Run over the hills.

It took me three days to recover from the race last weekend
and I went to the hills with the gang today. K ran the SFM
last week, too. He was in wave 3 and way ahead of me. It was
good to see Ellen and Ed. W, M and A did not come.

We decided to run the ridge trails, from the north end all
the way to the top of the Nike hill. The slopes were
surprisingly steep. They were shorter but much harder than
Mission Peak. Most downhills were not runnable. I was
drenched after the second hill. The sharp gravels were a
test for my Xeros. They were hurting but it was not very
bad. Before hitting the flat road, there was a long stretch,
over 300 yards I'd say, down the Nike hill. The slope
required a lot of quads. K was the leader but I caught up
with him.

I shared with K my frustration over the past few months.
First, at the rate I was improving, I thought I could try to
qualify for Boston. It was disheartening in the recent weeks
my pace dropped to slower than 8:30. And in the end, I could
only hope to be able to finish the race! He told me he heard
similiar things from other people. What a relief!

I told the guys about my new job and big plan to commute by
running. We had a lot of fun. K was duely impressed with my
BFT style and asked if I had grown more callus. He told me
that W got himself a pair of over-cushioned shoes and was
having a great time. I'd love to see that;-) We hastily said
goodbye at the parking lot as this place seemed to have
become more popular and people were waiting for a spot at
the staging area.

My right leg has recovered better than the left. It was
painful behind the knee when I raised the left leg. 6.86
miles@9:27/mile.