Dammit Run & 71 mile week

It hit me right after I ran the Bay to Breakers race in May that I was racing just like I was training. I was running decent races for a washed up 31 year old with a serious job, but I had turned into a Runners World runner; always in that comfort zone. I was doing some hard workouts, but so many days I was overcautious about backing off when I was tired. In addition to not having the conditioning I needed, I found myself unable to gut it out in the middle of a race when the pace started to hurt. I started to change my approach the last month of the season, and it paid off with a very rewarding finish at The Dipsea.

After the Dipsea it was off to the East Coast for the wedding. I was happy to take 3 weeks off (not counting the wedding 5k and a few short runs on the honeymoon) to focus on the big day and the honeymoon.

When I got settled in back home, I was ready to start running hard, but had to balance an aggressive approach with an intelligent build up. I wanted to focus on 2 things over the summer: building mileage into the cross country season, and consistent tempo runs (2x a week). For one of my running routes - the 7.5 mile Immigrant Point to Chrissy Field loop - I made a rule that I had to put the hammer down for 1 mile along Chrissy Field. I've done this run once every week or two and usually hit 5:15 to 5:20.

Two weeks ago I ran a good 61 mile week with solid workouts. One of the workouts was the 5 mile Los Gatos Dammit Run last Saturday. I knew this had been a competitive race in the past, but had no idea how hard the course was going to be. I got to the race really late (only warmed up about a half mile), so took the first mile super easy. I was in about 10th place for the half mile. Then shortly before the mile mark, the course started climbing uphill, and I was finally warmed up. I quickly passed some high schoolers who went out too fast, and was in 2nd place by a mile and a half. At this point we were climbing a steep grade up to the Lexington Dam. I had closed ground on the leader (Kevin Pierpoint - one of the top Bay Area runners). We reached the dam, and I thought that was the high point on the course. I still heard the 2nd place runner's footsteps, so I tried to run smoothly & quickly on the flat while I waited for the inevitable downhill. OOPS! We made a left turn and I realized the steepest hill of the race was straight ahead. Half way up, I felt like I was barely running, but Pierpoint was still in sight, and the footsteps behind me were gone. I never saw Pierpoint again after he crested the hill in front of me, but I kept the hammer all the way down the steep trail back into Los Gatos, and finished the race in 2nd place. I don't have a great benchmark for my performance, but felt like I ran hard & smart and that my fitness is right where it needs to be.

With Saturday's race, a hilly Sunday long run, and consistently high mileage, I felt pretty tired heading into Tuesday's workout. But I had a great workout running 3 x 2 mile "tempo" intervals at last season's race pace on the Golden Gate Park cross country course. As the week went on, I kept the mileage going, including a hilly 12 miler on Thursday. Then Friday, I decided to wake up at 4am and run before work, since I was playing golf right after work (running after beer and hot dogs isn't much fun). I wouldn't do it often, but I thought the morning air was pretty invigorating. Then the mishap occurred. I was running on a road through the Presidio when a car was coming. The road had a wide shoulder, so I drifted more and more to the left. Then SMACK I didn't even see the little ditch on the side. I landed hard on my hands and knees. I saw the car slow down to (presumably to make sure I was ok), but I just jumped up and kept running. As soon as I came to a street light I stopped for a sec. I was bleeding from both my hands and knees and the pain was throbbing, but I toughed it out for the 2.5 miles home. Cleaning it out was painful, and I had to bandage it all up for work. I still played golf, but sat out a number of the holes (I did manage a par on a par 3).

I didn't know how my weekend running would go. I started off Saturday and my knees were sore, but after the first few steps, I was comfortable the bruises wouldn't be any worse from running. I ran 7 Saturday morning, 4 Saturday afternoon with some hill sprints, then 14 Sunday. A 71 mile week! I've averaged 60 miles a week for the last 4 weeks.

I'll be backing it off this week, then next Saturday I have my first race of the Pacific Association cross country season - a hilly 4 miler in Santa Cruz. I'm very happy with how my summer training went, and I think I've taken a better mental approach to my workouts.

