RR: Muir Beach Trail Race

I've had 13 days off since Cal. Intl. Marathon. Well, not totally off, but very limited training, going out, eating out more than usual, drinking wine, staying up late and pretty much taking a needed break. Thirteen days was enough and I got a little itchy to get back training, so I decided to do a trail race today--Pacific Trails' Muir Beach Run, with 11.3K, 17K, 33K and 50K options. I ran the 17K last year (in the pouring rain, with sleet at the top of the ridge), but decided to do the 11K this year since I haven't run much in two weeks.

One great thing about the Pacific Trails race are that if you volunteer, you get discounted entry and since they still needed a few volunteers, I emailed Wendell saying I'd volunteer early and then run the 11.3K (7 miles). No problem! I headed out to Muir Beach and was put to work supervising parking. Not a hard job, but it was COLD (in the 40s?) and by the time the race started, my feet were frozen. Thank goodness for Erika's hats! (www.tribabe.com).

These races are fairly casual, so after a bit of a delay due to the large number of race-day entries (people were waiting to see if it was going to rain), we were off. The 11K is one big loop, out the Coastal Trail, down to Tennessee Valley, then back up Fox Trail and back down to Muir Beach. Oh yeah, 1,900 ft of climbing in the 7 miles. Due to some trail erosion on Pirates Cove Trail which is closed, they had to re-route the middle part of the out section, leaving us on CT the whole way.

The re-route meant that we climbed nearly 500 feet in less than a kilometer, yes 1K, then nearly another 100 feet in less than a half a K to the top of the ridge. Can you say steep? There was very little running and a lot of power hiking. Since this day was for fun, why kill myself when the climb would be hard enough walking. Once we got to the top of the ridge (through lots of gummy mud), it was a jog about half a mile south, then we headed back down the hill to TV and to the aid station in the TV parking lot. At this point, the 11K people turned around and everyone else headed up another trail. I had a drink, said hi to Jim Winne, hit the bathroom and then headed back down the trail.

On the return, we didn't go back via the Coastal Trail, but instead, turned off onto Fox Trail to get to the top of the ridge. Fox is much steeper than the Coastal Trail (at least CT has some turns and switchbacks), Fox goes straight up, over 800 ft of climbing in less than 2K. Last year during the race it was sleeting at the top of this climb. This year was much nicer weather, though nearly as cold. I got to the top and then it was all downhill, going down the first hill we had climbed up. It would be really easy to blast down the hill, though also easy to lose control and totally biff (or go over the edge in some places). Due to the mud, I ran, but kept my running under control. Gotta love the Asics Trail Attack shoes, though the nice orange color is now covered in mud. I got to the bottom of the hill and then it was just a short jaunt across the wooden bridge and into the parking lot and to the finish line. No records were broken, but I had a lot of fun.

Post-race was a bowl of soup, some snacks and a Diet Coke. Chatted with a few people, then changed shoes and drove home. A good effort to start the day and a great way to resume training!

http://www.pctrailruns.com/MB_Elevation_Profile.htm
Though I think the first climb is last year's course. The return climb was the same.