Sunday, October 25, 2015

30 Miles + a Coyote = Typical Saturday

Good news!  Despite the injuries and being sick all week, I can still bang out 30 miles.  Bad news...I have to find 20 more in six weeks.  Yikes!!  North Face.

I had somewhat planned out my day....park in Tennessee Valley and do a loop towards Rodeo Valley and then a loop in Pirates Cove and some junk miles in TV before, during, and after.  And of course, hit my car as an aid station each time I passed.  I will say, Slimer makes a great aid station.


I started with a loop out and back to the beach, pretty uneventful, but probably should have put on the ankle braces.  Oh well...gotta get stronger somehow.  I returned to my aid station to restock before heading up Marincello.  And to the lady who felt the need to stalk me for my parking spot.  First, I gave zero indication I was leaving....Second, you can always ask....and Third, try the one in front of me..or behind me...or on the other side of the road.  There's plenty, I promise.  But, I do hope you enjoyed watching me get ready to run.    

Anyway....so I headed up Marincello, took that over to SCA, past the steps I tripped down, down Coastal, and out to Bunker Dr.  I really like Coastal....nice, gentle, down hill, very little to trip on.  Then I spent about a mile trying to get on Rodeo....due to trail construction, all the entrances had changed.  I never found the right way to get on the trail, but I did find the trail blazed by all of those before me who must have gotten annoyed trying to figure out the routing.  One jump around a fence and I was on my way.  Going up Rodeo was tougher than I remember, but not too bad.  I was well within the pace I'd like to main for the race, even though today was all about getting the miles in.  

Once I got to the top of Rodeo, I decided to explore a bit....kind of tough now since I know the headlands pretty well.  But, regardless, I decided to take Oakwood...or maybe it was Oak Valley, back down to TV.  I didn't think I had been on that trail before, but quickly learned that I had.  Except, I had climbed up it, rather than run down.  The first part of it wasn't too bad - nice, easy jog down.  Similar to running down Coastal.  Then I got to the rocks and the steep and the gravel.  Good times....well....not really.  I went down once and then gave up and crab walked down the next part.  I'm done taking chances.  

Got down, got back to slimer.....mile 16.  More than halfway.  Re-stocked, refueled, swapped the sweaty tank for a dry t-shirt, and I was off to Pirates Cove.  

Now, Pirates Cove was more treacherous than I remember it.  Maybe it never recovered from North Face last year, maybe I'm just afraid of falling.  I'm pretty sure I was crawling through parts where Kenya and I used to jog last year....somehow, I will have to find a way to get over this trail fear.  As I made my way down to the scary stairs, I did have to stop and pause, and admire the beauty of where I was running.  I was also really looking forward to getting on the far less steep single track you can see in the distance.  


I followed the single track past the bridge I crashed out on during this run, and noticed the edge where my foot slipped had been patched.  The single track leads up a bit and then out to a fire road and down into Muir Beach.  The descent into Muir Beach wasn't as bad as I remember (now if I could just get over my fear of every other descent....), though I did have to navigate around a group of four and a dog that managed to somehow take up the entire fire road.  Really, people?!

I got down into Muir Beach and could smell people grilling....mmmm....grilling.  At mile 22ish, I was really wishing I was coming up on the BBQ and beer that was at the finish line last weekend.  But, no such luck.  I stopped at the picnic table to grab a snack - afraid for a minute all I had to eat was the Margherita Pizza Cliff/food/whatever it is, but found a cookie and some GU I didn't realize I had.  The Margherita Pizza thing will live to save me another day.....

After a brief snack break, I headed up Middle Green Gulch - North Face goes all the way up Coyote Ridge, which is steeper, but Middle Green Gulch is longer, and I was really looking for the miles.  Going up that was....a challenge.  I was tired, but I guess I'm supposed to be at mile 24, 25, etc.  It was long, but looking back on it, not that long and soon I was at Coyote Ridge.  Just had to clear the top part of that, and I'd be in for a nice descent into Tennessee Valley.  

The last push up Coyote Ridge wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, so I guess that's a good thing.  The descent is another story.  The first part was fine, easy fire roads....but Miwok cut-off, that I used to love, terrified me for some reason.  Again, I used to run down most of this....why am I so afraid??  I've really only taken two noteworthy falls, despite running out there how many times?

