Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Race 10-110 LMJS 4th Sunday 10k

November 28, 2010
10k - 39:20 - 1st/35?
Garmin tracking here.

The biggest race in the Bay Area the Sunday after Thanksgiving is the Run Wild 5k and 10k in San Francisco. However, since I ran the Quad Dipsea Saturday I wasn't expecting a great performance Sunday so I made the cost conscious decison to run the smaller 4th Sunday Race which is put on by the Lake Merritt Joggers and Striders on the 4th Sunday of every month. The $5 price tag for non-members saved about $25, and the LMJS race had 5k, 10k, and 15k options - 1, 2, or 3 loops around Lake Merritt in Oakland.

I chose to run the 10k because I didn't feel I'd have fast enough turnover for the 5k and I thought if I ran the 15k I'd run out of steam before the end. I got there just in time yet again and finished entering as they were explaining course instructions. I guess I just count on it starting a little late for that at some of these races.

The start was a little different than anything I've ever seen. The loop is just shy of 5k so there's about 20 yards extra to run after completing a complete loop to make a 5k. This means 10k runners run an extra 40 yards and 15k runners run an extra 60 yards, more or less. Usually everyone starts together and they have multiple finish lines. This time they had multiple starting lines and a single finish line. It looked like a corral system at the start since there were 3 groups over people at 3 start lines with some open space between them.

When the gun went off I almost immediately caught up to most of the 5k runners. I also tried to keep track of where the 10k runners were in relation to me. It looked to me that 2 10k runners made it through the 5k crown in front of me. As we got to the first 90 degree turn I saw a fast guy in an almost glowing green shirt cruising along in the lead pack who was not one of the 2 people. I thought he must be in the 5k to be moving that fast.

I ran the first mile in 6:06 and caught the two guys around the mile mark. I ran 6:14 pace for the next mile as I pulled away. I was very conscious of the possibility they could catch me since I wasn't as fresh as usual. I glanced over my should at every turn and it appeared I was slowly pulling away. As I was completing the first loop I wondered if I was in first or if the bright green shirt was in the 10k. I thought it possible he could run the first 5k in low 17s which would explain the gap. I didn't see him at the finish as I passed through to start my second lap.

It seemed I opened some space on both guys in back of me on the slight uphill leading to the 3 mile mark. I decided that as long as I ran my own race I'd hold them off because if either was going to make a move they wouldn't have let me get so far ahead, maybe 30 seconds by now. I didn't spot green shirt guy on the opposite side of the lake and all but concluded he must have been in the 5k.

I finished my second lap a little slower than the first. Midway through the 2nd lap I was hoping for a time in the 38:s but when I hit the 6 mile mark in just over 38:00 I knew it wouldn't happen. I finished in 39:20 and was told at the finishing chute that I was the first 10k finisher. I asked about the green guy and they told me he was in the 15k! Sure enough, only 53 minutes after we had started! I was also told that the 5k winner ran 18:11 which normally I could do, but not likely with the long race the day before. So I appeared that I entered the easiest race to win.

They only award ribbons for age group place and overall places (what else do you expect for a $5 race?). Overall I was satisfied with my time and the fact that I had a solid road time only 1 day after the Quad Dipsea is making me consider setting an aggressive goal at next week's California International Marathon.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Race 10-109 Quad(ruple) Dipsea

November 27, 2010
28.4mi. - 6th/201 - 4:40:29

Today I ran my 4th (total, and consecutive) Quad Dipsea. I had modest expectations due to low (read: non-existent) training and my sub par performances at the Whiskeytown 50k (5:25:53 in the rain) and Morgan Hill Marathon (3:12:56 in the rain). Also, the forecast for today was rain.

I arrived in usual fashion, with just enough time to park, get my bib, and get to the starting line. I saw Leor Pantilat, Gary Gellin, and Victor Ballesteros, all of whom I wouldn't be surprised to see in the top 3.

I started at a fairly normal pace and as things settled in I found myself around 12th place. There were a few guys around me with whom I traded places as the terrain went uphill and downhill. Caren Spore, the first woman by far on her way to a 1 minute course record 4:38, passed me for the last time in the Dynamite Section just after Muir Woods. Other than turnarounds I never saw her again.

