A week before the Sean O’Brien 30k I started to cough and continued doing so until Thursday when things finally turned around. I was in mega taper mode – no running all week – and that helped me get to the starting line.
Training
I usually run as much as I can on a race course for training, but driving an hour each way to Malibu wasn’t something I wanted to do. Instead, I spent some quality time on the Sisar Rd and Canyon Trails in Ojai, simulating the massive climb at the start of the SOB. I think it worked. I was able to do a 5 mile climb with almost zero whining, a nice mental win.
Plus, I still had my Ray Miller 30k build up under my belt, so I was in decent shape.
Pre-race
It was f-ing cold. My car thermometer had the temp at 30 degrees. I was bundled up as I went to the race check-in where I ran into Christophe who was doing the 50k. We ran together at the 3-Hour Time Trial fatass race in Sylmar’s Veteran’s Memorial Park, along with Marisol who was also doing the 50k.
After check-in I went back to the car to drop off my race shirt then headed back to snap some pics of the marathon/50k start.
Miles 0 to 7
The RD, Keira, started her race instructions as we all huddled near a tiny heater beneath a 10 x 10 pop up tent. We needed all the heat we could get. She reminded us that there would be a creek crossing at about mile 2 and there was a symphony of groans.
When we started I hung out in the back of the pack with a steady running pace until we got to the Little Chihuahua where I power hiked parts of that. It was only us 30k runners at this time so there wasn’t the usual conga line until the creek.
Once I crossed the creek and did the little climb to the Backbone Trail, I took out my trekking poles (aka “wizard sticks”). If you’ve never used trekking poles then try to use them in a race they are pretty much useless and at worse you’ll end up tripping over them or tripping someone else which is not cool. I’ve used them quite a bit during super steep climbs so I’m used to them. If I don’t have poles and I have a long steep climb I’ll usually hunt around for branches to serve as poles.
The climb was a piece of cake although I wasn’t pushing things too much. There was a point where a couple (father and daughter?) were just in front of me and I tried not to let them drop me so I kept my pace up.
The poles were really helping and next thing I knew I was cruising into the Corral Canyon Aid Station.
I grabbed a couple of chips, had some Coke and a pb & j corner then was off, leaving behind the couple I was following.
Miles 7 to 11
I was eating and walking on the downhill then finally finished snacking and started a moderate run down the mountain. This next section is a constant downhill so I was able to stretch the legs some. About a mile into it I ran into Mariela from our New Basin Blues running group and we did a photo off.
After the initial downhill there’s a flat section and my legs were starting to feel the fatigue. I had already climbed 3,000 ft and my quads felt it. Around mile 9.8 I finally reached the turnaround point where a volunteer gave me a wristband to indicate I had made it. He seemed a bit surprised that the last place person had not reached him yet and almost forgot to give me a wristband.
On the way back I saw Luisa who usually does the 50k but was nursing an injury and wanted to enjoy the 30k.
I finally made it back to Corral Canyon and felt decent. I should have loaded up with water but only had one small cup of water, some more Coke and a handful of chips. Chris was volunteering and was dressed as a donut. I saw him earlier and said that I had some coffee on me as well. I wish. But I was in more of a salty mood then a donut one so I headed back out. Yes, he actually had real donuts nearby.
Miles 11 to finish
This next section is always tricky. I jump out of the aid station and then charge up the space rock looking section then quickly crash. It’s rock, it’s uphill, and it’s longer than you think. I took it easy and just took it one step at a time and it wasn’t that bad a climb this time.
By this time I started doing math in my head and this former math teacher was trying to figure out what pace I had to run to finish the race within a total of 6 miles. That took me a few miles before I figured out that I wasn’t going to hit that particular metric.
The following climbs are usually soul sucking but this time they were a breeze. I know I keep saying it’s the sticks but this is the best shape I’ve been in since I did Leona Divide 50k in 2016.
There are some amazing and epic views on the ridge and I was enjoying them until I saw some big black clouds coming my way. I was just waiting to see a flash of light so I could chuck my fabulous poles so that I wouldn’t turn into a large lightening rod out there. But there was no rain and I kept cruising.
I was running the flats and downhills and power hiked the ups. During one section I heard some footsteps behind me but they didn’t pass me so I figured they were closing in on me but not that quickly. The footsteps caught up to me on an uphill and we quickly chatted about beer at the finish line. On the next downhill I opened it up and zoomed back past them.
I blasted down the hill for over a mile until my right pinky toe started feeling like it was getting an electric shock. I slowed down and it was still shooting pain. I was down to a power hike on the still steep downhill and I used my sticks to take some of the weight on the toe and that helped.
This had happened before after doing hard downhill running and also when I was using that toe more when I had the heel blister the previous month.
That kind of sucked but I kept moving forward. I thought that maybe it was a nutrition thing but then I went to suck some water out of my hydration pack and it was empty. Gah! When I do long training runs I don’t even drink a full liter in 13 miles and now I had gone through 2 liters.
I hit the last Backbone Trail section and then ran into the volunteer at the water-only station. I drank a couple of cups of water then headed out.
The entire day had cold so the creek crossing wasn’t my favorite although it did clean my shoes off some. I hiked the rest of the flat part up to the Angry Chihuahua climb then hit that hard.
The sun came out and my shoes started to dry quickly. I was looking at my watch and was enjoying the climb as I checked my watch as it inched closer to 4,000 feet of elevation. Yes, I was going to hit my 2000 meter mark for the Strava Run Climbing Challenge, or so I thought.
At the downhill section I opened it up and the legs were behaving. No cramping and the little toe was cool. I passed the amazing Patricia Devita and kept running for the finish line.
I haven’t looked at all my 30k race stats but I was within 30 minutes of a PR. When you adjust for the actual length of the course this was right up there.
I must say that the volunteers were great as usual. It was also a blast see so many friends out there and seeing other runners who came out to do a training run, end support and inspire like Gerardo and Deysi.
Big shoutout to all my New Basin Blues, Anytime Runners and Conejo Valley Trail Runners out there who crushed the course.
What’s Next?
I signed up for Leona Divide 50k so I have to ride this race and keep training for that.
What’s your next race? Did you do SOB? How did it go?