Coyote Backbone Trail Ultra – Pre-race/Taper Thoughts
This Saturday I’ll be participating in the inaugural Coyote Backbone Trail Ultra. The Backbone Trail stretches 68 miles through the Santa Monica Mountains from Will Rogers State Park in Pacific Palisades up north and west to Point Mugu State Park in Malibu. The backbone trail is a faint green line running through the middle of the white area – click on the map for a bigger image and you’ll be able to see it.
And here’s the elevation profile. There are nasty climbs scattered throughout the course. It’s listed at 14,728 feet of elevation gain in this direction. That descent from miles 55-60 (the top of Sandstone Peak to Danielson Ranch) is a blast when your legs feel good. It’s not nearly as steep as it looks and it’s technical with lots of switchbacks. On the other hand, I’m guessing it could be awful on aching legs. Especially in the pitch black dark.
The trail is a favorite place for trail runners and hikers in Los Angeles and over the last few years, I’ve spent a fair amount of time on various sections of the trail. Last spring and summer, Lukas and I ran the entire trail in a series of out-and-back runs. This winter and spring, I’ve re-run big chunks of it. As a result, I probably know this course better than any trail race I’ve ever run. (Contrast that with my last race, Bandit 50k, where I followed my usual pattern by never stepping foot on the trails before raceday.) It remains to be seen if knowing the trails will actually do me any good.
Howard, the RD, organized some training runs this spring. I only made it out to one of them – from Misha Mokwa to the finish at La Jolla Canyon. I ran it with Matt and Andy. Howard got this shot of us along the Overlook Trail close to the final descent.
The race has an interesting format. There are three waves – the first starts at 6am, the second at 9am and the last wave at noon. They’ve grouped runners by approximate projected pace, with the “slowest” starting first at 6am and the “fastest” starting at noon. That way, everyone should finish at roughly the same time (though I’m still trying to figure out what time I think that will be for me). Starting the race at noon will be very strange – I can sleep in, but will I actually be able to? Also, how do I eat during the morning without over-eating? And starting in the heat of the day will be a joy, but the truth is that no matter what time I started I’d be running through the day. Another strange thing is that at least half of the race will be in the dark. It’s all part of the adventure!
This is the first time anyone’s ever organized a race along the entire trail. Since it covers so much ground – some of it State Park, some Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and some private land – the permitting is a massive PITA. I’m thankful to Howard and his team for their efforts and psyched to be able to be part of the race.
Training has continued to go really well. I’m still injury free (knock on wood) and other than my usual tight hamstrings and a left ankle which rolls pretty badly once almost every trail run, I don’t even have any of those standard niggling aches and pains.
As indicated by this post’s title, I am tapering for this one. I started my taper after last Wednesday’s hill repeat workout, so that gives me about 10 days.
Last weekend, Elizabeth and I traveled back east for a wedding. Here’s the goofy pictured of me with Elizabeth, Jeff and Lindsay from the wedding photobooth:
During the trip, I got out for a few runs, but it was a busy trip and a good time to be tapering. We came home exhausted.
With 3 days to go, I’m feeling appropriately antsy, tired and grumpy. Hopefully by Saturday, I’ll just be antsy!