Another Dipsea in the Books

I seem to have some sort of subconscious streak of signing up for races the weekend before finals week every quarter, so naturally, a trip up to a Bay for the Dipsea cost valuable time in terms of studying for my 7 am Ochem final on Monday.

Liz Gill & I at the start acting Touristy!

I love the Dipsea. It's a fabulous race that really celebrates the community and the trails. I have done it every year the past four years. This year I had finally earned my invitational spot; I was allowed to bypass the ridiculous entry lottery.

Since I had a race a 50k the next weekend, I did not want to push the pace- my only goal was to earn invitational status again by placing in the top 450.  The morning of the race I met up with a friend Liz Gill at the start and we warmed up and chatted with the other racers.

The race started off fast as I was in the biggest, fastest woman's group of the invitational section. I power hiked the stairs two at a time as I always did and just kept running uphill. I didn't stop running and just kept passing people. I kept steady, not wanting to push too hard.

Cresting cardiac and seeing everybody and all my friends got me super jazzed up. if I was already smiling, I was grinning then.

Up Up and Up!

The volunteers and cheerleaders at the top pushed me to run faster and "gun" it down towards Stinson. I didn't want to injure myself on the stairs so I took them one at a time while being as cautious as possible.  Several runners went down hard in front of me and it looked pretty grim.

That is the one thing that I do not understand. Unless all it takes to get a black shirt or invitational status is to red line it Mill Valley to Stinson, why be so aggressive? In years past, including this one, I have been shoved aside into the bushes countless times or nearly mauled by people running their hearts out and doing anything / everything to get ahead of me.  Maybe because I am never truly competitive in this race or have another one coming up that I am not so aggressive, but I do not see the point in sacrificing the next 3 weeks-6 months in one bad turn or fall from wanting to be 234th instead of 236th.

Top of Cardiac! What a relief to start downhill!

  

With that being said, I arrived in Stinson beach, healthy, smiling, and happy with a good hard effort. I ran my way to 274th place in a time of 1:14. Considering that my PR was set last year at 1:13 in the fog and felt like a redlining effort, and this was a tempo effort in the heat, I think it was a great indicator to how much I have grown as a runner and the strength I have acquired from ultra running. I am also pleased that even with all the miles, I can still maintain my speed. Last year I had PRed in the 5K and done a lot of road and track races leading up to the dipsea. A part of me is curious as to what I can do with a 5k or mile on the track, but I know that is not something worth going after, as trail running and long distances are my true passion and newlyfound strengths.

My very supportive mom

My Best friend & best "crew" cheering me on at the finish