Paramount Ranch Trail Race Recap

I decided that this would be my start-of-vacation, end-of-my-event-season celebratory race. I’d actually registered for it last year, but was unable to run due to (no surprise) injuries. I’d been running, albeit slowly, for 3 weeks leading up to the 2015 Paramount Ranch Trail Race, so decided that I would try to complete it. Naturally, I’d originally registered for the full marathon a few months ago. A 26.2 mile run was not going to happen, but the 10K seemed too short for such a long drive, so I opted for the half marathon.

Paramount Ranch, located in Calabasas, was used as a “movie ranch” after being purchased by Paramount Pictures in 1927. The 2,700 acre ranch was part of Rancho Las Virgenes, a much larger chunk of land which now includes Agoura Hills, Oak Park, Westlake Village, and parts of the Santa Monica Mountains. The diverse landscape of the ranch provided filmmakers with a buffet of film locale options – i.e. Paramount Ranch could be turned into whatever distant place the filmmakers wanted to set their scenes in. When I walked into the main ranch area, a collection of wooden buildings greeted me and I felt like I was walking into an old Western movie!

This event offers 10K, half marathon, 30K, and full marathon distances. I should put quotation marks around each distance however, because the 10K loop is only about 6.25 miles and all of the distances are 2-4 loops. The packet pickup took place inside of a larger wooden building and the start/finish line was right outside of it. Runners would run right through the S/F upon finishing and starting loops. I’d heard that the course was friendly  toward non or beginner trail runners, so I wasn’t overly worried about the hills. I was more concerned with completing 13.1 miles, as I hadn’t run that distance in a few weeks.

I arrived with a little over an hour until the 7:00 am start and sat in my car with the heater blasting full bore until about 6:30am. The outside temperature was 27 degrees, putting this race in the top 5 of coldest I’d ever run before. “I should’ve brought my ear warmers” I thought as I put the second technical t-shirt and gloves on. I jogged over to the packet pickup and was delighted to receive a really cool cotton long-sleeve top with a hood – a nice difference from the standard technical or short sleeve cotton t-shirt offerings. After letting the timing company know that I was going to run the half marathon instead of the full marathon, I jogged back to my car to drop my race items off and pin my bib on, and then hit the bathroom one last time before heading to the start line. Everyone was huddled up in the warmer building until Keira, the race director, began her instructions outside by the start line.

We set off at 7:00am and I was hoping I would warm up within 5-10 minutes. The course takes to a single track trail pretty quickly, and since we hadn’t yet spread out, it felt crowded and like I was running on someone’s heals. Within about 2 miles, I had enough room in front of and behind me to feel comfortable, but I wasn’t completely alone. My breathing and body felt good, but I was still very cold. There was a younger runner in front of me in just a t-shirt and gloveless! I considered asking him if he needed gloves as I had an extra pair in my car, but let him get too far ahead of me. My goal was to complete loop #1 at a comfortable and sustainable pace, and feeling confident that I could complete loop #2. If I felt good enough, I would pick up the pace during loop #2.

Right after coming through the start/finish line area for the second go-around, I heard a woman’s voice ask me about Boston 2 Big Sur (I was wearing my 2016 B2B tech tee). She had been ahead of me for most of the first loop and I’d passed her right after starting #2. We both expressed that we were happy to have a friend during the rest of our races – half marathon for me, 30K for her. Jenny had recently complete her first Ironman and I asked her a ton of questions about it. We learned that her birthday was the day after mine and that we both hated gels, gus, blocks and all synthetic endurance race energy sources. We parted when I finished my race, and she left for her third and final loop. Reviewing the results now, I wish I’d finished a bit faster, as there was a woman only seconds ahead of me. I was so grateful for the conversation during the second loop though!

Despite this being a smaller trail race, the finisher’s medals were really nice. All runners also received an additional ceramic medal, which looked to be handmade. I grabbed some snacks and my free beer before heading to my car to change into warming clothing. The results were posted old-school, printed out on paper and taped to a wall, so I knew it would take a while for the half marathon results to be posted. I jogged back and learned that I’d placed 4th overall female and third in my age division. I was happy with this having run very easy and with such spotty training. I wanted to wait for Jenny to finish, but was feeling colder by the minute, so I left.

Regarding the course and its difficulty rating, I’d label it as a 3/10 on the trail scale. It was definitely do-able by a very novice trail runner. There were single track sections, and one particularly rocky part, but the inclines were small and trail entirely navigable. Overall, I was very impressed with this event and will run it again in 2016 if the dates align well with my work events and winter vacation. The single downside to the Paramount Ranch Trail Run was the weather, which is easily manageable with warmer gloves and ear warmers. I registered for another of Keira’s race, the Griffith Park Trail Half Marathon in March, and expect another A+ trail race experience!

 

Big Sur Half Marathon Recap

This recap is long overdue – the race was over a month ago!

Having visited the Big Sur area in April for the Big Sur International Marathon, I immediately said yes to Leti’s suggestion to head back to the area. We’d had such a great time in April that I knew it would be another fun trip. We decided to drive up again, arriving the day before the race and leaving on Monday evening. I usually prefer to arrive close to race day and pad the post-race trip time. Our April visit involved two days of work (exhibiting at the BSIM Expo), but this time I only worked ~2 hours as a volunteer in late registration. It was interesting working late registration for a race outside of my organization and getting a feel for their operation. Non-surprisingly, it was well-organized and went very well. After the expo closed, Leti and I had dinner at the hotel restaurant and went to sleep early.

