The G Running Diary

MP2: 11/27/02

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This is a show off run. Don and I decided that a good last run on Saturday before the Quad Dipsea would be a double ascent of Mission Peak. The trail up Mission Peak is very popular on weekends, although not everyone makes the complete trip to the top. It can take hikers about 2 1/2 hours to the top. I usually do it under one hour, depending on the route.

We were there reasonably early in the morning at the Stanford Avenue trailhead. This is where the Ohlone 50K starts. We were not doing 50K. We realized that a lot of trail renovation had been going on. The main trail that went straight up through the front meadow had been filled in, and now the fireroad that wound around to the right was the main trail. This proved to be true all the way up: the "shortcuts" were blocked off, and signs asked hikers to stay on the main trail. I was glad the park was being taken care of, but those shortcuts were actually part of our steep climb speed hill training that we did for Western States. This would make the times to the top different. No matter. The cloud cover was low enough that as we got closer to the top, we were in the clouds and there was no view. It was cold and misty, but nothing that a longsleeve couldn't handle. We talked with some scouts at the top. A troup and their leaders had gone up Mission Peak as part of their goal to ascend the major peaks of the Bay Area. A woman asked us about the Western States Endurance Run, noting our water bottle packs. Pretty soon we were sharing all kinds of ultrarunner information with them. It's always fun to talk about that. We were getting colder though, so we set off back down the mountain. Running down at a slow trot was relaxing and let me finally get into a rhythm.

Then we paused, refilled our water, and set off back up the mountain again. Of course, many people we passed had just seen us come down. That is the fun part. Being thought of as crazy or really tough or amazing--I can't help getting a little kick out of that. But then someone asked if we were going to do that all day. Well that got me thinking. What if we did? That would be good training for a 100 miler, no doubt. I think that may be how a lot of this ultrunning madness gets started. Someone makes a joke and then you start thinking seriously about it. Like last week, for example. Don, Jeff, and I were emailing each other about the Stinson Beach Marathon, and since we had run a double Dipsea the weekend before, one of us joked that we should do that AND the marathon. That was a joke, but the next thing you know, Don and I are running on the Dipsea trail from Mill Valley to Sinson Beach, we run the Marathon, and then we run the Dipsea trail back to Mill Valley. A total of 40 miles, plus or minus 2. But that is another story.