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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 Willow Hills Cross Country Open Race Recap – Folsom, CA

2019 Willow Hills Cross Country Open Race Recap – Folsom, CA

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Holy moly, what a weekend for the running community! Between Eliud Kipchoge’s going sub-2, Brigid Kosgei shattering the women’s world marathon record in Chicago, and the thousands of inspiring stories coming out of Chicago from us normal, everyday folk, it was an exciting weekend for those of us captivated by the simplicity and challenge of putting one foot in front of the other, hundreds of thousands of times, as fast as we can.

Back in this neck of the woods, my team and I ran the eighth cross country race of the PA USATF circuit, the Willow Hills open up in Folsom: arguably not as exciting as going sub-2 in a marathon or breaking a world record, but you know. Different strokes. 

the ladies of the morn. Yay to having a full squad! (PC: Reid/WRC)

My only running experience in Folsom is at the starting line of CIM, so I didn’t have a clue about the Willow Hills 5k course we’d be running. Folsom is a good two hours-and-change from here, so I was thrilled when Coach Lisa offered to drive most of us north; there’s clearly no shame in my game since I took advantage of the opportunity to snooze periodically throughout the drive. When we arrived to the high school staging area for the race, we immediately noticed the campfire smell in the air — which, early in the morning, is somewhat odd — before we realized that a fire must have been nearby. 

Sure enough, the skies were hazy, and as we’d later learn, the fire was somewhat in the vicinity (off the same exit as the one we took, just in the opposite direction). Some runners from other teams showed up to run, and upon smelling/feeling the smoke, they turned around and left. (This all, of course, was happening on the heels of the power outage earlier in the week. Throughout northern and central California, PG&E, our investor-owned gas and electric provider, preemptively shut down a lot of people’s power, since the conditions and temperatures were ripe for a fire. Fortunately, few, if any, fires broke out during the high risk days). The noxious smells in Folsom didn’t hold a candle to what northern California endured last November during the Paradise fire — not in the slightest — but there was enough of a smell in the air to alert you that a fire was in the nearby distance. 

milling about before the gun (PC: Reid/WRC)
and we’re off! (PC: Reid/WRC)

Anyway. The race. The 5k, two-loop course was nestled between the high school and a recent housing development. It seemed like the course was something of an afterthought — along the lines of we have this plot of land between Point A and Point B, but we can’t do anything on it, so here, it’ll be a park and a cross country course. I later learned that the course is actually pretty storied and predates said housing development; who knew? Part of the course wrapped around a small lake, and other parts of the woodchipped course snaked its way near what appeared to a pretty extensive housing development and adjacent to the highway, through a playground (yes, we ran through a playground in a XC race!), and up and over several short and steep mogul-like hills. On Strava maps, XC races sorta look like a child’s scribbles, since you rarely go in a straight line for very long. The Willow Hills course was much the same. 

coming off the starting loop near the lake and about to cut through a playground (PC: Reid/WRC)
up and over some short and steep hills (PC: Reid/WRC)
maybe around the halfway point in the course… can’t remember. new terrain, anyway (PC: Reid/WRC)

Fortunately, Wolfpack fielded both women’s and men’s open teams, and with the small participant field, we fared pretty well. During my own race, I felt so much better than I had at the prior cross country race at China Camp that it was almost laughable, like the difference couldn’t be starker. For the most part, I felt pretty strong throughout the race and didn’t have any existential, I’m retiring from running forever moments like I did at China Camp. I had a lot of fun chasing my teammates and other runners, and when the day was over, I posted over 10 miles between the warm-up, 5k race, and long cool-down. I left feeling satisfied with the effort, knowing that I worked hard in the race and didn’t give up when it got challenging. 

the finishing stretch around the lake, right next to where we started on the field. I love that you can see half our team in this shot and Andy cheering for us. (PC: Reid/WRC)
forever working on that finishing kick (got down to 5:00/mi pace!) and the beautiful end-of-a-5k-xc-race grimace smile. (PC: Reid/WRC)

By now, we’re almost done with XC season — just two more races and then the PA champs — which is crazy because it seems like we just started. I’ve really appreciated the variety of all the different XC courses because it helps keep things fresh and exciting, not to mention all the different strength and endurance benefits such varied types of running and racing incurs. Not having run most of the courses before this year also helps, too. 🙂

Here’s my usual invite for all the local runners to come play cross country with us this weekend; it’s not too late to get in on the fun! (This weekend’s course in Martinez is really flat and fast, so if you’re feeling iffy on hills, consider yourself lucky!). Hope to see you there!