I keep up with the racing rats

Welcome to my new training plan: run almost not at all and race my way into semi-shape. I'll let you know how that works out for me. Anyway, here's an update:
Last week at the races, I thought I was 4th. I was actually 3rd.
This week at Thursday's race, all the fun and games came to an end. School is out and the high school girls have come to put us old ladies in our place. I wasn't planning on running fast on Thurs. since I was running the SF Pride Run on Sat. The girl who won is 16 and ran 6:48 pace. #2 wasn't far behind @6:49 pace (and 18 years old). I can kiss my top 3s good bye if these girls show up every week. I'm fine with that. Even not racing I was 7th and 1st in my age group.
Now on to Saturday's race. The Pride Run here is a much different affair than in NYC which had over 5000 runners this year. SF gets a couple of hundred and does a 5k and a 10k. Loren and I did the 10k, my mom who is here visiting walked the 5k. The 2 loop 10k course was hillier than expected but with my new stellar training plan, I did ok. 47:23 won me my age group and I was 8th woman. Loren was about a minute ahead and was 5th woman.
I know moving to SF I've coming to a much smaller pond of runners. I've never placed so high so often in races.
The Pride Run also brought out all kinds of NYC expats. Here are a transplanted crew of New York Front Runners representing.

I admit to being a bit homesick this weekend. We watched the NY state senate pass marriage equality online Friday night, long time coming. For years I lived on Christopher St right where the Pride March ended, that kept me from going to Pride for a long time. It's not that much fun when it ends in front of your house. This year was different however, I do wish I had been there to celebrate. Oh well. I will be here in CA when Prop 8 is thrown out the window for good. In the mean time, I'll continue to work to destroy the marriages of straight people :P

it's all business in the left hand lane

Update from last week's race:
I did in fact come in 4th (women) and won my age group. Of course all I get for that is to say I was 4th and won my AG, there aren't any prizes. I think at the end of the 12 week series they give awards, I'm not sure how that works other than you have to do at least 6 races.
Fast forward to this weeks race: same distance, opposite direction of last week, just to keep things interesting. I found this direction harder than last week. It was also a bit windier. Once again, I was running 4 or 5. I was trading places with one woman for a good part of the race. At mile 1 she said to me nice pace. I replied with we'll see in a few miles. She led me for a good mile and a half after that. Once we came around the turn on the lake, I passed her but not by much. I figured I'd just hold my pace and see what happens. Every once in a while I'd peak back to see where she was. She was fading. There's a long hill in this direction and figured I'd keep her away on the hill and I did.
Loren, running the other direction, passed me with a little more than a mile to go and told me I was 4th. Again.
With a half mile to go, I could tell I was far enough ahead that #5 wasn't going to catch me.
I finished in 33:58, 43 seconds slower than last week. 7:33 pace. I'm pretty sure I won my AG again. The woman who won last week was 3rd.
I'll go again next week but run it easy since on Sunday I'll running the San Francisco Pride Run and really want to race that. Loren's running it as well and since my mom is here visiting, she'll be walking the 5k.

How’s your engine running

One of the few things I knew I'd miss about NYC is the Van Cortlandt Track Club's summer cross country series. A fun, low key series with muffins and carrot cake. Though with the heat wave NYC is having now... not too sad about missing tonight's.
Out here in SF where it was a balmy 65 today, I found another summer racing series put on by Dolphin South End Runners. Every Thurs. evening for 12 weeks, $1 a race. You can't beat that. The 4.5 mile course goes around Lake Merced and is fairly flat. Now, I am in no way shape or form in racing shape. It's my intention to use these has fastish tempo runs.
Now a moment from our sponsors at It's A Small World...as I was getting my number, a woman said she thought I knew who I was. I was like, oh I don't think, I just moved here. She said she knew me from my blog, which she found from flo's blog. This isn't the first time this has happened to me, though I'm usually surprised when it does since I certainly don't feel like the masses are out there reading about lil ol' me.
Anyway, off to the races.
This is a 4.5 mile loop around a lake. It's fairly flat, there are some gentle rollers but nothing like the hills I'm getting run by our new place. There were maybe 75 people or so in the race. I started sorta near the front, but ya know, not really a big field.
Since I was going tempo-ish, I figured anything under 8s would be good.
From what I could tell coming to mile 1 I was about the 5th woman. THan at mile 1, I saw the woman who was leading just stop and start walking back. I didn't see her again at the finish so I don't know what that was about.
At mile 3, the woman who was just ahead of me stopped at a water fountain (????). I passed her and she never passed me back, so now I was from what I could tell, 4th.
Around 3.5, I made a tactical error. I was coming up on the next woman. I could see she had headphones on and I passed her. I should have waited. She couldn't hear me so she didn't know I was there. I could have just let her pace us in and out kicked her. Instead, she had the from behind advantage, and I knew it as soon as I made the move. With about a quarter mile to go, she made the move and I couldn't answer. Oh well. Live and learn.
From what I could tell, I think I was 4th woman. Results will be up in a few days.
Splits:
1 7:18
2 7:20
3 7:36
4 7:24
.5 3:35
total 33:15 7:24 pace
Must faster than I expected though I didn't feel like I was killing myself.
I feel really good about this, on my way over I was thinking I'm in a bit of a funk. Since the move my training has been all over the place. Perhaps this is the little jump start I needed.

Shine on you crazy diamond

Amazing how lazy I've become since canned my Ironman. I haven't gone swimming, I've only ridden my bike to get around town. I have, of course, run since that requires almost zero planning. My May milage for every thing was not at all stellar:
Running 72.4
Biking about 180 miles
swimming 6 miles
I've been fending off calls from the Guinness book of world records all day.
I feel good about this however, there's not this huge thing looming over me. Of course, I can never just sit still so I signed up for a half marathon (though it's not until Oct). I just feel like I need something in the future.



In other news, I want to take a moment to mention the passing of a really awesome guy, my pal Brantley.
I knew Brantley from NYC biking circles. He worked check points at a few women's alleycats I put on, I'd see him at other events, we hung out on a close knit cycling message board. Brantley's been on a once in a life time 'round the world trip, having all kinds of crazy adventures. You can read about them on his Tumblr.
He posted that picture of himself on May 8 at the base of Anaapurna (I happen to be reading this book now).
I sent him a note saying how awesome his trip looked and we had an exchange about adventures and high pointing and the stuff we love.
It's weird to wrap my head around, emailing, facebooking, across the world, sharing these awesome adventures almost in real time. We see everything instantly.
His last Facebook update reads "Shot through zim, now in Zambia, and loving it. Stories soon..."
I know I'm not alone when I say I wish I could hear those stories.
RIP Brantley, you'll be missed. I hope to have half the adventures you did.