Sean's Running Blog

Good workout today. 5 hilly miles up to Redmond HS then 5M on the track at 5:15-5:18. Everything felt really good although the sun came out and made things toasty toward the end. My jog back was a bit hairy. I was super dehydrated and wasn't feeling all that great because of it.

BA-utiful day for a run along the Sammamish River trail. I love winter in Texas...I mean Seattle.

Ran from work up to North Redmond and over Education Hill dropping down into the Sammamish River valley and back through Marymoor Park. A very mild 60 degrees and bright sunshine. Perfect way to break in my 3rd pair of Ravennas. I'm in heaven.

I maintain that there is not a more beautiful place on earth than Seattle on a sunny day. That was today. It was 30 degrees when I started and 50 when I finished. Workout was 5M @ 5:20 with a twist. The idea was to find a spot that had some up and downhill to help prep for the beating Boston puts on your legs. So I did the Business Park loop which is exactly a mile. Half of it up and half of it down. I did a 10-mile warmup and then jumped into the workout. Hit all were either 5:18 or 5:17 except the middle one which was 5:21. I was very pleased. Nailed the workout which makes it three in a row with only the San Diego disaster blemishing the recent string of successful workouts. 5 mile cooldown. For probably the first time in a long time, I feel like I am getting close to getting back into marathon shape.

Headed out to SF tomorrow for work but managed to soak in a beautiful 14 miler today through Redmond. It was mostly sunny and about 50 degrees while just down the road in Issaquah and back home in Snoqualmie it was snowing hard. Nothing stuck, but snowed hard nontheless.

My run started out poorly in the locker room. I pulled my shoes out of my bag only to find that they were both left feet. Ugh. Luckily, i was wearing an older pair of running shoes -- Brooks Launch -- so i just used those. Worked out fine.

So the plan was to do a 10 mile tempo run upon my arrival in SF this morning. So laced up the racers and headed out. As soon as i turned North down Embarcadero the wind was voracious. I woudl say they were sustained at 25-30 mph. After a 2 mile warmup, I thought I would give it a try anyway but after 2 miles at 5:36, it was just blowing too hard. Running back the tailwind was very strong. In fact I was overheating because there was no head wind to cool me off.

Guess I will give it another try tomorrow.

Well I gave the workout another shot today. The workout was 8M @ 5:36 followed by 2M @ 5:15. The first three miles were great and on target but as I got over the Embarcadero hill and headed toward GG bridge the wind started to pick up. By Mile 4 I was looking for options. I found a 1.25 mile or so loop that allowed me to run the next few miles alternating between headwind and tailwind. By Mile 8 I was noticibly fatigued from fighting the wind such that I only managed a 5:20 and 5:28 for the final two miles. My first 8 miles were all in 5:28-5:34.

All in all I was pretty happy with how things went. The watch didn't day 5:15 for the last two but the effort was 5:15.

A pretty uncomfortable 12 miles this afternoon. Was sore and tight and I think it was Mile 7 before I was under 7:00 miles. Ugh.

11 miles after getting back from SF. I totally woosed out and did them on the treadmill. It was cold and rainy outside to I just watched basketball while running on the treadmill.

After a long night and early Saturday morning of hosting my annual St. Patty's Day 5k, I took to the streets for a long run workout. I had pretty low expectations. I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was sleep. But...sleeping is for the weary on those training for Boston.

So after a 4-mile warmup, I jumped into a 4-mile tempo run at 5:15 pace. Actually hit 5:09, 5:14, 5:13 and 5:14. I was surprised I hit my times, frankly. Then I jogged for 12 minutes before jumping into the hill workout portion of the workout where I did 6x1 minute hard with 2 mins jog in between. The first couple felt harder than the last couple. Ran back home which included going up the Parkway. Satisfied with this weeks training especially given all that was going on.

Just a stunning day here in Seattle. 68 degrees and sunshine for what was a beautiful run. First race of the year coming up on Saturday. 20k as a tune up for Boston.

Well, it took quite a while to get my calf/shin warmed up but once I got rolling the 4M tempo @ 5:15 went well.

