Morning Glory, Shooters x2

February 26, 2011

The hype for today revolved around running in the snow.  Over the past two days weather persons told us we could see snow as low as 500 feet.  I remember Dave Hovde specifically said Friday (paraphrasing) that the cold front coming down would be cold enough for snow at lower elevations, if the precipitation holds on long enough.  It didn't.  Last time it snowed in the town of San Luis I was flipping burgers at Franks.  That was a long (ish) time ago.  Anyway, that was the hype.

We, SLO Trail Runners, met at the bottom of Cuesta Grade on Old Stage Coach road for the second consecutive week.  The meeting time, 6am, didn't allow for early views of the ridges so if it snowed up on top we wouldn't know it until we got there.

At 6:11am we left.  I heavily anticipated a snow run.  I even wore pants and a heavier type jacket.  The pants I took off and the jacket I should have.

I'll just say it now...I was tired and I had a fairly crappy run.  I can make all kinds of excuses.  Bottom line is that it started off bad and as the day warmed up and continued moving forward, so did I.  Now is when I would typically say, "it wasn't all that bad" and it really didn't finish "that bad" it just never reached the same ease as last week.

I had to hike most of Stage Coach Road.  My heart rate and respiration struggled to an even rhythm.  Brad felt a little weary of mashin' the hill too fast, recovering from an IT Band issue, so we hike/jogged all the way to the Morning Glory drop in.

No real snow on the grade.  I felt sort of disappointed.  Dusty took some great photos.  On the day, he was the camera guy. If you enlarge the photo you can see some dusting on the hill behind us and some on the ground around us. 

photo Dusty Davis, West Cuesta Ridge

This picture does the day justice.  It is so beautiful this time of the day, that thinking about being miserable is just a complete waste of time.  So, instead of misery, I just felt weak.  Dusty's pictures pretty much say it all.  So I will just line up this sequence and then let them speak for themselves.

on the way down MG (photo Dusty Davis)

how I felt at the top of Shooters (photo Dusty D)

sarcasm doesn't need words (photo Dusty D)

OK, so that was the run.  To this point...then we did it again.  I hadn't planned on doing a double on Morning Glory and Shooters.  After all, we did this last Saturday and then I went out on Wednesday and did it by myself.  Both times felt really good.  This time, at this point, was different.  I had to do it again.  Why, I still can't really figure it out.  Mostly because I need time on my feet.  I will be running Way Too Cool 50K in a couple weeks and I need to have a decent four hour run with good climbs in it before the 'race' or run.  I am not racing except against my 6 hour and 20 minute time I had in 2009.  Goal is 5 hours +/- 15 minutes.  So this run was important to say the least.  I had thought about going back to the car and running later or heading back up Stage Coach Road.  Neither of these ideas seemed really feasible, doable or should I just say that I knew as soon as I returned to the car my run was done.

I started running again, slowly and concentrating on keeping an even pace.  It worked.  Back to Morning Glory.  We didn't waste any time and like last week I was given the front.  This time I didn't haul ass, this time I tried to keep my feet underneath me and finish the run better than I had started.  So we cruised down the mud-fest one more time.  The four of us gently made our way to the bottom when 'snap' Brads ankle found a rock that bit back.  He 'rolled' it pretty good.  He said he was fine and we continued on our way.  At the intersection of MG and Shooters I gave it a quick inspection.  History: done this lots of times while playing volleyball and basketball competitively.  No immediate swelling, noticeable limp or deformity.  We briefly discussed it then Thomas advised me to get going so I did.  He and Dusty caught up quick and then Thomas got and itch and I guess he had to scratch it.  That guy flew up Shooters so fast it was kinda weird.  Dusty fell behind Darting Thomas too and pretty soon there were four guys going up Shooter separately at the same time.  It was still cold but this time my hands didn't freeze and I kept a better running pace.  I guess you could say, the second half of the run was much better than the first.  Which is good because I needed something worth writing home about!

At the top we admired the view, tried to figure out which 'sister' sits behind Cuesta College. Which I can now say is Cerro Remauldo, there is also a smaller one that doesn't have a name that sits under Chumash and these line up between Bishops Peak and Hollister.  Really when you look at them in a row it is a stunning site.  The view is a just reward for trying to run up Shooters.  A clear day or not, rain, snow (HA!) mud on yer face, it just doesn't matter.  The view makes everything good! 

