USA Cross Country Championships

Time: 80:00
Distance: 13 mi.



Well, given that I really didn't know what to expect, I am happy enough. The race itself was a good experience-the loops were definitely more fun than tedious. I wasn't as aggressive as I would've liked in the last 2 laps, but I was fighting off a side stich most of the race (I definitely wasn't hydrated enough). I don't know many of the splits, but I think we were through the first 2k under 6:10, which was about the pace that I thought I might be able to run... that was definitely aggressive, even though we were out the back. I tried to hang with Joe after that but had a hard time. I lost to a guy with grey hair in a Columbia jersey. My total time for 12k was 38:29, which breaks down to 3:12.5/k and 5:08/mi. For more, see full results at USATF.org.

I doubt Tarpy or Gaudette were particularly happy with their races. The Brown guys were up at Dartmouth. And the Texas guys have had a great weekend at the Tyson Invitational, with Jake and Kyle running 4:00, Jacob running 1:47 and the DMR breaking the NCAA (and world) record, running 9:25.

We got in an early shakeout in the morning, as well, down to the water in La Jolla where we got a peak at the seals.


The La Jolla seals

I'm taking a late flight through Las Vegas back to Austin to see Neely and Brian's friend John Welsh (and maybe Brian?) run the Austin Marathon.

Photo courtesy of Madeline

Mission Bay Park

Time: 40:00
Distance: 5.5 mi.

Easy run on the course at Mission Bay Park with Joe, Tarpy and Nick Weidman. The first kilometer of the loop is totally flat, but a little wind-ey and narrow. The second kilometer has five "hills" which are more like bumps.

Body is a little stiff, but the flight wasn't too bad and I was able to get a ride to the hotel with Joe's parents, which was really nice.

Torrey Pines, UCSD

Time: 86:00
Distance: 13 mi.


The beach where the run started at Torrey Pines State Reserve

Jilane and I drove from Brea to Palm Springs to pick up Jordan and then down to San Diego. Graddy took us to the Torrey Pines State Reserve, which is only a few miles from his house for a run. We started down by the beach and then ran south through the park and then into the UCSD campus. We ran "to the balls" and back, passing the school's "floating" library (which was designed by Dr. Seuss):


The Geisel Library at UCSD

The run started with a very solid uphill section, which we ran fairly slowly, but then flattened out. We got back to the starting point at close to 70 minutes and Jordan and I ran a little ways along the beach to the north.