So the idea was to run 12 easy miles this morning before work. And let's just say that didn't happen. Instead, I was almost hobbling at the 7-mile mark and called it quits. The nagging right calf/shin issue that first reared it's head in Germany got so painful today that I had to quit. Ugh. It's been taking longer and longer to warm up and have the pain go away and today, it just didn't go away and in fact got worse. COuldn't be worse timing with a tune up race scheduled for Saturday and Boston just over four weeks away. I'm really concerned it's a stress fracture. i have an ppointment with my PT tomorrow.

No running today. In fact, it even hurt a bit to walk. The PT couldn't say for sure whether it's a stress fracture but he had this look on his face that caused me some alarm. He referred me to a specialist in Seattle who also happens to coach the Seattle Prep High School track and cross country teams. But in the mean time, it still hurts pretty good and I doubt I will be running prior to that appointment. Good thing I haven't bought tickets to Boston yet.

hurts still. ugh

doesn't hurt to walk today. My cross training consisted of throwing batting practice to my son and walking around the Pacific Science Center for hours on end. To add insult to injury -- literally -- it's 70 degrees outside and perfect running weather. Would have loved to race this morning.

Dr. beat up on my leg and couldn't find the hint of anything. No pain and no swelling. No evidence of anything. He did schedule me for an MRI on Wednesday just to be sure, but he would be very surprised if it turns out to be a stress fracture. He actually encouraged me to go for an easy run today on a soft surface and test it out. Didn't bring my stuff.

Gorgeous day for a run. Everything felt fantastic. No pain at all. HOWEVER, tomorrow and Thursday will  be the big test as I run without five days of rest.

A rare evening run and what a beautiful and warm evening run it was. Today was a big test for the calf and everything feels fantastic. Not out of the woods yet. By this time next week, with a speed workout under my belt, I will have a better sense of where I stand. \

Had my MRI today. Will get results Monday. Took 35 minutes...not exactly fast.

Well...day 3. Pretty yucky day although I think I ran during the only 70 minute window when it didn't rain or blow hard today. So I got lucky.

The right calf started to hurt some but it was clearly a muscle pain and not a bone structure one. Not sure what it is. It didn't affect me in any noticeable way, it was just this dull, tight pain that ebbed and flowed. I took another ice bath after word and that seemed to seemed any lasting pain associated with it. I hate to say it but this ice bath thing might be the bomb.

10 miles trhough the cow fields of Carnation. Ran from the Aldarra ball fields to Carnation via the Snoq. Valley Road. An incredibly peaceful run with almost as many tractors as cars. Calf didn't feel so hot today.

I really nice 12 mile run this morning. No pain in the calf to speak of which made for a glorious sunny and mild morning run.

So I met with the doctor yesterday morning to go over my MRI. It was negative as in no stress fracture. That's good news of course. The MRI did show something weird on the left leg that caused the doctor to pause. He sent me in for a CT Scan to get more detail on what it might be.

The weather was downright miserable yesterday and I didn't get a chance to run until the evening. I tried the treadmill and less than one minute in my calf started buggin me so I called it quits.

Woke up early this morning and ran 11 miles ahead of my PT appointment. The run went fine with no real soreness. The PT did manage to find a couple of pain points on the interior side of the bone where the muscle and bones attach. It's basically swelling in the sheath which is often a precursor to stress fractures.

So basically, I'm kind of stuck. After talking to the doctor, my coach and the PT, I think the plan for the next couple of weeks is to run every other day and cross train the other days. The PT was very much against a cold turkey approach because he feels like activity is vital to healing the area. So I will continue to run the 12-14 miles a day except do it every other day plus a Saturday longer run. So I am planning on Mon/Wed/Fri 12-14 miles each day plus 15-20 on Saturdays. That leaves Sunday for complete rest and Tuesday Thursday for some cross training. I will think I will go back to my P90x collection and pick out a couple of workouts to do on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Yoga will definitely be one of them.

I think I will also make speed work a core part of one of the running days to try and keep some level or cardio fitness. WHat it really comes down to is giving my body more time to recover between runs so it can heal up and not linger.

A bummer, but not a total loss.

Ten wonderful miles along the Sammamish River Trail followed by a 10 minute soaking in the very cold river. I'm digging the benefits of post run "ice baths."