It was dusk
on the track at Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton. Wayzata XC Club coach Jon Lambert chased
everyone from the site, including the press.
They wanted some privacy for their setup workout before NXN.
“Get lost!”
he barked. “If this works, other teams
are going to try it.”
From a
distance, it looks like they did a set of 300s at race pace, followed by a few
faster reps.
The course
run-through the next day was uneventful.
Unlike other years there was little mud and no standing water. The athletes were kept off the actual
competition course, and only allowed on the cart path until race time. But rain is forecast from nightfall on Friday
through Saturday afternoon, and spikes up to 1” will be common during the race.
The elite
athlete panel on Friday featured Jager, Quigley, Rupp, Hassay, and Mead. The questions and answers ranged from the
ridiculous to the sublime. The message
from most included consistency of training over time, avoidance of injury, and
cross training only when necessary.
