Saturday, January 28, 2012

Race 12-04 Mission Street Scramble

16.68mi. - 2:56 - 2nd/?
Garmin Tracking here.

We had great weather for the Mission St. Scramble this weekend. It was sunny and the temperature was in the mid 60’s. The event was put on by Get Lost and was the same format as the Los Gatos Street Scramble I did a few weeks earlier – various controls in a generally urban area worth varying number of points in increments of 10 from 10 to 40 and either 90 minutes or 3 hours to get as many points as possible. I was optimistic about doing well because I know the Mission area of SF about as well as any other area I’ve done a street scramble.

I arrived later than I wanted to and one thing I did not anticipate was difficulty finding parking. When I arrived to the park at 25th and Harrison the spots were packed. Fortunately I found a spot 2 blocks away right in front of a meter that I failed to pay. Since I had taken the prior day off of work and since I usually race in the city on Sundays, I must have been thinking the meter didn’t apply. I jogged to the start and registered but had less than 10 minutes to review the map before starting. Of course I spotted Greg Favor and Steve Gregg at the start. Steve informed me right away that he was in the shorter distance this time. Barry Smith was there who was in his 2nd orienteering event ever as was Chikara Omine who was in his 3rd. Chikara also chose the shorter route although I didn’t find this out until after I had finished.

As we started a group of us, including Barry and Chikara took off with a quick pace. The first control was a block from the start. After that most of the group went to the next control pretty quickly but then the group disbanded. Chikara and Barry stil chose the same route as me. As we were leaving the 2nd control at a baseball field BAM!!!!! We were all reading our maps, but I was the one who walked straight into a metal pole. Somehow to point of impact was mid-chest a couple inches to the right of center. It still hurts to breathe deeply 2 days later but I didn’t consider slowing down my pace.

I led Chikara and Barry over Caeser Chavez St. and decisively headed toward a staircase. Barry and Chikara stood together reading their maps until eventually looked at me halfway up already and decided my route wasn’t half bad. The next control wasn’t obvious to any of us but it was clear to me that Chikara and Barry weren’t as familiar as I am with “what to look for” when we got there. I wouldn’t say I am very good at this either, but at this point I’d say I’m not a beginner.

From there I went to a different control as them and ran into a few other teams before running into Barry again a few controls later. I had a conversation with a guy from another team as I overheard him disagree with whether a weathervane looked like a whale or an owl. I viewed it from street level, he viewed from up a hill, he turned back, I didn’t, and I turned out to be right.

Barry and I hit the next couple controls together and then he started to open a lead on me although still sticking to the same plan. We were both going for the high pointers on the perimeter of the course. I chose a slightly different (shorter, up a hill) route as him in one spot but couldn’t head him off. Eventually I lost sight of him and I was on my own.

I ran into the weathervane guys again and they confirmed I was right and that it was a good thing they went back. I continued around the perimeter going through the BART station in the Castro District marking the first time I ever ran up an escalator in a race. My initial plan was to do a spiral clockwise starting north then to the southeastern corner all the way around to the west to the north and cut straight down and a the cluster of controls in the middle until the end making for a short trip back. As I got to the north I revised my plan by continuing the circular path to the east, although not the perimeter as it appeared there were some controls out there waiting to eat up time.

It was going pretty well until a little after 2 hours when I dropped my pen. The ball wouldn’t roll anymore so I started using the pen to poke holes through correct answers rather than circling them. I finished up the Potrero Hill section in the east that I wanted to and headed back to the center where I was hoping to get at least 3 more. It turned out that I didn’t spend too much time looking for them and since the terrain was flat again I moved pretty quickly. I ended up getting 4 in the center which met the optimistic goal I had had since around the 2 hour mark. I finished with several minutes to spare and no real “missed opportunities”.

I finished with 690 which was 2nd overall. First place had 810 and was a 2 person team. I still haven’t figured out if a team is helpful or not. I don’t see any way it could be helpful to a faster runner on the team. Afterwards we went back to Sports Basement where they had refreshments and awards. They gave me what appears to be a double layered mesh type of shirt unlike any I’ve ever owned before. I’m thinking it would be best for an orienteering race in warm weather in an area with thick brush.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Race 12-03 Oakland Streets 'n Ladders 25k

15.32mi. - 2:26 - 1st/2
Garmin Tracking here.

