If you’re reading this on Saturday, March 3rd then I am currently running the possibly-rainy Griffith Park 50K which happens to be exactly four weeks after my 33 mile hot romp at Sean O’Brien and from what I’ve heard and read, these two races have very similar elevation gain. Now that I think of it, if you happen to be reading this on Sunday, March 4th, well, it’s possible I may still be out on this course.
While I’m familiar with some of the trails in the park, this will be my first time running this race, and I’m looking forward to it.
A week after SOB, a course preview/training run was held by race director Keira Henninger and I wanted to take advantage of it. The training run was to be 18 miles but part of me wanted to recover just a little bit more from SOB before keeping the mileage high. I was also going to meet up with my friend Roxanne and didn’t want to spring on her, “Oh heyyy, we’re doing 18 miles!” Nah. This was going to be a fun, relaxing, catch-up with life, recovery run and hike on the trails.
We met up in the area that marks the start and finish, and including my time volunteering at last year’s race manning the drop bags, this would be the second time I was on that side of the park.
The weather was great. Cool and overcast. Basically what I hoped for race day. The trails were fairly quiet. Again, what I hope for race day. I wasn’t planning on going more than 8-12 miles that day and because of that, I didn’t really take much fuel with me. When the miles hover around there, I tend to carry just a gel with me and that’s pretty much it. On this day I brought some Salted Watermelon Clif Shot Bloks to try.
I actually tried Shot Bloks once before when they were new on the market and I wasn’t a fan. They were huge and I didn’t care for them and haven’t touched them since. When I came across the Salted Watermelon flavor I thought, hmm watermelon. I love watermelon! And I remember someone sending me a photo of this flavor months ago but I can’t remember who. If it was you, thanks for the suggestion.
However, these didn’t even taste remotely like watermelon. Needless to say, I was not a huge fan. Nor, was Roxanne. The texture was very chewy and it didn’t taste anything like I imagined they would. I am a somewhat watermelon connoisseur and this didn’t fit the bill. Sorry Clif.
Even though I wasn’t fond of it, the remaining pieces are still in my pack and I might give it another try. Maybe third time’s a charm? Who knows? Maybe I’ll break them out during the race.
A week later I wanted to tackle another part of the course, which I’ve never been on before and this time my friend Melody joined in on the adventure. I called it an adventure because I didn’t exactly know the trails we’d be going on.
“I think we turn here,” I said often.
We had a few moments where we paused so I could assess where we were. A few miles in, we came upon a lengthy climb and even though I wasn’t sure, I said, “This looks like something Keira would throw in.”
Honestly, I don’t even know if we were on the correct trail. I guess I’ll know soon enough if we were supposed to be on an equestrian trail. If not, well then, that was fun!
As for my thoughts going into this race? It’s always a blessing to be able to run, and hike, and be on the trails, so I’m going in being open to whatever the day brings me. Highs. Lows. Times I feel great, and times when I may feel horrible. All of it comes with the territory, but I’m ready to explore more territory and see what happens.
We’re expecting rain for at least some, or all of the day. There’s also a good chance it won’t rain at all. Either way, I’m ready.
Thanks for reading!