20k through the woods

On saturday morning I ran a 20k trail race at Mendon Ponds Park. I completed the two laps in 2:22:35 which was a decent pace for a hilly course.

It was a cool morning and most of the race took place on the east side of the park which has lots of hills but very little mud. I was feeling strong from the start, but knowing that I needed to pace myself I was willing to walk the larger steeper hills from early on in the race. I finished the first lap in just under 68 minutes.

With the runners spread out and the 10k racers not doing the second lap, the start of lap two felt a little lonely. In many ways it was the same course that I had just seen, but slightly slower. I eventually found a runner to keep pace with for a mile or two, and then towards the end of the lap I pushed myself a little bit extra knowing that the finish line was near, finishing the second lap in just under 75 minutes.

My next race will be the Grocery Run 10k at the start of november.