Within 1/4 mile, HR was up to LTHR and pretty much stayed there for 2 miles. I was feeling the lactate and tried to breathe it down & out. The big hill, about 70' in elevation gain over 1/8 mile, came right at mile 2. I ran (crab-wise) up about 2/3 of it, but HR was climbing so I walked the rest & it came back down. After the top of the hill I was able to push harder into zone 5a & then 5b at the end.
In that last mile, there was one runner just a bit ahead of me who I was trying to catch. I was imagining myself at the (USAT) Nationals with just that runner between me and 1st place. I did gain a bit, then she took it back on the upslope before the finishing stretch. She beat me by 5 seconds.

Was I really at my limit? Or was I afraid that if just really busted it I wouldn't have any left for the finish? If it really were Nationals, could I/would I have just dug down and damn the finish? Would there be more left that I still don't know is there? Yet? Will I know before the end of this X_C season?

Walked quite a bit. Drank Recoverite. After awhile, jogged 15 minutes or so and walked some more. Rolled & stretched thoroughly. Had an apple & a muffin & 1/2 Recovery bar, plus plenty of water.


I can run briefly at a pretty fast pace, but just not for very long. I guess that's called endurance? Muscular or cardiovascular? By what training is that increased? My LTHR is apparently about 4 bpm higher than a year ago, although that could be just a difference in assessment or even an "adrenalin effect." Or I could believe that my capacity has increased just a bit.


It was another amazingly gorgeous upstate NY fall day, blue sky, perfect temperature. It was sad that so many of our club women are either injured or doing other things, but I was really happy that the 3 of us were able to make a Master's team, and that I was able to get to become friends with them. That's another part of why I love cross-country.