The Battle

In my recent post I talked about racing to enjoy the battle versus racing with anxiety. I finally felt like I engaged in the battle last Saturday in the 4 mile Golden Gate Park XC Open. My overall place wasn't spectacular - 22nd in a very competitive field - but I beat some guys I've never beaten before, came very close to others, and put a few of the guys who I was neck and neck throughout the Spring road races 45-90 seconds in my rearview mirror. I also beat one of last year's top Dipsea finishers by over a minute, and was only 20 seconds behind the guy who won the fastest time trophy. Should I be shooting for a single digit black t-shirt in June? Well, don't want to get too far ahead of myself!

What else felt good was in the last mile as we headed up and over the last hill, I passed a group of 4 runners in front of me, holding the final guy off in an all out kick. It was great to win my part of the battle. Here was a pic taken just before the finish (I'm a little off balance thanks to a downhill turn on the finishing stretch).




The third guy in the photo tried to yell "on your left" to me on a single track section in the last mile... Hope he learned his lesson there.

Next up is the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge tomorrow night. It's a flat, but usually windy 3.5 miler. It's a fun race, but competitive. I'll just try to enjoy it, while hopefully running a fast time.

Also, mammoth was amazing two weekends ago. I have some great pics, that I'll hopefully post soon.