Primo's Run Half Marathon

I decided to run this half marathon instead of the Big Basin Redwoods for a couple of reasons, but mainly because I thought it would be easier.
Other reasons are that this is one of the biggest running events in the Bay Area, with a 5K and 10K also offered, and I've never run it before.
There were about 700 half marathoners, and about two thousand each in the 5K and 10K.
Beautiful weather in the hills east of the SF Bay. I wore a tee-shirt, but had my gloves on the whole race. Gently rolling hills.
I couldn't find my racing/track watch, so I don't have my splits.
There was a major screw up in course direction. The lead group went off course. Some time before the main pack went off, the course was corrected. Some between that point and the leaders got directed back onto the course by a shortcut. The leaders got back onto the course by a longer route.
So some people went about a quarter of a mile long, some went about a quarter of a mile short, and some ran the right course. It looks to me like I had the short course.
This happened between mile 2 and mile 4. I didn't see the 3 mile mark, an indication I was probably off the course, The split called at 2 miles was 14:40, then at 4 miles it was 28:30. I don't think I sped up at all in those two miles.
So I ran about a half marathon, probably a quarter of a mile less, in about 1:37:15.
I'm happy with that time. Even over the full course I would have been under 1:40. Considering the rolling hills and the fact that I ran 20 miles LSD 3 days before, I think I could beat 3:20 in the Silicon Valley Marathon, if I wasn't running the Relay next week. I don't know if I should count this as a new PR.
I'm going on the road to look for work, so I may not be in touch much over the next few days. I'm looking forward to reading all of the marathon race reports, though.

Pet Friends 5K

Penny and I ran the Pet Friends 5K on Saturday. It's a fun little race, probably about 50 runners. I thought the course was short, but the race director, who has done lots of other races, said it "could be twenty or thirty yards" short.
Penny was very excited from the moment that we pulled into Spring Grove School. I think she may have actually rememberred last year's race. She started out almost dragging me down the first straightaway. There were a couple of other dogs with us at that point, but when we turned the first corner, after about a quarter mile, we had a little bit of a lead over the whole field.
We were passed just before the one mile point, we which we hit in 6:39, by a medium/small dog running a very even pace. Penny and I just aren't the types to run that way, however effective that might be. Penny has even less self-restraint than I do.
Penny put too much into the first mile. Through the second mile, we traded the lead aomngst the big dog division with a blue tick. That's a breed something like a big springer spaniel. A beautiful dog, who could easily outrun her master.
There were water bowls just before the two mile point. Penny gladly slowed and stood by the bowls, but acted like she didn't know she should take a drink. After a few seconds, I said, "Let's go." and we took off again, hitting the two mile point in 7:35, 14:14.
We were not going to catch the blue tick, and a schnauzer came up from behind. Penny actually waited for this dog to catch up before she would start racing again. Then she would slow and walk for a while, then want to run again. Somewhere in the last few hundred yards, whe decided she wanted to catch up, but she couldn't do it before the end of the race.
We hit the three mile mark in 7 minutes flat, 21:14, and the finish at 21:46.
So we took third in our division. Penny and all of the dogs had a great time. We had taken first last year, but three minutes slower over the same course. There was some tough competition.

Trailblazer 10K

Shoot.
After I wrote this, I realized it was longer than the race reports from RTB. Oh well, read if you want.
My wife says I have a compulsive personality. I certainly have a family history of compulsive behavior. Many things I spend my time on have a compulsive nature to them, including running and participating in online groups.
A couple of months ago, July 13, I ran a 43:41 10K and got it into my head that I ought to be able to run a sub-43 10K, going under my age, 43. I made an attempt on September 13th, but missed it. So the next week, I tried again, then again the week after.
So I wasn't planning to race this weekend, but I knew there was a race in Mountain View on Sunday. Yesterday I woke up at 6:21. I looked at the clock and the gears in my head started to slowly turn.
If I got dressed quickly, grabbed a light breakfast on the way, and didn't hit any unexpected traffic, I could be registered by, oh... 7:45 maybe. The race would start at 8:30.
So I was gone.
I was registered by about 8:15, but the start of the race was delayed a few minutes while the course monitors were getting in position.
The course is all on a paved, mostly flat, but undulating pedestrian/bicycle path, partly what is called the Stevens Creek Trail and partly through Shoreline Park.
I had very little chance to warm up. Then, like everyone else at the race, I had time to cool off at the start. Still, I started out feeling good, like I was running comfortably at a good pace. I may have started too fast. I didn't feel like I was slowing down a lot, but a lot of people passed me after about half a mile. One guy in particular, had a very stiff running style. He seemed to be running close to my pace, and I was thinking, "I hope my form looks better than his."
I was very happy with my early splits, but they may have been screwy.
You'll see why I say that.

