Sean's Running Blog

Nice day in Indianapolis. 64 degrees, overcast and 76% humidity. I ran from the Indy Speedway to the finish line which is where our hotel is. The only thing flatter is a track. I did notice the humidity but it's supposed to be 15 degrees cooler when the race starts tomorrow and it shouldn;t go much above that for the first couple of hours in the morning. Looking forward to seeing Paul tomorrow morning. Our plan is to run together as long as we can.

UPDATED TOP 20 Results Below

Race Start Weather:

46 degrees

Thin overcast

NO WIND

I have never raced in better weather...period. It was absolutely perfect.

Woke up at 6am after a pretty good night's sleep. I brought my two boys and my dad along for the ride. My oldest son has the amazing ability of not falling asleep before 11pm, but once he was asleep, we all slept great.

By 6:20 I was out the door walking over to the NCAA Headquarters which was the Elite staging area. The race organizers were great and all the pre-race stuff went perfectly.

I felt slow, bloated and heavy during my warmup. This is very typical though so I didn't think much of it.

The start countdown was done by soldiers in Kuwait via cell phone. Kind of cool. As seems to always be the case, this race had its own "Michael Wardian" jumping out to an early lead for some good camera time. By Mile 2 we caught him.

The biggest surprise of the first mile was how slow the Kenyans went out. Paul and I were right together as we crossed Mile 1 in a very slow 5:23. That was really disappointing since it was a full 13 seconds slower than my desired mile pace. Even with 12 miles to go, that's a lot of time to make up. So I spent Mile 2 focused on hitting the desired split time. I wasn't going to try and get back any of my lost time, just get back on race pace. Mile 2 came in at 5:09. Much better. At this point, I think the "chase" pack was me, Paul and some young dude with floppy hair. I will refer to him as floppy from here on out.

The Mile 2 water stationn was staffed by well over 100 LDS missionaries. That was cool to see. They were probably very glad the weather was so cool.

The lead pack was still in sight at this point but they did begin to pick up the pace. I commented to Paul though that 1:02 wasn't going to happen based on the first two mile splits.

Mile 3 I still was feeling heavy and bloated. I had taken a few sips of water but was concerned I wasn't getting enough. Temps were low but the half is just long enough that hydration can be a concern especially with humidity. Mile 3 was 5:08. Perfect.

5k time -- 16:12

Mile 4. Don't remember anything exciting happening here. Me, Paul and floppy were still together. Floppy and I swapped the lead a few times but he seemed willing to take it back each time so I felt willing to let him. :-) Mile 4 5:08. Nice.

Mile 5..the last mile before entering the Speedway. We slowed a touch to 5:11. This was my first (and only) full swig of water and I tend to slow a bit when i take water. Maybe that was why. Who knows.

The Mile 6 marker is inside the Speedway just before you actually get on the race track. I had no idea how incredibly massive the Speedway was. A 400 meter track will forever seem very short. Mile 6 was in 5:07. I was starting to feel a little bit better about things although I was reserving judgment until Mile 10 which is 5k to go. The 10k marker was on the back straightaway of the Speedway. Crossed in 32:15. It wasn't too long ago that this would have been a 10k PR. Mile 7 was inside the Speedway as well. I commented to Paul afterward about how slow this mile was. We did it in 5:16. By this time Paul had dropped back but me and Floppy were still together. We were both wondering what happened.

Mile 8 was almost entirely on the final straightaway of the Speedway and this was the only time during the race I felt anything resembling wind. Despite the slow Mile 7, I was content to let Floppy bear the brunt of the wind. Mile 8 was in 5:14. Slow but not too bad.

As we left the track it was good riddance from my standpoint. It's such an enourmous facility that it felt at times like we weren't covering any ground. So the Mile 9 marker was back out on the streets of Indianapolis. Crossed Mile 9 in 5:11. A smidgen slower than I wanted but I was just happy to be feeling good. At this point I was in 9th place and I think Paul was still in 10th. There was a Kenyan that me and Floppy were reeling in which was particularly motivating. Nothing quite like beating a Kenyan.

Mile 10 -- 5:12. Still slower than I wanted but the beauty of Mile 10 is that mentally, it becomes a very manageable race. 5k to go. I can get my head around 5k and I have a good idea of what i have left in the tank and how much to push it with 5k to go. It was right about at Mile 10 that Floppy and I passed the Kenyan. He put up a fight for about a 1/4 mile but we gapped him hard after that.

