Ok, let’s tackle the ever popular and dreaded Hurricane Point to the Bixby Bridge.
I am not going to go into details about every curve, nook and cranny, that just adds to the torture. Just discuss a method of getting up the big climb, yours may vary. It is a run uphill, in your training you should have been doing hills, this one is just like those, just a bit longer.
Respect it, but don’t fear it.
For me, it is just another part of the run, no big deal; I take my time and chug along….
Make sure you hit the Aid Station and stoke up on water or Gatorade.
As we round the corner and pass by the Taiko Drummers, you begin the ascent up Hurricane Point. By now we should have roughly a 90 second or two minute+ bank on our mile pace. We are going to lose all of it, plus a little more. Don’t worry; we have at least 10 miles to make up for it.
This is another place to really pace yourself and be careful. Crank up Hurricane too fast, based on your conditioning and you will be paying later on.
My strategy for the 4:50 5:30hr+ is to walk/jog it. I have actually passed people jogging, by doing a very fast walk. There is the whole purist thing of running the entire marathon, if that is the case, monitor your pace. Jogging at a very slow pace is wasteful, so if you must run it, pick an easy pace that is slightly faster than a fast walk or slow jog.
If you decide to walk jog it, I usually fast walk three minutes, fast jog, not run for two minutes. I will alternate this through 11 ¼, then switch fast jog for three minutes and fast walk for two. The grade on 11 is easier and it doesn’t take as much out of you. Remember the goal is to finish and feel good, not so spent you never want to come back.
Back to Mile 10, I like to be on the left edge and enjoy the ocean view, the wildflowers, the cliffs off to the right, and absorb the sounds of the birds and ocean. It really seems to make the time go by. This is a pretty relentless climb, and we will gain quit a bit of altitude in the first mile.
As you climb the first hill look across to where you came into Little Sur Bridge. It is pretty amazing to see how far you have gained in a short amount of time. About 1/2 mile into the ascent we begin to go around a corner and lose the view of where we came from. Along the way you will see several signs with some great puns. Enjoy and smile. During Mile 10, I lose about two minutes of my pace bank.
We hit Mile 11 and the climb continues with a few very small flat spots. The road continues to bear off to the left. FAIR WARNING – There are at least three false summits – just when you think you are at the top, you get to climb some more. It can be a bit demoralizing, so just keep going until you hit the infamous Mile 12 marker, then keep going some more.
If it is windy, you will really begin to feel it, progressing up Mile 11. If it is really bad, ease up just a touch.
By now we have lost another good two minutes and our pace bank is negative.
As we climb and hit the Mile 12 marker, we are almost there. A long straight puts us at the top. Now we are probably a good five minutes or more behind in our pace, based on a fast jog, or a walk/run pace.
When you hit the summit, make sure you take a look back at where you came from.
If it is windy, you will know it. In all 22 years of doing this, only 2 years were to the point where you were almost at a standstill when a gust hit.
As you make a hard left turn, the Bixby Bridge area opens up before us and a mile long downhill is at your beck and call. It is a great sight to behold, wide open green pasture and the bridge laid out like a postcard.
This is where I pick up a minute of lost pace. I let gravity help me out and pick up the pace. It is a nice easy glide down to the Bixby.
Edited Thu Feb 28th 2008 9:06 am by Grzldvt
Edited Thu Feb 28th 2008 9:06 am by Grzldvt
Post edited at 00:57 on 30-03-2009 by Grzldvt
