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2019 Excelsior Open XC race recap – Daly City, CA

2019 Excelsior Open XC race recap – Daly City, CA

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Saturday’s cross-country race marked the conclusion of the regular PA USATF season, as hard as that is to believe. Like almost all the other XC races that came before it this season, the Excelsior meet — a 5k in the San Bruno Mountains in Daly City — was one that I had never run before, so I (rather happily) had no idea what I was getting myself into. For the first time all season, the women raced last, at 11am, which seemed to bring with it an entirely different vibe than the other races. 

the squad at Excelsior (PC: Roy)

Fortunately, we fielded full men’s and women’s (open) teams, and my carpool buddies and I arrived with enough time to watch the open men’s and the masters men’s races. It’s fire season right now, and unfortunately, there are many raging throughout this fine state, including some in Sonoma County, not much further north beyond San Francisco/where we raced, which may help explain why there didn’t seem to be a lot of people racing. (I have no idea what the air quality was, but it wasn’t anything like the fires that happened around this time last year). 

Many of my male teammates shared race strategies with the other ladies and me, and our brief 2-mile warm-up showed us that the course was pretty hilly but had long stretches of descents. Even with the sun beating down on us (and continuing to get hotter), I was looking forward to seeing what I could do. (Plus, the faster I ran, the faster I’d be able to make it down to Morgan Hill, about 60 miles south, to catch A’s swim meet that began a couple hours prior). 

Like many other XC races, Excelsior started on the grass, and per yoosh, I was snail-like coming off the starting line. As soon as we hopped off the grass and transitioned to the trail and began slowly climbing our way up for most of the first mile, I gained places and tried to remain steady. It wasn’t until the back 400m or so of the first mile that we began descending, and I tried to let gravity do its thing without racing like a complete idiot.

somewhere in the first mile (PC: Roy)

We had a couple little ascents and descents before doing a U-turn and making our way back up everything that we had just come down from. I generally appreciate little OAB opportunities like this in racing because seeing my teammates mid-race gives me a little spring in my step, and I always appreciate the opportunity to cheer for others. Lisa and Anna were up ahead, looking strong, with Heather and me pretty close to each other and Maria not far behind. Everyone looked good on the tough, hilly, and hot course, and we knew it’d be over soon. It’s almost funny how short (and very, very intense) 5ks seem when you’re used to long (slower) stuff. 

making our way back. you can see me behind Heather (SO to the neon orange singlets!) (PC: Roy)
XC is all about teamwork (PC: Roy)

One of the best pieces of advice my teammates gave me was to press hard for the ~.9 mile that we’d be ascending between miles 1-2. I took his advice to heart and really tried to gap people in the middle third of the race, knowing that we’d soon be approaching a descent and would be ending the race on a pretty strong downhill. Leapfrogging with other runners is a lot of fun — it’s basically like adult tag, minus the actual tagging aspect — because if nothing else, we’re all helping each other to run better and faster. Some women and I had been leapfrogging from the get-go, and I could see that I was getting a lot closer to my teammates up ahead in the final ~800m or so of the race. 

trying to catch-up to Anna in the final throes of the race (PC: Roy)
about to get gapped in the final itty bit of the race, agh (PC: Alex)

Try as I might to work with gravity on the final ~400m downhill, any pep I had left was quickly dissipating, and probably within the final ~300m, I got gapped by a couple women; I didn’t have much left to match. We finished very near the start, in another grassy area, and at the literal end of the race, another runner and I posted a sprint-finish to the line (and if memory serves, I’m pretty sure she beat me). I finished the race feeling taxed but proud of the effort, given the conditions (a hilly course, a hot morning, and the like), and I was ecstatic that my teammate, Heather, and I could say that we had run all the regular season PA XC races this season. I can’t really pinpoint what I like about this course, but I think it was one of my favs this year. 

10 for 10 for XC with this lovely! (PC: Roy)

I needed to jet to Morgan Hill to make my daughter’s swim meet, so there was no cool-down to speak of, beyond walking (rather circuitiously) to my car. I have defined “success” rather broadly with these XC races, going more for a feeling than a specific finishing time or place, and I left Excelsior completely satisfied with the race. It’s annoying that I got gapped by a few women in the final ~400 or so, but it’s a great takeaway for me to work on in training. 

With the formal XC season behind us now and only the regional PA championship race remaining in November, my running plans for the rest of the year are TBA. I’ve officially deferred my CIM entry to 2020, and I have another PA road race, a half, on the calendar for this upcoming Sunday. Initially, I thought that maybe I’d spend this fall actually targeting the half, but it ultimately didn’t work out that way. It’ll be a good time, at any rate.

I have two spring marathons in 2020 — Big Sur in April and Mountains to Beach again in May — and I’m not certain about what’s going to happen between now and then (not as though I ever do, but still). Most days right now I’m just running what feels good and right for the given day and time I have available to train — long on trails one day, short on roads the next, or vice-versa or any other various permutations therein — and that’s keeping me pretty content, for the most part. I’m just now beginning to feel the urge to do some speedy running, so hopefully that will bode will for my forthcoming 26.2 training. 

I’m not sure if I’ll do a final recap about racing all the PA XC events or not, but in the event that all those thoughts don’t make it to my screen, at the very least, I can say that XC racing is some of the most challenging and most fun running I’ve done in the recent past. It’s so unlike any other type of racing or training that I usually do, and maybe that’s what makes it so awesome. For some reason, I find this type of running some of the most primal — it’s us against the land, whatever it wants to throw at us at any given day — and its challenging nature and simplicity really drew me in this fall. Maybe it’s because this time of year feels like controlled chaos every day with the kids and school starting and everything else, so this quarter I needed my running to be as loosely-structured as possible, thus making XC, a weird combination of short/fast running (speed) and trails/non-flat running (endurance) really attractive. I’m not really sure. It scratched the itch, anyway.

