Marin Memorial Day 10K

Last week I was telling Dana (my lovely wife for those who don't know her) that I was really excited for the next two races - the Marin 10K and the Dipsea Race.  This spring season hadn't featured the consistently high mileage (by my standards) and epic workouts that I logged the prior spring, yet my race results have been much much better.  I decided to not get so caught up on how my training looked on paper, rather be patient - work really hard when I'm able, but rest when I needed to.  Also, a big mistake I made last year was trying to train through competitive races.  It has been a small adjustment, and if you compared my training log year over year you might say I'm not training as hard, but it's tough to argue this is working better when my 5K races have been ~30 seconds faster than the prior year. 

On memorial day I laced up the flats for the Marin Memorial Day 10K.  The race is on a flat, fast course in the shadows of Mt Tam (where I'll be racing the Dipsea in a week).  While it's a great opportunity to run fast, this race really had my number the prior two times I ran.  The only question mark for me was whether the 5K focused training would translate to twice the distance.  I just had to hope the occasional progressive tempo runs, the two 10 mile races from the early season, and even the Bay to Breakers centipede effort would fill the gap of not doing longer interval sessions.  Regardless, I told myself to push it all out of my head and just be confident as I've had great momentum recently.  The goal was to run 5:15 pace - a mid 32 minute effort.

The race went off & I just didn't feel very smooth.  In the 1st mile I settled in behind a couple masters runners, including the mighty 55 year old Brian Pilcher.  I was a little concerned with how I felt, but tried to stay as loose and relaxed as possible.  I hit the mile mark in 5:11, not a bad split, just wanted it to feel easier.  By the 2 mile mark, teammates Rookie and Gus ran by & opened a small gap.  I hit that split in 5:19.  It was a very slight uphill, but had to make the decision to ignore how I felt, and just trust the training that I'd be fine to push a bit harder.  So I threw a surge and caught up to my teammates, and even led the train for a while running the 3rd mile in 5:06.  There wasn't a 5k split but from the 3m I guessed half way was about 16:10.  Feeling more energized, on pace, and even thinking how I just ran the first half faster than most my 5K races last year, I kept pressing on. 

Our group strung out a bit in the second half of the race, but just kept as close to Gus as I could, telling myself to relax, and throwing little surges when I needed to catch up.  From half way I moved up 1-2 positions each mile.  The 4 mile split was 5:13, the 5th in 5:14, then the 6th in 5:21 (with a slight headwind).  The race ended with 250 meters on a track, and I kicked it in when I heard some footsteps behind.

The final time was 32:26 for 19th place - my fastest 10K since the 90s!  Our West Valley team had a very strong day with 7 guys under 33 minutes (I was the 5th).  It's exciting to see how well our team is doing, and that it's a combination of new guys joining, and existing guys working hard and getting faster.

The race was satisfying one because I set a challenging goal and accomplished it.  It also was good to have a day where thing didn't just automatically click - like those rare days you always dream about - but was able to stay tough and confident, and race hard the entire way. 

Next up is the 102nd Dipsea!  I've been pretty tired this week, but that's to be expected.  I'll take a decent taper week, and can't wait to show up in Mill Valley Sunday morning feeling strong.

* The finish

Beating the Nemesis

Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote a frustrated post about my Nemesis - the 5K.  Over the last two years I had trained hard to race a good 5K, only to end in frustration again and again.  I imagine the frustration of Gold Glove second basemen Chuck Knaublach when all of a sudden he couldn't throw the ball to first base anymore!  There just didn't seem to be any good explanation. 

Last Friday, I returned to the track to give it another shot at the SF State Distance Carnival.  I really could have come up with more than a few reasons why I shouldn't run fast.  The main reason was the race was only coming 5 days after a 10 miler on the roads (a PR in 54:41 although not entirely happy with where I placed).  In the past I've rarely bounced back well from long races like that.  I also could have pointed to feeling a bit run down in the weeks prior, and overall not running the mileage that I like to before heading into the racing season.  But for a change, I blocked all the noise out, and went into the meet with nothing to lose. 

