After the Oakland Half, I started thinking about what my next goal would be. DD and I have talked on and off for a while about doing the Brazen Dirty Dozen 6 hour race. This is a 6 (or 12) hour event consisting of 3.3 mile loops at Point Pinole Park in Richmond, CA. It’s not particularly hilly – I think the total elevation gain/loss per loop is only about 150 feet – but it is unpaved, so it’s technically still a trail race. Dirty Dozen was the first race at which the Gypsy Runner and I volunteered, and I remember thinking at the time, “Who would ever want to do this?” But then, shortly after that, I got into long distance running and I started to understand. And eventually, I saw my friends run it and thought, “Hm, that doesn’t look so bad…” Because it’s a Brazen race, it’s extremely well organized and has a great atmosphere. It really is like a 6 hour running party, as weird as that sounds!
I’ve held off on registering for the Dirty Dozen because I haven’t felt a desire to run long on trails for a while. Compared to long runs on roads, it can take me 1.5-2 times longer to complete a long run on trails. Plus, they usually leave me super exhausted. On the upside, the scenery tends to be prettier. What really put me over the edge this year was DD signing up for the race. We both had volunteer credits and we both had wanted to run the 6 hour race, so…why not? Having a friend signed up for this race hopefully means that I’ll have a training partner for a few long runs. We might have even convinced AS to sign up as well! 🙂
My goal for the Dirty Dozen is to run at least the marathon distance and, if all goes well, complete my second ever 50K. My process goal is to run consistently the whole time, meaning I need to start slow and be patient.
I’ve decided against following a specific training plan because I’m starting a new-new job in 2 weeks. I know what you’re thinking – didn’t you just start a new job? Yes, I did. But then another position opened up within my company, I applied, and I got it! That’s the good news. The bad news (for my running, anyway) is that my schedule will vary quite a lot from day to day and week to week, which makes following a training schedule extremely difficult. For now, I plan on running 3 days during the week, with one of them being a longer run (12-15 miles total on weekdays), and two runs on the weekends. On which days the runs happen will be determined on a weekly basis. My long runs will be more focused on time spent on my feet as opposed to distance, since that varies so much with elevation gain/loss. I think if I can get at least three 4.5-5 hour long runs in, I’ll be happy.
So, with that race on the calendar, I decided it would be a good idea to start training. I joined DD and friends for a run/hike up Mt. Diablo this past Sunday. Considering I had only run 12 miles in the span of 2 weeks (thanks to a work trip), I knew Mt. Diablo was going to be a challenge — and it was! It’s up there with one of the toughest trail runs I’ve done: 14 miles and 4300′ gain/loss. Two days later and my legs are still very sore. Fortunately, my left knee feels better — it wasn’t happy with all of that downhill running! At least it was pretty though?
Howdy! My name is Jen and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I like to eat, run, and blog, but not usually at the same time.
Running Tangents 
Congrats on the new job! I’m down to join weekend trail runs of medium distance or to do medium easy runs on your non-long run weekend day. Keep me in mind!
Oh, yes, definitely!
Congrats on the new job! Time-based races are brilliant. You don’t have to think ‘ugh, I have to run X distance and it’s going to take me 1.5 times my road time for X’… you just run as much or as little as you want! Sounds like a great party 😉 I’m also totally jealous of the training you get to do. I mean – California trails in summer? Enjoy!
The time-based part is really interesting because hopefully this means I’ll start off at a sensible pace instead of going out too fast (as I tend to do). And yes, I’m very spoiled by the trails out here.