Sequoia 20K Race Report

Pacific Coast Trail Runs Sequoia 20K 

Course map

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.