Crystal Springs Trail Run
- San Francisco (sorta)
- Elevation gain: 3790'
- Terrain: 72% Single Track, 26% Dirt Road, 2% Asphalt
- Coordinated by: Coastal Trail Runs
I looked up a reference for when I first proclaimed I wanted to do a marathon and saw that it was only in April of last year! April!
In less than a year, 8 months to be exact, I went from casually mentioning to Steve that I wanted to do a marathon and having zero running experience, to running a marathon with only 6 months of running under my belt.
And boy was it a good one. I did my first trail race ever in my favorite of favorite places in the world, Santa Cruz with the same group, Coastal Trail Runs, back in June. It was also a 10K, I didn't even mess around with a 5K first. I knew I wanted to go distance. And here I am 6 months after that with my goal completed of having run a marathon.
In less than a year, 8 months to be exact, I went from casually mentioning to Steve that I wanted to do a marathon and having zero running experience, to running a marathon with only 6 months of running under my belt.
And boy was it a good one. I did my first trail race ever in my favorite of favorite places in the world, Santa Cruz with the same group, Coastal Trail Runs, back in June. It was also a 10K, I didn't even mess around with a 5K first. I knew I wanted to go distance. And here I am 6 months after that with my goal completed of having run a marathon.
Look how spry I looked in the beginning! Those feelings of energy and happiness quickly faded upon reaching my milestone of 18 miles. Before that day, that was the furthest I ran.
The race was so gorgeous though, it was hard not to be happy the whole time. Jake's company helped a ton too, but those training wheels will soon depart since he's not interested in anything longer than a 50K with me (only because Durango, where we hope to move to has a race in October where you can do THE DOUBLE and attempt a 50K trail race Saturday and the following day do a half marathon road race).
The race was so gorgeous though, it was hard not to be happy the whole time. Jake's company helped a ton too, but those training wheels will soon depart since he's not interested in anything longer than a 50K with me (only because Durango, where we hope to move to has a race in October where you can do THE DOUBLE and attempt a 50K trail race Saturday and the following day do a half marathon road race).
Like I said, I felt pretty good until 18ish miles, though the hill climb at mile 14 pushed my mental limits. It didn't help that my GPS app was almost 5 miles off and I thought I was way behind, so when we got to the final aide station and learned only 4.7 miles left to the finish line, I almost peed with joy.
Mile 24's climb was also not fun, but I was definitely walking all the hills by that point, so it didn't matter so much.
Honestly, with how easy I tear up (ESPECIALLY when I'm exhausted) I was ready to break down crossing the finish line and for months thought that would be the case. While some waterworks started about 1.5 miles before finishing, I bucked up, got strong, and increased my speed a tiny bit heading downhill with a smile on my face. After we crossed, got our medals, and hugged my dad, I was too giddy knowing I JUST COMPLETED AN 'EFFING MARATHON!
Mile 24's climb was also not fun, but I was definitely walking all the hills by that point, so it didn't matter so much.
Honestly, with how easy I tear up (ESPECIALLY when I'm exhausted) I was ready to break down crossing the finish line and for months thought that would be the case. While some waterworks started about 1.5 miles before finishing, I bucked up, got strong, and increased my speed a tiny bit heading downhill with a smile on my face. After we crossed, got our medals, and hugged my dad, I was too giddy knowing I JUST COMPLETED AN 'EFFING MARATHON!
Here are some shots my dad took and some you'll find on their website of the results:
My own picture from the top elevation (I really should stop to take more pictures):
So I packed as lightly as I could and honestly most of my suitcase was filled with interview clothes even though I only had one interview (more on that in a future blog post). I figured NorCal would be in the usual 50-60F range and I was banking on about 55F. I did not expect to feel SO warm though! I guess 2-3 months of blistering cold and running mostly in temperatures below freezing really paid off. I risked running without a jacket and started with only arm warmers. I chose my capris instead of shorts, but I think I could have gotten away with shorts no problem.
My whole weekend+ in SF and SC were really quite comfortable and I was actually extremely happy that my NorCal friends felt freezing when I barely needed a light cardigan. Go acclimation!
I also chose to wear my waterproof Montrail shoes instead of my beloved Brooks for fear my foot pain would return from the elastic on the top. So weird, but besides my socks being a little too rough and the bottoms of my feet feeling a little raw around 14 miles, my shoes did wonderfully. I had some of the foot pain on the top return a bit, but it's day 3 now and it's completely gone.
I finally feel only slightly sore like maybe I ran about 15 miles yesterday, but the first two days were pretty hard on my whole body. My knee is still pretty bad when I've kept it in one position for too long, however I think I'm recovering a lot quicker than expected. Though honestly the severity of my knee and some leg pain was greater than I anticipated.
I wanted to do a short run the following day, but I think it would have caused some detrimental damage, so I'm trying to chill out for another week I think before slowly getting back into the grind.
My whole weekend+ in SF and SC were really quite comfortable and I was actually extremely happy that my NorCal friends felt freezing when I barely needed a light cardigan. Go acclimation!
I also chose to wear my waterproof Montrail shoes instead of my beloved Brooks for fear my foot pain would return from the elastic on the top. So weird, but besides my socks being a little too rough and the bottoms of my feet feeling a little raw around 14 miles, my shoes did wonderfully. I had some of the foot pain on the top return a bit, but it's day 3 now and it's completely gone.
I finally feel only slightly sore like maybe I ran about 15 miles yesterday, but the first two days were pretty hard on my whole body. My knee is still pretty bad when I've kept it in one position for too long, however I think I'm recovering a lot quicker than expected. Though honestly the severity of my knee and some leg pain was greater than I anticipated.
I wanted to do a short run the following day, but I think it would have caused some detrimental damage, so I'm trying to chill out for another week I think before slowly getting back into the grind.
The Results:
I came in at 6:04 and my personal "PLEASE I HOPE I CAN RUN IT IN THIS TIME" was 6 hours. I really thought I would barely make the cut-off time of 7.5, so GO ME.
I came in to find out I won a raffle and got to choose between hats, water bottles, socks, AND HYDRATION BAGS! And being that Salomon was one of the sponsors, I GOT A SWEET SALOMON HYDRATION BACKPACK!
And the best part, I was the only female runner in my age group of 20-29, SO I WON FIRST PLACE IN MY AGE RANGE!
I came in to find out I won a raffle and got to choose between hats, water bottles, socks, AND HYDRATION BAGS! And being that Salomon was one of the sponsors, I GOT A SWEET SALOMON HYDRATION BACKPACK!
And the best part, I was the only female runner in my age group of 20-29, SO I WON FIRST PLACE IN MY AGE RANGE!
We also got awesome shirts, but left them in my dad's car in California, so when he ships those, you'll see them on Instagram...
Oh and a yellowjacket nest got disturbed about mile 8 and we had to climb down a mountain side to avoid it as a lady was running at us from the opposite direction like Chris Farley (BEES!!!!!) And while we avoided conflict then and there, on the way back, about mile 20, Jake got stung on the ear by a straggler!
Oh and a yellowjacket nest got disturbed about mile 8 and we had to climb down a mountain side to avoid it as a lady was running at us from the opposite direction like Chris Farley (BEES!!!!!) And while we avoided conflict then and there, on the way back, about mile 20, Jake got stung on the ear by a straggler!