Race Report: Oakland Twilight 5000m 2024

Why did I sign up to run this race? 

No joke, I have been trying to get a track race in since 2017! I tried twice that summer to run a track 5K and both times had to pull up short with a sudden calf strain. Since then I'd mostly been focused on other things, but a few years back, Tracksmith started their Twilight 5000 summer series, in which the company hosts a series of multi-heat 5000m track races around the country. When you sign up, you enter an estimated finish time, and then based on those times, they organize everyone into heats of ~40 people or so. (Estimated finish times range from 45:00 to sub-15:00 and there's also a kids' 500m heat, so definitely a heat for juuuuust about everyone who cares to run.)

Last year (2023), I signed up to run the San Francisco edition, but then--no joke--strained a calf muscle during a track workout a week before. 🤬 It had improved somewhat by race day but not even close enough to consider racing, so instead I cheered on my teammates and took photos. Having missed out, this year I signed up (as did many others) for both the Oakland and San Francisco iterations.

A couple of shots from SF Twilight 2023 last July

And then what happened?

Race Report: Impala Stampede 5K 2024

Why did I sign up to run this race? 

This race has I think been a Pacific Association race & part of the Road Short Course Grand Prix since its inception. Up until this year it had been called the Stow Lake Stampede, but with the renaming of Stow Lake (for very good reasons), the race needed a new moniker as well. Since "Blue Heron Lake Stampede" doesn't quite roll off the tongue in the same way, the race ended up taking the name of its sponsoring team. Because it's a PA race and starts literally three miles from my house, I signed up for it a long time ago because it's an easy way to help meet my team obligation of running eight PA races per year.

And then what happened?

Race Report: Mile of Truth 2024

Why did I sign up to run this race? 

This race has often been a Pacific Association race & part of the Road Short Course Grand Prix. (This year it was also the USATF Masters Road Mile Championship, which means some REALLY FAST masters were out there competing for an individual national title.) I ran it last year more as a warm body than anything else because we needed three masters women and no one else was available. 

To refresh your memory, I had a rough spring of running & racing in 2023. I'd been fighting with various injuries on and off for months and because of that really struggling to run more than 6-7 miles at a stretch, let alone get in anything resembling a workout. I ran an absolute dumpster fire of a 10-miler in early April, then had a bunch of travel over the next two weeks that culminated in getting Covid about a week and a half before the Masters 10K National Team Championships in Dedham, Massachusetts. There were only three of us going at all, and it was really a race against time in terms of testing negative so I could get on the plane in good conscience. (If you've never raced a 10K the week after having Covid, I do not recommend it!) The Mile of Truth was just six days later and I was really, really hoping someone else would end up available, but a couple days out it became clear it was just my two teammates and me.

Because there was no one else, I showed up, definitely not fully recovered from Covid and definitely DEFINITELY not recovered from racing a hilly 10K in the rain while *barely* not sick with Covid. I told the ladies I would do it but just, it would be a gd miracle if I managed to run even *one* sub-seven mile. They said all I had to do was show up and do my best, so that's what I did.

Mile of Truth 2023. My official time was 6:58, so. Who delivers for you, babe? 

Now. I am not nor have I ever *really* been a miler, so I wasn't personally invested in my time in this race at all. Though I have sometimes been curious about what kind of time I could run in an all-out mile if I really trained for it and had a good day. A funny thing happened after running this race in 2023, though, which was that I suddenly became really really curious about that, especially given that I knew circumstances were so especially bad for me on THAT day. I resolved there and then to run the race again in 2024 and to be in at least better-than-passable shape for it, even if I didn't specifically train for the mile.

And then what happened?

Race Report: Eugene Half Marathon 2024

Why did I sign up to run this race? 

The truth is, I got peer pressured by teammates. 🤣 I had a few shorter races on the schedule for the year but nothing that felt "big-ish," so when a group was planning to make a trip to Eugene with various members running the half or full, I decided to jump in for the half.

And then what happened?

