This morning, I ran in the Bay Area Track Club’s Test Your Resolution Road 5k, which was part of their second-annual Bay Area Cross Challenge (BAXC).  It was a nice, low-key event at the Polo Field in Golden Gate Park.  The BAXC had four events: 5K Road Race, Women’s 6K, Men’s 8K, Open 4K – with a field of 106 runners total.  They also had a Kid’s Race.

I wasn’t sure what to expect – given the fact that this was hosted by a “track club” and also after viewing the recap video from the 2011 event – but I decided to go for it and sign up anyway (my goal being to run at least one event a month.)  The Men’s 8K looked pretty competitive on the website’s description, so I went for the 5K, of course, which was added this year.

The weather was cool, but not as cold as my normal morning run temps have been lately (no gloves this AM.)  Overall, a nice morning for a run.

My Race

(i’m just behind the guy in blue at the far left – sporting my orange shoes!)

Great run!  I’ll call this my PB, since my previous PB was less than an 5K in official distance.  It was a PB by overall time (25:40) and pace (8:16 [8:13 on my Garmin]).

The course started out just near the entrance to the Polo Field and looped through the roads in that part of Golden Gate Park.  It was a nice combination of easy up and down hills with the final .1 mile finishing on the dirt course of the Polo Field.  Pacing was good overall for me, with improvements over past races – split 2 benefited from some good downhill sections.

We even ran by the buffaloes (K asked why I didn’t take a picture…)

I stayed and watched the Women’s 6k and Men’s 8k.  Pretty cool to watch.

Results:

Garmin time: 25:40 at an 8:13/mile pace. (?)
Official time: 25:40 at an 8:16/mile pace.

Wrap-Up

A personal best – not gonna complain about that!  I really liked the size of the event and the vibe in the field and crowd.  Even with elite runners – including some Olympians and World Class participants – it was a novice-friendly event…geared for people who just enjoy running.

I will definitely watch the calendar for the 2013 event…

Next up:

Brazen Racing’s Bay Breeze 10K on February 18th.

Giddy-Up!

Training Journal – 1/15/12:

• Current plan: 10K Training
  
• Today’s session: Test Your Resolution Road 5k
• Comments: see above…
  

New Year’s Eve morning I ran Brazen Racing’s New Year’s Eve 5K run held at Lake Chabot Reservoir in Castro Valley. It was a great event – completely sold out with a total of 1072 runners by my count of the results – that had three runs: a 1/2 marathon, 10K, and 5K.  I had never been to Lake Chabot, but with a morning view like the one below and a clear and crisp morning, it was a good run day…and I will definitely run it again.

This was my second Brazen Racing event and, like the previous one, it was very organized with a great staff and volunteer team.  The expo area was nicely set up, food was great, and the SWAG was pretty good too.

If you have not run a Brazen race, I highly recommend checking them out.  I plan on running several of them in 2012.  You can check out their calendar here – they have at least one race each month in the Bay Area with most on Saturdays.

My Race

This was my fifth 5K since starting to run in September 2010.  Needless to say, I’m hooked and having a ball!

As usual, I got to the event early and kept warm in my car.  I picked up my bib and timing chip and then took a short warm-up run along the lake.  Close to the start times, I headed back to the starting line and watched the 1/2-marathon and 10K starts.

I joined my fellow 5Kers – 339 in all – in the start pen and waited for the countdown and start horn.  Before the start, they gave out an award to two 5K runners who had run in all 2011 Brazen races – dubbing them “streakers” and giving them the framed collection of 2011 race medals shown below…pretty cool!  There were “streakers” in the other two races as well…as you can see, Brazen has quite a following.

I hit my Garmin’s START button at 0907 and headed out for the out-and-back run along the lake. My goal for this race was to continue to keep my sub-30 minute time and keep my pacing on the hills (the 5K had about 4-5 short rolling hills.)  At home, as I reviewed my Garmin data, I see that I ran splits of: 8:38, 8:58, and 9:07.  They were close, though I see that I started a little fast.  Given the hills, I’m sure I was just getting tired – though I pressed and ran through the hills keeping my cadence at an average of 96 for the whole race.  I’m happy with my overall race though and see the pacing and hills as all part of the learning process of running – I seem to learn something new each time.

Results:

Garmin time: 28:37 at an 8:51/mile pace.
Official time: 28:48at an 9:17/mile pace.

Wrap-Up

Happy with my results: remained sub-30 minutes, controlled my pacing, and ran through the hills.  Brazen Races rock and will be one of my frequently attended events when planning my calendar.

Next up:

I started a 10K training plan on December 13th and my first organized 10K being Brazen Racing’s Bay Breeze on February 18th.

I don’t really have any runs planned as of this post for January, but may do the Bay Area Track Club’s Test Your Resolution Road 5k on January 15th.

Giddy-Up!

Training Journal – 1/1/12:

• Current plan: 10K Training
  
• Today’s session: 9 mi long run. Given the fact that I ran the 5K on Saturday (which is my normal off day), I ran the balance of the 9 miles today: 10K or 6.2 miles.
• Comments: Good run – ran the whole 10K in 59:25 at a 9:34 pace.