Sean's Running Blog

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.