Wild Miles 2006
183 mile relay. High altitude desert. 95+ degrees.
Can I say fun?
Walking into this race, I was surprised to find there were only half the number of teams from the previous year, only 50. Hmm, last year's 115 F heat musta scared them off. As it twas, it was down to our NaClicious running team vs. the almighty LA frontrunners (a team of 10 gay men?!), a rematch from last year. Who will win? The crazy grad students, or the gay men of west Hollywood? Ah, who cares so long as we beat all of those military teams.
So the math. 183 miles, 10 people/team = ~18 miles/person. 30 legs = 3 legs per person, so......about 6 miles each leg. Now, these race organizers want everybody to finish at the same time by having the slowest teams start first and the fastest last, so for us fast folk, this means that we get to pass up 50 teams over the 20+ hours of runnin'.
Leg #1, round 1. Time to throw down the gauntlet to those LA frontrunners. Since we were #1 and #2 last year, we were the last to start this race, head to head. 10am and already ~95F , the first leg was a 5.7 mile loop around the start, and I made that frontrunner pay w/a 30+ second lead by the end.
Leg #13, round 2. ~6:30pm and slightly cool, albeit dry as a bone, this leg was in the desert foothills, seemingly flat until you hit this steep-ass hill that rose over a mile, then a bit slower until you crested and dropped into some ready speed work. Nasty fuckin' hill. Creeps up on ya all steathy-like, then *boom* WTF?. Big enough to wake you up, then once you're woken it'll grind ya so gradual like, so sneaky! And down and out.
Leg #22, round 3. 6.3 miles of flat offroad at 3am? I ran this last year, and let me tell ya, its like running on the moon. Can't see the ground short of what you see w/a headlamp; its chasing glowsticks every 100+ meters. Strangely enough, I passed up 9 teams on this leg. And then, happily enough, I was done.
Leg #30. round 4? Turned out one of the teammates was injured, and I got placed with the last leg. From start to finish, there I was, and this leg was the most painful of all. 5.6 total, the first 4.2 miles uphill w/a climb of >1000ft, 10am and already hot, followed by a blistering 1.4 mile 500+ft downhill finish being chased by a frontrunner who technically had a 9 minute lead by the end, though it was a NaCl that first crossed the finish line.
At which point, I drank some water, helped clean the vans, and promptly passed out. 2nd place overall, its so on for next year.
Sometime later, I found myself back in San Diego, and after cleaning off the van decorations, launching some dry ice rockets, and getting dropped off home, I showered, slept 16 hrs, and now my legs love me somethin' special, let me tell ya.
Now all I can think about is next weekend's Wildflower triathlon. Does the madness ever end? Am I becoming Psycho Dave?
183 mile relay. High altitude desert. 95+ degrees.
Can I say fun?
Walking into this race, I was surprised to find there were only half the number of teams from the previous year, only 50. Hmm, last year's 115 F heat musta scared them off. As it twas, it was down to our NaClicious running team vs. the almighty LA frontrunners (a team of 10 gay men?!), a rematch from last year. Who will win? The crazy grad students, or the gay men of west Hollywood? Ah, who cares so long as we beat all of those military teams.
So the math. 183 miles, 10 people/team = ~18 miles/person. 30 legs = 3 legs per person, so......about 6 miles each leg. Now, these race organizers want everybody to finish at the same time by having the slowest teams start first and the fastest last, so for us fast folk, this means that we get to pass up 50 teams over the 20+ hours of runnin'.
Leg #1, round 1. Time to throw down the gauntlet to those LA frontrunners. Since we were #1 and #2 last year, we were the last to start this race, head to head. 10am and already ~95F , the first leg was a 5.7 mile loop around the start, and I made that frontrunner pay w/a 30+ second lead by the end.
Leg #13, round 2. ~6:30pm and slightly cool, albeit dry as a bone, this leg was in the desert foothills, seemingly flat until you hit this steep-ass hill that rose over a mile, then a bit slower until you crested and dropped into some ready speed work. Nasty fuckin' hill. Creeps up on ya all steathy-like, then *boom* WTF?. Big enough to wake you up, then once you're woken it'll grind ya so gradual like, so sneaky! And down and out.
Leg #22, round 3. 6.3 miles of flat offroad at 3am? I ran this last year, and let me tell ya, its like running on the moon. Can't see the ground short of what you see w/a headlamp; its chasing glowsticks every 100+ meters. Strangely enough, I passed up 9 teams on this leg. And then, happily enough, I was done.
Leg #30. round 4? Turned out one of the teammates was injured, and I got placed with the last leg. From start to finish, there I was, and this leg was the most painful of all. 5.6 total, the first 4.2 miles uphill w/a climb of >1000ft, 10am and already hot, followed by a blistering 1.4 mile 500+ft downhill finish being chased by a frontrunner who technically had a 9 minute lead by the end, though it was a NaCl that first crossed the finish line.
At which point, I drank some water, helped clean the vans, and promptly passed out. 2nd place overall, its so on for next year.
Sometime later, I found myself back in San Diego, and after cleaning off the van decorations, launching some dry ice rockets, and getting dropped off home, I showered, slept 16 hrs, and now my legs love me somethin' special, let me tell ya.
Now all I can think about is next weekend's Wildflower triathlon. Does the madness ever end? Am I becoming Psycho Dave?
we missed you at shannon's on sat, it was fun. i got sick from the jello shots though and vaguely remember stumbling home and having the worst night of sleep ever. no more alkeeehall for this girl!