It hasn't been the best week for running so far and with Heather's parents in town this weekend through Wednesday the remainder of the week probably won't be much better.

I had a final Monday evening so that was a DNR.

Tuesday I took a jog to Northwest avenue and Forbidden Drive to meet Lee. We ran a 6.5 mile loop through the park. Total for the evening a little over 10 miles in 1:20.

Wednesday - DNR

Thursday was my second Wanderers trail race. Heather and I ran to the start with an easy 2 mile warmup. I saw some trail markings along our way that indicated Buck Hill, the biggest hill in the park, was on the route. This was going to be tougher than last week.

There was about 25 runners that headed off across the creek at the start, directly into a big hill where Matt and I pulled ahead. Matt and I ran neck and neck for a while, chatting between breaths, almost as if we were out for a run and not in a race. A few larger hills and then a long downhill back to Forbidden Drive. I was feeling good and decided to press the pace along this stretch. I knew I had about 1.5 miles until the turn up Buck Hill so I wanted to run hard but save some for the hill. I pulled ahead and was really cruising. I split a 1/2 mile at 5:30 pace. I know this split is short but it still indicated around 5:45 and I felt totally in control.

Turned up the hill and slowed things way down. This hill gets longer with every turn. I was really crawling by the top and glanced back to see Matt about 20 seconds behind. After the hill it took a while to get back up to speed. I focused on staying relaxed and staying out of reach. Twists and turns through this area but not many hills. Then, a street crossing, a hill, a creek crossing and then back on the street for another hill. I crested the hill and Matt was at bottom. I knew the remainder of the course was a very long steady downhill and then 3/4 mile on Forbidden Drive. I was worried the entire way about being caught but now I could relax slightly and just push to the finish. Around 5 miles in just under 36 minutes.

Whew. That one hurt. Heather came in surprisingly fast not long after me. We cooled down a bit and then a light run home. We were both content to walk up Rex Hill and back to our house.