Done and Done...

The jumbled and brief report of yesterdays run...

Nicole ran the 18k which was twice as far as her last run. This involved nearly 2ooo feet of vertical climb. Since our routes started the same direction at the same time I was able to run the first couple of miles with her. During that time I heard at least one other runner asking about her inov8's. Nice! Despite a nagging knee problem that started early on she bested her goal time by over 10 minutes.

It was my first 50k. The route had nearly a mile of vertical climb over the 30 odd miles. I felt strong and it was pretty smooth for the first 3 hours or so, the rest I worked for. There was one particularly long climb about 21 miles in...that was straight up the mountain...on loose dirt. That stretch took extra effort to get up and I was glad once it was behind me. The last few miles of the run were good and fast as it was mostly downhill and flat. Surprisingly, somehow, the hours it took to complete went by fairly quickly (my official time was around 6:38).


I met some cool people along the way, which was how I discovered I was one of 3 rookies running their first ultra. The most popular questions all around were about my Nathan HPL20.

I felt good about my performance and look forward to getting stronger. Did I get smoked by people 10 years even 20 years older than me? You bet. Wow. Even more incredible is the guy from AK who floated to a course record in under 4 1/2 hours. Unreal.

Nicole, her mom, and our dogs all headed to the beach when I finished. I took a quick swim in the chilly Pacific ocean as per tradition.



Today we both feel the soreness in the legs, but not any worse than expected. I'm looking forward to starting up the next round of training this Saturday in the mountains!

I'll probably shoot for at least one more 50k before I think about anything longer since the next logical jump is a 50 miler. I'm not prepared for that leap just yet. I said "yet". Nicole will probably go for another 18k.

No doubt putting more training miles in, as well as the little bit of experience we gained will make for another great time whatever it turns out to be.

We had a great BBQ with friends and family at the house last night. It was sweet being able to sleep in this morning and having the day off work. I think it was the first time I slept past 7 am in months. Ah, lazy sunny day. A special treat this evening was hanging out with a couple of old work friends from DC that were in town.

And now I feel talked out about running...and want to find a new race to train for.

Thanks to all for the support along the way and the kind words.