BBQ 10k

I capture a second glorious 10k triumph in consecutive weekends -- I win the Namban BBQ 10k in a time of 38:11 last Sunday.

It was a tactical race - I hang behind 3 other guys until 8k and then surge on the final turnaround.

My triathlon teammates are horrified that I am expending energy on what they deem frivolous events with my "A" race -- the Taiwan Half-Ironman -- coming up this Saturday.  I had been concerned about this myself.  But then, (1) I don't think the taper matters that much, (2) I didn't expend 100% effort on Sunday, and (3)when I stand back and think about it - the "frivolous" races have been more gratifying than eeking out improvement on my middle-of-the-pack finishes in the big triathlon events. The events I have enjoyed the most this year (the Fussen Fun Run, Dawg Dash, Namban BBQ Run) have all been "frivolous"

That said, I do really hope to execute well at Taiwan. The half-ironman distance should be good test for me now, and it seems I could improve on my 5:17 PB to-date.

Dawg Dash 10k

I run inexplicably well at the Dawg Dash 10k last Sunday -- 36:11, first place in the 40-49 division among 110 runners and 15th out of 1,200 overall. 

I did not wear a GPS watch and I have to suspect the course was short - but in any case I felt fast and strong and believe I ran a legitimately strong time on the fast section from mile 1 to 4 -- here are the mile splits that I did manage to record --  

1st mile - 6:02 -  Uphill 

3 mile - 16:50 (5:24 per mile) - Gradual downhill

4 mile - 22:28  (5:38) - Flat

6 mile - 34:50 (6:11 per mile) - Hilly, winding, narrow, crowded 

6.2 mile - 36:11 - The last section winds through chute absolutely packed with 5k finishers 

The Dawg Dash is a popular Seattle area race on a course that winds around the University of Washington campus. As suggested by the event name, many runners brought along their dogs to run along beside them.    I decided to participate in the event at the last second pretty much entirely for social reasons -- in order to meet my friend John and his family for breakfast afterward.  As I warmed up on the freezing cold Seattle morning I was wondering why I didn't just skip the run and go straight to breakfast and save myself the $40 day-before-race entry fee.  I was dreading the prospect of struggling on a windy crowded course to run some lame time - I was expecting around 39 minutes.  

So I went out very slowly on the long, uphill start trying to take it easy and find a good pack to run with.  I found myself behind some guy with an Ironman 70.3 backward baseball cap.  Maybe it was the cap that prompted me to chase after this guy and remain with him as he picked up the pace.  After cresting the hill and hitting the mile mark we just screamed down a series of long, gradual downhills.  I kept thinking to myself that I really should just slow down, but at that point I felt committed (and not so tired).  Also I knew the course would slow us down dramatically on the last 2 mile section.  This last section winds around the campus - ostensibly to give the runners a scenic tour of the college.  Also at this point we intersected the 1,000-odd participants running the 5k. The primary challenge was dodging all the dogs straining at their leashes. I had dropped the guy with the Ironman baseball cap around 3-miles (unintentionally), and now at 4 miles I managed to tuck behind some, tall, college-aged runner who blazed a trail through the horde of slow, 5k runners by bellowing out "move to your right! move to your right!"  The college kid did not sound happy.   In contrast, at this point I was quite satisfied with my 4-mile split, the sunny weather, and the prospect of a nice breakfast. I was surprised when we reached the 6-mile marker (maybe this section was short) where we started to enter a narrow, crowded chute which made any sort-of finishing kick impossible.  So I remained 1-second behind the frustrated college kid and the 16th place guy remained only a second behind me.  I crossed the finish line and congratulated the angry college kid who exclaimed "I will never, ever, ever, do this race again, what an outrage!"  

Once again my racing performance seems to have no correlation whatsoever with any objectives, periodization, training plan or race-day strategy that I might have tried to formulate.  

And once again I find that tapering is over-rated (I was coming off a week of heavy triathlon training - 6 hours on Thursday plus spin, yoga, and swim session the day before).  

But unlike the college kid I could do the Dawg Dash again - it was fun and scenic, and my performance was encouraging after my recent mediocre triathlons.