Under Pressure

Today's Marin Memorial Day 10K is another Pacific Association race. As such, I have pretty modest goals. This is a lightning-fast course with runners to match, so I'd like to finish in the top 100 and run under 37:30. My greatest hope is that my club, West Valley Track Club, will field a master's team. I've never run as part of a team even though I've been a member of West Valley since 2006. We never have five runners 40 years of age or older, so my times don't get counted as part of a team score.

A few weeks ago Todd Rose indicated that we would have enough for a master's team. I called Tony Fong (M49) last week, who said he was running as well.

Excited about the team element of today's race, I should be calm and relaxed. I know I won't place in my age group, and the flat course should help my time. As I park my car, however, I feel nervous and intimidated. Everyone seems to wear team colors of some type, either race clothes or warmups, and everyone is so fit. Runners are warming up and taking sports drinks. This shouldn't be a surprise. This is a very competitive race, but I shouldn't let that affect my mind set.

I leave my car and find Tony. He's with Aaron Pierson (M46) from our team. Tony says we'll have six or seven master's runners, including Aaron. I make my way to the registration, noting that today's conditions are perfect: temperature in the mid-50s, no sun or wind, with a monotone cloud cover ensuring cool temperatures throughout the race.

As the race starts I settle down. A huge crowd in front of me fools me into believing that I'm running slow, but my first mile split is 5:40, which is normal. Around the fourth mile Maggie Visser (F40) passes me, cheered on by many of her Impala supporters. She widens the gap, and I figure she'll finish well ahead of me as she did at the Devil Mountain 10K (see "When It Rains, It Pours") three weeks ago.

Eventually I establish equilibrium with her and then start gaining. During the sixth mile I am just a few feet behind. As the end nears some Impalas yell to Maggie, "Track 100 meters ahead!", referring to the track that ends the race. I pass her, looking for the finish. Unfortunately, the track is much further than the distance given by the Impalas, and I've gone in to my kick way too early. I manage to keep my pace and even accelerate a little at the end, finishing in 37:17 (officially 37:22) with Maggie one second behind, as shown in the photo on the right.

It amazes me how close Maggie and I have been over the last three years. Here is a list of races that we have run simultaneously since August 2007:

• Alameda Run for the Parks 10K, August 2007: Me (36:34), Maggie (36:40)
• Across the Bay 12K, March 2009: Me (46:36), Maggie (46:39)
• Devil Mountain 10K, May 2009: Maggie (36:40), Me (37:42)
• Marin Memorial Day 10K, May 2009: Me (37:22), Maggie (37:23)
  

I don't have much history to refer to, as I didn't run track in school where I could have routinely matched up with another runner. I am closing in on 80 races, though, and there's no one whose performances resemble mine more than Maggie's.

Maggie is a much superior runner to me. Her performance places her second among women 40-44, while mine ranks 11th for men of the same age category. Maggie wins $55 and her performance is age-graded at 84%, which ranks as a national-class runner. My age-graded performance is 78%, which ranks as a regional-class runner. Eighty-eight runners finished under 37 minutes.

I'm happy with my race. I finished with my third-best 10K and fastest since 2007. I placed just outside of the top 100 at 101. My satisfaction is lessened by the fact that West Valley did not field a masters team. My time was third-best among masters West Valley, but we only had four runners. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Even with my sporadic attendance at Pacific Association races, I'm one of the stalwarts of the team in my age group.

Later I find that my time was ninth-best among West Valley runners and as a result I'm part of our "B" team. West Valley's second team finished eighth among 12 teams. At least I'm on a team, even though it isn't the one I was expecting to join.

Can't Beat the Heat

"Maybe we should take up golf," I joke to John Pettinichio.

John is keeping me company while I am getting treated for heat exhaustion after the Tilden Tough Ten. Maybe this year's race should be called the Tilden Torch Ten. We're sitting in the shade, staying as cool as possible after climbing Tilden's hills for 70-plus minutes on this 90-ish degree morning.

I must have looked pretty bad when I finished. Lake Merritt Joggers and Striders (LMJS) president Len Goldman immediately had two volunteers escort me to the chair where I now sit. A woman named Candice applied a bag of ice on my shoulders, gave me a couple of bottles of water and told me that I had stopped sweating.

It was a tough race, the hottest since my first at this event in 2000. I have salt patches on my shorts and skin where my perspiration has dried. Since this event runs simultaneously with the more famous Bay to Breakers in San Francisco, news media were full of warnings about taking precautions against the heat. Experts said to hydrate on Saturday and Sunday, but I don't think the nine glasses of water I drank yesterday or the two this morning did much besides make me pee a lot.

I didn't feel the symptoms of heat exhaustion like light-headedness and disorientation. I deliberately took water at every stop, which I rarely do in a race shorter than a marathon. Halfway through the race I think I saw 32 minutes on my watch, which seems fast, but my memory may not be clear. My final time was 71:13, so I ran the second half in 39 minutes.

Heat like this can be dangerous. Around mile eight I came upon one of the lead runners lying on the side of the road. He was much younger than I, somewhere in his 20s. I asked if he needed help, but another runner monitoring him told me that someone else had sent word for assistance.

My time was more than four minutes slower than last year, a common story for many of us. Here are the gaps in times in 2009 compared to 2008 for some notable runners:

• Roy Rivers (M52): 4:13 slower in 2009
• Jeff Teeters (M49): 3:47 slower
• Me (M44): 4:21 slower
• Jenny Wong (F33): 4:34 slower
• John Pettinichio (M53): 4:34 slower

The sentiment after the race is less euphoric and more grateful that we are able to withstand these conditions, and also a bit of a reminder that we aren't professional athletes--in many cases we aren't very young either--and sometimes we have to take it easy.