On the up side, the sun was starting to set, making for some really nice colors in the sky.  On the downside, I turned off my watch and forgot to turn it back on.  Ooops.  Definitely ran more than 30 miles....


I briefly contemplated stopping at my car after getting back down from Coyote Ridge, but decided against it.  I had just about four miles to go...silly to stop now.  And I knew I didn't really need to take off my super cool ankle braces.  So, I continued down Rhubarb Trail and back for an additional mile and then headed on a three mile out and back to the beach.  I was surprised at how much I was able to run.  It was flat, but still....

And, just when I thought I'd been on the most uninteresting, uneventful run, I met mile 28.5.  I was on my way back to my car from a three mile out and back to the beach.  Really junk miles, but at that point, who's counting.  Anyway, I decided I should jog a bit, because, well, I felt like I could, so why not?  So, I'm jogging along, excited I'm only a mile and a half from the car and what do I see down the trail...Mr. Coyote.  He's hard to see in the photo, but if you look down the trail on the left, he's there.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get the phone to magnify and take the photo before he started RUNNING AT ME.  Yes, your typically skittish coyote decided to run at me, rather than in the bushes.  I was caught somewhere between....'I am at mile 28.5 of a 30 mile run and you are between me and the finish line' and 'holy crap, what do I do if he gets to me.  I don't have it in me to fight a coyote at mile 28.5'.  Luckily, after charging a few feet down the trail, he jumped off into the surrounding brush.  


 After my coyote sighting, the rest of my run was uneventful.  I passed by a man I had passed on my way out, and he said, 'you did it'....I looked at him and said, '30 miles...damn right, I did'.  I'm sure he thought I had just run out to the beach and back (4 miles) or something.  The look on his face was priceless.  He was like, really??  You ran 30 miles today?  Yup...yup, I did.

Now to find those other 20......

Monday, October 19, 2015

Coyote Ridge - Take Two

It's my one-year anniversary with Coastal Trails....sort of.  This weekend is the Coyote Ridge race - the first race I did with Coastal last year (read all about it here!).  It was so much fun, I never left.  This year, I spent Saturday marking a good chunk of the course and Sunday working the race and sweeping the course.

Since I'm pretending I'm going to train for the North Face 50, I wanted to get a run in prior to marking.  I made sure to check on sweeping for Sunday before deciding on the additional mileage - I didn't need a forty plus mile work out over two days....well, I do, but unfortunately I'm not ready for that.  Glad I checked, since the plan was for me to sweep the nearly 15-mile pink loop.  That meant a four mile pre-run, rather than a fourteen mile pre-run.

I got to Tennessee Valley in plenty of time to get in a four miler, but you never know, so I took off up Marincello as quickly as I could.  My trip up Marincello was pretty good...it had been a long time since I'd been up it, so it was like reuniting with an old friend.  I did notice there were random colored ribbons tied to wooden stakes throughout the trail....trail maintenance of some sort, I think.  Nothing I could do about it, but something that I thought could cause confusion, so I took a picture and made a mental note to let Wendell know when I met him a few hours later.

Before I knew it, I was at the top.  Sort of.  I planned to do Marincello - Miwok - Old Springs, coincidentally the yellow loop for the race tomorrow.  And, the top of Marincello, is the top of that hill, but there's still a little more up before you hit the airport surveillance thing-a-ma-bob and head down to Miwok to Old Springs.  Since I was at the top, I was definitely in the fog or rain or whatever had started.  Luckily, I only tried to fall twice on the way down.  Thankfully, I decided I was going to be the cool girl on the trail with two ankle braces, so I didn't hurt anything.

Once I hit Miwok, I jogged down until I got to the nastily steep part....and it was wet....lucky me.  After almost slipping a second time, I decided to gently walk down the hill.  Ugh...when did I become so chicken on these hills.

I'm a big fan of Old Springs, so once I hit that trail, I was definitely up for a jog.  It felt great....a little scary, but great.  Again, why am I so chicken....ugh.  I jogged down Old Springs and then wanted to get in four miles, so did a little bit on Rhubarb trail until I hit my four and then walked back to slimer.  At that point, the rain had started (or the fog descended into the valley....never can tell here), so I moved him into the main parking lot (rain starts and everyone takes off, haha - my day had just begun) to wait for Wendell and Lynnard.  As I was hiding from the elements, I made the decision to completely change into my long sleeved shirt - I was wet, sweaty, and cold.  Not a good recipe for marking in the rain.  I decided to risk the heat later on.