This Saturday I ran another orienteering event – this one put on by Terraloco in the Lake Merritt section of Oakland. It was held of out Leaning Tower of Pizza which is only a block from the lake. Several storms were forecasted to hit the Bay Area from Thursday to Monday but fortunately it cleared up in time for Saturday so we ran in dry weather. Still, I think the event was less well attended due to the forecasted bad weather.

There were 3 distances available – 5k, 10k, and 25k and of these all had bike or no-bike options. Those that chose the bike option had a mandatory run portion. In the 10k it was 5k run and 5k bike. In the 25k it was run the 10k course then bike the other 15k. I’m not sure what the run/bike difference was for the 5k. I chose the 25k run option. I only knew 2 other participants, Greg Favor and Steve Gregg.

The 25k course was divided into 2 sections – the 10k course and then the additional 15k. The location of the start/finish was on the east (almost northeast) side of the lake. There were a couple controls just south but most of them were over the top and to the west and southwest side of the lake. Rex told us that from the other side of the lake it would be shorter to come back over the north side of the lake. My plan was to abandon the 2 controls just south of the start, get all the controls running around the lake counterclockwise, come back towards the start by running around the south side, and then picking up the 2 below. This worked well. It would have worked very well except there was construction on the south side of the lake preventing me from taking the optimal route but I was still happy with the result.

I only had difficulty at one control on 10k loop. We were supposed to run to building 1511 and the building on the corner of the intersections was 1515. The other side of the intersection had buildings in the 1400s. Down the perpendicular road were numbers nowhere near 1511. Steve and I had passed each other several times just prior to that as it seemed we chose similar routes although somehow opposite (like shoelaces). As I was exploring, Steve found the 1511 “building” and took off. Then Greg came in and we looked for it and eventually I found it. I pointed out that the answer was on a group of signs at the building entrance as it appeared the building had 2 addresses of 1515 and 1511. I figured this made us event from the first orienteering event I ever did where he pointed out to me a whole chunk of a sign that missing.

From there I ran around the construction and back to the start. My GPS showed 6.64 miles so I was pretty confident I chose a decent route. Steve made it to the start before me but no one else did. It was then that I learned he was in the 10k and not the 25. So I went back out to do the 15k loop.

The 15k was another loop around the lake although it covered a wider area and had a couple decent sized climbs. This made it more of a runner’s race. I ran around the lake counterclockwise again as I felt I was more familiar with the area from that direction. The 15k loop all but required a complete loop around the lake. It would have been far from the optimal route not to complete a loop.

I didn’t have any difficulty on the 15k loop. We happened to run through a street festival which was an unexpected element. I slightly overshot the last control on the edge of the lake by miscounting streets but I realized it before significant damage had been done.

I finished the entire course in 15.32 miles which was shorter than the optimal route Rex had mapped. When I finished the pizza place was packed with finishers who were eating pizza. Rex told me I was first out of only 3 in the 25k and one of them was on a bike, so for my purposes there were only 2 in my race (the other being Greg). This is now the smallest race I’ve ever completed beating the previous record of 3.

I had a very fun time although after running for 2 hours through the streets of Oakland I was ready to be done. I was also started to feel sore from running on so much concrete. Most of the sidewalks and even some street sections were concrete and just about the entire course was on a hard surface. I ate a pizza which tasted great. It was a vegetarian pizza and I asked them to add artichokes to the normal stuff they put on it.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Race 12-02 Castle to Coast 8.2mi.

8.2mi. - 51:31 - 6th/149
Garmin Tracking here.