If nothing else, running allllllllll the XC races this fall has made me a better runner in ways that I can really feel but not necessarily (adequately) describe, and for that, I am quite grateful.  

2019 Matt Yeo Memorial Aggies Cross Country Open race recap – Martinez, CA

2019 Matt Yeo Memorial Aggies Cross Country Open race recap – Martinez, CA

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The Matt Yeo Memorial Aggies cross-country race up in Martinez was one of the only XC races I ran last year. Going into it last weekend, I felt excited that I knew what I was getting myself into (for once this season!), but I also knew that the course’s very, very, veeeeeeeery flat profile could easily lend the race to a level of discomfort that I haven’t really had this season.

In other words: flat running (in theory) means fast racing. And we all know that fast racing — while absolutely exhilarating — can be *quite* uncomfortable, particularly if you haven’t done much of it lately. 

In the absence of CIM training this season, I’ve been running pretty much all of my training runs at really comfortable GA or recovery paces. The only exceptions are the almost-weekly XC races, wherein I try to dial it up as much as I can on the (typically hilly) courses. Each week, I’ve been running on hilly trails more in the past few months than I have in a very long time, so while my endurance is definitely refined, I’m in the dark about any speed in my legs. Racing at Martinez, thanks to the aforementioned super flat nature of the course, would shine a light for me on what’s going on with the stems and hopefully give me a good idea of my fitness right now … in theory, anyway.

Everything about this year’s XC race was virtually the same as it was last year — same type of weather, same racing order, same fielding-two-full-teams aspect — and just like last year, I came into the race with a week’s worth of stroller running under my belt since my preschooler was on fall break. (Read: my already pretty slow-going running has been even slower the past week, thanks to pushing 90+ pounds of kid and stroller!). As the gun went off, my nerves were nowhere to be seen, and the only thought looping on repeat was something along the lines of just show up and work hard. 

somewhere early on (look how flat!) (PC: WRC)

The 4.2 mile, 2 loop-course was just how I remembered it, but the most significant difference from my ‘18 to ‘19 race was in how I felt in the thick of it. By the end of my first loop last year, it was abundantly clear that I had gone out waaaaaaaaay too fast and was going to “run-of-shame” it in to the finish line with hopefully some semblance of my ego in tact. This year, I made a conscious effort to get off the line more comfortably than in ‘18, and I knew that patience would be my best friend. Never once did I look at my watch while I was racing — even when it beeped at each mile marker, I ignored it — and I try my damnest to stay in it and to keep picking off women ahead of me. Lisa and Anica were far ahead, but Janet and Heather were within close range. All of us sporting Wolfpack neon made the visuals fantastically easy. 

a small group of us all working together after miles 1 and 3. (BTW, that official is really nice and was super enthusiastic. We chatted for a while during the men’s open and masters races). (PC: Jeff)

As is always the case, it seemed like the wind had picked up significantly during the race from how it was during the warm-up miles. For a good portion of the first part of the race, I was working with other runners in a pack, each of us taking turns leading and tucking in. One of the very last things Coach Lisa told us on the starting line was to go for a negative split on this course. While I never looked at my watch throughout the race, I stayed as mentally dialed-in as possible, negotiating and renegotiating my pace and effort and wondering if I had enough left to pick it up over the second half. I didn’t remember my piss-poor pacing at last year’s race until I just re-read my recap moments ago, so I can’t help but wonder if something deep in my psyche told me to not race again like an idiot.  

I am almost always racing with the woman behind me (kinda fun little bit about XC). She’s very sweet. (PC: Jeff)

Somewhere in the final 1.5, I began to slowly close the gap between Janet, Heather, and me, and I picked off another 3 or 4 women that were between us. It made for a really fun finish, with Janet, Heather, and me finishing in succession (and with only 19 seconds between us). I’m forever working on that strong finishing kick, and this time I got down to a 5:15 pace and over the last two minutes of the race, I threw down as much as I could. It was work, to be sure, but it was so, so fun.

that pretty pain face strikes again (PC: Alex)

Even with the super flat and super fast course that is Martinez, runners still have the fun challenges to navigate, like a grass starting and finishing area, a couple bridges, a couple sand spots, a scribbly course, and variable terrain throughout. I mean, it is XC, after all. Regardless, if you are looking to get your feet wet in XC but aren’t super comfortable with hills yet, this course is an excellent foray into this fun world. (Mark your calendars for next year!) 

I learned much later that I paced myself in a way that was night and day better than last year’s race, and even though ‘19 was a little less than one minute slower than ‘18, I’m calling ‘19 a huge win. This is one of those times in running and racing where we can pick our outlook; I could be sad or embarrassed or whatever that I ran a little more slowly than I did in ‘18, or I could be elated that I ran as evenly and as well-for-me as I did in the absence of any real fast running or speedwork for several months. I will happily select the latter, and it’s the latter that’s getting me hyped about marathon training in ‘20. I was (and remain) so, so happy with how I ran at Martinez, and it makes me smile when I think about how I felt during the race. It was one of *those* types of mornings, gang.    

keep showing up! (PC: WRC)

We (incredibly) only have one more meet this weekend before the PA regional championship in mid-November, so as usual, local friends, here’s my blanket invitation for everyone to come play XC this week at Excelsior’s meet in Daly City. Hope to see your smiling faces there.