Back to reality.  On the way down we ran into Scott Dubrul who was at the beginning of his five hour jaunt around the hills.  Sounds like fun.  He didn't need a jacket or gloves or even a beenie....hmmm this day had the promise of a snow run.  Instead, we were treated to another gorgeous day of cool temps and sunshine.  I think we are spoiled...maybe.  The trails were in good condition, muddy but good, the weather held up and actually produced more sunshine than anything else...in fact it DID snow in San Luis Obispo, for about 45 seconds, then it turned to freezing rain then rain...then it went away and sunshine took over again.  It was kinda cold though, I mean I did have to wear a jacket.

After all was said and done we ran over 18 miles.  I am not sure of elevation, my guess is somewhere around 4,000 feet.
Take home, lesson learned, what I now know:  Give a run a chance, you never know when it will turn good, even if you have to wait a couple hours.  Be a plugger!

Lat week Dusty showed up with some really cool bright red shoes.  Light weight and big treads!! Awesome, I like.  So I looked into INOV8, the shoe company, and picked up some black ones...toe box too tight.  So Friday I went to running warehouse and exchanged them for the Bright Red Ones!!!  Honestly, I liked them.  I even got to chat with the leading authority on shoes in this area, Erik Dube.  Good talk, I learned a lot and it's fun to get to see people outside of running...even if they are at work.  The shoes worked really well on muddy decents and didn't seem to move around or break tread when on the street.  They fit my foot well, the heal counter didn't slip the toe box is a comfortable height and the construction helped with arch support (or I don't really need it).  Anyway, the shoes and jacket and red strip on my shorts earned me 'Most Color Coordinated' on the day.  A dubious honor that I will cherish for all time.
Next week easy and then WTC 50K!

heading down Morning Glory

Some shots from my camera and a good example as to why I have to borrow other peoplesss photos.

Thomas running fast

round one, done!

frosty hat...kinda cold

SLO Trail Runners: Stage Coach Run

February 19, 2011

Since I started running five years ago I had always run by myself.  Along the way I found some people here and there to hang out with me but it was more of a fluke than a regular occurance.  Most recently, during Cal Poly's last football season, my friend Anthony started hanging with me more and more.  Cool, until football ended and now our schedules don't mix.  I have always been alright with solo running.  I most often thought I was too friken slow to keep up with any decent runner anyway.  Afterall, while out on my usual midweek runs, the Cal Poly cross country team smokes by me like I was walking.  It would be depressing except they are half my age and most have been running twice as long as I have and race against fast people.  It's humbling and funny at the same time because I have heard some of these twigs shoot turds at me because I am slow yet only one will be an all-american. And he is as cool as they come.  OK, it's funny to me...there pace is my PR and they make fun of me even though they aren't that good! I think it's funny.  So that's my midweek thoughts while I am out on my runs...'when am I gonna get passed?'  Running alone isn't that bad.  Running with people is just awsome!  Now I know why the 'twigs' always go out in packs of 8 to 15...shoot the bull while you're turning it over for an hour or so.

After the Born to Run get together in Los Olivos a couple weeks ago, one of the peoples running, Tim Cullum, let me know of a new running group in San Luis.  He said they can be found on Facebook, so I checked it out.  Yep, pretty new alright, started this year.  Thanks Thomas and Heeva (and whoever else got this going) what a great idea. This town needs a good trail run group and now it has it!  Complete with varying running abilities and accomplishments (lots completing 100 milers, some with jaw dropping course records and all with some good advice to share).  This looked like the type of group that would help me push my running to the next level. To an elite level? surely you jest!  hahahahaaaaaa Laugh My FAO.  I like middle of the pack, lots of people to talk to.  I wouldn't know but it seems that if you're infront...there are only people behind you and that would be cool, just highly unlikely for me.  I signed up. So easy, all I had to do was click "Like" and tada!!! I am a member.  Now I got to get involved.  This weekend Thomas put the word out for an 18 mile run starting at the bottom of the Cuesta Grade on Stage Coach Road.  I'm game!

Getting out of bed at 5am is alright if you're used to it, I like 6 better, and I think it would have been a struggle if I had to go to work.  Since I was heading out for a group run I didn't wana be the new guy and the last guy otherwise I would be 'that' guy.  Making my pancakes I kept thinking about the thunder that had taken some sleep from me and I wondered if running along a ridgeline would be such a great idea.  Leaving for the run I can see some clear spots and I forgot about the thunder.

