Sean's Running Blog

Ran from Timpview High School down 9th east to check out the start and finish areas of the Provo Freedom Run on Monday. Haven't decided if I am going to run that yet. Down to Center St. and then up University to meet the family at Provo High School so the kids could run around the track. BTW...the PHS track is in terrible shape. They are due for a resurfacing. But the kids had fun and we beat the heat of the day. Even had a couple of rain drops. Just for fun I ran a 5:00 mile to see what it would feel like at the higher altitude. It was harder than it should have been but to be honest, I think it had a lot more to do with having run a half marathon on Saturday then the altitude.

Easy nine miles from Timpview HS up Provo Canyon. BTW...I don't think I have ever seen a trail with more painted mile markers than the Provo Canyon trail.

Most of the family joined me today for the Sandy 5k/10k near Sandy city hall. Overall a good experience. To be honest, I ran it solely to try and win the $100. I'm still very much in recovery mode from Saturday's half marathon so my plan was to run just fast enough to win.

The course is mostly flat but there is one steady uphill and one short and steep uphill section. Nothing major. The wind was more of a factor than the hills. There has been a lot of wind here the last few days. Since there were no mile markers for the 10k, I don't really have any splits. The 10kers run the 5k course twice. There's a lot to like about two lap courses and some things not to like. It makes for a lot of dodging and weaving but it's a good mental way to break up the race especially in the absence of mile markers.

After the first mile, I led the whole way. I avoided looking over my shoulder for the first lap once I got into the lead. No point really. Lots of running ahead and I just wanted to focus on running my race. The course is completely closed to traffic which is nice. There is no chip timing which is silly but not a big deal for those in the front. More of a nightmare for the race organizers.

I forgot to hit my lap button at the one lap mark so unforutnately, i don't know how the two 5ks compared. I wish I did. I suspect the second one was slower because it was on the second lap that I really started to feel both the elevation (4500 ft.) and the effects of Saturday's half marathon. Feeling good during easy runs like I did all week has no relevance to how you feel when you run hard. At about mile 4 -- amid the hilly section -- I looked back and my competition was only about 25 yards back. I was really hoping he wasn't that close. I questioned for a moment whether I would be able to hold on. But it turns out that once we got out of the hills, I had actually increased the gap.

By Mile 6 or so you turn onto Centennial Blvd for the final straightaway. It was a pretty strong headwind, but I looked back and I was well ahead of the second place guy so I didn't do any kind of crazy sprint to the finish which made me happy.

So I ended up with a 33:01...would have been nice to have a 32:xx but no worries. I probably won't jump into the Provo Freedom Run on Monday. Calves a still pretty sore and I don't think I will do that well.

Opted out of the Freedom Festival 10k. Just not ready to do anything meaningful. Instead ran a beautiful 12 miles in the Saratoga Springs area. Crazy how much that area has developed since I left Utah 10 years ago. Back to Seattle tonight.

Back in Seattle and under clear blue skies and warm temps. Summer is finally here! Enjoyed a nice late evening run. Nice to be back but missing the family who is still in Utah.

A toasty day today. I ran again in the afternoon so it was the heat of the day. But it beats rain. an from home down the parkway through the Tokul Rd. area and then back up. Nice and slow run.

Another lovely run on a glorious weather day. Hope it's not this warm for the race on Saturday.

A short run this morning in prep for tomorrow's Run of the Mill 5k.

Well this was the first 5k I have run in some time. I don't really like 5ks because I just don't have the foot speed to be all that competitive. But this event serves as the PNTF 5k road championships so I thought I would give it a whirl again.

As such, there was some pretty good competition today. Mike Sayenko was there as well as Jordan McNamara, a standout distance guy from the University of Oregon. Then there were several other local guys like myself all vying for third place.

The course itself is fairly challenging. The first mile is almost all uphill. Nothing insanely steep, but a very definite steady uphill climb for the entire mile. Tactically, this is a very difficult place to have an uphill mile. On one hand, you don't want to kill yourself getting up it jeaopardizing the rest of the race, but on the other hand, if you take it too easy, you only have two more miles to make it up. Sayenko and McNamara bolted for the lead even faster than I thought they would. They were out of sight by the first mile and ended up in a near photo finish at the end in something like 14:30. Insanely fast, especially for the course.

