May 19, 2018
This race was the hardest trail
race I have done so far. The climbs were very steep, and the descents were
gnarly and technical. The first mistake I made was wearing long compression
socks that turned out to be so tight, they were rendering my calves useless. At
the San Jose 50k a month before, I had gotten really bad poison ivy from the
trails, so I wore these long socks thinking that they would protect me from
brushing against poison ivy directly. I had not done a test run in these socks,
and it turns out they were too snug a fit. I was hiking up a hill, and I felt a
tremendous tightness in my ankles and calves as if they were too stiff to be
engaged. At first, I was confused because I was feeling very light and
race-ready. Then, it dawned on me that the compression socks were giving me
problems. I quickly folded them down to my ankles, and my calves felt instant
relief.
Climbing the first hill, I knew I
was positioned as second female. Gabi Maudiere in first place was off to a
running start, and I knew I wasn't going to be able to keep up. Early in the
race, I got passed by several people. I knew it would be a long day of climbing
some steep hills, so I held myself back. Around mile 3, Gabi and two other
runners took a wrong turn, and I caught up to them as they found themselves
back onto the race course. It didn't take long for Gabi to be out of sight, and
I kept running on down the rugged hills. Thankfully, the weather was not too
warm - in the 60s (F) - so the exposed sections were not as brutal as
years past.
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| View of the quarry from Mt. Olympus |
I had previewed a section of the Mt. Olympus climb and descent a couple weeks before, so I was familiar with how technical the descents were going to be. I wore gloves so that I would not be afraid to grab onto branches or brush while I was sliding down the hills. I learned later that trail shoes would have helped gain some traction in the super technical single-track sections. I was wearing Nike Vomero road shoes because I didn't know any better.
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| Photo by Edmundo Pacheco |
The ascent up Mt Diablo was sort of
an out-and-back, and I looked for the lead female, but she was so up ahead that
I never saw her as I made my way up to the summit. Around this time, I caught
up with a new trail runner, Kenny, who was doing his first trail race. Pretty
bold to choose Mt Diablo 50k as a first. We ran together until the Juniper aid
station, then I was on my own again. The descent down the fire roads after
Juniper aid station were quite steep and made of loose gravel that made it easy
for my feet to slip underneath me. I kept grabbing onto the grass on the side
of the fire road so that I wouldn't land on my butt.
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| Photo by Edmundo Pacheco |
It was really quiet for the next
four or so miles, then I ran into the leader of the race in the out-and-back
section to South Gate. Wow! Loren Baker was a good one hour ahead of me, I
guessed. After seeing him, I carefully counted the people running towards me to
find my position in the race. I was in 13th place overall! At this point, Gabi
was at least 30 minutes ahead of me. Just before hitting mile 17, I hit a
runnable downhill section, and I started moving. I was able to see a runner
just ahead, and caught up with him. Shortly after I did, I missed a sharp turn, descending straight down a hill. The guy I just passed yelled, "RUNNER
WRONG WAY," which was on the sign I overlooked. I turned my head and saw the
string of ribbons I missed indicating a sharp left turn. If it wasn't for that
runner's warning, I probably would have been off course for a good half mile
before realizing I was not on track. So grateful for him putting me on the right
path!
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| Photo by Frederika Villacarlos |
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| 2nd and 3rd place females |
The next few miles to Eagle Peak,
we leapfrogged one another until we reached the summit. The descent down Eagle Peak was windy and technical. The other runner passed me in this descent, and I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up as I fearfully tiptoed down this section. At this point, I just wanted to stay vertical and not fall on my face. It seemed to take an eternity to see the end of the twisty section of Eagle Peak Trail. I was so relieved to get off it and make way towards the short runnable trail to the finish line.
After the race, I chatted with some runners who had done Rio Del Lago 100,
the next big California race on my calendar. They gave me so much advice, and I
feel very lucky to have met them.
Time 7:16:50
Overall Place 10/22
Gender Place 2/4