The Distance Carnival has turned into a deep college meet attracting athletes from all NCAA levels, plus some open runners like me.  The 5000 is one of the last events on Friday afternoon, and this year expanded from 3 heats to 4.  I entered myself with the 15:49 time that I ran there two years ago (and my best time post-college) which seeded me in the middle of the slowest of the 4 heats.  I was satisfied being in that heat as I'd rather try to compete toward the front than have it be a time trial where I'm hanging on for dear life. 

As the gun went off, the plan was to find the rail somewhere in the middle of the pack, get into a rhythm, and move my way forward if people ahead of me started to fall off the pack.  By the first turn I was on the rail and in a spot where I wasn't getting jostled around.  I felt a moment of anxiety seeing the clock at the finish line for the first time and the lap counter reading 12 to go.  I told myself to relax and just run for a while.  As soon as my brain quieted down I was in a good rhythm and somewhere around 15th in the 23 person heat.  There was no clock at the start line, but plenty of people yelling splits.  First lap was 77 seconds - a little on the slow side, but I didn't give it much thought.  The next few laps went by quickly and easily, and all of a sudden I'm still relaxed and moving forward to the 1600 meter (~1 mile) split of 5:02.  No problem so far. 

Six and quarter laps is the half way point.  In my last 5k on the track last year, I hit halfway wanting to quit, literally not knowing how I could run another 2500 meters.  This time I'm definitely working hard, but I feel like there's a lot left in the tank.  The field is more strung out but I keep moving myself forward.  At one point I feel my arms start to ride up really high.  Sorry Christopher McDougall, that might be a good way to run a very long distance, but it's not how you run fast!   I consciously dropped the arms, and I immediately feel more relaxed.  The 3200 meter split was 10:04.  I know these next 4.5 laps will be tough, but I'm going to get through it.  The field was strung out in the last mile, but I managed to catch a couple more runners.  I had a couple laps fall back off to a 77 second pace, but then a 73 for the final full lap and a 32 second last 200 (as I tried to unsuccessfully to kick down a kid about half my age) brought me home in 15:41 for 6th place in my heat. 

I've probably had races that would be considered a stronger performance, but this was one of my more satisfying races.  I had struggled at the 5K for so long, and when I least expected, just ran my fastest time in 10 years.  Have I defeated the nemesis?  Who knows, but at least I've won the battle!  I can't wait to hit the roads for another 5K in two weeks with some momentum behind me! 

It's worth noting that there was an American record in my race.  No, the winnder didn't lap me twice to run 12:52.  It was actually 56 year old Brian Pilcher clocking an amazing 16:05 for his age group record.  He even gave me a "let's go Jamey" when were running near each other around the mile mark.  I think we'll be seeing a lot records from him this year!

Clarksburg 30K

Sunday I rode up to Clarksburg - a rural area outside of Sacramento for the annual Clarksburg 30K.

The Pacific Association race schedule is broken up into the cross country series (which I've mainly focused on this fall), long road races (12K and up), and short road races (10K and shorter). Each has its own cumulative point standings. The top 15 in each of the road series, and top 5 in XC are rewarded comp (i.e. free) entry to all the races in that series for the next year.

After my half marathon, I stood 9th in the long road series. Even though I'm opting out of the California International Marathon (the final race in the long road series), a good showing at Clarksburg (the penultimate long road race) would almost certainly lock in my spot in the top 15 on the season.

Enough explaining our points system... I sound like I'm talking about NASCAR talking about "points racing," but that was the idea Sunday.

Heading up to the race, I really had no intention of turning this into a full race effort. I trained hard throughout the week, then made sure I enjoyed myself the first half of the weekend. The day before I was drinking cold beverages and sitting in the sun screaming my head off as Stanford football took down Oregon! Also, I didn't want to risk not recovering in time for the PA Cross Country Championships in 2 weeks.

