5+ miles @ ~13 min/mi

Caren Jew is at our carpool/meeting place early, stretching when I arrive; we're on a tight schedule and have to get some extra miles in before and after the official cross-country race. This Saturday afternoon is pleasantly cool, with a good breeze. We take a fast route to the Bachman family farm near Comus MD, sign in and take off running. Soon I start to sense water splashing on the back of my legs.

"Am I leaking?" I joke. Or is the grass here wet? Are my feet kicking up droplets? I stop to feel the ground and the soles of my shoes, but they're totally dry. What's happening? Mystery soon solved: a runner behind me points out that the top of my water bottle has cracked and its contents are dribbling down from my fanny pack. It's my semi-favorite "Army of One" flag/star bottle, only three years old. Bummer!

After we return from our 22 minute preview of a ~1.5 mile segment of the course we greet Cara Marie, Emaad, and Wayne, then line up for the start of the official MCRRC 5k XC race. CM and Caren and I trot along and finish near one another under 35 minutes. We have a nice chat on the way with Mical, who's several months pregnant and enjoying herself at a comfortable pace. Then my reward: free ice cream! (I refrain from indulging in the free beer.) With a chocolate-chip-cookie ice cream sandwich in one hand the 15 minute post-race run (another ~1+ mile) with Caren goes smoothly. Then it's time to blast home to our families.

(see Jog Log for auto-generated collection of the most recent running reports) - ^z - 2008-08-28

(correlates: 2008-08-02 - Catoctin 50k, 2008-10-12 - Ag Park XC, YouAreExtraordinary, ...)