Wendell arrived and showed me what I'd be doing....not only marking from Tennessee Valley to Point Bonita, but also taking a second trip to the airport surveillance thing-a-ma-bob and Old Springs to mark the yellow only portion of the course.  And then back up the crazy descent.  What a good time I was in for.....well, I definitely needed the miles.  I let him know about the random markings due to the construction and I was off.

Heading up Marincello a second time was nearly as painless as the first.  For some reason, it's the one hill in the headlands I can walk up like I own it.  Every time.  It was also nice to be headed uphill in the cold, wet weather that had developed.  It was pretty windy at the top, so I was worried about my pink 'go straight' sign and my yellow 'go right' signs.  By the time I had finished placing the yellow, the pink one had blown away.....so, I tied it to the tree branches instead.  A little sooner than I wanted it, but at least it would be there for the runners.

Off I was to mark the yellow, knowing both the trip down and the trip up would be an adventure.  Down because, well, I'm afraid of everything and it was wet.  And up because, well, it's steep.  I only briefly questioned myself....not sure why...I know these trails and I've been up there tons of times.  Around the airport thing I went (different than I went before!), and down to Old Springs.  And then back up.....on my way up, I ran into a couple hiking that asked me if I was taking all the signs down.  Nope...putting them up.  The race is tomorrow.

Getting back to Marincello, I realized that my yellow 'right' and yellow 'straight' signs had blown over.  So, I had to be creative and find bushes to tie them to.  Not ideal, but at least they'd be there for the runners.  Once that I was done, I buried the yellow ribbons in my bag and headed off to mark the pink to Point Bonita.

Then, the rain stopped...and once it did...the beauty of the headlands came out....nothing like fall in the bay area.







Overall, the pink loop was uneventful.....I mean, it passed through the place on SCA where I busted my good ankle a few weeks ago and the place where I ran out of ribbon while marking Golden Gate, of course, not to be outdone by the turn I missed when I ran Coyote Ridge last year.....but, all that considered, pretty uneventful.  I blew up the turn I missed last year....hopefully no one misses it this year, headed up the road towards Point Bonita, passed the place I ran out of ribbons this summer, and spotted Slimer in the distance.  I made it.  Haha.....11.5 miles later, 15.5 on the day, and I was heading home.  Ready for a shower and some food.....But, I did capture this photo before I headed out....the beauty of a golden gate sunset is second to none...



Since I've been dealing with one injury after another (and then my foot turning blue), I've been good and followed Dr. Hal's orders over the past few weeks and run on the flat, predictable trails of Woodside.  I've been home for about an hour and a half and I'm definitely feeling the hills from today.  Oh, the cramping that's threatening.  I hate being out of shape....ugh.  I feel like I ran 30 miles, not 15.  And to think I actually felt fine after 17 miles of flat.....

Sunday brought an early morning - we were up and at Muir Beach before the sun.  Thank God for headlamps, haha.  The day started with me trying, and failing, to open the gate to the parking lot.  Luckily, Brian was with me and knew how to open it...or was strong enough to open it...or something like that.

I helped unload and then set up and worked registration - there were a decent amount of people registering day of, which kept us busy.  Lots of questions about bag checks and parking too.  

After a short stint at the start/finish helping with registration, I headed out to the Point Bonita aid station - of course it would be the one I never made it to...haha.  I got there, and wow....the view was amazing.  It pretty much put the views from Saturday to shame....the city behind the bridge, as the sun came up.  Always gorgeous....always breathtaking....no matter how many times I see it, or from what vantage point.  I mean, really, the picture doesn't even do it justice.


We were the second aid station and runners were only hitting us once, so my time at the aid station was pretty short lived and passed quickly.  The runners were all in good spirits and many stopped to say hello and let us know how their run was going.  I spent a few minutes talking to one guy about the Umstead 100, a race he had run before and I hope to run someday.  A couple of them had questions about the course, and it was nice to being familiar with the trails and able to answer them.

Once we had wrapped at the aid station, I packed it up in the Xterra and headed out to sweep - the journey of nearly 12 miles begins with a single step.  Haha....I thought the first section would be new to me, as it was the part I missed the year before when I got lost and I don't really run much on that side of Tennessee Valley.  But, I realized two things....first, I have been on those trails and second, I picked the right part of the course to lose (give me a walk up Miwok any day).  Oh the hills....it goes up and up forever....past the battery....and then up some more.  I vaguely remember running down the same trail during my first 50k....I think going down was just as brutal, with the added threat of falling and busting myself.  To keep the hike entertaining, I stopped to take a photo of a couple with their dog and to smile at a group of hikers who were impressed with how quickly I was hiking up the hill.

