Weekend Round-Up: QuickSilver 10K Trail Race Report

Wow!  Where do I start?  I had yet another fabulous weekend of running, racing and enjoying the company of some really awesome peeps!  My weekend started out early on Friday when I bailed out early from work around noon and headed home for a quick 7 miles.  It was HOT, it was WINDY and my legs could tell it had been a while since my rest day.  But it did feel soooo good to run when you have nothing on your plate for the afternoon.  I took it easy because I was planning on getting my long run done the next day. 
7 miles 1:00:46 - 8:41/mi pace

That afternoon the hubbs informed me he wouldn't be able to ride along side of me for my long run.  Ugh!  18 miles is hard to do by yourself, and I wanted to try out some new fuel options.  I didn't feel comfortable doing it on my own in case the stomach decided to hate me so I tried with no avail to find someone else to ride with me.  What?  You don't want to ride a bike next to a miserable runner for 3 hours?  Come on?  What better way to spend your Saturday morning?!  With no available volunteers I decided to do it on my own and just suck it up.

Saturday it was WINDY and cool again.  The temps were fall like but the wind was a bear.  My only thought was, thank god it's not hot!  I set out on my usual loop and by mile 3 my stomach hated me.  What I feared most came to fruition and I decided to call my daddy to come pick me up and bring my butt home.  I felt a little defeated.  I knew there was no way I could go back out on the road with my stomach in that condition.  So, I salvaged the day and hopped on the dreadmill and banged out 6 more.  I thought I would just add on 12 after the trail race the next day and get on with it. 
9 miles  - 1:16:21 - 8:29/mi pace*
*I wore my compressions socks the whole time for this run.  I do believe it really helped me keep my legs fresh for Sunday.  This was the first time I have ever done this and I think it's something I meet keep in my arsenal for ways to keep my legs fresh!

Sunday I was wicked excited to race!  I was meeting up with Ron, Stacey, Ron's sweet wife Meryll and daughter Cassidy for the Quicksilver 10K Trail Race in Almaden - just a stone's throw from my house.  Ron and I have been twitter buds and met up at the SF Race Expo when I first told him about this race.  In typical PunkRockTriGuy fashion, he was on board for any race!  The race group that puts these races is on is just wonderful.  They are a group of athletes that just love to race and they offer lots of different races throughout the year at affordable prices.  The 10K was just $25 and it included a cool schwag bag, a cool pair of socks and some good food at the end.  Plus, the support of the whole race crew is unmatched.  Stacey and I have ran their races before and I was excited to have Ron experience it, too.

I had decided I wanted to try and race this one.  Usually I'm game to hang out and race with my girl Stacey, but the field entry for these races is small, with only 50 peeps at each distance so the chances of some cool AG bling is always on the table.  I got to the race with plenty of time.  Man, it was cold and breezy here in the bay.  Not that I'm complaining, but we all kept saying it felt like October weather, not the beginning of August weather.  Lilly and the hubbs decided to join us, too and we all hung out in the parking lot before the race.  Soon enough, Ron, his fam and Stacey all arrived and the good times started.

Stacey, Ron and moi

I think more than once all of us contemplated screwing the race and going to breakfast instead, but hell we were already out there and there was some bling on the table waiting for all of us.  the 21K peeps were up first and soon after it was time for all of us to line up.  For a second Stacey attempted to try to ring Ron and I in to "tour" the course with her as she likes to call her race style but that didn't last long when we all got eyes of the competition standing around us :)  We were out for blood and soon the gun went off. 

The elevation of this course looks easy.  But let me tell you, it's a bitch.  The first mile is all.up.hill.  And not just any hill - like steep, must walk, still takes your breath away hill.  It is relentless.  And although I had maybe ran half way up the first quarter mile the field spread out thin right away.  Attempting to run/walk was futile and I just decided to hike up it as fast as I could because there was a great down hill waiting for you right at the top of mile 1.  When I hit the down hill it was game on!  I picked up my feet and took off only to be greeted by yet another big hill that forced me to walk up it around 1.75.  Ugh!  The elevation chart had not showed this!  I was already spent and wishing I had chosen the 5K!  

At mile two, there was a nice dead, dried up fox that scared the bejezuschicked my first dude in this mile, too.  For the rest of the race, until mile 4 he would be within about .2 miles of me.  That made me feel a little better as there were mountain lion signs and we were pretty much out there on our own.  The first four miles are all on a fire trail, winding up and around the mountain.  The views were just breath taking and I kept reminding myself just how lucky I was to be out there.  I was pushing hard on the flat sections and the down hills and attempting to conserve energy on the uphills and walk/jog up those.  By mile 4 we hit the single track and a patch of prickly plants that tore your legs up for a good 1/2 mile.  Thankfully, I had worn my recovery socks again and they really helped.  I saw many peeps at the end who had their legs all scraped up from those plants!

