Calico Trail run...Day 3: Perpetual Motion

So, day of the run we got up pretty early, 0530, bleh, I hate mornings. Drove out to Calico Ghost town, parked and got our stuff together, picked up our packs and pinned the numbers. Milled around and ate some grub. Not much to do for the 20 min before the start. We shot this photo just before taking off. Down in the parking lot we chugged beer before going up to the start of the race...just to take the edge off. hahaha

The start was uneventful, just headed down off the hill that the town is on and ran on the road for about 3 miles, then onto hard packed dirt road for another 2 miles....up to the first aid station, it was pretty easy, just some mild climbing, with an even upslope. No biggie. Stopped at the first aid station (at mile 6.8), and had some baked potato, pbj squares, and some gatorade, moved on.

I'll have to get different things as I do this more. Nothing is major, I'm just running, and it's a short one. Hands frozen, could use some different shorts, but what the hell, right? Next aid station 5.1 miles. Took off, with the sun rising fast, and temps warming up a bit.

Nothing major, loose silty areas in the creek beds, and some more climbs. Ate more of the same at the next aid station, and trying to make sure I take swigs of water as I go, without going to long, I guess. I think I'll try those hand held water bottles next time.

On to aid station 3, and the split for 30k and 50k routes. I made it in to this spot, and I'm just now feeling a bit sore in the hips. Not bad, not out of breath at all, which feels awesome.

I'm now about 3 miles from the end. Had about a miles worth of canyon running, very tight, very rocky with a good downhill incline. I think I did well in this section, thanks to hashing, as I was running downhill here, passing a bunch of folks that had passed me in the previous miles.
They were making their way gingerly through this section, as I was working down it very fast. Felt fun.
Came out of the valley below and to the left on this photo above. Lots of motorcross bikes out, and it's getting warm, but not a problem.
I'm just under 2 miles from the end, and I ran out of water in my camelback here. I should have refilled it at one of the stations, but hell, it's close to the end, so no biggie.

Just moved on, ran the downhills, and walked the uphills fast.
Final section through the parking lot, still had a very steep climb at the end, and I sprinted the last section into the finish line. Fucking awesome. 18.5 miles. Just a start, but I am wanting a 50k now, badly.
Popped a natty light, to celebrate, and it was GOOOD, nice and cold. My official time was a slow 4:21.58 total for 30 k (18.5 miles)
I see it averaging 14.10 min/mile
My goals for this event were:
Not come in last: check
Finish: check
Not get picked up by EMS: check
Finish under 4:30 hours: check
Have a good time: damned straight.
The biggest bit of advice I got from C.R. was "perpetual motion", always keep moving forward.

I never stopped moving. Whether it was running, jogging, run/walking or just flat out walking.


Here is the other retards 2 hours later coming in. I get a call from Jasper on trail, says they're just out "fucking around" hahahaha, and already drank 5 beers on trail. Nice. He's only at this 50k to run it as a training run for his next 100 miler (The Rocky Racoon 100 in Houston, Tx in 3 weeks) Nice.
Here they are jamming together at the finish line, just under 7 hours for the 31 miler. Decent pace. Good times had by all.
Beers waiting for us at the end, and here we are celebrating a fun as hell day and weekend. We'd hashed and rode since Friday and now time for the free lunch. a Hot Dog, chips and a coke. hahahaha and an 80 dollar key chain. :D
(l to r) Jasper, Me, Dave, Jimmy (btw: Jimmy is a kickass motorcycle rider as well) and it was super cool meeting him.

A view of the parking lot. I have to admit that I was pretty damn sore after the run, and after cooling off. Dropped some motrin, and a couple beers and felt way better. But going up and down these stairs sucked.
The drive home wasn't the greatest. Left at about 3pm and had 400 miles to drive home to the Bay Area. Not bad. A couple red bulls and made it in with good time.

That was by far a great weekend. And can't wait to move up to the next goal. 50k.
It's funny cause I think CR's ex holds the current record for most 100 milers in a year. Used to be "Fucking Crazy" (hasher from seattle) who held that record some time back.