Rocked The Dipsea!

Today was the 98th running of The Dipsea, the oldest road race in the US, which is about 7.3 miles from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach with a total of about 4600 feet of elevation gain. It is hard to get into, either by qualifying in a previous year or by lottery, I got in by lottery

I was extremely nervous about the race, trying not to injure myself before Denali, and with the legs being a bit sore from lots of training and having some stomach problems the week before, but …

I rocked! I finished in 1:27:45, with the goal of being in the top 750 so that I can qualify for next year. The weather was hot already from the start so I hydrated really well before even starting out. The race has 672 steps to climb (!) already in mile one and it’s already crowded going up them, but that was fine. Then most of the next 4.7 miles are uphill – up Cardiac Hill, and I found a fun game to keep me going and finish strong. I started counting the number of people I passed (roadkill) and subtracted those that passed me – this started around mile 2.

Before long I was up to around 25 and it kept going … pushed myself a lot to pass people on the uphills figuring I would make up some good time with that. By the time we got to cardiac, my clock time was just about one hour and passing was over 100!

A lot of the uphills and subsequent downhills were on very narrow paths with no room to pass and highly claustrophobic. I did what I could and just blazed on the open downhills and kick serious ass in the last mile or two sprinting to the finish line, figuring every person I passed as another chance to get to top 750.

At top of Cardiac, just a fantastic view of the SF Bay and City to the left (east) and to the Pacific Ocean (west), truly inspiring.

The finish shoot was jammed with people and loved the cheering! While on the shuttle bus back to Mill Valley, I had a massive craving for something naughty, so near where my car was parked I found Pearl’s Phatburger and had one of the best hamburgers and fries I have Ever Had.

I drove home feeling relieved, happy, self-proud and knew that all the training that I had done had paid off!