ITRC Newsletter: Saturday, Workout Updates, Mt Whitney, More

THIS SATURDAY AT-A-GLANCE

Mileage: please refer to Training Corner below

Volunteers:

Setup/breakdown: Various
Bananas: Naomi Kress, Carole Comstock
Bagels: Veronica Santangelo, Mira Reverente

Waterstop: Tom Monahan

We are always looking for volunteers to help with our team and training – if you could spare some time to help, please let Naomi know at nukress@yahoo.com

TRAINING CORNER
By George Arita, Adviser of Training
Georgerunvta@aol.com

LONG SLOW DISTANCE (LSD)
The maintenance mileage is a recovery 8 miler. “Newbies” will run longer – 9 miles (go slow and easy).
Next Saturday (August 8) there is the County Fair 5-K in Ventura (Main St I believe) that some members will participate in. Those who are not will congregate as usual at Inside Track for our LSD run. Maintenance miles will be 15 miles; “newbie” miles will be 10 miles (the first double digit miles).

Looking forward, August 22 (in three weeks), we begin our 16-week training program for SBIM. On that Saturday, “Newbies” will have caught up with “veterans” as far as mileage is concerned, and we will ALL go out for a14-mile LSD run. Then we will slowly start cranking up the mileage to prepare for the BIG DANCE on December 6, 2009.

Been There, Done That - Mt Whitney
BREATHE, DRINK AND KEEP GOING: CONQUERING MT. WHITNEY

By Mira Reverente
mirarev@hotmail.com


“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.”
- Sir Edmund Hillary, first man to conquer Mt. Everest

I can’t count the number of times I uttered this to myself: breathe, drink and keep going, during my group’s recent conquest of Mt. Whitney. It sounds simple enough under normal circumstances or at sea level. But almost 14,500 feet, rapidly changing weather conditions, rough terrain and steep drop-offs are certainly not normal.

The idea of climbing the lower 48 states’ highest peak was brought up by a fellow runner and friend in February. Back then, mountain climbing had not even entered any realms of my consciousness and otherwise normal life. I did not even join the mountaineering club when I was in college. Sure, I knew they (the mountaineers) existed. You could easily pick them out even in a university of 20,000 students --- really short shorts year-round, sandals, tank tops, enormous backpacks, bulging biceps and toned calves. Do you get the picture?

So I caved in to peer pressure or the call of friendship, I gave my $15 for the one-day hike permit. It was a lottery to get in and since I had always been unlucky with lotteries, raffles and anything involving prizes, I forgot about it and looked forward to my “refund.” But lo and behold, our 15-person group was picked for a July 19th climb. Now what did I get myself into?

Like a bunch of disciplined and paranoid athletes, we trained and hiked almost every weekend since our last ultra-marathon in May. We trudged up Sulphur Mountain, trekked San Ysidro Canyon, took it easy at La Jolla, started wondering what it was all about atop Topa-Topa Mountain and finally pronounced ourselves fit and ready after ascending Mt. Baldy. We experimented, compared, borrowed, bought and finally settled on clothing and equipment. Most of us were particularly awkward with hiking poles and heavy backpacks. What do runners know about those anyway?

So off we went to Lone Pine the day before our climb. The plan was to camp out the night before so we could be near the Whitney portal. The alarm went off at 3 am and amidst some fumbling for our gear in the dark and a hastily eaten breakfast, all 15 of us were at the trailhead by 4:15 am. From a distance, one could probably see our little procession of headlamps and flashlights, heading into the forest and into the vast unknown.

Halfway through our ascent, our group started to split up into sub-groups of threes and fours. We could still see some of our group members on the switchbacks (did I mention there were 99 of them at one point?), but just like a marathon, you tend to stick with people doing the same pace or people with the same goals (to fall or not to fall). The weather was still good at this point, altering between sunny and cloudy mostly.

We only felt the sudden drop in temperature once we reached Trail Crest, which is about 13,000+ feet. By this time, I had my thin windbreaker and cotton mittens out. I could see the summit from this vantage point but almost everyone we talked to said that we were still about 1 ½ to 2 hours away from the summit. Let me take that back. Everyone we talked to said that we had about an hour to go before reaching the summit. How can they say that for the last three hours? It must be “the altitude sickness” talking here.

We met the other sub-groups on their way down from the summit. After several words of encouragement (see you at the trailhead) and some quick tips (take the lower trail on the snow, it’s shorter), my “little group that could” was finally a stone’s throw away from the summit. Make that many stones, and add some snowballs too. So we trudge and we plod but every time, the summit seems to be moving farther and farther away. So I repeat: breathe, drink and keep going. Am I hallucinating? Does this mountain really have a summit? I had to ask myself those questions many times.

