1/29/08
5 miles/1,740 vertical
Started off up the S. Ridge at a moderate pace, focusing on short steps and no long extensions. About 1/3 of the way up I spot a runner. He looks to be going pretty quick, but I'm not going to duke it out, so I maintain a steady pace. I slowly creep up on him without really trying, could it be Paul again? Nope, it is somebody I don't recognize. I pass on a flat section and keep the turnover high. Only about 3 minutes of running to the summit and I catch myself gunning it a bit. I steal a quick glance (eyes only) on one of the turns and he is nowhere to be seen. As it turns out, I had an OK time of 18:43 and felt great doing it, only really digging a bit for the final few minutes. I went down at a casual 15 minute pace and decided to get in a little extra run up the valley. I still felt pretty fresh and pulled off an uphill mile in 9 minutes. I focused on form and counting my cadence. I came up with mids 80's on the up, and high 80's on the down. Not sure where I should be, but it seemed to be better turnover than I have done in the past. I am sure there is room for improvement though. Maybe I will start training soon, I have lots of pent up energy to expend.
