DSE Double/Single Lake Merced Run - 11/22/09

IT WAS A COLD AND RAINY MORNING as I pulled the car out of the garage and onto Jones Street.  With San Francisco's micro-climates, the conditions change every few blocks.  It was windy and a little wet on Nob Hill.  Off the hill, the wind died down, but on Geary Boulevard through the Richmond District there was a steady drizzle requiring the windshield wipers.  I hate running in the rain.  I had to hope that the conditions would be better at Lake Merced.  I made the series of turns needed to get onto Park Presidio Boulevard, headed South.  With San Franciso's no-turns, no-lefts, no-rights and one-way streets it is rarely the case that you get directly to where you want to be.  Park Presidio Boulevard goes into Golden Gate Park, merges with Crossover Drive and emerges at 19th Avenue, headed into the Sunset District. 

I pass Judah Street where the tracks of the light rail system are being replaced.  Northbound is closed, but Southbound is open.  I make a note not to return Northbound on 19th.  Good fortune continues to smile on me.  There is a 76 station with gas at $2.75 (cash price).  The standard price on Geary is $3.03.  Even the no-brand cash price on 19th is $2.95.  Gas is almost always cheaper South of Golden Gate Park.  Zone pricing.  I am getting wet as I pump gas.  I turn on Sloat Boulevard and then make the turns to get onto Sunset Boulevard.  The windshield wipers are off and the pavement looks relatively dry.  I pull into the Sunset Boulevard parking lot at Lake Merced.  No rain.  Yea.

I pay the $3 fee and sign-up for the Double Lake Merced Run (9 miles).  It may seem that I run at Lake Merced a lot.  With the Summer Race Series, it is probably true.  Although, I have run more at Lake Merced this year than all my other years in San Francisco combined.  I know the course pretty well and have an idea of how I want to race it today.  I also want a good, even effort throughout the distance.  George B. (to the right) is the race director this week and I talk to him for a few minutes.  As I am leaving for a warm-up run, I see Steve N. and stop to say "Hi." 

After my run last weekend, I decided that a full loop is too much warm-up when combined with the two loop race.  So, I run to the one mile mark and back for my warm-up.  George B., a retired police office, gathers everyone for the start.  He delivers the pre-race announcements and instructions with authority.  Both the double and single loop races start at the same time.  We are off.

With nine miles to run, I start conservatively.  I generally stick to the dirt strip along the inside of the paved bike path to pass the initial surge.  I see one runner who I normally pass in the first quarter to half mile.  At a half mile, he is still solidly ahead of me.  He is running the single loop, so I am not concerned.  If I pass him eventually, good.  If not, it does not matter.

I also see the guy who had a big gap on me at the Great Highway Run.  As you may recall, he eventually came back to me and I passed him at the middle to the end of the second mile. He is running the Double and I decide I need to keep an eye on him.  Even though he may start fast and fade, he still places high in the finish results.  I run steady and slowly gain on him.  I pass at about the one mile mark.  A short time later, he passes me.  Up and over a short hill, I slowly pull ahead.  After that is the biggest downhill of the course.  He comes bombing down the hill, passes me and starts to open a decent gap.  I have picked-up my pace down the hill, but I decide not to match him.  We have a little better than seven miles to run and he will come back to me. 

We complete the hill and I start to close the gap on the guy as we approach the South end of the lake.  Starting up the West side, I pass him again at about the two mile mark.  There are a couple of small overflow channels on this side that cause the path to dip. One of these comes shortly after I pass.  I decide to put in a surge climbing out of the back side to try to open a gap and discourage the guy from sticking with me.  The dip is not that big, but the tendency of most people is to let up a little as they hit the incline or at the crest.  The third mile is a gradual up hill.  I have my gap out of the dip and push a solid pace up the hill.  If he is going to pass me, it will have to be on the incline.  That will require a significant effort.  It works and I don't see him again for the rest of the race. 

