Sean's Running Blog

A fairly mild mostly dry morning. I ran from Centennial Park around Mill pond and then off to North Bend before returning to the Park. Few cars. Nice run.

Crazy warm today. 49 degrees with some drizzle. I WAY overdressed. Gloves and hat came off quickly. Weird to have it this warm in early January. Thank El Nino I guess.

Talked to my coach today and I'm starting to get excuted about the next few months of training. I will be doing a short speed workout tomorrow hoping that by next week I can jump back into two speed workouts per week. Also next week I get to start training in the Dempsey Indoor. My fav.

A classic wet and dreary NW winter day. Not too cold. Not pouring rain. No sunshine. I ran from work to an appointment I had in Bellevue. My wife dropped me back at work. Bellevue and Redmon streets alays confuse me. I was totally lost and at one point had to check with my watch to see if I was going North or South. Yikes.

I lucked out and managed to arrive on time.

Well today was a gorgeous, mostly sunny ann unseasonably warm day. What better time to try my first speed work since my race injury on December 12th. I wasn't so sure today was going to be the day after beginning my two-mile warmup. Last night I did the "mother of all P90x workouts" as they call it. It was a Plyometrics workout that really worked the calves. Note to self: never do a speed workout the day following a plyos workout. I was stiff and tight the entire warmup but decided to do the workout anyway.

The workout was basically a 5-mile tempo run. 1M @ 5:12 with the next 3 miles at 5:26 with the final mile being in 5:12.

The first mile was in 5:17. Oh well. The next three miles wereall 2-4 seconds faster than 5:26. The 5th mile didn't happen.I was completely gassed nd winded and my calves were pretty sore. No sense in risking injury so I backed off and skipped the final mile.

I was diappointed but not surprised that such a basic workout was so challenging. I haven't been able to put together two weeks worth of speed workouts in three months so I can't really expect to be setting the pavement afire. I'm hoping to stay injury free and get back into racing shape over the next month or so. I picked up a god 5-7 pounds during the holidays so getting back to race weight should help too.

Another beautiful and relatively warm afternoon. 49 degrees. The wind was ragin for a third straight day at home but not in Redmond along the East Lake Sammamish Trail. I felt a lot better today than yesterday.

While running along the trail I saw the coolest thing. I saw two bald eagles come swooping down to the ground. Some feathers ruffled and fur was flying so I assume the eagles found lunch. Seeing eagles around here isn't uncommon but I hadn't seen them on the hunt much before and when I have it's been over water in search of fish. After grabbing its meal, one of them flew right over my head about 15 feet above. For a brief moment I was a bit frightened thinking he my attempt to air lift me with his mean nasty talons.

10 easy miles along Lake Sammamish trail. I little breezy but pretty warm at 48 degrees.

I breezy day again but nothing like it has been at home during much of the week. Ran from Centennial Park around Mill Pond and then past the HS to North Bend and then back to the high school. Lots of exposure to the wind which made it a tiny chilly.

After diluvial rainfall for most of the day, I broke away from work around 3:30 and went for a run along Lake Sammamish and the Sammamish River. Not a drop. And it was warm. Almost Floridian. 52 degrees and no gloves. Everything still feels pretty good. Planning on a workout sometime tomorrow although my schedule may put that into question.

Couldn't break away until very late this afternoon but managed to sneak in 10+ miles before rushing to my son's basketball practice. Rained most of the run but it was again very warm...mid 50s which is just crazy warm for this time of year. Thank you Mr. El Nino. Track workout tomorrow.

Well, I couldn't possibly have picked a wetter day to do a workout. It just poured all day and during my run was no different. I got a very late start -- 4:00pm. With pitch dark coming at 5pm I knew I would be runninf back in the dark. So I bolted for Redmond HS which is 3.7 miles from work including a monster hill too steep for hill workouts. Was already drenched upon arrival. Shoes schlosshing with water and all.

Workout was 400m-400m-800m three times except dropping the final 800m. Goal was 69s for the 400s and 2:26 for the 800s.

1st – 70, 70, 2:26

2nd – 70, 70, 2:30

3rd -- 73, 71

 A touch slower than I wanted but I finished it under ridiculously soaking conditions and did it injury free.

As I was running back to work, I realized that I would not have been wetter if I were swimming underwater. Ugh

Another day of warmth but just drenching rain. We're almost triple the average rainfall for the month to date. As much as I hate running in drenching rain, at least it's not snowing...or worse...raining and 35 degrees. Everything seems to feel pretty good after last night's speed workout.

I managed to miss the rain until the last two miles and even then it wasn't bad. Nice and warm again -- 47 degrees -- although it felt cooler than that. Ran along Lake Sammamish again. Didnt see another runner until eight miles in.

I'm officially registered for Boston. They were giving me a hard time because I didn't have a qualifying marathon time in the 18-month window. That was because I didn't finish a marathon in timeframe. I gave them my Indy Mini sub 1:08 time and that seemed to work for the elite entry. So I'm working now toward Boston.

Today brought the end to my first full week of solid productive training in at least two months. I woke up early for a church meeting and then around 9am headed out for my run. It was supposed to be a soaker today but instead, it was a partly sunny, wind-free 36-degree morning...near perfect for a track workout.

I ran from home to the MSHS track -- exactly 4 miles. I wore running pants because it was quite a bit colder than what I had run in all week and I was having flashbacks to that bitter cold morning last month when I pull my hammy in that race in Kent. So mostly as a precaution i put on the pants. After stretching and doing a couple of warm up laps at the track, I shed the pants and jacket and began the workout: 2x2M @5:12 with four minutes active rest. By this time, it was almost completely sunny...still chilly but no wind.

For the first time since my race in December, I felt REALLY good during hard running.

First mile was in 5:09. Second was in 5:11. I was feeling really good and had developed a solid rhythmn through that rep. The four minutes rest seemed to long so at 3:30, I was ready to go for the second rep. Mile 1 was in 5:11 and Mile 2 was in 5:09. I felt really good and probably could have done another rep but was happy to have completed a solid workout feeling strong and injury free.

To be clear, this wasn't a super crazy hard workout. It was fairly short and the times weren't blistering, but as I work my way back into shape it was the perfect workout physically and mentally.

The jog back home took me back up Snoqualmie Parkway. The clouds started to roll in and the wind picked up a bit making it a bit chilly but toally manageable. It helped that I had nailed a solid workout for the first time in a while.

Hopefully I'm getting back on track.

Today was probably one of the most enjoyable runs I have had in a long time. The forecast for today was rain. So I packed all the normal rain stuff. But it never rained. In fact, when I went for my run around 2pm today, it was bright sunshine 60 degrees and a light breeze. Truly unseasonably warm weather. Unfortunately, the coolest thing I had to wear was a long sleeve tech shirt. It never crossed my mind to bring a short sleeve.

Anyway..it was a beautiful and enjoyable run through Marymoor park and then up to Woodinville before crossing over Education and back down into Redmond. I love it when weathermen blow their forecasts this badly.

Another warm but windy day today. 61 degrees in January is sick. Out and back along the East Lake Sammamish Trail. I was going to do my speed workout today but opted to take my chances on better wind conditions tomorrow.

Well so much for a day with less wind. The gamble didn't pay off. 51 degrees when I hit the track this morning at 9:00am. Winds steady at 15mph with gusts up to 29mph. Our city's weather station is right at the high school so I always have a pretty good idea of what the weather is when I do track workouts there.

The workout was 5x1k @3:00-3:04 (4:48-4:52 mile pace) with 3:30 rest between each. To be totally honest, I was expecting more like 3:10s with the wind.

I felt pretty good when I got to the track but was setting expectations pretty low.