Mile 11 -- The biggest challenge which this mile is that you can see the Mile 11 marker from the Mile 10 marker. It's a really long straight stretch that felt like it went on forever. Crossed Mile 11 in 5:08. Beautiful. I was back to running my pace.

Mile 12 had us finally leave 10th St. and turn on to White River Parkway. I could see the marker early on and at this point, it was me and Floppy battling for 7th place. There was a slight breeze, but at this point, I wasn't even thinking about it. 5:12 was the time for Mile 12. 1/10 of a mile later you make the turn onto the New York Street bridge. They call it the Miracle Mile. At this point I had passed Floppy with the intention of never seeing the back of his head again. One of the great things of this course was they marked every final 1/4 mile. As I made the turn onto NY Street for the final mile, I made my move. I knew a sub 1:08 was still possible but it was going to take some real effort. I also knew there was money and pride on the line and I didn't want to let Floppy pass me. BTW...Floppy couldn't be older than 22 or 23.

With 3/4 to go, I was going to look back but decided not to. I told myself that I don't "get" to look back unless I hit the 1/2 to go mark on pace for a sub 1:08. So with 1/2 to go, I was on pace and looked back. I had gapped Floppy by about 100 meters. I kicked it into a higher gear telling myself I had only two laps to go. With a 1/4 mile to go I looked back again. Floppy had not closed at all. So I focused on trying to hit a 75 second quarter to the finish line. Crossed the 13 mile mark in 5:03! Wow...the extra effort really paid off.

The final 1/10 was awesome. I was really running hard and I could see the clock the whole way. One final look back and Floppy hadn't made any progress. 7th place was mine.

Finishing time: 1:07:53 (official)...a pace of 5:10.5.

In January I had set my 1/2 goal at 1:07:30. But that was a bit unrealistic. This past week I was going to be ecstatic with anything under 1:08 which I did. Mission accomplished.

The winning time was a high 1:03:55 by Festus Langat. The Kenyans really wasted an opportunity to take advantage of perfect weather.  Joseph Mutinda was second in 1:04:28.

A couple of observations/learnings:

• I continue to be astounded by how many elite runners do NOT run the tangents. This course had numerous opportunities to be lured off the tangents making the course longer than it needs to be. I just don't get it.
• Improvement? The first mile was ridiculously slow. I'm terrible at gauging pace off the track but my watch said we were at 80 seconds at the quarter which turned out to be about right. I could have easily had 10-15 seconds back if I had run that correctly. I also want to start pushing it even sooner. I have never died at the end of a race, something I always have feared. So I almost need it to happen so that I know my limits better.  
• This is such a weird distance. It's only my fourth half and I feel like I have so much experience to still gain. Hydration is a fuzzy area. Pace wise it feels more like a 10k. It's just a weird distance.