This past Saturday I made the trip down to San Simeon for the 2nd year in a row for the Castle to Coast 8.2 miler. Although it worked well enough driving the entire way the morning of last year, this year I decided to stay overnight in Paso Robles at the Best Western. This way I could sleep until allowed me to sleep until 6AM instead of getting up at 3:30 and driving 3 and a half hours. Also, I was able to convince a whole other person that the race is worth the drive (Erika Kikuchi) which meant I didn’t have to make the whole trip solo this time. It also meant I knew a grand total of 1 (one!) other person at the race.

It was a little colder than expected leaving the hotel around 6:45. The car thermometer went between 23 and 51 during the course of the drive over the hill on CA-46. We got to the race start at 7:30 and had enough time to register and prepare for the race. It’s a low-key start – they don’t even give racers numbers, they just take your money, give you a shirt if you pre-entered, and let you know where the course goes.

The course starts at San Simeon Park, across the street from the Hearst Castle driveway. The first half mile starts north and then takes a pair of rights to make a big C onto CA-1. From there the course is mostly heading South on CA-1 which is actually facing southeast, directly into the sun. At mile 4 it goes onto a short frontage road where there is a water station. At the 10k mark we bear right off of CA-1 through a small neighborhood toward another park. Most of the course is overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It’s beautiful when it’s sunny but I wouldn’t want to run it in the rain.

I did a small warm-up before and was ready to go at the start line. I was unaware there was a drop bag service until I got to the start and didn’t have time to go back to the car. It was a little windy and warm enough to run comfortably in but not warm enough to be standing around in.

As the gun went off I started at a comfortable pace, around 6:30. I settled into a mid 6 minute pace in 6th place for the first couple miles and then the first woman caught up to me. She ended up hanging on my left shoulder for most of the way although she pulled ahead and fell back a couple of times as the small ups and downs affected us differently. I didn’t run close to anyone else the whole race. The guy in 5th started to fade in the last couple miles, but he had enough of a lead where I would have needed another 5k (at least) to catch him. No one was close enough behind me to catch me. I was moving at 30k race pace so I felt like I could keep up that pace as long as I needed to as well as outkick anyone. It would have been too much effort to go faster, at least with more than a couple miles to go.

I finished solidly and in 6th place which I knew would make me eligible for a whale prize which go to the top 15 overall (yes, top 15 overall regardless of gender which baffles me). I got a whale last year too for coming in 12th in 52:54 but this year the field was less competitive and I finished in 51:31.

After the race we went 4 miles north where there is a location for seal watching. Hundreds, maybe thousands of elephant seals gather on the beach at this time of year. There were newborns with their mothers, and some males too. We also went on a 45 minute tour of the Casa Grande at the Hearst Castle. It was an impressive building and the walk around the grounds was nice.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Race 12-01 Los Gatos Street Scramble 3hr.

18.12 mi. - 3:06:30 - 5th/20
Garmin Tracking here.

For my first race of the year I attended the Los Gatos Street Scramble which is an urban orienteering race put on by Get Lost. The event was scheduled to begin at 10AM so I figured I would have plenty of time but due to lack of preparation the night before I was cutting it close. I thought I had cereal available for breakfast but it turns out all I had was some eggs and waffle mix so I made waffles which took a bit more time than I wanted to spend. Also, I fell asleep the night before without charging my Garmin or Iphone or preparing directions so I ended up packing my computer with the directions on the screen and charging my watch from the computer in the car.

I ended up not leaving until 9AM which was cutting it close. On the way there I took the computer out of my bag so I could look at it at the first traffic light after getting off the highway and for some reason it powered down. I restarted it, but since I had no internet connect I couldn’t get back to the page with directions so I had to find the race from memory. I knew it was at a church on Blossom Hill Rd. so I got off Los Gatos Blvd. from CA-85 and turned left on Blossom Hill. I drove pretty far until I was sure I had passed it and turned around. With the time approaching 10AM I figured if I saw it on the way back to Los Gatos Blvd I would make it and if not I’d just have to go home. Then I found it (how could I have missed it!).