#1 -- 2:58

#2 -- 3:00

#3 -- 3:04

#4 -- 3:07

#5 -- 3:04

I could not have been more pleased with a workout. I think the 2:58 was indicative of what I could have done all 5 reps at if I had been able to do them in the Dempsey indoor track on Tuesday like I had originally planned. I only missed on one rep and considering how suboptimal  the winds were, I am very pleased. I think I am making good progress on getting back into racing shape and I have almost a month free of injury. Now if I can just get rid of the extra five pounds still left over from the down time, then I will be in even better shape.

Another lovely afternoon for a run. 61 degrees and overcast with light winds. A little tight to start but to be expected after yesterday's workout.

Just about time to retire this pair of Ravennas. They have been a good shoe.

A bit cooler today but just as beautiful. 50 degrees and sunshine along the Sammamish River trail. 10M tempo run tomorrow before a deserved rest day on Sunday

Well our string of dry warm weather officially ended this morning. Light rain fell during the entire run and temps hovered around 40. Fortunately there was no wind.

The workout was a tempo run of 7M@5:35 and then 3M@5:12. The 5:35s were easy although it was kind of a weird pace to run. All 7 miles were in the 5:30-5:35 range. I felt like I could have run all day at that pace. The final three miles were in 5:12, 5:16 and 5:12. Those definitely took some effort. I had forgotten how difficult it is to run fast when tired. Normally when I do a threshold cutdown, my coach will have me stairstep it down four-6 seconds per mile every couple of miles. This time, I went from 5:35 to 5:12 in one fell swoop which shaving 6 seconds off per lap. This is challenging and a difficult change of pace especially when you develop a rhythmn for the previous 7 miles.

But it's a very useful workout as it teaches your body to run tired.

I debated all morning whether to do the workout on the track or on the roads. I finally opted for the track. 40 laps around the track pretty much bites but it's where I felt most comfortable even though is began to feel very treadmillish by the end.

Good workout. A solid week of running.

A good start to the week. It was my first workout of the season at the Dempsey Indoor. I think it was 100 degrees inside...not much warmer than outside frankly.

Even though I did a different workout than everyone else and did it alone, it was nice to be around other people. Makes things go by quicker.

Workout was 9x400m @66-68. The first and the last were 66s and the others were 67s and 68s. Note to self: don't run the first 200 meters in 30 seconds or you will die on the back half. I actually jumped in to one of the 800m repeats everyone else was doing and did that in 2:22 which I was pretty happy with considering I had just run my guts our doing 400s.

Did my cooldown with a running buddy of mine Ben Mangrum and before I knew it, I had logged 14 miles for the day. Good start to the week.

50 degrees and mostly sunny this afternoon. Mayuary continues. In fact, barring something unforeseen, it will go down as the warmest January in Seattle history. What's really, truly weird is we haven't a single night of temps below freezing. Crazy unusual. Loving El Nino right now.

My joints were pretty achy from last night's workout. I think it will be Friday before i do my next one. Nice run though thorough Marymoor Park and along the Sammamish River Trail.

A rare mid-week morning run. A bit chilly but absolutely gorgeous. I don't think there was a cloud in the sky as the sun rose this morning.

Joints felt less achy and the morning chill didn't seem to slow me down to much.

55 degrees under overcast skies this afternoon. Pretty soone 50 is going to seem downright frigid. Ran along Lake Sammamish and then through Marymoor Park. Speed workout tomorrow.

I'm a bit of a weather geek. Always have been. So here's an interesting stat about our weather here in Seattle this month:

Number of mornings we've stayed in the 40s:  23

Number of mornings we've dropped below freezing:  0

On average, Seattle drops below freezing 13-15 times each January. We are two days away from shattering the all-time average temperature record for the month of January. So if you live in San Diego or LA and are tired of the cool rainy weather, you might try warm and dry Seattle.

52 degrees when I arrived at the Redmond HS track for my workout. Thin overcast and no wind.

I managed to forget my racing flats so i was stuck doing the workout in my trainers.

The workout was 2x1.5M @ 5:04 pace which pencils out to be 7:36 for the six laps.

First rep was in 7:30 (5:00 pace). Each lap felt very comfortable.

Four minute rest jog

Second rep was in 7:35. For some reason my fifth lap on this rep was a real bummer because I was on pace at the mile for closer to a 7:30-31. But regardless, beat my times and felt pretty relaxed doing it. I feel like I had a small fitness breakthrough today as I inch back into shape.

On the way back, I stopped by REI in Redmond and tried on a pair of Five Fingers. Ummm...weird. Thinking about buying a pair.

Light rain an cool this morning. A crazy day schedule wise so i got an early, pre-dawn start. Felt really good to log 18+ miles. First time in a while.

Another Monday means another workout at the Dempsey Indoor. I had eight or so guys to run with tonight. Oh what a difference that makes. Of course running in 65 degree temps with no wind helps too.

Workout was 7x1000m in 3:00-3:03 on 90 seconds rest. I led the first two and we crossed in 3:00 and 3:01. Felt good. John Timeus led the next two and I was happy to sit back and draft behind everyone else. 3:00 and 3:01 for those two. Then things got interesting. Let's just say the bowels were not exactly cooperating. After #4 I had to visit the restroom. Managed to hustle back to the start just in time to begin #5. That one was tougher as I continued to have intestinal issues. Finished in 3:02 and then sprinted to the restroom for visit #2. Pardon the pun. Again managed to get back to the start of #6 to join the crew but halfway in dropped due to continuing issues. I waited for them to finish #6 and then joined them for #7 (my #6) This one went well. I finished in 2:57 which was at least five seconds back of the leader. They were smokin. They were done but I didn't want to finish one rep short so I did #7 on my own and finished in 3:02. Cooled down outside and seemed to be rid of the intestinal issues although I was pretty tired.

56 degrees and sunny. Just absolutely beautiful. Ran along the Sammamish River Trail before heading back to Marymoor park where I ran one mile barefoot on the soccer fields. Felt really good to take the shoes off.

Only had time for 10 today but at least I avoided the rain.

A threshold cutdown workout today at Redmond HS. 4 miles from work to the track and then 5 miles around it plus one more mile barefoot.

The workout was in a 1:2:2:1 format in 5:28, 5:20, 5:12. 5:04. It was beautiful weather but quite windy so I scrapped the final mile since the 5:12s were proabably 5:04 effort when factoring in the wind.

Hit 5:28, 5:20, 5:20, 5:12 then closed out with a 5:08. Then ran one mile around the track barefoot. Felt good.

Hill workout tomorrow.

Today I did a workout I don't think I have ever done before. It was a hill workout but instead of the usual short bursts of 1 or 2 minutes, it was 4x10 minutes with the rest simply being the return to the bottom of the hill.

I ran out of hill at 1.7 miles so I didn't quite make it to 10 minutes. My goal was 6:00 pace given the 6% grade but actually managed 5:45 or so. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to do the 4 reps so I only got in two. Good workout though. Long run tomorrow morning early before jumping on an long flight to Germany.

18 wonderful miles early this morning. Very windy but a mild 48 degrees at 6am. Off to Germany for the week. Looking forward to running elsewhere but not looking forward to the sub-freezing temps.

21 degrees and light snow this morning in Hamburg. Woke up at 1am local time and never really fell back asleep so by 5am I decided to venture out and go for my run. I was amazed and happy that there was such little traffic from 5-6:30 am in Germany's seconds largest metro area. The sidewalks are completely iced over so I had to run in the roads which made the light traffic very nice indeed. For the most part I didn't get lost but if you looked at my route map you might think otherwise. Basically, I never knew exactly where I was but I knew the general area. I was surprised how well I adjusted to the cold weather. Our winter has been so mild in Seattle this year that I didn't know how well by body would respond.

