Dawg Dash 2007

2007 Dawg Dash 10K
46:19
1st in AG (50-59)
22nd OA (out of 382)

2006 10K
46:38
6th in AG (40-49)

2005 10K
48:12
6th in AG (40-49)

2004 5K
24:04
3rd in AG (40-49)

The Dawg Dash has been a University of Washington tradition for 22 years, being one of the festivities around homecoming time. The race offers a 5K, 10K and a kid's race. The race starts in Husky Stadium and loops up onto campus (key word: UP) for a scenic run. Running past postcard-worthy Drumheller Fountain is a highlight (especially on the way back DOWN). Some small offshoot from the Husky marching band sets up there and plays some of that rousing marching music to inspire us. Check out the photo of the fountain in 1959 (ok, it's not spewing water for the picture). That's my mom and me when I was 2! I'm a double alumnus of the U-dub (B.S. Psychology '79 and B.S. Nursing '86). Well, enough of that b.s., back to the race report. The course wraps back down again and finishes on the track in the stadium.

My 10K was fine, can’t complain finishing 1st in AG. Although it was only 19 seconds faster than last year (but at least it was faster). It felt hard and I started to get a side ache around the 4th mile. The kind of side ache that causes that involuntary grunting instead of breathing. About that time, a woman passed me. It was someone who I thought I recognized from my earlier reconnaissance missions (someone in my AG who has always beaten me by some small margin and who I ID’ed via race photos in the past). I wanted to beat her so didn’t let her get too far ahead while trying to get a little recovery from that side ache. Fortunately, we were hitting some good downhill sections by then. I think it was my slowing and not her kicking up her pace that had her ahead of me. As I started to feel better, I edged up to just behind her for awhile. Finally, with maybe 2/3 mile to go it was time to push and hope that I could hang onto a little faster pace without her surging ahead of me (or the side ache coming back). I gave a few backwards glances to see if I was threatened as I got close to the stadium, I didn’t see her too close but kicked it in anyway just to be sure. And it was a good thing I did. I forgot to account for the fact that her overall chip time could have been faster than mine if I was very far ahead of her at the start-line. I think this was the case since I only beat her by 7 seconds, time-wise, but I think I was over the finish line with a little more lead than that. That’ll be a lesson to me to remember the chip time and not just try to finish in front of someone. Well, at the time of this writing, the results are still preliminary, so I'll hope for no surprises. Photos should be up in a few days and I'll post if there were any good shots.

Ann R. took 3rd in our AG, Gina wasn't far behind and then I hear that the two of them took off for several more miles to round out some distance training. Good for them! It will pay off when the Seattle Marathon comes around in late November. I'm still thinking about that distance run I need to start.

Val R. took 2nd in AG in the 5K race and my friend Lori K. was 5th in the same AG. I'll have to tell you in a future entry about Lori. If it weren't for Lori, I might not be doing these races at all.

Issaquah Rotary Run

Issaquah Rotary Run 10K

October 7, 2007

46:19 chip time/7:28 pace

46:28 gun time

2nd in AG/32nd OA

The main event was a 10K though there was also a 5K. The course went through Issaquah with several blocks that included running down Front St. while vendors were setting up for the Salmon Days festival - very colorful with booths full of tie-dye, arts & crafts and other typical street fair offerings lining the course. There were people to cheer us on and the smells of food, incense, candles and soaps permeating the air (which I'm not sure was a good thing while breathing hard). It was also some sort of road race championship so there were lots of fast people there.

It was a fine 10K time for me, probably my best. My splits were 7:09, 7:29, 7:43 for the first 3 miles and it was feeling pretty hard. I leveled off with 7:30, 7:29 and 7:27 for the final miles (and it still felt hard). I had hoped I might surprise myself with something a little bit faster since my 5K pace has improved so much this season, but I just haven't run enough longer distances for that to happen yet.

Later, when I checked my heart rate monitor, I appreciated my effort more. My heart rate was around 178-179 for the early miles and 183 in the last 2 miles. This is near my max of 185 or so and tells me I was working pretty hard, regardless of time. When I talked to Coach Tom at Wednesday night track, he asked me how I liked the hill. I said "What hill?". I didn't notice the hill in mile 3, but that's where my pace took a nose dive, so I guess there really was a 1/2 mile hill that gained 190 feet. I just thought I was starting to fade from going out too fast.

Nancy A. took first in our AG with a great time of 41:41 (6:43 pace). We are fairly closely matched in triathlons...until the run portion comes along and then she's gone! This was a championship road race of some sort and the top women had paces in the upper 5 min/mile range