My race plan was to start off at an easy pace for a few miles (most likely 6 flat miles) then work into a quicker pace toward the end (maybe 5:40 miles). I barely warmed up at all, and got ready to start my easy jog. The gun fired & the jogging began. There were some slower & older runners in front of me, but I just kept my jog. A runner from the Aggies (Larry) who I had just met actually checks up for a few strides & waits for me as he likes my plan. Larry & I chat as we pass some of the early runners who realize they've started way too fast for an 18.6 mile race. I see my teammates Mike & Jonah up ahead who planned on running 5:40s the whole way (and who I planned to let go). As I jog through the mile mark I look at my watch... WHOA! 5:45! We have 17 miles to go!. But it feels so easy. Larry & I keep passing guys until we tuck in right behind Mike & Jonah. I say what's up guys so they'll know I'm with them. They're a little surprised to see me, but not really.

I still haven't decided what to do, but as long as the pace feels this easy, I'm going to roll with Mike, Jonah, Larry, plus a few others with the group. We're all talking to each other, even joking about how far we have left to run & ways to make it feel shorter. 2 miles in 11:27, 3 miles in 17:02 (a 5:35 meaning we'd picked up the pace a bit), 4 in 22:41. The 5th mile was 28:16 - another 5:35. Jonah and Larry make a conscious decision to back off a bit, while Mike, a Sacramento runner, and I keep going. Through the 6th mile we keep chatting. We hit 7 miles in 39:24 (11:07 for the last 2 - so the pace has continued to quicken). Now for the first time we see a runner from the lead pack of 6 who went out WAY ahead of us. In mile 8, I take the lead in my group for the first time as I can't help myself but to try to reel in the runner who I finally recognize as Andrew Timmons from the Rebels - who had beaten me at the end of the Humboldt Half Marathon. I run the 8th mile in 5:26 (44:50). At this point Mike & the other runner back off. I'm committed to this race now, but realize trying to run the next 10 miles by myself and/or running too fast in the middle is a terrible idea. I relax a bit, and the others catch back up with me. Mike even tells me he backed off intentionally from my little surge. Right at 9 miles we catch Timmons. Even though I relaxed, that split was 5:27 (50:18). Andrew tucks in and we keep rolling. Running a pace that's only about 10 seconds per mile slower than my half marathon I'm feeling way better right now than I did at the half way point of that race - not to mention what I felt like at the 9 mile mark of that race.

In the 10th mile I lead our group up the one hill of the course for a 5:31 (55:49 total for 10 miles). 5:34 11th mile, then a 5:28 12th. For the first time I'm getting a bit tired. So I tuck in behind Timmons, but quickly pull around him and back behind Mike. The couple minutes of not pressing the pace makes me feel really fresh again. At this point a weird thing happened. I wanted to keep working with Mike, but didn't want to lose to Timmons (I didn't mention that West Valley is 2nd in the team road racing standings just behind the Rebels). As I see the one downhill ahead I sense Timmons slightly struggling, so I throw a surge. Then on the downhill I lean in and let gravity carry me down. I've opened a very small gap.

Now that I'm running (barely) alone in 6th place I think I see a runner way head. So I try to use him as my motivation rather than staying ahead of the runners right behind me. I turn onto a long stretch of road & quickly learn I'll be running into the breeze for most of the remainder of the race. It's a very light breeze, but when you're getting tired it's very unwelcome.

I run a 5:27 13th mile (1:12:16) & hit the half marathon split in 1:12:50 - easily my 2nd fastest half ever. 14th mile was 5:35 (1:17:53). Now it's getting hard. Every few minutes I'm telling myself to relax but keep the stride rolling. I'm now breaking the distance into very small segments. It makes the miles go by less quickly, but keeps my head in the race. The 15th mile was the first one that I really slowed down on - 5:43. This is getting tough. I want to pack it in and jog to the finish, but I can't make a move in the 12th mile & give up before they catch me, so I try to hold my small gap. I haven't looked back yet, but I can judge from the joggers still running outward on the course and cheering for us, that Mike and Andrew can't be more than 5 seconds back.

In the 16th mile we turned out of the wind and I definitely see a runner coming back. He's going to really need to die for me to catch him, but the faster I run, the better chance I have. The 16th split is 5:30 (1:29:07). Then we turn back into the wind and life gets tough again. I sneak a look back and I have less than 10 seconds on the runners behind me. The 17th mile is another (painful) 5:43. I keep my eyes on the runner ahead (almost a minute ahead still). He's coming back to me, but too slowly. I hit the mile to go sign thinking 6th place is locked up.