Interesting morning run. Woke up to fresh snow with temps in the low 20s. Some streets were very icy and some we perfectly fine. Unfortunately, the ones that were fine turned out to be in the Reeperbahn section of town. I've never focused my eyes on the pavement in front of me with such intensity. I was planning on doing a fartlek workout (3x 10 minutes at threshold pace) but the roads made it difficult plus I got an hour later start this morning which meant mor cars were on the roads. That said, I tried anyway. Did the first one and got started on the second before being pulled over by the Polezei halfway through. It was pretty funny. They informed me that it's not OK to run in the streets of Hamburg. I pointed to the sidewalks which all have 3 inches of ice on them and their response was "Yes...this is a problem." But nevertheless, they would allow me to run in the streets and resisting the urge to get arrested, I decided to abandon the workout, and finish up on the hotel treadmill. Ugh...forutnatelt, i has only four more miles to do. My plan is to try the workout again tomorrow but wake up an hour earlier and hope the roads are better and that there are fewer cars to compete with.

So the plan for this morning was to do the workout I was in the middle of yesterday when stopped by my favorite Polezie. That was before I woke up to a few inches of new snow and heavy snow falling. No worries. I would just do six or so outside and head back to the hotel to do the fartlek on the treadmill. That was great except the workout room doesn't open until 6:15. It was 5:30. Ugh.

So I just went back out and ran and ran and ran. It was fun to run in the snow. First time this year. I guess I will plan my workout for tomorrow.

A downright balmy morning at 29 degrees. Light snow, strong wind and sloppy slushy streets made for the most unpleasant run of my stay here.

The best part was actually my fartlek run on the treadmill. The plan was 3x10 minutes at 5:15 with 3 mins rest between each. It was my first ever workout on a treadmill and it wasn't nearly as bad as I suspected. The biggest problem was the hot and humid nature of the room. I did the first two reps in 5:08-5:10 pace. I was sweating profusely but wasn't cooling at all which had me concerned. So five minutes in to the final 10 minute rep I called it quits. I was starting to get lightheaded and dizzy so I was actually fearing some overheating problems. So I just bailed on the final 5 minutes and finished up with four miles outside in the sloppy mess.

Planning on a long run tomorrow morning early before heading off to Berlin for a couple of days. There is a track within 1k of my hotel there so i am hoping it is open so I can do some 1200m repeats on Saturday.

Got up early (4:30am) to get my run in before heading to Berlin. Balmy morning with light winds, 30 degrees and no snow. Best part was the roads were mostly clear of previous snowfalls so running was pretty safe. Off to Berlin where I hope to get an interval workout in.

Well, I had every intention of running on the beautiful track about 1000m from my hotel...until I discovered it was buried in more than a foot of snow. So...I got to do my interval workout on the treadmill again. Yippee. 5x1200m in 3:38 with 90 seconds rest. Only problem is the treadmill, as nice as it was, only went to 4:58/mile pace which had me doing 1200s in 3:43 or so. So I upped the incline a bit and shortened the rest to help make up for it. Again, the room was warm so i had to bury my head under cold running water in the middle of the workout just to cool off.

Ran for another six miles afterward through the embassy section of Berlin. A beautiful morning. First time I have run in daylight in several days.

Today will be a very long day. Since the last thing I will feel like doing when I get home at 4pm PST is go for a run, i decided to wake up super early before my flight from Hamburg to Seattle. 12 miles of laps through the airport at 3:30am Hamburg time. Can't wait to get back to sunny, warm Seattle.

Sooooo good to be back home. The day kind of got away from me so didn't start my run until late which gave me limited time. I was expecting a bit of a jet lag lethargy when running today but there wasn't any.

Another gorgeous and mild winter day, almost perfect for a speed workout on the track. Headed to Redmond HS which is an automatic 4 mile warmup. The workout was mile repeats...four of them on two minutes rest at 5:00-5:02 pace. I was admitedly worried about being able to hit those times, but despite a bit of a wind, was able to go 4:59, 4:59, 4:59, 4:58. I probably could have done another but was plenty happy to stop at four.

I know I sound like a broken record, but the weather continues to be insanely nice. 62 degrees with not even a cloud in the sky...and it's still February. So I took off in my sunglasses and short-sleeved shirt and headed out for a wonderful run this afternoon.

A chilly, but beautiful morning run from home this morning. Cloudless sunrise.

Another chilly but beautiful morning for a run. Got started around six ahead of the sunrise and headed for the Mt Si track for a mid run workout. 5M@ 5:16 pace. Hit 5:17 on the first one, then 5:16. 5:16. 5:14 and finished strong with a 5:08. Then a 10 minute jog followed by 5x150m hard. Then finished up with 8+ miles to notch my first 20-mile run on way too long.

I'm in Carlsbad for a work conference and had the privilege of running in chilly, rainy SoCal. It actually didn't rain much during the run but there was a strong onshore breeze which kept things perfectly cool. Turns our more than half of my run was along the Carlsbad Marathon route. not exactly a flat or fast marathon.

A gorgeous day in San Diego but a bummer of a workout. There are just days where you don't have it and today was one of those days. I jogged over to the UC San Diego track for my 7x800m workout. Goal was 2:21 on 90 seconds rest.

2:21, 2:22, 2:22, 2:24, 2:26, 2:30, 2:29. Just ugly. But I've learned everyone has a bad workout here and there and if they say they don't they are either lying or their workouts aren't hard enough. The important thing was I stuck with it and didn't quit. It would have been easy to.

Things got even more interesting on the way home. I took a slightly different way back to my hotel and what was supposed to be a 12-14 mile run turned in to 20+. San Diego is full of hills and valleys and apparently I got on the wrong side of one of the valleys and before I knew it, I was a lot farther from my hotel than I thought and had no short way to get back. Fortunately, I had brought some money with me so I could buy a water. But I was pretty dehydrated when i got back.

Only had time for 10 this afternoon. It poured for the last four miles of the run but the prize was a lovely set of rainbows.

Ran through a steady rain this afternoon. Fortunately it was relatively warm.

Managed to get a workout in between rain episodes. Ran a 7M tempo cutdown in 2:2:2:1 format in 5:28; 5:20; 5:12 and 5:04. Hit all of my times. I was especially hapyp about hitting 5:04 on Mile 7. Part B of the plan was to jog 3 miles or so before doing 10x1-minute hills on 2:00 rest. By the time I got to the hill I could tell 10x was going to be too many. My legs were pretty shot and it didn't help that the weather was starting to move in and it felt like the temp dropped 10 degrees in a matter of minutes. So I did 5 instead and then headed home.

Good workout today. 5 hilly miles up to Redmond HS then 5M on the track at 5:15-5:18. Everything felt really good although the sun came out and made things toasty toward the end. My jog back was a bit hairy. I was super dehydrated and wasn't feeling all that great because of it.

BA-utiful day for a run along the Sammamish River trail. I love winter in Texas...I mean Seattle.

Ran from work up to North Redmond and over Education Hill dropping down into the Sammamish River valley and back through Marymoor Park. A very mild 60 degrees and bright sunshine. Perfect way to break in my 3rd pair of Ravennas. I'm in heaven.

I maintain that there is not a more beautiful place on earth than Seattle on a sunny day. That was today. It was 30 degrees when I started and 50 when I finished. Workout was 5M @ 5:20 with a twist. The idea was to find a spot that had some up and downhill to help prep for the beating Boston puts on your legs. So I did the Business Park loop which is exactly a mile. Half of it up and half of it down. I did a 10-mile warmup and then jumped into the workout. Hit all were either 5:18 or 5:17 except the middle one which was 5:21. I was very pleased. Nailed the workout which makes it three in a row with only the San Diego disaster blemishing the recent string of successful workouts. 5 mile cooldown. For probably the first time in a long time, I feel like I am getting close to getting back into marathon shape.

Headed out to SF tomorrow for work but managed to soak in a beautiful 14 miler today through Redmond. It was mostly sunny and about 50 degrees while just down the road in Issaquah and back home in Snoqualmie it was snowing hard. Nothing stuck, but snowed hard nontheless.

