Monday, October 5, 2009

PCTR's Skyline Ridge 14K

I have never signed up for the shortest distance on any PCTR event but I will definitely not be shy about doing it again. I still got to see a beautiful course and get a great workout in. And I wasn't completely trashed when I was done. It appears my water bottle may have leaked on my shirt a little but other than that, I was pretty clean. ;)


Victoria and I at the finish
I was very concerned about the weather, going into this event yesterday. Saturday was really cold and windy and I knew it would be colder over on that side of the bay. When we pulled into the parking lot it was 41 degrees! That is way too cold for me. The scenery from that ridge was breathtaking at times. Christy and I stopped to take a lot of pictures.


The shirt I was wearing has the long sleeves in them that you can fold over your hands like little mittens so that was nice, I didn't have to worry about carrying gloves.
Me and Christy

The complete course for us was 8.42 miles. It was only 1,500' elevation gain. Totally runnable for those that are in better condition than we were yesterday. There were no steep portions at all. I would say it was probably the most mellow of any PCTR course I have ever run.



There was a very nice balance of single track and fire roads. Some of it was wide open and then we'd drop into these beautifully covered trails.



We finished in a little over two hours, hung out and chatted with friends and watched others come in. The wind did start to pick up and I was happy to be back where my jacket was. I'll be seeing a few of these friends next week when they run the Firetrails 50 miler (I'll be volunteering). And also at the end of the month at the SF One Day when I volunteer there as well. I truly love this community. It was great to be in that atmosphere again. Especially when not very long ago I was grieving over my old arthritic knee and thinking my world had come to an end.
I'm very happy I signed up and ran yesterday. We didn't even try to run the uphill portions. We ran all of the downhills and the flats. And Christy and I stuck together! It reminded me of when I first started doing trail running. That's how I learned and I loved it. Doing this yesterday reminded me of why I fell in love with trail running. It was fun again. That's the way it should be, right? Right! ;)
Until later.............


15 comments:

ONEHOURIRONMAN said...

I am cold just looking at your outfits!!
At midnight of an IM event they shut the clock off and tell you "better luck next time".

Dan said...

Looks like a nice course. I agree it's fun to do some of these shorter runs. You can enjoy running with friends and not feel like you trashed yourself like in the long races.

Anonymous said...

The "short" ones keep it spicy!!!

Unknown said...

So great to see you yesterday - I'm really glad that you came out!! I really like that 14 Km loop - makes me smile that you did, too.

See you in a couple of weeks!

Sarah

Lily on the Road said...

Wow, looks awesome, I want to come and "play" with you guys!

Unknown said...

Great pics and I'm so glad it was fun again. YAY!!

Judi said...

that's cool you guys stayed together. and i am glad it's fun again. i hate when it's not fun.

Aron said...

looks like so much fun and another beautiful course :)

René said...

That looks like a beautiful course. Don't you love layers? Maybe I'll drop by the SF One Day and say hi.

Glenn Jones said...

Nice course! Thanks for the pictures! I've been thinking about trail running as a sidelight. I hve a couple of friends that do it, and it seems like the people who enjoy trail running are a little less high strung (if you know what I mean). I especially like the whole idea of stopping and smelling the roses...

And yes my daughter got great advice oboots at REI. Purchased them on Saturday, go out and do a 10 mile hike on Sunday - with no blisters or hot spots! Thats exactly why I have been buying from REI since about 1972. Back then the only way to order was mail order from Seattle. Wow. I'm getting old.....

Maryland Girl aka Michelle said...

Fun is what it is all about! It looked beautiful!

Mel -Tall Mom on the Run said...

VERY VERY COOL! Love all the pictures...what a beautiful way to spend a chilly day. I too love the little flip over hand mittens in coats!!

Yes knee surgery my senior year of college basketball when I was in the best chape of my life. It was my lucky knee injury. I met hubby the following year.

Lauren said...

I love the pictures. Skyline Ridge is one of my favorite PCTR courses, too. I did it two years ago when I was super-pregnant with Huck--my water waist pack actually popped off in mid-run. :) Will you be at Golden Hills this weekend?

Unknown said...

Awesome pictures.
I agree 41 degrees is way too cold for me too....but then again, 80 degrees is too hot.

Missy said...

Fun, yes, a great reminder, we do this because it's fun. Way to bring the fun back.