Quicksilver Trail Half-Marathon: so much better than the gym!

How dare I, comparing a trail race on our Quicksilver running club's turf with a gym! Well, as the title implies, at least I value the event much higher than a gym routine. As the regulars of this blog know, I'm rebuilding after a painful 6-month hiatus due to a meniscus broken on my birthday. I was cleared by my medical doctors to resume running in September but the knee was still so painful, there were many days I couldn't even run for half a mile. I met these doctors early October again and both were adamant that there was no reason to worry, that I'll get back to running normally.

With that optimism, I decided to give a try to racing on a short(er) distance, with a road half marathon, 2 weeks ago. The knee didn't bother me during the race but complained the following few days. Not a great time, clock wise, but at least the satisfaction of moving forward again.

This weekend was the second of two annual club races. Both are trails, the one in May has 2 ultras, the 50 and 100K, the one in the Fall, a 10K and half-marathon. I signed up at the very last minute on Thursday evening, just after flying back from an IBM conference in Las Vegas. Not feeling great after a tiring week, sore throat and still a handful of extra pounds, but believed that this would be another good test. So, here we are, 2 races and race reports in the same month, like the good ol' days!

As much as Quicksilver is my racing club, I mostly run at Almaden Quicksilver when racing, not much for training, given I live 30 minutes away. I've been a members for more than 15 years so I certainly know most of the trails but I would still hesitate to volunteer as a guide. For instance, looking at the map on Friday evening, I hadn't realized we were running so many sections of the ultra races in reverse. That certainly brings a different and refreshing perspective! Actually, this was my second participation to that race but many things were different. First, 15 years have passed, and not any years, but all in Masters' life where each year seems to count for two. Second, as I mentioned, I'm barely back from a serious injury. Third, the course has changed, and it is significantly harder. Back in 2009, I broke 1:30 which is still the 5th best time ever (or at least since UltraSignup started keeping tracking in 2002). This time, I was going to be very happy to break 2 hours. Actually, UltraSignup's awkward prediction gave me a time of 1:58 and seed 1 based on my average lifetime score. I certainly knew I didn't have a win in me this time and my money was all on Karl.

There are always new comers at these races so you never know who other new speedsters can show up. The half-marathon distance attracts runners who may not necessarily realize the difference with a road format and the difficulty of a cumulated 2,450 feet of elevation.

With that, I settled in 9th place in the first mile and was happy to still see Karl at the turn on Hacienda although I was already 45 seconds behind after the first mile. I remained focused on listening to some knee pain in the steep downhill of the roller coaster but it wasn't too bad. Pictures from course monitor Richard Ward:

I passed a couple of runners in the downhill before we got onto Mine Hill, then another runner before the Cap Horn aid station. Picture from teammate Luciano Piccoli there:

I passed two more runners in the next 2 miles then closed on 3rd place, a runner with a red cap (Lluis Mas-Ribas). Pictures from course monitor at the Day Tunnel intersection, Jen Wheelock:

Lluis wasn't carrying bottles so I was expecting him to stop at mile 6, knowing that we had 5 miles to cover before returning to that aid station (Prospect 3), but he didn't. From the first miles I could see he was stronger in the downhills so I passed him early on the Prospect 3 climb, another section of the 100K course which we cover in reverse. Yet, despite this burst of energy, I could still see him not far behind at the top. I hammered down on Providencia, trying to forget about the injured meniscus, then on Mine Hill.

After a 7:00 min mile, I was hoping I had finally created enough of a gap but, not quite, I could see him not far behind again when I turned onto Randol at mile 9. Still 4 miles to go, and push! This time, I wasn't seeing anyone behind before I passed through the aid station again, phew! But there were still almost 3 miles to go, no time to relax and take the foot off the pedal.

I still took 2 seconds to marvel at the view over San Jose on the steep and tricky section down Prospect 3 before turning right on New Almaden: that view is my favorite in this park, always bringing back memories of my experience guiding blind runner, Simon Wheatcroft. New Almaden was in perfect conditions and I crossed only a few considerate hikers so I could keep moving at good speed.

I managed to finish in 3rd overall, in 1:56:57, really close to UltraSignup's projection after all. Karl had indeed won in a time of 1:47:47, close to last year's 1:48 winning time of our own Sylvie Abel (who, this Saturday, took 3rd female, 4th overall at the Javelina Jundred 100K). Chengquan Li was second in 1:50:38.

Now, the surprise was to see Keahi Jack finishing just ahead of Lluis. Keahi is only 17 and plans on running our club 100K next May! He just completed the Dick Collins Firetrails 50-miler last month. This Saturday he shaved almost 10 minutes from his time on that same course last year, great progress! I'm delighted to see new blood flowing into this club, so the grandpas have a chance to retire! ;-)

Nutrition wise, I used 2 pouches of VespaPower before the start, 1 GU Energy gel at mile 6, 1 S!Caps at mile 7. I was too busy pushing on the way back to Prospect 3, I could have used the second gel I was carrying to potentially save a few seconds in the last 2 miles. I didn't even drink all my bottles of GU Energy brew. Half-marathons are so short... ;-)

I like how Coros normalizes the effort pace, taking into account the elevation.

And how Garmin colors the course with the actual pace.

So much data to analyze nowadays... Soon, it will generate blog posts automagically...

Sincere thanks to Race Director, Laura Braun, who also coaches our Club XC Youth teams. And all the volunteers making this lower key event such a community success! I can't name them all but here is our Treasurer, Keith, coming back from sweeping the first part of the course. And notice how he stops his clock when crossing the finish line. Once a runner, always a runner, even training on volunteering gigs!

With Stuart Taylor, our Club President, busy helping out while tapering for next week's Rio del Lago 100-mile.

My left knee has been whispering this Sunday, I took it for a 20-mile ride to Shoreline, to avoid any additional pounding. The pain was mostly good otherwise, with some healthy soreness in the legs from the first hill work of the year. And here we are coming back at the title: as much as I spend hours to rebuild at the gym these days, there is no way to match the intensity and range of muscles engaged in hilly trail racing, at the gym. While I agree that cross-training has some advantages, I remain convinced that, for 20 years, my best training was my heavy racing regimen, on a variety of distances and terrains. After all, xrays show that, apart from some wear on the meniscus, my bone cartilage is in perfect condition. The trick is now to rebuild muscle mass without all the pounding...

Quite happy with the progress overall. Now, this was only 1/5th of Quicksilver 100K, in 1/5th of the time of my best Quicksilver 100K, when ultra is so not linear... A lot of work ahead, buckle up! But still hoping to get to the start of my 8th participation, short of being able to run it this year. One half marathon at a time...