Leona Valley Trail Races 5k & 10k

I set out this morning with plans on running the 30k course for Leona Divide in April. I even drove an extra 3 miles to drop off a jug of water at the PCT turnaround before driving back to the start at the Lake Hughes Community Center. I Started running at about 7:00am up 7N05 and right away just wasn't feeling it. After about a mile I decided I would run the 5k and 10k routes for Leona Valley Trail Races next October instead, so at 1.55 miles I turned around. I used the 5k as a warm up and finished in 27:15. There is a total of 673ft of elevation gain most in the first half mile. Here is the map and elevation profile.

I then took a quick break and headed out on the same route again but continued all the way to Aid Station #1, which is at 6N04, and is the turnaround point for the 10k. It is actually 3.4 miles to the turn around so the 10k is 6.8 miles! It is the only way to keep the same aid stations for the 10k, half marathon, and marathon courses. I decided I would push the 10k a little and finished the 6.8 miles in 52:13. There is a total of 1231ft of elevation gain on the 10k again mostly in the first 3.4 miles, but if you look at the elevation profile below it is sort of an "M" shape. The first mile is the steepest with 418ft of ascent and I ran it in 9:04. I looked back and when I ran LD50 last April I ran the same first mile in 9:21!I ran another mile along Lake Hughes Rd for a cool down and then packed it in. I have a cold that progressively worsened throughout the day. Total mileage for the day...11 miles.