My run started out poorly in the locker room. I pulled my shoes out of my bag only to find that they were both left feet. Ugh. Luckily, i was wearing an older pair of running shoes -- Brooks Launch -- so i just used those. Worked out fine.

So the plan was to do a 10 mile tempo run upon my arrival in SF this morning. So laced up the racers and headed out. As soon as i turned North down Embarcadero the wind was voracious. I woudl say they were sustained at 25-30 mph. After a 2 mile warmup, I thought I would give it a try anyway but after 2 miles at 5:36, it was just blowing too hard. Running back the tailwind was very strong. In fact I was overheating because there was no head wind to cool me off.

Guess I will give it another try tomorrow.

Well I gave the workout another shot today. The workout was 8M @ 5:36 followed by 2M @ 5:15. The first three miles were great and on target but as I got over the Embarcadero hill and headed toward GG bridge the wind started to pick up. By Mile 4 I was looking for options. I found a 1.25 mile or so loop that allowed me to run the next few miles alternating between headwind and tailwind. By Mile 8 I was noticibly fatigued from fighting the wind such that I only managed a 5:20 and 5:28 for the final two miles. My first 8 miles were all in 5:28-5:34.

All in all I was pretty happy with how things went. The watch didn't day 5:15 for the last two but the effort was 5:15.

A pretty uncomfortable 12 miles this afternoon. Was sore and tight and I think it was Mile 7 before I was under 7:00 miles. Ugh.

11 miles after getting back from SF. I totally woosed out and did them on the treadmill. It was cold and rainy outside to I just watched basketball while running on the treadmill.

After a long night and early Saturday morning of hosting my annual St. Patty's Day 5k, I took to the streets for a long run workout. I had pretty low expectations. I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was sleep. But...sleeping is for the weary on those training for Boston.

So after a 4-mile warmup, I jumped into a 4-mile tempo run at 5:15 pace. Actually hit 5:09, 5:14, 5:13 and 5:14. I was surprised I hit my times, frankly. Then I jogged for 12 minutes before jumping into the hill workout portion of the workout where I did 6x1 minute hard with 2 mins jog in between. The first couple felt harder than the last couple. Ran back home which included going up the Parkway. Satisfied with this weeks training especially given all that was going on.

Just a stunning day here in Seattle. 68 degrees and sunshine for what was a beautiful run. First race of the year coming up on Saturday. 20k as a tune up for Boston.

Well, it took quite a while to get my calf/shin warmed up but once I got rolling the 4M tempo @ 5:15 went well.

So the idea was to run 12 easy miles this morning before work. And let's just say that didn't happen. Instead, I was almost hobbling at the 7-mile mark and called it quits. The nagging right calf/shin issue that first reared it's head in Germany got so painful today that I had to quit. Ugh. It's been taking longer and longer to warm up and have the pain go away and today, it just didn't go away and in fact got worse. COuldn't be worse timing with a tune up race scheduled for Saturday and Boston just over four weeks away. I'm really concerned it's a stress fracture. i have an ppointment with my PT tomorrow.

No running today. In fact, it even hurt a bit to walk. The PT couldn't say for sure whether it's a stress fracture but he had this look on his face that caused me some alarm. He referred me to a specialist in Seattle who also happens to coach the Seattle Prep High School track and cross country teams. But in the mean time, it still hurts pretty good and I doubt I will be running prior to that appointment. Good thing I haven't bought tickets to Boston yet.

hurts still. ugh

doesn't hurt to walk today. My cross training consisted of throwing batting practice to my son and walking around the Pacific Science Center for hours on end. To add insult to injury -- literally -- it's 70 degrees outside and perfect running weather. Would have loved to race this morning.

Dr. beat up on my leg and couldn't find the hint of anything. No pain and no swelling. No evidence of anything. He did schedule me for an MRI on Wednesday just to be sure, but he would be very surprised if it turns out to be a stress fracture. He actually encouraged me to go for an easy run today on a soft surface and test it out. Didn't bring my stuff.

Gorgeous day for a run. Everything felt fantastic. No pain at all. HOWEVER, tomorrow and Thursday will  be the big test as I run without five days of rest.

A rare evening run and what a beautiful and warm evening run it was. Today was a big test for the calf and everything feels fantastic. Not out of the woods yet. By this time next week, with a speed workout under my belt, I will have a better sense of where I stand. \

Had my MRI today. Will get results Monday. Took 35 minutes...not exactly fast.

Well...day 3. Pretty yucky day although I think I ran during the only 70 minute window when it didn't rain or blow hard today. So I got lucky.

The right calf started to hurt some but it was clearly a muscle pain and not a bone structure one. Not sure what it is. It didn't affect me in any noticeable way, it was just this dull, tight pain that ebbed and flowed. I took another ice bath after word and that seemed to seemed any lasting pain associated with it. I hate to say it but this ice bath thing might be the bomb.

10 miles trhough the cow fields of Carnation. Ran from the Aldarra ball fields to Carnation via the Snoq. Valley Road. An incredibly peaceful run with almost as many tractors as cars. Calf didn't feel so hot today.

I really nice 12 mile run this morning. No pain in the calf to speak of which made for a glorious sunny and mild morning run.

So I met with the doctor yesterday morning to go over my MRI. It was negative as in no stress fracture. That's good news of course. The MRI did show something weird on the left leg that caused the doctor to pause. He sent me in for a CT Scan to get more detail on what it might be.

The weather was downright miserable yesterday and I didn't get a chance to run until the evening. I tried the treadmill and less than one minute in my calf started buggin me so I called it quits.

Woke up early this morning and ran 11 miles ahead of my PT appointment. The run went fine with no real soreness. The PT did manage to find a couple of pain points on the interior side of the bone where the muscle and bones attach. It's basically swelling in the sheath which is often a precursor to stress fractures.

So basically, I'm kind of stuck. After talking to the doctor, my coach and the PT, I think the plan for the next couple of weeks is to run every other day and cross train the other days. The PT was very much against a cold turkey approach because he feels like activity is vital to healing the area. So I will continue to run the 12-14 miles a day except do it every other day plus a Saturday longer run. So I am planning on Mon/Wed/Fri 12-14 miles each day plus 15-20 on Saturdays. That leaves Sunday for complete rest and Tuesday Thursday for some cross training. I will think I will go back to my P90x collection and pick out a couple of workouts to do on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Yoga will definitely be one of them.

I think I will also make speed work a core part of one of the running days to try and keep some level or cardio fitness. WHat it really comes down to is giving my body more time to recover between runs so it can heal up and not linger.

A bummer, but not a total loss.

Ten wonderful miles along the Sammamish River Trail followed by a 10 minute soaking in the very cold river. I'm digging the benefits of post run "ice baths."

Yoga kicks my butt

As luck would have it, I found the only 90 minutes today when it didn't rain in Redmond. I joined the Sammamish River Trail at city hall and ran a 10k and 8k route I am considering turning into a race for Redmond's Derby Days. I like both of them a lot. We'll see if the city wants to play ball.

The wind was insane. 40-50mph sustained winds for a good chunk of the run. Kept getting blown into the roadway during the crosswind portion. Kind of scary. Afterward, I spent 10 minutes soaking in the frigid Sammamish River up to my shorts line. As much as I hate being cold for the rest of the day, this whole "ice bath" thing after each run is the bomb.

First workout in a while. 5M @ 5:45 + 2M @ 5:25. This was a conservative workout trying to ease me back into things without aggravating the injury.

It seemed a little too conservative. The first 5 miles were all in 5:35-5:38 with the final two miles in 5:21 and 5:17 respectively. This felt quite easy which is a good thing and perhaps an indicator that maybe I haven't lost a ton of fitness through all of this.

Wonderful 15 mile run from Redmond, through Woodinville into Bothell. Much of the run was along the SJJ Half Marathon course. A 10-minute dip in the river afterward.

Early morning workout today on the heels of a good appointment with the PT. Inflamation is way down and no pain during the treatment or during the run.