On Stage Coach, Heeva waited while Thomas and I drove up at the same time.  I formally met Heeva and then we all started chatting about stuff.  Next Dusty showed, then Bryan and finally Erik Dube rounded out the group.  We were to meet three more at the top so we headed out.  The cloud cover kept the temperature from freezing our nuts and pikin an easy pace we made our way along the somewhat saturated dirt road.  The road was nice and soft and definitely wet.  This was kinda fun.  My first real group run.  I felt obliged to keep up with these guys, so I pushed it a little bit more than I normally would have if I was alone and yet the pace was still somewhat within my comfort zone.  Stage Coach Road is exactly what it sounds like, an old road going up a hill that hugged a mountain which serviced a horse drawn coach.  It's mostly dirt, hill on one side, drop off on the other with an oak canopy and sharp canted turns.  On the way up Erik and Thomas answered my questions and offered advice about where to stay and how to run the Miwok 100k.   Good Stuff!

At the summit, for cars, we picked up three more peoples, Larry, Cody and Kristin.  We made introductions, shared some words, then I said I have to keep going...I know I am the slow one in this group and I had been up this once before...on a bike and I knew the first mile or so is up.  As it turns out the first five miles were up.  Great way to start a run.  No really, most trail runs have this agenda...beat you up early then see if you can hold on.  On the way up we were treated to some views that only those who earn it and time it right get to see.

Looking south. (photo Thomas Reiss)

This shot represents the view pretty well, ultimately you had to be there.  At the turn to Shooters we stopped for a moment and contemplated something.  Once again I just kept going, for the same reason as above which is, I am considerably slower than these people, therefore I keep up the relentless forward progress.  After we rounded the peak above Shooters we were treated to another view.  I can't remember if this was from that point or one a little further down the road.  Doesn't matter, we just saw an awesome sunrise and now we are getting treated to...

...a rainbow.  Really?  This day is super fantastic.  It's not even 8am yet!  So, we enjoy the endless views as we run, heading north on west cuesta ridge making our way to the botanical gardens area...also know as the entry point to Morning Glory.
A general meeting was called at the top of Morning Glory.  Erik had to go but wasn't ready yet, Thomas needed more miles, Dusty and Heeva are along for the ride, Kristin, Cody and Larry weren't sure about the extra miles but also didn't want to go down yet and Bryan turned around a mile ago.  I remember thinking "OK! shit or get off the pot." Actually I said it outloud, in a sarcastic and mild humored sort of way.  I think Heeva laughed at it and somewhat agreed.  So, we kept going.  Just a couple more miles then turn around.  Now we are on an adventure.  The views kept coming.  At one point we were up from Cuesta Tech and there was a path that shot straight down to it.  I remember my friend Anthony ran up this (almost to the top) last week or so and said it was a 10 mile run from the athletic training room at C-tech.   That would make this long run an even longer run.  Before too long, as it seemed, we made it to the turn around, which was about 8 miles, with a reasonable amount of elevation already gained.  So heading down towards Chorro Regional Park or Cuesta would add eight to ten miles and tack on another 1000 feet at minimum.  Maybe next week...maybe not.  Either way it will be done sometime this year. 
The ridgeline offers pretty even running. Small changes in elevation to keep it interesting and currently sported lots of puddles to jump.  Before we turned around we managed to head down one last longish (maybe 600 meters) hill with a decent grade.  So we hit the bottom of said hill, cruised for a few then said 'OK time to turn around.'  I remember thinking this is the kind of run I have been needing and I was just along for the ride so stoked about it is an understatement.  Heading back to the climb I still felt really good and the cool weather certainly helped keep me going.  It was on the way back up the hill when I knew the company I followed is light years ahead of me in ability and conditioning.  They ran up the hill, I hiked.  I am good with that, I already knew Thomas and Erik were exceptional runners and now I know Heeva and Dusty are too.  At the top of the little (huge climb) hill I noticed the color of the rain changed.  And, I thought I would share the information with the guys waaaaaay up front.  They had already stopped and Thomas had his camera out ready to document the answer to my question, "Hey guys is it me or did the color of the rain turn white?"  Yeppers, can you believe it? Snowing on the grade.  We were up pretty high (for San Luis) and it was cold but I didn't think it was that cold.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=1852822206072&oid=192493257431200&comments
I hope this link works.  This is proof, sorta, that it snowed.

