeous. I am so sorry that I will not get to enjoy it as much next time- but at least I had it this time. I met and talked to a lot of runners along the way some of them were running WS but a fair number of locals were just out enjoying the course. I finished the 19 miles in just under 4 hours. Not bad at all- considering I was going to catch the first shuttle bus of the day. Oh yeah- there was also a very steep 3 miles uphill to the finish. So you are having this great day of running downhill, only to have a 3 miles section up at the end. Tough!!!
I went to get the car and followed the bus back- just in time to grab Bruce and Allen who had finished. They were looking great and had already chowed down on the hot dogs at the finish line. We sat in the car and waited for Denise. We did not know if she was going to be happy after that 3 miles uphill- but as usual she came in with a huge smile and a bunch of new trail friends. Denise is an angel on the trails to runners who are feeling down- she cheers and coaxes them to the end. I am counting on her to do the same for me at WS.
Just as we were pulling out to leave, the RD (Greg) asked if we could give a runner a ride to the school- so he would not have to wait for the bus. We told him we were going the opposite direction and we started to leave-- thought about it and told the runner to jump in. Turns out that he is running WS this year, his name is Carson. He is.... let's say a senior runner....70+ years old- trying to finish again. He was a wealth of information. Mainly he helped bolster my argument that Bruce and Allen were not taking in enough nutrition. I had been telling them that they were not taking enough gel and Carson agreed. We dropped him off and headed back to the hotel.
My legs were pretty tired, but the thought of an ice bath was more than I could handle. Bruce took an ice bath after the first two days of running. I took a warm soak with epsom salt. I was really cold at the end of these runs and it took forever for my body temperature to regulate. I was also starting to feel the beginnings of poison ivy/oak starting to irritate my skin. More on that later.....
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