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2019 Santa Cruz Cross-Country (XC) Challenge Race Recap — Santa Cruz, CA

2019 Santa Cruz Cross-Country (XC) Challenge Race Recap — Santa Cruz, CA

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With summer break rapidly coming to a close and the BioFreeze SF Marathon (or half marathon, anyway) behind me, so begins the most favorite time of year for many a runner: cross-country! I’m still relatively new to the XC world — the Santa Cruz Challenge race in ‘17 was my first go at this type of running, ever — but man, it’s fun. It’s really, really, hard, yet really, really fun. 

debut XC race at Santa Cruz a whopping two years ago!

Saturday was the PA-USATF XC (alphabet soup) series opener down in Santa Cruz, as has been the case for the past couple years, and I was looking forward to toeing the line not because I’m in any real racing shape to speak of but because XC is all about team and camaraderie. At least in these parts, XC races are segregated into open women’s, masters men, and open men fields, and what that (practically) means is that my male teammates can cheer for their lady teammates when we run and in return, we for them.

On paper, that sounds a lot less meaningful than it is in reality. Rarely am I ever afforded the opportunity to really support my teammates in races that I’m running alongside them, but XC is one of those rare instances in the racing world where I can. If you run, you know how much it means to have people on the sidelines cheering for you who really “get” what you’re experiencing mid-race. Add to that the fact that they’re your teammates, and well, at the risk of sounding silly, it’s really pretty special.

masters men at this year’s UCSC XC race (PC: WRC)
all the guys (open and masters, plus supporters) at this year’s SC XC race (PC: WRC)

Besides the cheering aspect — which is a lot of fun, in and of itself — the scoring dynamic in XC works in such a way that emphasizes strategy and finish placement much more than finishing time. In other words, it doesn’t matter if I finish many minutes behind the first overall female finisher or the first female finisher on my team; all of our finish placements help to determine how many points our team (and we, as individuals) earn. 

Perhaps that’s more XC scoring tedium than you came here for today, but suffice it to say that XC is equal parts unpredictable, fun, really tough, and very much a team endeavor. Everyone’s run matters.

I dig the simplicity (PC: WRC)

Saturday’s XC course at the University of California-Santa Cruz (UCSC) campus was the same as it was when I ran this event the past two years, and it definitely hasn’t gotten any easier. There’s a lot of steep up and down action crammed into those four miles! In 2017, I did the race (and XC, in general) for the first time and had no idea what to expect; in 2018, I was four weeks post-racing at SF, wherein I felt like I had been hit by a truck, and at the XC meet, I paced like a fool and death-marched my way back home on the second lap of the 2-mile course. 

This time around, my singular goal was to not pace like an idiot and finish the thing with at least a modicum of self-respect. Plus, I wanted to help field a full women’s team. (Spoiler: success on all accounts, so YAY to that). 

Somewhat hilariously, after three consecutive days of 100+ temps in SJ, the UCSC campus greeted us with an abundance of fog, 50-60 degree temps, and incessant misty-rain basically the entire time we were there. (My feet were pruney for hours after I got home and showered). It made for a beautiful morning, though, and rather perfect running weather in my estimation. 

rounding the corner to finish the first lap (PC: WRC)

Anyway, the tl;dr version of my season opener XC race on Saturday was that while my time was a bit slower than last year’s, I negative split the race by about 4-5 seconds, held my place or moved up a few spots over the second lap, and all things considered, felt pretty strong. After fun-running the half at SF in late July, I’ve slowly been building mileage volume again, and as my kids have resumed school, my running routine has returned, too. I haven’t done a single workout since returning to home in SJ in late July — everything is easy, GA, or hilly/on trails — so I wasn’t expecting much in the way of speed on Saturday. It’ll come.

trying to run fast in the woods is super fun! (PC: Tom/WRC)

By the day’s end, I posted over 10 miles, all of them with my teammates, and honestly, I just felt jazzed to be out there and to be doing this type of running right now. That’s always been the joy and beauty of running, in my opinion: any surface, any distance, any speed… there really is something for everyone. Right now, this feels right.  

my hair is getting v v long. fishtail FTW (PC: WRC)
the open ladies team + supporters for the SC XC meet (PC: WRC)

One of my goals for this quarter is to run as much of the PA-USATF XC series as possible, given my weekend constraints throughout the season (read: swim meets … lots of swim meets), and to use this type of running to augment 50k training (possibly). Ah, yes, on that note: I’ll be deferring CIM because it conflicts with a local Junior Olympics (JO) swim meet. It’s not the end of the world, as I’m pretty sure CIM isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon; it just calls for a bit of a pivot in my training. It’s all good. It’s a no-brainer that I want to be there for my eldest (and at an event for which she has to qualify).  

the “post-race hair deconstruction” ritual alongside Mona, haha(PC: Tom/WRC)

This is the point in my race recap where I’ll again implore local readers to check out some of the races on the PA-USATF XC schedule. They’re all over northern California — from Santa Rosa, to Vacaville, SF, and all the way south to Santa Cruz — and I’ve always enjoyed myself at every race I’ve run. Your finishing time matters less than you think (see my notes above), and the environment is really laid back (yet competitive), encouraging, and just good ol’ fashioned fun. You don’t have to be on a team to participate (but if you’re looking for a team, hi!), and as far as races go in the Bay Area, XC ones are some of the most inexpensive/no-frills (but have I said how fun they are yet?!) options around. It’s you versus the land: running in its most primal context. Plus, Wolfpack will be hosting the Golden Gate Open at SF on Sunday, September 8th, and I’d love to see you there. 🙂 

forever thankful for wide-angle selfie mode 🙂 from our cooldown with teammates and friends post-race.

