What I Did on My Summer Vacation: DSE Summer Race Series 2011 - 6/9/11 to 8/25/11

THIS WAS the fourth year of the DSE Summer Race Series at Lake Merced.  The series started with eight races in 2008 and has been a 12 race series since then.  In looking back over my times, I can see the history of my running following a my 2007 injury.  I have gradually improved since 2007, with 2010 a breakthrough year. 

    Year          Goal        Average    Best      Races
2008    Under 30:00     29:21     29:07         3
2009    Under 29:00     28:41     28:20       11
2010    Under 28:30     28:02     27:35         8
2011    Under 28:00     27:53     27:27       12

The summer started with several weeks of very pleasant weather.  For the second half of he series, we settled into the typical summer in The CITY: overcast, cold and windy.  We even had a little drizzle from heavy fog on a couple of nights. 

The race course follows a 4.5 mile paved path around the lake.  There is a dirt shoulder on the inside of the path for much of the route.  The only vehicle conflicts occur at the driveway to the Harding Park Golf Course.  The race starts in a parking lot at the North end, adjacent to Sunset Boulevard.  This year, the race alternated each week from clockwise (the traditional direction) to counter clockwise.  There is some roll to the course that you feel as you run, but no significant hills. 

Going the traditional direction, the first mile rolls, but is slightly net uphill.  My goal is to start about 3/4 of the way back in the staring pack, get up to speed and gradually pass people.  The second mile contains the only significant downhill in the race.  This is the place to open it up and let gravity take over. I generally pass a few more people.  The third mile has a gradual up hill.  Some races I pass the last of those I will pass in this mile.  The fourth mile is back to rolling.  The final half mile has a couple of small rises.  They may be small but you feel them at this point in the race.  This is the place to make sure you do not get passed by anyone who was hanging back. 

In the reverse direction, there is more gradual downhill between 1.5 and 2.5 miles.  At around 3 miles there is a steeper up hill.  I find the reverse direction more difficult because of the steeper uphill and a more difficult last mile.  My times vary, but are often about 10 seconds slower in the reverse direction.  Some people run faster in the reverse direction.

My goals for the series were to win my age group and to run all 12 races.  The challenge is to manage work conflicts.  I wanted to run as many races as I could below 28 minutes and have at least one race below 27:30 -- that would be a new personal record for the course.  Each week I arrived about an hour before race time and ran one loop as a warm up.  I wanted to treat each week as a fast training run and hoped to improve my speed over the 12 weeks.

As the season developed, Glen and Steve and I were close to each other in some races and had some fun competition.  Glen and Steve are Devil's Slide Track Club members from the last running of The Relay.  Peter was also in the pack for a couple of races.  Peter is normally enough faster than me that we are not together at the end.  He has been dealing with some injury issues.  Hugh was at a few of the early races and very competitive, but he also had injury issues later in the series.  Jerry was at a few races and in the mix with the rest of us for one of them.  Jerry was in an Ironman and climbed Mount Whitney during the series.  So, his performance in a race depends on his other activities and his stage of recovery.  Kenny was also at the races and it is always good to talk with him before each race.  Part of the fun of the series is chatting with everyone after the races and comparing our impressions.

Week 1: 28:03. Based on my recent race times I was hoping to start the season below 28, but it did not happen.  I was running on my own toward the end of the race, which also tends to encourage a cruise to the finish. 

Week 2: 28:25 (reverse).  I did not have it this week.  I was on my own at the end.  So, it probably did not matter.  The runner ahead was about half a minute ahead and the runner behind me was about a minute back. 

Week 3: 28:02.  The run of week one.  Still did not make the break to a time under 28.  On my own again.  The runner ahead about about a minute and half, the runner behind close to a minute.

Week 4: 27:58 (reverse).  First week below 28.  I was never above it again.  Hugh is a faster runner than me, but he was having some injury issues.  So, he shadowed me around the lake to make sure he did not go all out.  That probably helped to push me a little.  Glen was off his normal pace and finished a few seconds back.  This was the first week I was close to Glen.

Week 5: 27:51.  Steve and Jerry were ahead of me for a couple of miles and I thought I was toast for this race.  I was able pick up speed and pass them along with Glen in the second half.  I opened up enough of gap that no one was a threat to me at the end.

Week 6: 27:58 (reverse).  Glen was back on form this week and finished a couple of spots ahead of me.  Steve was continuing to cut his race times.  I had run the DSE Distance Classic the Sunday before and I decided I was going to make a good effort, but not push the pace.  I was pleased that I was still under 28.

Week 7: 27:27.  Everyone was on this week.  My legs felt strong in both the warm up and race.  I ended up in the lead with a gap for the second half of the race.  I thought I was running alone when I got into the last half mile.  In the last quarter, I heard someone close to me spit and I knew someone was bearing down on me.  Then I could hear footsteps.  I did not know if it was one or two people.  I was having a good race and I was not going to voluntarily let someone pass me.  I pushed as hard as I could.  When we hit the parking lot just before the finish, I could hear the steps even closer.  I went into a sprint.  There was shouting and excitement as everyone at the finish line could see the unfolding competition.  I barely kept my lead at the finish line.  Glen was two seconds behind me. He had fought his way back in the last mile.  Steve had chopped nearly two minutes off his time from the first week and was only three seconds behind Glen.  Steve had tried to hold on when Glen passed him in the last half mile, but did not have enough to grab the last couple of seconds.  At the end I was doubled over trying to catch my breath.  It was the most intense race end I can ever remember running.  My left ankle was tender the next couple days, probably from the pounding.  This was my fastest race of the series and met my goal of having one race below 27:30.

