Race Report: NorCal John Frank Memorial 10 Miler 2024

Why did I sign up to run this race? 

NorCal JFM10 is a PA race and when I'm able I'm trying to run as many of those as I can to support my team. (We get reimbursed for PA races as long as we run 8 per year.) Also, there was nothing else I was super excited to run this time of year instead and we had a pretty good size group going, so it just kind of made sense.

And then what happened?

From a training/staying healthy perspective, things actually went mostly according to plan. (I know, 🤯.) I had kind of accepted that my training might fall off a bit during my December travels, which did in fact happen (and also, I got a nasty respiratory virus which did not help, plus holidays, which, y'know, holidays). 

But after that I was able to pretty much jump back in! I believe the only run I skipped leading up to this race was the four easy miles I was supposed to do the Thursday before the race (due to travel woes). THIS NEVER HAPPENS! It helps that I had minimal work travel and the only weekend I had to be out of town was the weekend I spent in Tahoe (where getting the running done is usually pretty easy). Of course I was supposed to run Kaiser SF Half on Feb 4, which didn't happen due to weather, which meant a down week without a hard effort. Since then, though, I've been able to get right back at it without any interruptions which is always nice.

On the other hand, the week leading up to the race was rather stressful and I found myself constantly crunched for time, and had pretty poor sleep in the three nights leading up to the race. So while my fitness was pretty decent, I think, I did not arrive at the starting line feeling super rested and ready to go.

Race Report: Clarksburg Country Run Half Marathon

Why did I sign up to run this race? 

Mentally, I'd been planning on running this race for a while. It's nice and flat and usually has good weather (Also it's a PA race, so I'll get reimbursed for it.) And it was one of the first half marathons I ran when I started racing again in the Bay Area, so there's also some nostalgia there. 🥰 (Related, let me point out that in 2011 I ran this race for $45. This year it was $70. Gotta love inflation. 🤣)

Back when my knee was all messed up, I didn't know if it would happen, but once I got through the 12K in September with no issues, I felt pretty confident I could at least get into *plausible* half marathon shape (by which I mean, able to finish the distance at faster than a jog). At no point was I ever audacious enough to think it would be even remotely fast. But as I've been ever so gradually working my way back into shape, I've been trying to cultivate an attitude of not getting too precious about race times, and taking the opportunity to race less to see how fast I can run and more to practice running by feel and effort (though of course seeing how fast you can run x distance at y point in time is useful information as well).

When I was more consistently at a certain level of fitness, I raced all the time by trying to hit a certain goal pace, mile after mile, even if it felt too hard, and often, that worked. But when your fitness is kind of all over the place (except for high 😆), that approach just really does not work at all. So as I've been coming back from this knee injury, I have really let myself throw pace entirely out the window and just run by feel. (Like. Darling, you have run something like thirty half marathons in your life, *surely* you know what the right effort level feels like, regardless of your fitness? If not by now then when??) 

And then what happened?

NOT DEAD YET (Part 3)

Welcome back, friends. If you missed Part 1 & Part 2 of this little update, you might want to take a skim before continuing on. :)

Last we left off, I was dealing with a wild-out-of-left-field knee injury that took me out of running for five weeks, and had started dealing with it via as much elliptical, spin bike, & swimming as I could psychologically stand. (Which was still only a moderate amount, don't @ me.)

SEPTEMBER
Little by little, my knee did start to heal. I was able to run half a mile, then a whole one, then four in a row. I felt like I was walking such a fine line, trying to balance rest days and cross training with ever-so-gradually inching up the mileage to see if I could even get close to 7.5 and have a hope of finishing 12K. On Monday September 11, I ran seven miles; it gave me just the TEENSIEST little twinge in my knee and so I immediately pulled back, & did only cross training until we got to new Jersey that Friday.

Friends, I ran the race! And you know what? While it wasn't fast (of course I knew it couldn't possibly have been fast), I am still actually really proud of the way I ran it, in that I ran totally by feel, without looking at pace. And given how I felt at the end (ie LIKE DEATH), I feel like I actually nailed the effort releative to my current fitness.

Thankfully we had three other masters women running who (again) ran much, MUCH faster than me and brought home another 3rd place National Champs medal for the team. I ran 8.5 miles total for the day (7.5 race + 1 mile warm up) & had not a single peep from my knee at any point. Friends, I will take that!

Race Report: SacTown 10 Miles 2023 (+ USATF Masters 10 Mile National Champs!)

Friends, this month has been and will continue to be rough in terms of work and travel, but I was determined to get this race report up in a more timely manner than the last one! Please enjoy.

Why did I sign up to run this race?

Like last year, SacTown 10 Miles was not only a Pacific Association long course race but also the USATF Masters National Championship race for the 10 mile distance, so I signed up to compete with my team. Last year I ran 1:16:47 here so I thought it would be fun to see if I could beat that time.

And then what happened?

Race Report: Christmas Relays 2022

The deets:

Christmas Relays is a fundraiser for my running team and also on the PA road circuit. It's unique on the PA circuit in that it's a four person relay, with each person running the same 4.5 mile loop around Lake Merced. There are a wide range of divisions teams can compete in, from men, women, nonbinary, mixed gender, open, 30/40/50/60+, couples, corporate, junior girls, junior boys, under 14....The list truly goes on and on! There are super fast competitive teams as well as super chill teams just out there for a good time, and the race is known for attracting a wide variety of Christmas-themed costumes and outfits. Everyone on our team is encouraged to run as well as volunteer with various logistical race tasks (which works out well since it's a relay and only 25% of people are running at any given time).

