The Saint--a little 'ol 30k in Austin...

This morning, I ran in a local 30k trail race called the Saint. The temperatures this morning at race time were 75 with 85 percent humidity. By the time I finished the race it was 84 with 74 percent humidity. That must explain why I was soaking wet when I finished the race. I offered to run with Marcia to keep her company during her run and because I didn't want to do anything stupid from the male perspective of racing while slightly injured. Is there such a thing as "slightly injured"? ;-)

I snapped a few pictures of some of my friends and acquaintances before the beginnng of the race. I, actually, had a lot of fun with it. It is great to see so many people that I only get to see every month, or so, sometimes longer. The trail community in Austin is awesome and I am very grateful for all the wonderful people I have met while getting to know the local trails. The race is the last in a trilogy of 30k races where the 1st and 2nd place runners going into today's race were separated by 42 seconds. Paul and Pete were going to be running against not only each other, but the clock to see who came out on top. Regardless of the outcome, they're both incredibly talented runners and athletes. I was eager to see what the result would be at the finish.

Noelle and Marcia chatting before the race.

"Dano" fresh back from his trip to Peru. Thankfully, the Peruvian jails were overcrowded and he made it out of the country unscathed after a two week Andes running adventure.

Dmitry wearing the honorary club jester hat. Yes, he ran in this for the entire race! This picture is a fluke, by the way. He should have been at Western States this weekend running his first race for the 2008 Slam. But, we all know about the unfortunate turn of events in the Sierras.

Dmitry(L) talking to Axel(R), who will be running Hardrock next month.

The India Coalition and Grand Canyon R2R2R's: Gaurav (L), Vinod (R)

After some quick reminders from Joe Prusaitis, RD, we were all off for our 18.6 mile journey. Marcia and I hung at almost the very back, which was perfectly fine with me. Today was about conversation with a friend and keeping myself out of trouble with my bum calf. Earlier in the week, when Marcia, Noelle, and I were running the course as a preview run, Marcia had mentioned she was bummed that one of her friends that is injured wasn't going to be able to run. That got the wheels turning in my head about offering to run with Marcia. Olga also had a hand in helping me with my final decision because she didn't want me to let my testosterone to dictate what I did today. She had actually suggested I find a cute girl to run with so I wouldn't be tempted to run ahead and get pulled into the race. So, asked Marcia at the end of the week if she was still looking for someone to run with and she say "yes". It was a done deal.

The time passed by quickly during the race, as well as, the miles. Marcia was on her second run for the weekend, having ran for 5 to 6 hours Friday night. She ran almost even splits and finished very strong. We talked almost nonstop about a bunch of different subjects and that made the time go by even quicker. I was also grateful that after I got warmed up, my calf hardly bothered me in the least. However, that's just when I needed to remind myself that I'm not 100 percent and need to continue being conservative with my recovery in preparations for the races coming up this Summer.

Henry helping Marcia at the Start/Finish before another loop.

Jana enjoying a nice warm trail running day in Texas!

Chris and Donna volunteering during the race. Volunteers are the lifeblood of trail running!!!

Overall, it was a great day and we finished in 3:46. Marcia commented it was her best run, training wise, since the beginning of May. I was happy for her. Afterwards, I hung out at the finish line talking to a few friends before making my way home via a short seven minute drive. Although, I could have ran my own race today and posted a different finishing time, I thought it was more important to put those needs aside, not only for myself ("slightly injured") but, also, for a friend who needed some support while they were out on the trail today. All in all, it was a great day!