After a night of camping, I went to head out for another run at the Joshua Tree State park. I loved the run, the sandy/gravel roads and trails were real soft and took all the impact off your legs. The climbs were tough and for the longest time I couldn't understand why as they were not super long. But, I found out that the park had some hills that were at high altitude so the mixture of then air, late night of camping, and early morning run made the hills even harder. After we packed up we headed back through the desert to the Orange Country area where I was to run a trail race in Rancho Santa Margarita. This area was so beautiful and changed my whole opinion about the Orange County area. I was opposed to living in Southern Cali for the longest time because I hate the traffic and lack of trails, but this area totally changed my mind with the wide variety of trails and state parks lined up next door to one another. When we got to the race I went out to check out the course to see what I was getting myself into. Right from the start, you start to notice that the first few miles were gonna be slow. There was a stair section and steep hills leading up to two miles about. Going up the hills you can't help but to notice the beautiful scenery, which I plan to post a few pics from here. You can see mountains in the distance and across the way, which gave me the idea that I would most likely be running up them and after a few miles of the running the course I certainly did end up running up and down them.
I knew the course would be tough and with all the single track areas early on and steep climbs I figured the best strategy would be to take it out hard and run my own race from there. I did just that. As the gun went of to start the second race of the series I went straight to the front and pushed up the steep hills and stairs to build up a strong lead. I even caught the elite mountain biker in the race whom was to lead us through as he started a bit earlier. He was shocked I caught him so early, but its no secret running up hills is easier than riding up them. After I passed him I pushed past the 2 mile mark quite a bit disappointed when I looked at my time of 13:02. However, this is a trail race and the first 2 miles were climbing sections, so I knew with the downhill sections and flat sections I would make up for the loss in time. Coming up another steep section, I was able to look over a past section of the course to see my nearest competition, he happened to be a ways back so it made it hard to push the pace anymore. I tried to keep the intensity up and run as if he would close really fast so I ran the last 2.88 miles in 14 minutes flat letting off the gas as I approached the finish. I was pleased with the race however, I have been feeling that I need to get my iron levels checked. For about a month or so now I have been feeling quite tired and flat in races.
Not to mention today's race in Jacksonville. Today may have been the worse race of my career. I not only puked during the race, but I also ran into a spectator and beyond all of this, I just didn't feel good at all. I won't get into the race much, because to be honest I didn't even try and I knew it would be a bad day. All runners have these experiences and talking to other guys who have been more established than me who have had the same experiences and even the same experiences today kinda made me feel better. I'm not the type of guy who needs a pity story to make me feel better about myself so really it was just comforting to know it happens to all runners. Sometimes you just don't feel good and there is nothing you can do about it. I do know this, that God willing I will get my iron levels worked on and get back into top shape again and I will be a threat once again soon.....
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