Week 8:  27:52 (reverse).  Week 7 was too intense.  I was not doing that again.  Glen, Steve, Peter and I ended up running the race in a pack.  No one was willing to let anyone go and no one was willing to slow down.  So, we all ran a steady, hard pace.  I knew that when we reached the finish, it was going to be a sprint to the line.  All three of them have a stronger kick than I do.  Steve took the sprint with Glen one second behind, Peter three seconds back of Glen and I was one second back of Peter. 

Week 9: 27:42.  I wanted to push the pace this night to get a good time. I had a very difficult time getting started in the first mile.  It was probably the most painful opening mile in the series.  I finally got into rhythm and passed Glen and Steve in the second mile.  Glen was stronger and I could not match him in the third mile.  Glen pulled into the lead and kept it to the finish.  Steve was not able to catch back on after the second mile. 

Week 10: 27:52 (reverse).  Steve was with me for the first couple of miles.  He had run a 100K trail race the weekend before and two miles was all he had in his legs.  This was the week that I mathematically wrapped up the age group victory (50 - 59). 

Week 11: 27:42.  This was the final week going the regular direction and I wanted to finish strong.  In the end, the best I could do was to match week 9.  I think it was in the second mile that I passed Glen and Peter.  I was able to open up a gap in the third mile.  Glen was able to match me in the fourth mile.  I was convinced that Glen was on my heels and that helped me to keep pushing.  I was also concerned that Peter would hook onto Glen.  If the two of them were with me at the end, they would out kick me.  Glen gained ground just after I passed mile 4.  I kept telling myself Glen was shadowing me and I had to push.  I managed a surge with about a quarter mile to go.  Glen was closing the gap, but did not have enough race left to overtake me.  He was two seconds behind me.  After the race Glen said that he had let me get too much of a gap and he could not make it up at the end.

Week 12: 27:50.  I surged at the beginning in the hope of opening a gap I could maintain for the race.  At half a mile I was in a pack of about six (including me) and realized that Glen, Peter and Steve were not going to let me get away.  One of the unidentified runners was tall and I though he was a runner in my age group I had seen before the race.  I though "wow, that guy has picked up some speed in the year since I last saw him."  I wanted to stay ahead of him, but he seemed to be running comfortably in the pack. 

At about a mile there was a group of people around the path, probably waiting for the bus.  That caused confusion in our pack.  One runner almost stopped and I ran into him.  Emerging from this melee, I was at the front of the group, running into a strong wind.  It was not the position I wanted to be in, but I was not going to fall back for fear of losing momentum.  The runner who had stopped made a surge about 30 seconds later and was on his way.  He was not our concern and it was good to thin out the pack. 

Around mile two, Peter took the lead and I was happy to run just off of his shoulder.  Glen, Steve and the tall runner were just behind me.  Still thinking he was the runner in my age group, I could not believe the tall guy was still with us.  We came around the bottom of the lake and up the East side.  Somewhere around mile three the tall runner made a move and went ahead.  When he passed I saw that he was not the guy I was concerned about.  In fact, he was in his 30's and another guy who was not my concern.  He came over after the race to introduce himself.  He was new to the group and said someone had told him to stick near me because I tend to run an even paced race.  That was his strategy until he got far enough into the race to pull away. 

Up the East side hill, the four of us left in the pack marked each other.  Everyone still had enough to stay with the others.  Near the start of the final mile Glen made his move.  The rest of us were not willing to go with him that early.  He opened up about a 20 second gap.  In the end, that was enough that it was not worth it for anyone to try to bridge it.  Peter, Steve and I were still together and no one could shed the others.  I knew that I was toast if we came to the finish together.  I would not have the kick to beat the others.  Knowing it does not mean I can change it and that is the way it played out.  Steve made the first surge and then Peter went.  Even after Glen cruised in and the rest of us surged, Glen still had eight seconds over Steve who had three over Peter who had three over me.  After the race I told Glen I thought it was the best pace and strategy race he had run in the series.  He did not go out fast and fade, he stayed with the pack.  He made his move at the right time and opened up enough of a gap that no one challenged him at the end. 

After the final race there was thanks for Janet who was the race director.  There were also thanks for George and Bobby, who were regular race volunteers.  Sandy, who handled registration at many of the races, too.  I was one of four runners who had attended all 12 races.  We all received certificates. 

I won my age group.  Juan, another Devil's Slide Track Club/The Relay alumni, was second.  Kenny tied for third.  He might have gotten second except that he ran the San Francisco Marathon in the middle of the series and had to take a week off. 

Great fun, but I am glad it is over.  Now, I move on on to PA/USATF Cross Country for the fall.