May 19 (Bay to Breakers - 75 miles/week)

AM: Bay to Breakers 12k, 40:06, 30th place - 18 miles

I hopped the early train up to the city and the doors immediately opened into the madness. For most people, it's pretty obvious that Bay to Breakers is a party, not a race. During my warmup, I saw a lot of costumes, alcohol, and ugly male nudity. That was more or less the theme for the scenery for the day.

The good news is that B2B is also a pretty competitive race, with the likes of Ryan Hall at the front. When the gun went off, I tucked in with the Asics Aggies centipede (the race also has a special division of 13 people tied together), assuming they'd be in the 5:10-5:20 range that I was shooting for today.

I hit the first two miles in 5:14 and 5:23, right about on target, though I lost some ground up the Hayes Street hill: the biggest and most challenging hill that comes between 4k and 5k. I missed the third mile split, but I had the fourth in 11:20, so I obviously struggled on the hill that peaks next to the "Painted Ladies" houses of Full House fame.

The good news is that I was able to use the downhills and flats to my advantage. Hayes Street Hill would be the farthest back I'd be in the race, though at the time I felt like I could have lost to one of the naked guys. I rallied with a 5:01 sixth mile, repassing and reeling in a few guys. I made the turn at mile 7 with the women's leader and surged to stay with the Aggies 'pede that ended up finishing just ahead of me, which was a shame because that meant falling from 17th to 30th place.

Either way, this was a better race in what has been a lackluster spring season. The goal was to get under 40 minutes today, so I'm a little disappointed to just miss it, but it felt good just to win some battles out on the course.

I cooled down by running the course backward through the 7-mile street party with Varner, Heather, and Neville, taking in the scene and again trying to avoid the naked guys. My stomach was wrecked afterward, which is always the sign of an honest, hard effort for me.

Next up is a 10k in Marin on what will be a fast course (finally) as the spring racing season comes to a close. The plan then is to take a low key week with travel back to North Carolina for a wedding before building up for a summer of higher mileage in preparation for the Santa Rosa Marathon at the end of August.