Goonies Never Say Die....Lagoon Valley 5K, 10K, Half Marathon Recap

It was family race day on Saturday for Brazen Racing’s Lagoon Valley 5K, 10K, and Half Marathon.  With family members in each distance there was fun for all.  This would be my daughter Sophie’s first 10K, with over 1K feet of elevation gain, and the second race in as many weeks for my wife and I.

Emma swinging like a Goonie!

As I have said in previous posts, Brazen Racing is a first class trail racing company, and this course was no different.  Located between Fairfield and Vacaville, the trail included a lot of fire trail as well as some decent single track, balanced with a flat run at the beginning around the Lagoon.  The theme of the race was tied to the motto “Never Say Die” from the 1980’s movie, The Goonies.  The kids love the movie The Goonies, so to get the kids in the proper mood (and to properly wake them up at 5:30 in the morning) I looked up the Cyndi Lauper video and had them watch it.  If you haven't seen it, the video includes the cast and many of Lauper's wrestler friends like Rowdy Roddy Piper and Andre the Giant.  You can watch it here.

My daughter, Sophie, had a wonderful time for her first 10K.  At 8 years old (at the time of the race, she turned nine yesterday), she was smiles from beginning to end.  This is actually a major accomplishment for her and finished 1:43.  She has run a lot of 5Ks and she actually beat her sister’s first trail 10K by 2 minutes.  

Source: Brazen Racing Volunteer

Beth ran with Sophie for support.  With the 30K the previous weekend at Canyon Meadows, this was a fun run for her just to see how far she had come from running similar races.  She found herself powering up hills that a year ago would have been more challenging.  A lot of this has to do with her training on Mt. Diablo. She has been averaging at least 5K to 8K feet of elevation gain per week and it is paying dividends. In a lot of ways, she felt Sophie’s pace a bit challenging; however, she loves running with the girls and they had a great time.

Source: Brazen Racing Photographer

Emma did well too on her 10K.  She had taken a nasty spill prior to the race on a rope swing.  It had knocked the air out of her, some scratches on her back, and left her with a sore arm.    She spent the run most of the time with another runner and finished at 1:30.

Source: Brazen Racing Photographer

Myles ran the 5K with a family friend, Tessa, 100-miler Ryan’s wife.  Myles took a couple of spills himself during the run; however, kept a good pace.  At 6 years old, he is beginning to be a good little runner, when he is in the running mood.  He did well at 53 minutes.

Source: Brazen Racing Photographer

This brings me down to my performance for the trail half-marathon.  As stated in my last post, I was shooting to be under 2:30.  With my PR on a road marathon at 1:51, I had yet to crack below 2:30 with any trail half marathon.  Considering ran atrail 30K the previous week, which I PR’d at also, I thought that a 2:30 goal was achievable, but there was a strong likelihood that it wouldn’t be this course

This course was a double loop course with over 2K feet of elevation with a bunch of single track.  On paper, this course is deceptively a challenge. The race did begin like the others, a flat run around the Lagoon and was humbled by how many people were passing me.  Knowing that I would probably catch up with a lot of these folks on the hills, I kept my conservative pace.  The first hill was short but steep.  On the other side, there was a bit of technical following the big climb.  The climb consisted of fire trail, single-track, and switchback.  I too have been a beneficiary of running Mt. Diablo and powered up  the hills and back down to the beginning of the loop for a second go time around.  

I felt strong on the run and was keeping a close eye on my time.  I knew, unless I spent too long at an aid station or got a serious cramp, there was a real strong possibility of finishing under 2:30.  I had revised my aid station strategy for this race to be closer to how the aid stations would be paced on the 50K, which meant one stop.  I did take a Gu at one point and downed it 3 miles from the aid station.  I also did take a minute or so to empty my bladder before the final decent.  The final half mile was also deceptive, since you are running parallel to the finish…up hill.  As I turned onto the trail that would take me back to the finish, I was greeted with the sign “Never Say Die.”  

