Notes
Working earlier than usual this morning at the store so I was up by 5 and running at 6. I knew it might take a while to work through the soreness in my quads, hips, etc. but I wasn't going to rush it. I went down Melrose to City Park and then ran the Oakdale loop backward. I found a decent pace/rhythm by mile 5-6 but, man, those hills going west on Oakdale are a lot longer. I was in a mildly uncomfortable state but it was maintainable to be sure. My groin and quads were a consistent level of sore but it didn't feel inhibited in the middle to late stages. I was rolling well after a rather long climb on Oakdale once I got on the Clear Creek. The familiarity of the route from there helped ease my mind and I was able to lock in at a faster pace and hold it very evenly until the XC course. I felt like I could drop another few seconds the final couple miles so I did just that; finishing with a pair of 5:49's. Next week is the first week of the Olympic Trial build-up and Johnny has a 20 miler on tap so I wanted to bridge the gap from last week's 16 to next week's 20; 18 just made sense.