DNF= Disappointing N' yet Fun...

PCTR Woodside
(17 of 35K)

You know what's really annoying? Thinking that you face one significant problem in your race, finding out that this is not a problem, feeling great about your progress in the race... and finding out a whole DIFFERENT issue is what brings you down.

I spent most of this week feeling rather crapola, and worrying that I would be too sick to run today's race. 35K felt long, and I was worried that I would die en route. I was vacillating between the 17 and 35K distances until Friday afternoon, but I started feeling much better on Friday and decided to do the 35K. I woke up this morning, saw some blue sky and was quite happy with my decision.

When I arrived at the start, there was so much good running energy (excuse the term-- remember, I'm from California and we're allowed to use phrases like "good energy"-- part of our constitution, I think) that I got happy thinking about the 35K. Mike was running the 35K as well, and I knew several people in the 50K group.

We took off in the last group-- 45 minutes after the 50K group and 15 minutes after the 10K group. I made a big effort to go out slow and steady, and I think I succeeded. I felt great up until the 1st aid station-- the first picture was taken just before the 1st aid station, and it shows the absolutely ideal running conditions of today. Running through the redwoods, cool temps (but not raining!), not too muddy despite yesterday's rain-- perfect! Until the 1st aid station, the trail leads pretty much relentlessly upward, and I kept a steady pace that felt neither too fast nor too slow. I was trying out one of the philosophies I have heard about running ultras-- think of the race as separate races between aid stations, and I was also trying to focus on my "run calm and relaxed" practice that worked so well (until the foot breakage) in Skyline to the Sea.

After the 1st aid station, the trail gently rolls up and down until the second. I had a second mental breakthrough on this section-- I started to feel tired and wanting to stop, and I could feel my thoughts turning negative, but I remembered something else that I read in a blog (or article) of wisdom about ultras-- someone said that the one piece of advice he had for newbie ultra runners was to remember that however they felt at a certain moment, it would change. It's amazing what mental comfort this gives, and I relaxed into the tiredness, had some food (key as well) and felt better within the next mile or so. Again, I was running very smoothly, and I was looking forward to the turn-around point, because I had told myself I would not let myself push it until I was done with 10 miles--and I was definitely feeling like I HAD something to push.

However, my knee had other ideas. Right about mile 9, my knee decided that it was not ok with my lack of attention to the exercises the PT told me to do last summer, and it decided to make its presence known. It shouldn't really be so much of a shock, as part of the reason my left knee has tendonitis has to do with the long-time weakness of my right leg from knee surgery 10 years ago, now compounded by being on crutches for a month in October. Have I been doing all the work to strengthen the right leg? No. Was the PT right? Yes. My knee HURT.

So I dropped at the turn-around, felt annoyed for a minute, but then came back and hung out/helped at the start/finish. It's hard to be bitter about not finishing a race when it seems like a big town-hall social hour at the finish line. People cheer others on as they come in, chat about running, upcoming races, where to go for sushi next weekend... Sarah and Wendell (RDs) are well on their way to developing not just a great race series (well, they've already done that), but a real community of runners--much harder, and in my opinion, when I think about the problems of the world, much more important and lasting.

Purisima Creek Redwoods

Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve

(Purisima Creek- Whittemore Gulch- North Ridge- Bay Area Ridge- Soda Gulch- Purisima Creek)

(12.1?)

I'm not going to lie to anyone. I've lived in the Bay Area for 14 years, and I have only visited Peninsula hiking trails on 3 different occasions--two of those were for PCTR events. However, my aunt had sent up a request for computer assistance for her blog, and Peninsula trails were closer to her than, say, Marin or the East Bay. So we headed south on the 280. 

Purisima Creek Redwoods, according to the cursory research I just did on the internet, are generally second-growth forests. (I swear, I'm close to buying a bunch of Bay Area history books... as well as a guide to the flora. I know lots of plants but it's becoming irritating to not be able to refer to plants by name...) From 1854 to 1920, several lumber mills operated in this area, and logging even continued until the 1970s. However, there are still two old growth areas on this hike: one sandwiched between Whittemore Gulch and the Bay Area Ridge Trail, and the other off the Soda Gulch trail. Did I notice the ancients compared to the newbies while I was running? No. I am neither a botanist nor a dendrochronologist--I just think old trees are cool. 

The second growth forests aren't bad, either. We started at the Redwood Trail parking area, and started down the Purisima Creek Trail, shaded by stately second-growth redwoods.

 Down is a good word to use here. Steep might also be appropriate. Foreboding, thinking of the end of the run, would be another good one. Jen and I kept hoping the trail would flatten out soon, because every step down would be another to run back up.

When the trail did flatten out, it meandered along next to Purisima Creek. Ferns and other greenery (there's that lack of names again!) kept the trail cool and comfortable to run. To be honest, it was rather chilly on this run, and I was glad to be moving the whole time. This is a great run for summer, though. I kept thinking how different this environment was than the Ohlone Wilderness, or even the trail I did on Thursday morning. It makes one rather overwhelmed by the Bay's ecosystemic possibilities...

At the end of the Purisima Creek Trail, we took the Whittemore Gulch trail to the North Ridge Trail. Whittemore Gulch is a worthy trail. It climbs a bit but then mellows out and gently ascends up to the ridge. As we left the redwood forests and headed up to more exposed regions, we were treated to many different wildflowers--blue forget-me-nots filled in any space left by the different plants, and we also found thistles holding on to beads of moisture. I have never seen a thistle that looked this pretty.

Whittemore Gulch led to North Ridge and then the Bay Area Ridge trails, and then dropped down to Soda Gulch. Several sites I had read before this cautioned against missing this trail, and I am happy to report I would agree with them completely. Soda Gulch is a hikers-only trail, which Jen partially lamented. It runs through huge redwood trees--some of the old growth forests, but again, I was not aware of which trees fit this bill and which did not. 

As a random side note, there was an article published in the New Yorker in 2005 about the redwoods in Humboldt County (the link is just to the abstract). Many have crazy plants (huckleberries, ferns and others) that have taken up residence in the uppermost branches of the tall trees. I was reading another site (sorry, did not note the link) that said some of the old growth trees at Purisima Creek Redwoods have some of these same kind of epiphytes growing in the tree tops. Not as many as the giants in Humboldt County, but they still exist.

Once back on Purisima Creek Trail, we slogged back up to the parking area. This was a rather painful 1.8 miles--at the end of the trail and straight up. We ran into some bikers who were on road bikes (yes, road bikes) on this trail and judging from their tracks, they rode all the way back up to Skyline. And we thought we were studly for running all this...

All in all, Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve has made me a convert to the trails of the Peninsula. I have a feeling I will be coming back more this summer, as these trails are MUCH cooler than the East Bay options. Apparently you can bring your dog on some trails on a leash, but it was not clear from the websites I read which trails those are.