Going down the other side of the trail was pretty steep, but really nothing I should have had a problem with - if I wasn't so afraid of the trails.  Stupid injuries.  But, I survived the descent and made it back to the Miwok junction, right where I found the course when I ran the race last year.  I'm pretty sure there was a moment where I threw my arms over my head, and exclaimed, 'it's the course!'.  I'm pretty sure anyone that saw me would have thought I was crazy.

This year I saw two rental mountain bikers looking at an upside-down map (oh Blazing Saddles...).  I stopped and asked where they were headed.  They were trying to find Tennessee Valley Road...at least it was something I could help them find.  And there were two other bikers that came up on us and offered to play tour guide.  I love the nice people I meet on the trails.

After that, I made my way up the steep part of Miwok for the second or third time that weekend.  At that point, I'd lost count.  I paused to cheer on some of the 50k runners who were on their way down.  Somewhere between there and Point Bonita, probably along Coastal, I ran into another rental mountain biker looking for directions....what was with them on Sunday?  But, I've been a tourist plenty of times and am happy to try to help.

I came up on the sharp left, the one I missed last year, and was happy to see that my gerry-rigged 'wrong way' sign held up.  Because of the wind on Saturday, and the importance of the sign, I created a tripod for it as opposed to the two we usually use.  Unfortunately, I found out later that one of the runners had missed it.  I grabbed all that stuff, headed up the hill, and on to the road.    

After being on the road for a bit, I wasn't sure I'd ever been so thankful to see our car....well, I feel like I say that ever time I get tired and just want to be done.  But, regardless, I was thrilled to see our car - I was done!  I sent Brian a text to let him know I was on my way and took off.  I should have paused to take off my super cool ankle braces, but I just wanted to get back.  Ouch....bad decision.  As much as the braces had saved my ankles for the past twelve miles, my ankles were done with the braces.  But, I really just wanted to get back down to the finish....I knew I was late and they probably needed help, and selfishly, I was hoping there was a dry race shirt I could put on.  If I had thought I was cold before, I was definitely cold now.

After briefly following someone who felt the need to drive down to Muir Beach at 5 MPH (thankfully they pulled over quickly), I got back to the start/finish to find it mostly cleaned up.  And, yay there were extra shirts.  Hooray for a dry shirt....went a long way with feeling warm in the wind at Muir Beach.  We finished loading up pretty quickly....joked about my ability to load a tent without breaking my leg....and my text about running out of ribbons (just kidding this time ;)).

Ok....after two days on the trails, I am exhausted.  Until next time....

Friday, October 16, 2015

Slimer's Back!

So, best email ever today.....'your car will be ready after 3pm'.  YAY!  That only took six weeks.  Poor car, but at least I have it back now.  And it's clean and washed and kind of smells like ammonia, but at least I know it's clean.  haha.

As much of a pain as this whole thing was in the beginning - getting the car into a shop, dealing with the deductible, dealing with the cost of the rental, dealing with the insurance, etc., etc.  Once it was all worked out, it really was fairly easy to deal with (despite feeling like it was much, much longer than six weeks).  The insurance waived the deductible and eventually decided they would pick up the cost of the rental (rather than continuing to encourage me to pursue the other guy legally)....I'm guessing it probably had something to do with both me and the other driver having the same insurance, so in essence I'd have been going after them.  With his license, business card, and his voice on my original call to the insurance company.  Yeah...probably better to pick up the cost of the rental than fight an airtight case....haha.

It was perfect timing too, since the satellite radio subscription ran out while I was driving home last night....way to renew, enterprise.  When I got to Enterprise this afternoon, I literally parked the car in the middle of the driveway....I wasn't sure where else to go with it in the garage....gotta love downtown San Francisco.  The people at Enterprise were great....the same guy that rented the car helped me turn it back in.  He gave me a bottle of water and helped load my stuff into the van that would take me around the block to German Motors.  Though, I will admit, I'm a little sad that the guy with the full gold grille wasn't my shuttle driver today.