Some views of the trail courtesy of Ron :)

When we hit the single track I was pretty much on my own.  It was a lot of down hill, with some little uphills and all in the shade :)  I can't believe I had never been out to this park - I have lived in this area my whole life and it's only about 10 minutes away!  There were many sections that had large rocks you had to climb over, some fun bridges going over a small stream and some beautiful single tracks that just made the first four miles all worth it.  I passed a few peeps doing the 21K in this part but again, for the most part I was on my own.  That was until mile 5.6 when I came across a runner who was down.  He was moaning and pretty badly scuffed up.  He had fallen and went head over heals before landing pretty hard.  I stopped and asked him if he had called anyone or if he needed anything.  He could barely talk but told me they had help on the way and to continue on.  I hated to leave him but with in a few seconds the photographer was coming up the hill and reassured me help was on the way.  I took off to finish my race noting the mileage he was at and pushed forward.  Poor guy, I could hear him moaning and crying for a good 1/2 mile after I left him.

At mile 6.5 I came out to the final stretch on the fire road and an EMT was attempting to get into him.  I felt awful for him because I left him a good 10-12 minutes behind me and she still wasn't even on the steep single tracks yet.  I ran fast down the fire trail and headed home to the finish!

6.75 miles - 1:08:48 - 10:15/mi pace

2nd female overall and 2nd in my AG 30-39

My mile splits were all over the place for this one but by mile 3.5 they were pretty consistent in the 9:30 range - not too shabby for such a difficult course.  The second I crossed I told them exactly where the dude that fell was and they said more help was on the way.  The second thing I did when I finished was think, "oh man, that was a hard course, Ron and Stacey are going to hate me!"  LOL!  It was hard, not for the faint of heart!  Within a few minutes of me crossing, Meryll and Cassidy finished the 5K and had the funniest faces on!  They said the 5K was brutal, too!  Hahaha!  We all waited together and within about 10 minutes Ron came across! 

Then...the waiting began.  We kept on waiting for Stacey to come but she was not coming across.  They even did all the awards ceremonies for all distances and still no Stacey.  I was getting a bit worried because I figured with the difficulty of the course she should have been in around 1:45-1:50.  But by 2 hours she still wasn't in.  Just then they asked over the loud speaker if any big guys could go up the trail to help bring down the injured runner.  My little do-gooder Ari ran up right away and volunteered.  While we waited now for Ari and Stacey - Ron, the fam and I had a little fun :)

Ron getting his 3rd place AG win!  Whoo hoo!

Cassidy (in green) getting her 2nd place AG win!

Love the podium!

After all of our shenanigans in the parking lot waiting on Stacey and praying she was okay, she comes running through the shoot with another chic looking fresh as a daisy!  WTF?  Are you okay?  Turns out Stacey and the other chic were little do-gooders too, and they had stopped to help the EMT drag all her gear and back board back up the hill and onto the trail :)  Wow!  She told us Ari and the guys were attempting to bring him down but he was being a little grumpy.  Turns out, he probably tore his quad muscle - no wonder he was in pain!

For all of Stacey's efforts, she was out there for over 2 and a half hours!  She was totally on pace to come in WAY earlier.  When she finished, the race organizers came over and presented her and the other chic a nice medal and free entry into any race of their choosing!  How nice!

Stacey lookin' way too good for being out on that trail for 2 1/2 hours!

She is too cute!

When it was all said and done, we all had a blast out there.  It was a fun but challenging course and I got to hang with some of the coolest runners I know :)  Ron is just as hardcore as you would imagine - don't let the hair fool you.  And Stacey, yeah, well that bitch earned her wings on Saturday - so proud of you girlie.

Next up, we have another trail race in September we are all running - more shenanigans to follow :)  Thanks Stacey and Ron for a great Sunday of racing - I'm truly lucky to call you both my friend.

Both Ron and Stacey hightailed it out there as it was almost noon and Ari hadn't quite made it back down the mountain yet.  Turns out they couldn't carry the poor guy for very long before he would want to be put down and rest.  My hubbs earned his angel wings that day, too.  By the time we got home there was no way I was adding 12 more miles to the day so we called it a day and spent the rest of it relaxing - perfect.
I finished up the week with 46.75 miles.  I'll take it.  I am going to attempt a long run either today or Tuesday - gonna see how my legs feel.
Thanks again to Ron for all the awesome photos - my camera decided to crap out yesterday.  And thank you for all the awesome PunkRockRacking gear - I feel so hardcore in it :)  It's what the cool kids wear.

I'm off to catch up with every one's busy weekends!  I will announce the winner of my Scape giveaway tomorrow!
Happy Monday and Happy Running peeps!