Through my morning eyes
I pause to watch the stillness
Of the crystal skies.
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
Although it’s a year away, if the calendar of events next year is the same as this year, these are the races I’ll do while visiting the states next year; the Bull Dog 25k, the Mt. Baldy Hill Climb, the Lexus 5k in Irvine and the Los Pinos 50k. They’re all in L.A. or Orange County near family and friends, Outside of the 5k, they’re all races I’ve attempted before and, again, outside of the 5k, they’re races I have personal reasons for doing.
I was thinking of throwing in the Devil Dog Duathlon, a race I’ve done many times in the past and would really like to see how I could do at 60, but this is where I feel I ought to make a concession to age if I want to do well in the other events. I’d have to gear up for that after the 5k, which wouldn’t be a problem, but that would mean some bike focused training leading up to it and then only a week to wind down then gear up for a very challenging 50k. So that, and a few other events, are going to have to parsed out over the following years.
Bull Dog is a race I would do just about every year when I was living in L.A. It’s my wife’s favorite. And it’s a race where I’ve only beaten my arch enemy, Ron Paquete, once. He holds the 50-59 age group record with an outstanding 2:02. The record for the 60-69 age group is 2:19. I’m pretty confident that both of us, if we’re healthy, can go well under that. Of course there’s always the possibility that some other age group ace will show up and kick both our butts, but that’s always the way it is with racing. You can only control your race and not get caught up in who might or might not show up. Except for Ron, I want him to be there and I know he’ll be there if he’s still got two healthy legs underneath him. It may be the last chance we get to race against each other and I’d like it to be memorable for us both.
So I believe it’s realistic to shoot for 2:10.
Regardless, the following year I’ll move back up to the 50k where the age group record is 4:57. Again I believe a time that is well within my grasp. I’m imagining being the only Bull Dog runner who simultaneously holds both age group records in the 25 and 50k. But there’s just too many variables over the course of two years to worry about that just yet. And beside that, I’ll first have to run faster than Ron next year, which is a huge obstacle.
Over a week after that on Labor Day will be the Mt. Baldy Hill Climb. I’ve only done that race once before and came in third in my age group. Now that I live at elevation, I’m curious if I can maintain or improve upon my performance.
The 5k I’m throwing in there a week after that just to test the zip in my legs and keep it short before relaxing for a week then tapering for my revenge match with the Los Pinos 50k. That’s a race I DNFed at two years ago while I was nursing a badly bruised foot bone suffered in a bicycle accident. Eventually, I’d like to go back and finish any race I DNFed in.
Los Pinos is tough but fun in that it challenges the conventional wisdom of going out conservatively. It’s held in inland Orange County and it behooves one to motor it along at the start to avoid as much of the oncoming heat as possible. But how fast? That’s all part of the joys of figuring out how to devise and stick to a smart race plan. That can turn out to be either a validation of one’s training and smarts, or a very humbling I.Q. and reality check if you screw it up.
I’ll throw in some other fun stuff here and there, but those are the races I’m really looking forward to training for and getting after.
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