Friday I departed from Palmdale for Fresno to stay the night with my parents. I grew up in Fresno and lived there until I was 18, my mom likes to say, if she knew I wasn't coming back when I went away to college she never would have let me leave.
Cindy was unable to come with me since she stayed home to dog sit a friend's dog. <-------Daisy (our guest for the weekend)
Our friend helped us out many many times by watching our dogs (before th
ey went to doggy heaven) when we went away and weren't able to take the dogs with us, and Cindy was happy to help repay the favor.
ey went to doggy heaven) when we went away and weren't able to take the dogs with us, and Cindy was happy to help repay the favor.Ben and Maxine ----->
The run was in Fish Camp just below the entrance to Yosemite. I was out the door by 5:30 and arrived at Fish Camp just after 6:30 only to get a little lost trying to find the place. How anyone gets lost in a town with a population of 12 is beyond me, but I have some special abilities. My parents were going to arrive around noon in order to see me cross the finish line. I had the impression that my mom expected me to be crawling across the finish line gasping for air after 31 miles and I hoped I would be able to change that perception.
The reason Goldilocks came to mind was because I have run in 50k's that seemed too flat, and I have run in 50k's that seemed to steep, but like the bowl of porridge, this difficulty seemed just right. The course had plenty of climbs but most of the time it was a nice gradual ascent. There were still quad pounding descents and steep hills near the end that kept you plenty humble so that you would not forget that Papa Bear was still in charge.
Shadow of the Giants is a perfect name for the run as the giant sequoias are constantly protecting you from the sun. The volunteers at the aid stations were awesome, and Baz the race director was never without an ecouraging word. Near the end I thought the race would go on forever, and my time seemed a little too long for such nice day. I heard rumors after the race that the course is more like 33 miles than 31 and whether or not this is true, I am sticking with the 33 mile distance in my head.
It was nice to see my parents had driven up, and my mom was right on top of her job to snap a picture as I finished; after I crossed the line she was worried she missed the shot so she had me circle around and cross again... didn't she know I had just run 33 miles?
As always I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to run in such a beautiful place on a beautiful day. What a pleasure to have my parents there with me and then we went out for a lunch in the nearby town of Oakhust. I'm just glad I was able to get up from crawling on the ground and gasping for air just before getting to the finish line. :-)
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