But alas, we reach the summit! We take some quick photos and sign the register as we can see a thunderstorm looming in the horizon. We feel hail and flurries as we descend. I start to worry, as I am severely “underdressed” for the occasion in my hiking shorts, sleeveless top and thin windbreaker. I borrow another windbreaker, a pair of socks (to wear over my cotton mittens) and a ski cap. My teeth are still chattering and my ears feel like they’ve been left in the freezer overnight. Breathe, drink and keep going --- I keep telling myself. We still had 11 miles of hiking in nasty weather. To stay positive, I thought, “at least it’s all downhill now.” I was drawing on all my reserves now, both mentally and physically. There IS a finish line, the marathoner in me kept on insisting.

Our goal was to reach the tree line before dark. And we did, but we still had miles left before reaching the trailhead. So we cross stream after stream, and navigate switchback after switchback. We keep asking ourselves, “Were these streams/switchbacks really here this morning?” But no one bothered to reply. The bears were keeping to themselves, thankfully.

Hiking three to four miles during the day is a cakewalk, a lot of people might say. But three to four miles in the dark is a different story. We were cold, scared (at least I was, of wildlife – the big, brown and furry kind) and sometimes paranoid (logs started to look like coiled snakes). I was zoning out, trying to stay calm and night-dreaming about the good stuff (a cup of hot soup, a warm bath). My mind has definitely taken over my tired legs at this point. Breathe, drink and keep going. We are almost there. I kept telling myself that this was akin to mile 25 in a marathon. After that switchback is the trailhead, but then, there is another switchback. I willed myself to keep focusing, even if I could sense a presence. Bears? Goldilocks?

After what seemed like endless hours on our feet, we reach the trailhead. We were elated to find our other friends waiting for us. Actually, they weren’t waiting for us. They had just gotten there themselves. What a relief! We hurriedly unstrap our heavy backpacks and basically, we just sat there and refused to move. The enormous rock that I sat on felt like the most comfortable couch in the whole world.

We have just conquered Mt. Whitney! On to the next conquest.


VC Fair Costumed 5K
Run and Dress To Impress
The inaugural Ventura County Fair Costumed 5K Run/Walk will take place on Saturday, August 8th in downtown Ventura. All participants are encouraged to run in costume and you must be in costume to receive an award. Great post-race festivites so join in the fun and be sure to stick around to watch the VC Fair Parade.

Santa Barbara Marathon - Training Begins August 22nd!
Club Discount for December 6th inaugural event
If you are looking for a fall/winter marathon this year, the inaugural Sta. Barbara International Marathon may just be your race! Expect cool weather that is typical of Sta. Barbara, a scenic course and rolling hills. The club will be officially training for this event on Saturday mornings.

The marathon is limited to 5,000 participants so sign up online at:
http://sbimarathon.com/site3.aspx

Enter discount code (below) to get $10 off the entry fee:
SBIMINSIDETRACK2009

Tuesday Track Workouts - 6pm
A Super Fun Painless (haha yea right) Experience - 6pm 
Thursdays Canceled Until August 13th
If you have yet to join us for a Tuesday track workout now is the time. These are extremely helpful in performance and a lot of fun in that weird masochistic sort of way. We have been getting 40-50 club members every week and have a variety of pace groups so do not be intimidated.

Sunday Trail Runs
Changing to once a month - August 16th
The Sunday trail runs will happen once a month in hopes we will get more participation by focussing on that one day each month. For August we will meet at Sulphur Mountain (off the 33 about 2 miles past Foster Park) at 8:00am for an out and back trail run. Pace and Distance is completely up to you. This is a beautiful run so I encourage everyone to come run with us.

Inside Track Branded Apparel
Inside Track apparel has finally arrived
For those members who never received their Free Inside Track t-shirt please stop by the store because they are in. We have a variety of t-shirts and sweatshirts for sale. T-Shirts are $8.99, Crewneck Sweatshirts are $19.99, Zippered Hoodie Sweatshirts are $34.99, Singlets are $19.99, and Tech Tops are $24.99.

LA Marathon Update
It looks like approval for the date change and for the course change has been approved, although some question still remains on the final course. The new LA Marathon date is March 21, and it will be a "Stadium to Sea" run, beginning at Dodger Stadium (thanks to new owner Frank McCourt, who also owns the Dodgers). Sounds like fun! More info >
 
Weekly work-outs

Tuesdays- 6:00pm @ Ventura High School Track (Workout)

Thursdays - Canceled until August 13th
Saturdays - 7:30am @ Inside Track (Long Run)
Sunday August 16th - 8:00am @ Sulphur Mountain

Upcoming races
August 8th
Ventura County Fair 5K

August 28th (Friday Evening)
Foster Park 10K/5K

September 20th
Camarillo Lions Club 5K

October 3rd
Ojai 1/2 Marathon

November 15th
Malibu Marathon

November 26th
Ventura Turkey Trot 5K

December 6th
Santa Barbara Marathon

December 13th
Lasse Viren 20K