Running Log: Saturday, February 13 2010

Garscube XC Champs (Mugdock Country Park)

6 miles in 35:20, average pace 5:53/mile
1.5 warm-up and cool-down

Notes: cooler morning than I anticipated, yet a sunny, pleasant 3 degrees (37 F); the course was probably as firm as it could be given the partially frozen turf and low precipitation of late; that said, we were still hopping mud holes, and I even took a hard fall (first ever in a race!) on a short, side-angling downhill bit; this was on the first of three laps (each lap being aprox. two miles), and although I got up quickly, it broke my rhythm and left me feeling a bit stiff for the next 1/2 mile; since I jumped way out front right away, the race became a solo effort, and I tried to push myself a bit harder than I would on a regular tempo run; the few moderately boggy climbs, combined with the mixed uneven terrain provided a nice test in preparation for next week's National XC Champs in Falkirk (12km) - I will certainly need to dig deeper next week if I am to have a decent showing; in the end, I took first place overall in a field of about 40 athletes, mostly from Garscube, but with a few others from Victoria Park, Maryhill, and Springburn.