As I recuperate a full contingent of public safety vehicles pulls into the parking lot. Fire vehicles and a police car provide assistance and escorts. Someone tells me a helicopter airlifted someone. I completely missed that. Maybe I'm not so lucid.

My fortunes begin to change. A volunteer hands me three raffle prizes. This is quite a bonanza since I'd never won a raffle prize in the six previous times running this race. I have prizes numbers 22, 28 an 29, and I'm trying to figure out how I won three prizes. My bib number is 298, so maybe they mixed up the digits and gave me all the combinations. I tell Karen Andrews about this, and she checks into it. My hunch is correct. Karen returns with one of the three prizes, which includes a $20 gift certificate.

One person with a better thermostat is Ivan Medina (M22), who wins the race with the first sub-60 time since 2005, 59:29. Ivan has been training around the hills surrounding Lake Chabot, where the Lake Chabot Trail Challenge will take place in three weeks. He'll be the favorite there.

Jenny Wong wins the women's race, which she has dominated more than anyone over the last 10 years. Jenny has run the race eight times this decade, finishing first or second four times each. As refreshed as she looks in this photo, even she says her legs hurt days after the race.

I never left the shade so I didn't get a chance to see the results. I find out that even though my time was my slowest since 2004 I placed third in my age group (M40-49), 13th overall. I'm fortunate because I would have placed fourth in the M50-59 caegory. This is only the second time I've won a medal out of seven races. It has been a good season so far, as I've won six medals in seven races and it isn't even summer.

I have a week to recover before the Marin Memorial Day 10K. It's a flat course and the weather should be much cooler, but I think I'll have to take a few days off and run easy.

When It Rains, It Pours

"Danville, CA: 8 AM. Chance of precipitation: 15%."

I sit in my car at 7:45 AM, sheltered from the steady rain just before the Devil Mountain 10K in Danville. The above prediction from Weather.com from 6 AM didn't hold true, making this the fourth rainy race out of six this year. Prior to this year I had run 72 races since 2004, only one with significant rainfall.

Most sane people are in bed, and maybe the happier people are in church this Sunday morning, but hundreds of runners will subject themselves to a good soaking while wearing as little clothing as possible and running three to six miles.

The race is a copy of last year, with the exception of the weather, which at least kept the idiot pacer from last year (see "Guy on a Bike," May 2008) off the course. I finish in 37:40, two seconds slower than in 2008. This time I am first in my age group and ninth overall. Two women finish ahead of me in excellent performances, especially Maggie Visser (F40) of the Impalas, who won the women's race in a masterful 36:40. Usually Maggie trails me by a few seconds, includinga three-second deficit at the Emerald Across the Bay 12K in early March. In fact she thanked me for pacing her at the 2007 Alameda Run for the Parks, which I ran in a PR of 36:34. Today she ran faster than I have ever seen her, and I couldn't keep up.

I was fortunate to have a lot of good encounters at the race:

• Len Goldman: The president of the Lake Merritt Joggers and Striders (LMJS) informed me at the start of the race that I just barely made it into the Tilden Tough 10 in two weeks. This is a relief as Len's blast email earlier in the week said that the race was sold out, and my check hadn't cleared. I'm as giddy as a high school senior finding a fat envelope from a college in the mail.



• Karen Andrews: The coordinator of the LMJS team for the San Francisco Marathon, Karen introduced herself after recognizing me from my blog. I complimented Karen on her organization and enthusiasm in last year's race. I'd love to run it again, but my vacation plans may conflict this summer.



• John Pettinichio: As promised, John delivered my brick from the Brickyard 8 Mile race a few weeks earlier. I expected him to leave it in his truck and have me retrieve it, but John carried it around the finish area in a gift bag. John could probably throw the brick about 50 yards, so I wasn't worried about him, but it was more effort than I expected.



• Brian Collett: Brian finished third overall and in his age group (M18-24) in the 5K in 17:11. He's running and racing all the time, and doing very well. Brian said his job kept him from getting any sleep Saturday night, but he was still getting an adrenaline kick to keep him awake and warm while we spoke. Then he had to get to a warm place as the rush wore off.



• Carol Turner and Chris Sullivan: Carol took first in her age group (F60-64) and Chris volunteered at the t-shirt booth. Chris ran a very fast 3:24:24 at the Boston Marathon in mid-April. He reports that Kelly Tarkowski (see "Buddy System" June 2008) was somewhat of a celebrity. She ran the 2008 Boston Marathon and Adidas used her photo in large posters to promote the 2009 race. Adidas compensated Kelly with a variety of running gear, including short butt-hugging shorts. We all want to see her wear them, but she assures us we never will.



• Kelly Clarkson: I didn't meet her at the race, but on my way back home I found her new song "I Do Not Hook Up" on the radio. Her music is a vacuum of meaning and subtext. Green Day she isn't. "Blah, blah, something something, I do not hook up." But as I listen to her, I realize I like it.



• Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney and Eric Cantor: I'm so pleased to know the GOP had a meeting and all 70 members of the party were able to fit in a pizza parlor in Virginia. The parking lot had several cars with Obama bumper stickers. Maybe next year the survivors can meet for coffee at the Palin house.