USA XC Championships Eve

Favorites of the USA XC Championships, how to pick a good running buddy, Rupp running an upcoming indoor 5K, last week in the world of running, and the upcoming London Marathon field which is being considered the strongest marathon field of all time.

Wednesday, January 30th - 8 miles (2 up, 4 x 1 mile, 2 down).  Got to Forest Park on a pretty windy and cold evening.  Since my mile repeats workout on Tuesday fell through because of the rain, rescheduled with Gabe, Craig, and Harry.  Got up to FP early, so did a quick mile jog to try to warm up since it was pretty chilly.  Met up with everyone at the Visitors Center before running over to Gabe's 1 mile loop which was basically a big circular loop that circled around the Muny.  Gabe also wisely parked his truck as a reference point (right by our start/end point, and was awesome since we could see the proverbial "finish line" about 300 meters out).  Warmed up to get a lay of the land, then stretched a bit before the workout.  Wind was really starting to pick up, and a little bit of snow so was having to deal with these gusts.  Anyways, goal pace was 6:15/mile with 3 minutes rest in between splits.  Motored through the splits while taking turns leading.  Legs felt pretty good, but the last quarter (uphill and into the wind) was pretty tough on all reps.  Regardless, pretty happy with the workout, given the conditions.  2 mile cooldown afterwards.  Splits were: 6:12, 6:07, 6:14, 6:09.

Thursday, January 31st - 8 miles.  The awful weather continued on, as temps dropped to sub 20 with wind gusts of 25 mph.  Temps felt like 2 degrees out there according to weather.com, but probably was colder.  Recruited Mike to run with me but he ultimately backed out like the baby he is, so had to do solo.  Did my 270 loop, ran back then looped around the neighborhood around Village Circle, then looped around some more to hit the mileage.  It was miserably cold, miserably windy, and I was very miserable every step of the way.  Despite uber laying for this run, I was still miserable.  Almost quit 15-20 times during the run, but soldiered through and got in the mileage.  Shivered for a good hour or so after the run.  Really reminded me of last year's XC Championship conditions (ironically this weekend), and glad to have this over with.  No time splits since it was too cold to have any part of my skin exposed to the elements.  163 miles in January.  Ok start to the year, but still in rebuilding mode.

Cold again today, and I need to get in some mileage later tonight.  Picked up my XC packet and shirt today over at the Crowne Plaza in Clayton.  Wanted to get an early jump on it and avoid the rush, but it was already getting congested.  Lots of college athletes around and about, and really excited to see them race tomorrow.  No time goals for tomorrow, but would be nice to run at tempo pace.  PR is definitely possible, as I didn't run very well last year so may give it a go if feeling well!