Race Report: Wild Duck 5k

Results- 6th place, 16:19.

So the race this weekend was the first in the Dirt Dog XC Series. Dirt Dog, for those that don't know, is a pretty competitive XC "Grand Prix" type series here in San Diego. There are 8 races and a Championship race. Each race is scored for individuals 100-90-81-73-66...3-2-1 and the championship race is worth double points. Team scoring is 20-14-10-7-5...2-1. You need to run a minimum of 2 regular races and the championship, but they count your best three scores plus the championship to decide the final standings. It is a good series and pretty much all the best runners in San Diego take part.

So the first race is up in Oceanside which is in North County and it is the furthest race away from where we live. This is true for most people living outside of North County, so it was a good chance to steal some points with some guys not showing up. The course wasn't hard but not flat either. The toughest part was very uneven footing and lots of patches of sand on the trails that really hurt your momentum. I was in the pack through the pedestrian first mile (5:20ish) and then it strung out. I should have made the move to stay in contact with 4-5 but I didn't and settled in like and idiot. We probably ran a 5:00 somewhere in the middle of the second two miles, so we were cruising ok enough. I ended up finishing just 3sec behind 5th, which was disappointing. Overall I felt strong but never had another gear to switch to over the last mile. That is something that needs serious work in the coming weeks.

We were able to piece together 5 guys to score but we didn't have our true top 5 out there. adidas/Movin Shoes didn't bring a full team so we were able to grab some decent team points, but with more guys coming on board we should really be a threat come mid-season.

Overall it was a good start to the series. It was my first 5k since the 2007 Carlsbad 5000 so the pace was brisk to say the least. Good rust buster and I think I should really round in to shape come the end of the season, as should "The Lost Boys" of San Diego (yes that is our team name!).

On a side note Dianna won the women's race which was a great first race for her! Things are looking up for us!