If you’re on the fence about jumping in some XC races in your area this fall, take this post as your sign, and come thank me later.      

2019 North Canton July 4th 5 Miler Race Recap – North Canton, Ohio

2019 North Canton July 4th 5 Miler Race Recap – North Canton, Ohio

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After the whirlwind that was January-May and finally racing at the Mountains to Beach marathon, school dismissed for the summer, and my family and I headed east to the Midwest, as we always do in June and July. With MTB behind me and the Biofreeze San Francisco Marathon ahead of me, on the last Sunday in July, my training for SF didn’t really begin in earnest until I was in the midwest in mid-summer. 

Unfortunately, this year I’d only be able to race once before the BSFM, but I was happy to return to one of my favorite local northeast Ohio races: the North Canton YMCA July 4th 5 miler. I’ve run the race twice before and always enjoy it because it’s well-organized, has easy logistics, and usually offers a great opportunity to race against high schoolers and kids half my age, haha. 

The trying thing, of course, is that early July in northeast Ohio nearly always promises challenging weather conditions — hello, excessive heat and humidity and a killer dewpoint — making the race less about going for a specific clock time and more about racing against other people and racing against the elements.

For as long as I had been in the midwest this summer, prior to the race, my running felt extremely sluggish and forced. My paces were much slower, and getting out the door was significantly more challenging than usual. At any rate, perhaps because my training up until 7/4 had been so lackluster, I went into the race with zero expectations or time goals and just hoped I wouldn’t feel completely awful from start to finish. Nothing hurt or anything like that, but I honestly think that the heat and humidity in the midwest this summer has been soul-sucking and energy-draining. (world’s smallest violin, I know)

The five-miler course was exactly the same as it was the past two years, and the community members whose streets we overtook on race morning brought their A game as they usually do, with many families setting up their own aid stations in their front lawns and/or setting out sprinklers or hoses for runners to run through. Over five miles, I’m pretty sure I hit every official water stop to dump water over me and hit another 4 or 5 sprinklers or hoses. It was awesome. By the time I finished the race, I was soaked in both sweat *and* water. 

the beginning stages of a jazz hands pic. also, there’s a lot of great rollers on the course, especially between miles 3-5. This is the beginning of a large hill around mile 4, if memory serves. (thanks for the free pics!)

Given the heat and humidity on race day, I don’t think I looked at my watch at all during the race and instead based my air-quotes “racing” off my perceived exertion. Each time I saw a woman in my immediate or almost-immediate vicinity, I slowly tried to reel her in and advance up the leaderboard. For the past two years, I’ve won my age group, so trying to place high in my new AG (hopefully while running fairly decently) was enough of a goal for the race this time around. Again: less time-based goal, more placement-based.

For the past two years, I usually go out hella hard and die and claw my way to the finish, but this time, I finally didn’t fly off the line idiotically and instead treated the race more like a  tempo or steady-state effort. Somewhat miraculously, given how my running felt while I was in the midwest, I felt strong from start to finish during the race and methodically reeled in as many women as I could. From beginning to end, I chased down four or five women, and I only got passed back once. Success! 

wings into the finish

The 5 miler was also my first race where I wore my rabbit Wolfpack crop, and let me tell you, when it’s hot and humid as hell outside, going with a crop is fantastic.  Don’t worry about how you’ll look in your race pics relative to the flatness of your stomach. No one cares but you. Promise. Body misgivings can go to hell. Life’s too short. 

Race day ultimately gave me 10 miles for the day, between the race and my warm-up and cool-down, and I was delighted to learn that I posted 2nd/50 in my new AG (missing first by only ~40 seconds, damn!), 14th female out of 200+, and 102/600+ overall. I usually don’t care about race statistics — I’m more satisfied in knowing that I ran hard/accomplished what I sought out to do than stacking myself against other competitors — but given the day and my training, I’m especially proud of my effort. 

I won a tumbler! truth be told, this was probably the fastest that I’ve run while being in the midwest for six weeks.)

While I wouldn’t be particularly enthusiastic to sign up to race hard in early July in the midwest, I think I’ll always come back to this race (if I’m in town). It’s inexpensive (maybe $25 when I registered in April), the race shirt premium is attractive and something I routinely wear, the AG awards are nice (previous years were mugs and bookbags), and I love the small-town vibes of racing in North Canton, as well as the fun post-race environment afterward. They even have puppies you can adopt from the post-race party! Kids can run in the (free) kids’ race before the 5 miler, and if you don’t want to do 5, there’s a 2 mile option as well. Everyone wins.

There’s something about beginning a holiday with a race; even if I race poorly or more slowly than I want, it puts me in a great mood for the rest of the day and leaves me hyped all day long. If you’re local to northeast Ohio or are in town for July 4th and want a racing opportunity, I’d definitely recommend the North Canton YMCA 5 miler. If I’m in town, I’ll be there.

July 4th-ing