Obama's Answer: Drink Beer

Obama, Gates, Crowly get their drink on

To alcohol! The cause of -- and solution to -- all of life's problems!
-Homer J. Simpson

Nothing like a depressant to chase the blues away!
-Lenny (Homer's friend)

Harris Ranch Steakhouse

A couple weeks ago I had the impulsive thought to head down and take a plane up for a quick flight. I didn't get to fly much during the spring because of running and wedding planning. But this Monday, Dana was out of town, and I was going to take the day off running, so an after work flight seemed like the perfect activity. Since work was not busy, I left before 3:00 and headed down. As I left my house I decided to see if Jonathan Stevens (who lives near the airport) wanted to go, and he tagged along. We flew the "Bay Tour" where you fly right next to SFO (assuming the tower will grant you a Bravo airspace clearance) and over the city. Jonathan enjoyed the flight so I suggested another adventure.

This past Friday night, Jonathan, Jenn Stevens, Dana, and I took off from San Carlos and headed South to Coalinga, CA, 120 miles South in the central valley. Coalinga is pretty much just known for the Harris Ranch, which sends beef all over California (and other places I'm sure). Right off Intestate 5 & in the middle of nowhere is the Harris Ranch Steakhouse. The website states that the steakhouse is "Conveniently located midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles". Well since these 2 cities are a 6 hour drive apart, I'd say that's only convenient to the cows that live there and haven't realized they're going to be steaks soon. So with this in mind, they stuck a small landing strip parallel to the freeway - The Harris Ranch Airport. The airport consists of a 2800 foot runway that's a mere 30 feet wide with no taxi-ways. It's a crazy landing because it looks like you're aiming toward a pencil when you're on final approach. And if you drift off the centerline you'll probably land it in the gravel. My landing wasn't pretty, but I hit the marks.

We enjoyed some delicious fresh steaks with the Stevenses (unfortunately no wine for me as the pilot). I also picked up a couple vacuum sealed racks of tri tip steak to cook if we get around to having a housewarming party. So after dinner and after nightfall we climbed back in the plane to head back to San Carlos. It was a bit interesting heading back into the Bay Area as a very thin, but low cloud layer had settled over most of the Bay. The approach control warned me that San Francisco International was reporting instrument conditions (which I'm not rated to fly in), and San Jose had a very low ceiling. The San Carlos tower was closed, but there's a frequency that broadcasts the automated weather conditions... Somehow they were reporting clear skies. This was clearly an error since it was only 9 miles south of SFO, which was completely fogged in. But as I got close to the Bay, I slipped under the initial cloud layer, and sure enough when I approached San Carlos, the skies were clear. Weird summer weather in the Bay Area!

We stayed in the city the rest of the weekend. Saturday night went to Tyson Hendrickson's engagement party - praise the Lord that man found a girl! Then I rolled out of bed at 5am Sunday morning to combine a long run with SF Marathon spectating (the race starts at 5:30 so that they can incorporate the Golden Gate Bridge). I ran with a guy I bet at a recent race who I've recruited to run with West Valley, and I got to see a couple friends run well in the race.

Dolphin South End Runners

Sunday morning I decided to give my running an ego-boost and hit the Dolphin South End race (DSE for short). The DSE running club is low-key club that hosts a race almost every weekend of the year for the unbeatable price of $5 per race. There's no t-shirt's, fancy aid stations, etc. Just a race in a different (often scenic) location each week. I say it's an ego boost because you rarely see any of the competitive runners who kick my butt in the Pacific Association series. Not a hint of prize money, nor fancy trophies, just a ribbon for finishing and a ribbon if you win.

My first DSE race was two years ago. I had been running more than I had in a while, feeling good, so I decided to find a race and jump in. I did the 5k that day, while most runners ran the more challenging 6.8 miler. I won the shorter race pretty easily in a very slow 18 minutes. That day was really the start of what I'm calling my 2nd running career (or alternatively my 30+ running career).

So Sunday was my 2nd DSE race. It was the same event, but I went back for the 6.8 miler. The course was a 3.4 mile / 1000 foot climb straight up San Bruno Mountain, then straight back down. I averaged just over 6 min / mile pace to win by about 4 minutes. 2nd place was a rising high school junior is hoping to make his varsity squad for the first time this year. You'd always like to say you dusted some stiff competition, but it was my first win since the last DSE race, so I'll take it.

