Preparations started the day before, first with no energy-sapping workouts at all and loading up on the calories. I did okay on the latter point, up until the afternoon. We went to Garyn and Nick's wedding where I obliged as a guest and ate a Greek salad with gyros meat. That's not bad in itself, but we still had dinner plans with Bob and Tami. Only a couple hours after the wedding, and we're at Islands, where I'm skipping dinner but loading up on house fries and a wheat beer. Tasty, yes, but totally wrong. Younger and more proficient distance runners might be able to do that, but all it did for me was give me the bloat.
I took a couple of Gas-X pills at bed time and cursed myself for potentially botching my preparations. Oh, and I was up later than planned, cutting into my rest and REM. I had to run to the grocery store for some vital fuel (Clif ShotBlocks and Gatorade products). By the time I got to bed, it was closing in on 11PM, and I'd set my alarm for 4:30AM.
I slept fine, other than having to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. I'd really loaded up on the water the day before, so I was well-hydrated to start the day. The alarm went off as scheduled, but I drifted back to sleep and woke up naturally at 5AM. It was still darkish outside. I thought it would be lighter, but I took the pre-dawn time to have a protein bar, some soy milk and a couple of mandarin oranges for breakfast. I really was hoping for a morning constitution (as they say), but that wasn't happening. Fortunately, the bloating feeling from the night before was gone.
I left the house around 6AM, and it was morning light by then. I drove first all the way around to the parking lot across from Hernandez's Hideaway and hid an insulated bag in the brush with a 12 oz Gatorade bottle and a banana. That would be my 15-mile point and the crux of the run, so I knew I was going to need a boost. I wanted to carry as little as possible during the run, so I was going to rely on pre-cached pit stops.
I drove back to Rancho Bernardo and hid another stash at the parking lot at the Highland Valley Trail head. I'd hit that on the backtrack of that trail, which would be close to the halfway point.
Then back to the dirt lot near the Piedras Pintadas trail area where I geared up and headed out, just a little after 6:30. I chose not to start the timer, hoping to not let myself become fixated with schedules or pace. My overriding concern was completing the distance. I broke the 20+ miles up into four chunks:
1. The first 5 miles would be a "figure 8" through the Piedras Pintadas trails...covering a portion of the very same ground Chelsea King ran. Despite living only a mile or two away from that preserve all these years, I'd never explored it and so the whole trail complex was new to me. I'd start and finish at my car, where I had a cooler with food and drink.
2. The second 5-mile segment would be the Highland Valley trail on the other side of I-15. As with the first section, I was unfamiliar with the trail, but scouting it at SDRP.org and MapMyRun.com, it looked basically to be an out-and-back run with few or no false trails to get me lost.
3. The 3rd 5-mile portion would take me from the new pedestrian bridge at West Bernardo Dr and follow Lake Hodges north shore around to Hernandez's Hideaway. I'd run this section before so I was familiar with it. I planned to carry the water bottle I'd stashed at Highland Valley and let it help me reach the boat ramp complex where I'd hoped to find public water. And then reach the water stash at the turnaround point.
4. The last 5-mile section would simply be a reverse, and end at the south end of the footbridge. Adding up the miles would get me to 20 total. If I had the energy or legs, I figured I could get some final short work done in and around the Piedras Pintadas.
So, that was the plan; and that's also how it went. I'll post my reflections on the run later. I'm taking Quin to see Iron Man 2 at 12:30.
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