Motorcycles and a Race Director Interview!

I don't usually talk about what I do in day-to-day life on this blog because honestly, my life is made up of a whole lot of Excel spreadsheets, surfing the net, and watching Game of Thrones.  Not exactly fascinating material.  But this weekend, I actually did something worth talking about:

This weekend Anthony and I rented a Harley and drove up to Malibu.

It was amazing, terrifying, and tiring all at once.  Between me yelling things like "Please stay under 60!!" and "Isn't this where John Wayne died?!?!?!"  (I meant James Dean - and apparently he died in a car, not a motorcycle), it was actually a blast.  There are some roads up in Malibu that have some of the most beautiful views I've seen in a while.  And that pic in the lower-left?  It's some secret biker bar. Cool stuff.

While I'm not about to buy a hot pink bike and go joy riding anytime soon, it was a pretty cool experience.
Just don't tell my mom I did this.  It would not end well for this blogger. 

For the second part of this post, I wanted to post an interview with the director of Hot Chocolate San Diego  15k, Brandon Presern.   

Brandon did a pretty kick ass job directing an inaugural race and I thought it would be interesting to hear a little more behind the scenes information (And ask him about USATF certified distances.  Haha).  I'm sure Brandon had a ton of pressure to put on a flawless race, as Ram had definite issues in some previous races (DC).  Directing Hot Chocolate can't be easy because it attracts a lot of first-time racers and people who are looking for a elaborate experience - not just a no-frills race.

Ask A Race Director: Brandon Presern

source

How long have you been in the road racing industry?
I've been with Ram for two years.  Prior to that I spent 11 years working Operations and Logistics for the Chicago Marathon.

What do you do when you're not race directing?
I'm 35 and married to my wife Kristina.  We have two daughters and live in Illinois.  In my off time I like fly fishing, running, cooking and of course spending time with my family.

I am sure there are many challenges to putting on a large race that runners don't see.  What is something that is surprisingly difficult or complicated in putting on a race?

The most challenging part of organizing a large race is ensuring the runners safety.  Between road closures on the course and emergency medical communications there is a lot going on race morning.  In addition we're always watching the weather.  If it's too hot or too cold we have to engage our emergency extreme weather plan.

How did you decide on the course?  Will it stay the same next year?

Hopefully the course will remain very similar next year.  The course went through lots of revisions over the past year.  We try to minimize our impact on the local community when possible.  We certainly couldn't have come up with such a great course if it wasn't for the guidance and support of the SDPD Special Events Office.  They are great to work with and very patient.

I thought the on-course organization of aid stations, and clocks with mile marker was very good.  What sort of crazy logistics go into making that happen?

Aid stations take lots of planning and education.  We have a small team out on the course to the help the aid stations along but it really comes down to having hard working and dedicated volunteers.

One thing that runners often say (even with certified courses) is that courses were either long or short according to their Garmin.  Is this ever true?  How common is this in races? 

It happens at every race.  People take wide turns or their reception gets blocked by a buildings.  Gamins are great but they're aren't nearly as accurate as having the course USATF certified.

What is the most rewarding part about being a race director?

I like watching the runners reaction as they cross the finish line.  Some cross the 15K and keep running because they're training for a marathon and sometimes you see someone cross the 5k and they have a look of amazement like they can't believe they did it.

How much did you sleep in the days before the race?   :)

Never enough.....

Thank you Brandon!

Hill (hot) Chocolate 15k Race Recap

Today, I ran the Hot Chocolate 15k in San Diego with this girl, this girl, this girl, this girl, this girl, this girl and this dude.

I was nervous for several reasons:
1) I haven't raced since January.
2) I've increased my mileage a lot and ran a dang 20 miler Thursday.  (it's starting to get where running isn't fun, but that's another post).
3) I knew this was a very hilly course.  And while I pride myself at being decent at hills, I knew it would be a challenge.
3) I suck at logistics and the odds of me getting lost and ending up in Tijuana were at least 20%.

I woke up at the god awful time of 4:30 AM and drove down to San Diego to meet up with OUAL and Sweaty Emily who had my race packet.  They ran 11 miles before the race.  I am currently talking to a psychiatrist to find out if we need to get them committed.  Luckily I met up with them without a hitch and there were only about 2 minutes when I wondered if I'd driven to the wrong city.  I met up with the other girls in the corral where we snapped a few quick pics.

Emily, Nicole, ChaCha and Me
source - skinnyrunner

I figured that if I could keep the pace a bit over 7 minute miles, it would be ok, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit I had dreams of running sub-7 pace.

It was time to go, and we ominously started on a straight uphill.  My first mile split was a 7:05, and this was already demoralizing.  Usually I don't feel like I am already struggling at mile 1. The next two splits clicked off, and I ran through the 5k a bit under 22 minutes.  However, I was already feeling defeated.  This sounds ridiculous, but by mile 4, after I ran a 7:28 split, I was almost about to quit.  The constant uphill hurt and I looked down at my Garmin and was seeing 8:30 paces.  I was also getting passed by a number of girls.  

I told myself that maybe I could drop back and run with some of the girls I knew who were also running.  I also started getting irrationally angry and dramatic, as I often do in races.:

"WHY AM I WEARING COMPRESSION SOCKS?!?!? I AM NEVER WEARING COMPRESSION SOCKS AGAIN!!".  

"WHY DO I DO THIS?? I HATE RUNNING $^&@#$!!!!"

Luckily at the point when I was starting to lose all hope and faith in my running ability, a long downhill portion of the course appeared, and things seemed manageable again.  I passed a number of volunteers who cheered for my bunny ears (sorry if I didn't respond if you're reading this!!).  I passed the 10k and PR'd at something like 44:20, so that was cool.  

Around mile 8, there was a switchback where I saw SkinnyRunner.  We yelled loud and cheered each other on and even managed to high five!  It was hilarious because I was wearing the bunny ears and she was full-on in a tootsie roll costume.  I am sure the people around us on the course were like "Figures...the two crazy people in the race know each other."  After seeing her I knew I could kick it in, and even though I continued to get passed by people, my last mile was decent enough.  Here are the (very uneven) splits:

Official Time and Place:  1:06:15 (7:06 pace), 18th woman


And here is the elevation chart, with just a little bit of embellishment:

After I finished, I met up with the rest of the girls.  I was honestly confused at my time, because I haven't run this distance in 11 years and had no idea whether it was good or bad, or even what total pace I'd run.  We got our chocolate and fondue at the end, which honestly isn't exactly my cup of tea (after eating GU's and energy bars, the last thing I want is more sugar), but other people seem to like it.

I also thought Ram Racing put on a pretty seamless race and has figured out the problems that plagued them in DC.  My guess is that they put the race on such a hilly course for total logistical reasons and decided a hard course was worth it to have a lot of parking less trafficked roads.   So props to that Race Director dude I met a few weeks back.

Thoughts on my performance?  It was decent.  I think I'm slowly becoming a better runner.  I'd like to become a little more mentally strong and confident so that I'm not considering quitting a race at mile 4.5, but maybe that will come with time.

Overall, I had a fun time, it was good to get out there and race, and it was especially cool to have so many friends racing with me.

As I've mentioned before in previous posts, being able to get out there on a beautiful day and give a course what I've got makes me feel very thankful and lucky.  

Downtown on Dwellable