I got to German Motors and was welcomed by the receptionist.  She grabbed my file and let me know they were still bringing the car around.  However, she did ask me for the deductible.  I let her know that it was being waived, and got ready to pull out the slew of emails and voicemails stating that was the case.  She went to check with Rachel, the person I had been dealing with over the past month and a half.  I waited and held off on signing anything.  She came back out and told me I could sign it, the deductible was something else, and Rachel would be right out.

While all of this was going on, some other guy came up looking for a pair of glasses or something that had been left in his car.  It sounded like his car was totaled (not fun...for a bit, I thought that might be the case with mine), as he was getting a new one.  The receptionist gave him his glasses and was working on a plan to get him into his car to get whatever else he needed when Rachel came out of her office.  It was great to see her, they were waiving the deductible, and she went to make sure my car was being pulled around.

The receptionist came back and asked what happened with the deductible and I told her it was being waived.  Glasses dude decided at this moment to mutter, 'must be nice', under his breath....REALLY?!  Ok, I don't know why you're here....you don't know why I'm here....you don't know what I've been through, so keep your mouth shut.  Luckily, Rachel came back at that moment and walked me out to  slimer, all green and shinny as the day I bought him.  Yay!  It's my car.  She told me she'd miss it being in the shop...it was always the brightest one there, so she always knew where it was.  haha.

A quick check of the trunk and walk around, and I was off.  Big thanks to Rachel and German Motors for keeping me updated and getting Slimer up and running again.  Later than I thought, but Mr. Passat and I had a good time commuting.  I'll miss the carefree commute....I could get in anywhere...everyone cares more about their Tesla, Audi, Mercedes, than I did about my RENTAL CAR.  Oh commute adventures....but that is another story....

And Slimer is back!  And we have an adventure to go on tomorrow :).

Fixed the ankle....got the car back...life is moving in the right direction.  Here's to the rest of the month and coming out stronger than I went in.  And really, as crazy as the past month has been....looking back today and realizing how much I've learned.  That's what's really crazy.

Until next time, over and out.....

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Escape from San Francisco

This past weekend, Brian and I escaped from San Francisco (and Fleet Week) to Susanville, home of Lassen National Forest and the famed Bizz Johnson Trail.  I was heading up to work the Coastal Trails races on Saturday and Sunday, and Brian was going to help on Saturday and run the 50k on Sunday.  Our Anniversary was Monday, so an adventure, a race, and some trails seemed like the perfect thing for us to do.

In an attempt to miss traffic, we headed out early Friday afternoon.  After sitting in traffic getting out of the city and enjoying some delicious fast food at Carl's Junior, we made it to Red Bluff - pretty much the last large town before heading into Lassen.

The first part of the park/Rt. 36 was a trip through volcanic rock.  It was pretty cool and the sun was just starting to set, which resulted in some picturesque views.  I was able to catch the below just as the sun was setting......the photo doesn't really do the view justice.


The winding roads took us through several little towns and villages that seemed to be ghost towns now, but I'm sure were booming railroad towns years ago.  Then the sun set and it seemed like the deer took that as their cue to come out and play....or try to get hit by cars....or both.  Too many close calls.  And, as Brian said - no one wins if we hit a deer....it dies and we have another busted up car.  Luckily, we made it into town safely.  

I had booked us at the only hotel available in town....Budget Frontier Inn, or something like that.  Based on the name, I had some idea as to what I was in for, and I had fun taunting Brian with ideas around what it might be on the last leg of our trip.  When we got there, I was definitely not disappointed.  The outside looked as I imagined and on my attempt to check in, I found the door to the lobby locked and pressed the doorbell multiple times before someone came to let me in.  Luckily, someone did eventually come and let me check in.  

On the walk to our room, we noticed at least one door that looked like someone had tried to kick it in...luckily, ours was in tact...or so we thought (we did find out later that side paneling left something to be desired).  We did have a door to an adjoining room that didn't lock...awesome.  Luckily, during our years of traveling to cheerleading competitions and staying in sketchy hotels, my mother taught me well.  I just took the table and pushed it against the door - at least it would slow them down.   


Amongst other things, we also didn't have a remote....where is there a TV without a remote?  Brian tried to find it and then I took a shot at it.  No dice....but I did find this guy.  Any ideas on what it is?  Creepy Sponge Bob?  Sponge Bob on drugs?  


