Previews

Who doesn't love previews? Hollywood has it down to such an art form that most people rate the previews higher than the movies they paid money to see (I made that up, but it's gotta be true). They make every movie look it's the one you have just got to see! I mean they even made "Jackass, The Movie" look appealing, didn't they?

Sunday was scheduled as a 15 mile run on "big hills". So I decided I would go preview the venue...that meant I was going to go hit a section of the Ohlone that I would cover on my 50K. My Sunday run would see me visit...this...this...and..this part of my April run. I planned an in-and-out which would cover 7.5 miles climbing from 390' to 2350' and then back down. I had a great meal the night before, filled my bag with a 1.5l of water, 4 power gels and a balance bar, and had a great morning breakfast of my usual yogurt and granola. I was ready to go. And so was the weather. The wind was blowing up a nice strong breeze out of the north on a cloudless but mild 55 degree day. Perfect for running.

I started out on a brief stretch of flat trail before it began the turn uphill that would end only 7.5 miles later. My heart rate began a climb, as well, from 135bpm target up to 157...159...161... YIKES! Now normally, if you know you're going to run for 2.5-3 hours, a smart guy would cut back. Let's put me down in the "not smart guy" category. I backed off, yes, but not enough, I would later find out. Still, I topped a few tough segments and settled back into a decent but still higher than targetted heart rate. I knew I was up too high, but I was feeling good.

Minor hiccup near the top of the first uphill segment. Poking myself in the eye as I flipped on my sunglasses, I managed to pop out a contact lens. No way to find that...a sacrifice to the field nymphs and wisdom gained that sunglasses aren't worth the effort on runs.

But, why not feel good despite the slightly distorted vision! The area was gorgeous with green grasses starting to turn the hills velvety. Behind me I had awesome vistas to the north. I could see every building in San Francisco 50 miles north of me and even beyond to Mt. Tamapais. I pushed on feeling physically and psychologically strong. The missing contact was a mere fly that briefly annoyed but was now gone.

At about the 29 minute mark, I got my first respite with a slow descent into the backpacker camp that marked the jump off into the Ohlone Wilderness. A few cows mutely watched me run past or indifferently saluted me with the whooshing splatter of the now digested grasses that made up my verdunt scenery. Nice.

Then the trail again turned mean and nasty, sloping up at an impossible angle, slowing me to a walk as my heart rate now reached 170and jumped into Zone 5. Damn this was an ass sucking monkey! However, this was more of a mental road bump than a physical one. Within a mile, the slope moderated and the pace picked up. Heart rate still too high, but strength was there. Some momentary confusion on location, a quick check of the map, and I was off again. In the near distance, across the grassy slopes, I picked out !WHAT! two runners, then a third. There's more than one fool out here, I see. I crossed behind them as they ascended a different part of the trail having nearly caught them. I was moving!

Finally a flat spot for my last 1.5 miles to the turn around point. After continuously nursing two Powergels, out came my Balance Bar (lunch). I fumbled in my backpack and pulled out my cell. A quick call home to announce the half way point and then I began the backtrack out. I was feeling a great high of accomplishment as I descended with awesome views of the coastal mountains and the Bay laid out before me.

At the top of the Backpacker camp, I met a 60+ year-old runner armed only with a water bottle. He announced he had started in Fremont! This guy with only water had just completed 12.5 HARD miles and was only just reaching his turnaround! Man, I felt wimpy in comparison. In our quick exchange, he indicated there were some runners coming from Del Valle that day. I had discovered a looney bin and it appears I barely qualified as shelf liner.

The descent back was almost worse than the ascent. Each step was tough on the quads and my feet began to chafe. (Note to self: prep the feet before this run with some runner's balm.) Even on small uphills, I began to notice my heart rate was jumping up too high. I had overdone it. Still, I kept my pace and slowed as needed to save knees, feet and heart some work. But, I was glad to reach the truck 2 hours and 48 minutes later well run, but not overly tired.

Lots of lessons this week. The preview was good, but clearly this was going to be an epic story, not some Hollywood feel-good movie. Viewer discretion advised.