Race Review: SDTC Couples Run
When I woke early this morning, I turned on The Weather Channel to find out the latest on the nor'easter in New England and saw on the local updates that it was windy in our canyons and passes. Given I felt none of that breeze as I left, I was unpleasantly surprised to arrive at the start of today's Guys and Gals 4-Mile Couples Run in Pacific Beach to cold temps (like 20 degrees colder than my house just 20 minutes away) and strong winds. I thought I'd died and gone to Bismark.
Weather not withstanding, my running partner Mark and I turned in admirable performances, especially when you consider the trail run we both did the day before. In fact, not only did I average 8:29 per mile, but I was pretty consistent with those miles and was complimented afterward by a woman who paced off me. Talk about making my day.
My friend and faithful Run-DMZ reader Cindy E. also made my day by photographing the event so that I'd have pictures to share with everyone. Cindy, you rock!
That's me shivering [and chewing gum to keep the mouth moist] alongside Mark, the really tall guy. Despite the chilly start, the sun soon warmed us as we headed down a two-lane road that paralleled the 5 freeway. The course is straightforward, with a gentle hill just before the two-mile turnaround, which I hit in 16:47. First mile was my fastest at 8:23. I forgot my Mile 3 split. By then I was trying to get rid of a Goo Goo Dolls ballad I kept replaying in my head. Sure wish I'd listened to a more uptempo song on the car radio beforehand. During the last mile, the wind died down and I was grateful that I'd shed my sweatshirt before the start. I felt toasty, but I also felt like I had some energy left and devoted the last half mile to tracking down and passing a Bonita Road Runner ahead of me.
As you can see from the next photo, I was a little full of myself at the finish. :-)
Mark, who'd gone two miles farther than me yesterday on the trails, didn't have as strong a kick but came in not far behind me. Together we had a time that was good enough for third in our age group. We were happy, especially given the other two couples in our age division (90-99 years, the combination of ages) finished so far ahead. We never stood a chance.
There definitely were more people entered this year, despite it again competing with a popular half marathon in Rancho Santa Fe. But I love how low-key this is for a San Diego road race. And inexpensive: $5 for track club members; $7 for non-members. I'd already looked up my last (and only) 4-miler to compare times, a race in New York City's Central Park a week after I'd run a marathon in 2001. So I'm not sure it's fair to measure my improvement under those circumstances, but for the record, I ran that race in 38:31, or 9:37 pace. This was yet another huge improvement for me and certainly boosted my ambitions for the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and beyond.
Just prior to the awards ceremony, I talked to Dixie Madsen, a nationally ranked ultramarathoner. Dixie didn't take up running until she was 44 and had done 79 marathons by the time she switched to ultras. She seems to especially enjoy 100-mile runs and Cindy sent me something Dixie wrote about her Badwater experience that I really enjoyed and found instructive. Listening to her and hearing about various courses convinced me this 50k -- despite being a year away -- is definitely something I want to do. And will. Just maybe not at 8:29-minute miles.
Weather not withstanding, my running partner Mark and I turned in admirable performances, especially when you consider the trail run we both did the day before. In fact, not only did I average 8:29 per mile, but I was pretty consistent with those miles and was complimented afterward by a woman who paced off me. Talk about making my day.
My friend and faithful Run-DMZ reader Cindy E. also made my day by photographing the event so that I'd have pictures to share with everyone. Cindy, you rock!
That's me shivering [and chewing gum to keep the mouth moist] alongside Mark, the really tall guy. Despite the chilly start, the sun soon warmed us as we headed down a two-lane road that paralleled the 5 freeway. The course is straightforward, with a gentle hill just before the two-mile turnaround, which I hit in 16:47. First mile was my fastest at 8:23. I forgot my Mile 3 split. By then I was trying to get rid of a Goo Goo Dolls ballad I kept replaying in my head. Sure wish I'd listened to a more uptempo song on the car radio beforehand. During the last mile, the wind died down and I was grateful that I'd shed my sweatshirt before the start. I felt toasty, but I also felt like I had some energy left and devoted the last half mile to tracking down and passing a Bonita Road Runner ahead of me.
As you can see from the next photo, I was a little full of myself at the finish. :-)
Mark, who'd gone two miles farther than me yesterday on the trails, didn't have as strong a kick but came in not far behind me. Together we had a time that was good enough for third in our age group. We were happy, especially given the other two couples in our age division (90-99 years, the combination of ages) finished so far ahead. We never stood a chance.
There definitely were more people entered this year, despite it again competing with a popular half marathon in Rancho Santa Fe. But I love how low-key this is for a San Diego road race. And inexpensive: $5 for track club members; $7 for non-members. I'd already looked up my last (and only) 4-miler to compare times, a race in New York City's Central Park a week after I'd run a marathon in 2001. So I'm not sure it's fair to measure my improvement under those circumstances, but for the record, I ran that race in 38:31, or 9:37 pace. This was yet another huge improvement for me and certainly boosted my ambitions for the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and beyond.
Just prior to the awards ceremony, I talked to Dixie Madsen, a nationally ranked ultramarathoner. Dixie didn't take up running until she was 44 and had done 79 marathons by the time she switched to ultras. She seems to especially enjoy 100-mile runs and Cindy sent me something Dixie wrote about her Badwater experience that I really enjoyed and found instructive. Listening to her and hearing about various courses convinced me this 50k -- despite being a year away -- is definitely something I want to do. And will. Just maybe not at 8:29-minute miles.
