Then she emailed to see if I wanted to run it with her... What can I say? I succumbed to peer pressure. I am such a sucker for a pretty face!
Spoiler alert! We made it. Jo Lynn at Mt. Diablo summit.I knew I would be slow, I knew it might hurt, but I also knew we would have fun and it would be beautiful. I was right on all counts.
Details:
Total Distance: 13.93 miles
Total Time: 4:22:23 (see the elevation profile before you get all judgey!)
Total Elevation Gain: 3822 ft. (according to USGS)
Run
The run climbs up Mt Diablo and then back down.
Elevation Profile. Please note the 1000 ft increments on the y-axis.I know, so cute.
My legs warmed out of that just in time for the climb to start to get hard. Most of those next 5 miles were not really runnable, so we hiked to the summit and enjoyed the beautiful views.
I have never been up here and the landscape was breathtaking.
Mt Diablo is known for blistering heat, but today it was overcast, cool and perfect running weather.
She is too damn cute! Approaching the summit
Rare tree lined portion of the trail
By the time we got to the summit it was socked in with fog. Awesome.Ok, I will admit. It was not all a power slog to the summit and back. We found some time to goof around a little.
One of the three tarantulas we saw. Jo Lynn was shocked I did not want to pick him up. Little known fact: RBR is a total wimp about spiders. Yep, most punk ass biology teacher EVER!
A den in the side of the mountain. There were no critters inside, except for the rare, sightless pink chested RBR. (Obligatory lame biologist joke.)
Then there was the biggest pine cone I have EVER seen. All of the conifers up here were scrawny and rat ass at best, but they spit out some giganto pine cones. We ran down the mountain at what felt like a brisk pace, but according to Garmin was only brisk in comparison to the ascent. Oh well. Whatevs.
In the last mile we were passed by the winner of the marathon. So yes, the gal that ran twice the distance we did passed us and finished before us.
This no longer shocks me.
In the last mile we were passed by the winner of the marathon. So yes, the gal that ran twice the distance we did passed us and finished before us.
This no longer shocks me.
All in all a great run with a great buddy. Thanks, man.
31 comments:
That is a massive pine cone! And I too am afraid of spiders!
FIRST!1!
I assume. I didn't look.
Okay, I looked.
FIRST (with a penis)!!1!
(You don't count, tranny.)
Okay, I looked at the tit-shaped elevation chart. So I can get all judgey now. (Hey ... your rules!)
And here is my judgey comment:
That is one weird looking tit on that elevation chart.
Still ... I'd f*ck it.
Congrats on the nice finish and finding that big "pine cone" (<-- FYI, mine's bigger ... both of them).
That elevation chart reminds me telling someone that the Leadville 100 has only 7 hills (didn't mention they're all 3000 feet of climb). Giant spiders and giant pinecones... are you sure you didn't shrink? Running that race after beating up your feet in an ultra - sounds like something I would do, so that can't be good.
Look it's twins!!
I think the trees are trying to overcompensate!
Serious, who picks up spiders? You saw what happened to Peter Parker didn't you?
it was a beautiful day in the east bay yesterday for a race! i bet it was so pretty up there :)
i would NEVER pick up a spider either, especially that one! gahhhhhhhh *shivers*
Yeah, I get lapped by the longer winners all the time... Why would you want to hurry w/ good company and weather??
I love you two and your pics! So cute all pinked out!
And I'm jealous I didn't get to run with you :(
Nice work - hope your feet are doing better!
Miss ya!
Cool spider! It's those slimy things I don't care for! That pine cone would make an awesome cat toy! Fill the crannys with a little catnip and poof-a new toy!
I love when full marathons start after us 1/2 runners-I then know that there is ALWAYS someone behind my slow ass, even if they did run twice as much....still counts!!
Wow, I saw the pics of your feet last week. You are brave and gutsy! Diablo is beautiful but humbling, but it looks like you picked a great day for a race.
Love the tarantulas! They make cute pets you know. I made the mistake of kicking one of those pine cones once- Ow! They are dense and heavy, like kicking a rock.
Cynthia
Did you keep that pine cone? Because you should have. Would be a great souvenir. It's probably best that you left the spider, however. Eww...
Here's what I have to say about that spider: ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, EEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWW!
Love the race report, sounds like a challenging (but fun) day!
BEAUTIFUL!! I'm so envious.
Awk, that spider would freak me out...yuck!! Aren't they like deadly or something?
I'm glad your feet recovered enough so you could enjoy that great 4000' lung buster race!!
Misty and I did a half-mary too but ours was cute and fuzzy.
wow that is a giant pine cone.
You did it, braving tarantula and monster pine cones! BTW, tarantulas are totally cute and they feel great on your arm. They have like little velcro feet - really neat.
I love Mt Diablo but I haven't been there in a while. Your pictures make me want to go back.
Congrats on a great run.
Anything that calls itself Mt. Diablo is a bad-ass run! Nice job on the run...that is some crazy elevation!!
Just dropping by to affirm the well-known fact that I am a TOTAL dick and if ANYONE - and I mean ANYONE - tells you different, that person is a liar and, I suspect, also a tranny.
I just thought the readers of Run Bith Run should know this.
Because there are a LOT of liars out there ready to tell hurtful, hurtful LIES!1!
Also?
I can't spell "Bith". <-- See what I mean?
Thought of a caption for the den photo: Chateau Marmot.
Good Lord, woman! Do you EVER run anything that's not up a damn hill?! Geesh.
Nice job. :-)
I almost said "forget you" when I saw that naaaasty spider pic but I decided to leave my mark anyway. Thanks for giving me spider nightmares tonight.
OMG you are hilarious! So glad I found you!
That's a hell of an impressive profile! Brisk pace or not, I hope the trip back down was fun. Oh, and we collected a few of those freak pine cones when we went to Calif. We kept them as souvenirs.
I see you made it to my little corner of the universe. Tarantulas. Not cute. I've had them in my yard. I scream like a girl.
EEK at the spiders! Looks challenging, though and esp after your feet issues, NICE JOB!
I am such a loser! I thought I already commented here. Oopsie.
Thank you for joining me Sunday while I completed another item on my bucket list. You always make the misery go by much faster. I hope we can do more runs together in 2011.
You're the best! xoxo
Great adventure, I love the place, the view and the people. Nice run there!!!
zbsports
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