Training Woes

Last week, we spent a few days in Big Sur, that part of the coast along Highway 1 between Carmel and Hearst Castle (San Simeon). I had never been to Big Sur before, and it is exactly what you think of when you picture the Northern California coast, rugged and beautiful. We camped for a couple of days at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, which is right on the Big Sur River. We also stayed for a couple of days at Deetjen's Big Sur Inn, a rustic inn with cabin-like rooms (complete with working wood-burning stoves!).

I decided to do my long run (only 10 miles) on the day of our Anniversary, Sunday, October 8. I prefer running the long runs on Saturday to get them out of the way, but we got down to Big Sur late in the afternoon on Saturday and I was only able to get in a short, four mile run. Note: try to avoid running through campground areas in the early evening; the smoke from the campfires can really slow you down.

On the recommendation of one of the park rangers at our campground, we decided to run the "Old Coast Road," which was apparently the original road from Big Sur to Monterey before the construction of Highway 1. "Road" is something of a euphemism in describing the Old Coast Road as it is actually nothing more than a loose dirt trail which, in many places is barely big enough for one car. As shown in the pictures here, the terrain is both remote and hilly. The trail starts just across the street from Andrew Molera Park and travels over to the Bixby Bridge.

Unfortunately, the ranger said the Coast Road was about 6 miles, so I decided to run five miles out and back for a total of 10 miles. This was by far the toughest run I have ever been on: I was forced to walk large (uphill) portions of it, and was actually praying that Jess (who was running a much shorter distance) would start wondering where I was and save me with the car. The first 2 1/2 miles were entirely uphill, rising nearly 1,000 feet. This was followed by an abrupt, steep drop of 900 feet over the next two miles, coupled with the knowledge that I would have to return up this steep climb. This descent was followed by another climb of 500 feet over the next 3/4 of a mile (my GPS could not pick up a signal through much of the thick foliage while I was at the bottom of the valley near the Big Sur River, so I actually ran longer than 10 miles). In short, it was miserable, and took me nearly two hours to cover 10.5 miles. Yeah, the scenery was beautiful (expansive views of the ocean, and I even saw a couple of deer on the way back), but I was thinking more about survival than my surroundings. Here I am, in my official Las Vegas Marathon training gear, glad to be alive:

Oddly, there were several Port-A-Potties along the trail, and I found out that they held the Big Sur Trail Marathon on this trail the day before. To understand how difficult this trail is, take a look at the results: there were only 43 entrants, and it took the winner 3 hours, 36 minutes and 12 seconds to complete the distance. Half-marathoners did not fare much better, as it took the winner 1:37:40 to complete the distance. Yikes! We also later found out that the Coast Road is actually 10 miles (not 6, as explained by the ranger), so I could have run point to point and at least avoided the mental terror of having to run back up that steep two mile hill I had run down. Maybe next time (just kidding).

Recovery was tough, as my quads and hamstrings were burning for a couple of days. At least we were able to enjoy the fine four course tasting menu that evening at Sierra Mar Restaurant at the Post Ranch Inn. As you can see, the way the clouds rolled in it almost looked like we were on an airplane:



Here are the totals for week five:

Week Five
Miles: 17.75
Time: 2:55:38

The following Tuesday I was able to run five miles along the relatively flat marina trail in Monterey. I then squeezed in a four mile run along the Embarcadero heading toward the ballpark on Friday after work. For the second week, I chose to do my long run after running a shorter run the day before again with less than great results. On Saturday, I returned to the Iron Horse Trail for a 15-mile run, this time starting at the Pleasant Hill BART station. I could not get into a good rhythm, and had to stop a couple of times because I just was not feeling comfortable. I made it through the 15 miles, but it was a struggle the entire time. I am wondering if it might be smarter to rest the night before a long run rather than putting in a short workout (any thoughts on this appreciated!).

Week Six
Miles: 24
Time: 3:27:28

Totals
Total miles (running): 123.5
Total time (running): 18:06:38