Miles three and four are pretty uneventful.  I pass some people, but it is hard to tell which race they are in.  In fact, they may not even be in the races.  It is an open course.  I pass the parking lot and start area, beginning the second loop.

As I am going down the East side I notice an obvious racer up ahead.  I am very slowly closing the gap on him.  I keep a steady pace.  The gap is closing and I pass him just before the one mile mark.  Just after the one mile mark another runner passes me.  He looks to be in his 30's running comfortably.  It is obvious his strategy was to run easy for the first loop and open it up for the second.  I figure I can't match him and let him go.  Also, I am still concerned about the guy I just passed.  At about this point there is a short incline to the top of the hill just before the downhill.  I put in a surge to the top of the hill and then bomb down the hill.  This is the second loop and I can afford to push the pace.  I actually run this stretch slower than the first loop.  With fatigue, it feels faster.  Whether tactics or his own fatigue, I do not see the guy I passed again. 

That is pretty much the end of the racing.  I work to keep my concentration and keep a solid pace up the hill on the West side.   At the end, there is about a minute and a half to the guy in front of me (the one who passed me one mile into the second loop) and about a minute to the guy behind me (neither of the ones above).  So, I am running by myself.

I finish the race feeling I have put forth a solid, even effort for the whole distance.  Some people come over to congratulate me before I have caught my breath. It turns out I came in third.  First place is a 24 year old guy visiting from Germany.  Second is a 35 year old guy, the one who passed me on the second loop.  We all stand around and talk until the ribbon ceremony.  With two concurrent races, some of the faster guys were siphoned off for the other race, helping my finish placement.  I finish in 57:12, about a 6:21 pace.  As they are handing out the ribbons the drizzle starts.  I am cold, getting wet and decide it is time to go. 

I drive up Sunset, skipping 19th Avenue.  When I come to Judah, the Northbound is open and the Southbound is closed.  Good fortune, again.  I drive into Golden Gate Park, along MLK Drive and back to Crossover.  I am back on my route and head home.  The drive may have been wet, but the race was largely dry. 

All Photos by Paul Mosel (c) 2009.
1. Title photo by Paul Mosel based on prior year photo.
2. Race Director George B.
3. Registration tent at this year's race.
4. Me from the Summer Race Series.
5. Finish line at this year's race.

DSE Rockaway Beach 5K - 11/15/09

I didn't actually run the DSE Rockaway Beach 5K.  This post is really just an excuse to show a few pretty pictures of the beach and some others where I just happen to be in the frame.  The Beach is located in Pacifica, about a half hour drive South of the CITY.  On a nice day it is gorgeous.  On a bad day it is still pretty good.

The beach is situated in a cove with hills on both sides.  There are large rocks in the water and crashing surf.  I got there about 8:00 a.m.  The sun was still rising over the mountains to the East.  Looking out to West the water was green.  As the sun rose higher, the water shifted to blue.  The surf was active, the sky was clear and it was as beautiful as ever.

I volunteered at the race, rather than run it.  The club needs people to register the runners, monitor the course (to try to avoid wrong turns) and staff the finish line.  I helped set-up and worked the finish line.  Volunteering gives me an excuse to spend Sunday morning at the beach.  Above right, you can see me talking to the race director.  An experienced club member serves as a race director for the day.  Janet N. was today's director.

When the runners register, they get a tag on which they write their name and age.  The club has two timing machines to keep track of the finishing time.  One machine is primary.  The second is a back-up in case of malfunction.  With volunteers and rotating assignments, malfunctions are always a possibility.  Having a race with no results is pretty disappointing.  So, the club tries to avoid that.  Above left, I am talking to George B. in the background.

As runners cross the finish line, a timer pushes a button and the machine keeps track of all the finishing times in order.  At the end of the finishing chute we collect the tags in the same order that people crossed the finish line and put then on a string (lanyard).  The person who does the results matches the times with the tags when preparing the results.  At the end of a race most runners are exhausted and they are not thinking too straight.  The challenge is to keep them in order in the finishing chute, to find the tag in one of the many locations where people pin it and to keep the tags in order on the string. 

