Race Report: 2010 PCTR Santa Monica Mtns 30K

For my money, there are only a handful of "can't miss" races per calendar year. Whenever the PCTR crew rolls into So Cal to put on 1 of their 4 races (for now), I make it a point to participate either as a volunteer or racer because their events embody everything I love about a race environment: beautiful courses, helpful volunteers and a chance to reconnect with my friends while making new ones. Last Sunday was certainly no exception. In fact after my 3+ hours on the trails, I probably spent even longer hanging out post-race at the finishers area.


With some great running friends at the start.

As far as the race itself, it went pretty well for me. While it had threatened to rain on race day all week long, when it came time to line up the runners were treated to mostly clear skies and cool ocean breezes. The race for the 30/50Kers started at 8:30am and my intentions going in were to stick with my friend Lori for the entire 30K. Unfortunately, we made the mistake of starting towards the mid-rear of the pack as the trail narrowed quickly and for the first 2-3 miles, we were caught in a frustratingly slow pace without much room to maneuver around the runners ahead.


4,400+ feet of elevation gain/loss.

We finally hit our first real ascent a couple of miles in and Lori tells me to just run ahead as she's not feeling it. Reluctant to leave but anxious to get my legs going, I wished her luck and started moving ahead. While I felt very strong early on (aided by the slow start), I wanted to stay grounded and temper thoughts of racing too hard after my cramping fiasco from last weekend's Catalina Eco-Marathon. Still I was able to steadily pass several runners as the beautiful course swept along the ridge overlooking miles and miles of beautiful Pacific Ocean before taking us into the grassy valley inland. Aesthetically speaking, just as magnificent as a course can get.


Single tracks + Coastal views = perfection (photo by Stuart)


La Jolla Valley (photo by Stuart)

I happily gabbed with fellow runners as I came upon them but I did keep making a few more passes here and there. Around mile 14 my fear started to come to light when my right hamstring started tightening up and I felt cramps coming on. Still I did my best to ignore it and whatever doubt crept in and kept shuffling along. When it came time for my final descent down Ray Miller, I decided to push the pace a bit more until I heard the whooping and hollering from friends and others at the finish.


Getting ready to finish.

I crossed the line with a big smile on my face with a final official time of 3:07:27 which was good for 12th overall and 3rd in my age group. After treating myself to a couple of post-race cokes, I changed into some warmer clothes and spent the next few hours hanging out, taking pics and cheering other runners in.

My idea of a perfect day. Congrats to all those that ran!

Looking Ahead: 2011

Sorry for the lack of blog updates lately. Reasons are a hybrid of lack of noteworthy events coupled with me battling a spate of minor-ish injuries leaving my mileage over the past few weeks pretty pathetically low.

Since the Long Beach Half Marathon in October, I've been dealing with soreness in my left foot (site of the old stress fracture late last year). That coupled with my lingering Runner's Knee and it's been a frustratingly unproductive month or so. I probably should have not run the Catalina Eco-Marathon last weekend (race report to come) but did so with the intentions of taking it easy...and it was still tough. The lesson as always: you have to respect the marathon distance - especially if there's 4,000+ ft of elevation gain involved!


Smiles after. Tough but beautiful race.

With that in mind, I decided to pull the plug on CIM which I had signed up for with the intentions of running a PR race. I am too undertrained to really give it my best effort and it's not really the most scenic course to justify flight + hotel expenses to run it for the hell of it. Will look forward to LA or Napa next spring.

In brighter news I am really, really excited about the first half of 2011 as far as races are concerned. I have already been enlisted to serve as pacer for my Hawaiian buddy Ryan at the HURT 100 in January, plan on running one of the toughest 50 milers California has to offer at Twin Peaks 50, then the LA Marathon and/or Napa in March, American River 50 in April (maybe) and that's bookended by two 'bucket list' races: the 56-Mile Comrades Marathon held in South Africa in May and - potentially - the Western States 100 in June (entered lottery). Chances aren't great, but hey - if I have to "settle" on Comrades alone, I'll take it.


Arguably the Super Bowl of ultras: the Western States 100.

In the short term, my focus will be on maintaining fitness, getting 100% healthy (or close to it) and finishing up the year with a couple more low key races without killing myself.