Monday, November 22, 2010

PCTR Santa Monica Mountains 30k

Serious Fun. Every PCTR bib I have ever worn says this and in these two words the whole trail running thing is captured, yeah running trails is hard and dirty but it’s always fun! And this weekend was no different. The forecasted storms blew in early and woke me at 4:30am and the rain came down in cats and dogs but by race start there were blue skies and mostly fluffy clouds.

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Driving south on PCH (with iPhone)

The other great thing about these races is that it’s a great opportunity to meet up with some super cool people and this weekend was no different, this nice thing is the conversation is just picked up exactly where you left off and that might have been 6 months ago!

pctr group shot

L-R Lori, Shacky, Rachel, Billy, Dave, me, Emil

This is my fourth year at this race, the third time running it and the first time running the 30k, in fact it’s only the second 30k I have ever raced, the first last March runs over the same course from a different start/finish point so it’s a good comparison. The course is a figure of eight with three climbs each of about 1000 feet.

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My plan for this race was to really be as steady and consistent as I can, the terrain was always going to dictate my pace, so I would walk the ups, run the downs and run/walk everything; all 3.79 miles of everything else. For the first 6 miles I ran with Rachel, coming down the first hill I was just plain enjoying myself and caught myself doing a sub 8 min mile…woah time to back off! I hit the first Aid Station (7.75m), filled up one bottle and was in and out in literally 10 seconds and with a tidy 1:30 on the clock. A long windy climb up up Ray Miller saw me at 10 miles in 2:00, yes that’s 2.25 miles in 30 minutes! So far so good.

My hydration and nutrition was working pretty well and I was using the new and improved Clif gels (review to follow) one gel every 45 minutes and taking about 15 minutes to eat it along with a bottle of Clif Shot into which I would toss a Nuun.

After the second Aid Station at Sycamore Canyon Rachel passed me on the long climb up, which was fine along the switchback and then it went vertical, this climb truly sucks.

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The very final section lasts…oh, about forever!

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But the juice is worth the squeeze!

Finally I topped out and had to regroup myself my HR was at 175 and I had been in Zone 5 for the last 30 minutes. Once collected the rest of the route unfolded before me along with some stunning ocean and valley views.

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Remember…Serious Fun!

The last thirty minutes are all downhill and with one eye on my watch I had the finish and a PR in sight. It was tempting to walk, my old friend from last weekend at the Eco Marathon; cramping, had come back again but with a few hops and stretches I managed to keep them under control. I bottomed out and with a dash across the road I crossed the finish line in 3:44:01. A new PR by nearly 11 minutes.

I hung around and caught up with Billy who ran a smoker and placed 3rd in his age group, saw the winner of the 50k finish in 4:25! Humbling! I caught up with Sarah and Michael the RDs who told me of some exciting plans for the future! After which I headed out and was home in time for lunch.

I’ve said it before and I will continue to say it that if you ever fancy a trail race this is place to go, all altitude and no attitude…oh yeah and serious fun, go on give it a go; you know you want to ! Here are the rest of the photos.

12 comments:

  1. Love the photos. Stunning views and looks seriously tough ... ahem fun! :-)

    That's how you recognise true friends, when you effortless take up a conversation again six months later as if no time has passed inbetween.

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  2. What a location, well captured in your photos. Best of all, "Serious Fun" - love it.

    Thanks for posting.

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  3. What a great motto, and it does capture the allure of trail running!

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  4. Fun, fun, fun. Looks like a great race. Looks like also I might put this one on my 2011 race calender. Congrats!!

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  5. That's a pretty sweet looking race. No wonder you keep coming back. Great job!!

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  6. It was fun running with you! I'm relieved I'm not the only one who thinks that final climb for the 30K is grueling and seemingly endless. Congrats on the PR!

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  7. Wow, incredible scenery! Looks like a beautiful day on the trails!

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  8. Very cool Stuart! I really need to get some of these PCTR races on my calendar next year.

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  9. Congrats on your PR! Those trails look beautiful. I seriously need to get out there one day.

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  10. Great job Stuart! An 11 minute PR is fantastic - all that base training you did this fall seems to have paid off! And your photos are fantastic. See you out there soon.

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  11. Awesome pictures as always Stuart. Nice run, and great seeing you out there.

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