With the race shuttles departing from a spot very close to our hotel, we didn’t have to leave too early for the 6:55am start. We made a new friend on the way to the shuttle pickup who was about to run his very first half marathon! The ride to the start was uneventful and very warm; the bus heater was at 110% and I was wearing 3 shirts. The shuttle dropped us off at the start line with plenty of time to take pictures, watch the sun rise, visit the porta potties, apply lubricant to key body parts, drop bags off at gear check, and locate the entrances to our starting corrals.

There were 13 starting waves, with a 30 second gap between each one. At approximately 7:01am, we were off! The start line announcer pumped me up and I was very excited to run along the coast in Carmel and Pacific Grove.

The first few miles are twisty-turny through Monterey. There were groups of residents standing outside cheering the runners on and Smokey The Bear made an appearance at mile 1.5ish. It was a brisk and beautiful morning, and I was running a really neat half marathon, but my hip was 7/10 on the pain scale. Staying mentally positive was definitely a struggle. We passed through a long-ish tunnel with a light show and music right after mile 1, and the DJ was playing Turn Down for What when I was coming through. This provided me with a boost and I had this song stuck in my head through Cannery Row (miles 2-3) and along the Recreation Trail.

The Big Sur Half Marathon is mostly flat, but there is a very steep hill around mile 4, before heading toward Pacific Grove. Thankfully, there were a fair amount of enthusiastic residents outside motivating us up that incline! We were rewarded with magnificent views of the ocean and passed by Lover’s Point right as the top runners passed us on their way to the finish line. I saw Kara Goucher leading the women runners and as always, was inspired and in awe. I’m not a big fan of out-and-back courses, but I’d run Ocean View Boulevard daily if I lived in the area. Leti and I drove along the course on Monday because we hadn’t had our fill of the views on race day.

By Point Pinos/mile 6, my hip felt better, but only slightly. The course began to feel crowded at this point as more runners were making their way back to Fisherman’s Wharf/the finish. My only “race” plan was to finish, and I definitely questioned that during the first 5 or so miles, but felt confident that I would at the halfway point. The turnaround was right after mile 8/Asilomar State Beach and though I was certainly enjoying the course and views, I was ready to finish. At mile 9, I realized that I hadn’t taken any water until this point. With the cold weather and my focus on the scenery and course, I completely forgot to hydrate. I hungrily grabbed two cups of water at the mile 9 station, but it would prove to be too late. Miles 10-12 were rough and I ended up walking for a fair amount of time. I felt like I was going to pass out about .5 miles from the finish line, but jogged it into the finish line.

I felt SO hungry for the last mile. I’d eaten a substantial dinner and a bar for breakfast, so I think it may have been thirst. I downed a bottle of water and parked myself on a curb to snack and change into dry clothing. Unfortunately, I did not see much of the post-race expo, but was impressed with the post food & fluid offerings: raspberries, mini-Luna bars, apples, bananas, chocolate milk, coconut water, cookies, and chips (I can’t remember what kind). I chatted with a very nice woman from Berkeley who will also be running the Napa Valley Marathon in March and then walked over to the shuttle loading zone. I felt better after water and food, but admittedly disappointed in myself and my running. I took a hot shower and short nap (not at the same time!) before Leti arrived at the hotel room. Despite less-than-ideal training for both of us, we were happy to have completed the race and felt lucky to be able to do so. We capped our trip off by enjoying a great meal and conversation at Lalla Grill in Monterey, shopping at Forever 21, and a watching a movie (The Intern – really good!) in our hotel room.

We stopped by the BSIM offices on the way back to Southern California and received the VIP tour! We were able to informally chat with their staff and exchange ideas, advice, and trade stories. It was great to get even more insight into their operations and event management strategies – I was, again, thoroughly impressed.

In retrospect, 1) running a half marathon at a 7/10 on the pain scale and 2) waiting to drink water until mile 9 were poor choices on my part. Though I don’t regret it now that it’s done and I was able to walk and run afterward, I do regret putting my body through that. The thing is, I’ve run and raced with injuries before and they’ve healed within a few days or weeks, so it’s almost as if I subconsciously know that it’s “okay.” The first analogy which comes to my mind is that of a spoiled child who is chastised upon wrongdoing, but only with a light verbal warning. They do it again knowing that they can probably get away with it. My body often warns me that it doesn’t like what I’m doing, but heals quickly, so I continue to run through it. I’m well aware of potential long-term damage, but have yet to seriously consider implementing more ancillary exercises into my running routine. Perhaps it’s because I’m still in “I’m young and invincible” mode, or because I’m just lucky for now, but the frequency of my injuries will continue to increase unless I invest some time into prevention.

Training was up and down for the next month-and-half due to both injuries and a dense work/event schedule. I’m very happy to report that my hip injury has healed since then, though I’m still unsure as to what it was (Self-diagnoses: tendinitis of the hip flexor as a result of jumping back into training too quickly). I hope that I can return injury-free to Monterey in 2016 for the Big Sur Half Marathon!

Executive Race Director/Doug’s cat Bentley! ❤