Grouse Mountain to Old Buck (or less) and back
Both Curb and Craig were away this week, so the Italians (Glenn and Enzo) hijacked the training run leadership today :-) This is a report of the facts according to Enzo. I'm sure Glenn will add his version shortly.
After the early June heat wave of the past few days, we were all happy to see the temperature drop a few degrees this morning. It was still warm for this time of year, but a relatively pleasant 14°C at the start and only hitting about 20°C by noon. The occasional breeze, and the almost constant shade of trees in the forest trails, made for near ideal trail-running conditions.
Glenn started things off with a description of the run we were to attempt today, and what is now becoming an obligatory "poop-talk" (note to Craig: we think everyone has now got the message!). I added some cautionary words of advice to the novice trail-runners about the difficulty and length of today's run. It was scheduled for Grouse Mountain to Old Buck and back on the Knee Knacker course route. I pointed out that was just under 22 miles in length, which is almost 3/4 of the Knee Knacker route, which in turn is quite a few miles longer than any of the training runs to date this year. I suggested runners go by time on the out-and-back course, and to not increase their previous long run by more that 10-15% today. For someone who had previously done a 4-hour long run, this would mean adding no more that 24-36 minutes to their running time today. This would probably not get them to Old Buck and back, so I suggested they turn around sooner. On this day, it appeared many did take that advice.
We got started on the trail at about 7:12 am, once the Italians finished their spiel. It's nice to get an early start on a warm day. About 40-45 people entered the trail at that time, with a few more starting up to half-an-hour later. Get an alarm clock, sleepy-heads! On race day, we start at 6:00 am precisely!!
I spent most of my run visiting with old friends and new in the middle of the pack. On the way out, I spent some time with John and Oleh between Grouse and Lynn Headwaters. Oleh has done the race a couple of times, and also helped out as a volunteer a number of times. The time went by very quickly as Oleh "interviewed" me about the history of the race, especially the first few years. It brought back many good memories of that first group run back in 1989, and the amount of work we put into getting the first official race off the ground the following year. Back then, the idea of running 30 miles on rough trails seemed quite "extreme". My, how we have progressed since then.
Lynn Headwaters proved to be a popular spot today, with most runners pausing to refill their water containers and to use the proper restroom facilities, lest they incur the wrath of Craig in next week's "poop-talk". Shortly down the Varley trail, I hooked up with Jeff and Don. I stayed with them for the next hour or so, when it became obvious to me that their pace was just a bit too much for me on this day.
I decided to turn around just before the bottom of the Seymour Grind, so I got to see the results of yesterday's work party on the stairs, trail and bridge just east of Hyannis. Great work you guys! Hopefully, we'll get a report and/or pictures from Andrew Wong, who organized the day's efforts.
By the time I turned around to head back, I saw the first of the fast runners heading home also. Only thing is they had done about 4 miles more than me, making it right down to Old Buck as per the training schedule. Patricia was looking quite strong at the very front, ahead of all the boys. My fellow Italian, Glenn, was a few minutes back. I asked if he touched the rock at Old Buck, and he said he touched it once for himself, and then gave it a couple of strokes for me too! Who said Italians don't look out for one another?
Shortly after seeing the fast pack blasting home, I settled into my survival shuffle. This was the start of rough spell for me for the next hour or so, but I was eventually saved by a couple of gels (loaded with carbs and caffeine) and some Vitamin I (Ibuprofen). It was also very helpful to hook up with 4 newbie trail runners from the Pacific Road Runners (Rik, Leslie, Sarah and Mike). The club has always been very supportive of our race, with Maurice heading up the Cypress Bowl aid station for more than a decade, and Marco (another good Italian boy) running the Skyline Drive aid station. On this day, the PRR gang sure helped me out through my low-energy period. They had missed the turn coming out of the Seymour Demo Forest (remember to take the second right as you head down the trail towards the Suspension Bridge), so were content to turn back well before Old Buck.
The remainder of the run was rather uneventful, but quite enjoyable for me in the company of my new friends from the PRR. I bid them adieu, as we parted ways just past the Mosquito Creek Bridge. I continued down the Creek and home, and they started their steep climb out of the Mosquito Creek Canyon. It had been a good hard effort, and it was nice to be done before it got even hotter in the afternoon.
Just a reminder that next week's run is a point-to-point run from the Cypress Road Top Lookout along the Skyline Trail to the Baden-Powell, and finishing up in Deep Cove. Meet at Panorama Park in Deep Cove at 7:00 am to arrange shuttles back to the starting location.