I was hoping I might drop into a shorter race that weekend, like a road 5k or 10k just as something fun to do that Saturday or Sunday morning. But lo and behold there was a trail race happening that weekend and very, very close to where we were staying.
I kind of put the thought out of my head after I signed up for the Atlanta Marathon last minute and then saw the trail race was sold out the next time I checked. I mentioned that to Adam and he was actually sad that I hadn’t registered in time. I said I’d check if they had a waitlist just in case and when I looked at ultrasignup again, there was ONE spot open. It seemed serendipitous. So just like that, I was going to be running a 50k the morning of the bat mitzvah.
It was a long day on Friday. We got up at 5am, arrived in Los Angeles around noon and made it to our hotel around 2pm. Once we were finally in our hotel room and I started unpacking, it occurred to me that I hadn’t thought about my breakfast in the morning. I walked a few blocks to a bodega and picked up some packaged muffins and a bottle of cold brew. I also grabbed a Gatorade as I was also pretty dehydrated trying to avoid getting up a million times on the plane.
There was a family dinner at a nearby restaurant that evening and while relaxing and tasty, I was exhausted by the time my head hit the pillow. Luckily, I had no issue waking up just before 5am (thanks to my east coast body clock) and called an Uber when I got to the hotel lobby. It was an uneventful ride and there was no issue getting dropped off at the parking lot of the park.
I picked up my bib and t-shirt and asked if I could leave my bag at the finish line as I didn’t have a car and didn’t know anyone racing. Then it was time to just sit around and wait for the race to start. I had no skin in the game so there were very little nerves, I was just ready to go!
The RD gave a speech about how the trail was marked and stressed to not follow people on the trail blindly as there would be plenty of other people using these trails throughout the day. She said there would be volunteers at some of the more complicated intersections to direct us where to go. And then it was time to race!
I stayed in the front third of the pack as the 3 race distances (50k, marathon, & 30k) all started together. There were some decent climbs in the beginning and I switched to a power walk to save my legs. The weather was absolutely perfect in the first hour. Cool, sunny, no wind, and low humidity. It was a dream!
The trails were actually really wide throughout the entire course save for maybe about 50 feet of single track. They were almost as wide as forest service roads in sections and very different terrain than east coast trails. We have lots of rocks, roots, dirt, etc. These were almost sandy and hardly any roots or rocks. I honestly could have worn road shoes with zero issues. The lack of tree cover was something I should have thought of and as the day wore on, I realized that I really should have worn sun block. Oops.
I had no idea what kind of views we would have in the park, but it was absolutely spectacular. The skyscrapers of downtown peeked out in the distance and as I wove my way around the trails, I spotted the Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood sign. In the spirit of keeping it fun and appreciating the moment, I stopped a few times to snap some photos.
The field spread out pretty quickly and I was alone within about 3 miles or so. People would pass me on occasion and I’d pass others, but soon I really was just relying on the course markings to figure out where to go. I skipped the first aid station as I had plenty of water, but topped off when I reached the mile 9 one.
The 50k course had a 2.5 mile out and back section to add the extra mileage needed. I saw runners ahead coming back towards me and everything seemed to be going well. I was expecting a person to be standing at the turnaround to get around bib numbers to ensure we covered the distance, but there was just a big folding board sign that said runner turnaround. I looked around for someone, but no one was around and I had the correct mileage at that point, so I headed back up the hill. I asked two runners coming down if they knew if someone was to be standing there and they assured me that I went to the correct spot.
Back at the aid station, I asked again to make sure I hadn’t cut any corners and they confirmed all was well. So off I went to the next section and pulled up the runner guide on my phone to finally look at the aid stations. It was warming up and I didn’t want to find myself in a place without water. I was eating every 30 minutes, picking away at the various snacks in my bag.
The course was an out-and-back with other out-and-backs, but it went all the way back to the start/finish before you turned around to go back the other way. Definitely not a course for the weak-minded as you could just stop right there at 17 miles. Oof. I didn’t stay long and knew that I just needed to get to the next aid station where I’d have just single digits to go.
I wasn’t feeling so great in the next section and was just shuffling along baking in the sun. But I was trying to remember to just smile as much as possible and tell everyone great job as we passed on the out-and-backs. By the time I got to the mile 22 aid station, I decided to take an extra couple of minutes to top off my bottles, cool off with the sponge in the ice bucket (ahhhhhh!), and get hydrated.
Luckily, there was a pretty significant climb for about 2 miles out of the aid station so I was able to get the liquid settled. Plus, power hiking! I popped on my headphones at this point at a super lower volume and was now feeling really great. I started passing a bunch of people, checking in with the ones hunched over mid-climb.
I wasn’t running super fast, but I was keeping a consistent pace and was surprised that I was still moving well even with the heat and miles on my legs. I topped off my bottles at the mile 26.3 aid station and then grabbed a piece of watermelon at the mile 28 one. The last few miles were very quiet in terms of other people. In the other sections of trail, hikers and other runners filled the trails enough that I was never truly alone for more than a minute or two. But in the final miles, the other humans were few and far between.
As with most trail races, my watch had been off from the mile markers all day. But I started to recognize some of landmarks as I came into the final mile and knew I was getting close. And then when the parking lot came into my vantage point, it was time to just push through whatever I had left.
5:31:09!
Definitely much faster than I thought I was going to be with 6k worth of vert and a road marathon 2 weeks prior. Plus, I just felt happy all day. I was soaking in the views, remembering to just be in the moment, and enjoying the morning of getting to do the thing I love.
I sprawled out on the pavement and just existed for a few minutes before I eventually grabbed some food. Normally I am not hungry right after racing, but this was not the case this time. I plowed through a sub sandwich and an apple and then decided I needed to get back to the hotel to try to shower and rest a bit before the bat mitzvah. Let’s just say I slept very, very well that night!!!
Sounded like a great "practice run" for another Boston!
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