Sean's Running Blog

10 miler this morning through marymoor park and along the Sammamish River Trail. The first 1/2 mile was sunny and warm. The next nine were in a pouring down rain squall but still warm. Last half mile was warm and sunny. We must be getting close to spring.

Evening run was at home. Avoided the rain.

Well...today was humbling. I worked out at the Dempsey Indoor with three of the four fastest guys in the state today: Uli Steidl, John Timeus and Mike Sayenko. Man they are fast.

The workout we did was particularly challenging: 2000m w/3:00 rest, 1600m w/3:00 rest, 1200m w/2:00 rest, 800m w/2:00 rest. Their goal was to run each set starting at 70 second laps dropping one second per 400m with each cutdown in distance. So 70s for the 2000m, 69s for the 1600m and so on. In other words...fast.

I knew going in that I would need to add a couple of second to that which is what I did. I did the 2000m in 5:58 (4:48 pace); the 1600m in 4:43 (4:44 pace); the 1200m in 3:33 (4:45 pace) and the 800 in 2:20 (4:41 pace).

I was wasted at the end. Hopefully not too wasted to recover in time for my 5,000m race at the same location on Saturday. I am admittedly doubtful that breaking 15:00 is doable but we shall see.

12 slower than normal miles this morning in cool but dry weather. First mile was in 8:15 or so and I didn't get below seven until the final 6 miles. My glute is showing signs of flaring up to I'm taking an extra long time to warm up especially when running early in the morning. Going to see the PT today. My left quad is also tender and I'm not sure why.

Woke up to snow this morning so waited until lunch to run. Nice easy run along Lake Sammamish. A cool 40 degrees but the rain had stopped. Saw the PT last night as I feel like I'm on the brink of another glute injury like this time last year. Someday I will learn that hitting 100 miles is bad news for me. This week was going to be a shorter week anyway because of my 5,000m run at the UW on Saturday but I will probably stay in the mid-80s for the rest of the season. The fewer10-15 miles will allow me more time to do the stretching and strength work I need to do to stay free of injury. 100+ mile weeks mean nothing if you get injured doing it.

Just a few miles this afternoon in prep for my 5000m race tomorrow at the UW. Gorgeous weather today. I went to the Redmond HS track to try out my spikes as I'm contemplating whether or not to use them or my racing flats. The first couple of laps they felt weird but I got used to them. I will probably go with them as I will need every bit of help I can get.

I was pretty nervous going into today and not exactly confident of meeting my goal of sub-15 minute 5000m.

The UW hosted a "Last Chance" meet to help mostly local collegiates qualify for next weeks indoor NCAA championships.

The Dempsey Indoor is a wonderful facility. 307 meters of fast track and temperate climate. I decided to go with the spikes and I am glad I did.

Warmed up for a couple miles outside with some other guys from the race. It's great to see people you know but don't get a chance to train with much. There were about 15 or so in the race. They stacked us two deep in a waterfall start. The start was 88 meters from the finish line so once we got to the finish line it was 16 laps from there. 1/4 mile splits were given but I had already committed to tracking my own splits after each lap (307 meters). I wanted to be right around 54 seconds per lap which would be 14:45.

Here are my split times:

53.91
55.2
54.13
54.7
55.78
54.03
54
55.03
55.77
54.6
55.53
54.85
55
54.77
2:02.0

I missed the last two so the 2:02 was for the final 702 meters which was 4:39 pace.

So I was very pleased with my consistency. I didn't get caught up in anyone else's race but my own. The lead pack went out fast from the get go which was fine with me. I wasn't there for place, I was there for time. Fortunately, there was a pack of 4-5 of us that hung together for most of the race. I wanted to make a move with about 6 laps to go but waited until four laps to go. This turned out to be a mistake of sorts and I had quite a bit left in the tank at the end. Experience is huge in these races and I don't have any. It's only my second race at this distance and first ever on a track of any sort. 15:35 was my PR on the road so I can be nothing but excited about how things went today.

That said, there is always something to learn. I feel like I could have pretty easily shaved another second per lap off of my time. I never at any point went anaerobic in the race which was also a mistake. On the final lap I really didn't have anyone pushing me from behind or pulling me from ahead so I was all alone which makes it hard to really put in a good kick at the end.

The indoor season is now over but I hope to do more of it next year. I really think I have a decent shot at 14:30. I'm pretty excited for the 10,000m I will run next month in Bellingham with another good pack of guys to run with. Hoping to break 31:00 there.