Week 9: Angel Island Trail Run

Saturday's workout was a Marker Set Ride which I completed in 1:28, 2 minutes slower than last time. I'm going to say that the wind factor is the only reason I wasn't able to shave off time (and forget about the 2 week holiday hiatus).

On Sunday, I joined Dennis and the Team Modified crew for a trail run on Angel Island. In 3 words I can describe the experience..."It was Stunning!" OK...I'll elaborate. We got on the ferry from Tiburon to Angel Island. It was an absolutely beautiful January day - sunny and a perfect 60 degrees. I ran in the 8K or 5 mile distance race. Looking back, I should have raced the 16K, but at the time I registered I wasn't sure where I would be in my training.

The course wound up 2.5 miles to the summit of the island. The trail was very narrow which made it difficult to pass people. It was slow going, but incredibly beautiful which made it so enjoyable. Once I reached the summit...wow!..amazing view..East Bay, Bay Bridge, San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge, Marin...then time to head back down. This was the best part of the run. The soft trails allowed me to really unleash my legs going downhill, I was flying. At one point I thought to myself "This must be what if feels like to be an Olympic Marathoner". Based on my time, this was clearly not the case, but it felt unbelievably fast to me. At one point, my competitve edge got the better of me. I didn't want to person behind me to catch me so I turned my pace up a notch. I went down some steps, saw the trail markers to my right and took off. After a minute or so, I realized that not only could I not hear the person behind me, there wasn't anyone on the trail ahead of me either. I stopped, paused, did a 180 and start running back where I came from. Sure enough, I saw the large group on the trail that I'd worked so hard to pass, head down another trail that I hadn't noticed. Now I was with the pack again. Oh well.

I finished 10th in my age group, not bad considering my detour. The real superstar of the day was Dennis. He had wanted to finish in the top half of his age group, but he did even better. He finished the 18K in 10th place overall (out of 150 people). This is his finishing photo...

Condition: Very Proud of Dennis :)