Presidio 10k Race Report

as i suspected the race would prove to be a tough one but i stuck with my plan and it payed off. standing in line at the porta-john i chatted with a woman from the city. she had to drop off her four kids at various points before even getting to the race, talk about a pre-race event!

overcast and cool, it was not going to be clear like last year. the 10k course was a double 5k and i was careful to not blow my wad on the first loop...32 mins (2 mins off of last year:D). they were true to their word and the route was very well marked, but i swear they added some harder hills, maybe it just felt harder ...especially on the second loop. I walked the hills off and on ....we all walked in the beginning....6 minutes worth of walking at the start due to bottlenecking.

I caught up with mom of 4 on the second loop and hung with her for a bit as we approached the last aide station she made a water stop and i kept going. ( the gu in gatorade mix was working well) that was the last i saw of her. a little further along the trail i started messing with my ipod and had to remind myself..."uh, hello, your in a race here... stop dicking with the ipod".

on the final push uphill, runners started to pump eachother up with hoots and hollers, i love this about trail races the commaderie is so infectious. as i approached the base of the final hill , i called out to a small group of women in front of me "come on ladies dig deep" more hoots and hollers on the fast downhills.
later while milling about for schwag one of those ladies placed her hand on my shoulder and thanked me for getting her up that last hill. that felt good. i ran into Jess from the BART trail...he's an older guy i see on the trail sometimes, he and i swapped stories and reveled in our fantabulousness.

so no sub 1.0 hr, i'll need to check the official race results when there posted....but according to my stopwatch (1:05:56)it was a great day at the races! i took home some fun schwag: a gel/water bottle, a fuel belt ankle reflector band and a cool red technical weave hat. T got a picture of me at the finish line so I'll try to post that later this week.

my bib #13 brought me good luck. as always at the end of a race i am overcome with a great sense of gratitude and satisfaction.....grateful to have my health, satisfied in a good effort put forth, thankful for family and friends.....a nice segue for the holiday ahead!!

Pre-race day morning Presidio Trail 10k

I was looking back on last years Presidio race report and trying to remember the route. There are 3 big hills and that last one was my first taste of checking the ego at the door and just walking. I received a race day detail e-mail from the director describing the route and reminded of the "bottlenecking" I (we) were warned to resist the urge to go off trail as we will be deep in poison oak territory.

Per my usual I have 3 outfit options layed out. I chose my new 3/4 running pants...(with a draw string - an important detail I overlooked lastyear, are ya feeling me?) and the same technical shirt i wore the first time i ran this race. In a letter from the race director he stated that if while on the course you decide to switch from the 10 to the 5k (and many do) just head towards the 5k finsh...........hmmmmm, could this be a tougher race than I expect? I've trained and I'm ready. Bring it on. They've also made a greater effort in marking things better this year (we'll see) as it was a tad bit confusing towards the finish.

I'm still not cool enough to show up at a race without support and T and M (still sleeping) have agreed to drive to the race with me, how cool is that? On Bay Cafe a chef was asked as she prepares for the whitehouse thanksgiving dinner if she was nervous. She replied, "if your not a little nervous, your not on your toes" How appropriate, no?

If the weather is anything like yesterday it should be a spectacular day at the races. See ya at the finish line!