Old Coast Road 20 Miler

So that whole taking it easy before my race idea???  Yeah that didn't last long.  One of the guys, Brad, from the running club in town turned 38 and wanted to run the Old Coast Road three times as his present to himself.  The Old Coast Road is the way they traversed the area around what is now home to the Bixby Bridge in Big Sur.  Before the bridge was built in 1932 travelers had to make their way up the steep hills, impassible in times of rain and through the redwoods to go further south on route 1.  The 10-11 mile trail takes you right to Andrew Molera State Park.

Brad had planned on running 30 miles and started at 5:00AM.  I had PLANNED on doing only one stretch, just about 10 miles.  For some reason the night before I couldn't sleep; it may have been the Peets Coffee at 7:00PM but either way I was awake pretty early.  I left for Big Sur around 6:15AM on Saturday morning and rolled in around 7:00AM.  I hadn't planned on showing up until almost 8:30 so that I could finish the last leg with Brad.  I pulled into the parking area (section of dirt off the highway) across from Andrew Molera and was immediately greeted by those early risers that had gotten there a bit before I had.  It just so happened that another guy, Sonny, was just about to head off right as I came strolling in.  I hurriedly got into my running gear and took off with him.  We were about 7 minutes behind Brad who had already finished his first lap and set off for the second one.

This trail is no picnic...it started off straight uphill for about a mile or so and eventually leveled out just to give us a bit of a tease until the next uphill battle.  Brad's girlfriend Lesley was nice enough to be driving around with all sorts of goodies in the back of her truck and set up aid stations every few miles or so.  This saved all of us!  Our first mile took us over 11 minutes of running/hiking straight up and that wasn't even the hardest mile.  After mile 3, and our first aid station we set off for the hard part.  Looking up at the top of the hill you could see the cloud cover and THAT of course is where we were headed!  I think the max elevation was about 1100 plus feet to that spot and that marked mile 6 or so.  It was a brutal climb but we made it and caught up with Brad and a few other guys.

The last four miles were pretty much a cakewalk compared to what we just finished.  We made our way through amazing red woods, along a creek and eventually out to the other end.  It was one of the best views I have seen since being here because we were on the other side of Bixby Bridge that most people don't get to see.  This is the point where I was supposed to STOP, jump in the car and meet up with everyone back at Andrew Molera...yeah right!

Brad took off for his third and final stretch and I wasn't going to let him do it alone.  Sonny and I took off after him and started on our second (and final) leg.  Even though it looked like I had a golfball in the side of my leg where the swelling started to overtake my already beat up achilles I knew I wouldn't get to do this run every day.  The uphills soon turned into extremely fast and steep downhills where I have no brakes or control over my body/speed.  I let gravity pull me down the hills and enjoyed the ride!  There were still some torturous uphills but we fought through them.  We made our way to Lesley's aid station at mile 14 and this is where Brad had to bail (his 24th mile).  He was pretty beat up and hurting quite a bit and nobody could blame him.  Sonny and I on the other hand had only 6 miles to go and wanted to get it over with.

Where we had left that last aid station was at the very peak of the hill so even though there were going to be a couple of smaller hills in our future we still got to enjoy the next couple of miles downhill.  And I mean straight downhill!  I took off on Sonny who was actually controlled as he went down the hills.  Right around mile 16/17 was the next uphill challenge.  As I was crawling up it I came across an older woman who was running up it so I started gaining some momentum from her.  We started talking as we fought uphill in the hot sun and eventually made it to the last aid station just after mile 17.  Here I waited up for Sonny and we finished this biatch off!

The last three miles were mainly downhill with some gradual inclines here and there but again I took off on the downhill.  I raced my way around the hairpin turns and counted down the miles as they passed.  Finally, after 3:25 and finishing up with a 5:50 20th mile I made it back to Andrew Molera park.  The total mileage was 20.25 miles and although it was the toughest 20 miles I have ever run, it was also the best.  The scenery was crazy, changing from open trails, to redwoods, to the hills, to overlooking the ocean...it was all amazing!

There were almost 20 or so people altogether that had run/walked/biked part of the trail.  Afterwards we all headed down to the park and ate brunch...a great way to end the morning and a birthday celebration I was glad to be a part of.  And now I sit here icing my leg as I will continue to do until my race on Saturday.  Everyone keeps asking themselves why we (as runners) punish ourselves...I do it because I love it.  The pain is just temporary but these runs I will remember for a lifetime!