But, despite the neighbors busting into their room at two am and waking us up with the noise, it ended up being fine.  We survived our three nights there and it wasn't nearly as bad as the place in Rohnert Park a few years ago.  I mean, it didn't smell like smoke to the point that we couldn't stay there and there weren't drug dealers waiting for rooms when we left.

Saturday morning started bright and early with check-in for the Express Half Marathon.  Even earlier for us since we didn't really know where we were and needed to get coffee/tea before getting where we needed to be (the awesome hotel also didn't have a coffee maker....what hotel doesn't have a coffee maker??).  We had to be at the train depot at 6:15....so naturally we left the hotel at 5:15.  We were five minutes away....from both the depot and the Starbucks.  Only us.....

But, we got our coffee and tea and made it to the depot in plenty of time.  Again, narrowly missing some deer, but I digress....We worked check-in for awhile before Brian headed off to an aid station and I headed off to the finish line.

It was pretty cool to be near and see signs for a trail I'd read so much about.  When you run marathons for nearly ten years, it's impossible to not hear about the Bizz Johnson trail.  Yes, I am a runner geek...deal with it :).  



I learned how to pull results - and managed to do so all day without causing any craziness on the computer....haha.  So, I spent the race pulling results, posting them, and reading out age group winners.  Since the only thing worse than the sound of my own voice is the sound of my own voice on a megaphone, I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy making announcements.....However, it was actually a lot of fun.  People are usually excited when they win awards, more so when they aren't expecting it.  It took me back to getting my third place finish from this race in the mail.  Totally unexpected, but so fun.

Once the Express Half had finished (and I'd had my fill of BBQ), I headed back up to the depot to run check-in for the rest of the day.  I was surprised at how many people showed up to check in a day early - definitely helped with things the next morning.  There was also some sort of chili baking competition....and festival...and I don't know what else going on in the parking lot.  What I do know is that there was a very loud band (playing good music, but still very loud...probably because they were right outside the door), and people really don't know how to close a door.  The amount of times we shut the door to keep the noise down (and what little AC there was inside), people just kept coming in and leaving it open....come on, were you raised in a barn?!


Saturday night was pretty low key.  We tried to find an Italian restaurant, and thought we had, but unfortunately, it was closed.  So we ended up at some random pizza factory or something.  And recognized just about everyone in the restaurant.  We'd either checked them in for the race the next day or saw them at the race that morning.  I remember one lady saying, 'hi, expo people'....haha.  Food wasn't the best - the Round Table pizza from the night before was better, but, oh well.  Win some, lose some.  And really, I was ready for bed.

Sunday morning started off similar to Saturday, but with a later trip to Starbucks - thank god.  haha.  We started with check-in, until Brian departed for his race, then he headed out and I stayed at the depot to continue check-in for the shorter distances, until those were ready to start.

Once the races had started, I packed up everything from check-in and the depot and headed to the finish line.  First, I was glad I had the x-terra - not that my car was ever an option, but that's a whole different story.  Second, I was glad I had loaded the Coastal van so many times....loading the x-terra was like a mini loading of the van....haha.  But, I got it all to fit.  We bid farewell to the lady at the depot, and we were off.


I spent most of my time at the finish line on Sunday like I spent Saturday....pulling results and announcing age group awards.  Again, it was a lot of fun....people were in disbelief that they had placed, so it was fun being able to make their day.  Brian had a great race - PR in his 50k and first in his age group.  It was fun to announce his name and give him his first place medal.

I also got to take Brian on a trip in the Coastal van....always a good time.  Thankfully, he's good with directions and was able to prevent me getting us lost.  We did pass a car that had just hit a deer....really glad that wasn't me.  We picked up all the aid station stuff at one main gathering place - I thought I was being slick and got the tables in...thinking we wouldn't have to unload them again.  Of course, I forgot about the timing mats.  Not that slick....apparently I haven't loaded the van enough times...haha.  Once that was done, we headed back to the finish line, broke down, loaded up, and were off...until the next race.

We celebrated Brian's good run with some more Round Table pizza (what else do you eat in Susanville?), some wine, and an early bedtime.  We were really excited to sleep in the next morning, but disappointed our time away had come to an end.  Such a great weekend getaway.....

Overall thoughts - great trip, great race - highly recommend.  I'd pick a different hotel though...or as Brian said, maybe next time we can see if we can find a worse hotel to stay at...haha....

Until then, over and out....