So, I have done two runs over the last two days which have allowed me to scout out some of the tougher sections of the Altamont half. Yesterday’s was a thigh and calf burning climb up to some nice, leafy lanes beside Arts & Crafts style cottages that people come from all over to look at. I think Prince Charles even. A circuitous route brought me to a fairly gentle descent back into territory which I have run many times. Parts of this run may become regular stomping grounds.
Today’s run started from the office and traced the beginning and end of the half. The start will definitely be picturesque. Descending from Battery Hill, the course sweeps through the public square, beside the art deco masterpiece city building, and down to an oak-lined street. The pain and the hills begin not too long after, and I alternate between trepidation of the lactic buildup and anticipation of the flat landers who will really suffer. I don’t relish the suffering of others unless they are arrogant in the first couple of miles, as many will be.
I should mention now that I did not sleep well last night. Following a feisty joint session of Congress, which I enjoyed watching, it was time to reprogram the TV. Charter decided to re-order the channels not to long ago and then retroactively sent out a notice about the change. We had gotten kind of tired of doing a scavenger hunt for PBS Kids, so I pulled a Biden and hit the reset button. Low and behold, there were a lot of channels there which we did not have access to before. This was very exciting, but my attention was really grabbed by the Frontline special about the weekend that Lehman Brothers collapsed. By the time I turned off the tv, I got very involved in the battle of Gettysburg, having reached that point in the Civil War book.
Once that became unsustainable, I fell asleep only to be awoken by Tallulah in the middle of the night. She had a now blessedly rare bed wetting incident. Through no fault of her own, my Sweet Lady is impossible to rouse in such situations, so it was up to me to press the reset button on my daughter’s sheets. This was accomplished relatively quickly and Tallulah went back to sleep in good order. I, on the other hand, tossed and turned for some time as I thought about the new channels, the Congress of the United States, and something else very important which has escaped me at this point. This morning Tallulah mentioned that she thought the incident was “fun.” Who am I to judge another’s ideas of fun?
All of this is to say that I was not necessarily in prime condition for today’s run. The base level of caffeine has increased, which I could definitely feel, and my approach to hydration has been somewhat laissez faire. After the first climb, I turned off the half course in the direction of the end of the half route. Genetically, I am built to take wrong turns and run too long. Connecting to the end of the course was a case in point of this tendency. A brief trespassing incident put me back on course.
The last two miles of the course are no fun. This is not new to the course. These miles have never been fun. The climb is not steep here, but it is constant. There is no shade. Runners tend to get very quiet at this point. I knew I needed to spend some time out here before the race just to shrug off some of the stigma from when I broke down here the last time. Not so sure that today was the day to shrug off the stigma. There is one new turn on this section as well, which sends one up a street that really should be in San Francisco. Short and steep right at the end of the long slog. Now is moment on our run when I remind myself that having one’s heart and lungs explode during a run is actually quite rare and I will recover eventually.
Rounding the corner at the top of the street, I headed for home. Swinging down the back side of the hill toward the office, I found a certain spring in my step. Perhaps it was because I knew I was almost finished, but it may also be that, not unlike the big diesel Jan Ullrich, I had just then gotten warmed up for the effort. Since this was about a 4 or 5 mile run, it bodes well for Saturday morning. In addition, according to weather.com, the weed will be moderate on Friday and Saturday morning will have low 60 degree temperatures with clear skies. Overall, a good day to race. Now there is much water to drink.