Summary: Hot. Steep. Finished. Ready.
The Mt. Diablo Trail Marathon. Yes, it was a Devil’s Day out there.
I expected to finish around 5.5 hours – with 6000’ of climbing and a slow approach to the day, I figured a 12:00 min/mile pace was reasonable and would leave me plenty of gas of the tank. This was a last training run before the Tahoe 200, and a chance to try out my newest assembly of gear.
Get on your Game Face!
Race Objectives:
- Finish easy and strong: This race is about half of what I’ll need to do every day for four days at the Tahoe 200, so if I’m withering at the end of 26.2 miles and 6000’ of climbing, that’s not good.
- Stay healthy: Don’t injure or strain any muscles, joints, ligaments or tendons, and don’t create an extended recovery time. I’ve got 11 days until the Tahoe 200 starting line. No reason to overdo on a training run this close to the race start.
- Test my new gear: Trekking poles, a backpack with a hydration kit and all of the required gear (i.e. rain gear) I’ll carry for the Tahoe 200. I’m pretty I was the only runner out there with rain gear packed with them. (Lena joked that I should have taken it out and put it on at one of the rest stops.) The fully-loaded pack is 10 lbs, so that’s some extra weight for both the climbs and descents on the course.
- Self-support: The Tahoe 200 has plenty of 15-20 mile stretches with no aid stations or water. I wanted to see how long 2 liters of water plus water bottles with nutrition plus real food would last.
- Nutrition Plan: I was trying out Tailwind + Clif Bars. I used it a bit at The Ridge 60k two weeks ago, but later in the day. Today, I was starting with it to see if I’d respond differently. Usually I use 3Fu3l for the first 4-6 hours, then switch to a higher carb mix like Tailwind. I do really, really well with 3Fuel and so I just wanted to see if there was a noticeable difference by going with Tailwind.
- Foot Care: Avoid blisters and hot spots, and treat them quickly if any pop up.
Pre-Race:
Complete with rain gear. You know, for those 100-degree August days on Mt. Diablo.
My super duper crew.
I had company today! Lena and Benjamin came out there with me, which was AWESOME! So much fun to share these days with them. Parking was right there at the race starts – no shuttles or long walks. Woohoo!
We arrived about an hour before race start. I grabbed my stuff and geared up in the [long] bathroom line. Only three stalls and no Port-o-Johns out there, but the line moved fast and the bathrooms where very clean.
I collected my gear and then Benjamin participated in the Kids’ Run – a 50-yard sprint – then I headed to the starting line. No hiccups in the race prep. I wanted to keep it relaxed and mellow, treating the day as just another training run.
Race Start & The First Climb (miles 1-9)
The first two miles were a nice easy incline. I jogged out slowly until mile 3 when the course inflected upwards and the hiking began. There were some pretty steep sections which made even a light jog difficult so I focused on using my trekking poles and establishing a rhythm. I need to get used to 17:00-20:00 miles because I’ll have lots of those (and then some) in two weeks.
I skipped the first aid station at mile 5 after 2000’ of climbing and kept going to the peak at mile 7. Specular views atop Mt. Diablo from an observation deck, which I took in for all of five seconds, then back down to the same aid station at mile 9. I filled up one nutrition bottle and then headed down to the bottom of the mountain.
Descent #1 (miles 9-13.5)
The downhill was equally steep, which was frustrating. With the 10 lbs of weight plus the steepness, my knees were taking a beating. I keep my steps short and used my poles to take some of the weight off my joints. I did bust my ass one time on a particularly steep grade. I lost my footing and slid. Nothing terrible, and a good lesson to stay patient and to feel a fall because I’m sure I’ll have a couple of those…
Once down at the mile 13 aid station, I plopped down to change my socks. My feet were pretty dusty – I was wearing Injinji no-show socks and no gaiters, so with the sliding and direct, my feet got dirty quickly. (I’ll definitely be wearing gaiters in Tahoe, plus probably an overpair of socks to reduce on dust and particles. I rewarded myself with a few Peanut M&Ms and some stretching, then heading out for the second half of the day.
The next couple of miles where slight rolling hills where I could jog on the single track and fire trails, and generally make some good progress before the next big climb.