The race went smoothly and it was a gorgeous morning.  After the last runner (actually, a walker) crossed the line, we packed up.  I went up to Lake Merced, which I could reach with a minor detour on my way home.  I did three loops and a little more (13.6 miles) to fill out my week.  Next week I run the DSE Single/Double Lake Merced Run.  I will do the double for 9 miles. 

DSE Great "Halloween" Highway 4M - 11/1/09

The Great Highway is on the Western edge of San Francisco, at the Pacific Ocean.  It is about 3.5 miles long and runs from the Cliff House, at the Northern end, just past the San Francisco Zoo, at the Southern end.  From Lincoln Way, at the Southwest corner of Golden Gate Park, the Great Highway is a divided freeway for about two miles, until it crosses Sloat Boulevard.  There is a bike path along the East side of the road and this is where I joined the DSE running club for its four mile Halloween run.

This is an out-and-back course. It starts at Lincoln Way with the turn-around at Sloat Boulevard.  It is good for a race because there are no cross streets for this two mile stretch.  The course is as flat as any outdoor course.  In fact, I have run on an airbase and even that is not perfectly flat -- all that concrete is poured to allow water to run off.  The path is asphalt with a small dirt strip to the west (ocean) side.  Roughly the first half mile has sand dunes between the road and the ocean.  After that, the view opens up and you can see the ocean.  Like most races, if you are running hard, you don't notice the scenery too much.

I like this course because it is flat, straight and near the ocean.  Some don't like it because it is flat, straight and has limited views, especially where there are sand dunes.  The East side of the path has plants to screen the path and road are from the homes to the East.

I ran the course and a little more before the race as a warm-up and to get more mileage for the day.  Sunday is normally my long run.  If all I run on Sunday is a race, it results in a low mileage week.  If the race is a goal race, that is fine.  If it is just part of my training and weekly running, like this one, I need more miles.

The opening to the bike path is the width of the path, but also has several steel posts to keep vehicles out.  This makes the start fairly restricted and I had to run on the dirt path to pass the initial surge and work myself into position.  I passed people for the first mile and seemed to settle-in.  My first mile was 6:01.  Too fast, again (see my comment on the first mile of the Bridge to Bridge).  I should have been about 6:15.

There was one person in front of me who went out even faster than I did.  He looked to be losing ground.  After I had passed the initial surge at the beginning I could see him far ahead, but I was slowly closing the gap.  At about a mile and a half, I passed him.  Somewhere around the turn around, someone shouted that I was in third place.  That gave me a chance for a top-5 finish, including a top-5 ribbon.  As I commented last year, those have become much harder to get.  So, I was excited.  My second mile was 6:11. 

I was having trouble holding pace in the third mile.  I backed off a little and ran 6:25.  If I had not gone out so fast, I might have been a little faster.  I was passed by one person.  He looked strong and I decided not to try to stay with him.  I was now in fourth and still had one slot to give.  No sense trying to keep with him, only to blow-up in the last mile and risk the top 5 all together.

Last mile and I am anticipating the finish.  There is no one in front of me within striking distance.  As far as I can tell, there is no one behind me close enough to challenge me.  I look for the landmarks to distract me and to tell me I am getting close to the finish.  I know there is a slight rise before the finish.  Rather than be discouraged by it I attack it.  My last mile is 6:07.  Although, as noted below, that is probably misleading.

I finish in 24:47, an average pace of 6:11.  This, too, is probably a little misleading.  I think the truth is that the course is 4 or 5 100ths of a mile short.  That is just the way that the roads are and the only way to get that extra distance would be to go into traffic.  Not a good idea.  So, my last mile was probably more like a 6:20 pace and my average for the race was probably closer to 6:15.  I ran this same race last fall and finished in 24:53.  Comparing apples to apples, I was little faster than last year.  This year, I came in fourth out of 113 finishers. 

I ran two miles after the race.  It was more for the mileage than a cool down, but it served both purposes.  Good run, nice day.  What more could I ask for?