Truckee/Tahoe "Runcation" Recap
After a few years hiatus, Trail Roots headed back to California for our Truckee Runcation. We all arrived into Reno and hit the road for the quick drive to Truckee. We picked up some groceries and checked into our beautiful wooded cabin nestled right off a local golf course. We changed clothes and quickly hit the Truckee River trail to shake out our legs. Running at the higher altitude between 6-7,000 ft we all felt a little sluggish and decided to take it easy. The cooler and drier temps balanced out the altitude though, and with our summer training in 100 degree Texas heat we were feeling great by the end of the run. A few of us jumped in the fresh flowing Truckee River to rinse off and chill post run.
We headed home and I BBQ’d chicken and corn and made a fresh spring salad for dinner. We sat outside and ate dinner on the back patio beneath the towering Lodgepole Pines and afterwards soaked in the hot tub. We did a gratitude circle before we headed to bed. I find allowing everyone a chance to share gratitude, along with others getting to hear from each other helps us all remember how much went in to each person making the trip. It’s easy to get caught up in what isn’t going perfectly, but finding gratitude for things small and big gets our minds in a nice space before bed. Tomorrow is our busy day!
We woke up, grabbed breakfast, and headed to DL Bliss State Park off the cost of South Lake Tahoe to run the Rubicon trail. This is one of the most beautiful trails I’ve run with epic views of the crystal clear blue Lake Tahoe. We ran towards Emerald Bay which is about 4 miles one way. After the run we grabbed our pre-packed lunches and sat on the beach, swam around in the cool 65 degree water, and warmed up out on the warm sand.
We then drove about an hour back towards Truckee for our rafting adventure with ERIE. We had a few folks that were doing this for the first time, but I encouraged them to stretch their comfort zone a bit and give it a try. We had a short van ride, safety briefing from the guides, and were soon floating away. We went in two boats each with their own guide. The river was fairly calm with a few class 2 rapids early on. A few folks jumped in the river to cool off. The river was in the low 60’s and was a bit brisk for me! Our last rapid would be the most challenging at a class 3. As we approached our guide gave us some directions and headed in. As we were pulling out of the rapid to play “safety” boat for the rest of the crew we bounced off the 2nd boat and they ended up “high-siding” on a boulder mid river. A few folks took a swim there and came out with a few bruised butts from the ride, but all made it out safely.
We headed back home and ate homemade spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread. We had another gratitude circle and then had to quickly head to Truckee Thursday’s which is a big festival for local retailers to display all their art and hats and cool stuff to sell. They close down the street and it’s a cool event to check out when visiting Truckee in the summer.
I woke up and got some coffee brewing, cooked up some bacon, eggs, and sweet potato scramble. Everyone loved it and afterwards we took a short drive up to Donner Pass trailhead for our run. I realized about 10 minutes into the run that I should have had the group run first and then eat the massive scramble as my stomach was struggling to digest everything on the run! Donner pass offered some of the best views of Donner Lake and the Truckee area. At the top of the trail is a tunnel which was built to help the transcontinental railroad moving. This pass receives a ton of snow and the tunnel was created to protect the railroad from snow and potential avalanches. In the 1990’s the railroad was decommissioned and soon became a tourist attraction. Now, as we did, folks are able to hike through the entire tunnel where you’ll have overlooks of the sierras as well as some pretty cool graffiti art.
After the hike we headed home for lunch. I made homemade tuna salad. I had a few turn their noses up to the idea, but after trying it everyone enjoyed it. 😁 The rest of the afternoon was free time. A handful of us drove down to soak in the Truckee River again. I found a short trail and went for a 15 min jog before reconnecting with the group at the soaking hole. We got to chill with a few beers, float around, and recognize how beautiful of a spot we were at. Just less than 5 minutes from the highway we felt like we were in the middle nowhere!
We had another yummy dinner and I talked a little bit about the Marlette Lake 10 mi and 50k. Kelly, Trevor, and Anna decided to explore other nearby trails instead of run the race, but the rest of us were prepping for race day. The Marlette 10 mi and 50k had a good amount of elevation gain, but we knew our heat training would come into use here. We lucked out as race morning temps were around 41 degrees. That was definitely a shock to us as it was about 40 degrees cooler than Austin temps. We were cold to say the least, but I knew we would warm up quickly running up the mountain.
Michael was the only one racing the 50k, so he took off about 5 min ahead of us. We cheered for him as he started and then headed to the line. As we started out, we headed on a dirt road up the mountains. I thought that I would start at a comfy-hard pace, but didn’t expect to be in the front. We soon hit some solid inclines and I had my only hiking portion for about 15 seconds. I turned around and saw 2nd place back in my shadow and that motivated me to step it up. I found myself going back in forth in my head wondering if I could win the race, was I breathing too hard, what if I didn’t win the race, and then reminding myself to be present with each step. I went to gratitude to help stay present. I thought to myself, “This is a beautiful trail, I am running great and pushing myself just as I need to, I am strong and healthy surrounded by friends from Austin, and I am grateful to be here.” This helped bring me back to earth from the land of “what if’s” and I had a strong race winning by 3 minutes or so. Gordon won his age group as well, Christy came in 3rd I believe, but everyone did really well. Michael even PR’d his 50k!
Post race we headed home and got showered up. We checked out the Truckee Brew Pub for dinner and got to share stories of the race and of course one more gratitude circle! We all heard everyone’s favorite part of the day, someone they want to thank, and something they are grateful for. It’s my favorite way to close the trip. As I mentioned before, it helps us get to know and understand each other, connect on a deeper sense, and leaves us feeling warm and fuzzy!
I was grateful that we were able to do this trip after nearly 4 years from our last destination runcation. We are still planning out our next year’s destination runcation as well. Please drop us a comment below if you have a place you want to travel with us! It can be around a race or just around a cool trail.
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