Xterra Mission Gorge 5/15K Trail Run, May 30, 2010

Mission Trails - looking green still!I could hear the birds starting to sing as the sun rose early Sunday morning. I turned over, and went back to sleep. When the alarm went off at seven, I was almost ready to get up. It was a welcome change from the previous two races I had ran, in Vegas (http://lastadventurer.squarespace.com/last-adventurers-fieldnotes/2010/4/29/viva-las-henderson-lake-las-vegas-xterra-trail-run-april-24.html), and Malibu (http://lastadventurer.squarespace.com/last-adventurers-fieldnotes/2010/5/12/xterra-malibu-creek-challenge-trail-run-may-8-2010.html) where I had to get up before the sun just to make it to the courses on time. Compared to those mornings, this Sunday was leisurely. Moreover, the conditions were finally great; it was a warm, clear summer-like day. It was a welcome contrast to the conditions that had postponed the race twice before, where seven consecutive weekends of rain had soaked San Diego.

As I warmed up for the race, I was a little nostalgic – after all, this was the race last year that had brought me back to racing. I had started off that race fast, but then had to tough it out to merely finish. That race had been particularly frustrating because I had lost my prime position in the third mile on one of the last straightaways. As my knee had shot out flames of pain, I watched competitors who I had previously passed dart by me. I had used that memory as motivation as I worked my way back. While there was still a lot of room for improvement, I felt great about where I had come back from. 

Mixed in with the memories of the last year, however, was a bit of mental fatigue. I had run eight races since March. While it wasn’t the mental burden of a race a weekend, it was close. There was little time for adjustments in between races, and almost no time to take off from training. I was a little mentally drained from constantly having to find motivation, and constantly having to find my edge to pass people while sprinting hard for the finish. Back when I was climbing mountains for my non-profit, I had come to a simple epiphany – that completing any challenging event was accomplished first in the mind, then in the body. I had been the most successful on climbs where my mental focus was sharp, as opposed to the ascents that had come after days upon days of straight climbing. Of course, solid physical conditioning was always a huge asset to my mental state.

As I stretched, I realized that being overly focused on the competitive aspects of the last seven races had made racing less fun. I was ready for a break, and I knew that after this race, I’d have a little over a month off before the next series of races began. I knew that by then, I’d be excited and ready to race again. As I finished stretching, I knew that I should have fun with this last race and enjoy the moment. With that in mind, I turned up the music and shook out the tension in my arms. I looked around at the other runners, some with grim, competitive faces, some with nervous eyes, and some with apathetic expressions. I grinned, put on my best devil-may-care smile and stepped toward the start line.

With my relaxed attitude, the race turned out to be a blast. Like last year, the course was well laid out, stretching through fields of native spring growth slowly turning from green to brown, before arcing into a single track section along a seasonal creek, before slowing curving back around to the old Mission Dam and over the bridges and back toward the finish line. As I ran, I let go of the frustrations of earlier races – being sick, being stuck behind slower people in single track areas, and the nagging complaints of aches and small flaws. In the end, it wasn’t my best finish, and my pace was a little off what I had ran competitively in earlier races, but I didn’t care. I felt good about ending the race on a relaxed note, and the series on a high note – I had competed well, met a lot of great people, and had a great time, so that, in the end was what mattered to me. And of course, I’ll be back in these races next year with a drive to improve even further. But until then, I’ll see you all on the trail or road in a month or so, after I climb some mountains and have some other adventures.

Xterra Malibu Creek Challenge Trail Run – May 8, 2010

Hills that were not run up and down at Malibu Creek SP during the race.

Full disclosure: I ran a bad race. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Realistically, I didn’t run that bad of a race. I still finished sixth in my age bracket, and in the upper teens for the race as whole. Out of a field of over seven hundred and fifty, I really shouldn’t be complaining at all. I’m also not going to make excuses either: sure, I had to get up super early to be at the race site; and yeah, last week, and this week, I’ve been battling some sort of respiratory crud; and I didn’t position myself correctly at the start, and got stuck behind some really slow people, but making excuses is silly.

I ran the race badly, and making excuses doesn’t change that fact, and to me, it diminishes the accomplishments of the people that were there who ran a good race, if not a great race at times. Realistically, had I been healthy, and had I done some things differently, would I have won the race? No, probably not. So, there’s no need to make excuses. When I ran Black Mountain, after I finished the race well, a person who had finished behind me came up to me during my cool down, and started telling me how “if he had been healthy he totally would have schooled me”. I listened politely and smiled, but what I was really thinking was, “You just had the whole race to ‘school me’, but you didn’t, so get out, guy!” For me, you either live up to your word, or you don’t, and if you don’t, you shouldn’t try to drag others down with you. I ran badly this week; others ran better, all I can do is get back into the groove and run better in my next race.

Despite my ineptitude, there were a lot of things I loved about this race. First and foremost would be the setting. I haven’t spent a lot of time in Malibu Creek State Park (http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=614), but the scenery was amazing, especially this time of year with all the rain we received, everything was a lush, verdant green. The second thing I liked was the course layout. It was a somewhat brutal course, with a slight uphill grade for the first mile, broken by a steep uphill up some single track trail to the summit, followed by a slant downhill from single to wide track. But that’s how a trail run should be, with steep grades, single track trail, and some stretches of double to wide track to allow people to pass. It was an immense and impressive improvement from the Lake Las Vegas “trail” run which was really a road race. The third thing was the level of competition. When I broke into the single track section, I was surrounded front and back by runners who were in great shape and form all struggling to hit the hill and maintain their positions. No quarter was asked, and none given. It was a great group.

