Sean's Running Blog

Gorgeous afternoon in Seattle. It's about time. We had the coldest end to March on record including six straight days of snowfall. Short sleeve shirt was all that was needed today.

Did five easy miles that turned out to be 7:15s or so. I wasn't paying attention until I got back. I stoppped half way and stretched and then stretched again upon returning. I also did some of the strengthening exercises I've working on.

Six miles tomorrow.

Really good six miles today. Took three miles before I felt any discomfort in my butt. So it's taking longer and longer to hurt and hurting less and less. It was another gorgeous day. Mid 50s when I ran.

7 good miles today. Turns out they were at about 6:45 pace. I wasn't trying to push it but just went what felt OK. I was pretty tight in the glute afterward. I may take tomorrow off just  opting for the elliptical/bike as a precaution and then try 10 or so on Saturday.

I was a little sore this morning in the glute despite a good night's sleep so I decided to back off a bit today. I did two in the morning outside and then three this afternoon on the treadmill. The three miles got me warm enough to really be able to do some good stretching and strength excersises as well.

Was really hoping to go 10 miles this morning but my glute wouldn't have it. Frustrating. It's getting better but too slowly for my liking.

Had a really good run today in that I was able to run 8 miles mostly free of soreness. I could have gone farther but wanted to end a workout feeling like I did when I started.

Had a really good 10-miler today on a local trail. It was rainy and cool but everything felt really good. I could have gone 12-14 but again wanted to finish free of soreness and allow my body to continue making progress. What was most surpising was how easy 6:55 pace felt given all the training interuptions I have had.

In San Jose this today so I ventured out to try and find a trail to run on. After three miles of no luck I finished the last five on the treadmill in the hotel. The treadmill brings with it its own injury risks but it's important I run on soft surfaces right now.

Another flat, soft trail run this morning. Things continue to get better each day. My plan is to try 8 tomorrow and then maybe 14 on Saturday before taking the much deserved, albeit, standard rest day on Sunday. If all goes well I may be able to get my first speed workout in a month in next week.

9.5 wonderful miles under gorgeous sunny skies. No pain. No tightness. No soreness.

My longest run in several weeks. It was 70 degrees at 10am when I left under blue skies. It's not going to last past Sunday but another fantastic run. Pain free. I'm hoping that this means I'm back. I'm probably going to try a moderate speed workout on Wednesday to see how it goes...and to see how much I lost.

ANother great easy run today despite cool and rainy weather. It was almost 80 degrees on Saturday and it was 45 degrees and rainy today. Spring in the Northwest. Zero pain, soreness or tightness in the quad. It would seem that I may be close to 100% recovered from the injury. However, I'm far from 100% in shape.

Managed to avoid the rain today with a nice lunchtime run along the Lake Smamamish trail. Another day free of any pain, soreness or undue tightness. I take at least 20 minutes after each run now to stretch and do a couple sets of strenghtening exercises. Made it all the way to 26 pushups. Sadly, a new PR.

Today was my first speed workout in exactly one month. Yes, March 16th was the last time i ran with any kind of speed. So I was admitedly nervous to go somewhat hard today. My coach gave me a fairly light tempo run workout of 8 miles with the first 6 @5:50 pace and the last 2 @ 5:35. I was secretly concerned I wouldn't be able to do it. But everything went great. Other than a noticeable headwind for the last four miles, the weather was ideal. I felt like I could have run a half marathon at that pace without any trouble. That would make for a pretty pitiful time, but coming off an injury, I am very happy with today's workout.

	Assigned	Actual
Mile 1	5:50	5:32
Mile 2	5:50	5:43
Mile 3	5:50	5:35
Mile 4	5:50	5:35
Mile 5	5:50	5:35
Mile 6	5:50	5:34
Mile 7	5:35	5:34
Mile 8	5:35	5:29

A nice easy stroll this morning along Lake Sammamish. I am very fortunate to live in an area with so many wonderful trails and roads to run on.

