bulldog 25K training run #2

the event organizers for the upcoming bulldog 25/50K race held training run #2 on saturday morning, so i dragged vim out there this time, as he'll be joining me for the race on august 25 as well. temps were already in the low 70s just after 7am, so today was a good day for heat acclimatization.

chose the same strategy of power walking up bulldog motorway while running on the flats, and that seems to be the right formula for me. weirdly enough, i arrived at the top in 81 minutes - the exact same time as my run a few weeks back. since vim had to make a "fecal withdrawal" along the way, it gave me a 10 minute break to catch my breath up top and refuel.

headed up bulldog

the top at last!

when bulldog is too easy

quick group break

just past the parking lot at corral canyon, we came across two strange individuals that had us shaking our heads. the first was a somewhat out of shape dude gasping for air while holding on to his empty 12oz bottle of water - the only source of hydration he took on this 14.2M trail run in heat! outside of the entrance as well as a campground near mile 12, there is no water source to be found in the park, so i'm not sure what he was thinking...

the second occurrence had a girl catch up to us, then seemingly wanted to tell us her life story while opening up her backpack and showing just how much water she brought. she went on and on about how heavy her bag was, if she brought the right amount of water or too much, can you guess how many pounds it was, how is she supposed to go hiking in hollywood tomorrow since she might be sore after today, yada yada yada. one look at vim and we decided to get the F out of dodge... and quick, before she glommed on to us to run together.

no small feat after 8m

obligatory photo op

settling back into a groove at around mile 8, vim started to slow down a bit and told me to take off and meet up back at the car. it's always tricky in instances like this, because one shouldn't abandon their running partner just because they're having a slow day. at the same time, if one has to slow down to the point that they have to alter their mechanics and aren't getting the proper training out of a run, that's an issue as well. there was still at least 6 miles to go, so after a bit of hemming and hawing, we agreed to meet up at the car.

after a few rolling hills, it's pretty much a straight descent for 2.5M from mile 9 onwards, so i happened to find a pacer in front of me and rode her hip the entire way down. she never looked back to see who was breathing heavily behind her, so for that i thank her haha. when she stopped to refuel at the bottom, i told her great job and thanks, and soldiered on.

the last two miles were a slog especially in the increasing heat (80s now), but i had enough water (thankfully i brought two handhelds along with my 50oz bladder) and kept hydrating throughout. i finally made it to the picnic benches at the start, grabbed some shade and gladly took a load off. my final time? 14.2M in 2:47, the exact same time as training run #1. so weird!