Circling the Calendar: Spring 2014

The Field of last year's Bay to Breakers heading for the ocean.
(Photo taken by Rocky Arroyo, from Bay to Breakers Facebook Page)

It's that time of year to decide the races I'm going to do, and start training for them all.  It's
going to be an interesting spring racing season, that's for sure.

First up is the Double Road Race San Jose on February 22nd.  The Double Road Race Series puts a twist on the usual road race by creating a half-time of sorts in 15 kilometers of total running.   It starts with a 10 kilometer race, and then one hour and forty-five minutes after the start of the 10 k, everybody starts another five kilometer race.  The hour and forty-five minutes gives everyone about an hour of recovery from the 10 k before the 5 k starts.    The times of the 10 and 5 k are added up and the person with the lower overall time wins.  They promise this "Recovery Zone" of massage and other recovery aids during the break, which sounds like a great place for plenty of sponsorship opportunities.  Reminds of the track meets I did in high school where I had to recover from the 2 mile run at the beginning of the meet to run the mile near the meet's conclusion.  My trick back in the day:  Rubbing cold water over my legs.  So I'm looking forward to using the old cold water trick and to run down a few unsuspecting folks in the 5 k leg.

Next up, the Marin County Half-Marathon April 19th.  The course basically run in and around China Camp State Park in San Rafael along San Pablo Bay.  Plenty of great scenery, the Marin County equivalent to the Santa Cruz Half-Marathon I ran last year.

Finally, if you can't beat 'em you might as well join 'em, I am indeed running Bay to Breakers on May 18th.  In the past, I have written things less than totally complimentary about this race.  However, a bunch of friends have signed up for it, so I added my name to the list and get to run this historic race for myself.  Rumor has our group will have a dress up theme of Alice and Wonderland so maybe I'll be traipsing around looking like the Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, or even Alice herself.  But I wouldn't bet too heavily on it.  I just don't want to lose to that guy in that damn pick gorilla suit!

Whatever happens, it should be a fun and challenging spring of racing, and I'm looking forward to it.  Best of luck to all for the spring racing season.