Parking was very easy and I rushed to the start where race director Vladimir informed me the event wouldn’t start until 10:15. So I had plenty of time to use the restroom and come up with a route plan. I saw several other people I recognized including Greg Favor, Rex Winterbottom, Erika Kikuchi, and Steve Gregg. Rex usually kicks my butt but I found out later he was in the 90 minute event. I usually finish close to Steve and Greg and we were all in the 3 hour event. The weather was sunny and mid-60’s so I was optimistic for a good finish.

There were options for 90 minutes and 3 hours, and option for on bike and on foot. I chose foot, 3 hours. There were 35 checkpoints available ranging from 10-50 points each with a total of 1000 points possible. I decided to get a couple 50 pointers in the nearby hills and then go for downtown where the checkpoints were worth smaller amounts were denser on the map.

As we started there were a bunch of other people who went for the 50 pointer up the closest hill. The first guy was on a bike with a clear lead over me, then me, then a clear lead over the next person (Erika, I think). I got the answer very quickly and ran down the hill. I did the same for the 2nd hill, also worth 50 although it appeared only the bike guy chose the same route as me.

From there I weaved my way toward downtown getting some of the flat checkpoints. I came across other people, including Pat Gerimoni, a DSE regular that I know, who was part of a 90 minute team. Everything went according to plan as I got to downtown. I generally knew where I wanted to go but only planned specific routes 2 or 3 checkpoints in advance. I was glad there were hills because I find it much easier to plan a route going uphill.

For a while I had my eye on a 50 pointer on the Northeast corner of Vasona Lake Park in Los Gatos but decided only to get it if I had time after getting all of the points downtown. The checkpoint wasn’t hard to get to but it was a bit out of the way given the route I’d have to backtrack to get back over CA-17 which was easy to cross downtown. It looked like I had enough time to get it, plus maybe 3 on the way back to the start from there. I made it to the 50 pointer and left it with 28 minutes to go.

As I crossed back over CA-17 I got the first (40 pointer) fairly easily and got to the second with about 9 minutes to go. Then it started coming apart. I saw the playground at the church I was supposed to find, but could not find the sign that stated the ages the playground was permitted for. I spent too much time looking for it, wrote down notes from other signs hoping to get credit for having been there, and proceeded to the finish knowing I’d be late (late=penalty). The last checkpoint I wanted to get was on a building in a complex on the way back to the start. I cut through the complex looking for the sign on the building, couldn’t find it immediately, so abandoned it to avoid getting a larger penalty. I made it back 6:30 late so I had a 70 point penalty.

I ended up running 18.12 miles and climbing 1658 feet in 3:06:30 which was good for 5th out of 20 in the 3 hour/Foot. The scorers gave me credit for the non-answer at the playground where I wrote down the contents of every other sign. The first 2 (teams) were tied with 900 points so they were uncatchable, but the next 2 were individuals with 770 (Eric Rozenzweig) and 760 (Steve Gregg) points, so I should have been able to finish 3rd if I didn’t have the penalty. The next person behind me was Greg Favor with 680 points. This wasn’t good enough for any awards but it was still one of the best perforamcens I’ve had at an orienteering races.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Year End 2011

The 2011 year has come to a close and I thought I’d prepare a year end review.

Highlights:
• 130 races and 1431 race miles
• 2nd in the Pacific Association Ultra Series Age group 30-39 (2nd highest point total of all PA runners – what luck, the only person in the entire PA with more points is the same gender and age group
• New Personal Record of races in a single month - 22 in July.
• Climbed Mount Whitney
• Continued a streak of racing every weekend since May 2009 (and every week since Feb 2009 thanks to a mid-week track meet that week in May.)
• Set distance PRs in swimming. Longest swim in a race increased from 1 mi. to 2 mi. Longest swim ever increased from 1 mile to 3.58 miles which took 2 hours of doing laps in a pool. I should be able to comfortably swim any distance moving forward.
• Raced only 21 DSE races which is my lowest total since moving to California. This means I met my goal of running a bigger variety of races.