Then the moment of panic hits. I hear Mike's voice behind me, meaning he must be talking to Timmons. I make the last turn with roughly 3/4 of a mile to go & glance back. They're not far behind me (maybe 10 or 15 seconds) & I swear I see 4 runners!! Are the other runners part of the half marathon which share the same course but started later? Am I at risk of dropping from 6th to 10th? I don't know how I'm going to hold them off, but I have to try.

There was nothing fun about that last mile until I hit 100 meters to go. I just attacked it one small segment at a time. Get to that road sign, get to that spectator. Finally get to the 400 meters to go sign. After running 18.4 miles, I tried to picture myself starting the last lap of a track race. Nobody is going to pass me on the last lap. I hit the 200 meters to go sign, quickly glanced back, & knew I finally had it. I let myself enjoy the last 100 meters as the announcer says "let's see who this is coming in quickly... Jamey Gifford of San Francisco." It felt great and I gave a little fist pump across the line.

My final time was 1:43:57 for 6th place and a 5:35 average pace for 18.6 miles. Mike Little finished 8th (just behind Andrew Timmons) in 1:44:27, and Jonah had his best race in quite some time in 9th @ 1:45:31. Of the 4 runners I saw chasing me, one of them was in fact from the half marathon race, and the other was a figment of my imagination.

There were a few things particularly satisfying about this race. First it was how unexpected my performance was. And it felt good to be the first finisher in our chase pack. It's great to run a fast pace and feel comfortable for so long - a true sign of fitness. Finally, comparing this to Bay to Breakers in the May, I just ran a faster pace for 30K than I had for 12K! I hate to say it, but it looks like as a 30s age group runner, I've lost my speedster status, and I'm turning into a long distance runner. Well... hopefully I'll prove myself in some shorter races soon. Also, hopefully I can recover before the XC championships in 2 weeks.

This race puts me (temporarily) in a tie for 2nd in the long road race standings. I'll fall back at least a few spots by not running the marathon, but it should still be a solid final standing. I'm a little bummed I'm not signed up for the marathon, but I'll enjoy my last 2 cross country races (plus a road 5K).

1:11:08

I love it when a good plan comes together.

Sunday I ran in the Humboldt Redwoods Half Marathon. This was the mid-season race that I was really gearing up for. On Saturday Dana & I drove 4 hours north into the middle of nowhere. We spent the night in quaint Garberville, then drove the last half hour Sunday morning to the Avenue of the Giants in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park for the race.

My first observation on race day was my lack of nerves. I don't ever help myself by feeling uptight before a race - and I was the exact opposite. I was almost too loose at 19 minutes before the race, when I still had to get back to the car to put on my race jersey, flats, and timing chip, make a pit stop, and do a few strides. With no panic I got all that done and was on the start line 5 minutes before the scheduled start (and 10 minutes before the actual start).

As the race went off, my teammate Todd Rose made his normal wise crack - which means I'll probably have a goofy grin in somebody's photo of the start. The front four runners, including Todd, took off, while I settled into a comfortable pace behind them. Shortly before the mile mark, we established a pack of 5 runners, including my teammate Mike Little and 3 of the rival River City Rebels.

We hit the mile mark in 5:20 - which was 10 seconds faster than my planned 5:30 pace. From training I felt like I could run 5:30s forever, but that 5:20s would wear me down a bit too quickly. I told my teammates & promised myself that I wouldn't run faster than 5:30s for the first few miles. But the pace felt just fine. I figured that over the next hour and five to seven minutes that running a little faster with 4 other people would be a lot easier than running a little slower by myself.

So I committed to this pack and settled in. The pace and the turnover felt pretty quick, but all systems were in the green - legs, stride, lungs, heart. For the next couple of miles I tucked in behind Mike and Rebel Alan Jackson (both over 6 feet tall, so great to draft off of). I felt the first small ache in my legs in the 3rd mile, but nothing big - just keep running. We hit the 2nd mile in 5:24, the 3rd in 5:22 (16:06 total). Rebel Andrew Timmins tells his teammates that he just ran a 5k PR. I took a turn at the lead in the 4th mile (5:20) as we picked up one of the lead 4 runners who fell off. After the 5 mile mark (5:22) I saw Todd Rose not too far ahead. I had told myself not to press anything until after 5 miles. Even though we ran faster than I expected to this point I was feeling good about how the race was unfolding.

