The G Running Diary

Playin' Hooky: 4/25/03

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Ah, the joys of a mid-week run. So what if we had to get up way earlier than any reasonable work day would force us to get up. We were going to spend the whole day running on Mount Diablo. As they say about fishing, "A bad day running is still better than a good day at work." Don and I drove up to meet Sarah and Wendell at 5:00 am. We had jackets and other clothing with us to load into Wendell's van, and then he drove us all to the park entrance. The only concern was how bad the weather might get. We didn't want a repeat of our last outing on Diablo, when we froze, got drenched, and slid our way home through the mud. The weather had potential to be that bad again. But Don, Sarah, and I set off anyway. Wendell was meeting us later to provide aid and run with us for a little bit. We went up Eagle peak. We compared this time to the 50K training run we ran together weeks ago. I think all three of us felt stronger this time.

The weather was holding ok. We were in jackets and extra layers, but the temperature felt reasonable. After Eagle peak, then we came around to climb to Juniper campground and the summit. This area was cold. We were in the cloud of the mountain. The wind was blowing and we were getting wet. Still, we'd been through much worse before. After the summit was the fun part. We came back down the fireroad, went left at Burma road and then came to the steepest downhill of the course. There was an uphill from that same area that was used in the Diablo 50 miler that Jim Winne put on. It was called Mother's. This one we took down was Mega Mother's. Or something. It was so steep that if you tried sort of running down, you would just pick up too much speed. I guess that's what I did. My knee hurt after that. At the bottom of that hill the road came through, and there was Wendell, pulling all kinds of things out of the van. It was an instant aid station, as a table and chairs appeared with pretzels, Pringles, M&Ms, strawberries, rice cakes, and a cooler of sodas.

The weather was great now. We were not up in the clouds anymore, and weren't planning on heading back up there for a while. Wendell ran with us for the next out and back loop. We went on a section that had been mostly muddy swamp a week and a half ago. Now there were muddy spots, but nothing unreasonable. We laughed about the section where there is a sign in the middle of the trail that says, "No Lifeguard on duty." Somewhere along the way the road had turned into a lake. There was a trail around that part today, unlike the other time.

When we returned to the road, Wendell went ahead to move the van just enough so that we didn't have to detour off of our course. Once again, the magic aid station appeared. It was all so good that we just sat and talked and ate for a while, and sorted out which tops and jackets to wear for the next section. The next stop was Live Oak camping area. Talk about a magic aid station! We came through the trees to a picnic table, with all the food items we'd seen already, plus two huge sandwiches from Togos. The three foot size! So this aid station stop was even longer. I really started to feel like I was on an ongoing picnic. Just run a bit and then get to eat anything.

We went on a single track that went through trees and grass out to Finley road, the round trip for this section was about 14 miles. We were amazed by how much poison oak there was. I didn't believe it could all be poison oak. It took on different appearances, not always showing the red, shiny easily identifiable leaves, but still poison oak. There was no way to avoid all of it. It grew from ankle height to shoulder height. Don took pictures. I worried about standing around studying it too long--it would make it too easy for the plant to get you! The grassy meadows were nice because there wasn't any poison oak. Also, I was noticing the different types of butterflies. There were so many. Some I'd never seen before. I'm no butterfly expert. I just think they are pretty.

The return trip on this loop went through high chaparral type of scenery, quite a contrast to the green forest setting we were in before. The ground was sandy and rocks were around us. I was starting to think about the time, how long it had taken us to get this far, and how late it would be if we continued to do the entire 50 mile course. At the current pace, it worked out to about midnight, plus an hour drive home. That was not appealing. The trail eventually went down and hooked up with the one we had come out on. Back to crossing streams over little bridges and running up the soft single track. As we approached the picnic table that had our sandwiches waiting again, Don and I knew that this would be the finish of the run. Sarah was a little bothered by her Achilles, and I was bothered by my knee. Of course, they were both willing to hang out if Don and I wanted to run more, but 38 miles in over 12 hours was plenty for all of us. Especially for a work day.

Everything about the day was great. I think it made it even sweeter to know that we had gotten out of spending a day cooped up in an office. Instead, we were out on the trails doing what we truly enjoy. It was like a dream come true.