1-- 06:35 6:35
2-- 13:26 6:51
3-- 20:35 7:09
4-- 27:16 6:41
5-- 36:20 9:04 ???
6.2 43:41 7:21

I'm guessing that the mile 5 marker was actually at one mile to go, but who knows. Something was off.
I know I did lose some concentration between mile 4 and mile 5. A runner ahead had started walking. That's pretty unusual at the pace he had been running. I mean, you see people stop and limp sometimes, and you see people slow way down. But you don't often see someone running better than 7 minute miles just get tired, walk for twenty yards, then start running again, but that's what this guy did. At the same time I was catching him, I was catching the stiff-looking runner I mentioned before.
The three of us ran in a loose pack for a while. This was a little before we should have seen the mile 5 marker. I think every time I pass a mile marker during a race, it gives me a little boost. I know I'm closer to the finish, and I have a better idea of how I'm doing against my goal.
After we finally passed the misplace mile 5, I started to pick it up. I immediately left the other two in that pack as if they weren't moving. I only realised then that they were both dying, trying to hold on. I had lots left, but I had just naturally, lazily, fallen into pace with them.
Another thing which may have affected me was the fact that some time during the race the infusion set from my insulin pump, a little plastic tube that goes under my skin, pulled out. I didn't notice it until I took off my sweaty shirt to put on a dry one after the race.
As I said, I don't know when it happened, but it had an affect on my blood sugar, and could have affected my performance.
Oh, well. Sooner or later I have to stop running 10Ks every weekend, but I still feel compelled to get this out of my system.
Somebody please stop me. :-)

Palo Alto Moonlight Run 10K

Mon Sep 23, 2002
There were three events, the 5K walk, the 5K race, and the 10K. There were more than a thousand runners in the two races, and probably two thousand more people in the 5K walk. So it was a big event.
The Palo Alto Moonlight Run 10K was run over exactly the same course as the Baylands FrontRunners Run for the Community 10K that I did a couple of weeks ago. This is a much larger event, though. And it started at 8:45 PM. And I was sick. And to try to clear my sinuses, I had a huge, spicy barbacoa (like a burrito, but with tons of barbecued beef) for dinner, and while it did help to clear my head, it wasn't completely digested at post time.
I had originally planned to run the 5K at this event, but changed my mind to try to get my elusive 43 minute 10K. So over an uneven surface that I had failed to PR on two weeks before, with a head cold, in a more crowded race, in the dark, I was hoping to have a breakthrough race.
What do you think?
I had a great time, but my time wasn't great.

splits:
1. 06:33 6:33
2. 13:51 7:18
3. 21:02 7:11
(missed markers for miles 4 and 5)
6. 43:00 (7:19 pace)

Finish: 44:36

I think under better conditions I can still break 43. It will have to wait.
I did several "surges" in the last two miles, and kicked strongly at the finish. I had more in the tank after. I just couldn't get into a groove I could hold onto where I was moving fast but comfortably.
I'm still not over this cold today. I'll do a 6 mile run tonight, but
I did nothing but rest yesterday.

