USATF-SD Cross Country Champs 8K

This week was the finals of the Dirt Dog Cross Country Series! The race was at Mission Bay on a grassy, rolling four-loop course and field was fired up. A lot of the guys I have been running with turned it up a notch for the finals so I quickly found myself picking along at my own pace. I went a little outside my limit at the last race, so this time I forced myself to stay within the heart rate zone I set out before hand. The last couple of months I have not been getting in much real training, and the race definitely felt more sluggish than even a couple of weeks ago. Nonetheless, the overall time was not bad, and I am really happy just to have completed the series while school has been going on. Time for a bit of a break from racing while I focus on finals. There is a spring road series that we are looking at, so hopefully there will be more to come in the new year!

Cuyamaca College 6k

Balboa Boogie 5k

Another fun classic this weekend! Apparently my dad ran this course when he was in high school! Thankfully the fog stayed in until the race was over, so the conditions were nice. It was a fast field and I stayed on my toes the whole way. Nothing major to report, but I am happy with the effort and to put up a decent, consistent time.

A tale of two 8ks...

The last month has been pretty hectic getting back into the swing of school, and getting organized for all the projects that I have going on this semester. I have been getting out for a couple of short runs each week though so I am not feeling as awful as I did last year. The cross country series has been great motivation to keep up some workouts, and maintain some decent fitness. The last pair of races were three weeks apart, and each one was an 8k. Both had comparable profiles, and the main difference in terms of conditions was the weather.

This weekend Santa Ana conditions settled in and the air dried out severely, the temperature jumped 10-15 degrees, and the later start in the second race meant heat was a substantial element to contest with. On balance, the numbers did not slip off too much this month and my performance at the Cougar challenge mirrored that from the Bonita 8k several weeks ago, so I am very happy with that. Somehow the semester is flying by and it feels good to know that I am not letting my body deteriorate into an equal composition of coffee and cookies like last year. There are only two more events in the series and I am proud of myself for sticking to it.

Balboa Park 4 Miler

     Saturday was the Balboa Park 4 Miler, the second in the Dirt Dog Series and a long standing XC classic. There is a hurricane pushing up through Baja so the it has been humid and hot, and even in the early morning the conditions were tough. The course is a fun round-about looping course on the west end of the park, and has some really punchy hills in it. The field was a lot faster than the first race and I went with a few faster guys for the first mile and then just tried to stay controlled on the hills. I finished up around the same group that I was with at the first race and kept my HR under control, so I am pretty happy with the day. My core temperature has still not settled down but it was a good hard course and I am glad to be in decent fitness with school starting up in a couple days. I hope I can keep it up!