Friday, July 19, 2013

Lake Chabot 10K

On Saturday Feb 23, 2013 I ran the Chabot Trail Run, a 10K along the shore of Lake Chabot. I ran it in 41 minutes and got 4th place.

The event also hosted a half-marathon, a 30K and a 50K race. If I entered the 50K, I'd probably still be up there running.  The race t-shirt lists all the distances, so I try to seem ambiguous when I notice people looking at it.

Lake Chabot is a reservoir in the hills above Castro Valley. I think I'd visited once before in my life--to go biking with some cousins. Supposedly it's a great place to hang out for picnics and whatnot even though it's a 5 minute drive from dense city.

Chabot Trail Run 10K, walkjogrun.net

For most of the second half of the race I engaged in close competition with another runner. Read on for the gripping tale...

Friday, July 12, 2013

Mission 10 Mile San Juan Bautista

I've decided to keep a log (a web log, or 'blog, in fact) of the races I've competed in this year. Though having grown too old and despondent to navel-gaze, I was nonetheless inspired by my daughter Elena's real-time journal. I noticed her taking breaks to write in a yellow spiral notebook. The journal is a continuous log of what she is doing
We are waiting and waiting and waiting for Grandma to get here. Now she is here. We are driving to the bowling alley
Et cetera.

I recall my high school cross country coach teaching us to keep a log to track miles, training, diet, sleep schedule and odds and ends. I think a couple of us listened to him and kept a log for a week or so. During one of my races this year, a guy who beat me asked my my PR in the 10K. I made up some number and he told me it was too slow--since I had just completed a 10 mile run at the pace I claimed for a race 4 miles shorter. So, it would be nice to at least keep track of the races, I figure.

First up, the Mission 10 Mile in San Juan Buatista.

San Juan Bautista Mission 10, walkjogrun.net

The Mission 10 is a 10 mile road race put on by the San Juan Bautista rotary club. It was the 30th running of the race, held Jan 13, 2013. I placed 49th out of 270 finishers. I ran it in 1:09. My goal was to break a 7 minute pace, which I barely managed to do. I probably ran the last couple miles in 15 or 16 minutes, so I finished significantly slower than I started.