Santa Monica 5000

My second race of the fall was last week (October 7th) at the Santa Monica 5000. I was looking forward to getting onto the roads after a pretty challenging cross country course a few weeks earlier. I had been dissatisfied with the way I had competed in my first race out and so I had a concrete goal to stay engaged during this race.

My training indicated I was probably good for something in the mid 15s for the 5k and that is just about where I fell in (15:46). Excluding a sleepy mile two, where I ran a bit slow, I managed to run strongly throughout the entire race and caught 4-5 competitors the last mile or so. The course was simple and scenic. Starting out just south of the Santa Monica Pier looping back around to Ocean Ave before making a quick u-turn to finish at the Pier.

Somewhere the last mile. 

The lead group went out quickly but that wasn't where my race was going to be. I had no choice but to let them go and concentrate on staying positive and running within myself. I floated around 15th-20th place through most of the first half of the race before I could notice runners ahead of me tiring a bit. I knew the last 1200 or so of the course was going to be on a slight decline and I wanted to make sure my momentum was really picking up the last mile.
I counted 4-5 runners lined up ahead of me and set out to catch them one by one. I probably missed one or two but I came away with a solid effort and great weekend experience.

Steve Murdock and I had driven up from San Diego together and roomed the night before. We had some time to kill before check-out so we took our stuff down to the beach and cooled off in the waves. The ocean was a refreshing reminder that everything can start anew. As quickly as you can build something you can also wash it away, but, you can always rebuild it again. Just like my fitness slowly but surely continues to improve. I should always value my ability to train hard and race well, and I will.

A big thanks to the organizers of the Santa Monica 5000. They put on a great event in a great city. Hospitality was amazing and I definitely look forward to racing there again! Another shout out should go to Forest Braden and the UCLA Men's AND Women's cross country squads for both achieving top 25 rankings at the same time for the first time in school history. "Witness the Fitness" indeed! Great job crew!

Next up are two cross country races (at Cal State San Marcos and another locally in SD) before Thanksgiving festivities! Hope to see you out there!

Race Recap, Looking Forward

Two weeks ago I ran in the Bonita Stampede 8k, a cross country race that is part of a local San Diego cross country series. It was meant to be a rust buster and it sure felt like it! I didn't know it at the time but I had chosen a relatively hilly run to make my fall debut. I was wary of the downhills to preserve from jarring my back and fortunately the little stiffness I had after the race cleared up.

I wasn't pleased with my result nor with how I competed, but Natasha was able to give me a good dose of perspective. Last year at this time I wasn't able to run at all and so I am grateful for where I am today to be able to enjoy the sport I love so much.

That being said, I still have many goals to accomplish this fall and continuing to build on my fitness and regain some confidence in racing remains a constant. I've had to remind myself that since injuring my back I should look at myself as a totally new runner.

It is easy to want to compare your current training with something from your past and constantly take stock in how you are doing based on that. In my case though it is important that I refocus my training efforts on the small victories I gain. As an example, just a few weeks ago I recorded a long run of just over an hour and forty five minutes. While it wasn't the longest run I had ever completed it was a pretty significant training run in its own right. I experience little breakthroughs in how my back feels every few weeks and that run in particular had marked a training run where the nerve in my hamstring didn't burn when I finished and my lower back didn't cry out for ice or ibuprofen.

Runs like that leave me feeling elated and fill me with a renewed sense of optimism. I still have good days and bad days but I'm relatively healthy and looking forward to more racing.

This week I'll be making a short drive up to Los Angeles to compete in the Santa Monica 5k before finishing off with a few more cross country races in San Diego. I'm really looking forward to running the Turkey Trot in Dana Point and Club Cross Country Nationals in December.

I'll leave you with this quote I found, and I'll paraphrase: Shoot for the moon because even if you miss, you will land amongst the stars. 

Great words to live by, athlete or not.