I had a pretty solid February and March, but April was a bit catch-as-catch-can with all my various work and personal travel. By the end of the month I was feeling a bit run-down and struggling to recover super well from hard runs, but I was still excited for the trip to Eugene and to see how all my work over the spring would translate into the race.

Pre-race:

Race Report: Ninja 15K (Apr 13 2024)

Why did I sign up to run this race? 

I wanted to run one more race before Eugene, ideally something longer than 10K (so I could treat it as kind of a Eugene dress rehearsal/long tempo) but less than another half marathon (because I didn't want to risk getting over-excited and blowing Eugene by all-out racing two weeks before). 

One of the main reasons I wanted to do this was because back when I ran NorCal Redding 10-miler in March, I did not run a good race tactically. I knew I'd had a rough week and was not fully recovered and epically misjudged my initial effort level, and when that happened and I suddenly started to feel really really bad, I sort of had a little mini-panic attack. I spent the whole race really unhappy and desperate to quit and also watching my pace creep up and up and up no matter what I tried to do. It got a little better in the last two miles but I *really* wanted another chance to practice the mental & strategic side of things, and bonus if it was a day when circumstances are not 100% perfect (as is usually the case, if we're honest).

Originally I was going to do this 10-miler in Brooklyn on Sunday since my talk was scheduled for Saturday, but then just a few days before the talk got moved to Sunday and there was absolutely no way I was going to make it back in time. So, I poked around a bit and found this little community race about two hours from Philly put on by this group offering a 1-mile, 5K, 10K, 15K, and half marathon (!) and signed up for the 15K (which is ~9.3 of The King's miles for those keeping score at home).

And then what happened?

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: Brazen New Year's Eve Half Marathon

Why did I sign up to run this race? 

The story of how I ended up running this race is a bit silly. To be honest I was sort of thinking of it as a kind of New Year's Eve turkey trot, i.e., the rest of the day is going to be busy & involve a bunch of socializing and celebrating, and it will be nice to have a nice, solid plan in place for getting a long-ish run in early in the day. Originally, I just started googling for local Dec. 31 half marathons, but unless I missed something, this was the only half marathon within a reasonable driving distance of home. I hadn't really been planning on making my trail half debut at this time but figured, "Eh, trail races, that's just, like, a kind of long cross country race? And I'm not even trying to run fast, just get in the miles, so who cares. Hills, pshhhh, whatever."

And then what happened?

WELL, I went to Dubai for 1.5 weeks during which time I wasn't able to run at all thanks to work scheduling, travel logistics, and jet lag. I got one good run in after I got home and then promptly got sick and spent most of my holiday travel feeling terrible (as well as jet lagged). By the 26th I was starting to feel a bit better so went for a short four-mile run, then six miles a couple days later, and six miles when we got home on the 30th. I was definitely not feeling 100% and went back and forth on whether running a trail half was smart or not (vs. just going out for an easy 6-10 miles or so at home). Partly because I had looked at the elevation profile for this race, and because the first trail race I EVER ran back in 2011 was in this park, I knew *exactly* what that second big hill was like. 🤣

In the end, though, I thought, "Eh, how bad can it be, it's only a 35 minute drive," and went for it. #famouslastwords

Race Day:

Race Report: Silicon Valley Turkey Trot 5K

Why did I sign up to run this race? 

Not that I've signed up for anything even *remotely* high stakes in quite a while, but honestly, this race is about THE lowest-stakes thing I've signed up for in recent memory. I am almost always traveling for Thanksgiving, and since we're staying home this year, I wanted to take the opportunity to run a local Turkey Trot just for funsies. 

A few weeks back I polled my team just to see if others were thinking about doing one and if there seemed to be critical mass somewhere (we have a number of local options here). A lot of ladies were planning on doing the Silicon Valley race in Mountain View (which offers both a 5K & 10K), so I figured it would be fun to join the group. I really, truly had no goals or ambitions whatsoever other than to run just fast enough to have fun.

And then what happened?

