On Friday I drove up to the +San Bernardino National Forest+ to take on the San Bernardino Traverse / 9 Peak Challenge as my final peak training weekend for the Vermont 100 Endurance Run. I checked in at the ranger station, cached a jug of water at the +Angelus Oaks+ trailhead (5,960’), set up camp at the +Vivian Creek+ trailhead (6,080’) and prepped my gear. I decided to go with a 2 a.m. start time to try and reach the summit of +San Gorgonio+ for sunrise, so I slept at 7:30 p.m. and set my alarm set for 1 a.m. 
I never sleep well at altitude, and this time was no different. After quickly breaking down my camp, I geared up at my car and was on the trail by 2 a.m. for a 5,400’ ascent up the 8-mile trail to the peak of Mount San Gorgonio, the highest peak in Southern California (11,500’). My pace was fast because I was convinced I was going to be mauled by a mountain lion or bear, so I wanted to reach higher altitude where I know they don’t travel often because there isn’t an abundance of “food.” On the way up, the only wildlife I encountered (thankfully) was a little scorpion and a sizable spider. Besides that, when I got above the tree line, I was greeted with an unreal view of the crescent moon—so big and close, it felt like I could reach out and touch it.
Above the tree line, the wind gusts picked up speed, and I started to get cold. That was when I noticed the distant glow of a headlamp on the trail above. Humans! I overtook the pair of hikers in the final half mile before the summit. One was in really bad shape from the altitude. He was resting his head on his trekking pole when I greeted him. His speech was slurred, and he struggled to complete coherent sentences. His buddy was in better shape and wanted to chat but I was freezing at this point and told him I had to keep moving. Here’s a video of the final stretch to the top:
I thought that watching the sun rise from the highest point in southern California was going to be a treat but it was painfully cold at this point with powerful wind gusts cutting right through my clothes and chilling my sweat. So with one peak down and eight to go, I set off to the west across the ridge of the San Bernardino mountain range.
Once the sun got high enough, it was comfortable. Well, as comfortable as running at 10,000+ feet above sea level can get :). I ran the flats and downhills, but walked the uphills to keep some energy “in the bank” for the long day ahead.
*San Gorgonio* (11,500’)
*Jepson* (11,205’)
*Little Charlton* (10,676’)
*Charlton* (10,806’)
*Alto Diablo* (10,563’)
*Shields Peak* (10,701’)
*Anderson Peak* (10,864’)
*San Bernardino East Peak* (10,691’)
*San Bernardino Peak* (10,649’)
This was pretty much the story for the run across the ridge, until I accidentally took a wrong turn and ran a half-mile in the wrong direction. Luckily, I crossed paths with a group of backpackers. Our conversation helped me determine where I went wrong, so I backtracked--only adding an additional mile to my day.
Aside from this group, I was alone on the ridge until the descent to Angelus Oaks after San Bernardino peak. My knees started to ache on the long and technical descent, so I was excited and relieved to reach the trailhead just after 10 a.m., having just completed the 26-mile San Bernardino Traverse / 9 Peak Challenge in under 8.5 hours (actually traveling 27 miles) and gaining more than 10,000 feet according to my Gamin data. 
Looking back over the peaks
But my day was far from over, so I filled up my hydration reservoir with the water cache I left the day before and ran to highway 38. Most folks who attempt the traverse shuttle their cars, leaving one at each trailhead. But I traveled solo, so 10 miles separated me from my car at the Vivian Creek trailhead. Running this section of the 38 would have been too dangerous because it is a winding mountain road with little to no shoulder, so I hitched a ride with a local and got dropped of 5 miles later at the turnoff for Forest Falls.
With 27 extreme miles and well over 10,000’ of gain already under my legs, I had five more miles of uphill to travel with 1,400’ to gain. My Achilles tendon was inflamed from the 10+ times I rolled my ankle earlier so I walked the whole way, determined to suffer through it. I took a break at the Elkhorn general store and treated myself to a root beer (my favorite ultrarunning beverage) and was back to my car at the trailhead before noon. The 32-mile adventure took roughly 10 hours to complete.
I went straight into the mountain stream and soaked my throbbing feet in the crystal-clear, cold mountain slow melt while lying on a warm rock in the sun. After that, I was feeling good to go, so I packed up my car and drove back to San Diego. I treated myself to a huge fish burrito and downed a few tasty beers for dinner :)
The hardest of the work is done, so now it’s time to recover, maintain, taper, and get super organized mentally and logistically for the *VT100* on 7/18 – 7/19! My trip back east starts in a little over two weeks, and I feel like I’m on target for a solid performance on race day!
Last week I focused on cross-training to give my hip rest while maintaining fitness leading up to my peak in training. On Friday morning, I went for a 3-mile test run to see if my hip was good to go for the weekend. My hip and legs felt great so I geared up for a big training weekend in Warner Springs and hit the road with my buddy, Austin.
We checked into Warner Springs Ranch, then Austin dropped me off at the Pacific Crest Trail trailhead on the north side of town at 4 p.m. I took off running north toward Indian Flats campground with the intention of turning around 8 miles in. I passed a group of hikers who were heading down when I was on my way up. The run was beautiful and the trail was in great condition. It climbed 1,500 feet up to 4,444 feet above sea level, where I actually reconnected with a portion of the trail that I ran in March.
