Three years ago, during the first
Pure Satisfaction
Run, we jokingly called it "Pure Aggravation"...It poured for the
entire run. We are not talking rain, we are talking West Coast
monsoons. The trails were hidden under knee deep mud and it never
really got light.
Not this year. The morning dawned bright and
beautiful. There was some fog hanging over Deep Cove, but as soon as we
ascended towards the Indian Arm lookout, the sun rays started to
trickle through the thick tree canopy. Event Host, Craig Moore, was out
in his shorts. The trails were in great condition, considering that it
was mid December.
For my group of turtle paced friends this was supposed to be the second last long training run before the
New Year's Day 50
in three weeks. I needed proof that a 5h run would not trash me, like
it did at Mike and Melissa's Fun Run in November. After finishing half
of the course last year in 2:42h, I figured, we'd take between 5-5.5h
this time around for the full course. Making my way up to Indian River
Road together with Craig, Michelle and Cheryl, it occurred to me that my
math was somewhat faulty ;-) I can't remember the last time I had
a negative split!
We all felt great, the sparking sunshine from a deep blue winter sky
made us almost giddy. Carl's Jensen's now famous line "this is
runnable" became our motivator. The gossip meandered from "how
gossip starts" to "how to stay away from gossip" to examples of why you
don't won't to end up as the subject of gossip (no more details,
sorry). A more constructive topic were our athletic New Year's
Resolutions and the "
New Year's Resolution Contest"
hosted on this site. Cheryl wants to qualify for Boston and crew
at either Badwater or Western States 100. Michelle is thinking
about throwing her hat into the KneeKnacker Lottery. Craig
conveniently disappeared when it was his turn to share his 2006 goals.
We reached the half way point and Ethelyn's one woman feel good
aidstation after crossing a very slippery Lynn Canyon
Suspension Bridge in 2:34. Eight minutes faster than last year -
not that I keep record or anything. After refueling and a pit
stop we left at 2:42h.
Thankfully, our endomorphin high lasted through all of the return
trip. Crawling up the Seymour Grind just does not get easier, but
the downhill from there is exhilarating. We cut 5 min of my
normal time from Seymour Mtn Road to Deep Cove. We were flying
and even those nasty little climbs out of the gullies near the end
couldn't dampen our spirits. Minus the time spent at the
aidstation, we took 2:23h for the return trip, a negative split by 11
min. Yippee! And yes, I do realize that we lost altitude on the return
trip...
Next week will see us do the second half of the Vancouver New Year's Fifty. Want to join us? Send me an
email.
