Back on Track, Sort Of.....Diablo Summit Stomp in 1 week

To say I have no business running in the Diablo Summit Stop 30K is an understatement.  My training was derailed three weeks by a cold and I am the heaviest I have been since I began running.  And it doesn't help that the rain has come to California for the first time in awhile.   However, this is more of a mental challenge for me with the goal of beating cut-offs and finishing.

I know that may sound a bit bizarre.  However,  part of my problem over the last year or so is motivation and getting my butt in gear.  While the 30K includes 4,400 feet of elevation gain and I know my quads will be thrashed after, I am really excited about this run.

I have a strategy for completing.  I know the course very well.  I know when I need to run and when it is smart to hike.  It is the later point that I know I will  allow me to succeed.  

That said, I am finally well and been on the trails looking for as many climbs and technical drops as possible.  A coworker suggested that I try a local open space that is 8 minutes from work, Shell Ridge.  While I am very familiar with the area, I never thought that it was close enough to work to run at lunch.

So this week I was rewarded with some awesome terrain.  Like I said, it has been very cloudy and rainy so I wasn't sure how sloppy the trails would be.  My perseverance was rewarded with nice climbs and very little slimy mud to deal with.

Once up the trail at the Homestead Park trail head, I was able to connect to the trails I know well.  Shell Ridge is an actual shell fossil ridge.  The primary hill has shells a couple of thousand years old and is pretty awesome to take the kids on.

My favorite part of this open space is the single track.  There is a lot of it to explore.  My favorite parallels Indian Creek and runs through an Oak Glen.

All in all, I know physically I am not ready for the 30K.  This will be a mental over body exercise.  However, the main purpose is to get me kick started.  I would love to do the Surf City Marathon in February, so I am hoping that this event will push me in the right direction.

Sicko....weeks Sept. 12th through the 25th.....

Well I don't normally get sick.  But here, actually trying to build back a routine, and the kids go back to school and then bring home the plague.   It is such a lovely cold, first starts in the sinuses, then just when you think you are over it, your lungs fill up with white gu.

So this means that I am will have a shorter window to complete my initial goal.  Brazen Racing has a new 30K course that runs to the top of Mount Diablo and  down called the Diablo Summit Stomp which I have been eyeing.

It is all about strategy, this course.  The first 4 miles are runable before you begin the 9 mile climb up 3,800 feet of elevation gain.  Then you drop for the remaining 5 miles, again very much a quad blowing drop.

There is a 6.5 hour cut off, so really doable.   Its just that big question, do I want this to be the first race in over a year?