Twang!

On Wed noon I was all set to do my last set of jog-a-mile, run-a-mile intervals on the Boulder Creek path before the 4 mile Best XC Race on Sat. It was relatively warm and I was almost looking forward to it. I jogged the first mile in 9:18, and started into the first mile run, but about 50 yards into it, I felt a sharp "twang!" in my outer left thigh, basically a pulled muscle. I immediately cut my pace back to a jog, and the pain diminished, so it certainly wasn't a bad pull. I managed to to finish an 8 mile run, keeping my pace low enough that that the pain wasn't sharp. I even managed the last 3 miles in 7:49, 7:44, and 7:20.

On Thu I still had some soreness, so I pretty much took it easy, running about 4 miles with the last mile in a respectable 6:28.

I only did stretches on Fri, and on Sat I was able to warm up for the race in the cold and the snow ok, but I must have been a little frazzled since I forgot to set my watch at the start. My thigh didn't seem to bother me during the first three miles as much as the fact that my left shoe came untied after the first half mile. Luckily it wasn't the one holding my car key and I was wearing my new spikes with thick socks, so it stayed on for the whole race. But my thigh gradually got worse over the last mile. I thought I was running a pretty slow pace until the last 100 yards when Dave Dooley passed me. I wasn't able to attempt any kind of kick to stay with him, but I finished in 26:34, about 6:39 pace. I was hoping for something around 6:30, so I felt good about my time given the cold and the footing.

My thigh was much sorer after the race than it was when I injured it on Wed. I didn't run today (Sun), just an easy 4 mile hike with Sue this afternoon at Betasso. I'm taking ibuprofen to keep the inflamation down. It's kind of a bummer for this to happen just two weeks before the XC Nationals, but I'm hopeful it will get better by then and not impact my race.

--Terry Haran