For most of the first two legs I traded places with the same couple guys, with me passing going up and them passing going downhill. I entered the half way point in 12th but I left in 10th, I think due to 2 DNFs (Victor was one of the 2, he had a calf problem). I immediately passed 2 more people moving me up to 8th because there first mile from there is all uphill starting with a 676 stair climb. I didn't see them again so by then I was gaining more on the ups than what I was losing on the downs. On the 4th leg I passed a guy in a red shirt within the first mile. It was clear he was having some issues, maybe leg cramps. As I was getting to the Cardiac end of the Gale Scott section I passed Toshi Hosaka, who normally I can't keep up with. This put me in 6th. I ran down Hogsback as fast as I've ever done in this race but I took it easy on Dynamite because the mud there is almost always slippery, and it was extremely slippery by then. Toward the end of the 4th leg I was told Caren was anywhere between 30 seconds and 2 minutes ahead. Not knowing which was correct I didn't make any special effort to try for another place, knowing that 4th place was well ahead and uncatchable. I ran my own race from there, struggling up the non-shortcut way parallel to Suicide (Suicide is off limits in the Quad). I walked some of the road section and the subsequent trail to Windy Gap and then finished the last mile very strong.

My official time was 4:40:29 and shortly after seeing it I wondered whether a quick restroom break on leg 3 cost me a sub 4:40 time (close but I don't think so). Several people were surprised to see my place and/or time as good as they were including me! I came in thinking 4:50 would be tough to beat so i far exceeded expectations.

I felt very happy knowing that the people in front of me were 3 people I'll never catch (Gary, Leor, Mark McManus), plus a guy who finished 3rd (one place in front of Mark), and Caren Spore who set a new women's course record with a 4:38. The old record was 4:39 by Beth Vitalis in 2007. During Beth's race I ran around her most of the way before fading to a 4:47 myself. This year I didn't see Caren after mile 3 and she was more or less 2 minutes in front of me at each of the turnarounds. I get the feeling she was relatively more of a climber (like me) compared to the rest of the field around us, so we didn't really have any back and forth since she gained ground when I gained ground. next year the goal will be 4:35, provided I'm in good shape.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Race 10-108 Turkey Trail Trot

November 25, 2010
5mi. - 9th/824 - 30:03
Garmin tracking here.

Wow. It's been a year since I last updated this blog. Things have gotten away from me a little since I've been more focused on updating detailed past records of my race log.

So I ran the Turkey Trail (neƩ Beach) Trot for the 5th year in a row. The weather overnight was near record lows and early morning reports said the temperature in San Francisco was 44 degrees so I opted for a long sleeve tech shirt. It was a bright sunny days and I arrived 15 minutes before race time.

It was the 4th different course I've run on this race (beach, 5k, double loop, and this one) but I knew it better than I knew any of the others because I spent yesterday afternoon measuring and marking the course. I didn't see any blazing fast people at the starting line, in fact the fastest 2 people I saw were Magdelena Boulet and a several months' pregnant Clara Peterson. For some reason I didn't pay much attention to what place I was in, but I know it was somewhere around 10th. I started near the MacNiders (Ian and Andrew) and commented to Ian that we better not finish behind a pregnant person (we didn't, fortunately because I know several Excelsior Club guys who wouldn't let me forget something like that). Ian and Andrew slowly pulled away and/or I fell off pace around a half mile in but more or less maintained my place after that.

My first mile was under 6 minutes and the second, mostly downhill, was around 6 minutes. After completing the first loop we headed off to a part of the course I had never raced - some trails between Middle Drive and MLK. I traded places with a couple guys and passed a guy who had to stop and walk twice. I finally caught a guy I had been working on catching at mile 4 and tried to catch one more but didn't quite have enough left.

I ended up in 9th or 10th place (I think). I was 3rd in the 30-39 age group which got me a bottle of 2009 Charles Shaw wine, which I'll have to save for a very special occasion. I've been trying to diversify my race schedule over the last couple years but I like the course for this one, it's close to home, and the race atmosphere is great so I'll likely come back to this one every year in the foreseeable future.