Why did I sign up for this race?

Mostly because it's a fundraiser for my club and we are really encouraged to run if we can. Last year I was signed up to run on the women's masters team but then strained my calf and by the time the race rolled around I still couldn't jog more than about a block without pain. So this year, even with one injury/illness after another in the fall, I was determined to stay healthy enough to at least complete one 4.5-mile leg.

And then what happened?

Race Report: USATF Club Cross Country National Championships 2022

The deets:

Every December USATF holds club cross country national championships, and every so often it's in San Francisco. Since this is one of those years, my team wanted to pull together teams for as many of the five races as possible (open women, masters women, open men, 40+ men, and 60+ men). The races were all in Golden Gate Park, & the masters women's race was 6K (about 3.6 miles). Originally I was planning on running CIM the weekend before so I thought I'd probably skip it, but since CIM didn't work out but I felt like I was on the upswing, I thought I could probably get through 6K without completely embarrassing myself.

Why did I sign up for this race?

Honestly, just for the team vibe and to have the experience. Our women's masters team had eight women signed up (five are required for a team) so we ran two teams -- our five fastest runners on the A team and the other three of us on the B team. I was injured this time last year and while I am only just *barely* not injured this year, I am in fact NOT injured, so I was excited to show up and participate in this special event!

And then what happened?

Race Report: Urban Cow Half Marathon 2022

The deets:

Urban Cow is another annual mainstay of the, maybe not Bay Area, exactly, but Northern California road racing scene put on by the Sacramento Running Association (which also puts on CIM). I have only ever heard good things but it is a *bit* of a hike (Sacramento, if that wasn't obvious) and it hasn't ever fit well enough into my fall plans to warrant the drive.

Why did I sign up for this race?

Urban Cow Half was a Pacific Association race this year and a bunch of my teammates were planning to race. I was planning to target the Indy Monumental Half a month later as a tune-up before CIM, so I had planned to use this race as a details-to-be-decided marathon pace workout; that way I could still help our masters team score for the event. 

And then what happened?

Race Report: SacTown 10 Miles 2022 (+ USATF Masters 10 Mile National Champs!)

Why did I sign up to run this race?

Originally I had been thinking I would stick to PA short course races for the spring as I was getting back into the swing of things, but then I actually really enjoyed Kaiser Half in February and started to feel like, hey, maybe the long stuff could be fun too?? My "official" 10 mile PR was an incredibly soft 1:20:xx (about 8:00-8:05 pace) from one time that I'd run a 10 mile race as a marathon pace workout, so I thought odds were good I could probably better that a bit.

Later I found out that, not only was SacTown a PA race this year, it would also be the USATF 10 Mile Masters Championship race. There were three other 40-44 ladies on the team planning to run, so I really just couldn't pass up the experience.

And then what happened?

Then I ran my fastest half marathon in nine years at Oakland on March 20! Including a 10-mile split of 1:16:44 (~7:40 pace), utterly demolishing my old PR. Coach A asked me if I had any goals for SacTown and I kind of just arbitrarily said let's shoot for 1:15 (7:30 pace)??? I didn't feel like I'd run all-out at the half marathon so it seemed like it wasn't completely unreasonable.

Race Report (sort of): PA XC Golden Gate Open (4 Miles)

Every now and then on the internet runners will ask, "So what's the difference between cross country and short trail races, *really*?," and as far as I can tell, the answer is: nothing. If you like running trails but aren't always up for 10-20-50+ miles, there is a wonderful world available to you in the fall (and maybe other times? But definitely in the fall) and it is adult XC. Like trail races, they are usually tiny and super-chill and friendly and low-pressure. No, you won't get a medal or T-shirt, but let's be honest, that's not why people like YOU do this kind of thing. If you just want to have some fun in the dirt and hills and rocks without the pressure of being out there for multiple hours, I can't recommend it enough.

This was not my first cross country race (I ran XC very mediocre-ly in middle school and high school, often less than mediocre-ly, actually, because this was before I had my exercise-induced asthma under control and some days I could get through the whole two-mile affair without an attack and other days I'd have to drop out at half a mile), and actually not even my first cross country race as an adult (I ran this same race three years ago, and another in Santa Rosa at the end of August). But I am definitely still very new to my local world of adult cross country and still working on getting a good feel for it. It's super fun to try something different and low pressure!

Race Report: PA XC Golden Gate Open 6K

Well, I went back and forth about it, but as last weekend approached, I actually found myself getting kind of excited about playing in the dirt in Golden Gate Park with some really (really, *really*) fast people. Sure, my legs were still heavy and whiney after last weekend's all-out effort 10K, but I really wanted to dip my toe into one of these races & see how I liked it, and I knew I wouldn't get a good chance for a few more weeks. Since I'm super super out of practice in cross country and would be one of the slowest people there, though, there was no pressure to run a certain time or place; all I had to do was show up, run hard, & have fun!