Back to the rest of us mortals...I decided to attack the first mile and came across it in 5:05 which was faster than I expected. At this point I was battling back and forth with Matt Sheeks, Phil Olson, Josh Ricardi and David McCullough. At the Mile 1 mark I was feeling pretty good considering the relatively quick start. After a few twists and turns we headed for a 1/4 mile stretch that was a steady downhill...not my forte. I'm a better uphill runner and Matt Sheeks recognized that and played it to his advantage. About halfway down the downhill stretch he bolted by me and didn't stop bolting. He quickly gapped me by about 30 meters or so. I crossed Mile 2 in 5:08...a little disappointing considering it should have been a faster mile than the first one. I clearly need to get better and taking advantage of downhills.

The next half mile ran along a paved bike path with a few rollers and some twists and turns. It was very clear that I was the better uphill runner and Sheeks the better downhill runner. I would gain on him a little at each uphill and he would do the same on each downhill. With about a mile to go, you return to the main road and begin the steady downhill stretch that we came up on mile 1. Again, I didn't feel all that tired. I simply couldn't turnover my legs any faster. So I easily held off all the competition behind me but didn't catch Sheeks settling for 4th and a time of 15:43. Not bad for the course but I was hoping for a 15:30. If I had been about to stay with Sheeks I think we would have both pushed each other to a sub 15:30. Oh well. I have raced three weekends in a row now so I need to take a couple weeks off from racing and rest up a bit while still getting in some good speed training.

Ran another nine miles to my parents house after the raise. Hot!

Next up is the Seafair Torchlight 8k on the 31st. It's my favorite race in WA.    

A major cooldown today. Thick overcast and temps in the 50s. As a sign of protest, I put on a long sleeve shirt, gloves and wore my knee-high compression socks. As with most protests, this one was a bit overdone. Gloves came off after the second mile. Had they been as easy to remove, the socks would have come off too and the long sleeve shirt. Oh well. My rebellion made for a toasty run.

A bit of a industrial/urban run this afternoon. I had a meeting in Bellevue this evening after work so I ran before that meeting down 148th and back up 156th. Too many stoplights and way too much traffic for my liking. Oh well. You run when you can where you can. That's the beauty of running. Portability.

First track workout in a while. 5x1200m @3:45 on 2:00 rest. It was pretty warm and a bit breezy but that's what i get for waiting until the mid afternoon to run.

Results:

3:43

3:45

3:45

3:48

What about the 5th rep? Well, I had some intestinal issues that sidelined me. Once I took care of those, I got back on the track and started on the final rep but something didn't feel right with the hammy so I just called it quits from there. No need to be a hero.

Long cool down of 7 miles.

Lovely run through Snoqualmie Ridge on a gorgeous evening.

13+ miles from my house down the Snoqualmie River Trail to Remlinger farms where I met the fam for some raspberry picking. To be honest, it was beautiful, but I realized that running on gravel for 10 miles is hard and undesireable.

Cool start to the morning. Warmup and then hit the track for a 3x2M tempo workout. Three minutes of rest between each rep. Goal was 10:22. Hit 10:20, 10:21 and 10:21. Felt pretty good. Ideal conditions. Cool and no wind.

Highest mileage total in some time. Would be great to maintain this for the rest of the summer

My goal running his afternoon was to run a bunch of miles without ever going down the same street yet staying on Snoqualmie Ridge. So I enjoyed some good old fashioned pavement with a healthy dose of beautiful trail running. Nice run today.

Nice easy run on a cool, foggy morning. Yummy.

Unfortunately I didn't get to the track until the warmth of the day arrived. I didn't exactly miss the breeze either. Workout was 7x1000m in 3:05-3:06 on 2:00 rest. The flag at the school was perfectly limp for the first three and then the breezes came in as the temperature climbed. And of course with 1000m reps, you are alternating back and forth between having an extra 200m against the wind versus with the wind.

Times were:

3:04

3:05

3:06

3:05

3:05

3:07

3:13

Oops on the last one. Had some restroomish issues between the 6th and 7th reps which made for an uncomfortable and slower final rep. No biggie.

I'm reminded of how any heat whatsoever (meaning 70+) causes me to wilt very quickly. In many parts of the country, you can't avoid 70 degrees even running at 3am. So we are blessed up here to have such temperate climate but running hard in 70+ heat just makes me wilt. Not a complaint, just a fact of life.

Now I get to go outside and enjoy the almost 80-degree weather. Need some lemonade.

Late evening run on the Ridge. Saw a beautiful black bear about 30 feet away. He bolted for the forest. I think it's the first time I have encountered a bear while running. Pretty cool. Glad it wasn't a mountain lion though.

