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The 8th Annual San Jose 408k Race to the Row race report – San Jose, CA (February 2019)

The 8th Annual San Jose 408k Race to the Row race report – San Jose, CA (February 2019)

2019’s front half carried with it a lot of stuff, as helpfully non-specific as that word is, and I felt like I had very little mental bandwidth or interest to write, which is pretty uncharacteristic. My writing mojo is slowly returning, so as bizarre or useless as it may be to write about races or training that concluded months ago, well, here we are.  

family at 408k
family shot at the kids’ race finish line (post-my race, pre-theirs)

Represent Running’s 408k, the Race to the Row, is my favorite local race in SJ and one that, for whatever reason, I usually don’t end up running, despite almost always having a comped entry as part of the social media ambassador team. In fact, in the last five years, I think I’ve only run it twice, including once during my second pregnancy.

This year’s iteration fell in early February, and unfortunately, even the move from the usual March date didn’t help my cause. I have no idea why, but 3 times out of the last 5 opportunities I’ve had to run this race, I was sick with typical winter/seasonal crap (or recovering from a hemorrhagic stroke), and at this year’s iteration, I was super stubborn and insisted that I felt “well enough” to race. 

You know how this is going to end. 

Generally speaking, RR races are an excellent opportunity to see lots of your local running buddies, and the 408k is no exception. During my warm-up, I saw lots of other Wolfpack, Arete, RR ambassadors, and Strava friends, which just made the already beautiful morning even more so. The 408k was going to be a rust-buster, a way to get comfortable getting uncomfortable for the first time since the last time I had raced, all the way back in December at CIM. After some time off in December and a gradual but respectable build in January, I felt ready and excited to see what was in my legs, for the grand master plan was to use the 408k as a barometer to help direct my training for the Mountains to Beach marathon over Memorial Day weekend. 

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attempting to get strong and fast in Jan

And then I got sick, and I was stubborn as hell (and kinda dumb), and you know how these things go. 

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team love at the starting line (& thanks for the free pics!) 

The beautiful race day morning really couldn’t have been better (we had a freakin’ rainbow at the start line!), and, well, the sickness that brought me down for the better part of February made its presence known pretty early in the race.

It’s probably revisionist history, but I’d like to think of it as the most positive (split) run ever, starting around 8k pace and ending somewhere in the easy/recovery zone. Seeing friends and teammates on the course, racing, or alongside the course, volunteering, is always a delight at this race. After the first mile, I felt laughably horrible, but hey. I kinda got what was coming to me.  

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repeat after me: do not race when you’re sick!! (or on the brink)

Racing while sick, or racing while in the beginning stages of getting sick, is a pretty dicey proposition; this was definitely one of those “do as I say, not as I do” situations. If any of my training partners had been in my shoes, I would have actively told them to not run (or to not try to race-race, anyway) and instead opt to volunteer or just stay at home and get some rest. For myself, though, I was too stubborn to see the forest through the trees, and I’m sure trying to run hard in the beginning stages of sickness was just fuel for the inferno that ultimately lasted five-plus weeks. Lesson learned.

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this is me enthusiastically telling Janet, “I FEEL HORRIBLE!” not even at the mid-way point  (PC: Janet)

(Runners are idiots sometimes… or I am, anyway). 

As goes the girls, they had a blast in the darling 408k kids’ run! C (understandably) wasn’t keen on standing around in the rain for a while, waiting for the kids’ races to begin, so after he took off, the kids and I had a blast playing in the kids’ zone area and chatting with local friends and their children.

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coloring in the rain 
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getting fired up to run. PS: she really, really liked her race shirt and wore it repeatedly for days after.

A had a blast hamming it up with the mascots, and G seemed to really enjoy both cheering for her sister (in the form of chasing after her) and running her own little race, herself, with her hand squarely locked in mine. Even though my race was (understandably) for shit, the girls had a great time, and that memory — not my crappy racing — is what has left such a positive experience in my mind so many months later.

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working hard in her Minnie shoes
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chasing after her sister during her older kids’ heat

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the 2020 408k will fall on a weekend where I’m not beset with a nasty seasonal sickness because I love this race (and TBH, the distance) and because I’m pretty sure the girls were ready to do it all over again as soon as they were finished.

People love RR races, and with good reason, too, since they’re typically extremely well-organized and executed, offer fun swag (including race memorabilia that you’d actually want to wear), and more than anything, these races just exude a great vibe. They’re fun and competitive, which can be a tricky combination to pull off.  

If you’re in town for the 2020 edition, I’ll see you there, for this is one race I’d gladly do again and again.  

