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| Mt Diablo in the background along Shell Ridge, from my run yesterday |
I'm using Mt Diablo in the Easy Bay of the San Francisco area as my main training area for hills currently and today was my tenth ascent of the year. It's about a 3,500ft net ascent from the trail head, although today I went on a longer route that racked up about 4,400ft in the steepest 13 miles. I thought I'd try out my Go Pro too, expecting the footage to be vomit-inducing. It is, but still a fun experiment.
This is the route I used.
Since running uphill is extremely undramatic and looks very slow in video, I chose a few short downhills and one flat section. None of the technical sections since I had to run them holding a camera out in my hand, but I did move at a decent pace with speeds kept between 3:20/mile and 4:30/mile in the videos except the flatter section close to Juniper Campground.
Enjoy the roller-coaster - don't worry, all the videos are short, but I think they prove that carrying a camera while running only works if you're JB Benna and have an elaborate set-up on a stick (you'll know what I mean if you've seen him filming or have seen his work in 'Unbreakable').
Firstly, a section on the Summit Trail very near the top and through an area that was burnt last year (all around 4:30/mile pace):
Then half-way between the summit and Juniper Campground (low 4:00/mile pace):
A flatter section along from Juniper Campground (7:00-8:00/mile pace):
Finally the Widowmaker climb below Juniper Campground, in reverse (3:20-4:00/mile pace):
I know that anyone watching these is probably hoping for a dramatic fall, but I'll save that for next time and get some cash from America's Funniest Home Videos, or whatever that show's called.
Also,
here's an article about downhill technique that I wrote a while ago but that fits in with this subject matter. No shaky videos.
