And my 2nd race of the year, the Steep Ravine 25K, in the books. The weather was pretty cool, 55-low 60s, but with a fog for most of it that was more muggy than cooling. It was indeed a 25K, came in at about 15.5 miles, and 3,400' of elevation gain and loss. And it was steep - basically all up or down, with only a small flatish section in the middle. It started with a climb straight up from Stinson Beach,
1500' elevation in the first 3 miles. Much of it was made up of wood and stone steps, with a few sections so steep I was thinking they were more ladders than stairs, even using my hands to climb. Of course then I came around a corner and saw an
actual wood ladder that was part of the trail!
Those first 3 miles of climbing were between 15:00 and 17:00 pace, and managed the mostly downhill from mile 3-8.75 in 10:00-11:15 paces. Then came climb #2, which was over 1100' of climbing in less than 3 miles. That was a slog, ending with 300' of gain over less than a 1/4 mile to finish it off. Ouch. Those were all just under 16:00 miles, definitely feeling it in both my underdeveloped aerobic system and with not enough leg strength just yet. I picked it up again for the first mile downhill, but then between an aid station refill (there were 4 throughout the day, I spent between 1-2 minutes at each refilling my bottle and drinking some coke) and having to slow down going down slick stairs again it was another 15:00+ minute mile even downhill! The quads were burning coming down those stairs, and my knees were feeling it. It finally "leveled off" a bit and I finished it off with 1.5 miles at about 10:30 pace, good for 3:26 according to my Garmin.
All in all I feel pretty good about it - pushed a little harder than I would have on a training run, but didn't overdo it. Hydration and nutrition were good with no cramping, energy, or stomach issues. And I got a hell of a hill workout in!