It was a bit cool this morning but the wind wasn't much of a factor.

The workout was 7x4:00 fartlek on just 1:00 rest. This works out to be just longer than 1200m repeats. So my coach had me aim for 76 second laps or 3:48 at the 1200 mark. After rep #2, I was seriously doubting my ability to finish the workout.

I finished all seven...here are my splits for each rep at the 1200 mark: 3:44; 3:47; 3:46; 3:48; 3:48; 3:49; 3:51.

So I was pretty happy with how things turned out especially given how I felt at the beginning.

Rest day tomorrow followed by runs on Friday and Saturday. If all goes well, then next week I add back in one of the two easy run days I have been omitting this week and last.

Managed to escape the rain today and enjoyed a beautiful run along the Sammamish River. No pain in the calf or hammy. Good news.

A cold and soggy early morning run at home this morning. Supposedly our last rain of the week.

An absolutely gorgeous afternoon. 60 degrees and sunny skies as I strolled along the Sammamish River Trail. Threw in 8x1min fartleks on 2min. rest. Ran 5:05ish pace and felt fine. I could tell my laft hammy was a couple more repeats away from revolting so i backed off the 10 reps I had planned.  

A really nice day for a run. Mid 60s. I took lots of water. Nice loop through Woodinville and Bothell along the Sammamish River Trail. Soaked in the river afterward

Really solid workout today. 18 miles in total with the core part of it being a "9+1" tempo run with the first 9 miles at marathon pace (5:30) and the 10th mile being at half marahton pace. The first nine miles all ranged from 5:26-5:29 and felt good. The final mile was in 5:14 which also felt good. No pain in the hammy or the calf. The ice bath afterward was glorious. I think I'm turning the injury corner. Next race is the four weeks from today in Spokane.

It pained me to watch the Boston Marathon today knowing I should have been there. It was the right decision to stay home but I really wanted to be there. I am planning on doing it next year for sure.

The 75 degree sunny weather this afternoon helped ease the pain a bit. Nice 15 mile run all on Snoqualmie Ridge.

Another really solid workout today which helped ease the continued disappointment of not being able to run Boston yesterday. Oh well.

4x2k @ 5:08 pace which is 6:25. 3:00 was the rest interval. Did it on the Redmond HS track. Hit 6:23 the first three times and 6:24 the final time. Felt pretty "easy" and probably could have easily done two more...but that wasn't the point of the workout. Nice to finish a god workout without feeling completely wasted.

Wasn't able to get out running until 9pm tonight. Was pretty nice out though.

In Dallas on a short trip with my now-teenage daughter. 68 degrees at 5:30am and quite humid. I think if I lived here I would have to retire from running. I just can't do humidity. Have a 12-mile tempo run tomorrow at marathon pace. Hoping to avoid crazy warmth and humidity. After today, the taper begins.

Well...the plan was 20 miles with the marathon workout sandwiched in the middle. 11 Miles @ 5:30 with 1 more at 5:20 or so. Lots of excuses, but in short, it didn't quite work out. Despite a conscious effort to hydrate yesterday, I simply couldn't overcome the heat, humidity and even the strong winds. At 6 miles I knew I was in trouble...not a great feeling when you are only half way. By Mile 8 I had fallen off pace and decided to end it at Mile 10. My dehydration was starting to be noticed in my hammies and there was no sense in pushing on. Starting to wonder if 5:30 is a realistic marathon pace. I was a bit sick as well but at some point the excuses have to stop and reality has to set in.

Since I didn't get the full 20-miler in while in Dallas, I did it today. Mentally, if for no other reason, I needed to get a 20-miler in before tapering. Everything felt really good and the easy pace wound up being 6:40s or so. Hydrated well and stretched well afterward.

Barely had time for 9 today. Sunny when I left but got caught in a monster Seattle downpour.

Workout: 2x3k @5:06 pace with 4 min rest

Well, perfect day. Wish I had not been wearing my trainers. First rep was in 5:08 pace. I knew the second one was going to be worse..5:12 pace. Just didn't feel like I had it today.

With my big half marathon race I am hosting tomorrow, I knew it would be best to get my workout in today. 7+1...7 at marathon pace plus 1 more faster.

I was at 5:26-5:29 for all seven and 5:17 for the final. It felt really good especially considering I'm still pretty congested and didn't feel like I had full range in my lungs. Nothing to worry about but it was in the back of my mind.

Still questioning whether a 5:30 marathon pace is realistic.

A pretty successful half marathon today. 983 runners. Not bad for a first year event. Ran a very tired 9 miles. I'm looking forward to sleeping tonight.

10 miles in an absolute downpour. And it was only in the upper 40s. Hating the weather

Well what do you know...10 more miles in more frigid downpours.

So three workouts remain before the marathon. Today's was a 3x2k at 5:04-5:06 mile pace which is about 6:22-6:23. 3 mins rest in between. The continued terrible weather combined with several meetings at work necessitated a late afternoon workout which I did at the home track at about 5:45. I got there, started jogging and decided that today was going to be my day off instead of tomorrow. So I got back in my car and was halfway home before I realized that I have no time tomorrow for a workout. So I turned around and ended up doing the workout despite not being too excited about it. I felt pretty sluggish. Fortunately the rain had stopped but the clearing skies and setting sun made things even colder.  

Ended up with 2 6:20s and finished with a 6:19. Pretty happy with the workout.

8 beautiful miles along the Sammamish River

Finally a warm day. Mid 60s by the time I got to my workout. Ran from my house down the Lake Alice Road. Very steep downhill...not all that fun but beautiful. My son had a baseball game down in Fall City so I decided to do my workout on the new Chief Kanim MS track. THey have had a track for ever but it just got surfaced this year. Workout was a 5+1 with the first 5 at marathon pace (5:30) and the last one in the 5:15 range. Focused on drinking and GUing. Hit or beat all of my times. Felt good, but I question whether or not I can keep that up for 26. .

10 easy mile on a nice day in Redmond. Taper week is always a bit weird.

Final workout before the marathon on Saturday. 4+1. After doing some math and looking over the past few months of workouts and comparing those with my fitness at this point last year, I have revised my marathon pace a bit. 5:30s are just too fast I think. I have no empirical data to justify that pace. So I am now shooting for 5:35s which is what I did for the workout today. It felt a bit more comfortable andf a bit more doable over the long haul. Weather looks pretty good for Spokane. Supposedly overcast with a race time temp in the high 40s to low 50s. Hoping to cross the finish before it crosses 60.

REST DAY

A stunningly beautiful day in Seattle. Perfect for my final six miles before Saturday's marathon.

**UPDATE** the official time is posted as 2:28:02 so not counting the silly turnaround at the finish.

Where do I start? It was simply a beautiful day. But of course, a beautiful day is not what you want on marathon day. It was 48 degrees at 5am when I woke up but it was probably close to 60 by the start and near 70 by 9:45 or so when I finished. Met up with Michael Bresson who was the clear favorite to win the race. He is a few months older but has had a much more profitable training year than I have had. His plan was to go out in 1:10 and then hang on for dear life.

The race got started 15 minutes late because they had to synch it with the start of the half marathon because they only had one clock at the finish line. Not acceptable. But I would have let it slide if that had been the only hiccup today.

The plan was to run 5:35s shooting for a 2:26.

The start of the race was the only portion of the course that was remotely confusing so since I knew I would be toward the front of the pack, I asked three different volunteers at the star, including one of the lead bikers, which direction the first part of the course took. I got three different answers. I should have seen the writing on the wall. They finally got us started and about 1.25 miles into the race we passed the 2M marker. Ummm…what the freak? I set a world record in the 3M crossing in 12:10. Awesome. I have to say that it was a pretty deflating thing to know that just more than a mile into the race I was no longer running a certified, full-length marathon. I spent much of the race trying to figure out if I should drop out and look for another marathon in the next week or two, but I couldn’t think of one so I plugged along. I thought again about dropping out and thought about maybe the Newport marathon in three weeks, but that would have a really negative impact on my summer race schedule. So I carried on. I think what really kept me going was the desire just to finish the marathon regardless of the actualt distance. I hadn't finished a marathon since Newport in 2008 so I really "needed" to finish this.

