Race Report: Malibu Creek 25K

Two concerns I had about this race coming into it:

1) My Foot (yes, I'm sure you're sick of hearing about it by now)

-and-

2) If I finished, this would be my longest run going into the LA Marathon a mere two weeks (!) from now. A hilly 25K hardly mimics what it's like to run 26.2 miles through LA streets. But I digress...


Blessed with great weather!

One concern I did NOT have however was the fear of rain. During the week leading up to it, we had rain in the forecast for the weekend. I had mentally prepared myself to run in the rain (and actually, kind of looked forward to it) but alas the rain subsided by Saturday night and today, we were treated to partly cloudy skies, clear views of the ocean/valleys and...mud, mud, MUD.

Got to the park about an hour before the gun so I could say hi to some familiar faces. First person I gave a great big hug to was Sarah the co-race director. Then I milled around the start and shot the shit with people like Danica and Emil, both of whom were volunteering. I also saw more friends in Rachel, Evan, Dave and a few others. Gotta love the trail/ultra events. It's always one big reunion of sorts. (My race report of last year's race can be found here.)

My plan coming into this race was to go out conservative and not risk injury. But I also knew there were some single tracks during the first part of the race, so that if you get too far back of the pack, you could potentially get stuck in the bottle neck at places like the stream crossing (learned this last year). So I positioned myself near the front. The 25/50K folks got started at 8:30am sharp. After some exchanges of "good lucks" with friends, off we went!


I'm in there somewhere (photo courtesy of Rachel)

So much for taking it easy. Getting swept up in the excitement of the moment, I went out a lot faster than I'd originally intended. We rounded the flat, paved lot before heading into the woods. I ended up running near Kristin - a fast girl who is training for the Comrades Marathon along with her husband, and decided to stick behind her. I followed her for the first couple of miles, through the river crossing, before making the long, steep ascent up the muddy, rocky fire road for the next 6+ miles.


My friend Kristin and I right before the long climb up.


A lot of up, a lot of down.

The climb was just as brutal as I remembered it. Seemingly endless stretches of uphill after uphill. You ran where you could but unless you are in phenomenal shape, the prudent and smart thing to do is to walk (briskly) the steeper sections. And there was a lot of that. A few around me found partners to pair with to chat and make the time go by a little faster I guess. I kept to myself for the most part though since I wanted to focus on breathing and not expend any more energy than necessary.


Coming through aid station #2

I finally hit the 2nd (and last) aid station of the day where my buddy Emil was manning it along with another gal. It was good to see a familiar face and I definitely needed a refill on my Nuun + chia mix I had. But instead of the sports drink, I opted for straight water. Emil also had a bottle of Pepsi waiting for me (inside joke a few of you my dear readers are privy to) and after a quick swig, I hurried on out of there with a handful of chips. Another mile of climbing awaited the runners before - mercifully, we finally began the long road down.


The ONLY beverage of choice for lost, thirsty trail runners!

I managed to pass a couple of runners but the rocky descent was not easy by any means. After the long uphill, my legs and quads were screaming. Add to it the loose rocks and uneven roads and you had to be sure you paid attention to each and every step. I definitely took time to appreciate the views on the climb up in spite of how painful it was, so I really focused in on the 5 feet that lied in front of me and running the tangents on the windy road down.

Once the ground leveled off around mile 10.5 or so, my legs were done. Both my right calf and hamstring started cramping and I was reduced to a hobble. I started to wonder if it was the lack of endurance in my legs before realizing that I had been sweating and losing more sodium/electrolytes than I'd thought and wasn't doing much to replenish my body. I took one GU Roctane with me (taken at mile 7) and not a lot else. Thankfully, a couple of runners coming up behind were more than happy to provide some salt and pretzels to aid my ailing legs.

The rest of the road back to the finish was mostly flat and while fatigued and reduced to a hobble, I managed to finish with a smile on my face and cross the line in 2:43:XX.

After making a beeline to the ice chest to ice my foot and grab a coke, I meandered over to the finish area to sprawl out with some friends under the sun and cheer in the rest of the 25K-ers and cheer along the 50K-ers going back for loop #2.


At the finish: me, Emil, Shacky, Rachel

I also caught Evan Hone come through at 4:20-something to shatter the course record which previously stood at 4:50:XX. Great job buddy, and great job to rest of the runners who ran today!


New course record and 50K win - congrats dude!

Next up...the LA Marathon! (gulp.)