So the climb was done and we continued on.  Providing we weren't climbing anything too steep for too long I could keep up.  I probably could have left 'it' out there, I just didn't.  We dropped into Morning Glory and Erik headed on his way along West Cuesta Ridge.  This is the one place I know I could pace everyone and since I hadn't been up front all day I just went with it.  MG was mushy and despite its somewhat loose rock foundation you still sank a little.  The single track forced a lot of lateral movement and we sorta danced around the trail as we let gravity take care of the rest.  We (I) had a good time and Thomas took a video toward the end.  Once again I felt compeled to go a little faster than normal due to the company.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/video/video.php?v=1852845606657&oid=192493257431200&comments
This is the video of the last part of MG.  The pace obviously isn't too taxing to Thomas.  At first I thought he was talking to his wife on the phone giving her a play by play of our run.  Video of us running is fun.  Next time I am taking my camera...well I did take my camera so next time I am going to make sure my battery is charged.

Where Shooters and MG meet we stopped and waited for everyone else to join before we climbed.  Dusty told me we hit the little woopties or inclines a little fast and all I could think to myself was, yep I did go too fast and I am gona pay on the way up Shooters.
I waited for everyone to go and chose to be the caboos up Shooters.  I know I know, I pussed it, what a sandbagger....I'll just say I prefer gravity assisted running.  I started slow, then found a rhythm and fell in behind Kristin.  I could see Heeva, Thomas, Cody and Dusty up ahead.  They had a really good pace going.  I think they managed two or three minutes on us just in that short climb.  At the top we took a groupish photo minus Erik, Thomas, Larry and Bryan.



Looking down on paradise. Heeva, Dusty, Cody, Jim and Kristin (photo Thomas Reiss)

When the group collected we headed out to finish the run.  I really coulda gone faster up Shooters and should have but I didn't...ok over it.  I felt good as we headed out and that is good enough for me.  I started chatting with Thomas again and before I knew it we were off.  We took a smooth cruise down the grade talking about business and sponsors and Dean.  Ha! we got onto all kinds of subjects.  Before I knew it we were at the bottom.  Heeva was along a little bit later. Everyone had a great day. 
18 miles, a little over 3000 feet in 3is hours.  It was shortly after 10am, dang I have never motivated myself to get in a run like that this early...unless I pay for it! 

Take Home:
Learned a lot about race strategy at Miwok 100K, pacing and why running in a group is a really, really good idea>>>>no excuses!  You have to go.  Plus, it is way more fun talking to people than making fun of people riding bikes to yourself.
Next up for a decent run:  Mott Gym to Shooters, MG and back. Probably wont write about that though because I will be by myself, making fun of bikers.

 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/69091208

Pacific Coast Trail Runs: Montana de Oro 25K

Feb 13, 2011




"...red skies in the morn' sailors bewarned" On the way to MdO

 I had originally signed up for the 50K.  BUT, on New Years Eve I went out for a 50 minute tempo run.  At the turn around I decided to pick it up and three minutes into the return trip my left calf knotted up in a hurry and nearly brought me to my knees.  Since then I have been battling to find a consistent running program.  Most of the time getting less than 40 miles in a week.  Bad timing.  I digress.  So today I decided to run the 25K thinking a three hour run would be way better than a seven.

The morning was really cool until the sun started hitting us. Cool, rather than cold, means a slight onshore breeze with the temperature a muggy 40 degrees.  As the sun came up the temperature did too.



Luis Escobar

 I arrived early for some reason.  I think I just wanted time to let my body warm up and do its thing before this shin dig got going.  At 7:30am I checked in and met up with friends, acquaintances and spoke to some new people.  I saw Luis Escobar, our local running legend and all around good guy, talking to just about everybody.
 He was there to photograph the runners.  Good!! PCTR hasn't historically had good photographers here, so having Luis is a special kind of thing because he is good.  I got to talk to him for a little bit.  It's always cool to get to chum it up with peoples before an event, otherwise you are doing something you love to do with people who share an interest...by yourself.  How friken boring would that be?  I ran into Thomas Reiss a couple minutes after talking to Luis.  Thomas is a pretty fast runner.  Clearly the fastest out here today.  Fast enough to be sponsored by La Sportiva.  He's a good guy and totally human.  Meaning he is dealing with some issues the rest of us deal with so he is running the 25k today too.  Usually he runs the 50K and smokes it. We separated with about half hour before the start.  Time to go get ready, warm up and do whatever else my body tells me I need.