Most Enjoyable Races 2011 Races:
1. Castle to Coast 8.2 miler – a low key 8.2 miler from San Simeon to Cambria, straight down CA-1 west of Paso Robles. Very scenic and only $25. “Castle” refers to the Hearst Castle. Enojyed a hike at Pinnacles National Monument on the way home.
2. Red Rocks Canyon State Park Desert Trek – a Saturday/Sunday pair of 4 hour orienteering races in Southeastern California put on by Terraloco. Compass needed.
3. National Snowshoe Championship – had a great time as always, especially hanging out with New Englanders Jim Johnson, Kevin Tilton, Tim van Orden, Bob Dion, Carolyn Stocker and Richard “Mr. Snowshoe” Busa.
4. Brisbane Scenic Runs (5k and 12k) - The out-and-back races start simultaneously, the 12k up and down a 1000 foot mountain and the 5k only part way up before turning around. I race the 5k and then try to catch as many as I can in the 12k. Didn’t meet my goal of catching Gary Brickley but it’s a lot of fun trying.
5. Pair Fair 10 miler – a small XC 10 miler through orchards in Courtland, CA up the delta from the SF bay. This was a great alternative to the overpriced SF marathon that weekend.
6. Mill Valley Street Scramble – an urban orienteering race put on by Get Lost covering trails and roads in Mill Valley. It was nice to run a race in Mill Valley that went somewhere other than Stinson Beach.
7. Pikes Peak Marathon – this race has everything (except air, at the top): Tough course, competitive field, scenic trails, small town feel, and a really big hill.
8. Willow Glen Holiday Lights – a favorite from 2010 as well, an urban night orienteering race where the controls are holiday decorations.

Best Performance Races (seems I race well the week after an ultra):
1. Pikes Peak Marathon – I ran a 5:09 which was good enough for 35th overall and a 5th place age group award. This beat my previous bests of 5:23 and 73rd. Had my fastest ascent and fastest descent ever, despite 2 falls on the way down.
2. Skyline 50k – course PR of 4:21:18 and 10th overall.
3. Lake Merced CCW (8/11/11)– after consistently improving in this weekly race from the beginning to June through the end of July I didn’t expect a good time only 4 days after the Skyline 50k, my first ultra since May. Somehow I pulled off a 25:35, my best Lake Merced time of the season and 4th best ever.
4. Headlands 50k – 6 days after Pikes Peak I ran a 4:44:12 for 6th overall in a competitive field. Had a solid race throughout improving my course PR by 9 minutes.
5. Boston Marathon – Just a week after the AR50 I pulled off a 2:49:48 at Boston, only 2:13 off my PR. I struggled near the end which is too bad because if I finished strong I could have had a 2:46 with that massive tailwind we had.
6. Tamalpa Track Meet 9/13/11 – after finishing my first 100 mile race only 2 days earlier with my ankles still bloody and swollen, I literally couldn’t put on any shoes let alone race in them. So I showed up to the Tamalpa track meet and raced 4 events in socks including a mile in 5:47, 400 meter in 1:10, 100 meter in 13.7, and 800 meter in 2:45. The 100 meter is becoming one of my best age grading distances (71.46 here), even without shoes.
7. Clarksburg Country Half Marathon – Normally a 1:34:03 on a road half marathon wouldn’t be a “good race”, but this one came a day after finishing the Last Chance 50 mile in 7:41:03 (a new 2nd best 50mi. time ever). I raced Clarksburg only to ensure we had a full NB Excelsior team with a 1:55 within the realm of possibility as I hobbled out of the car before the start. I ran a 7:30 first mile and then turned on the juice. I finished every mile between 6:42 and 7:31, after a pregnant Anan Bretan and I pushed each other to go fast despite our current handicaps.
8. Los Gatos Dammit Run 5mi. - Ran a 32:03 2 days after the above Lake Merced race. This was a PR by 37 seconds and was the 3rd year in a row with a course PR. Everything seemed to come together in August.

