The Circle + Steve + Haydo for a bit met at my house and then we drove 26.2 miles up towards Central. We ended up just above Brookside and started there. Lots of adult conversation and weird jokes for the first little bit. I felt pretty tired at the start but just told myself to continue working into it. Stopped at mile 8 for water/Heed w/a GU and then again at 16 for the same thing. The temps started to pick up quite a bit but I was glad I brought my sunglasses. They saved me today.
The guys picked it up around mile 19 and I just kind of hung back. I knew we had some good hills coming back into Ivins. I feel fairly confident and strong on the hills. We had three decent hills to climb up and so I decide to take one last GU at mile 22. It was a great shock to the system and I decided to really push the last little bit back to my house. I didn't really look at my watch but I knew I was progressively getting stronger. I finished that last 5k with all the miles under 5:30 and the last one at 5:24. I was happy with this type of a finish.
We did stop at mile 25 to hit the splash pad real quick so the last mile could be enjoyable. It was! 6:25/mile and hit just over 2:46 for the full marathon distance. Legs are a little sore but it didn't help that the XC team washed cars for a few hours as a fundraiser. I need a nap.
Happy with the way the week ended. School officially starts and XC is in full go mode. It should be exciting. Dave and I talked a little about the upcoming season. Apparently I am a little orny this time of year according to Tier 1. Good times. Happy to run with such a great group of men.
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