This past Sunday, I ran the Presidio 10 (10 mile) up in San Francisco. The race benefited two organizations: The Guardsmen Foundation and the Ashlyn Dyer Foundation – both great causes.

The 10 miler course was a loop from Crissy Field, up through the Western part of the Presidio, over and back across the Golden Gate Bridge, down and around toward Fort Point, back along the bay, and then a final turn back to the finish at Crissy.

It was a perfect morning for a run. The temp was about 50 with overcast skies – fine for shorts and long sleeves (at least for me.) There was a westerly breeze, but not enough to be a huge factor crossing the bridge. All in all, a great morning.

The race was very organized and well run. Directions were clear and volunteers ensured people stayed on course, since there was both a 10 mile and 10k race at the event (30-minute start differences.) With the Doyle Drive construction, I wasn’t sure how parking would be, but it seemed to be OK – I got there early and parked at the East Beach lot with no issues at all.

The expo was pretty organized as well – water just off the finish line, t-shirt tables as you exited, and food options (pancakes or breakfast burritos) for all runners. The race was also host the 2012 Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) Western Region Championship 10-K Race and 2012 RRCA National Championship 10 Mile Race, so it was pretty cool to see the awards ceremony after the race. There were quite a few SWAG booths and live music, which kept people hanging out after the race.

As I’ve written before, I don’t seem to catch/appreciate sights during races, though I did catch some great sights of the Pacific along Lincoln Boulevard, sights as I crossed both sides of the Golden Gate, and the Bay as well. I still can’t being myself to stop and shoot pictures though – which many runners seem to do.

My Race

Results:

• Garmin time: 1:22:24 at an 8:19/mile pace.
• Official time: 1:22:27 at an 8:14/mile pace.

I tried something different this time with regard to pacing. I have set a plan or desired finish time goal for the past few races, but this time I planned the race by mile (based on my review of the course.)  I taped the pace plan (I had three – giving myself options) to my water bottle:

It worked pretty good – I think I’ll make this a practice for all future longer distances.

My “plans” were negative splits for three finish times: 1:27, 1:28, and 1:30.  As you can see above, I ended up beating them all and finished at 1:22:27.  Below is a comparison of the 1:27 plan and my actual:

As I wrote yesterday, my mind started messing with me late in the race – even so, I still did better than I planned and am happy with my results.

As seems to be the case with each race, I learned a few things:

• Planning the race was good. While I ended up doing better (even if only by seconds), I think on a longer race (half or full marathon), I’d do well to stick to the plan…unless I feel really good later in the race, of course.
• Having the “plan” on my water bottle was good – I do need bigger printing next time though.
• Since this was a longer race, I purposely stopped drinking liquids 2 hours before the race – aside from a couple of swallows with my GU at t-minus 15 minus to start.  This seemed to help with possible “potty break urges” mid-race. I did, of course, drink GU Brew during the race.
• Finding someone to pace helps. I think during the race I paced a total of five people as the race progressed (passing them or them pulling away.)
• Hill training paid off – keep it in the program.  duh!
• Practicing “gliding”  during hill training was also helpful.  I used it on the two significant downhills, though it did possibly tire my out slightly.
• Spreading my “fueling” across the race worked actually good…though someone probably stepped on the GU Chomp that I dropped while running under the Bridge Toll Plaza (sorry dude or dudette.)  Though I’m wondering if I didn’t fuel enough, which may have resulted in my late race fade…

Bottom line goal: Keep learning!

Wrap-Up

Anyway, overall, it was a great day: I beat my race plan!  After checking out the expo and grabbing a couple of pancakes to go, I headed home – just as the overcast skies started to break up.

My post-race meal was an indulgent one at Famous Dave’s with the family – I think I earned it:

…chased with a grande, mocha frappuccino (no whip)!

Next up:

• Brazen Racing’s Western Pacific on May 5th

Giddy-Up!

Training Journal – 4/16/12:

• Current plan: Prep for Western Pacific / bridge program in preparation for the start of a 12-week half-marathon program starting on April 30th.
  
• Today’s session: Rest
  
• Comments: A little stiff this morning getting out of bed – you’d think I’d run a 10-mile race or something yesterday.