In search of old age PRs

Run in PQ canyon.  I have a 10K race planned for Friday, so probably not run on Thursday.

10K race today around Lake Miramar. Hot and humid conditions. This race draws about 2000 people with a large number of elites. The course is uphill at the start, then a gradual/flat uphill for most of the race around the lake. The last 1/2 mile has about 100 ft. drop. I did about 2.3 mile warm up and lost my bib somewhere! Luckily, the timing chip had my number on it and was attached to my shoe. Below are my splits:

Mile 1: 5:58--uphill first 1/2 mile then flat
Mile 2: 6:06--tried to setting into the pack at a comfortable pace
Mile 3: 6:11--5K around 18:50. I was hoping I had enough in the tank to duplicate it.
Mile 4: 6:19--Humidity very high and was sweating a lot. Did not take water the entire race.
Mile 5:6:19--Hardest mile over the lake's dam. Very warm and a little windy.
Mile 6: 6:05--Downhill stretch and was feeling excellent at the finish.
Finish mile pace: 5:38--total time under 38. My Garmin had 37:55, but gun time was 37:58.

I would classify this as a flat course. The uphill and downhill even each other out and none of it is overwhelming. It was a PR for me...even faster than the Dessert News 10K! I'm feeling pretty good about the Northwest Relay at the end of the month. I will update my overall place and division once it is posted. I believe I came in with the #4 elite woman. The Men's winning time was probably cost to 30:00. I was told this was the first race that kicks off the Southern CA racing season.

Nice beer garden at the finish--Miller and Fosters! I would recommend this race to all runners. The volunteers do a great job.

Trail run in the canyon.  From house to Poway. I found out over the weekend that a guy I've run with once or twice on the trail (short distances) is Tony Hawk.  That's kinda neat. 

Run in Fort Collins, Colorado next to the river. Lots of bugs a little overcast, but a nice trail.

Run along bike trail next to river in Fort Collins, Colorado.  Nice run past a golf course, woods and lakes.  

Run in Fort Collins before flying out to Fargo.  It was hot, but a nice run by the river.

1/2 trail and 1/2 road

Trail run in the canyon during the middle of the day.  Very hot and humid.  Did some steep inclines.

Treadmill at hotel in Phoenix.

5 miles in the morning on the road at 6 AM in Phoenix...way too hot.  I will try again tomorrow at 5:30 AM.  Later that day I ran 3.5 on the treadmill before dinner.

Run at night in the canyon.

Run in PQ Canyon then back through neighborhood.

Run in PQ canyon.

Wow, so I wrote a really detailed race account, but it freaking disappeared when I clicked submit...arrgghh!  I will try again, but shorter version:

I ran the relay with the following guys.  I encourage you to read their blogs for more details:

Cody Draper (http://cody.fastrunningblog.com)
David Nelson (http://nelson.fastrunningblog.com)
Dale Marchard (http://dale.fastrunningblog.com)
Craig Green (http://craig.fastrunningblog.com)
Andy Browning (http://andyb.fastrunningblog.com)
Matt Rowley (http://mattrow.fastrunningblog.com)
Aaron Shakow (http://aaron.fastrunningblog.com)
Tim Sturm (needs to join the blog)

I met up with Andy and Craig at the SEATAC airport late Friday morning.  We rented the van, bought way too much food and drove up to the first major exchange.  We would be picking up our fourth van member at Leg 12 (David) when he arrived after work.  The relay is generally a 12 person race, but we were going with 9.  Van 2 (my van) only had four members, so we would all run an additional leg (total of 4) then two lucky souls would run a 5th leg.  The first exchange went smoothly, but Dale informed us an off-roading incident (see his blog), but we remained on track.  Van 1 was actually several minutes ahead of schedule and put the pressure on us to keep it up.

My first leg (#9) was a rural road run next to Lake Samish.  The area was heavily wooded, so my Garmin had tracking issues.  The course began with a nice downhill before flattening out with small rollers.  On Wednesday night, I dropped a recycling bin on my large left toe.  It had major bruising and a nasty blister under the toe.  My wife recommended I go and get it "drilled" but I didn't have the courage.  I decided to "ignore it." I was worried about the race, but there was no way a toe injury was going to stop me from running the relay.   I did not put on shoes until minutes before my leg began.  I wrapped and taped it hoping my nail would stay on and off I went.  The first 1.5 miles was painful, but the toe went numb and my gait felt better.  I ran the 5.9 miles in 35:11 at a 5:58 pace.  

My next leg was a combo (#21 & #22).  The course was a trail along the water in Anacortes, then turning uphill into town before traveling down Hwy 20 toward Alexander Beach.  I received the exchange about 1:45 AM and felt pretty good.  The toe went numb again before the first major climb at mile 2.  The climb dropped off after another 1.5 miles before beginning a more gradual climb down the major highway.  These two legs are where I ran into the most runners/teams.  I passed about 20-25 runners on this stretch.  I ran the 7.0 miles in 46:03 at a 6:36 pace. 

My last leg was #33.  It was a small downhill followed by two major climbs.  The run was on Smugglers Cove Road next to Admiralty Inlet.  I will be happy if I never see this road again!  My body began to shut-down on this run.  I went into marathon survival mode.  There were 7 teams in front of us at this point, so I still had some visible motivation.  Once again, the toe went numb after mile 2.  I was able to run down three more teams during this leg.  I ran the 4.9 miles in 32:43 at a 6:45 pace.    

Our team finished in 20:31:02.  Almost 30 minutes ahead of schedule.  We hung around to see if we would be the overall winners.  There was a 6-man ultra team that started 1.5 hours after us.  This gave them the advantage of knowing our finish time.  They stepped up their pace and beat us by 6 minutes.

We had a great team that ran with a lot of heart.  Everyone was a positive and strong runner.  I would love to run another race with these guys, but only if we have 12 people!  Props to the Ragnar staff and volunteers.  This was an incredible course.  I strongly encourage everyone to run this race for the scenery alone!

First run out since the relay race.  My toe is really disgusting, but not much pain!  I expect the toenail to fall of soon.  I ran the PQ canyon during the afternoon today.  A little too hot and too humid!  Looking forward to low humidity running again in Salt Lake.