Mount Madonna Challenge 12K

I wasn't anticipating any racing last weekend. In fact I was thinking that I wouldn't get much chance to run, so I did some pretty good workouts Thursday and Friday, then six miles early Saturday morning, before our plans had changed. I really trained through this race, which will do me well in some of the stuff coming up, but didn't help much on Sunday.
I know Bill Flodberg, the guy who created this race 27 years ago, and he gave me some advice for how to run it. He said that you need to get in a good position in the first half mile, because after that you hit the single track trail going up the mountain, and it's difficult to pass. I should have known that this was good advice for someone like Bill, who used to win this race, but maybe not the best advice for me.
I started out fast, staying in the front 10% of the runners, and reached the bottom of the hill out of breath. I had heard that this first hill was tough. I mean, the name of the race includes the words "Mount" and "Challenge." That should have been a clue, but I didn't really know what I was in for. I've run some big, tough hills, but I started this one trying to do my 10K pace. It went up steeply, then switched back the other way up the mountainside, going up steeply. Then the same thing again, and again. The trees and brush were thick around us, so you couldn't really see how close you were to the top. I'm panting like a dog and chugging along telling myself "It's okay, we have to be near the top." And every time I think that, I see runners on the switchback above me.
I climbed like that for as long as I could. Meanwhile, I passed two people who had started on the hill ahead of me, and about five people passed me. You really had to be careful passing, because the footing was uneven, the trail was narrow, and it dropped off very steeply on the downhill side. You could here people saying, "On your left... Coming through... 'scuse me..." all around.
After about fifteen minutes, and after I saw a couple of people ahead of me take brief walks, I started walking the steeper rises. About five more people passed me, but after that, I passed as many as passed me.
There were no mile markers anywhere on the course. When I got to where the constant uphill relented, (and became rolling steep up and down) I checked my watch. We had been going steadily uphill, climbing, for about twenty minutes. Knowing the course now, I would probably save a little more at the start and be more conservative at the bottom of the hill.
The rest of the course was just a good, tough, trail run. A lot of it was on dirt roads.
After doing quite a few road races, it was interesting to me to observe a difference in races like this. In some races the runners stratify. You run with the same group of people pretty much the whole way. Throughout this race I was passing people and being passed.
People got away from me, and I caught up with them. I got away from them, and they caught back up to me. Some people were great on the uphill. Some smoked on the downhill. Some ran out of gas toward the end. Some found their second wind.
It was a beautiful day, a cool morning just starting to warm up as I finished. I loved the course, the trails over needles and leaves and powdery dust, the trees, the hills, the meadows.
I was fourth in my age division for at least the third time this year, but the third place guy was three minutes ahead of me.
My official time over the 12K course was 1:06:42, but my watch time and the time that showed on the big digital timer's clock when I came in was 1:07:35. They must've screwed up somewhere. This is about my marathon pace, but it hardly matters on a course like that. My legs today feel like I raced twice the distance. I'm more sore from this race than I was after running 30 miles lsd last weekend. Hams were hurting in the race, but quads are complaining now.

Skyline to the Sea Stevens Creek Striders Clambake

Yesterday I ran further than I have ever run before in a single day. It was the Stevens Creek Striders annual Skyline to the Sea run and clambake. The run is on the Skyline to the Sea Trail, from Saratoga Gap, where Highway 9 intersects with Skyline Boulevard, to Waddell Beach. Runners have three options, the 18 mile section from Saratoga Gap to Big Basin Park Headquarters, the 12 mile section from there to Waddell Beach, or both, for a total of 30 miles. I did both.
Today I'm feeling fine. Lots of marathons have taken more out of me. This was not a race. As a matter of fact, the run organizers had us all chant before we started out, "This is not a race." It was just a long club run, with everyone sticking more or less with a group running at a comfortable LSD pace for them. I ran it in about 7 hours, with several stops on the way. We were at Big Basin Headquarters for at least 20 minutes.

Here are some pictures I took.
(Be aware that after you've looked at a few of these, Yahoo! is likely to say that my website has exceeded its data transfer quota and shut the site down for an hour.)

