Ed Levin to Sunol and Back

For today's long run, I chose to go from Ed Levin County Park in Milpitas, up to Monument Peak, then north past Mt. Allison, behind Mission Peak, down to Sunol Regional Park, then turn around and run back.

It was a beautiful day today -- cool breeze, warm sun, and wildflowers aplenty...

I made an eating plan prior to heading out. I brought 4 Honey Stinger gels, 4 salt capsules, 2 Whenever Bars, 2 packages of Honey Stinger Chews, and four small red boiled potatoes and salt. The plan was to eat 2 gels and a bar on the way to Sunol then eat the potatoes and one bag of chews in Sunol, then the rest on the way back, with a salt capsule every 90 minutes or so.

On the way to Sunol I remembered that they had a few big Alhambra bottles near the picnic area for drinking water. With this in mind, it was open season on the water I was carrying -- 100oz in the Camelbak and 20oz in a bottle. This was going to be a good run if I didn't need to worry about how much water I was drinking, and hopefully gave me a taste of what the O50K will be like with its aid stations every 5 miles or so.

The eating plan worked out really well, even though I forgot my baggie of salt for the potatoes. I just popped open one of the salt capsules and sprinkled that on the potato...

Looks like cocaine, but it's salt. I swear! They really hit the spot. I was really hungry when I sat down to eat them, and afterward I wasn't hungry until the very end of the run.

The potatoes were the turn-around point. I refilled my waters and headed out of Sunol back up the long hill up the back of Mission Peak. The trail goes south past Mt. Allison, then to Monument Peak and down to Sandy Wool Lake in Ed Levin. I stopped at the water spigot near the campsite behind Mission Peak to cool down my feet and knees and change my socks. Very refreshing!

I drank all the water and ate all the food on the way back. Total fluids consumed were around 220oz. It definitely helped to drink as much as I wanted -- I didn't feel as spent at the end of the run as I have in the past on shorter runs where I run out of water.

This ended up being the farthest I ever hauled my self with my feet. I feel pretty tired now, but not as "crippled" feeling as I've felt on shorter runs, likely thanks to the fluids, potatoes, and other food (about 1000 calories) that I ate along the way.