Having a long day on Day 1 of Western States and not getting home until 7:30 after hanging out with Rena, Mark Murray, Jen Pheifer and others at the school. I took it easy Sunday morning and focused on returning to day 3 Greengate to Placer High School.
Monday had less crowds with only about 160 folks running this stretch..This stretch total mileage from the bus drop off and run to GG was about 22 miles. Everyone took it easy on this stretch in the early on and I did the same. The legs where warming up after about 4 miles and then some of the best cruising on the WS trail takes place as you enter Auburn Lake Trails and continue on to Browns Bar. Here I got to see a lot of different types of runners. For some it was their first day and others it was their 3rd and last day to run. You could tell who was there all three days by their running style. It seemed a bit more focused on steady movement. I was taking some mental notes of this form. I was starting to feel like I was now part of the Western States Running Family...I was staying within and not wasting effort on running too hard, fueling at the right times. It felt nice..
After slowly climing up quarry trail to hwy 49 and began the downhill to NoHands Bridge I was running with three others in front. The 3miles are gentle and runnable..I decided to test the legs here and open it up..I flew down for a mile and felt great! This told me alot about my condition. I was happy with that test and took it easy to Nohands and then up robie to the finish. It was by no means fast but that was not the point. The legs and mind where fine. It gave me a bit of hope leading up to my pacing duties from Foresthill this year and as I hit the full on training cycle to Western States 2010.
Tony
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