San Francisco Chronicle Marathon 2002

What could be better than a marathon through The City, the city by the bay, the city they built on rock and roll, sex and drugs, free love, China Town, the Bank of Italy (now known as the B of A), the Barbary Coast, earthquake and fire, and yes, Gay Pride? Certain parties who shall remain nameless have intimated that the Chronicle Marathon in San Francisco might not be one of the most carefully organized and managed events. I have to say that it isn't perfect, but it's a magical place, for a marathon or anything else. This is a world class urban marathon.
The Embarcadero, Fisherman's Wharf, Aquatic Park, the Maritime Museum, Fort Mason, Marina Green, the Palace of Fine Arts, Crissy Field, the Presidio, Golden Gate Park, the Great Highway (on the Pacific coast), more Golden Gate Park, Haight Ashbury, China Basin, Pac Bell Park, the Bay Bridge, Pier 39, the Ferry Building. That about sums it up.
I was concerned about parking before the race, and it took me a while to get parked that morning. I parked in the Embarcadero Center, close to the start, but I was afraid it was going to cost me an arm and a leg. It was only when I was leaving that I found out marathoners got free parking there for the event. It was only on Monday that I found out that some time in the last week they updated the maps on the web site to include information on parking, as well as lots of other information that hadn't been there before.
There were plenty of porta-potties, almost no lines, but the start area was kind of narrow. I had prepared for that pre-race evacuation that's necessary for me to avoid that embarrassing marathon running hazard we talked about recently. I ate enough roughage the day before, and I set my coffee maker to have a pot ready when I got up.
I had to leave home at 3 to get to San Francisco for the 6 am start.
For some reason, the coffee came out weak, it turned out too weak to give my guts the required stimulation to do their job on my first visit to the can.
Walking around near the start before the race, I found a coffee shop that was just opening. I got a cup of good, black stuff and got back into line. I had just finished my coffee and gotten to the door of a porta-potty when the race started. I was unconcerned because of the chip timing. I did start to wonder, though, while I was taking care of business, how quickly they turn off the start. When I did get out to the start, though, there were a couple of runners who had just started, and more, who looked like serious runners, who were just hanging around stretching. I decided I had time to warm up and stretch a little, so I did, and that explains my late start.
I hit the first mile in 7:17. A little faster than I should have been going, but I was pretty much alone. There was no one to pace myself with. As I caught up with people, I knew that I was actually ten minutes ahead of them all. They were running slower than my pace, so I couldn't stay with them either. Honestly, though, I knew I was going too fast at the start, but it's what I felt like doing. If I do more long runs, I'll be able to keep going that pace longer.
They do this weird thing in races in San Francisco. SF is full of one- way streets. To "facilitate vehicle traffic" for the Bay to Breakers, they alternately open two parallel streets to cars then runners. They do this in one place for the Bay to Breakers. They did it in four places for this marathon. Theoretically, the distance is the same whether you go around the block on one side or another. But it changes the elevation profile of the course for different runners. It also makes it tough if you're trying to run with someone. If you get separated, you could go completely different routes. Since I started almost 10 minutes late, I was usually around people running slower than I was. The first time the course split, around mile 8 in the Richmond District, I found myself running alone for almost a mile. It was very disconcerting running with no one ahead of me. I could have pretended I was winning the race if I'd though of it.
When I had to merge back in, a guy who had run down the other street actually stuck his arm out to keep me from going in front of him. So I ran behind him for two steps then passed and continued to move up.
I don't know what he was thinking.
So this is turning into another one of those posts that is so long I can't expect anyone to read it, and it's getting close to a week since I ran the race.
The weather was wonderful except for the headwind on the Great Highway, from mile 10 to the half. That took a lot out of me.
The half marathon had way more runners than the marathon, and they start it at just about the same time that the MOP from the marathon gets to the half, which means maximum crowding. After running through all of the slowest people in the marathon, I found myself dodging through a huge crowd of people only doing the half, and doing it slowly.
Other than the last three miles, which were flat, most of the pace fluctuations are due to hills. They changed this course to make it easier, but they could not make it easy. It is still one of the tougher marathons.
The last few miles I was just out of gas. My split for mile 25 was a little faster than the one before and the one after because I tried to pick up my tempo to finish strong. I was able to speed up for maybe a quarter mile, but I couldn't hold it to the finish, and I ended up even more exhausted. By the end, I was just hanging in there.

Here are all my stats. Sorry, no heart rate, but I can report blood glucose readings, which I don't see anyone else doing. :-)
Basal rate is the amount of insulin given hourly by my insulin pump.
Bolus was a dose of insulin to correct a high blood sugar, possibly caused by the adrenalin rush of starting a race.

Basal Rate: 0.2 U
BG:______103___(15 min pre-race)
Mile____Time___Pace
1.______7:17___7:17
2._(missed it)
3._____22:07___7:25 (2M ave)
4._____29:56___7:49
5._____37:30___7:33
6._____46:04___8:33
10K.___47:42___(chip time)
BG:______166
Bolus:___0.5 U
7._____53:53___7:49
8.___1:01:08___7:14
9.___1:08:51___7:43
10.__1:16:17___7:26
11.__1:23:56___7:38
BG:______140
12.__1:32:03___8:06
13.__1:40:19___8:16
HM.__1:41:13___(chip time)
14.__1:48:13___7:54
15.__1:56:21___8:07
BG:_______88
Food: 1 PowerGel
16.__2:05:54___9:33
17.__2:14:41___8:46
18.__2:23:35___8:53
30K. 2:32:26___(chip time)
BG:_______98
19.__2:33:12___9:37
20.__2:41:09___7:57
21.__2:49:36___8:26
Food: 2 Glucose Tabs (just felt like it)
22.__2:58:44___9:08
23.__3:09:05__10:20
24.__3:19:37__10:31
25.__3:29:31___9:54
26.__3:40:29__10:58
M.___3:42:50___(chip time)

BG:_______88___(10 min post-race)