Well I exceeded my goal and finished at 2:28!! At an 11:21 minute mile, this time is actually better than my best trail 10K pace by a few seconds.  Also my legs felt great and ready to go further.  It is insane to me to think that I had run the 30K just 6 days prior.  And I feel great today, with to tiredness.

While this race was a personal accomplishment for me, the real emphasis is that this is an activity that we have chosen to do as a family.  I am really proud of my family and never thought that I would have kids that like any physical activity, I didn’t at their age.  Are we good? No, not really.  And we have no aspirations for our kids to be the best runners out there.  What we hope is that they use these events as a challenge and to set goals, but more importantly, just have fun!

 It hit me yesterday that there is less than 19 days before the 50K. Beth and I will be running on Friday and Saturday this week, then on to the taper for the Diablo Challenge50K.  I am so excited.

The First Mile....The Hardest Mile!

I feel amazing after the run the 30K last Sunday!  In the past, if I had run a trail run with that much down hill I would finally start to get my walking legs a couple of days after the run and wouldn't begin with slow running after 5 days.  I haven't had any problems this time around, with me being able to do my speedy Embarcadero run at 9:16 minute miles.  What is even more incredible about yesterday's run was that my pace for the final 3/5 of the run was all around 8:45.  

But I will have to say, that first mile-and-a-half was a bear.  There was a little bit of residual tiredness.  And mentally, knowing that I am going to be running a trail half marathon on Saturday, I could easily rationalize cutting my run short.  However, there is something I have come to learn about the first mile to two miles:  if it is not race day, the first two miles are just a warm-up.  


It makes since, on race day you are full of adrenaline and and your legs feel great.  However, you run the major risk of going out too fast and burning out too soon.  On training days, you don't have the adrenaline coursing through your veins, and at times it is just shear will power to get out the door.  Especially if you are running something flat and not challenging like the Embarcadero.

In fact, if you Google "why the first mile is always the hardest,"  you will find tons of links.  Some of the tips are:

• Don't time your first mile
• It is ok to start off with a brisk walk, or slow run
•  And finally, at the end of it all, the first mile is always going to be the hardest, learn to accept it and you will be fine

I remember the training for our first few marathons, my wife and I would run a local paved trail, the Ironhorse, to get our long miles in.  Trail choice was dictated to being able to push one of our daughters and our son in the double jogging stroller while our other daughter would ride her bike.  It would make for interesting 22 mile runs to say the least.  But again, with the exception of an unnoticeable uphill grade for the first half of the run, it was flat.  We never did hill training in the truest since of what you are supposed to do.  And it showed in our San Francisco Marathon times.  

While we were training for these marathons, we would still face the issue of the first mile or two on our shorter runs when we were training for those marathons.  In fact, one of our favorite trails was a loop around the Lafayette Reservoir.  This is a 2.8 mile loop with some hills.  However, we found that the first loop was always the hardest, and we would hit our stride on the second or third loops.

But going back to the first mile.  The first mile will always be your hardest mile.  I remember someone I used to work with ask me about running.  He had witnessed my weight-loss as well as our entry into marathon racing.  He said he ran a 1.5 every other day but felt winded by the time he was done.  Now mind you he was a 4 pack a day smoker.  But I started to see a reoccurring theme with other runners.  Many runners stop right as I knew I was done warming up.

I know a lot of this goes back to conditioning.   But as you increase your mileage, for me, one constant is that if I can overcome the first mile or two in my training I am in it for the long haul.  In fact, there is a lot of times that I am feeling my best at mile 10, 15, or 20.  And I do not feel, even if I am real speedy, any run over 3 miles as a good training run.

So I am really confident that training is on target now.  My target for the half tomorrow, as I stated in the previous post, is to be under 2:30,  and to really shoot for under 2:20.  The Lagoon Valley Half Marathon is listed as one of Brazen's tough half marathons with over 2K feet of elevation.  So if I meet my targets I will be extreamly happy.  

At the end of it all, the first mile is always going to be the hardest, learn to accept it and you will be fine!  Now, I just need to tackle the first mile!