Thomas Reiss



I found a little trail up from where I parked and started my warm up.  As much as I was thinking about the upcoming run, I was more concerned with my left calf giving me a wake up.  20 minutes later I was warmed up, had a little sweat going and started to jog to the start line.  No problem with the calf...so far.  I arrived to the start in time for the RD's speach and I took the opportunity to take a few pictures.  As it turns out these were the only ones I took minus a crrrraappy view shot from the top of Valencia. 



Race Director Sarah. 5 years running PCTR Events, never met her.



Time to go.  No gun...megaphone horn.  We were off.  I know I am not the fastest one on the course, not even top 10,  I am a mid packer...and I like it.  Anyway, I decided to get near the front and roll with the quicker people for a little while.  Mostly because very early in the race everyone has to cross a small footbridge and the further back you are the longer you wait to get into the bottle neck.  I went through somewhere in the first 15 people.  Then we headed down the Bluff Trail.  An easy, flat start to the race.  I felt good a was getting caught up in the flow of things.  Then I got inside my head and decided to slow down and find my own rhythm and stop thinking about who is passing me.  Though I did take note.

Leaving Bluff Trail we turned left onto Pecho V. Road and then right onto Rattlesnake Trail we were finally getting into some climbing.  I had never been this far up front before.  It was kinda weird looking back down the hill at the snake of people making their way through the trails.  The first climb was short, maybe half a mile on an easy grade so I kept pace.  Luis Escobar was camped out at the top, cool photo op!  I had my eyes closed...boooo!

Going up Rattlesnake Trail (photo Luis Escobar)

The trail evened out and then narrowed and headed into a ravine.  The pace kept up, then the climbing started up again.  Easy single track up.  This is where I thought I would save my legs.  Some of the spots were a little steep for me so I power hiked them and then worked into a run again.  A quick right onto the Badger Trail and we were heading up a gradual climb.  I tried to maintain an even pace and made my way up, then down a little bump and onto a traversing single track that compelled you to speed up.  This was short lived and then we were on our way up.  Valencia Trail is a longish single track heading up to the 1340ish foot Valencia Peak.  More or less the most sought after peak at MdO just because of its beauty and challenge.  I slowed down a bit and settled into a good pace of power hiking.  I got passed a lot.  People were running harder than I like to in the early parts.  One guy in particular had a green shirt on.  I would hang out with him for most of the race.  Then a couple passed me and then a few others.  Valencia Trail moves easily up the center of an offshoot of the peak and then gets steep.  We rolled the about half a mile easier part before making our way around the peak.  As the trail steepend I caught up to a lady and I got stuck behind her as she was huffin' and puffin but not letting me by.  With about 75 yards of the top I had enough and ran it, passed her and a few others, got to the top, snapped a photo and then made my way down.



Gratuitus Valencia Peak Shot.  Gorgeous Day!

 I found a smoothie pace that turned out fast enough to catch up with a group of people and so a 8 to 10 person train got started.  At the Oats Peak junction I stopped to pee.  I glanced at my watch, 59 minutes..that's the fastest I had ever made it up.  Cool, I felt good.  I cruised down the rest of the way, picking up the train again half way down.  We all bombed into the aid station at about the same time.  I filled my pack quickly and left..the fastest I had ever shot through an aid station.  I was on a roll.

Bombin' down Oats Peak I think (photo, Luis Escobar)