I didn't get to pick up my ribbon because I rushed back to the city to go to church with Dana.

Here's a picture of San Bruno Mountain















* Interesting fact: In 1998 a United Airlines 747 buzzed San Bruno Mountain by a mere 100 feet. One of the right engines had failed on takeoff, and the inexperienced pilot tried to compensate for the uneven thrust by rolling the wings to the left, instead of the proper procedure of using the left rudder to keep the plane level with the nose still pointed forward. He then had to push the nose down to pick up speed and avoid a stall. Unfortunately they were now headed straight for the mountain. Thank God the plane just cleared the mountain and the 307 people of board were spared. Perhaps if I ever train for a multi-engine certificate I'll post an entry on proper lost engine procedures.

Wedding pics

As you can imagine I was bit to busy to be snapping photos, so no original material here. But my groomsman Jonathan Stevens put together a shutterfly page where people have posted some good pictures. Here's the link.

http://giffordsgetmarried.shutterfly.com/

Honeymoon!

Dana & I had a great time spending 5 nights in St Martin (the French side of St Martin), 5 nights in St Lucia, and then one final night back in St Maarten (the dutch side of the St Martin). The first leg of the trip was quiet and relaxing as we stayed on a beautiful beach. I kept thinking it looked like a Corona commercial. We made some new friends in St Martin as a couple cats - which we named Simon & Boogers - hung around all week to eat any leftover food we had. We took a day trip over to St. Barth's where after I narrowly avoided puking on the boat ride over, we rented scooters to ride around the island.

After that we went to St Lucia to stay at a fancy pants all inclusive. In addition to some more beach time, we got to wake board, jet ski, hobbie cat, take a boat tour, and snorkel.

The honeymoon was a great time all around. It was nice being on such a long vacation, and after the excitement of the wedding it was nice to spend time with just the two of us.

And thanks to everyone for making the wedding such an amazing day! I couldn't have asked for a more perfect weekend.

Since a picture's worth a thousand words, I won't say too much more. Here are the pics. Enjoy!

The Dipsea

Sunday morning, I ran the 99th Dipsea Race. The Dipsea is the 2nd oldest race in America behind the Boston marathon, and there’s no race like it. You start the race in Mill Valley, almost immediately climb 671 stairs, keep running uphill, then run down a steep narrow chute called Suicide, then climb 1300 feet up to Cardiac Hill, down through the Swoop & Steep Ravine (might as well be Suicide part II with stairs to sprint down), then choose from a couple different options to finish the race in Stinson Beach. All told it’s 7.1, or 7.4, or 7.5 miles – depending on who you ask and which exact route you run.

The rules of the Dipsea race are also a bit complicated. First of all it’s a handicap race, like the Wauhatchie Trail run that we used to do in Chattanooga. So the old and the young start first, and 19-30 year old males starts last (I had a 1 minute headstart). Furthermore, they break the entire field into two sections. The Invitation is limited to returning runners who ran fast enough the prior year. Then everybody else (including me as a first timer) runs in the Dipsea Runners section. The DR section starts after all the invitational runners are on their way. So I knew going in that I couldn’t place highly overall, but I was shooting for a top finish in the DR section, and to secure an automatic entry (I forgot to mention this race is hard to get into) as an Invitational runner next year for the 100th Dipsea.

The race… Luckily I had been out running on the course. I ran up Cardiac Hill a couple times with the 2008 winner – 52 year old Roy Rivers (don’t let the age fool you… he is STRONG). I also ran the course out and back 2 weeks before the race with two guys who would finish in the top 15 overall. It was good to train for the long burn of cardiac, and for the required technical skills to race downhill. I also went to Stinson Beach 2 days before the race to look at the last mile again. I ran into a man in his 60’s who I had met on my training runs. He had run over 20 Dipseas, but was still out there to scout out his favorite short cuts. He gave some last minute advice – including don’t be afraid to use your right arm to move people out of the way if they won’t let you by on the left.

