Sean's Running Blog

I love winter. I waited most of the day to run hoping the 30mph sustained winds would die down...they didn't. Gusts were above 60. Temps were reasonably mild though and I didn't need the jacket or stocking cap I brought along.

Most of the miles were on bark trails which was very gentle on the legs and kept me in the trees somewhat protected from the wind. It was a beautiful afternoon to run. It was me, the wind and the deer.

Easy 10 miles through the neighborhood. Incredibly, there was no rain or wind for the entirety of my run.

A lovely, dry evening run. Big storm tomorrow though. Not looking forward to high winds and pouring rain but that's the life of a runner.

Snuck in 10 miles during a break in the weather. Almost avoided the rain altogether. The last three miles were a soaker but I did find a new place for me to run near work called the Redmond Watershed. I've great things about it and can't wait to explore the miles of trails.

5 mile warmup at 6:40 pace then four miles around the track in cutdown format. Mile 1 at 5:18, Mile 2 at 5:06, Mile 3 at 5:02 and the last mile at 5:01. I was supposed to go 5:14, 5:06, 4:58 and 4:50. It was pretty blustery out and going fast early didn't help so I missed the last mile badly.

I then ran a 4.3 mile cool down. It rained, snowed and was sunny during that 4.3 miles. Crazy weather.

A very windy but mild morning in Las Vegas. Business brings me to Sin City, a place I loath. One great thing about Vegas is it's streets are on that Utah-like grid system. So I took off away from the Strip and ran an 8-mile square.

Felt pretty good after a difficult workout yesterday. I'm still bugged about missing the last mile split so badly. I was supposed to do the workout with the two other Trials guys from the area at the UW indoor facility. It would have been nice to see if doing it inside without the wind and doing it with two fast guys would have helped. But I walked away tired and healthy, usually two good things after a workout.

Hit 75 miles for the week which is the highest I've been since before the Trials. Hoping to be in the mid-80s this coming week.

Talked to my coach breifly about 2008 and I think I'm going to run the Eugene Half marathon in early May. It's a fast course, it's my old hometown, and I need to redeem myself after a disappointing finish in the full last April.

I would love to see others from the blog join me for the half or full. Both are pretty quick courses.

Oh...and Paul, the Seahawks are going to walk away from Green Bay with a win on Saturday. Seahawks 20 - Packers 17

Perfect weather for a run in Las Vegas this morning. 45 degrees and calm winds. Ran a ten-mile loop (6:42s) around the airport. Bad part was it was all on concrete instead of blacktop but it kept me away from the strip and the traffic associated with that.

Just got airline and game tickets for the Packers/Seahawks. Excited to take my boys and dad to that game in historic Lambeau field. Go Seahawks.

Looking forward to running in Wisconsin...a state I haven't yet run in.

Ran from work through Marymoor Park to the Sammamish River Trail up to Woodinville and then back to Redmond. A tad chilly but dry making it a near-perfect stroll through nature.

I'm really enjoying the Adidas trainers I got. They are soft, but with ample support and a snug fit. It will be interesting to see how long they last.

Go Hawks!

Went to the Dempsey Indoor Track at the University of Washington for a workout with my coach and a few other guys.

Workout: 5x 400m/400m/800m with 2:00 rest after the quarters and 3:30 rest after the 800m. Target times were :66 for the 400m and 2:20 for the 800m.

This was my first short-speed workout since before St. George and it showed. I hit or bettered the splits except for the last 800 which came in at 2:23. I was very tight and could really feel the muscles work and hurt in different ways than they had most recently.

One of my goals is to get quicker and focus on shorter distances where I am notoriously slow. It will be an interesting process.

Ran from work in Redmond to a doctor's appointment in Bellevue and then back to work. Almost 8 miles each way. 6:38s out and 6:32s back. Felt really good especially considering how awful i felt during and after my speed workout last night. I'm sure the doctor was thrilled that I was stinky and sweaty.

The best part is that the rain held off until I walked in the office door and then it poured. When I came out the rain stopped and didn't start until I was a hundred yards from work.

Off to Green Bay tonight. Go Hawks!

Here's a scene you'll see a lot of on Saturday:

After a sleepless red eye from Seattle to Minneapolis, I managed to get a couple of hours of rest at my parents house before heading out for a frigid run.

19 degrees at 11am with the wind chill in the low single digits. The good news is that everything stayed warm except my nose and face. I learned to appreciate running in rain and the upper 30s. Running in this stuff every day for four months would be the end of me.

I saw zero people over the entire 11.5 miles (6:38 pace). People in MN are smarter than I thought I guess. What fool would be out this cold.