***Not sure why the race hasn't figured out how to post the Top Results but here they are:

First

Last

Bib

DIV

5M

10M

Chip Time

GunTime

Pace

OVERALL

AGE

CITY

STATE

Festus

Langat

49

Males 20-24

0:24:23

0:48:38

1:03:55

1:03:55

4:53

1

24

West Chester

PA

Ernest

Kimeli

4

Males 20-24

0:24:27

1:04:08

1:04:09

4:54

2

22

Marietta

GA

Joseph

Mutinda

6

Males 30-34

0:24:28

0:48:54

1:04:26

1:04:26

4:56

3

34

Santa Fe

NM

Jeff

Powers

70

Males 25-29

0:25:08

0:49:51

1:05:07

1:05:07

4:59

4

25

Bloomington

IN

Elijah

Nyabuti

7

Males 30-34

0:24:47

0:49:51

1:05:22

1:05:22

5:00

5

30

Maineville

OH

Abdelaziz

Atmani

10

Males 25-29

0:24:47

0:50:02

1:05:33

1:05:33

5:01

6

27

Indianapolis

IN

Sean

Sundwall

20

Males 35-39

0:25:59

0:52:01

1:07:53

1:07:53

5:11

7

36

Snoqualmie

WA

John

Poray

14

Males 25-29

0:25:59

0:52:00

1:08:00

1:08:00

5:12

8

28

Indianapolis

IN

Nick

Krus

48

Males 20-24

0:26:29

0:52:18

1:08:11

1:08:11

5:13

9

23

Memphis

MI

Jason

Lokwatom

5

Males 20-24

0:25:30

0:52:00

1:08:32

1:08:32

5:14

10

24

Troy

OH

Paul

Petersen

53

Males 25-29

0:26:03

0:52:18

1:08:35

1:08:36

5:15

11

29

Logan

UT

Mark

Manz

51

Males 35-39

0:26:14

0:52:53

1:08:55

1:08:55

5:16

12

35

Kiel

WI

Matt

Blume

41

Males 25-29

0:26:29

0:52:55

1:08:59

1:08:59

5:16

13

27

Fort Wayne

IN

Jerome

Recker

57

Males 25-29

0:26:30

0:52:56

1:09:01

1:09:01

5:17

14

25

Lansing

MI

Aaron

Moody

11

Males 30-34

0:26:28

0:53:07

1:09:24

1:09:25

5:18

15

30

Indianapolis

IN

Eric

Ade

13

Males 30-34

0:26:29

0:53:02

1:09:41

1:09:41

5:20

16

30

Fort Wayne

IN

Scott

Spitz

67

Males 30-34

0:26:28

0:53:26

1:10:28

1:10:29

5:23

17

32

Indianapolis

IN

Jacob

Rhyner

19

Males 25-29

0:27:07

0:53:53

1:10:31

1:10:32

5:23

18

25

Indianapolis

IN

Josh

Trisler

65

Males 30-34

1:10:51

1:10:51

5:25

19

30

Carmel

IN

Jesse

Davis

16

Males 25-29

0:26:27

0:53:42

1:10:58

1:10:58

5:26

20

27

Indianapolis

IN

An easy 10 miles this morning near Mt. Si after dropping my daughter off at school. There were some aches and tightness, but nothing I didn't expect. Good to be back on my feet after a weekend of lounging around, traveling on airplanes and eating too much food.

This morning it was pouring rain and gusty winds so I waited until things mellowed a bit. The skies parted and for most of my run, it was dry and windy. But the last three miles were a soaker. Forutnately, even with the wind it wasn't too cold. Went out along the Sammamish River trail and when I got to the turnaround for more planned 12-miler, I decided to take a different route back which ended up tacking on an extra 1+. Good thing I'm in good enough shape that the extra mile didn't kill me. :-)

49 degrees and a steady rain this morning. Didn't seem to bother me really. Each day there is less soreness and decreased tightness.

Cool but rain free run this morning. Left from Snoq. Middle School after dropping off my daughter and went into North Bend before going out to the country roads of North Bend and Snoqualmie. Very little traffic. I swear that the headwind was in every direction this morning.

A fairly nice day today. Mostly cloudy but warm enough to enjoy a run along the Sammamish River trail.

A cool but gorgeous morning for a run. I ran from home, to North Bend and then down to my son's baseball game in Fall City. The middle five miles I decided to do a random tempo sort of run. No real time goal in mind. Just wanted to run faster than easy. First two were in 5:47 and 5:46. The last three ranged from 5:25-5:28. Felt good to run sort of fast for a bit.

11 drizzly miles this morning but the temperature was relatively mild. Even left the gloves at home. To be fair...I couldn't find them or I would have worn them. But my hands were fine during the run. With six weeks to go until the marathon, I'm back to 90-mile weeks which means today is double day.

PM. Another peacful 10 plus miles this evening. The skies cleared which made it colder than it was this morning.

Today was one of those classic Seattle spring days where at one moment, the clouds are covering the sun and you're glad you have gloves and a long-sleeve shirt. Then five minutes later, the sun peeks out and you feel like stripping down to your shorts. Don't worry...I didn't.

Today was a rare mid-week long run. 10 days after the Indy Mini I was feeling ansty and ready to get back into things. So my coach gave me a Race Simulation workout focused very much on prepping for the June marathon.

The workout was run 12M at regular easy pace and then roll right into a 5M run at marathon pace (5:16-5:18) and then a 2-mile cool down. With the way my work and personal schedule was shaping up, the only time to do this was at 5:30 in the morning. Not exactly my favorite time to do a workout, but at least it wasn't raining. It was chilly, but no rain.

The idea behind a race sim is much more than just hitting marathon pace times. It's about trying to make as much of the workout exactly like a race as possible.

So I wore the shoes I am going to wear. Same shorts. I didn't wear a singlet because it was so cold. The biggest thing, for me anyway, is simulating the hydration. This is always an issue for me and it will likely be the make or break factor in Duluth in five weeks. So I did the 5 miles around the track so I could have two water stations within those five miles. I drank at Mile 1 and Mile 4. Drinking is hard at that pace especially when your fingers are frozen and you have to unscrew a lid. But I managed to get some good fluids down which was probably the most important part of the race sim for me.

