Last week I ran the XC race just for fun. It WAS fun.  I ran slow and took lots of pictures! Today I also ran for fun. Running your fastest is also fun!

I am not exactly tapered and “PR” ready, but I gave it my best tonight. I ran the 1 mile as my warm up and then got in line for the 5K. I didn’t push my way to the front of the crowd though, wish made the first part of the race difficult. It took at least a half mile of surging, backing off, moving up the sideline…. I even asked a group of high school boys to let me through…. they did! The first mile took 7:24, during the second mile I noticed one of the other 50 something guys not too far out ahead of me. Little by little I got closer and closer and passed him on my favorite part of the course – the back stretch along the freeway. The 2nd mile took 7:22.  The third mile takes you from the back loop through both parts of the park and back over the Rayburn hills. I would sneak a peak every now and then and I could see him but it seemed like my lead was safe. Mile 3 took 7:16.  The final .1 took 1:11.  I was feeling pretty dead as I was coming in to the finish. My rival finished about 10s behind me.

The total was 23:18.