Sean's Running Blog

In NYC for the week and took the opportunity to run a few laps around Central Park. It was awesome to see the mile markers from the Trials still painted on the side of the road. I passed the boathouse twice and it's still sobering to run by there knowing it's where Ryan Shay collapsed. I'm staying in Times Square so I even got to retrace that part of the route. What fond memories despite a very pedestrian finish.

Woke up too late to get a run in in the morning but managed to squeeze one in this afternoon. Gorgeous afternoon and another wonderful stroll through Central Park. Everything seems to be going well. I'm pretty strict about my stretching and exercises now. Fairly challenging speed workout tomorrow.

Workout today was as follows:

8 fartlek repeats of 2 minutes hard 1 minute light

15 minute jog

8 hill repeats of 60 seconds in length on the north side hill of Central Park.

Let me just say how glad I am they cut out the northernmost hills from the Trials course.

The fartleks were pretty challenging. I was going all out on both the 2 minute fartleks and the 60-second hill repeats. I was pretty tired the rest of the day. Fortunately I was able to do it in the morning as the afternoon got quite warm.

I'm tired but everything felt great.

One last run through Central Park this morning. Gorgeous weather. Light winds and 75 degrees at 10am. I ran the same route as the Trials doing the first short lap and then the second long lap. It was the first time I've done the Trials course in the correct direction and it was awesome. With my mind a little clearer now than on November 3rd, I am even more amazed now than I was then at how awesome Ryan Hall's performance was that day. Central Park is a tough course not because any one hill is incredibly long or steep, but because there isn't a continuous flat stretch longer than 50 yards. It's a constant up and down which totally messes with rhythm. Ryan remains my hero.

Back in sunny (no joke) Seattle. Ran an out and back along the Sammamish Trail. It said 52 degrees on the temperature gauge but it didn't seem that warm. But it wasn't raining (or snowing) so I'll take what I can get.

Gorgeous weather in Seattle today. Upper 70s and clear blue skies. I wore a singlet running for the first time since the Trials. I did a 4-mile warmup and then four miles cutdowns at the track. First two miles were at 5:13 and the last two were at 5:06. I was pretty spent afterward, another indication that I'm still climbing up the hill of recovery. But I crossed 80 miles for the first time in many weeks and I'm feeling good.