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post-race with the man behind the magic, JT Service 
2018 Inaugural Food Truck 5k Kids’ Race Race Report – Guest Post From My Six Year-Old – San Jose, CA

2018 Inaugural Food Truck 5k Kids’ Race Race Report – Guest Post From My Six Year-Old – San Jose, CA

The real highlight of Saturday’s Food Truck 5k was watching A run the kids’ race. She has run kids’ races before, but it had been a while (not counting last summer’s kids’ triathlon). She likes to run, to a degree, but I think if given the option between running, or swimming, or biking, running would probably be her last choice (unless you were chasing her in a game of tag, in which case, game on). When I asked her if she’d want to participate in the kids’ run, she enthusiastically said yes and reminded me that it’d be great practice for her in advance of her next triathlon at the end of April.

In keeping with the same format that I used to recap her triathlon last summer, I’ll share below our interview about her kids’ race experience at the inaugural Food Truck 5k event last Saturday. I’ll share her responses unedited and will include any annotations after each remark for clarity.

 

Why did you want to run the kids’ race at the Food Truck 5k?

Because it sounded like fun and you were in it!

 

What were you looking forward to about the kids’ race?

I don’t really know. I was … (thinking for a while) … (after some clarifying comments from me) … having fun, I guess?

How did you feel before doing the kids’ race? Were you scared, excited, or something else?

Nervous and excited. The nervous part was if I might get lost or if I got last place because it was a big run, but it turned out that it wasn’t a big run. The excited part was … I don’t really know the excited part!

 

Did you train for the kids’ race? If yes, how did you train? If not, why didn’t you train?

Not really, I mean, a lot! At school, we run one lap around the track or three laps around the track, and today (4/19) I ran three laps around the track. We were doing a sport called soccer, and we took a break, and instead of doing that, we did running, and pull-ups, and push-ups. I trained, and stretched, and exercised.

 

Did you feel prepared for the kids’ race?

Kind of?

 

What did you decide to wear for the kids’ race?

I wanted to wear shorts with butt pads and a Wolfpack shirt because I’m on the Wolfpack team.

we all can recognize that nervous milling-around look 😛 Hi to Dave and Asher next to her!

Why did you want to wear butt pad shorts?

Because I might fall in the race and I don’t want my butt to … actually, [butt pad shorts] feels kinda comfortable. (function over fashion; that’s my girl)

 

When you were at the starting line before your race began, can you please describe to me what it was like?

It was like, I don’t know. I felt like I was running, kinda, because I was in a running starting pose. I felt excited, happy, strong, a little, like 1% nervous, and ready to run. That’s how I felt.

almost go-time

Tell me about your race. Was it easy? Did it feel tough? How long was it (miles, minutes, hours)?

I was running about … I don’t know, I don’t really know, barely half a mile. (Was it easy?) A little bit. Because it was a short run. I can run short runs, but not three miles. I can’t run that long.

 

Did it feel tough?

No, not really.

this was just a few feet from the finish line. Once I saw her and yelled her name, she stared straight at me until she was almost right at the finish line. also, she looks like she’s bounding!

What did you run on? Did you run on pavement, or grass, or something?

I kinda ran through little pieces of hard sand and then through grass.  (I have never seen “little pieces of hard sand” in Arena Green in my life, but then again, I don’t think I’ve ever looked for it, either. I think she means “dirt”).

still bounding

Were you going super fast, or slow, or some other pace?

SUPER FAST! That’s why I was behind three boys. And I was the first girl to cross the finish line!

 

one day I aspire to look comparably good when I run

How did you feel when you finished the race?

I felt a little bit tired, but I felt really well, I mean really good!

so pleased with herself for being the first girl across the line

 

Did you earn any special prizes for completing the race?

No, not really, I mean… yes, I got a headband. And a sticker. And also a medal! Just like you did.

 

Would you do another kids’ running race in the future?

I think so, as long as it’s short!

 

You’re a couple weeks away from your triathlon. How are you feeling about it?

A little bit scared. (I asked for additional clarification and got none).

 

Would you recommend this kids’ race to other six year-olds?

Yep. (She, momentarily, lacked her mother’s loquaciousness).

She’s short on words at the moment — probably what I get for trying to talk to her while she’s playing on electronics — but on race day, she obviously had a great experience. The kids’ races were broken down into two heats, “7 and unders” and “8 and ups,” though if the little kids wanted to race in both heats, they could. (The distance was just negligibly longer). She was satisfied with running in her heat, and honestly, she was thrilled that she came in right after three probably-older-than-her boys; I think she just enjoyed chasing that little lead back and the RR staff member who was leading the race. She loves a good game of tag.

I never push my girls to run, but if there’s a kids’ option available at any race that I do, and the logistics are feasible (which isn’t always the case), I extend the option; I’m just glad that she had such a positive experience.

The kids’ run was a fun way to close-out Saturday’s Food Truck 5k race day and a great stepping stone to Sunday’s inaugural Silicon Valley half marathon, the headlining event of the weekend.