Worse performances 2011:
1. PA XC Champs – a wet and rainy course, the 3rd race of the weekend for me (which doesn’t usually matter), and a nearly completed extremely aggressive fall ultra schedule were not good ingredients at this very competitive race.
2. New Year’s Day 12 hour – 45 miles in 12 hours on a flat 1 mile loop course. Only 4 types of races have I run a slower pace: the 100 miler, Ascent-only mountain races, orienteering, and the treacherous Seven Sisters 12 miler. At least I wasn’t embarrassed since I eclipsed my 6 hour PR of 44 miles.
3. Ruth Anderson 100k - The race was 5 days aftre the Boston Marathon. Ran a mediocre 26 miles and then the wear and tear started to add up, especially since the course was so flat and paved.
4. Silver State 50mi. - I've really enjoyed the 50k course 2 years in a row so I decided to try the 50 miler. I was having a hard time starting with the Tahitian style aid station after crosing over the Peavine Saddle for the first time. THEN the course went all the way down to the highway only to have a long grueling climb up to the saddle again, a climb I should have done well on. I finished in 11:11. Back to the 50k next time...
5. Not a race but had an unsuccessful attempt at climbing Mt. Elbert, the highest mountain in Colorado and the 2nd highest in the U.S. outside of Alaska. After climbing from the base of 10,072 feet up to an elevation of 13,907 feet on Mount Elbert I had to turn around short of the 14,440 foot summit to sprint down the mountain as a lightning storm engulfed the area.

Almost Fell Apart but Didn’t
1. Donut Dash 4 miler – Chikara Omine talked me into this: run 2 miles, eat 4 donuts, run 2 miles. I never wanted to DNF during a race as much as I did starting that 3rd donut.
2. American River 50 miler – had a really difficult time in the mid-30s. Then inexplicably bounced back for my then-2nd best ever 50 mile time (7:44:21)
3. Cal International Marathon - Hoped for a 2:55 which was 6 minutes slower than last year. I started with 3 miles in the 6:30's, then 2 in the 6:50's, then migrated over 7 minutes for every mile until mile 25 where I finished with a 6:54 and 6:44. Never fell apart since my slowest mile was only 7:51 but I should have been able to run sub 7 minute pace for at least 10 miles.
4. Rio del Lago 100miler – The sparsely fooded aid stations, 93 degree temperature, and going off-course 5 times were hardly factors. Blisters arrived on the back of my heels and ankles before mile 50. Erika Kikuchi caught me as I was re-taping and stayed just in back of me for a while after. If she was going to run almost 30 hours, how long was I going to have to be out there? Only 38 of 84 starters finished and I was one of them, in 20th place in just over 29 hours. Didn’t wear shoes for the next 12 days.
5. Quicksilver 50mi. - Started off well, struggled in the middle section, and finished strong largely due to the significant downhill at the end. Finsihed in 9:27 which is worse than I should have run but wasn't nearly as bad as the 11:31 I ran in 2009.

DNFs:
1. Splash and Dash, Cupertino – my first DNF ever, at anything. It was the first Thursday in June. On a cloudy day where it rained only a couple days before, the air AND water temperature were both around 60 degrees. I was surprised I even finished the first lap with how much the cold hit me. Unfortunately the race was 2 laps of 750 meters each and although I voluntarily crawled on the lifeguard’s surfboard after almost 1300 meters (which for some reason is not a DNF in this race) somehow I ended up on a boat back to the start where it took me an hour in the paramedic van to warm up.
2. Roberts Regional Recreational Area Bay Area Orienteering Club Blue course 4.4km - Blue is the most elite course. I had never done a course more difficult than orange which is several levels down. It's not that I couldn't finish, it's that I couldn't finish in time. I covered 6.06 miles in 2:23:01 and only got half the controls. My Garmin track shows the circles I went in looking for the orange orienteering control bags. I don't know how the winner finished in 48 minutes.

Goals for 2012:
1. 50 mile PR at American River (7:20)
2. A mid distance PR – 5k, 10k, or marathon (17:14, ~36:08, 2:47:35)
3. A mile PR (4:52) or 400 meter under 1:00 (haven’t done this in 10+ years)
4. Enter 2013 ready to assault all existing PRs marathon and under.

Hopeful Races:
1. Mt. Washington Climb
2. New York Marathon
3. TransRockies or Pikes Peak in August (why are they always the same weekend?)