Race Report: Sequoia Trail Run 10k (with sissy!)
July 19, 2008
Today something I never thought I’d see happen, happened (and not just happened mind you, but friggin rocked!) - Savannah and I ran a 10k trail run race together!!
The other day at work Neil told me that Beth (his hardcore triathlete girlfriend) wanted him to let me know about a trail run race I should do over the weekend. And, at first, I laughed. I haven’t been doing any serious running (actually… any running at all really) since mid-June. I’ve been biking a lot but no running. And definitely no trail running. So I certainly wasn’t inclined to somehow get my butt out to the Oakland hills to run up a hill alone. And again, let’s be clear - when I say “run up a hill” I’m really saying “slowly trudge… but with zeal!!”
but anyways…
So I wasn’t going to do it. But, it just so happened that I was messaging with Savannah at that instant so I thought I’d take a cheap way out - I told Neil I’d see if sissy wanted to do it with me. If she was in, I’d do it. If not, I’d pass.
Now I’ve asked Savannah to do a lot of races with me. And never once has she agreed. Ever. So I was guessing the probability of her agreeing was somewhere between zip zero nada and a solid 1%. But! I sent the message and what did she say? She asked for further information! And, after calling me to talk about it, she friggin agreed! Agreed that she’d run it on the condition that:
1) I’d run with her the whole way
2) I wouldn’t yell at her if she had to stop
3) I wouldn’t make her feel guilty if she stopped
These conditions seemed totally fine by me and so, I agreed. And so, we were good to go!
So this morning, at the crack of dawn, I made the BART-journey to Berkeley to meet up with Savannah and drive (her apparently very trusting boyfriend’s car) down to the race.
This first video let’s you know about challenge one: Parking
Then, after we registered Savannah realized that it was pretty cold out and she’d forgotten to bring something to cover her ears (see video for explanation). So, we improvised…
After that we were in need of a bathroom run. And, like seemingly all races, there were way more many bathroom-needing people than bathrooms. So we waited in line with the rest of the running masses. I then made sure to get a picture of Savannah having her first pre-race bathroom run. Why? Because they’re pivotal to any real race experience! And while (confusingly) Savannah yelled out “Are you serious?” from behind the bathroom door when the bright flash went off, I know one day she’ll appreciate.
After that we took some more video…
And then they called us to the start area - at which point the race director gave a little speech… a little speech that I misunderstood…
So after a bathroom break and that little mix-up, the countdown, well, counted down and we were off!!
So here’s a brief rundown of our race experience:
- There were no mile markers, which I’m totally not used to at all. And, considering neither of us have any sense of distance at all, we were pretty much off on how far we’d gone the entire time. But at least we were overly (way overly) conservative!
- I warned Savannah at the very start about the most common trail running issue: because the ground is very uneven, it’s very easy to roll an ankle if you aren’t careful. You must must must lift your feet and think about planting your foot firmly. And even then, if you haven’t been doing much running, it’s pretty much inevitable that your ankles will tire and you’ll roll a bit.
- Savannah rolled her ankle.
- Savannah persevered
- I diligently took videos while we were running
- Savannah and I got super pissed because this mother was yelling at her obviously not so in shape daughter (who I’m guessing was somewhere between 12-15 years old) to go faster. The girl was whimpering and pretty much crying. Savannah agreed we could speed up to get around them when I was on the verge of telling the mom to “back the F _ _ _ off” And I’m serious about being on the verge. I was already making eye contact with the mom and clearing my throat. Either Savannah was very perceptive or we just got very lucky. (lucky because me getting arrested for making a little evil woman cry as I strangled her would have pretty much ruined the rest of our day.)
- Savannah HAMMERED the hills. Whereas most people slow down on the uphill, Savannah decided the best way to deal with them was to just “get them over with” - which means she actually increased speed (didn’t even just maintain!) on the uphill. It was most impressive!
- Savannah did NOT stop! Even with all the crazy elevation Savannah never stopped. Before today the furthest she’d run was about 3 miles!!! She really gave 100% today!! And she friggin ROCKED! Seriously! I was so impressed! So happy! Turns out she’s a great running buddy!
- Savannah made a lot of jokes about rolling her ankles right and left.
- I started to pee myself laughing at said jokes.
- Savannah and I had no conception of distance. The below video (you know, where we estimate we’ve got about 2 miles left) was taken literally about 30 seconds before we turned a corner and saw the finish line.
- At which point we took an epic finish video.
And that was the race! It was great! Savannah really seemed to enjoy herself and it was exciting to have her out there! She’s definitely a natural!
After the race we took some more pictures, picked up our tshirts, ate some snacks, and then headed back to Berkeley. On the way we paused Mr.Toad’s wild ride stopped by Safeway to get Savannah some ice and something to wrap her ankle up with (it was looking pretty swollen) before heading over to Intermezzo’s for lunch.
After lunch we stopped by Amoeba, where I bought three new CDs (one of which I’m currently listening to), before picking up Savannah’s friend, Laura, to go see Batman. And let me tell you - it was EPIC! The entire cast was amazing.
After that we got dinner at one of Savannah’s favorites, Naan and Curry. I’d never been before so I was excited. And it was delicious! Plus, free chai and seriously generous naan bread proportions. And you know how much I love love love naan bread!
So that was our full race day report! Pretty awesome!
I suspect you’ll be seeing a lot more Whitney sister race reports in the future. (but in the meantime you can see lots more pictures of us (with commentary!) here)
Comments
4 Responses to “Race Report: Sequoia Trail Run 10k (with sissy!)”
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Great running you two. That downhill is a real beauty!!
Cheers, Paul
Awesome!
I wish I would have had a chance to catch up with you two and say hi! Luckily there’s more where that come from…
http://www.envirosports.com/events/event.php?eventid=2325
Tell Savanna if she can tackle a 10K she can tackle a 12K!
Way to go!
Heather, you are hilarious! (I’m glad you decided not to opt for a video clip of your sister’s bathroom adventure.)
holy crap that was the funniest thing I have witnessed in a long time. You two need a show of your own. You had me at the dirty panties as earmuffs instead of muff-muffs. Will I get booted from the computer for saying muff???