Mile 3 – 5:34

Mile 4 – 5:28 (By this point, no one was in sight. It was me, myself and I which is how it stayed until Mile 18 or so when I started catching up to a few of the half marathon walkers. Beautiful, but lonely)

Mile 5 – 5:31

Mile 6 – 5:37

Mile 7 – 5:32

Mile 8 – 5:31

Mile 9 – 5:35

Mile 10 – 5:38 (Somewhat of a guess because they were still putting up mile markers when I got to this point. Seriously)

Mile 11 – 5:36

Mile 12 – 5:41

Mile 13 – 5:45 (Knew I was slowing down but was hoping to hang on to sub 6:00 miles for the rest of the race)

Mile 14 – 5:51

Mile 15 – 5:50

Mile 16 – 5:54

Mile 17 – 6:00

Mile 18 – 5:57

Mile 19 – 5:56

Mile 20 – 6:03 (10k to go and at this point, I was getting pretty upset about the course screw up. All this effort and training to run 25.5 miles.)

Mile 21 – 6:03 (Things are getting pretty crammed with half marathoners. Narrower trail combined with many packs of walkers and slow runners with headphones on made for some frustration)

Mile 22/23 – 12:35

Mile 24 – 6:20

Mile 25 – 6:22

Final ¼ mile to FINISH LINE -- 1:23 (2:28:02) – So about ½ mile before the finish some guy was yelling at me to go to the finish, turn around and run back to him, presumably because he was standing at a place that would make the course the right length. So with hundreds of people, including my family, standing at the finish, I arrive there only to turnaround and try and find where this mystery man was running against a constant stream of half marathoners. Fortunately, I was the second place guy as the winner, Michael Bresson, flagged me down at the "new finish" to tell me I was no done. No clock. No one there to take my time. So my time from the real finish line to the new finish line was in 4:15 for a total time of 2:32:18. I don’t know if this was actually a certified distance. Probably not. My watch said 26.17. So it was closer, but who knows.

Bottom Line: I had a mediocre performance. The course fiasco wasn’t the cause for me falling 6 minutes off my target finish time. It was probably a small mental factor, but it wasn’t six minutes worth. I still continue to struggle in warm marathon conditions. I had cramps from Mile 6 on such that I could get my stomach to accept the amount of fluids my body needed to perform at the desired levels. That is frustrating because I feel like I had the fitness to achieve my time but I simply haven’t figured out how to hydrate in warm weather.

Observation: My marathon PR days are almost certainly behind me. I’m fine with that. At some point, that becomes the case for everyone. It just so happens that at age 37, that time has come for me. No worries. That said, I do feel like I have a 2:25 left in me which is something worth going after.

Observation: Nice course for the most part. Lots of potential but very poorly managed.

Observation: It was nice not having any pressure on me this time around. No Trials to qualify for. No crazy, unrealistic time to shoot for. It makes running a lot more fun.

Observation: The one thing a race director absolutely has to get right – especially for a marathon – is the course. I am a race director. I direct for races a year. Getting the course right is where 90% of my focus is each and every race. It is simply unacceptable to get this wrong. This is especially true for a marathon which people train months for. There are 400 people today who will not be eligible for the Boston Marathon because the race director screwed up the course. The course records are out the window. It’s as if the race didn’t happen because a marathon is 26.2 not 25.5. My so-so performance had more to do with poor hydration than the course screw up. But I feel for those who spent $100 and months of training to qualify for Boston and now can’t. Total bummer. The ironic thing is that their motto is “we don’t bring elite athletes to our marathon. We bring an elite marathon to our athletes.” Ummm…not so much.

I don't know what time they will put me down for...the 2:28 or the 2:32. There wasn't anyone at the end of the "26.2" to take my time, so I guess they will have to go wit the 2:28. What a mess.

So now the recovery begins. A few days of no running and then ramp up for the summer road race season leading up to Club Track Nationals in SFO.

5 easy miles along the Snoqualmie River this evening. Feel pretty good considering.

6 miles through Marymoor Park during lunch.

Classic Seattle spring day. Warm and sunny one minute and then cool and pouring down rain the next. Got caught in one nice downpour. Dried out after though.

Have to measure two courses tomorrow and a baseball game to go to tomorrow so wasn't sure how much time I would have for a run. Longest run since the marathon. Felt pretty good although I don't feel like I am ready to do anything fast.

12 easy. Yes it rained.

Shocking...I ran in the rain.

Nice run despite the rain

Ran at home this afternoon between my son's 1600m run and his 800 meter run. It was his final track meet. He ended with two PRs: (6:27 and 3:03). Not bad for a kid who does zero training.

COmpleted a solid week of running..no speed work just easy runs. I will jump back into speed work next week in preparation for the Seattle RnR Half in four weeks. Another rainy day. I am so over it.

Ran from Maple Valley up over Tiger Mountain to Snoqualmie. A beautiful run. It was a bit rainy but pretty warm. Could have gone short sleeve. The biggest downside of this run was the traffic and somewhat narrows shoulders. It's a pretty popular highway for truckers and RVs as it connects the south Puget Sound with access to I-90 and the Cascades.

What I liked about the challenge was that it is a dead steady climb for almost three miles. Unlike the Snoqualmie Parkway, there are no breaks and shallow points. It's just a straight up climb of 1,000+ feet in about 2.5 miles. Ran at about 6:15 pace which was in the comfortable range. The worst part was running downhill.

Mostly rain-free run through the neighborhood and then down to Snoq. Middle School for my son's and daughter's band concert.

An absolutely miserable and disappointing workout today. First one since the marathon and it was perhaps my most underachieving one ever. The idea was 6M @ 5:30 pace with one more at 5:08 or so. It was pretty windy and a bit humid but that could hardly account for having to stop after four miles. I hit all four in the 5:30 time but it took a lot of effort and it was very clear that there weren't another 3 miles left in the tank. Very disappointing and hopefully not an indicator of how far off my fitness level is.

A stunningly beautiful day today...finally. It was 70 degrees when I started my workout around 12:30 this afternoon. The goal was to repeat what I so miserably attempted on Wednesday. 6M@5:30 followed by 1 more mile harder. Things felt WAY better today. I still feel some fatigue in my legs by I rattled off 5:20-5:22s for every mile crossing the 10k mark at 33:21. The last mile was in 5:20 so I didn't make the final mile any faster. The heat and dehydration were starting to get to me. I had spent the three previous hours under the sun umpiring my son's baseball game and underestimated the dehydration that took place there. So the jog home was somewhat pathetic after a decent workout.

I lovely rain-free run up Avondale, over the hill to Woodinville and back to Redmond via the Sammamish River trail.

Pretty brutal workout today. It was essentially a threshold run with hills thrown in for good measure. The idea was run 1/2 flat at around 5:15 pace then roll into a decent uphill grade for 3:30 at the same effort followed by 2:00 of flat running at the threshold pace followed by 3:30 more uphill at the same effort ending with 2:00 at threshold on flat. Then repeat it one more time after a 5-6 minute jog.

I haven't dared check what my pace was up the hills but by the second rep I felt like I was standing still. It's amazing how much extra effort hills take.

Today was supposed to be a day off, but I am considering putting on a trail running series here on Snoqualmie Ridge so I wanted to run at least part of them to check mileage and overall conditions. I was able to eke out 8.25 trail miles but there are probably another 3-4 that I wasn't able to get to yet.