Dropped my car off at Les Schwab in North Bend this morning and then headed for the hills for a gorgeous run somewhere out in the middle of nowhere. It was awesome. Me and nature and only a random vehicle passing by. I'll have to go back and look at the mao to see where I actually was.

Today I was supposed to do my final workout before the Torchlight run in Saturday evening. But to do so, I had to wake up at 5:30 and be at the track by 6 so I could get to work in time this morning. Well, combine that with the consumption of a ridiculous amount of food last night and my body was going no where this morning.

The workout was to be a repeat of last week's 7x1000m except with only 60 seconds rest instead of two minutes. I could not even do one. That's how bad it was. I tried twice and couldn't even do one. So I just went for a jog and will try again tomorrow. I really wanted another day between my workout and the race on Saturday but oh well. Now I have to wait until tomorrow night after returning from my son's scout camp.

After a poor night's sleep on a rock hard A-frame bed at Scout camp, and a full day of trying to keep scouts from killing themselves and one another, I got to the track back home around 6:30pm. Fortunately, the hottest part of the day was past, but it was still in the low 70s with just a hint of a breeze.

I was pretty doubtful about my second attempt at yesterday's workout. 7x1000m @3:08 on just 60 seconds rest.

Splits were as follows:

3:06, 3:07, 3:08, 3:06, 3:08, 3:06, 3:06. I was totally shocked. After six I almost had to call it quits due to some restroom issues, but I perservered and made it through a challenging workout at the end of a long day. What a difference 36 hours makes.

Only had time for 10 today. Everything felt really good after a challenging workout yesterday. Feeling ready for Torchlight on Saturday evening. 

8 easy ahead of tomorrow's race

An absolutely beautiful evening for a run in downtown Seattle. Seafair Torchlight remains my favorite race in Washington. There is just none other like it. No where else do you get to have a Boston-like experience for about a mile as you travel down 4th Ave with parade onlookers cheering.

The course this year changed quite a bit so the 4th Ave section was actually at the beginning instead of the end. Kind of a bummer, but it was still a bit surreal.

The race was televised locally which was kind of cool. I led the 10k from about the 1/4 mile mark through Mile 1 which we crossed in 5:05 or so. Pretty quick considering it was almost all uphill and into the wind. I actually felt pretty tired at that point and wondered if I had gone a bit too fast. I also wasn't thrilled with taking all the wind but no one else wanted to jump ahead.

After Mile 1 we turned down to the viaduct down two VERY steep hills. Ridiculously steep hills. The kind I really, really despise. The gentle uphill back to the viaduct was most welcome at that point. There was no mile 2 marker so I have no idea what we did it in. I assume it was sun 5:00. It felt like it.

At around the 2 mile mark, my good friend Destry Johnson passed me pretty aggressively and put a good 10 yard gap on the rest of us. As we approached the turnaround, we reeled him in. By this time there were basically four of us all in a pack. But then Destry just gapped us hard. Before I knew it, was was 20 yards ahead gaining.

We were probably around Mile 3 at this point and that's when Brett Winegar and Jesse Williams made a move to gap me as well. This was my defining mental moment in the race. I knew I couldn't let the move go unchallenged. The good news was we were just entering a mild uphill part...my specialty. So I made my move and it went unasnwered from Brett. Jesse stayed on my tail. Destry was gone. It was a race for second.

With about a mile togo we entered the tunnel. There was an eerie silence. The only thing I could hear was Jesse right on my tail and Brett a little ways back.

As we exited the tunnel, there was a little less than 1/2 mile to go and Jesse and I really picked it up. I generally don't like to get into a foot race with people because I am not particularly quick.

By this time we had merged with the 5k runners. There were two turns left. Unfortunately for Jesse, he got stuck on the outside. I took my chances passing people on the inside. Heading into the final turn with about 200-300 meters to go, we were in a dead heat. But on the final turn I took the inside and made a huge surge which Jesse wasn't able to match. It felt so good. I would have loved to win but today was Destry's day and I couldn't be more happy for him.

After every race I spend the next several hours if not days going back and rehearsing what i could have done differently. With this one, I don't think there was much. I don't think I could have gone with Destry when he made his move at the turnaround. I wish i could have, but it would have likely ended up in a flameout in the end.

So all in all, I am pretty happy. Nothing wrong with second place, especially with it being a nailbiter to the end. 24:31 was the official time. 4:55 pace and a 30 second PR.

Seriously though...how hard is it to have mile markers.