Notes
First time up at Rollinsville and even though the elevation is higher than Mags (8400 > 9200), the gradual uphill for 8 miles was much more barrable than the constant up and down. Ran with Noah, Will and Willie and we were off like a shot. That was the fastest opening mile I've run in literal years and I was immediately starting to challenge myself just to hang on. I didn't look at my watch, I was just sticking on the pack. Willie fell back a couple of miles in and Will and Noah were pressing so I hung onto them. Soon after 3 miles Will came detacheh, and not wanting to come off like a Leech I pulled up on Droddy's shoulder. It wasn't until mile four that I looked down and saw 5:57. Richey wanted this to be an easier long run but I was clearly running too fast. Will came back and as we passed Richey just before mile 6, he called both of us out and we immediately let Noah drift away from us as we calmed down to a 6:20-30s rhythm. He could tell the two of us were working to maintain the pace. The following two miles were a significant uphill stretch so backing off was gonna be the right call anyways, but I felt bad for letting it get out of hand early. Will and I made the turn before the tunnel and cruised back. The effort was not significant in the least but the run began to drag as I didn't have landmarks to judge how much we had left. We were able to talk while 6:20's and teens passed on the 8 mile downhill return trip. I hate positive splitting long runs but it was the right call coming off of the down week; certainly not a hill I was willing to die on. My hip was only fussy on the steeper downhill sections but for the most part feels better.