Another easy 10 miles @6:45 pace. I was a bit sore from some of the strength exercises yesterday so I decided to not go the 12 miles I had planned just as a precaution.

We are supposed to get snow tonight which would be the latest snowfall in Seattle in the 100 years they've been keeping track. And to think it was nearly 80 degrees last Saturday.

Sure enough I woke up to three inches of snow this morning and 34 degrees when I left to run. It was almost 80 degrees one week ago. Weird.

So did a modified and gentle speed workout today as part of my long run. After a four mile warmup in the cold, I would run normal for four minutes and then run one minute at 5:00-5:10 pace and repeated this 14 times during the 16 miles.

In NYC for the week and took the opportunity to run a few laps around Central Park. It was awesome to see the mile markers from the Trials still painted on the side of the road. I passed the boathouse twice and it's still sobering to run by there knowing it's where Ryan Shay collapsed. I'm staying in Times Square so I even got to retrace that part of the route. What fond memories despite a very pedestrian finish.

Woke up too late to get a run in in the morning but managed to squeeze one in this afternoon. Gorgeous afternoon and another wonderful stroll through Central Park. Everything seems to be going well. I'm pretty strict about my stretching and exercises now. Fairly challenging speed workout tomorrow.

Workout today was as follows:

8 fartlek repeats of 2 minutes hard 1 minute light

15 minute jog

8 hill repeats of 60 seconds in length on the north side hill of Central Park.

Let me just say how glad I am they cut out the northernmost hills from the Trials course.

The fartleks were pretty challenging. I was going all out on both the 2 minute fartleks and the 60-second hill repeats. I was pretty tired the rest of the day. Fortunately I was able to do it in the morning as the afternoon got quite warm.

I'm tired but everything felt great.

One last run through Central Park this morning. Gorgeous weather. Light winds and 75 degrees at 10am. I ran the same route as the Trials doing the first short lap and then the second long lap. It was the first time I've done the Trials course in the correct direction and it was awesome. With my mind a little clearer now than on November 3rd, I am even more amazed now than I was then at how awesome Ryan Hall's performance was that day. Central Park is a tough course not because any one hill is incredibly long or steep, but because there isn't a continuous flat stretch longer than 50 yards. It's a constant up and down which totally messes with rhythm. Ryan remains my hero.

Back in sunny (no joke) Seattle. Ran an out and back along the Sammamish Trail. It said 52 degrees on the temperature gauge but it didn't seem that warm. But it wasn't raining (or snowing) so I'll take what I can get.

Gorgeous weather in Seattle today. Upper 70s and clear blue skies. I wore a singlet running for the first time since the Trials. I did a 4-mile warmup and then four miles cutdowns at the track. First two miles were at 5:13 and the last two were at 5:06. I was pretty spent afterward, another indication that I'm still climbing up the hill of recovery. But I crossed 80 miles for the first time in many weeks and I'm feeling good.

Pouring rain on the way into work this morning. I was dreading a run. But by lunch, the clouds parted and I enjoyed a lovely run through Marymoor Park and the Sammammish River trail. A glorious day for a run. The long sleeve shirt turned out to be way too much.

Needed to get my run in early today so I left the house at 5:45am and ran through the neighborhood for the first time in quite a while. Very hilly but beautiful. It was chilly -- upper 30s, so I did need to bundle up a bit. It definitely took me a couple miles to warm up and feel comfortable.

Interesting workout today:

Two-mile warmup

5 minutes @5:15 pace

followed by 5x5minutes at 2:00 minutes @ 5:15 followed by a 10-second surge follow by a 30-seconds at 5:15. So basically surging for 10 seconds (sub 5:00 pace) every 30 seconds repating that for five minutes. Repeating that 5-minute workout five times with no rest in between. When I finished that I ran two rest miles at 6:50 pace and then did 5x200 meters in 31 seconds with a 200m jog between each 200m sprint.

31 seconds was an all out sprint at that point. It was the best i could do. Maybe if I was fresh I could have hit 28 or 29, but I'm no speed demon.

Finished up with only a 1-mile cooldown and a bunch of stretching.