The Ridge, looking north from Mt Baldy
The Ridge Run is this Saturday, August 12, 2023. Tuesday was my last training run, and during this run I breached 1,000 miles of running and 165,000 vertical feet of climbing year-to-date. In total, since I did my first zone training run on October 2, 2022, I have run 1,330 miles and nearly 200,000 vertical. It has been a long tough slog, though there have been upsides; I feel great and I’m in the best shape of my life.
I definitely feel more prepared for Saturday’s race than I did last year, maybe more prepared than I have ever been before. I expect to run a good time, though I’m giving myself a lot of leeway as to what times I consider good.
On the high end of good, I have my 5:31 Old Gabe 30K time from June 10th. Old Gabe and the Ridge Run are virtually identical in both distance and uphill vertical, so one might think that Old Gabe would be a good proxy for the time I can expect in the Ridge Run. If so, that would be amazing, as that would be a PR for me and a substantial improvement over my current best time of 5:55 from 2016. There are, however, significant differences between the two courses, two of which point toward Old Gabe being the faster race to run, while one gives an edge to the Ridge Run. The trails for Old Gabe are in better shape, and it’s mostly two big uphills and two big downhills. Both of these advantages allow runners to settle into a pace and run or climb steadily. The Ridge Run, on the other hand, is a roller coaster of ups and downs and the “trail,” to the extent that there is one, has awful footing throughout much of the course, making it difficult to settle into a pace.
The one advantage the Ridge Run offers is that the trails, such as they are, are dry. Old Gabe has stretches of snow, lots of water crossings, mud, and downed trees. Parts of it are simply an obstacle course.
Another difference is that while both courses have roughly the same uphill vertical, the Ridge Run has about 3,000 feet more downhill vertical, as its endpoint is lower than the start. The last downhill, from Baldy to the finish is brutal. By the time I crest Baldy, the sun will be strong. Loose rocks on the long steep downhill sections are warm, and the bottoms of my feet will scream from friction generated heat. It’s not pretty, and it’s definitely slower than the last four miles down from Saddle Pass in Old Gabe, so this is a third advantage for Old Gabe.
Finally, the forecast for Saturday has the high in the mid-80s. The temps should be in the mid-40s at the start, but without clouds, it will warm quickly. Given all these factors, I’d say anything below 5:55 will be amazing, below 6:30 will be satisfactory, and above 6:30 will have me thinking that it’s time to hang up my running shoes, for this race at least.
Most importantly, for what might be my final Ridge Run, I hope to get a decent night’s sleep so that I am not exhausted and I have fun out there. Yahoo!
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