Yesterday, I ran the half marathon distance of the Brazen New Year’s Day runs – the companion event to Saturday’s Brazen New Year’s Eve Run. The run had three distances: a 5K, a 10K, and a half marathon and drew a field of 389, 318, and 297 finishers respectively.

The weather was even better than it was for Saturday’s New Year’s Eve run: cool, clear, with a light wind. I still wore shorts (one fellow runner called me “hard core”), but sported a long sleeve tech shirt, my running rain jacket (as a windbreaker), and my lite Lululemon running gloves for warmth. As on Saturday, I stayed toasty throughout the run.

The course was the same as Saturday’s, just in the clockwise direction. Same description: hilly and a mix of paved and dirt trails (30 and 70% respectively) that circled Lake Chabot and Chabot Regional Park. I will say that this direction was not as steep as the counterclockwise direction – mainly on the final third of the course. The downhill took it’s toll on my legs though! Since we had two days of clear weather, the muddy conditions from Saturday had dried in most areas. There were still some soggy areas though, just to make the run “interesting.”

As I mentioned in my New Year’s Eve run race report, Brazen Racing is a class act and put on a wonderful event. This one was no different – it’s always fun to run their events.

My Race

Results:

• Garmin time: 2:07:23 at an 9:39/mile pace
• Official time: 2:07:21 at an 9:39/mile pace

Recap:

As with Saturday’s run, my race plan for the New Year’s Day run was to have FUN and just enjoy the morning. I did want to beat my time from Saturday – and I’d be lying if I said that a sub 2-hour wasn’t on my mind. I ended up with a cold/sore throat on Monday, so I didn’t want to push it too much…

That said, I got to thinking about my “new PR” goal for this or other hilly, trail half marathons. I think I’m setting unrealistic goals – at least at my current training level. I am basing my PR goal on a flat and fast course…not a comparable hilly course. DUH…HELLO!! My half PR will always stand and be chased whenever I run, but I probably should revise my goals for hilly trail half marathons (or other distances.) I think i will be less frustrated at the finish line.

I followed my normal pre-race carb loading plan (36 hours of >80% carbs and +500 calories above my normal day) and my usual race fueling plan (bagel at -3 hours, GU at -45 min, GU at -15 minutes, and 21oz of GU Brew along the way.) I also did my new SaltStick course, taking one at -15 min and another at the +1 hour mark, which seemed to work again.

Wrap-Up

Bottom line: Another great event and a fun way to kick off the 2013 running season!

Post-race meal: Light lunch with a full-blown, turkey-with-all-the-fixin’s, FEAST at Harry’s Hofbrau…followed by a bunch of See’s Bridge Mix later that night!

Oh, and the bling from today was pretty cool. If you ran this event and the one on Saturday, you got a middle medal which created a cool MEGA-MEDAL:

GIDDY-UP!

Training Journal – 1/2/13:

• Current plan: Big Sur Marathon Training Plan – W2/D3
• Today’s session: Rest or 3-mile easy run
• Comments: With this cold I’ve got, I opted to rest this morning…

Yesterday, I ran the half marathon distance of the Brazen New Year’s Eve runs. The run had three distances: a 5K, a 10K, and a half marathon and drew a field of 353, 311, and 325 finishers respectively. (I know, it wasn’t New Year’s Eve, but it was close enough!)

The weather was great: cool, cloudy, with a chance of rain. I still wore shorts though, but sported a long sleeve tech shirt, my running rain jacket, and my lite Lululemon running gloves for warmth. I stayed pretty toasty throughout the run, which only included about 5 minutes of a real light rain and a slight wind on a few miles.

Wonderful running weather!

The course was hilly and a mix of paved and dirt trails (30 and 70% respectively) that circled Lake Chabot and Chabot Regional Park. With the rain that we’d had the previous week, it was pretty muddy in sections and there were three trees down across the trail…all of which made for a great trail run that required that you pay attention to the trail. I managed to not slip – and believe me, there was evidence of fellow runners slippin’ and slidin’ in a number of sections.

As with all their races, Brazen Racing puts on a quality event. All their runs are a great environment for all ages and levels of runners. Sam, Jasmin, their crew, and the tons of volunteers they have make for a great morning of fun. The post-race food and fun was great as always and it’s fun to see people hanging out and re-living their race with each other.

My Race

Results:

• Garmin time: 2:13:18 at an 10:16/mile pace
• Official time: 2:13:14 at an 10:11/mile pace

Recap:

[Recap Soundtrack] This is a great one from Dustin O’Halloran titled Runner. Enjoy:

Having just run the ZombieRunner Bay Trail Marathon two weeks ago, my race plan for the New Year’s Eve was to have FUN and just enjoy the morning. I didn’t really have a goal time or pace; though, in all honesty, a sub-2 hour is always on my mind.

I started in the middle of the pack and moved up slightly after the first mile. I think I stayed in pretty much the same area of the pack with much the same runners most of the race as well. A few of us chatted; but, as with most of races, I ended up by myself most of the time.

There were some pretty good hills that most people walked – including me, though I tend to try and speed walk them. I recently read an article about running hills that said to shorten your stride and lean forward so you’re “falling” into the hill. I did this and it seemed to work pretty well. I kept telling myself that I was moving forward at a pace that was easy and faster than simply walking.

I followed my normal pre-race carb loading plan (36 hours of >;80% carbs and +500 calories above my normal day) and my usual race fueling plan (bagel at -3 hours, GU at -45 min, GU at -15 minutes, and 21oz of GU Brew along the way.) Based on my calf cramps during the Bay Trail marathon, I added some SaltStick tabs to my fueling, taking one at -15 min and another at the +1 hour mark. I was waiting to see if the SaltStick would upset my stomach, but that never happened.

Wrap-Up

Bottom line: Great event and a great way to end the 2012 running season! The 2013 season starts on January 1 with the “part 2” race for the New Year’s Eve run on the same course, just clockwise.

Post-race meal. There were two phases to this gastronomical celebration:

• Lunch – Angus Bacon & Cheese Hamburger and Fries [which was yummy!]
• Dinner – Denny’s $4, All You Can Eat Pancakes (I downed 5…!)

GIDDY-UP!

Training Journal – 12/30/12:

• Current plan: Big Sur Marathon Training Plan – W1/D7
• Today’s session:Rest Cross Train: 60 minute bike ride
• Comments: I thought about resting, but my legs were feeling good and I wanted to stay loose for Tuesday’s run, so I rode 25.43 miles @ 15.9 mph avg.