Headlands Hundred

I ran the Headlands Hundred in 26:48. It was four times around a 25-mile loop run in alternating directions ("washing machine loops"). The course could have been less loopy, but thanks to California's budget mess, Mt. Tamalpais State Park is closed to special events (econ thought--Couldn't the state just charge enough to make hosting special events profitable?) so the course had to be entirely in the federal Golden Gate National Rec. Area. My 25-mile lap times were 5:09, 6:10, 7:39, and 7:50. I've previously been of the opinion that you can't bank time, so you shouldn't go out fast and should run even splits, but I don't really feel like the fast first loop was a mistake--I just think that until I do a lot more training I'm always going to be slow in the middle of the night after 80-some miles.

The views were great, and the weather was beautiful--foggy and 65 to 70 Saturday, with the fog staying thick until around 2:00 PM then rolling back in at 5:30 PM or so. The night never really got that cold, and then I managed to finish before it got too hot this morning. My goal was 28 hours, so I'm happy with my time. I'm a little bummed that I didn't go sub-24 since it seemed totally possible after 50, but that would obviously require real training to keep up the pace on the last loop. The overall winner was in the under 30 age group, and I thought I was going to pull off second in my age group, which would have been nice. I recognize the eventual under-30 2nd placer from other events and was trying to keep track of where he was, but can't remember where on earth he passed me on the third loop. Oh well.

After the fact I'm glad I did it, but from mile 60 to 92 or so I couldn't stop thinking how much I love 50-milers and think 100-milers would only really be fun if I were doing the entire thing together with a good friend. Very similar to my thoughts during my first and only other 100-miler in '06. Regardless, it was nice to do it so I can put in for Hard Rock again next year.

Thanks to AL for pacing me the last 25.

Comments

  1. Unknown11:01 PM

    Nice job, G. Your times keep dropping, eh?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dave Chan1:41 AM

    Nice run, way to beat your goal. I love that you had barely run for months and go out for a 100 miler!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Free Truman8:31 AM

    Do you stop to eat/rest? (serious question) - James

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Onion11:44 AM

    There were aid stations with food & water every 4 miles. Other than for the bathroom, I only sat down once that I can think of, for about a minute.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Adze Picket Co. (I Love the PCT)

Image
Me at the Border I spent the weekend at the ADZPCTKO with Nitro , Tatu Joe, Ducky (the Wise) , Tomato, BearCan't , Mattress, Love Barge, Nano, Sly, Disco , WeatherCarrot, Too Obtuse, Nacho, Tall Paul, Mags , and Wildflower (AKA Icognito Cheeto Bandito). I got a ride down with Firefly. I'm tempted to just end my post there, as it would seem like complete gibberish to many of you. But I won't. The ADZPCTKO is the Annual Day Zero Pacific Crest Trail Kickoff, held the last weekend in April (also known as NFL Draft weekend, where, miracle of miracles, the Redskins, despite Dan Snyder's best attempts to screw it up, actually managed to avoid throwing away multiple draft picks on Chad Johnson and instead traded for more picks. Hallelujah!) at Lake Morena campground, 20 miles north by trail from the Mexican border near Campo, CA. Conventional wisdom says that the weather window on the PCT is such that there's not much point to starting earlier thanks to snow in the S
Read more

Hardrock 34:42

Image
It's Tuesday, I'm back in Berkeley, and I just ran my first Hardrock last Friday/Saturday in 34:42. I wanted to record thoughts immediately after the experience, because it was hard , and now that it's been a few days, I'm already forgetting the pain. [I don't want kids, so you'll have to insert your own reference to childbearing here if you so desire.] Start The race started at 6AM. I slept reasonably well the night before in my truck just behind the school gym where the race starts--Silverton is very low key, so it's easy to dirtbag inside the city limits. I did, however, have a bit of GI non-normality, but it didn't seem like a big deal. I started in shorts, T-shirt, and a windshirt. As expected, the windshirt soon became too warm, likely because of the clouds that were obviously going to bring rain sooner rather than later. First Climb I started maybe 30-40 deep in the field, going faster than I'd ever climbed in training, but not feel
Read more

Should I run UTMB?

That's it, the title is the post. No, of course that's not the post, but I am wondering. My schedule has filled in a bit for the year. I'm now signed up for: Orcas 100 (Feb), Paiute Meadows 50K (May), Scout Mountain 100 (June), TRT 100 (July), and hope to run the fun runs Lupine Loopfest (Feb), Desolate Peaks (August), and Euchre Bar Massacre (October). But the big news is that I got selected in the UTMB lottery. I have until the 29th of January to confirm my registration. For the non-runners: UTMB is a 106-mile loop around Mont Blanc through France, Switzerland, and Italy, starting and ending in Chamonix. By all accounts it is spectacularly beautiful and very difficult, with about 33,000 feet of climbing. For most of my running life I haven't really cared about European races or followed European runners, but I got swept up in the spectacle of it last year. It was the race's 20th year, an American man finally won (Jim), and also finished second (Zack), and Courtney
Read more