Mt. Disappointment training run

A friend of mine told me recently, that I didn’t have enough pictures on my blog. I will attempt to make up for it with plenty of pictures in this entry. Yesterday I did what was supposed to be a 15 mile training run (more on that in a minute) in the San Gabriel mountains. It was in preparation for the Mt. Disappointment 50K that I will be running on Aug 9th. The run started at Red Box at 8:00 am. REd Box is a section of the actual course that will serve as an aid station on race day.





My day, however, started a few hours earlier. I got up about 5 am, ate breakfast, got everything together, checked and rechecked my gear and hopped into the old gas guzzler for the hour or so drive to Pasadena. I REALLY hate driving these days, but if I’ve gotta drive, it sure helps if it is to a race, or in this case, an exceptionally scenic trail run. It was a beautiful morning, there was no traffic and I made good time. I was able to test out the GPS feature on my iPhone 3G. I’ve had an iPhone since the 1st generation came out over a year ago. But, this thing just keeps getting better and better and the many ways that it makes your life easier is really cool.

This training run was a bit of a first for me. Up until now, I have for the most part trained alone. Besides the times when I run with Brittany or swim with Jasmine, It has been a solitary sport. I do belong to the OC Triathlon Club, but I’ve only done a few group rides with them. It’s a shame really because I love endurance sports so much and to hang out with like minded people is really important (and fun) but for whatever reason I have just not been able to connect with a group of people to train with. So, it was a pleasant surprise, how the day transpired.

I met up with Lori, Marisol and Phil at 6:45 in Pasadena. I met Lori and Mari at the Sycamore Canyon 50K race back in May.



I ran a good portion of the race with them and since then we have kept in contact. A friend of theirs is doing Mt. Disappointment and although they aren’t doing the race, they knew about the training runs and told me about them. SInce you need a pass to park up at Red Box, Lori was kind enough to offer to drive us up Angeles Crest Highway, about 20 miles, to the start.

I don’t know what it is about endurance athletes, but there just seems to be an almost different level of consciousness. Maybe when you push yourself to such a level, you have a certain appreciation for life. I have noticed that when I get around these type of people I can feel an energy. A love for life. It’s really cool! So, needless to say, we had a great ride up to the start and spent about 15 minutes getting ready for the run. Everyone got a good laugh watching me contemplate whether or not my new Nathan 020 was too dorky too wear.



The start would be pretty much the last time we would see Phil for the next 6 hours or so. Again, more on that in a minute.



The first 4 1/2 miles were awesome. We met more great people. We met Hugh and Paul who are both Triathletes and raced IMAZ ’08, so we had plenty to talk about. I didn’t realize that so many triathletes trail run. But, it makes sense. The hill work is great and with all the road work that you do for Ironman, it is rather nice to run on trails.



About 4 1/2 miles into the run, we were given specific instructions to make a right turn at a fork in the road. I swear, I never saw it. We were all having such a great time, we just blew right by it. About 2 miles further down the trail, we ran into a few people who informed us that if we were doing the 15 mile run, we missed a turn. Luckily, the part we just ran was uphill so retracing our steps would be downhill. This foible would add another 4 miles to our run. None of us seemed too bummed and I was actually really happy since 19 miles would be closer to the 24 that I had scheduled.

Once we got back to the turn that we missed, we were able to refill our water bottles. The water came out of a pipe that was attached to a big water tower. I am not sure where the water was coming from, which was a little scary, but since no one got sick, I guess it was okay.



Once we were back on track the run got a little tougher. The next 5 or so miles is actually the last 5 miles of the 50K race. It is the long steep incline to the top of Mt. Wilson,





My strategy this run,was to walk the uphills and try to keep my heart rate under control so I would have plenty left for the flats and downhills. It worked for the most part, but these girls are fast and I had a tough time on a couple occasions and had to stop and to let my heart rate settle down. It is a real testament to hill training as Lori and Mari said they have been hammering the hills like crazy. I plan to do lots of hills the next 2 weeks.

After a lot of this!



We arrived at the top of Mt. Wilson and refilled our water bottles again. We headed out for the last 5 1/2 miles. The first mile or so was downhill on a paved road. We were running at a pretty good clip. Their were 2 options, you could take the road all the way down or go off the road and take the trail which would add about a 1/2 mile. Paul and Hugh opted for the road (Paul was having stomach issues) and we took the trail. Once we got off the road we got to a really cool tunnel. Not only was it cool looking, it was cool inside (shaded).





We thought that the rest of the run would be downhill. There was however another good 800’ to climb before getting back to Red Box. By now, I was really feeling the miles and the elevation. But it was manageable and by the time we started to descend again, we all were back to running a pretty good pace. When we finally reached the road, Phil (remember Phil?) was waiting with the car. He was worried about us. He is really fast (3:30 marathon PR) and had doubled back a couple miles to try and find us and couldn’t. He was happy to see us and we were happy to see him.

The girls brought some great recovery food and we all brought our favorite beer. We hung out for about an hour, talked and had a blast.

Here’s to trail running ......... And most of all new friends!









Life is good!

PAUL