Back to Back Race Weekend

There are NO Dummies Guide to running back-to-back races- believe me I checked :) I must say I could NOT have completed both races without the help of my close running friends. These close friends aka "Dawn Patrol" we complete most of our training runs during the week prior going to work or taking the kids to school. The Dawn Patrol shows up on time and most of runs are based on time- and always trying to mix things up based on our race schedule. We have a interesting cast of characters but at the end of day we all support each other.

The day of Twin Peaks 50K was really cold there was another race that same day 50Miler race. At the end of the day I was happy with my 50k performance. Lisa K, Molly, and Kim F, pretty much stuck together for most of the race it was a great support system. As the we starting to go downhill with 7miles to go, Molly and Lisa had a surge of energy that I could not match. I decided to finish at my own pace knowing I had another trail race the next day. My main concern after crossing the finish line- was walking around for 15min or so, and have my recovery drink and stretch. I rushed home to shower as I was hosting a Pre-Race dinner at Pizza place within a 2hr time span. This pre-race dinner was with my 5K Begging running group that had their first 5k called Santa Run in Tustin. I wanted to share my story of the 50k, and get a chance to break break with their families. Many of the people were very excited about their first 5k, I tried to harness that energy to get me motivated for my 15K the next day. After dinner I went to bed at 7:30pm and set my alarm for 5:30am....
I felt pretty stiff in the morning and started my normal routine, which includes coffee :)
Then I made plans to meet with Julie at fashion island to carpool to the race site. It was freezing cold at the start, I told so many people about this race it seemed like everyone was there with fresh legs. BTW this was my first trail race with a timing chip. The first hill felt really bad, my legs were saying "STOP" but as soon as I started to get warmed up the pain went away- There was this 1 mile climb called "i think i can" and i went up slow and easy and started to pass many walkers. Passing people on the uphill gave me added incentive to keep running faster, the competitive juices were flowing. At this point my main goal was to reach Molly (dawn patrol member) she had promised to be at the ridge park and cheer us on. She was there with her kids and gave me a much need boost. With 3 miles to go it was all down hill. I finished strong went back home and crashed for the rest of the day.