My favorite race of the year is here. It's time for the 101st Dipsea Race tomorrow. Heading in last year, I was just recovering from an injury, but managed to train very hard for a month, then put together a solid performance for my first black t-shirt in 19th place. My training throughout 2011 has been great. I've run more mileage and had stronger workouts leading up to the race than the prior two years, and even more importantly I've gone 9 whole months without any sort of injury. Still, my running confidence has struggled the past couple months. In April, a pesky cold slowed my training down for a couple weeks. When finally recovered, I had a great string of workouts, only to push myself too hard, and suffer from the effects of overtraining throughout much of May. Finally the past few weeks I've managed to feel strong at times by drastically cutting my mileage, and running much easier on days between workouts. Then after a decent road mile race - running a somewhat hilly 4:35 - I came down with another cold. So this week has seen a lot of vitamin C, sleep, and mostly easy running, but still not feeling 100%. Tomorrow morning I'll head to the starting line knowing I have a great fitness base with a balance of speed, strength running, and anaerobic work (very key for that painful 20 min climb up Cardiac Hill). I'll be well rested, so the key is to listen to my body early on, and just stay tough until I cross the finish line.
Local newspapers have posted quite a few interesting profiles on runners leading up to the race. There are several people running in honor of family members and a former inmate whose running is a key part of his rehabilitation. My buddy Alex Varner talks about what it would take for a "scratch" runner (the male 19-30 age group that gets zero head start) to win. I'll note Alex is an overwhelming favorite to win his 3rd straight fastest time trophy; it's just a matter of how much time he can make up on the older and younger runners who start well ahead of him. Finally, 9 year old Reilly Johnson - the youngest ever defending champion - has been in the spotlight leading up to the race. Last year's maximum 25 minute start is reduced to 19 minutes - 5 minutes for her age plus a 1 minute "winners penalty". I saw her out on the course a few weeks looking pretty darn strong. My prediction is that she'll make up 4 or those minutes, but she surprised everyone last year, so who's to say she can't do it again! Maybe I'll pull off a miracle and catch her on the course, but I'll confess - I'm pretty intimidated by a 9 year old girl :)
