15th Annual Cuyamaca College 6K, October 29, 2016

The 7th race of the USATF SD-I Association's Dirt Dog XC was held at Lindo Lake in Lakeside, CA. The start time of 8:00, for boys and girls, old, and young, had us up and out the door at 5:30am for the 70 mile drive. (After, of course, our customary morning espresso) We arrived as the sun was just rising.

Sunrise in Lakeside, CA

There is no parking within the park itself leaving us with a short walk to the registration table. I signed, paid, and headed out to preview the course which was 2 and a half loops over macadam, dirt, sidewalk, and grass. There were a lot of ducks and geese that were in for a rude awakening.

 

Ducks

 I headed over to the start line, a simple chalk marker seemingly placed in a random spot that I would have missed had not it been for the runners milling around. About a hundred meters out was a hard right with three or four wooded post designed to keep out autos, and appeared to have a secondary purpose of maiming runners.

 

I positioned myself appropriately, not in the mood for chit-chat, and wait for the go signal. Soon we were off.

 

Cuyamaca Start

 

I safely negotiated the wood posts and found myself boxed in as the trail narrowed. It was about a half mile in before I could move. Mile 1 was just under 6 flat, ok for this course but a bit quick for the way my legs felt. Mile 2 started on a wet grassy area, transitioning onto a sidewalk and then back on a dirt path. Mile 3 started at the end of the dirt path and we jumped onto a sidewalk returning to the start area at about 2.5 miles.The final loop was the balance of the race, I hung with a couple of female runners. Together we caught and passed a few competitors. Then, about 800 out, one pulled away and dropped us. I managed an ok finish.    

 The Gory Details:

Posted:
24:16 (6:31 per mile pace)
3rd in 50-59 AG

According to my GPS watch:
24:15 (6:15 per mile pace)
Mile 1 5:59
Mile 2 6:15
Mile 3 6:24
Mile .88 5:37

The truth, I suppose, is somewhere in between.

I've been slackin' a bit, looking forward to getting back to some longer distances, maybe the trail series next year. The XC thing has been fun, harder than I thought. And I've managed to maintain a tentative 6th or 7th place in the 50-59 AG series. It wasn't a goal, but there ya go! On the brighter side I have almost completed the entire Dirt Dog XC Series and am one race away from receiving the ever coveted Iron Dog recognition!

We left directly after the race took the scenic drive home.

Somewhere around Poway

 We headed over to Temecula to taste the wine at Mount Palomar Winery. It was live music Saturday on the patio. We strolled into the tasting room where a splash or two of wine was offered. We then purchased a bottle, borrowed two glasses, sat in the shade and enjoyed a fine afternoon.

At Mt. Palomar Winery

Anyway, the remaining race of this Dirt Dog Series, an 8k, is the USATF SD-I XC Championship at Mission Bay in San Diego.