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Robie to the River & Back

November 30, 2013 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
Up early again; slept OK, had another Chelsea dream. Did quite a bit of hydrating and prepped my gear for the run, then got to Robie just after 9. Made sure I did a couple drills (and hip/pelvic "openers") beforehand, then took off.

It was a beautiful day, but cold. I knew it would warm-up, but I overdressed anyway, so by the time I got to No Hands, my jacket was insanely hot, so I hid it near the bridge.

Gear: Ultimate Direction AK vest w/two bottles (one of which had In N Out lemon water!), about a 1/4lb of nuts (reserve), and my iPod.

Didn't listen to any tunes on the outbound; instead, had some brain tunes going and simply focused on good stride mechanics and easy, sustainable efforts and mechanics. Saw a ton (>12?) of folks on Quarry Rd, but then, predictably, no one once I got to Maine Bar/ACT.

Damn, I love that American Canyon Trail - it's SO AWESOME! That whole route is phenomenal, and a classic recovery "easy" route (11 miles, I bet, with minimal change?). Mechanics really started to come together at that point. Once I got to Dead Truck, I hiked about 80% of it, making sure I had plenty of energy for the return.

Thought A LOT about my previous R2Rs, and how I bonked like hell the two other training runs I did it ('12, and especially this year!). I thought about how that might've been more reflective of my "fat burning fitness" going in, than anything, though heat and pacing (AND the big elevations of up to Cool/up to Browns adds going straight backwards). But I really feel "I'm different" ("Yeah, I'm DIFF-RENT!...") than even 6 months ago.

Got to the WS trail, then proceeded backwards. Gosh, was it peaceful. And BEAUTIFUL! I saw no humans other than a foursome of hunters as I ran down Green Gate to the river. Snapped a couple pics of the crossing and noted my watch: 1:58.

There, I put on my iPod but decided to listen to just one song, "Lazy Eye" by Silversun Pickups, on repeat "for a while". "A while" turned out to be the ENTIRE RUN back!

And I started up the hill. Felt GOOD. Just relaxed, natural, effortless, "right". I alternately focused on two things on this run, mechanics-wise: the pelvis "push and pull" (chair scoots), which is key for the steep ups; and the pelvis "opening", which is key for the douche grade and flats. I did each where applicable and made quick work of the up climb.

Felt GREAT on the GG to ALT, again making quick work on any little climb. With water, I was climbing really well (this, I think, is a sign of being "low" - my body will shut down fat burning if no water is present, apparently). I had drained a whole bottle and had moved onto the lemon water, which was BOMB!

Made quick work of the flat section going into ALT. But by then, of note: had some odd lateral RIGHT foot soreness! Huh...usually it's so dominantly L foot, but I had to focus on R ball of foot engagement to feel better.

Got to ALT with about 80% remaining in the one bottle, but had the huge gift of water - COLD water - flowing from the spigot at ALT! YES! I guzzled a whole bottle, then filled it full, and kept going.

ALT to Brown's: LOVE IT. Smooth. FAST. Effortless. That was the focus. I felt like my body returned to '12 - but 10x better - where I used every down, used the pelvis (10x better) and elbows to float up the climbs, and just cruised. It was great. Almost meditative, entrancing.

These long runs are the only times in my life where I feel I'm 100% present-centered. And it takes a couple hours of running to get there. But when I do, and ALL that matters is the RUN and the now: my body, and the trail? That's magical.

The canyon wall heated up at points, but I was otherwise comfortable. Saw two people on that inbound trail all day (before Meadow to No Hands) and it was a couple from "Race for the Soul". It wasn't the Rhodes', so I didn't stop.

Cruised into BB, and kept rolling. Made a big effort to go "fat burning fast" on the downs, but predictably, felt the effort on the road. But the focus again switched to the hips and pelvis. The climb on Quarry was AWESOME: best climb on there since '12 for sure. Simply effortless. Not fast, but 100% fat burning with deep breaths and good hip power.

Midway through this run, I thought to myself: "Damn. I haven't done any hard running all week. I should go hard at 49". I knew this would suck balls, though: >4:20 of running, THEN go hard, on those hills? I told myself I'd play it by ear, but at this point, I was feeling so good I knew I had to.

So I rolled up and over the berm to the quarry and crossed 49, no bottle fills. I had about 4oz in the clear and about 4 of lemon: plenty. Then, once I hit the AS, I. WENT.

HARD.

Big-time hip/pelvic openers (ice skating, style), hacking my way up the douche grade, past the cutoff trail, to the rocks. From there, I tried to keep it powerful, but it wasn't long til I was reduced to "the scoot" stride, but it was effective at keeping me running up that whole section. After that, I "opened up" again on the douche grade up to the meadow, stopping for maybe 10s to get past two horsemen, then I REALLY opened it on the meadow into the DH.

Again, where the true practice came was on the downhill: how to really push hard, even though it's not a anaerobic effort. I had to make a mental effort to drive the stride on the downs, with quick arms and feet. Passed several more people (2-3 groups), but otherwise hauled ass.

Got to No Hands, quickly grabbed my jacket, then HAMMERED across the bridge. The douche grade up on the near side was tough. The initial climb to Pointed Rocks? Felt great. This, now nearly 30min into this temp? Not so much. I was feeling the debt. Kept pushing, into the "3 mini canyones".

I knew the climb to Robie would SUCK BALLS. So I was surprised that I had reasonable energy on the early switches. I had faith that I could, indeed, survive the single kilo distance, but just how badly would it hurt?

I tried to recover on the little downs, but it wasn't much. The worst section is the climb after the stream...fuck, that was brutal! Once I popped out on the doubletrack, I yelled to myself, "GO!" and pushed it as hard as I could up that climb. DAMN, did it burn! I barely made it, upright, to the gate.

Overall? A TERRIFIC RUN. By far THE BEST River to Robie I've ever done (of 5, career). I ran smart, efficient, and tough at the end. And who knows how this run might pay off on a future race day, pushing that hard?

Splits:
outbound to river: 1:58
River to GG: 17:11
GG to ALT: 46:19* (*brief watch stop for bottle fills)
ALT to BB: 36:45
BB to 49: 31:48
49 to No Hands: 22:52
NH to Robie: 18:22
(49 to NH: 41:14)
TOTAL INBOUND: ~2:53

Post-run: had some recovery serum, then drove to Flour Market. I wanted to stay low-carb, so I got an awesome coffee and ate that whole pile of nuts (maybe 500 cal??) and sat in the sun. Then I drove back to Rocklin.

Rest of the day: chillin' at BGDs (who made an excellent eggs/bacon snack for me!), then over to the Kelly's to hang out!

Man, it was a great end to a great trip. I'm SO thankful to have BGD/Sara in my life, and for them to allow me into their families! Had some good chats and hangouts on Saturday night...THEN we went to Ale House to hang with Princess Keyes.

Talk about an awesome guy: Matt Keyes is one of my favorite people; an all-time great. He's cool, super-funny, but a legit awesome dad/family man. I'm not sure of anyone else who strikes a better balance. We talked about running, family/parenting (he's only a couple years older than me, but has teenagers!), but the best was when he began to talk to BGD and me about WS '13: what happened and the eternal question, "Would you do it differently, again?"

That was a complicated question, because was he asking:

"ALL ELSE THE SAME, would you make the same decision?", or
"Next time, knowing what you know now, would you make the same decision?"

To the former: THAT decision, at that time, was correct.
To the latter: the 2013 experience will change everything (my approach, mindset, goals, and expectations), so that answer, is NO. It WILL be different, '14 or whenever I get to run again.

Great day, great weekend.