Sean's Running Blog

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.