I started in my group with a single minute handicap, and was already catching the group in front of me (with an additional minute headstart) less than two minutes in. By the time I got to the stairs, I hit a wall of people walking. ON YOUR LEFT! LEFT! LEFT! It didn’t work very well, and it was too early to start pushing people out of the way, so I wiggled through people, and ran up to the side of the stairs where I could. Perhaps the congestion was helpful in that it kept me from red-lining too early in the race. As I got toward the top of the stairs it cleared up a bit and I could move at my desired pace. I hit the mile-mark in 9 flat… Pretty slow considering I ran my first mile of a recent 10 mile race in 5:15. But I heard that Mark McManus, who won last year’s fastest time trophy (for best non-handicap adjusted time), ran that mile in 8:30, so I knew I couldn’t be far off pace. Shortly after the mile mark, I crested the hill, and started downhill on the first single track trail. ON YOUR LEFT! LEFT!!! Hey dude, in front of me, either pass some people or get of the damn way! This is where I had to put my arm out and move a few people out of the way. Then after a short downhill section on the road, I hit Suicide. This was crazy… so steep, so crowded, dust flying everywhere. I wanted to fly, but I just couldn’t get by people. Luckily it was short, and onto Cardiac Hill. My plan was to run as comfortably as possible at the bottom, since I had almost 20 minutes of uphill running. I passed a lot of people on the first few switchbacks, but then the crowds seemed to be thinning out. Now I was catching some women in their 60’s, pre-teen boys, and middle to high school girls. A lot of these runners looked pretty strong. I saw a man in his 40’s toward his top who was running very well. As I caught him, he managed to hold a steady 30 yard interval over me thru the last few minutes and over the crest of Cardiac. I took a cup of water at the top… I hate drinking water during races, and forcing it down felt like a punch in the stomach, but I think it helped. Then I looked ahead and realized… we’re all alone! A minute into the downhill (gradual at first), I caught the guy in front. He yelled back TELL ME WHEN YOU WANT TO PASS, so I collected my energy & yelled GOING BY NOW. After I sprinted by I passed a race official who said I was 3rd in the Dipsea Runners section (they could tell by the color of our bib numbers). At this point I was flying. My legs were turning over very quickly, and gravity did the work. As I hit the steep downhills, I just tried to keep a fast pace, and had faith that between the time I put my foot out and when it hit the ground, that I would find a place to land. It worked pretty well, except for a couple stairs that I stumped on & actually put a hand on the ground. So I flew and I flew toward the finish. I would pass a runner every minute or so, but they were all stragglers off the back end of the invitational section. When I hit the road with just over a quarter mile to go, I felt the burn again, but just tried to pass every runner I could see.

I never caught the last two Dipsea Runners – a man & a woman both in their mid 50’s, but I finished the race in 53:29, which was the 6th fastest time out of everybody. I was very happy with the time, especially being my first race. Realistically I thought I would run 55ish. I’m already thinking of spots where I can shave time off that for next year – some technical spots like the downhill steps, and some more conditioning to drop 30 to 60 seconds off cardiac. The top 35 runners each receive a coveted plain black t-shirt with their finishing place on it. If I had been in the Invitational, I would have placed in the 20’s. I’m already thinking about a black T-shirt for next year (hopefully with a low number)!

So if you’ve gotten this far, you can tell how much fun this was for me. Congrats to 52 year old Brian Pilcher for winning the overall race – despite a pretty serious running injury about a week ago. I owe a lot to Alex Varner, Gus Gibbs, and Roy Rivers (who all ran very well this year) for helping me train on the course. Can’t wait till next year!

Here are the results. You’ll find me in 593rd place overall (but 3rd in the DR section – 19 seconds behind the winner who had nearly a 10 minute headstart). You can also see my 3 training buddies in the top 20 overall.

http://www.dipsea.org/2009/2009_prelim.html

Oh & finally 1 note on Roy River’s race: Because he was last year’s champion, he received a 4 minute “winner’s penalty” (reduced head start) for last year’s win. It drops to 3 minutes next year, then 2, then 1. Just another unique twist of the Dipsea Race!