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.

10th Cougar Challenge 8K October 15, 2016

It was a fairly short drive to Cal State San Marcos for the 6th race of the USATF SD-I Association Dirt Dog XC Series. The race is held by the CSUSM XC Team and includes a college race, open race and master's race, with everyone starting together. The men's race was scheduled to start at 8:45am, women's at 8:00am, and this gave me a little sleep in time. This was also a back to back race with last week's Balboa Boogie and I needed the extra sleep!

We arrived at 7:30 and walked up to the track to find the bib-pickup area. The women were warming up and some parents were milling around waiting for the race to start.

Arrival

We found the registration/bib-pickup tent. I filled out the appropriate form and handed it to the student volunteer. She took my cash and while writing my bib, asked for my preferred gender. I look at her with tilted head and replied, "I prefer women!" JoAnne promptly punched me in the arm and everyone had a good chuckle. She then asked if was running the men's or women's race. She checked the little box next to the word MALE and handed me my bib.

By this time the women were lining up and ready to start. We found a spot to watch where I changed into my running shoes and prepared for my warmup.

Ready for my Warmup




Women's Start

I previewed the course which was 3 laps on the campus of the university finding it was a mix of dirt, loose sand, gravel, cement, pavement, and a grassy loop around the track. There was a couple of rises that almost passed for hills and would fully annoy me on lap three. I headed back to start line and lined up behind some college kids along side some other grey bearded fellows.

 

Men's Start

The start was quick and I was soon well behind the front runners. We exited the track area and I could see some of the regular age groupers just ahead of me. They went out well below 6:00 pace for mile one and I stayed behind.  I soon realized that I forgot to reset my watch for auto-lap and was not going to see mile splits and the course was not marked. I was able to close up a bit on lap two but my legs were feeling heavy.  Lap three was again, just an attempt to hold pace. I managed to push the last hill and stride out a bit on the grass loop around the track.

 

Final Loop

Overall, I think I'm holding up ok despite running 6 races in 7 or 8 weeks, thanks mostly to a training schedule, developed by Amanda Kourtz, that gets me to the start line healthy.  

 

My finish time was 31:55, good enough for 3rd in the 55-59 AG and 5th in the 50-59 AG.

 

We headed out and made a brief stop  for refreshments at Stone Brewery in Escondido.

 

Refreshments at Stone

Next stop the Cayamaca 6k, the 7th race in the Dirt Dog Series!

 

 

 

 

11th Wild Duck 5K August 20, 2016

My training has been going fairly well considering it has been over 90 degrees, every day, all summer long. To make matters worse, I hopped on the scale Friday night and saw that I was 4+ pounds heavier than the day before the Boston Marathon!

Waking early on Saturday JoAnne and I took the 40 minute drive to Oceanside. (it may be Vista I haven't figured out all the town lines yet)

Guajome County Park is located near nurseries, farms, and farm stand's that offer Citrus, Avocados, and other tasty foodstuff. It is a popular place that offers camping as well as hiking. It has become the location of the 1st race of the San Diego Imperial association's Dirt Dog XC Series.

We parked and strolled over to the start line and bib pickup. This was to be my first race as a member of the San Diego Track Club 50+ Team. Three races were scheduled, the Masters 5k, the Open 5k and a Junior 2 mile. There were some local High School XC Teams working out and it appeared that at least one team was running the open race.

I headed out to warmup and preview the course. The first 3/4 mile was slightly graded uphill which quickly turned into a rather harsh uphill. After the first mile the course was flatish, one hill at 2.5 miles followed by a downhill to the finish.

Returning to the start area, the temp was rising and it felt marine layer humid. I stood around chatting for about 15 minutes until the starter arrived.

After a few announcements we were off!

Amanda had given me advice on the running the first mile that I either had forgotten or ignored. I reached the first big hill and worked it a bit too hard. Anyway, I passed Mile 1 in 6:11 and knew that the heat, and that hill, were going to chip away at my pace. I tried to hold the pace as the course, a mix of sand and packed dirt, flattened. Mile 2 was 6:18. Mile 3 was a loop near the lake and through the picnic. At 2.5 miles there was one final hill that quickly deposited everyone onto a downhill straight dirt road toward the finish. I was hot and covered with sweaty dust (or dusty sweat).  Either way, I tried to press down and make a decent run for the finish chute.

Crossing the finish line I was instructed to hand over the tear off portion of my bib.

Official time 19:36
2nd in the 55-59 Age Group
7th in the 50-59 Age Group
27th Overall

I haven't figure out how to find online results...no Coolrunning. But I believe I do pick up some points for the Dirt Dog XC Series Individual competition. And I am not sure how we placed as a team.

The awards ceremony was short with the biggest giveaway of shirts, hats, and swag as I've never seen. I snagged a nice SDTC sweatshirt and Dirt Dog Dogbone medal for my effort.

Afterward we took a short drive to Carlsbad for pizza and refreshments followed by a lazy walk on the beach.

Next stop, the 42nd Balboa 4 Miler in San Diego, September 3, 2016