My parents have a temperature guage at their house that shows the record high and record low at their house since they moved here 2.5 years ago. -19 was the low and 101 was the high. That is crazy. It reminds me of why I like Seattle so much.

Off to Green Bay first thing in the morning. Go Hawks!

Woke up this morning at 6:30 to go for a run and after a mile and a half running in a temperature of 11 and a wind chill of 4 (not including the wind chill created from running itself) I called it quits.

I gave it another go this afternoon before heading to the airport and the balmy 22 degree weather was much more to my liking although still freezing. I ran at 6:28 pace which of course added to an already noticeable wind chill factor. I have gained a respect for people who train hard in the winter in environements like Minnesota.

And as for the Seahawks game, while we got totally outplayed, it was an awesome experience to see such an historic game at Lambeau field amid a blizzard. I hope the Packers make it all the way to the Super Bowl.

Back in Seattle after a long and enjoyable weekend in the bitter cold of the midwest. I woke up this morning to clear skies, 34 degrees and no wind. I felt like I was in Florida. Did my patented 10-mile stroll through the neighborhood. Uneventful as I like it to be. The occasional patch of ice kept me awake enough to remember most of the run. Finished by 7:15 which in Seattle this time of year still means almost complete darkness. But in the summer when it's llight until 10:30 at night, it's easy to forget the short winter days here in the north.

Hoping to get another 6-8 miles in tonight.

Well...I had every intention of running yesterday evening but a freak snowstorm pounded our area with 4-6 inches of snow. My car got stuck on the way home and by the time I got home, it was late and the road conditions had worsened.

So I woke up early this morning and drove to work in the lowlands and got a good 11 miles in this morning. It was still slick but I ran on the gravel trail that runs the length of Lake Sammamish. Gravel is great for frosty mornings. Ran an easy 6:25 pace. I will attempt again to get in another 6 or so tonight.

PM

I sure tried to get another 6 miles in but the snow didn't melt and the roads were icier than ever. So I tried a gravel trail near my house and it was so dark I got spooked realizing that if I got eaten, they wouldn't find my body for days. So I went to the high school track thinking the snow would be melted there but it's a red track not a black one so the snow was still four inches deep. I ran anyway. I learned that running in that much snow takes a lot of effort, more than it was worth so i called it quits after 13 laps. It was cool seeing the patterns my foot prints made after 13 laps around the track. Mine were the only prints.  

Another Winter Wednesday meant another workout at the Dempsey Indoor facility at UW. Well, it was supposed to be. Some overzealous building maintenance guy decided to play cop and kicked our small group out of the facility for no apparent reason. Fortunately I had half of my workout done already. The second half was spent freezing to death at the Husky Stadium track which is immediately adjacent to the indoor facility. I would have dressed differently had I known i would be running outside.

After a 3-mile warmup, I ran 6x800m at 2:17-2:18 with 3:30 rest between each 800m. The only one I missed was the last one and that may have had more to do with freezing to death than being fatigued. Going from 65 degrees indoors to 35 outdoors made for a tough adjustment. But all in all I felt good.

A nice pre-dawn run along the gravel East Lake Sammamish Trail. I saw exactly two people. One with a dog and one with cross country ski poles. It was 37 degrees according to the sign I passed but I wore running pants anyway because all the moisture on the ground made it feel colder. I probably could have gone without.

I had no residual soreness or tightness from last nights workout. Feeling good and getting excited about Del Sol.

This morning's run was supposed to be 12 miles but shortened to 9 after getting tired of battling the icy roads. Rather than enjoying the peace of the pre-dawn morning, I spent each second dodging slick patches on the roads. I was planning on a double today anyway so I'll run another 8-10 this evening from work where it's warmer and not a spot of ice in sight.

8 twilight miles this evening under crisp clear skies. I went along the East Lake Sammamish gravel trail. Big tempo run tomorrow with a few other guys so I took it real easy this evening.  

Ran a tempo run around Green Lake this morning with a few guys from the club. Did 6.5 at 5:20 pace. It was a bit chilly and blustery but no rain. Planning on an easy 16-18 tomorrow which will put me in the mid-90s for the the week...the first time I've been at that mileage since before SGM.

Went for an easy 16 miler this afternoon under partly cloudy skies and temps in the upper 30s. It's my longest single run since Saturday, September 22nd, which was my final long run leading up to SGM. While the run was easy, I recognized the need to get back into the mode of running one 18-22 miler each week. There's a strength, mental and physical, that comes with the longer runs.

With the mileage today, I ended the week with 94 miles, the longest since the week of September 10th when I ran 95. It was also my third longest mileage week ever. I plan to be in this mid 90s to low 100s range leading up to the Eugene Half Marathon in early May.  