11 miles

When my kids turn 12 I take them on a 1:1 trip wherever they want to go. My son picked Minneapolis. So I am in MN soaking up the warm sun and humid weather. Ummm...wait...it's 58 degrees and pouring down rain. Did I leave Seattle or not? Weird. So running in the rain isn't fun but it isn't foreign either. But about five steps into my run the lightening began and so I opted for the only thing worse than getting struck by lightening: running on a treadmill. Fortunately, I had Sportscenter to watch. It made it almost bearable. I think I lost 20 pounds in sweat.

11 miles this morning mostly on the trails.

Finally! A really solid workout. I had the fortune of meeting my coach at the Dempsey Indoor track this afternoon to do my workout. I still ran solo but an audience of one can't hurt. We had the place to ourselves.

The workout was 3M@5:12 followed by a 1:00 rest then 1M aiming for 5:00. First mile was in 5:09 and it felt pretty comfortable. First part of the second mile was challenging but then I "broke through" and finished it in 5:08 followed by another 5:08. To be honest, I was highly doubtful when the workout began that I was even going to be able to hit 5:12s. But I hit 5:08s without having to go completely all out.

Did the 1:00 jog and then the final mile which I did fairly comfortably in 4:56. I actually think the 1:00 rest did more harm than good but I was very, very happy and quite surprised at my times. I'm not yet in the shape I was one year ago, but this was a huge mental breakthrough for me if nothing else.

I'm esepcially happy as I head into the Fall City 10k this weekend to qualify for Club Track Nationals in July. The big trick will be qualifying for the 5,000 early next month. I have to hit 15:30 and while that is almost 45 seconds slower than my PR, I don't feel quite ready to run 4:59s for 3.1 miles.

Long, easy run tomorrow

Retired four pairs of shoes today and added three into my array. Nice and easy 17+ mile long run today after a solid workout yesterday. I have a 10k race on Saturday so figured today was the best day to get the long run in.

Very cool dreary day in Seattle today. Long sleeve shirt and gloves. Yes..it is mid June.

Easy 10+ ahead of tomorrow's Fall City 10k

Well, maybe things are getting back to normal. Going in to today's race, I was shooting for anything under 32:00 but felt like that was on the edge of possible. It was just 13 months ago that I set my 10,000m PR in Bellingham at 30:57. That seems like so very long ago.

Absolutely perfect running weather. Low 50s, thick overcast and no wind.

Didn't see anyone I recognized that would give me a serious challenge for the victory but it seems like there is always some guy getting back from college who shows up at these things and surprises you. I've always wanted to win this hometown event but usually settle for 2nd or 3rd.

Race started on time. Always a bonus. Unfortunately there were no mile markers. Good for writing a short race report. Bad for pacing. There was a guy shouting splits at the 1 mile mark but that was it. It seems like a such a fundamental thing to do...having mile markers. Sheesh.

Anyway, crossed the Mile 1 dude in 5:13 according to my watch and 5:10 according to his. I was shooting for 5:08-5:09 so that was a bit slow but nothing to panic about. This race is challenging in that the 10k and 5k runners all run together. Both are out and back courses so you never really know who your competition is until you pass the 5k turnaround and see who peels off. One guy went out pretty quick and took a pretty early and substantial lead. I was a bit surprised to see he didn't make turnaround at the 5k but instead kept going. So there was my competition although I still had a few guys hanging on a few seconds behind me through at least the first two miles.

The lead guy was a good 12-15 seconds ahead of me through about 2.5 but then I could see I was slowly gaining on him. By the time we hit the 10k turnaround I saw his face and knew I had a chance. My 5k split was 15:43. Not bad. 5:03 pace and I was feeling really, really good. I was getting stronger and he was getting visibly weaker. At the turnaround I was about five seconds back of the lead and about 15 seconds ahead of the trailing pack. At about Mile 4, I pulled even with the leader. For whatever reason, the lead guy was satisfied with running in "Lane 8" while I was perfectly happy to take the inside lane even if it meant being vocal with oncoming runners. My philosophy about the inside lane on out and back courses is much like the track...yield it to the faster runners.

He put up a fight for about 30 seconds but it was game over for him. By 4.5 I had gapped him pretty good and by Mile 5 it was over as long as I didn't get hurt or absolutely bonk. I never gave him the satisfaction of looking back to see where he was. I used the audible clues to know where he was.

As I crossed the bridge over the Snoqualmie River and turned down the main street, I checked my watch and to my surprise was well, well under pace. But I also knew that breaking 31:00 was going to be out of reach so I just hauled it in to the finish line crossing in 31:06 winning by a very comfortable 35 seconds. It was a big road PR and just 9 seconds off my track PR. Astounding. I really had no idea I could run 5:00 pace for 6 miles right now. My workout went well on Tuesday but I really had no idea.

This was a great confidence builder especially heading into the Seattle RnR Half next Saturday. Now I just need to stay healthy.

Nice and easy 17 miles this morning while my wife's car got her brakes replaced. Still cloudy and cool but at least it didn't rain. The forecast for the RnR Half is cool and wet. They just sent me the list of elites...looks more impressive than last year...with the exception of Paul not being on the list. The real bummer is they gutted the local money. Only the top WA finisher gets cash: $500 and that will be Mr. Drew Polley barring something very unforeseen.

Patrick Rizzo	Schaumburg / IL	Patrick was 2nd here last year and went on to claim tenth at the Chicago Marathon in the fall of 2009. Lives and trains in Boulder, Colorado. His PR is 1.05.34 was set on this course last year. 10th place at last years Chicago Marathon.
Andrew Letherby	Australia	2.11.42 PR for the marathon which set in Berlin, 2005. His 63.17 PR for the half was achieved last year in Japan. Andrew has represented Australia at World Championship and Commonwealth Games, claiming the bronze medal in 2002 in Manchester.
Luke Humphrey	Sidney / MI	Part of Brooks Hansons Distance Project. His half marathon PR is 64.05. Luke finished third at the half marathon in Arizona earlier this year
Drew Polley	Port Orchard / WA	Part of Brooks Hansons Distance Project.  Washington State University. NCAA Qualifier in Cross Country. All-West Region in Cross Country. 3 time Pac-10 All-Academic first team selection. Finished fourth last year in his debut half and then 1st American in San Antonio in his debut full. PR for the half is 66.44.
Uli Steidl	Shoreline / WA	Uli became a US citizen in February this year. He has represented his native Germany at the World Championship in Osaka. His marathon PR is 2.13.56. Won the Seattle Marathon on 8 occasions 1999-2006
Sage Canaday	Sheridan / OR	Part of Brooks Hansons Distance Project. 2-time NCAA DI All-Northeast Region, Individual NCAA qualifier from Cornell University. Sage was the youngest qualifier for the Olympic Trials with a marathon time. His PR is 2.21.23.
Chad Johnson	Chetek / WI	Part of Brooks Hansons Distance Project. Chad won the Disney Half marathon in January and went on to finish 19th at Boston Marathon earlier this year. His PR for the half marathon is 64.01
Sean Sundwall*	Snoqualmie, WA	Sean finished 7th last year in the inaugural race.
Joe Darda	Seattle / WA	Targeting 68 minutes for the half this year. Joe finished 9th in the full here last year.
Ian Nurse	Portland / OR	Hoping to improve in his PR of 1.09.01 which he set in 2008 in his home town Portland.
Travis Boyd *	Seattle / WA	Travis was fifth overall in the marathon last year.
Destry Johnson *	Puyallup / WA	Destry was 8th last year at the inaugural race.

Ahhh...beautiful weather for an easy 12. Still haven't hit 75 degrees since last October.

Looks like today might be the day we hit 75 degrees...which would be the latest date in Seattle history.

We finally did it. Yesterday we hit 77 degrees....the first time we have hit 75+ in 263 days. Insane I know. Weird thing is I hope it cools off for Saturday's race.

