Sean's Running Blog

Walking a lot better now. Haven't dared trying to even jog lightly yet. Seeing the PT again tomorrow.

Saw the PT this morning and he worked me over really well. Things are slowly loosening up. I did try a jog this afternoon and things just weren't ready to go yet. Hopefully tomorrow.

After a painful four days of absolutlely no running, I was able to get 5 good miles in this morning. 36 degrees this morning, the coldest morning by far since last winter.

Everything felt like new this morning but what a sad week of nearly no mileage. I'm almost certainly not going to run the Indianapolis Marathon next month. Just too much time off at a pretty critical time in the training cycle. I may run Memphis instead a month later if I can get out of cross country Nationals commitments.

Next time I'm on pace for 100+ miles in six days, someone please remind me how bad of an idea that is.

Just a gorgeous day. Sunny and low 60s. Perfect running weather. Was shooting for 8-10 today but managed only six. Left calf was not 100%. I can't get a lot of push off on it right now which is frustrating. I was really hoping this could be a full week of good training.

When I woke up this morning, that calf was buggin and I felt like the chances of a run today were near zero. Very depressing...however it felt better as the day went on so I gave it a try. The sunny, mid-60s weather was probably a huge help. Managed to get 8 miles in and felt pretty good. There is still a lot of weakness in the left calf. I can't push off on it 100% but hopefully by next week I can get back into some speed work. Would love to get 10 miles in tomorrow.

Another 10 miles this afternoon under gorgeous skies and warm weather. Went out along the Sammamish River Trail. There is still some weakness in my left calf and I am not able to push off on it as well as with the right. It's not a pain issue. All the pain is gone. It's just a strength issue.

Slowly but surely everything seems to be coming back together. Easy 10 miles today pain free. My calf started cramping twice during the run so I had to stop and breifly stretch it out. It was quite cold this morning so I suspect that was a cause of the cramping. Off to Central Utaj today for a man-cation.

Today I ran 10 miles in the middle of nowhere. I am on an ATV outing with my brothers in law at Hoover's Lodge 5 miles north of Marysvale, UT which is somewhere south of Richfield whihc is somewhere south of Provo. Beautiful mountain country. It was bitter cold this morning though. 25 degrees. Coldest running day of the season. Averaged 6:30 pace without any real effort. 6,000 elevation had no noticeable impact.

A much warmer start to the morning this morning. 38 degrees and sunny although the sun didnt' make it over the mountains until Mile 7 or so. Headed south through Marysvale and a couple miles past the small little town. I'd be surprised if more than 200 people live there.

I shed my coat at Mile 2 which wound up being a bit too early. I went from be overheated to slightly chilled pretty quickly. At the turnaround my left arch started to really bug me. I'm wondering if my new shoes are too high in the arch. I may have to switch back to the Infinitys if that keeps up. It was pretty painful the whole way back. I was just happy to make it back in one piece.

All things considered, a very solid mileage week and a healing left calf. Hopefully with a day off tomorrow the arch will quiet down.

Cool, brisk run along the east side of Lake Sammamish. 49 degrees and pretty windy. Fall is definitely here. My left arch was sore again today but not as bad as Saturday.

Warmer but windier this afternoon which was all the more reason to go back to the east lake Sammamish trail which is fairly protected from the wind. Beautiful day actually, at least when I ran. Left arch still hurting. Not as bad as Saturday but it may impact my ability to push off a bit. Have a 10 mile tempo run tomorrow. That should be interesting.

Well today was the first speed workout in 12 days. I was admitedly nervous going in having no idea how the calf would hold up or where my fitness level was. I had an afternoon meeting in Seattle so I decided to run around Greenlake. I managed to dodge the rain but not the winds. It was quite gusty throughout the run.

Had a good two-mile warmup and then jumped into the workout...a tempo run of 8 miles @ a relatively pedestrian 5:40 pace plus two more miles at 5:20 pace.

The first quarter was in 75 seconds. Oops. First mile was 5:20. Oops. Everything felt surprisingly good although i really only had about 80% lung capacity for some reason. I just couldn't ever seem to get a full deep breath. Anyway, after a brisk first mile, I settled down into the 5:25-5:30 range for the remaining seven miles.

At the start of the 8th mile, my left calf began hurting again to the point that it was impacting my ability to push off on my left leg. The last mile was definitely more work than the previous seven. I made the decision to skip the final two miles to not risk further aggravating a calf that apparently is healed yet.

The good news is I felt great doing the 8 miles from a fitness perspective. Maybe I haven't lost as much as I had feared. However, it was disappointing to have a return of calf issues in the left leg. The cool down was quite tender. I was able to do some good stretching but it's pretty sore.

When I woke up this morning, a run of any distance was not looking good. The calf hurt and I was walking with a slight limp and even when there wasn't a limp, there was noticeable pain. I was pretty certain a run was out of the question.

However, as the day wore on, things felt progressively better to the point that I went for a run at around 3:30 (missing the rain yet again) hoping to get 6 or so miles in. Well, after a slow first mile, everything started feeling better than it had all day and I wound up running 12 miles at a very comfortable 6:37 pace. I was able to get some really good stretching in. It still is sore but not nearly as bad as this morning.

The leg was a bit sore and tender this morning but nothing like yesterday. With crazy wet weather forecast for later this morning, I wanted to get the run done early so I dropped my two older kids off at school and ran a beautiful (rain free) 12 miles through the Tokul Rd area of lower Snoqualmie. Once again, everything felt pretty good. There was mild tenderness and discomfort in the leg but I was able to run 6:40 pace without anything serious issues. Got some good stretching in so hopefully I'm on the mend. Shooting for 14-16 tomorrow.

Had a great workout today: 2x2M @ 5:20. Actually hit 5:16-5:18 on each with 3:30 rest between each 2-mile segment. The only problem is that my calf doesn't really feel any better. I'm not sure I gave it proper time to heal and with nothing super important on the near horizon, I will likely shut it down completely for two weeks to let the thing heal fully. It's a big bummer, but I really want to have a decent indoor season and more importantly, be ready for a vigorous training cycle leading up to Boston in April.

Calf feeling better every day. In fact, no pain at all. The hardest part will be not running next week when it feels like I can but I shouldn't.

I did bike into work today...almost seventeen miles. Have to bike back tonight unless I want to spend the night in my office. I hate biking but it's fitness.

Biked 17 miles back home. The last two miles was up an incredibly brutal hill. 34 miles for the day. Boring but something.  

Was able to get in a chilly but good 20 miles on the bike this morning. One more week of no running. Can't wait.

3 very easy miles today. Felt really good to be out running again. Everything felt fantastic, but it was only 3 miles.

Rode 12 miles on my bike in about 42 minutes and then stretched, changed shoes and went for a really nice 5-miler. Mile 3 was in 6:30. Oops...really was trying to go slower and just take it easy. Stretched the calf really well afterward and everything seems to be back on track. Tomorrow is an off day and then shoot for SLOWLY ramping up mileage next week with a few strides thrown in at some point. Crossing my fingers that all goes well.