Holcomb Valley 33 Miler and AC 100 Night Training Run

Well I am back from my California Running Adventure and it couldn't have been better:)  Holcomb Valley 33 Miler on June 14th in Big Bear Lake, California had to have been the most challenging for my lungs.  The whole course is above 7000' and I sure felt it.  I showed up 1.5 hours before race start and it was about 30 degrees.  It warmed up to about maybe 70 degrees by the end of the race.  I finished in 8:45.  The course had 7000' elevation gain and loss and was pretty much runnable the whole way….if you are used to running at that altitude:)  It was a great training run for AC 100.  The highlight of my trip was running on the PCT during the race,  it was just awesome.  I then hopped over to Wrightwood, CA where the start of the AC 100 will be in September and camped there with my mom and step-dad.  On June 20th I did the AC 100 Night Training Run, which consisted of the final 26 miles of the course, from Chantry Flats to Loma Alta Park, Altadena, CA.  We carpooled from the park and went high up into the mountains where you could see forever.  I rode with co-race director Hal Winton.  We then started at 1900 and ran for a while until it got dark which was about an hour and 4 miles in.  It was a different experience running at night mostly by yourself in unfamiliar territory, in bear and cougar country.  I was like, "I am definitley not in Hawaii anymore."  I got to mile 14 at the top of Sam Merrill and my knee started to hurt.  I ran walked the next 4 miles and could not continue to injure myself, thus I walked the last 8 miles in 3 hours or so.  I finished the run in 9.5 hours at 0430 in the morning.  And there was Hal Winton, Dave, and Dave waiting for me to make sure that the Hawaii runner did not get eaten:)  All in all it was a great experience and a wonderful way to spend three weeks in California and great prep fpr AC 100.  I did get a little injured but the doctor just said to take it easy for a couple weeks, also I did come back with a bad case of Psoriasis, not poison oak. But,  I will talk more on my blog about my trip later.  Jah Bless.. …..Devon Webb