Generally I've felt really good running lately, but in the week leading up to the Turkey Trot, I started to struggle a bit, with my recovery score gradually sliding down through the yellow and into the red, in spite of really trying to focus on rest. In retrospect I think this was mostly about work stress and Thanksgiving prep stress, which I've learned can have a *huge* effect on how well your body recovers. On Wednesday I was feeling pretty exhausted so I decided to skip my usual shakeout run altogether in favor a bit more rest. To be honest, that choice was at least as much mental as it was physical -- a super easy 3 mile jog with a few strides thrown in shouldn't feel like much of a strain, but what was kind of a strain was planning out my day and fitting that in at a reasonable hour plus the whole rigamarole of getting dressed and cleaning up after. Mentally, I just did not want to deal with it, and it was such a (weirdly) huge weight off my shoulders after I emailed my coach to tell her. Like I said, this race had never been a high stakes thing for me but the closer it got, the more my motivation and ability to care about the outcome dropped. 😅 I was glad I'd already signed up and paid for it because otherwise I totally might have just flaked!

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?

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: Victory Half Marathon 2023

Whew, finally getting this one out into the world!

The deets:

Brazen Racing is well known in the Bay Area for fun, inclusive, reasonably affordable, and extremely well-organized events, with the vast majority including a 5K, 10K, and half marathon. Most of them are trail races (including some real doozies!), but they host a few flat, paved events as well (including Hellyer in the South Bay and the Bay Breeze/Summer Breeze races at the San Leandro Marina). It is always a really fun and supportive crew, and their races are known for such perks as big beautiful medals (including age group winner medals), cool shirts that you'd actually consider wearing *not* only for running, free photos taken by volunteers stationed on the course, and an epic post-race spread.

Why did I sign up for this race?

I didn't have anything on my spring race calendar until the USATF Masters 10 Mile National Championships on April 2nd, and I wanted to run *something* in the 10K-to-half-marathon ballpark between New Years and then just to see where I was fitness-wise. My criteria were a) late Feb/early March, b) 10K, half, or something in between, c) mostly flat-ish course, d) reliable organization, e) fairly close to home, & f) not too pricey. That's a lot to ask for in one race! So I actually felt very lucky that I was able to find even ONE race that checked all the boxes.

Victory starts and finishes at Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, just over the bridge and a bit down the freeway, about 30 minutes from me. It's a really pretty area of Richmond with some gorgeous waterfront views (a lot of which you get to see on the course). All three courses are mostly out-and-backs and pretty close to totally flat. I have run the 10K at Victory twice before (2017 and 2020) so I felt very comfortable with the logistics (getting there, parking, the course, etc.).

Brazen has always put on some of the highest-value "low-stakes" races in the Bay Area--if you just wanted to run and have fun and see what you could do, it's always been hard to do better in terms of price and what you get for it. Alas, inflation has of course come for us all of late, including race directors. So prices have gone up a bit. But prices have gone up everywhere, so Brazen is still a QPR winner any way you slice it.

This year's prices for the 5K/10K/Half:

• Until 12/18/22: $58 / $67 / $83
• Before 1/22/23: $63 / $72 / $88
• After 1/22/23: $68 / $77 / $93
• Race day: $73 / $82 / $98

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: Indiana Monumental Half Marathon 2022

The deets:

The Indiana Monumental Marathon (and half, and 5K) or "The Monumental", as it's affectionally known by locals, is maybe one of the all-around best races I've ever participated in. Clearly runners in the Indiana area are aware of its charms, but I can't really speak for how well-known it is beyond that. Despite it being one of the 15 biggest marathons in the country, my West Coast self had never heard of it before I started researching smoking fast half marathon courses.

What makes this race so great in my opinion?

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: The Giant Race 10K 2022

Why did I sign up for this race?

The Giant Race is a mainstay of the San Francisco road racing scene, historically offering a pretty flat & fast (not to mention scenic!) 5K, 10K, and half over two days (though this year there was no half), but for one reason or another I've never run it. Actually I know one reason I've never run it and that's because of the price. The 10K cost me $90 and the 5K was $75, and those were the early bird prices before service fees, optional bib mailing, if you want the swank VIP package, etc. 💸💸💸

Especially when I first moved to SF 14 years ago, that was farrrr to rich for my blood. This year I was willing to swing it for a few reasons:

• I wanted to get in a mid-distance race this summer but my dates were pretty constrained due to dumb amount of travel over the summer & early fall & a bunch of weekends already booked up with stuff, so my options for local races, especially in the 10K range, were pretty sparse.
  
