Yesterday, I forgot about the group trail run at Bear Creek. I had to work in the evening, so I arrived there about 13 minutes late. I was hoping someone might hang around and wait to start. However, they were all gone when I arrived.
I usually don't run trails hard, but I decided to really push myself and see if I could catch anyone. The tough part is that it is mostly uphill to start. You basically climb to the top of a ski slope over 3 miles, before coming downhill on a faster and wider part.
The beginning is a little flat. I cruised through there. I was flying over the rocks. I pushed hard on the early climbs. The nice thing is that the climbs kind of go in segments. I made it through the first climb fairly well. The first mile was a 9:51. I was hoping it would be a little faster.
My breathing was laboring a bit and I was sweating a lot. I've struggled on these climbs so much in the past, but that wasn't the case today. I was working hard, but I was making it through.
I was surprised when I got to the steepest climb. I caught up to Jo and another women. I didn't think I would catch anyone in the climb, particularly this soon. Shortly after that, I saw a dog come down the trail. It turns out it was the other woman's dog.
This climb was a little tough, but I got up it better than I ever have. At the top, I passed two more people, as they rested at the top of the climb. Now, I had some fun switchbacks and downhill or flat. This section helped because I could see more people ahead of me.
I kept pushing and I got to the next three people. The last one was my friend Tim Nash. I passed him and the other two. I saw my other friend Tim Lambert up ahead. He stopped briefly and I flew past him too.
I was having fun pushing close to as hard as I could. It was great catching people too. I was sort of making it into a game. There are some more climbs right before getting to the top. These were very tough and I started to slip a bit. I couldn't have climbed much more without my legs falling off. Luckily, I made it to the top.
At the top, I saw the top four guys. They apparently were waiting there for awhile. I guess they didn't see me, as they took off. Now, I was happy to go downhill. I knew I could fly. My pace on the way up had been around 9:30.
I passed Wayne on the early downhill. I loved the long and flat switchbacks. I was gradually catching the third Tim. Eventually, he saw me coming and let me go by him.
It was such a blast to keep pushing downhill. I passed another guy, Pat. Aaron was leading the group and he stopped, but I kept going.
After the long singletracks, it was on to the fun rocky, narrow sections. I flew over the rocks. I was just hoping not to crash. I could hear someone coming from behind. Eventually, we started the last of the short climbs. I just let Aaron go past me.
It was good I let him go, because I would've got in a way. The short hills killed me. I nearly had to walk. I kept running though. It was my goal to keep running. I sometimes get lost in this section. I looked at my watch and was thrilled for it under 9 minute pace overall.
I made it to the end and was beat. I don't know if I've ever run under 50 minutes on this trail before. Today, I pushed and pushed and ran under 46 minutes. It was a speedy downhill 2 miles.
It was good to hang around for awhile afterward too. Everyone else drank beers. I just chatted with them.
Earlier in the day, I ran a recovery run after last night's 5k. I wanted an 5 easy miles in my neighborhoods. I didn't have a lot of time with work in the evening.
It was decent weather, but a little humid. I wore shorts and short sleeve shirt. I was sweating by the end.
I haven't been on roads in awhile. I was surprised at how awful my legs felt in the first mile. I guess it was due to the hard 5k the night before. Eventually, they came around. The first mile was an 8:02.
I slowly got faster and faster. I didn't feel great though. I sure didn't feel fast. I was going pretty easy.
The run was okay, but it wasn't too exciting. I was amazed at how easy all these hills are. I took the long loop. I even added the neighborhood with the big hill. Mile 2 was a 7:34 and Mile 3 was a 7:26.
I continued to cruise around easy. With the humidity, my breathing struggled a little. I was chewing gum though, so I wasn't working too hard. The 4th mile was a 7:17.
I finished up right before the end of the neighborhood. This final mile was a 7:14. I didn't plan it this way, but every mile got faster. The overall pace was slightly over 7:30.
It was a good pair of runs today. I recovered on one and pushed myself on the other. I had some fun with friends too. Tomorrow, I might run fast again. I'm not quite sure. I know I don't want to run too long.
Afternoon run 5 miles - 37:35 (7:31 pace)
Evening run 5.14 miles - 45:52 (8:56 pace)
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