Tuesday: 10mi / 66min in Pisgah w/Griffin. Perfect weather again. Left shin still sore, iced it.
Wednesday: 9mi* / 60min - Workout 12x200m with 200rest w/Andy, Pipp, and George. (Jen, Tat, Boj, James, Brad, and Bryce there also)
We averaged 35 for the first 8 and then broke it down - 34, 33, 32, 31
Really easy workout. Trying to sharpen up for Alumni.
There was a flock of about 70 Common Nighthawks.
Thursday: 10mi / 72min in Pisgah w/Fyffe, Griffin and Bailey. Nice and easy. I got some inserts and new shoes. My shin is already feeling much better. Lifted weights.
Friday: 8mi / 53min in Pisgah w/ Griffin. Tomorrow is the alumni race.
Saturday: 11mi* / 69min - KSC Alumni XC Invite 5K - 16:06 (5:11) 7th place - 4th for alumni.
I'm really happy with this race. It was hot and humid out there. My goal was to go out conservatively and move through the field after the mile mark. I went a little earlier than planned and soon found myself running with Eric McKnight. We went back and forth many times during the race and really pushed each other. Some where right before the 2mile mark, we caught up to Tim Pipp. He latched onto us and at 2miles, Josh Ferenc and Pete Najem caught our group. We now had 5 alumni all together with a mile to go. The 3 leaders were maybe 10-15 seconds ahead and strung out with KSC'er, Kevin Hoyt, commanding a decent lead over the field. We hit the rail bed and Najem and Ferenc went by. Ferenc really was moving well and I tried to go with Najem. I couldn't keep up and fell back a little, then McKnight tried to surge, then Pipp, then me, it was exciting racing! With about 250 meters to go, I went by Pipp and tried to catch Eric, but he held me off and beat me to the finish. It really was one of the most fun races I've been a part of. It was fun that the top 5 alumni were all so close and really pushed each other. The alumni easily won the 11 team meet with 28 pts. It was cool having so many people out on the course cheering. (Jen, Glenn, Gina, Boj, Fyffe, Wilson, and Rachel) We did a nice cool down and then headed to Pete's house for some delicious grub.
Sunday: 22mi / 3hrs* - Wapack 18mi Trail Race - 2:53 - 8th place. This was a pretty miserable experience. I went into this just looking for a long run. My legs were pretty tired from the race yesterday. I couldn't believe how deep this race field was with Brian Rusieki, David Herr, Brandon Newbould, Jim Johnson, and Chris Hayhurst toeing the line. I had no delusions of dashing off and taking the victory. I came here for a nice long run in the mountains, what I got was a death slog in very high humidity, on greasy rocks, on really tired legs. I wore my road shoes for the extra cushioning because my legs were a bit sore, they really sucked and I nearly broke my neck countless times slipping all over the place. I really walked a ton on the way back and was not surprised to get passed by Keith Schmidt and another guy that were both running some of the big climbs late in the race. I was very happy to see the finish line where I ate some pizza, drank a coke, and talked with my trail running mates. Everyone looked wasted from the high humidity and tough course, everyone except Brian Rusieki who went out for another hour of running. Damn, he's gonna be tough in a few weeks at Pisgah, as are all the other guys who are planning to be there that kicked my butt today. Oh well. Back to higher mileage next week.
Total: 84miles -Great race on Saturday, tough long run/hike/death slog on Sunday. It will only make me stronger!
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