32 degrees and crystal clear blue skies. Ran an out-and-back along the Sammamish River Trail and it was just gorgeous. 32 degrees and sun feels so much warmer than 32 degrees and cloudy. I'm sure there's a scientific reason for that. Covered the 12 miles in 6:44 pace.

PM--7 miles

28 degrees; 19 wind chill. A crisp but glorious, clear moonlit night. We're supposed to have four more days of cool but sunny skies. That is a big deal for a Seattle January.

30 degrees, light breeze and not a cloud in the sky. Two gorgeous days in a row and it's not even June yet.

Today was one of those days where I didn't want to run. I ran because my schedule says I was supposed to. It was also one of those days where I just didn't "have it." I ran 6:43s but just felt tired the whole time and kept wishing I was a couple miles closer to the end. Oh well. there are always going to be days like this.

Tough workout today. I had to do it alone due to scheduling issues so I headed up to the Redmond High School and used their track. It's inferior in every way to our high schools track but it's oval and it's presumably 400m in length. Oh...and it's 5 minutes from work.

The workout was 6x1000m @ 3:00-3:02 with 3 minutes rest between each rep. I hit 3:04, 3:00, 3:01, 3:02, 3:02 3:03. After the fourth rep, I wanted to quit in a bad way. The only reason I didn't was I couldn't live with myself if I skipped a third of my workout.

After finishing the fifth rep, I was bound to quit. But then the phrase "leave it all on the track" kept entering my mind as I was doing the 3-minute rest jog. Then I thought about having to tell my coach I quit a rep early and then there's you guys. This accountability thing works.

Anyway, I wish I could have done the reps faster or at least felt slightly less tired afterward but oh well. I left it all on the track today.

A.M. First 5am run in a while. 33 degrees under clear skies with sustained winds of 24 mph and gusts to 39. Not at all unusual for my neighborhood in the winter. First three miles were into the wind and all near 7:30s. Finished averaging 6:57s. It was a very peaceful run with very little traffic. More deer and elk than cars. Hoping to get another 8-10 in later today if time allows.  

PM

Ran out and back on the Sammamish River Trail. Felt great. Sun was setting and cool tempertures ruled but it was the fourth day of pure sunny skies in a row. One more tomorrow and then snow for the weekend.  

26 degrees and yet another glorious morning of clear skies. I enjoyed it because tomorrow brings snow. Ran the 11 miles in exactly 1:17. 20-22 miles tomorrow and then resting on Sunday.

Today was one of those running days from hell. I had a 20-22 miler planned with a speed workout built in to the front side. I was to do 5x1mile cutdowns starting at 5:02 dropping three seconds per mile finishing at 4:50. I felt great during the first two mile repeats but halfway into the third my bowels were screaming. I jumped the fence to take care of business and then came right back on the track to finish up the workout. But everytime I started running fast my stomach and bowels just wouldn't have anything to do with it. It's too bad because I felt pretty good despite 35 degrees and pouring rain. So I decided to bag the rest of the workout and just run the rest of the mileage. Well, for the first time ever, I couldn't even do that. It was the weirdest thing. Oh well.

Tried to get in a speed workout this afternoon but the track was buried in snow. So I just ran 12 miles instead, most of it falling snow. It was gorgeous.

Another disappointing speed workout. I was supposed to do 2x1500m @ 4:21 but wound up with a 4:29 and ridiculous 4:38. It was pretty windy but I highly doubt it was that windy. I'm really struggling with the speed stuff right now to the point that its put a damper on my excitement about building up to consistent triple-digit mileage.

7 easy miles this evening.

Weird morning where even the slightest change in elevation meant the difference between running in slick slush or bare wet pavement. I've learned that even the best headlamp can't really help in situations like this because the slush is the same color as the pavement.

We've been pounded with snow for four straight days which is fairly unusual even for the foothills of Western Washington. It's made the running less enjoyable but perseverance will make me stronger I guess. Or at least wetter and colder.

I set a new PR today. A PR for monotony. I was all dressed to go for a run and when I stepped out the door it was 34 degrees and snowing hard. Nothing was sticking to the ground but I was going to get really wet and really cold so I ran 12 miles on the treadmill at home. That is a treadmill mileage PR of at least four miles and only the third time in three years I've used our treadmill at home. I was able to throw on some music but I was admitedly bored. At least I was warm...really warm.

Overall pace was 6:40. To keep myself from complete insanity, I would play with the speed buttons to try and hit certain artificial times at various lengths. Oh the things we do to stay in good shape.

Another three miles tonight on the treadmill. I started to feel some pain in my left IT band so I quit. I had planned on six. I'll have to see how things feel in the morning during my 12-mile run outside.