The next section, Hazard Peak is a lot more runnable than Valencia. The pitch is gradual and peaks out a few hundred feet lower.  Its gradual nature suckers you in and basically dares you to run.  The next dirt road , Islay Creek Road, is a service road out to an old barn and starts the second part.  I hit the dirt at 80 minutes and made my way over the 3 miles as it rolled and climbed. I was definitely going faster than I did last year.  And no calf problem.  Once again I settled into a good steady pace and ran/hiked my way to the the next part at a nine minute pace, eventually I arrived at the one real climb on the second loop, Barranca Trail.   I was hoping to get to the top of Barrancha at 2 hours even.  At the same time I remembered last year this s.o.b. trail chewed me up and spit me out.  I just didn't know it until I was heading down Hazard Peak, I bonked.  So this year I promised myself to stay even and just have a strong and smart climb.  So I did.  Hey look!!! green shirt guy, then the copuple passed me again.  They must have doddled at the aid.  Oh man they're running up this thing.  Bye.  As I worked my way up I could see I was catching quite a few people that passed me going up Valencia.  I kept my hike pace and drew them in one at a time.  I hit the top at 2h 5min.  Feeling Good!! Now it's a quick shot down.  I moved through the short switchbacks pretty quick and was about to turn on East Boundary Trail when I suddenly noticed it wasn't where it used to be.  Was es das? Wo haben die Spur gehen?  Oh well lets go with it.  Somebody moved it and it was going North instead of West.  The new part moved real smooth and instead of going up a steep little saddle we went around it.  It made the trail longer but also made it a lot more runnable.  This is where people started slooooowing down.  And this is where I kept pace...(I can feel myself getting smarter by the second).  So people were walking and I was passing.  The new trail was awesome, rolling woopties with a gentle incline then one steep section.  The top was short lived.  I was on a mission.  Ahead of me on the was down I could see 6 people lined up.  I picked it up and rode the downhill like I should.  I kept thinking to myself how good I felt compared to last year on this spot.  Because last year I was toasted and crapped out on the downhill.  Yep I said it!! I had to walk part of the downhill.  Granted, it is another year of running and learning.  So what!  This is now and I was cruisin'.  And just like that, the people who were passing me goin' up Barranca were behind me with a couple miles to go.  At the last mile mark the trail starts to even out and is relatively flat.  That's where I caught up to the couple.  They offered me to pass...I thought about it and then told them I would rather just get pulled in by them.  The girl was in front and picken' up the pace...kinda.  She seemed like she was on a mission.  After the turn to parallel Pecho Valley Road, Luis Escobar was snapping off more shots.  Great spot!

Hazard Peak Trail, going down quick (photo Luis Escobar)

After that I felt like picking it up again.  I went (attempted togo) around a car thinking it would be faster...but it slowed me down again.  Shit! I wanted to get around these two.  No time now...one last single track then 50 yards on the road to home.  I did it and I will admit it.  I passed them with 25 yards to go.  I wanted to come in below 2h 50 minutes.  So i did. 2 hours 49 minutes 26 seconds, a half an hour quicker than last year on a longer run and good enough for ninth place.  Someone on FB reported it as 16.8 miles with 3,800 feet of elevation.  That's good.

I stuck around for a while afterword.  Met up with Thomas to hear about his modest tale of a blistering 2:07.  Holy Crap!!  Talked to a few other folks, ate some soup then I headed to the recovery station...otherwise known as the ocean.  A perfect 55 degrees of moving water.  I stood in the waves up to my waste for 15 minutes.  Felt so good after that I thought about running again.  No time, gotta go.

I did well with hydration and eating.  Kept calories up and didn't cramp.  Calf felt good.  I don't know what I did but I plan to keep it up.  Maybe I can start running more that 3 times a week!





East Creek Ranch Run

Luis Escobar is  hosting the inaugural Born To Run foot races with distances of 100 mile, 100K, 50K and a 10 mile fun run on May 14, 2011 in one of the more beautiful locations in California.  The Central Coast has so much to offer for outdoor enthusiasts and now for those who love to run, run long distances and especially love to run long distances in beautiful places in an otherwise inaccessible venue, this event is for you!  The course is in Los Olivos, CA on an 8,000 acre, private working cattle ranch.  The property is oak studded and full of rolling hills, fast single track and incomparable views.  To get to run here is a privilege and best of all fun! 
     On February 5, 2011 Luis invited some folks out to preview the course, give some input and have a good run.  10 of us met at Matteis Tavern and carpooled to the course some distance away.  We made introductions and then started running.  38 degrees, sunny with a very slight breeze.  I guess you could say for 7:45am it was about as perfect as you could get.  We just cruised.  No egos or time trials just a smooth pace with god people.  The first 10 mile loop took us over dirt fire roads with a smattering of single track.  This part was a little more even and it could be really, really fast.  We stopped every once in a while as Luis gave us a tour of the course layout.  Even with the stops and various detours we finished loop one in less than 2 hours. 

This is one of the photos Luis Escobar took during the first part of our run.  I thought it was a little funny,  Luis carried only his camera for 10 miles.  No water or food just his camera.  I didn't even really notice until we were nearly finished.  I was running behind him and noticed it...then I had to kick myself for not bringing my camera along so I could have documented this.  He would stop every once in a while and take a few photos.  As you can see he not only possess has a great eye but also finishes his work with great touches. 

These two photos are courtesy of Luis Escobar, Reflections Photography Studio located in Santa Maria, CA.  His website for this run and a sampling of his photography is   www.allwedoisrun.com click on the Born To Run link to see more of this beautiful course.

This is all I have time for today.  I have to work.