Climb #2 (miles 13-21)
This is where I wanted to quit. Around mile 16, the day was heating up. The high temperature was forecast for 105, and it was already well into the 90s by now. I had been out there 4+ hours and knew I had a lot of work to do – another 2000’ of climbing. I stopped and did some breathing exercises which helped for the next mile, then got myself to the mile 17 aid station.
Me: “What’s the course like from here?”
Aid Station Volunteer: “Up.”
F&ck. Another 2.9 miles up – more climbing on top of the climbing.
Taken around mile 8. Definitely wasn’t so chipper 10 miles later…
At mile 18, I, sat down on the course for a minute again. My groin muscles started cramping and I wanted to quit. Okay. Here it was. The real test of why I was out there.
But I couldn’t quit, more than anything because I was in the middle of nowhere and it’s not like I could hop in an Uber and head to the finishing area. This was the mental test I needed to just keep going.
I could feel the heat coming off the rocks and ground, as much of the course was exposed with nothing but yellow grass all around. Every so often, an oasis of trees covered the course for 20 yards or so and breeze would blow. When I noticed the breeze, I took off my hat to let my head cool down and to try to enjoy whatever relief was available. I passed a few racers along this stretch – people walking even on the flats. I had a couple of small mental and physical peaks in there. They were short-lived, but noticeable and that made me feel good about my overall fitness to feel that jolt of positive energy.
I kept drinking fluids – rotating water and nutrition and slowly and reached the mile 21 aid station. By then, I was feeling pretty tired so I sat down for a few minutes to relax and take in a Coca-Cola. The climbing was done for me. (The 50k course headed all the way back up to the mountain peak 1000’ up from there.) Just five miles down to the finish. I knew the five miles would be steep, so that meant another hour. I was already at 5.5 hours, so a good hour behind what I expected going into the day.
The Final Descent (miles 21-26.2)
Mile 21 was on a single track with some mellow undulations, then I hit a 2-mile stretch that was as steep going down as it was going up because, well, it was the same trail… I used it as a chance to practice more with my trekking poles and thought about getting down to under two miles left where I knew the course leveled off and I could jog it in.
Once down to mile 24.5, I hit the more even terrain but was feeling pretty tired and ready to be done for the day. I did a walk-jog strategy – jogging for 100 count, then walking for a 50-count. I extended the 100 count to sets of 2-3 and kept plodding along. I was hovering at 15:00 min/mile pace overall. I passed a hiker coming up the trail who said – “One mile to go…” I kept the rhythm and passed one last racer with about 1/4 mile to go. I jogged it in across the finish and was happy to be done at 6:35.
Lena and Benjamin were there, along with Kim and her kids. All I could say was – “Oh man. Sorry that took so long.”
Six and half hours. That was a long day. For context, two weeks ago, I ran 39 miles in 6:32 at The Ridge 60k– an extra 13 miles in the same time as these 26 miles took today.
After dumping my gear and dosing my head at a water spigot, I heard my name called –
“Scott Sambucci – Age Group, First place.”
What? Really? Wow. The patience paid off. Don’t know how many were in my age group – probably fewer than ten, but one must be present to win. My first 1st-place age group medal. Nice.
My first Age Group win.
Recovery
Once home, I showered then stretched for a good 30 minutes – lacrosse ball and foam roller – across my leg muscles then took a 16-minute ice bath to reduce any swelling and help with recovery.
I felt good the rest of the day. I little bit of stiffness as the night wore on, but overall I felt limber and good. I slept through the night and today I feel good. A little sore, but definitely good.
What I Learned:
- Nutrition: Definitely going back to 3Fuel for the first few hours. I didn’t feel badly or have any adverse effects to Tailwind. Just feels like I do better with 3Fuel at the start, plus switching in the day keeps my palette fresher.
- Patience: There were some looooong climbs out there. That’s just the way it is. Keep moving forward. For every steep grade, there’s relief. Eventually. It’s good to know that I’ve experienced slow miles and could do a race without racing or worrying about my finishing time.
- Gear: I LOVE my trekking poles. So, so, so awesome. Worth every penny. I couldn’t self-support for the day because of the heat, but I feel good about what I can carry if the temperature is 20-30 degrees cooler.
- Fitness: That I was out there in 100 degree heat, finished strong with very little soreness is really super. I’m as ready as I can be for the Tahoe 200. Let’s do this.