The previously HP-owned Little Basin Campground is now part of the Big Basin Redwoods State Park. Pretty good because it is most likely the best campground of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Thank you Lionel and Vicky for inviting us.
This weekend, I ran my 15th half marathon: the Water to Wine Half Marathon between Sonoma Lake and Healdsburg, CA.
Since finishing the Pleasanton Half Marathon in 1:40:14 (7:41/mile), I have been following a new training program that got me running 580 miles in 14 weeks so I had high hopes of getting back down to my early 2010 times in the sub 1:35 zone.
The course is point to point with a net elevation loss though it is mostly rolling hills all the way. The weather was perfect with temperatures in the mid-50s. The race started 5 minute late at 7:05AM to give the lone wheelchair participant some welcome head start. Based on my expected finish time and last year’s results, I decided to position myself toward the front of the pack of 1200 or so runners so I crossed the start line 3 seconds only after the gun.
After a fast first half mile, I managed to settle at the 7:15/mile pace necessary for a 1:35 finish time and successfully maintained it for the first 6 miles.
Since I was feeling good, I accelerated a bit to 7:10/mile average for the next 5 miles, then down to 6:55 for mile 12, and again down to 6:30 for the last mile to finish 52nd in 1:33:53 (7:10/mile average).
Of course, I am now hoping to run another sub 1:30 like I ran in 2010 at the San Jose Half Marathon. My next race is actually the 2013 version of that event so we will see where I stand then.
10 Mile round-trip hike to Heather Lake including 2500 ft of vertical elevation gain to the top of the aptly named Hump. A definitely challenging hike with a beautiful reward.
Campsite #128 is so good that it is not even shown on the map when you try to make a reservation!