In terms of my race, I did not follow a number of my unofficial rules. I did not position myself well in the start group. I was at the race early enough to be in a good spot, but I mentally checked out for a bit while I was talking to some people, and then had to hustle to make the start. This caused me to burn a fair amount of extra energy in the first mile to get around people, which in turn threw off my overall race pace. The one thing I did do well (fortunately) was run to my strengths. I managed to pass a fair amount of people at the beginning of the hill climb, and maintain my position throughout the single track, but at that point, the damage had already been done to my time and my placing. I managed to keep a decent pace, and pushed it at the end to pass a few more people, but realistically, I didn’t have the mental focus that I needed to finish strong as I knew I was out of contention. Despite all of that, I’ll definitely be back next year, as it was a great race, and a lot of fun. Racing badly also has now given me a little extra motivation to finish out the series strong here at home at the end of the month at Mission Trails, so running a “bad” race isn’t all bad! 

How Changing a Tire Becomes an “Epic Adventure” – or, it’s all about perspective.

My drawing skills and handwriting skills are atrocious. I know. :)In my life, I get asked two questions above all others. One is “How are you still alive?!?!?” which is always asked in an incredulous tone. The second is, “How do you manage to get yourself in all of these situations??!?!”. The answer to the first question is a trade secret. Someday, I’ll reveal it, when I figure it out. The answer to the second question is harder. I usually laugh it off. Sometimes, I’ll try to explain that I have the devil’s luck (http://www.lastadventurer.com/last-adventurers-fieldnotes/2010/4/29/smoke-em.html), sometimes I confine my response to “wrong time, right place”, and sometimes, I’ll try to explain that it’s all a question of perspective about whether the incident was extraordinary or not.

For example, a couple of Wednesdays ago, I left my office. While sitting in a long line of cars, I saw something that did not belong in the day-to-day sameness. It was a car with a flat tire parked up against the curb. Behind the car, an old man was struggling to get the spare out of the trunk. After watching seven cars pass the old man without stopping, I realized that I would be ashamed to proceed any further without helping. I pulled out of the line of cars I was sitting in. I parked on the curb behind the old man. I introduced myself and offered to help. He told me he was 87 years old, and among other things, very grateful for any help I could give him. I rolled up my sleeves, got the spare out, wheeled it over to the flat, and then noticed that the car wasn’t really on the jack that he had put under it.

As I hesitantly reached in to see whether I needed to remove the jack entirely and replace it, the car shifted. I jerked my questioning left arm back, but not fast enough. Something clipped it – the bumper, the car, whatever – something. Blood began to well out of a gash. Shaking my head at my own naiveté, I went back to my car, and bandaged my arm. Then, I went back to the old man’s car, laughed off his comment that he had thought I was leaving, and finished changing the tire. After he and his wife thanked me, they drove off. I then continued on home, and cleaned and bandaged the wound. Later, at dinner with friends, one of them pointed at my arm and asked what had happened. I told them, and as they shook their heads in disbelief, the above question came up. Amused, I told them that it was nothing, because it was within the normal range of experiences in my day-to-day life. At that point, looking at their faces, I could tell that their perspective, it was an adventure.

Despite this, I was nonplussed. The next day, I was with some different friends, when the subject came up again as the bandage was still there. One friend kept asking me, “how exactly did that happen?”. And, after I had explained it a number of times, he was still curious – and had a number of questions I couldn’t answer. Laughing, I told him that I didn’t have the answers to his questions because I had been too busy trying to save my arm. As I joke, I told him that I’d draw him a picture of the events. After finding pen and paper, I began to draw a picture – but in the midst of drawing poorly, I realized that I’d rather make a joke out of it, and began to make some additions. The picture you see at the top is my recollection of the picture I drew for him. Yes, my art skills are horrendous. And yes, my handwriting is even more awful.

In the picture, fish fly across the sky, trees have wisdom, the old man was an evil wizard, and there was a summoning circle to another dimension, among other things. When I was done, I handed it across to him, and said pithily, “This should answer all of your questions!”. He stared at it for a bit, and very rightly criticized my drawing and handwriting, but laughed about things. Later, when I was at home, I realized that the story had become an adventure due to the attention and silliness that had followed it.

In that way, perspective’s an interesting thing – it changes based on time, place, and sometimes, the reactions of others. I find it’s always good to try and consider as many perspectives as I can, when I’m making a decision, solving a problem, addressing disputes, dealing with crises, accepting rejection, or simply choosing a flavor of ice cream, before remembering who I am, and using that perspective to do what needs to be done. I find if you want to have an adventure, all you need to do is change your perspective. Adventure is everywhere. My tip: start small, consider different things, and work your way up from there; and always be ready to deal with small issues, like scraped arms, with a smile.

I’ll be out at the Xterra Malibu Creek race tomorrow (http://www.trailrace.com/malibu.html) for most of the morning, racing and talking, if anyone wants to swing by. Next week: race coverage, and an extended series of posts about desert adventuring and the perils it may entail….