The Reckoning

On Friday we make the trek down the California coastline to San Diego for the US Cross Country Championships. I have been diligently preparing and anxiously awaiting this years race since crossing the finish at last years championship in Spokane, WA. Last year, like the year before, I was the first person to not be selected for either of the team USA competitions. The first six finishers at this race are chosen to represent the US at the World Cross Country Championships, while the finishers in 7th through 11th place have the opportunity to compete at the NACAC (North America, Central America and Caribbean) Championships.

I wish I could say with absolute confidence that this year was going to be different; that this was my year. However, my training has been derailed on multiple occasions in the past few weeks and my body has not been cooperative, to say the least. Shin pain, followed by inflammation of my posterior tibialis (a muscle that runs just medial to the Achilles tendon) interrupted six weeks of my training.

Having been pain-free for little over a week I hopped into a 3000m at the University of Washington in Seattle last Saturday – my first race since November. I went into the race with no expectations about how I was going to perform. My main concern was whether my not-so-long-gone injuries were going to resurface once I started running hard on the tight turns of an indoor track. Fortunately, I finished the race without any pain (of the “bad” kind). While running 9:34.90 for 3000m would normally be a disappointing result, it is encouraging after missing so much training. It is also the fastest indoor season opener that I have run.

The increased volume I did in the fall should help with some of this recent time off, but Saturday's 8k is still going to be a race of grit. Of course, thats the best part of racing XC.