Something else about the race sim is it trains you to run hard miles deep in to a run. While 12 miles at easy pace (6:45) isn't exactly exhausting, it's amazing how challenging it is to (a) change speeds after doing so many miles at one pace; and (b) run at marathon pace after 12 miles at a slower pace.

The concept of "cutdowns" teaches a similar thing.  

My times were 5:20, 5:17; 5:16; 5:17; 5:17. That first mlie was by far the hardest. It's really hard to rachet down after humming along at 6:45s for 80 minutes.

12 cool but rain-free miles. Supposed to be a great three days of weather ahead.

13 beautiful miles through Snoqaulmie Ridge this morning. Blue skies at 5:15am and chilly but when the skies are clear...it just doesn't seem so chilly.

I knew today's workout was going to be pretty tough. The plan was a "cut-down" tempo run of 4M starting at 5:16 and dropping 8 seconds each mile to 5:08; 5:00 and 4:52-54.

It was 75 degrees and clear sunny skies. There was actually a touch of humidity as the heat index was at 78. Good practice for Duluth next month.

After a 2-mile warmup I jumped right into the 4-mile tempo. The 5:16 felt awesome as did the 5:08. Nailed them both as planned. The first lap of the 5:00 was right on as well. As I started the second lap, I grabbed the water bottle I had set at arm level along the side of the track. It was here that I learned a tremendous lesson. I never take water when I am running at 5:00 pace. The only races I run at that pace are the 5k and 10k and I never take water in a race that short. So I have virtually no experience taking water at the speed. When I took the water I took a big gulp and about three swallows later it was all gone. However, I didn't breath during that entire time which put me anaerobic very quickly which caused the lactic acid to peak and my legs instantly tightened and felt lethargic. It was the weirdest feeling. I had felt it a bit before during the previous workout when I was running at marathon pace and took water twice but not nearly as dramatically. My first lap of the 5:00 mile was a whopping three seconds slow. I managed a 5:05 for the mile but once I went anaerobic, recovery from that was almost impossible. Mile 4 was very challenging and it took everything I had to hit 4:59 missing my time but 5-7 seconds. Ouch. I was disappointed by the time but what I learned from the experience was well worth it.

For the rest of my workouts leading up to grandma's I am going to be taking water but doing so in a way that allows me to continue breathing sem-regularly so that I can stay aerobic. It was funny because I had a swimmer friend tell me a couple of weeks ago that during a triathlon once she panicked and went anerobic and she was never able to recover.

The feeling in my legs before I took the water and after was night and day. And once they were hurting there was no going back.

Looking back to Indy, I remembered taking my water in very short sips that allowed me to continue breathing normally and everything went fine. However, the marathon will be different because you can get away with drinking lightly in a half marathon. You can't cheat hydration in a marathon so I will have to figure out how to take the full cup(s) of water while still breathing.

Oh yeah...there was another part of the workout. After a 20-minute rest I did 7x1-minute hills up the steepest part of Snoqualmie Pkwy. 2 1/2 minutes rest between each rep. Hills are awesome. They are so multi-functional. Good aerobic work and killer for the calves.

A.M. A beautiful morning. Had just enough time to sneak in 12 miles before taking my daughter to school.

P.M. Cloudy but relatively warm ahead of a rain storm. Ran along Sammamish River. Two hours later, the torrential rains began.

Calves are still sore from the Saturday workout.

An early evening run through North Bend and lower Snoqualmie. Managed to dodge the hit and miss rain showers. The rest of the week is looking like beautiful weather. Have another hill workout tomorrow. 12x30-second repeats. Calves are still fatigued so we'll see how it goes.

Turned out to be a beautiful day. Another one of those classic Seattle spring days where at one moment it's 45 degrees and the next it's 65. The sun isn't all that powerful yet so a passing cloud makes a big difference.

Did a 5-mile warmup and then 12x30-second hills up Sahalee Rd. Calves were still a bit weak from the last hill workout but everything went fine. Got kind of warm in my long-sleeve shirt but it made me feel like I was working harder. Supposed to be downright warm the rest of the week. Getting the suncreen ready.

Just an absolutely gorgeous day today. Gentle breeze and 70 degrees. Nothing but sunshine. No where is more beautiful on a sunny day than the Northwest. Ahhhh. 

13 miles down the Snoq. Pkwy and through lower Snoqualmie. I have to adjust my 10k course for the race I put on in August so i did some rough GPS measurements. Just another stunning day and we'll have several more thorugh the long weekend and beyond.

Another beautiful day. Left home around 8am for the Mt. Si. track. Long workout as part of a long run. A 10-mile tempo cutdown run. First 7 at "old" marathon pace 5:22-5:24. Next two miles at 5:10s and the final mile at whatever I could do it in with a very random 5:02 selected as the target.

