Saturday, July 19, 2008

Sequoia 20K Race Report


Well, for once I did a run and have absolutely no pictures to show for it! I haven't done a "fast" race in a while, or a race in which I was continually moving. (The amount of uphill at Ohlone let me take tons of pictures.) If you want to see the kind of trails I was running on, check the posts from Redwood-- we started in Joaquin Miller, but most of the race was in Redwood. 

It was nice to go to a local race-- I didn't have to leave the house until 7:30, which felt late for a race day. Once I got there, I met Becky and Nancy from the RW forums, and then was recognized by Jo Lynn from my blog! (Yes, I felt like a celebrity-- I think that's 2 of my 15 minutes of fame used up so far...)

Going out, my plan was to try and hold it back as much as possible until the half-way point. I keep going out too fast, and with a bunch of long races planned for the fall, I need to figure out how to pace myself better. Having the Garmin for that really helped. I felt like I was nice and controlled for the first 6-7 miles. 

Part of the first section was the notorious French Trail, as chock-full of straight ups and downs as one could desire, but a lot of this race was relatively flat and fast. I think that I am going to try to incorporate a run a month on the French trail and one a month on Mount Tamalpais, because I need the up/down practice for 9 Trails

After French, the race curled back on Baccharis and Graham before ending up on West Ridge for a while. The relief I felt when I was on a trail I knew (I remember this feeling from 9 Trails last year) convinced me that I need to practice running on the trails for Dick Collins in October. 

The second half of the race went by pretty fast until the last 2 miles... at which point I could feel my blood sugar dropping. AGAIN, I need to eat more on runs. I ate 2 shok bloks at around mile 6, but then got carried away, thinking "only 4 more miles! don't stop to eat!" I also ended up with a very strange right butt-cheek cramp, the likes of which I have never felt before. I think it might have to do with the effect of the core strengthening I've been doing-- I felt like I was running a little different today-- definitely felt stronger around the lower abdomen area, which is great-- but what's up with the ass cramp?

Overall? I'm pretty pleased with today. I felt strong until the blood sugar moment (my legs felt fine-- I just had no energy), and my knee was great. I feel pretty good about where I am-- probably I won't end up running enough before Skyline to the Sea (because when do I ever?), but I'm much less worried than I was a month ago, when I saw the PT. 

4 comments:

Kevin said...

ass cramps and low blood sugar.... sounds like the title to a song or something... way to hang tough.

Marla said...

Great job on your race, looks like the knee help up well. Ass cramps, sound pretty serious, better get that checked out. LOL

Derek said...

Sorry the comment from above was from me, I was on my wifes computer. Not thinking to well after the 50k this morning!!

P.O.M. said...

I do the same thing with the shot blox. In my crazy head, I think "it's only X more miles, I can totally make it without." Then I get home and knock out.