• The start/finish is a very quick and easy BART ride or a very reasonable 3-mile warm-up jog from my house. No driving or getting up butt early required!
• Related, no hotel needed, making this one actually *cheaper* than two of the four races I ran this past spring. (These two reasons alone pretty much clinched it for me.)
  
• The course has historically been pretty flat & fast.
• In terms of favorable August weather conditions, SF is about as dependable as it gets.

 

And then what happened?

Race Report: Stow Lake Stampede 5K 2022

Why did I sign up for this race?

This race was another on the PA short-course circuit where I thought we might end up having a team, and it seemed like a nice follow-up to the (40)8K in April. It didn't hurt that it's super close to home (just three miles away in Golden Gate Park) on extremely familiar ground.

I was also just excited to try my hand at a 5K again, especially in a situation where I'd have a big chunk of weeks to train for it consistently in a way that really targeted 5K speed. So often when I've run 5Ks it's been in the middle of training for a longer distance, or the beginning of a season as a kind of fitness gauge, or a convenient way to get in a workout; I was really curious what I might be able to do at this point with some for-real 5K-specific training. 

I really do believe that variety in what you train for plays a big role in everything from keeping running and training mentally fresh to making you fitter and less injury-prone by switching up the physical stimuli, so it was nice to do a couple of months training for the half and 10-miler and then switch gears to shorter, more speed-focused stuff.

And then what happened?

Race Report: San Jose (40)8K Race to the Row

Why did I sign up for this race?

This race was on the PA circuit, meaning a deep field, a good course, and (supposedly) a well-organized race overall. I was hoping to run something in the 5K-10K range around this time, so poof! Perfect. (Even more so because I'd never run a certified 8K before so I had no real expectations.)

And then what happened?

One of my research teams got a paper accepted to a pretty major conference & the conference was Thursday April 21-Monday April 25 in San Diego. It would have been no problem for me to go if our session had been on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Monday. But no; we got Sunday.

Fortunately, there was a virtual option and I wasn't all that excited about the rest of the conference, so our team agreed that we would present virtually. The race was at 8:30am so unless something went horrifically wrong, I'd be done running by 9:10ish. The first session slot was 9:45am and the next one was 11:30am, and it would be no problem to be home & presentable by 11:30am. "Surely," I thought, "there is no way my luck is so bad that our session would not only be on Sunday morning, but also the ONLY slot that I couldn't possibly get home in time for.

Welp.

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: Oakland Half Marathon 2022

Alright, generally, I like to make you wait and read all the way to the end for the punch line, but I'm just gonna get it out of the way now:

Official: 13.1 miles / 1:40:57 / 7:42 pace
Garmin: 13.14 miles / 1:40:58 / 7:41 pace

In case you forgot, I ran a 1:56:05 half marathon on Feb. 6, just six weeks ago. And while I didn't run that race all-out, I didn't run *this* one all-out either (and that 1:56 felt a LOT harder in the last miles than this 1:40 did). When I tell you I wasn't expecting to run this kind of time, I am not bullshitting you. Yes, I've had some very encouraging workouts lately, and I definitely expected to better my Kaiser Permanente time. But when I say 'better,' I mean by like five to eight minutes, maybe ten minutes faster at most. I thought if I had a really, really great day, maybe I could run 1:45. 

Why did I sign up to run this race?

Originally, I signed up to run this race in March 2020. I'd had a couple of okay-but-not great 10Ks and with so much work travel and other personal travel going on, running had kind of fallen apart in terms of real, structured training and become more catch-as-catch-can via hotel treadmills, squeezing in 3-5 miles in foreign cities and countries between meetings and flights, and very occasionally getting to the gym at ridiculous hours. A couple weeks before the race, I was already waffling about whether I should just show up and give it whatever I had or defer and hope for better circumstances next year.

And then what happened?