Nice run this morning. Just a gorgeous morning. 6 tomorrow before the race on Saturday. Then off to Utah for vacation.

nice marine layer this morning to keep it cool. Hoping it is an exact repeat tomorrow from about 7-8:08am. 6-mile easy run this morning. Everything feels good.

With one small exception, you couldn't have asked for better race weather this morning. Low 50s, overcast and no rain. The only minor weather issue was a pretty noticeable wind coming out of the tunnel from about mile 10 to 11.5. Nothing huge, just noticed it was a bit of a fight.

I got to the elite tent at about 6am. The music was loud and the crowds were big already. The nicest thing about having an elite tent is no bathroom lines and a place to sit while we waited. I will be sure to enjoy that while it lasts.

The goal going in was to see if I could do about as well as last year. I felt going in that while I was better rested than last year (coming off 21 miles at Grandmas), I was not in as good of shape.

The race started right on time, one of a few improvements over last year. The gun went off and we started up a steady but not too steep uphill right from the beginning. With the adrenaline that comes at the start of any race, it was a pretty easy stretch to get through. By Mile 1, the group had split into two. The lead guys from the Brooks Hanson group began to create a gap and a couple of brave souls, including local guy Uli Steidl went with them. Another guy, Lewis Eliot, went out with them too. More on that later.

The rest of us stayed back in the "chase" pack which was made up of four Africans all running the full marathon and a few of us local guys all targeting the 1:08-1:10 range including me, Brett Winegar, Travis Boyd, Destry Johnson and Phil Olson.

Destry and I had a race for the ages last year but he had told me he wasn't up for 5:15 pace today so around Mile 2, he dropped back. Brett has taken a 25 meter lead or so while Phil and I were happy to remain tucked in behind the African marathoners. The lead pack was continuing to lengthen the gap as expected. No worries. I was there to run my race not theirs.

Mile 1 I crossed in 5:15. Mile 2 was the same. Right on plan. Mile 3 was more uphill than I remembered. You run along the new light rail tracks on Martin Luther King Way and it's nothing crazy, but it is a steady uphill slope. Crossed the 5k mark at 16:23. I was 16:15 at the 5k last year. So a hair off pace, but absoutely nothing to panic about. Mile four is a bunch of gentle us and downs with a bunch of flat too. Mile 5, not so much. Mile 5 is definitely the hardest and slowest mile of the half marathon. It is almost entirely uphill and the hill isn't very gentle. I would say it's shallower than the Veyo hill at SGM, but not by much. I had 5:50 for that mile but I think it was a hair faster than that as I think the mile markers, albeit better, were still off in several spots. This is where I gapped Phil Olson. I didn't hear him or seem him again until the finish line.

Mile 6 is mostly a gentle downhill, with a very steep 1/10 of a mile at the end of it coming down to Lake Washington. My watch said something like 4:50 for that mile. I crossed the 10k mark at 32:58 (32:47 last year). A bit slow but given the uphill mile, it was totally expected.

The next 3 miles are along the shore of Lake Washington. Easily the most beautiful part of the course. It's very flat but very with tons of curves. If you don't run the tangents on these three miles, you will run a much longer race than you will get credit for. Yet once again, the Africans I was running with usually opted for "Lane 8." I just don't get it.

At Mile 6, Brett was still ahead of me but the gap was closing. I figured he would come back to me so I remained patient. I also noticed that the Lewis Eliot guy was seeming to fade as well.

It was here that I noticed another major improvement over last year. The bands along Lake Washington were actually set up and playing when we passed. Last year, there was no rock or roll for the lead runners. This helped a lot.

By about Mile 7, I caught Brett. I encouraged him to come along with me but he put up no fight and he ended up dropping off pace. I was hoping he would hang in there because I wanted to trade off lead duties once we split from the Africans. I remained with the Africans marathoners the entire way until the Mile 9 split where they go do whatever they do for an extra 13.1 miles. Talk about an adrenaline rush. I was sooooo glad I wasn't running a full today.

There is about a 1/10 of mile between the Mile 9 marker and the Half/Full split. It is straight uphill. I bet I was running 6:30 pace for that short stretch. Brutal but short. When you get to the top you feel dead legged heading into the tunnel. But this is where I made my move on Lewis Eliot. I have a rule that once I pass someone, I never let them pass me back. So once I passed him, I gave a nice 1/4 mile or so spurt of extra fast running to hopefully crush his hopes of catching back up. Seems to have worked because when I did look back at Mile 11, he was at least 300 meters back as we headed into downtown Seattle.

Back to the tunnel....that is one of the most surreal running experiences I have had...two years in a row now. There is crazy loud music playing in a tunnel that is almost a mile long. But I have to say I kind of liked it.  From this point on I ran the race entirely solo. So having this crazy awful music blaring and echoing off the walls was kind of a pick-me-up and kept me focused on the race at hand rather than worrying about how sore my calves were.

At Mile 11 you are staring Qwest Field in the face. I looked back here for the first and next to last time. It's downhill for about a half mile and then you run uphill to the Mile 12 marker. I had forgotten about how long this uphill stretch was. Nothing crazy steep but enough to really require some extra effort. At Mile 12 you turn down a VERY steep hill down to the Alaskan Way viaduct. This might be the most challenging part of the course. This is a San Francisco style downhill that is about 1/10 of a mile long and crushing to the knees. I swear I could hear my hamstrings crying for relief.  

By this point there was one mile to go. I gave one more quick look back and there was no one in sight. At this point, I was more focused on figuring out what I could finish this thing in. With the mile markers again being off their mark, I didn't really know how far I had to go with any great precision.

Once I made the final turn, I saw Mile 13. And WAY down there I could see the finish. I looked at my watch and realized that a sub 68 was probably not going to happen. I also realized I wasn't tired enough and that I probably should have pushed it harder during the first 3 miles and again from mile 6-9. Not really knowing what kind of shape I was in, I took it a bit conservatively and the result was...conservative. If I had know at the beginning what I knew at the end, I thing I could have been closer to 68:30-68:45.

But that said, I was happy with the race. I was the second fastest in WA and 8th overall. More importantly, my time was decent and it was a very good check-in on my fitness. I'm not quite where I was last year, but nearly as far off as I thought I was just four weeks ago. 

An interesting observation: My Mile 9 split last year was 47:45. This year it was 47:37. I was "down" 11 seconds from last year at the 10k mark. Over the next 2.75 miles, I made up those 11 seconds plus 8 more for a total of 19 seconds over those <3 miles. Having a pack of guys to run with really helps. Now...last year, I had at least one person to run with the entire race and keep in mind that I had just run 20+ miles at marathon pace one week earlier. This year, I had no one to run with after Mile 9. So after crossing Mile nine 8 seconds faster than last year's pace, I ended up finishing the race 12 seconds slower. So when you have the option to run in a pack, even if that pack is a pack of one, DO IT! It makes a very real physical and mental difference.

Flew into Grand Junction to meet up with the family last night. Got a nice 10-mile run in this morning. GJ is at about 4500 feet elevation. Altitude didn't seem to both me. I was still a bit sore from Saturday, particularly in the calves but not as much as I expected. BTW...it was 71 degrees at 7am when I headed out.

Now in Monticello, UT after spending a nice albeit scorching hot day at Arches National Park. Topped out at 99 degrees. Found a nice reservoir about 2.5 miles from the hotel and ran around it twice. A 7200 feet of elevation, I really noticed the lack of oxygen. I've read that 7,000 and up is where you really start feeling dramatic effects of altitude. It was a beautiful run though. Off to Glen Canyon today.

Woke up this morning in Torrey, UT smack dab in the middle of Capitol Reef National Park. Pretty cool place. I"m not sick of the red rock yet. The hotel elevation was 6800ft. I ran an out and back along a lonely highway out to a town (village) called Grover which peaked out at 7230 ft. I definitely noticed the lack of oxygen. The hilliness made it more obvious. Good run though. Off to Provo this evening.

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.