At this point I took the lead from Rebel Gus Gibbs, and tried to close the gap on Todd. My little surge put some pressure on the group as Mike dropped slightly off, as did the runner we picked up from the initial lead group. We hit 6 miles in 31:58 (a 5:10 mile), although I think that mile marker was off by 10 to 15 seconds. After 6 miles I had in my mind that there was a mile and a half until the half way turn around. I was a little surprised to see a sign saying "turn around 200 meters". Of course Einstein - 13 divided by 2 is in fact 6.5! Maybe I'm pushing my body a bit harder than I thought... But while the effort wasn't easy anymore, I was still under control and ready for the real race to start after the turn-around.

We turned around & shortly caught Todd. It was now Todd & me, plus 3 Rebels fighting for 3rd through 7th place. I led the group at the 7 mile mark (5:44, but like I said I think the last mile mark was a touch early). After that Todd, Alan Jackson, and Timmons took turns leading. I missed the 8 mile split, but somewhere near there I felt a weird sensation. It was almost a slight dizziness. Or maybe it was the feeling when you waited too long to eat lunch. Regardless, I needed to preserve my energy. I knew it was time to let the rest of the group do the work for a while. At the same time, I decided I just need to keep running with the pack. The group stayed 5 runners strong.

I hate the annoyance of grabbing and slamming down water cups while I'm racing, but the sports drink would help me out. I probably managed 1 sip at each of the last 3 aid stations (the rest on my jersey, the ground, and one accidental splash all over a competitor), but I'm sure that shot of electrolyte and those few calories helped me. I got my split at 9 miles (10:46 for the prior two miles & 48:29 total). The effort was getting really hard at this point, but I told myself just keep running! I could drop back at anytime between now and the finish, but I only had this shot to stay with the group (still 5 strong). There was an aid station around the 10 mile mark, where I lost a few strides on the pack. Gus lost a few additional strides on me. Now it was a real decision to make. It didn't take long as I put my head down and tucked back in behind the 3 runners. Gus' footsteps faded, but 15 seconds later I heard them again. I held my hand back in encouragement. We were 5 runners competing from 2 different track clubs, but after spending the last hour running fast together, it felt like we were one team.

The 10 mile split was 54:04. Man I'm hurting at this point but felt encouraged by knocking well over a minute off my 10 mile PR (I forgot to mention that at every step past 5 miles I was setting a post-college PR for that distance). As tough as it was here, I could start to taste the finish.

After the 10 mile mark, Gus' footsteps disappeared. Then I lost contact - barely. The 3 runners weren't far in front of me, but I wasn't part of the group anymore. I didn't give up, and a few times I even closed some of the gap. 5:36 for the 11th mile. I had slowed down, but not egregiously. The 3 runners weren't far ahead. Surge this slight uphill. Surge this slight downhill. They didn't get away but they didn't get any closer. Now inside of 2 miles, I'm throwing any and all caution out of the window. It was going to hurt, but I was going to finish, and finish with a really fast time. The 3 runners weren't getting any further away, and 2nd place came into the view for the first time since maybe 4 miles into the race.

Somehow, my 12th mile was one of the fastest of the race in 5:19. At 1:05:01 & my brain seeming capable of simple math again, I figured out I needed to run a few seconds faster than 5:30 pace for the last 1.1 miles to crack under 71 minutes. To do that, I had to contend with the toughest feature of the course. The Highway 101 overpass was a very short, but deceptively steep hill just past the 12 mile mark. As the 3 man pack hit the slope they suddenly seemed in reach again.

I leaned into the hill and gave it everything I had. The gap was closing down to 10 meters. Then as they crested, Alan Jackson made his decisive move. Those few strides that he sprinted downhill while I was grinding out my last uphill strides were all it took. He was gone. Rebel Andrew Timmons responded, and Todd was just behind him. The gap grew to 20 meters, then 30, and it only got worse. I leaned into the downhill, but just had nothing left.

