Senior co-captain of the San Diego State cross country team Anne Vieira knows how important rest is for a runner.

It can heal tired legs, cure weary minds and most importantly, give a sprinter time to relax.

So when SDSU had its bye week last week, Vieira and her team took full advantage of the time off.

“It’s been a good week,” Vieira said. “We got a lot of rest and a lot of people kind of enjoyed not having to compete. But after a while you get that feeling and want to get back out there and compete.”

The Aztecs will return to action at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the Triton Classic.

SDSU will be competing in the UCSD-hosted tourney and is looking to redeem itself from a dismal 22nd place finish at the Stanford Invitational two weeks ago.

“We never got going at Stanford,” Vieira said, “We struggled to get out ahead and struggled with working together to make our way through the crowd and that’s why our finish wasn’t what it should have been.”

The Stanford Invitational was the first 6K the Aztecs have competed in and they didn’t come out with the finish that they wanted. The Triton Classic is another 6K but SDSU believes it can come out with a totally different finish and show what it’s really made of.

“In Palo Alto we didn’t show what we can really do,” Vieira said. “We didn’t run like we can. But the Stanford race was a good learning experience for us and a lot of the girls have a better idea of what is expected of them in a long 6K.”

The course is long and hilly, but not as repetitive as Stanford. For this reason, Vieira believes a continuous and more appealing course will help the Aztecs’ mind-set.

“The Triton course is fairly tough but it’s nice,” Vieira said. “It’s also a lot more exciting to run a course where you’re not seeing the same tree or rock over and over. It gets boring. With a course that has a lot of different aspects and doesn’t repeat it’s more exciting and easier to run on.”

With well-rested runners and a focused group, SDSU is looking to take advantage of the race and boost its standing as it gets closer to conference.

“We’re such a strong team and we’ve worked a lot on our grouping to make sure we can work together and show what we can do,” Vieira said. “Having the weekend has done a lot for us and we’ll be coming out hot on Saturday.”

At A Glance:
When: 9:30 a.m., Saturday
Where: UCSD
Why to watch: The Aztecs will try their luck again in another long 6K course.