Today’s race was the 12th Annual 10k on the Bay.  Perhaps surprisingly, you can choose between a 5k or a 10k, and both meander through the foreshore of the San Francisco bay next to the San Mateo bridge in Hayward.

It doesn’t matter where you live, you know your main topic of weekend conversation is the weather. We spent most of the past two weeks complaining about heat and humidity. Especially the humidity, which we never get. Oh, and especially the heat because it was, well, hot. Today, we complained it was cold and breezy. It really wasn’t. But it smelt seaweedy.

We ran the 5k. We thought about the 10k, and thought again, and decided the plan right now should be to run lots of races (and get us closer to 52 races this year). I’m sure there’s a few 10ks and maybe a half-marathon in our future this year.

We took it a little easy for the first mile, and then got somehow caught up in the racing. The end result was Selina was the 2nd female (about 30 seconds behind an 11-year-old speedster), and I was about the 10th guy. We were both the first in the 40-49 age groups, so that made us feel good.

Onward and upward… we’re hoping to run two races next weekend too!

I’d been lurking for while on Troy’s website, checking out his race calendar. Today we dived in and tried his Annual Almaden Hills Run, and put Race #27 for the year in the history books. And what a great experience it was!

If you love well-organized races, trail running, hills, small crowds, and a friendly vibe, this race checks all five.  It starts and finishes just inside the beautiful Almaden Quicksilver park, and climbs the peaks to offer amazing views of the Silicon Valley. You’ve got the choice of the vaguely sensible (5k, 10k, 8 mile) or the slightly crazy (half marathon) or the completely bonkers (21 miles, 50k). Even the 5k offers 600ft of elevation gain in the first mile.

Troy told us at the start that the cutoff time for completing the race was eight hours, but he’d hang around for nine hours just in case. I’m not sure that I’d want to be out in the late August summer heat (it was mid-80s Fahrenheit today) for eight or nine hours and running 50k. But, hey, you’ve got to admire those who can do that.

Anyway, getting back to reality, we wanted to run today and tomorrow, and I’m even contemplating a mid-week race in San Francisco to get this 52 race challenge back on track. So, 5k it was today for us. And that was plenty to be honest.

I came third overall, and was the first man. I am not entirely sure there was a second man in the 5k race. Talk about girl power! Selina came fourth overall. We didn’t entirely cruise the race, but we certainly held something back given we want to race again tomorrow. I got a nice certificate, and headed on my way.

Love Troy’s races after a sample of one. We’ll be back for more. See you for tomorrow’s report!

My fastest 5k time in living memory was a 20:50 at the 2012 Emerge 5k at Lake Almaden. That day hurt a lot — I raced after a couple of speedsters for 2/3rds of the race, and then couldn’t keep up the pace I’d set — that last third is still etched in my memory as a painful experience. For a while there I was on pace to break 20 minutes, but I was still happy going under 21.

Fast forward three years, and the 2015 Emerge 5k was yesterday’s Race number 25 of my journey to 52 races in 2015 to raise awareness for the GBS/CIDP Foundation.

One of the great things about running 52 races for charity is that we get the chance to see others raising money too. The Emerge 5k is a fundraiser that tugs at the heart strings. Six years ago, Jessica was driving her car, was hit by a speeding car, and suffered a traumatic brain injury. This race is a fundraiser for not only her, but also for others who’ve suffered serious brain injury. Her parents are amazing folks — they’ve cared for Jessica at home since her injury, and done so without a ton of help from government funding.

Back to the race. Selina and I promised each other “we’d just cruise” and a good measure of that is whether or not we can chat while we’re running. I’d say we chatted 2/3rds of the way, and didn’t chat so much for the last 1/3rd — there’s something in us that just makes us go faster when folks around us are racing. Anyway, while it was mostly a cruise, Selina (yet again) placed as the 2nd woman overall, and I came 10th (and 7th in the 40 to 99 age group!).

Lake Almaden is a nice place to run. The trails are mostly flat and shaded, and there’s plenty going on with bikers, walkers, runners, and dogs. It’s got a nice community feel, while not being too busy to race. If you live in the South Bay, it’s worth a visit.

In reality, it was a pretty cruisy race relative to 2012 and a few other races we’ve run this year. I’ve decided that it’s more important to get on track to run 52 races than it is to run fast in every race. So, while I’d love to get close to my 21:06 for February, I’ll settle for a 24 minute cruise and the near-certainty of being able to run next week!

Have a great week.