Orange Curtain dress rehearsal at Aliso Creek

My long training run this Sunday became my 3rd ultra after Mt-Disappointment and Ridgecrest. It was a self-supported 40-miler at Aliso Creek Bikeway with 7 fully-stocked aid stations :-)

I parked at our “usual” place of El Toro and Marguerite on Aliso Creek Bikeway and was running multiple out-and-back 10K’s – pretty much Orange-Curtain style. The course is pretty flat with a very modest elevation gain/loss. Although there is a dirt trail by the side of the paved road it is too rocky and felt even worse than the paved surface.

Soundtrack:
ERA II – Interview with iMichelle – Interview with Scott Jurek – Interview with iMichelle again :) – Louis Gerstner's elephants – Phantom of the Opera

Distance: 40 miles / 64.4 km
Net time: 6:58:49
Average pace: 10:28 min/mile
Rest time: 24:18 (Gatorade refills, bathroom breaks, etc.)
Overall time: 7:23:11

This is my distance PR so far: my longest races were all 50K, and the longest training run did not exceed 27 miles.

This was a great dress rehearsal before my Orange Curtain 100K in February. It was not an easy run, but it feels like unless something unexpected happens before or during OC100K, I should be able to do it under 13-hour cut-off time.

My aid station:
This is what I looked like after these 40 miles:
My Garmin's readings: