Early morning long run on the Island with the O-town group. Started up the White Rock Trail with Cory, Matt, Shane, Chad, Molly and a couple of others. Ski legs felt a bit slow and heavy at first but came around after a mile or so. Big group runs can be tough as not everyone is on the same page all the time. My goal going in was to get 25 miles or so at a 50 mile race pace. Put it in cruise control, turned on some music and settled into a steady rhythm and just ran how I needed to run without worrying about were the others were at. Ran in my own world for miles. Out Elephant Head trail, back and around the 50k loop. Miles clicked by quickly and the pace felt moderate and unlabored most of the time, which is what I wanted. Steady effort. I noticed Shane closing in from a ways back. No surprise. Shane ran with me the last mile or so back to the White Rock trail head. We cruised along chatting away, feeling pretty good at a 7:15-7:20 pace and 19 miles in to the run. I had noticed someone a bit behind Shane and closing in on us. It turned out to be Pablo, a kid I have run into on the trails this winter. He's a strong runner, and is racing the 50k this year. His second race ever. I think he'll do really well. We froze in a stiff breeze waiting outside the locked cars for the rest of the group. Shane smartly hid out in the bathroom while I paced around the car for a good 30 minutes. Reasoning that chattering teeth is preferable to outhouse stench. Cory and the gang arrived eager to keep moving and head out around the 6 mile loop on the north end of the island. Shane and I suggested a long out and back to Crown Burger in a warm car. Group wasn't having it, 25 miles it was. Took about two miles to get the blood flowing again. Everything felt locked up. Seemed everyone pushed the pace the last 4 miles or so. Luckily I was in the lead for the last 2 of those single track miles, keeping the dogs at bay until we hit the last mile or so on the dirt road. Matt, Shane and Pablo took off at a sub 7 pace, I hung on about 50 yards back. Last mile was not a steady effort. Miles: 25.6, 8:39 pace, 2740 vert.
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