With a half mile to go, my 6th place finish was set in stone. I was running against the clock. True to Humboldt county's reputation, someone was smoking dope on the side of the road. While one to two breaths tasted terrible, I cracked a smile, and tried to use that to push harder. As I neared the finish I was tying up & my stride started to fall apart. My last mile was 5:34 (+33 sec for the final 0.1) for a finishing time of 1:11:08. It was a 5:26 average pace.

Todd Rose finished 5th in 1:10:51, right behind Alan Jackson & Andrew Timmins in 1:10:45 and 1:10:48. Gus Gibbs, who had been battling the flu for 3 weeks, had a solid half marathon debut in 1:12:08 for 8th, and my teammate Mike Little was 9th in 1:12:31.

While I lost the race for 3rd place, I have no regrets. I ran an aggressive, mostly intelligent race, and I ran tough as hell. I felt like after the race I had given it my all. My training over the past 4 months has paid off enormously. I've had some strong cross country races, but there's nothing quite as satisfying as running a huge PR. I could update pretty much all of my PRs on my blog page to the right, but I'll save those till I run those official distances.

Sorry this was longer than usual. It was a memorable race for me (and fun) so I wanted to get my thoughts down. So if you got this far thanks for reading. And if you scrolled ahead to see how it ended, thanks as well for reading.

9 years since I went to the hardware store

May 30, 2000-

There were 2 weeks left in my junior year of college. I was wrapping up a great track season. I was in the best shape of my life & I had run PR's at my 2 key track distances 5000 meters (14:35), and 1500 meters (3:50). I was able to do things on the track I can hardly believe now.

This Tuesday morning was pretty typical. Woke up, ran 3 miles, ate breakfast, went to class, then got ready to head out for another 7 mile run. I rode my bike to the track to chat with my coach before he headed out of town. I was excited about what I had accomplished that season, but knew I had faster times in me. Still, it had been a long season. I failed to qualify for the NCAA meet, and I was ready for my 2 week break before gearing up for cross country. But my coach talked me into extending my season 3 more weeks to run in a competitive open meet being held at Stanford (which was primarily a "last chance" opportunity for runners to qualify for the upcoming Olympic Trials). I was tired - but what the heck - one more chance to blast a fast time. I headed out for my run...

What happened 30 minutes later was hardly believable. I had run competively for 9 years and had never been forced to miss 2 days of running in a row. I headed out to run "oak creek", which I had probably run 50 times before. I was on a flat, well maintained dirt trail when the inside of my left foot landed on a tiny rock that was beside a tiny divot. My entire weight landed on the outside of my left foot and I felt a pop. I just figured I had rolled my ankle, and that I could walk it off like I always did. Nope! I couldn't put any weight on it, so I hopped about a quarter mile on one leg, borrowed a phone, and got a ride to our training room. I didn't believe the trainer who told me that my foot was broken, but the xray didn't lie. My 5th metatarsal was cracked.

The doctors gave me two options. One was to stay on crutches for 10 weeks and hope that it healed. The other was to have surgery, wait 10 weeks, and know that it would heal & not break again. Thanks to the resources of the Stanford athletic department I was able to schedule surgery with a world class orthapedic doctor at the Stanford medical center. He was the also the SF Forty Niner's team surgeon. His normal waiting list was 6 months - I had the operation 2 weeks later.

My foot healed but I never enjoyed the fitness that I had in the spring of 2000.

Fast forward to 2009. I ran frequently after college, but I didn't do the harder workouts, and I didn't race. I just went out for runs & I enjoyed it again. But over the past year, I found a fun group of guys to run with, and found I enjoyed racing again. I'm not running the times I used to but certainly in the best shape I've been in since before I graduated, and close to the best shape since my injury. The last few weeks I was having some aches and pains, but a little pain in the outside of my left foot concerned me. I didn't think it was serious, but since it was exaclty where I broke my foot 9 years ago, I decided to get some x-rays. The good news is I just had some minor tendonitus which cleared up, and my foot has healed perfectly from the surgery 9 years ago.

Looks just like what you see at the hardware store!