Didn’t get off the waitlist for Quad Dipsea, and I’ve been running this ridge every time I come down to Novato, exploring all the different trails around it. So, I was dropped off at the Big Rock trailhead in the morning.
I brought my dog, Jolly, who joins a lot of FKT’s. He’s getting slower on the downhills at times, so I did end up slowing down/stopping to wait for him a couple times, but he’s faster than me on the ups, he usually catches up on them. My lungs and sinuses are still fraught with issues from a high elevation running event, so I had low expectations- was aiming for a 2:30. I was really excited to feel that “push” to go faster and work harder throughout this effort, and that my body could respond to it. Still feeling a bit foreign in my body working this hard, I was a hit reserved on the downs, but still really happy overall with this effort and the overall time. I could go faster, others could go much faster, but it’s a terrific training or test route with a big climb, then 3-4 little punchy steep climbs, and a long downhill that is super fun to run.
Saved a churro to share at the end with Jolly.