One last race before my 100-miler

Normally, I rarely post anything about running race distances shorter than 5o kilometers. I consider these shorter races fun diversions, instead of the taxing & insidious foes of both body and mind that "ultra" trail runs can be. I'll make an exception, in this case:
This past Saturday, I ran in the second 10K trail race of the 3-race XTerra trail race series. I did okay...I took first place in my age group for a 2nd straight time. Read more.

It's a pretty sad state of affairs for me to win, though!!! You see, I was running at only an 85% effort in both races, and I am not a "fast-twitch" speedy runner, by any means. My main reason for running at 85%, was to save myself for my upcoming ultra-distance trail races. The first of these short-distance series races was just prior to my 50-miler in Oregon, and this last race was 1-week out from my 100-miler. I ran at an okay pace, but a lack of very many folks in my age group significantly contributed to my having two gold medals in the series. (I'll keep the medals, though). :-)
The course was moderately technical, mainly because of the mud, and it was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning with my trailrunning friends.

On Sunday, seven of us ran on the very technical & rocky trails at Kill Creek Park. I ran for 1.5 hours. My son ran with us. At over 7 or 8 miles, it was the longest run that he's ever run in his life. In fact, he ran with us on hilly trails a total of 3 times, this past week. He's continuing to lose more weight and get into better shape. His goal is to speed-up somewhat, and not hold our pace up at all, within one month. He also wants to run at least the 10-mile distance in my club's February trail race. It's really nice to see him doing (even more) positive things in his life.