Sean's Running Blog

 12 chilly miles along the Sammamish River Trail. The whol 4:15pm sunset thing really bites. In fact it was more like 3:45 when the sun went down over the Western hills. Brrr..

P90x -- It was Core Synergistics night. Had to do it alone as my wife had other things going on. This is a really good workout for runners. Works on flexibility and core strength. Looking forward to Plyometrics tomorrow.

 There are maybe two or three times a year when I run on a treadmill. Today was one of those dreadful days. I had no time during the day to get my run in and I knew it was going to be dark with temps in the teens by the time I did it in the evening. So I opted for the treadmill. Still not sure how I got through an hour of running on a moving rubber belt.

P90x -- Today was Plyometrics day. The "Lean" schedule I am on has today as the Cardio day but I have found that workout to be all but worthless so my wife and I have substituted the Plyos DVD and I'm glad we did. It is a fantastic workout both from a cardio perspective and and muscle building perspective. My legs were on fire. Loved it. The only bad part was at the end I realized I was one workout closer to Yoga. Ugh.  

Another really cold day today. By the time I got out it has "warmed" to 26 degrees. Can't remember a more beautiful December in Seattle, but it's come at a cold price, at least by our standards. Decided that if I am going to run the Kent Christmas 10k on Saturday I should probably do a little speed work. So I did a 5x1:00 hard with 2:00 rests in between. According to my watch I was anywhere between 4:55 and 5:25 pace. I felt really lethargic. Saturday should be really interesting.

P90x -- Arms and Shoulders + Ab Ripper -- Ummm..it kicked my butt tonight. Actually, my arms then my abs. I'm amazed at how thorough these workouts are. The Ab Ripper remains an absolute muscle crusher. It would be my dream to get through every rep of every exercise in that 15-minute routine without stopping.

We're in a full blown heat wave now. 36 degrees. Wow.

I learned something today: the importance of arms. Last night my P90x workout focused on arms and shoulders. It was pretty challenging and I was pretty agressive (for me) on the weights and reps compared to the week prior. I've been doing P90x for almost two weeks now and never once have I been sore the morning after a workout. HOWEVER, today my arms were worthless. They were not sore, but they had no power or energy in them. They were like my legs after a marathon: jello minus the soreness. About halfway through my run I just felt like I was missing a gear yet my legs were fine. Then it dawned on me that my arms were shot and it was having a very real impact on my overall energy level and my ability to use my arms to power through even an easy stride.

P90x -- Yoga Night -- Still hate it. 90 minutes of flexbility torture. But it's helping.

Loving the sunshine but not digging the frigid temps. Today is supposedly the last cold one for a while. Back to the mid 40s and rain on Sunday.

My arms are still tired but felt much better as did my run. There's actually now 10% of me that's looking forward to tomorrow's 10k race in Kent. That's 10% more than yesterday. Probably going to skip P90x tonight and double up tomorrow.

Wanted: One good left leg.

Then Kent Christmas Rush is one of my favorite races but I haven't been able to run it for three years because it always conflicts with Cross Country Nationals. But since I didn't run Nationals today I decided to give the Kent run a shot.

To be totally honest, I was really nervous I wasn't going to have the fitness to even hold 5:30 pace. As it turns out, my fitness is a bit better than I thought, but my luck is not.

Start of the race was frigid. 28 degrees. That temperature is cold enough with a heavy jacket and pants on. But it's a lot worse when you strip down to shorts and a long sleeve tech shirt.

My goal was sub 33:00 although I wasn't so sure that was possible. First mile was in 5:11. Everything felt great. Mile 2 was in 5:13. Still feeling great but looking forward to the turnaround. Mile 3 I crossed in 5:15 so I was well on pace to break 33:00 by the time I hit the turnaround. I was also a solid 250 meters ahead of the second place guy. THere was a pack of guys who stayed with me through one, but when we passed through in 5:11, I heard a collective sigh indicating they weren't wanting to go that fast.

Mile 4 felt good as I hit 5:14. Other than feeling a bit out of tip top shape, I was pleased with how things were going except for the fact that my fingers and other body parts were about ready to fall off. But fitness wise I felt fine and I knew I was on pace for a sub 32:30.

At Mile 5 things started to get a bit dicey. I was coming up on all the 5k runners and having to do a lot of darting and weaving. I hate that. And then shortly after the 5M mark, disaster struck. My left hammy totally seized up. I've never had a hammy go out on me ever. Not in training. Not in races. Never. Until today. As I winced in pain I could hear behind me the "Oh No's" from the 5kers I had just passed. I stopped for about 15-20 seconds trying to stretch it out and massage it. Started to jog and it still felt terrible. I couldn't fully extend my left leg. I stopped again for about 10 seconds to stretch it out again to no real avail.

At this point I cared less about finishing the race and more about getting my wounded self back to my warm car. So I started jogging along and slowly I was able to get some semblance of a stride back. But Mile 6 came in at something like 6:19. Ugh. Right at Mile 6 is when I heard the footsteps of the second place guy. I tried to stave him off but with about 100 meters to go, my limping stride was no match and he passed me. At that point I just hobbled it in. What a bummer. First time I have ever been injured during a race.

So I am ready to sell off my left leg. I'm not sure if Craigslist allows this. The only thing I haven't hurt on me left leg in the least three months is my knee.

What I'm really concerned about is how long it will take to recover from this. If I can run on Monday then I would be thrilled. If this sidelines me again for another week or two, I'm going to throw a fit.