The Year Just Ended and the Year Ahead - 2010/2011

Last year, December was quiet with no races.  I ended up with three or four blogs on the end of 2009 and start of 2010.  December of this year I had the California International Marathon (CIM) and a busy time at work.  So, I am collapsing the rest of the year end and new year blogs into this one.  This is the second and final blog in my year end series.  The first was my blog on iPod music for 2010. 

2010: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The story for 2010 was how my running developed during the year.  As I commented last year, there are no bad runs some are just better than others.  However, there are some ugly ones.  Probably the ugliest was the DSE Waterfront 10M with the attack of the hamstrings.  I still managed to get a 1:05:20, 6:32 pace, and an age group second at that race.  After than was the Kaiser Permante Half Marathon where I had a good race until I hit the turn around at mile 10 and could not battle the wind to the finish. At 1:26:37, that race was still good enough to get me a seeded entry to the Bay to Breakers, which was the primary goal.  I also had an age graded score of 80.1.  Finally, there was the NorCal 10 Miler, which was probably my worst competitive race of the year.  I allowed myself to get sucked out too fast and had a crash-and-burn when I could not handle the heat and the rollers on the return. That 10 miler was 1:06:16, almost a minute slower than the Waterfront race.  The good news was that the NorCal was the last of the ugly races and it turned out to be poor race strategy rather than physical issues. 

Devil's Slide Track Club 2010 Relay

After those early races, things started to look up.  There was the Across the Bay 12K, where I ran my fastest time even on that course.  Next was The Relay, where I had a solid performance and set two team records.  After that were the Bay to Breakers and Marin Memorial 10K.  The Bay to Breakers was also the fastest I had ever run on that course.  The Marin Memorial, which I ran for the first time, had me back above 80 for age graded scoring (80.4).
 

I headed into summer with the DSE Summer Race Series at Lake Merced.  My goal was to break 28:00 (for 4.5M).  I did that in the third week with a 27:50 and 6:11 pace.  However, the real revelation of the year was the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon (N2S).  It was a beautiful run and my performance, at 1:25:23, 6:31 pace was much better than I expected.  I won my age group and the Pamakid Runners won many individual awards in addition to the team award. My age graded score was now a nifty 81.13.  On the strength of that race, I set out an aggressive plan for the fall that involved completing the PA/USATF Grand Prix Series.  My last race of the DSE Summer Race Series was 27:35, a 6:07 pace.  That was my fastest race of the year. 

Clarksburg Finish

In October, I ran the Humboldt Redwoods Half Marathon on the most spectacular course I have ever seen.  I bettered N2S, with a 1:24:19 at a 6:26 pace.  My age grade score was 82.2.  That was followed in November by the Clarksburg Country Run Half Marathon at 1:23:56 and a 6:24 pace.  My age graded score was 82.59.  By that measure, my best race of the year.  Finally, the crowning achievement was 2:59:58 at CIM.  That was good for an age graded 81.19.  

It is hard to decide whether CIM (a sub 3-hour marathon at age 55) or N2S (Age group and team awards) was the most satisfying race of the year.  I think I will just call it a tie. 

Closing Out 2010   

This was the first year my mileage broke above 2,000 miles since my injury of 2007.  The history is:

2010: 2,019.6
2009: 1,878.8
2008: 1,677.4
2007: 1,089.0
2006: 2,123.7
2005: 2,119.6
2004: 2,100.5

I ran 25 races with a total of 191.7 miles.  That compares to 27 races for 155.1 miles last year.  2010 had more long races and I ran fewer of the shorter DSE races.  As a result, I did not qualify for a race participation Mongo Trophy from DSE for 2010.  4.5 miles was still the most common distance thanks to the Summer Race Series, but it was down from 12 races to nine.  The Half Marathon was the second most common with four races, compared to two last year.  Last year I had four 5K races and none this year.  Other race distances were one or two events. 

The Pamakids give out awards for the top three age graded performances with an award year from October to October.  I won third place with my run at the Humboldt Redwoods Half Marathon.   PA/USATF recognizes race performance in the Grand Prix Series with complimentary race registration for the next year.  In a complete surprise to me, I was in the 10th of 10 spots in the masters classification and will get free race registration for the long series in 2011.  Owing to the way that they allocate slots, I did not qualify as a senior (50  and over), but I did as a Master (40 and over).  Finally, I received the Gold (highest level) Phidippides Award from USATF.  This is a masters participation award based the number and distance of certified races run for the year.

I retired two pairs of running shoes during the year as compared to five last year.  I am carrying over some shoes to 2011 with high mileage.  So, the coming year will probably have a higher turn over.  In fact, I just bought four brand new pairs of shoes with the benefit of a rare 20% discount at Sport Basement. 

The first half of 2011 is looking a lot like 2010.  I have already signed up for the DSE Waterfront 10 Mile on January 23 and the Kaiser Half Marathon two weeks later on February 6.  With the benefit of complimentary entries, I may repeat the NorCal 10 Mile and Across the Bay 12K.  I have also committed to The Relay for another year and I have sent my registration for the 100th running of the Bay to Breakers 12K.  They lowered the qualifying time for seeded entry, but I was still able to make it with my improved half marathon times.  My times from 2009 would only be good enough for sub-seeded this year.  After that, the DSE Summer Race Series will return. 

The fall is open, but it will probably be dedicated to PA/USATF cross country.  The Pamakid Runners have one additional runner who will soon be 50.  We hope to be able to consistently put together a senior team in 2011.

KP Half Marathon Training Run 2011