Michael: Racing on a Work Day

Ginger red mushrooms
As large as a dinner plate
Decorate the tree.

Thursday, August 30, 2018

One of the great things about being semi-retired is that I have more time to train, rest and race. However, there is a slight hitch compared to when I was working a Mon -Fri gig, and that’s that I now work Sundays starting at noon.

Usually, with shorter local races that’s not a problem, but now I’ve got to think at least twice about how far away or how long a race I can do before work on Sundays. This Sunday is going to test how well I manage those new considerations.

Here’s the lowdown; The Pier to Peak in Santa Barbara is about an hour and a half from work, which means I should be near the 101 heading south around 10:30 if I’m going to make it safely to work on time. With a 6:30 start that gives me about 3 ½  hours to run a pretty tough half marathon. I’m pretty confident I’ll finish well under that mark. In fact I looked up how the best 60 year old did last year, and he finished in 2:16, so I ought to be in that ballpark.

That time frame isn’t the only hold up though. The kink is that it’s a point to point with a shuttle service back to the start. I mailed the race directors about the shuttle service and they replied that the shuttles will take about an hour to get back to the start. They didn’t say when these shuttles would start, and they advised me that I’d probably be better off having a family member or friend pick me up at the finish. Okay.

But that would mean asking Kimme to give up a day - a very long day - to serve as my crew as I go from early morning racer to early afternoon worker. She’s willing to do it, but is it worth it? That, we’re going to find out, but I’m not planning on making a habit on leaning on someone else to give up their day so I can race.

And there are a lot of races on Sundays where I’m now going to have to factor those variables into what races I do, which adds a few new variables to my race pro/con ledger.