Sean's Running Blog

Ran in the USATF NW Regional Cross Country Championships this morning in Seattle. Same exact weather as for the Trials minus the wind. Overcast and low 40s. It was my first cross country race since the Kinney Western Regional Cross Country Cahmpionships in December 1990...my senior year in high school.

I finished 5th. If I had used spikes, I would have probably gotten fourth. It was four laps around a 2k course which was rain-soaked and very muddy. I had major traction issues around the corners which really hampered my efforts to jump into fourth place. Guess I better get some spikes for Nationals next month.

It was great to be running off road again.

Tried running in the AM but my hamstring disagreed. First time a hammy has held me up although I did feel it a bit toward the end of the Trials and at the end of my XC meet on Sunday.

It was still tight in the evening but I was able to trudge through the 36-degree rain.

So one of the "fun" things about running in Seattle in the winter is that our latitude is such that our daylight ours are not many. Sunrise this morning was 7:22am and sunset was 4:27. On a cloudy evening, which is the norm, things get dark really quickly. Anyway, I somehow forgot this simple fact this evening. I had in my brain that dark meant late and was quickly reminded by the rush of traffic that it was anything but late. I almost always run in the morning except this week has been weird schedule wise. I survived but I need to find a different running route for the times when I run in the evening or I will be road kill.

Easy 10 miles in cold weather. 29 degrees. I know that's mild in Utah but it's a cold morning in Washington. At least I got to wait until daylight to run.

Woke up this morning in Silverton, Idaho which is about 13 miles west of the Montana border. It was 14 degrees outside. So I waited until 11am to do my workout and it was a balmy 25 degrees.

3M warmup

5x1200m

3:42

3:47

3:47

3:50

3:50

I was supposed to do them in 3:45s. Didn't happen. It took everything I had to get the times I did and it should have been much easier than that. I don't know how much can be attributed to the cold weather. My left hamstring is causing me enough problems that I can't get a full stride from that leg.

I'm starting to wonder if my body is asking for a break. I've been running for 32 months and the longest break I've taken has been three days...the three days after the St. George Marathon. Other than that, it's been a day off every three or four weeks.

Took yesterday off which felt good although I wanted to run off some of those extra Thanksgiving calories.

Woke up this morning itching to run. Ran 10 miles (6:30/pace) up to Kellogg, Idaho where I met the family for breakfast. Ran along a very quiet and beautiful bike path that goes from Idaho all the way to within three miles of my house in Western Washington.

Temperature was a balmy 22 degrees but it didn't get to me this morning. Left hammy is still a bit tight but seemed to loosen up a bit mid way through.