Race 08-02 - DSE Double Lake Merced Loop

January 6, 2008
9 miles - 1st/32 - 54:40
Complete results here

The second race of the year was the weekly DSE race. The options were the single and double Lake Merced loops, in San Francisco. As I usually do, I ran the longer event which totaled 9 miles. I arrived at 8:27AM for an 8:30AM and did my typical warmup of 0 miles. The only person i saw at the starting line that I thought could keep pace with me was Eduardo, who I go back and forth with seemingly every other race.

Due to recent heavy rain and wind the course was littered with pieces of trees - bark, branches, pine needles - you name it. It didn't feel like it slowed me down. I started quickly which I felt was about the same as I would start a 10k. I was trying to finish under 53 minutes, or at least 54 minutes. At the far end of the lake I looked back and didn't see anyone close which made me wonder where Eduardo was. I didn't look back again until the same spot on the next loop, although I had figured out I had a pretty big lead well before that. In the end my splits turned out to be 5:40 (1mi.), 11:22 (2mi.), 17:30 (3mi.), 26:42 (4.5 mi.=1 loop), 29:56 (5mi.), 48:59 (8 mi.). I didn't get all of my splits because I failed to clear enough space in my watch before the race. I finished in 54:40 which turned out to be 1st out of only 32. Eduardo incorporated the race into a 3+ hour training run which explains why he didn't run it with me. That was unfortunate since I was hoping he would be there so we could pace each other.

When I was about 7 miles in I began doing the math in my head to figure if anyone in the single loop race would catch me. Since I made it through 1 loop in 26:42 I concluded that if they started on time no one would. I started my second lop with a 3:18 head start and I didn't think anyone would be able to close that gap in only 4.5 miles. I anticipated running the 2nd loop in 27:30 and I ended up doing it in 27:58 and I didn't think anyone would run the single in 24 minutes. Grant won the single loop race (as usual) in 26:16 with Chikara who is getting back in shape following closely behind.

It started to rain just after I finished so I took refuge under a tent. I was glad I was not still out there running.