They obliged

Thursday, 12/16/10
It was 20 degrees!
Arrived at the country club late. Once I got to the top of the slight inclinde over the first .1 mi I saw the crew...well ahead of me. I knew it would take some effort to catch up. As the first few miles unfolded, I could feel that I was inching closer to the pack, which by mile 3 looked to be separating a bit. At mile 4, I looked down and saw that I was at 27:10. Unfortunately for me, I looked down at the wrong time (as I was marking a sharp turn) and wiped out, having hit a patch of ice. I gathered myself and tried to establish my sub-7:00 pace again. I passed a few people at the 5-mile mark and then a couple more at the 6-mile mark. I caught up to the folks at the front during the 7th mile. I was tiring a bit and my hands were freezing, but the artificial warmers helped a lot. I dragged myself up the Barkley Friends hill and saw 50:45 before making the turn onto Ashbridge. I noted that this was my pr on this course by happenstance. With less than .25 to go, John suggested that he and Jen push me to a pr. They obliged. 7.9 in 54:05 (I deducted 10 seconds for the fall.) About 6:50/mile.

Wednesday, 12/15/10--3.25 miles/XC course+. Easy.