Summer Cross Country Series

Late entry:

I did run an easy 4 miles Wednesday morning. It was a recovery run from those hills on Tuesday and it was SLOW.



Today I went out to the first of the summer cross country races on Thursday nights. There is a 1 mile race that many people use as a warm up, and then the 3 mile race all at Pelona Vista Park. It is a very hilly course on dirt trails. I ran the mile as my warm up in 6:45 then got ready for the 3 mile. I knew my fitness was not near where it was last year so my goal was to go out conservative, RUN UP the KILLER HILL, and finish strong. I think I went through the mile at around 6:20 to 6:30 and felt like I was on the edge of going too fast. I saved enough energy to push the hill hard and was spent at the top. Zac and I kept passing each other every 3-4 minutes but he finished about 10 seconds ahead of me. I was able to finish strong, not fast, in 20:25ish, good enough for 16th place and first in my age group (I think). My PR on that course is about 30 seconds faster in 19:57. My left achilles is a little sore again tonight (remember the VA trip). I'll have to take it easy the next week to be ready for the Newhall July 4th 5k!



Clay took some pictures. I stole this one from his blog. Thanks Clay!





Finally, Sergio Reyes competed in the 10k final at the USATF Championships in Iowa this evening. I missed watching the race since I went to the cross country run. Sergio was seeded 11th in the group based on his qualifying time. Based on the results it looks like it was a 5 mile warm up followed by a low 4 min mile for the winner Galen Rupp. The times were so slow they must have been jogging for the first 4-5 miles. Sergio finished 12th with a time of 29:50. Looks like he finished ahead of a pack of 4 other runners right behind him. Way to finish strong. Congratulations Sergio! I guess it was really hot out there!