I opted to do them all around track. 40 laps is pretty boring but it's easier to stay on pace especially when you are doing the workout alone like I was. Something important when running that many laps: rotate the direction. I went in reverse for the first six and then did the last four the regular counter-clockwise direction. It's important to change directions to not stress one side more than the other. Also took water twice...at 3 and 6.

First 7 miles were all in the :22-:24 range and felt good. It was about 55 degrees and no wind.

The wind picked up a bit for the final three. The flag went from completely still to waving. Nothing huge but noticeable. The next two miles I definitely started to feel tired. Hit 5:11 on both. I really wanted to skip the final mile but I told myself that I needed a 5:10 mile to OTQ so that was my faux motivation. Finished it with a 5:06. Final lap was in 75 which felt good. I was pretty tired.

Changed back into my trainers and ran another 9.25 miles. They felt slow but they were actually at 6:40. I kept the auto lap feature off for the cool down which was nice.

Solid week. One month to go.

Yet another gorgeous day for running, sitting, hiking, biking or anything. My brother in law and his wife and kids were in town for the holiday so we decided to hike Rattlesnake Peak just east of North Bend. The Snoqualmie Valley trail goes right to the trailhead of Rattlesnake Lake. I've run the trail a bunch but never all the way up to the lake. It's old rail trail so the grade was pretty easy. 15 miles, 7 of which were on the gravel trail. It was just beautiful. I was running a bit late so I picked up the pace a bit more than normal for an easy run. Ran most of the miles in 6:20-6:30. Felt great.

Then hikes up 2 miles (1,200 ft of elevation gain) with the family to the top of the peak. Gorgeous views and a nice hike.

It was supposed to be my final double day until after Grandma's Marathon but when I started to run home, my glute flared up big time and I could barely walk. Tried again after getting home and same result. I'm going to alternate ice and heat all night and spend time on the foam roller to hopefully loosen things up. I'm admitedly worried about it being a full blown injury which would be terrible timing...as if there is good timing for an injury.

Cloudy by warm day. Spent 12 miles holding my breath waiting for my glute to flare up. First couple miles were super slow as I was trying to ease into the easy run. By Mile 6 or so I felt good enough to get back on normal pace. Everything felt fine but I'm going to see the PT tonight just in case.

Saw the PT last night and got the glute worked on. Of course you can never replicate the actual pain and precise location but I got the area worked over pretty good.

Today is workout day and I debated whether or not to give myself one more day or to go for it. With the warm weather I opted to go with the workout today so i didn't screw up my Saturday workout.

4x1M with 90 seconds rest. Target time was 4:55...a few seconds under 10k pace. it :54; :54; :56 and :53. Everything felt just fine, glute and all. My stomach has been giving me fits for the last 36 hours so I didn't know if I was going to get through the workout on pace or at all. But everything seemed to come together.

An easy 10 through the neighborhood this morning. Beautiful if not a bit chilly. Our mornings are still in the low to mid 40s. But I'm not complaining. Still taking it super easy on the first couple of miles. Going for another 8 or so this evening.

8 more wonderful miles this evening as the sun set.

A very warm if not hot day even at noon today when I ran. Clear skies and 81 degrees which for many is just a warm day, but for Seattlites, we call that hot. 90 degrees would be considered scorching. I know. We're woosies. But very few of us have air conditioning in the Northwest so it makes things a bit uncomfortable to sleep at times.

Anyway, the great thing about warm weather is everything loosens up more quickly.

Another race sim run today. Unfortunately. I had to wait until the heat of the day to run since I had to coach my son's baseball game at 10am. Left straight from there.

12M easy pace; then rolling right into a 2x3M workout at marathon pace or slightly faster (5:15-5:18) with 4:00 rest between the two, then rolling right into a 4+ mile cooldown.

I tried to do as much of the 12 in the shade as possible but wasn't all that successful. Tried to stay really hydrated. Got to the track with about .50 miles left before the workout began only to find someone had taken the water bottles I had left there earlier. Ugh. I had one I had been carrying with me but I cuold only fill it with water. The others were filled with the drink that grandma's marathon will feature. Oh well.

First repeat went fine. 5:18, 5:16, 5:17. Second was 5:16, 5:17, 5:12. It was getting pretty hot but I felt pretty good. Good prep for Duluth ni three weeks.

The worst part was having to run up the Snoq. Parkway as my cool down. Longest run until marathon day.