Naturally, the descent was faster but I ran out of daylight by the time I caught up to the group of hikers. I chatted with these guys for a bit, and they were a fun bunch. It turns out they are all school teachers who hike together and are attempting to do the whole PCT in sections gradually over the years!
With my headlamp guiding the way, I finished up the last 1.5 miles along the dark road back to the ranch for 17.5 miles—a total of 20.5 miles for the day. After my recovery routine, I prepped my gear for an early wake up and another long run the next day.
On Saturday morning I was running by 6:30 a.m. and headed south to the PCT intersection on the 79. From there, I set off into the woods along a stream and climbed up to a clearing where I entered a wide-open rolling meadow that spanned as far as the eye could see. I was averaging a comfortable 5 miles per hour with a plan to turn around after four hours or 20 miles. At mile 6.5, I crossed paths with the same group of hikers from the evening before! They were completing the Barrel Springs to Warner Springs section of the PCT. Here’s a picture of their group:
I continued on and reached Barrel Springs in two hours. I noted the six jugs of water in the shade under a tree and planned to refill my hydration pack on my return trip. From here the trail climbed for the next hour and then continued above San Felipe Road until my turn around point, four hours in. Click here to see where I was.
I bring my iPhone along on these outings because of its lightweight camera, the GPS functionality and, of course, the phone in case of emergencies--but I seldom ever get service in the remote areas I run. So it was interesting when at the turn around point in my run, I randomly got a text from my brother! I took a photo of the amazing view of the valley below me and sent it to him with the subject line, “Wish you were here: mile 20 of 40!” 
Next I called my parents, who were boating on the river in our home town. After checking in with them, I was excited to begin the 20-mile run back to Warner Springs and set off on my way. The next two hours were uneventful and I comfortably cruised into Barrel Springs a little ahead of schedule because of the major descent out of the San Felipe Hills. I topped of my hydration reservoir and set out in the heat of the day for the final two hours.
My legs stayed strong for the entire eight hours, and my hip was fine too. It’s only a little sore now after the fact, but I got back to Warner Springs right on schedule and was very pleased with my first of two peak training weekends.
This weekend I’m off to the mountains for my final peak training weekend and a solo car-to-car attempt at the San Bernardino Traverse. The traditional route is a challenging day-hike with a car at both the start and finish, but I will only have one car and want to run as much as possible.
I’ll be going in reverse order, starting with San Gorgonio via Vivian Creek trail to get the monster 8-mile climb up to 11,500 feet done as my warm up, then run all nine peaks along the ridge above 10,000 feet, down from San Bernardino peak to Angelus Oaks, where I’ll have cached water the day before. Then I’ll finish off the final 10 miles on the road (between yellow markers on map) back to my car at the Vivian Creek trailhead. Here’s a map for a better idea.
I ran the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon while wearing a POV (point-of-view) camera to film the race and somehow managed to run the race in under 4 hours, with a negative split of 10 minutes. This was my first “major marathon,” so I had never run with so many people before. It was like the entire San Diego endurance sports community was either out running the race or cheering from somewhere along the way. It was powerful stuff, and I had a blast out there. Here's a shot of my buddies in their post-race pose-down (three no-longer-marathon virgins in this picture):
+(Giselle, Noelle, Austin and Jake)+
The 230+ miles I logged in May--which included a couple road marathons and tons of hilly run-commutes with a backpack on--fatigued my legs and compromised my biomechanics. I’m now nursing an overuse injury in my hip area that was inflamed all of last week. After soliciting some advice, I got ART and massage work done and was also prescribed cross-training. I’m going at full tilt with two sessions per day and a rotation of yoga classes (heated to 90 degrees), pool swimming (kick board work too), 1-hour elliptical sessions (with sweatsuit for heat training), lower-body resistance training, myrtl routine, cycling, ActiveX, and LSD runs (long slow distance). I'm happy to report that inflammation and tightness are already gone, so I'll be attempting to get some quality miles in the weekend on the PCT out of Warner Springs.
Last Saturday, I went on a mellow 30-mile ride along the 101 with my buddy Nick and then drove out east to Cuyamaca State Park with my friend Kam to volunteer at the SD100. We hung glowsticks along the trail between miles 58 to 70. We ran the whole way, but stopped often (80 times!) to hang the glowsticks. This completed my trail work required to participate at the VT100. It was pretty cool to be at the event as a volunteer and see how much work goes in to putting on an ultra marathon. I respect all that volunteers, crews, pacers and event directors do for us athletes. It was also a treat to run along the beautiful PCT and encourage the passing runners and their pacers (some solo). They all thanked us for hanging the glow sticks. It was a really cool experience.
Visit my photo site to see the album. Here is my favorite shot from the day: 
I’m going to attempt to run long this weekend, but I have no idea how peak training is going to play out because of my hip. I’ll be sure to post a report next week once I’m back from the ActiveX Charity Challenge Endurance Camp. Also, check in next week for more on my "peak training" (And yes, pun intended—you’ll see).
