Fri 11/16 - PM just under 70 minutes, round trip to TJs

35 minutes out, 32 on the return trip. Still dealing with some tightness in right hip flexor and general stiffness early on, this worked itself out after 15 minutes or so and from then on I was moving fairly well. Return trip was quicker from the get-go. Overall legs felt much better than yesterday, which isn't saying much but I'll take it. Cold and windy all day, more seasonable conditions for this time of year.

the route to TJ's, 4.8 miles

Thu 11/15 - PM just under 70 minutes easy, Sudbury

Mossman to McMansionville and back via Longfellow loop. As expected, legs felt like garbage and right hip flexor in particular. This precluded me from doing any strides, but not overdoing it on the pace was no problem at all. Hoping to bounce back in the coming days, took the time to stretch afterwards. Rained hard most of the afternoon, by the time I started the showers had passed, leaving dank and slightly warmer than usual conditions.

Wed 11/14 - PM 75 minutes incl. Comm Ave hill repeats

6 trips from bottom to top followed by 6 shorter reps, ca. 200m, where I arbitrarily chose a manhole cover as the stopping point. First long hill was 1:55, next four were all between 1:51 and 1:52, the last one 1:49.6 which took more effort than I would have liked. Recoveries back down ranged from just under 2:30 to just over 2:40, last two recoveries were the slowest as I was dawdling a bit under the strain of the effort. Shorter hills were all 37-38 getting slightly faster towards the end, with recoveries consistently over a minute. Right hip flexor felt like garbage upon starting the warmup and never really loosened up fully, which was disappointing as the area had been feeling better yesterday. It will be interesting to see where it's at tomorrow. A bit more of a headwind compared to the last time I ran these, not as warm but still unseasonably warm for this time of year.

Tue 11/13 - PM just under 70 minutes

Started in Levittown, headed over to Longfellow loop. Very similar pattern to yesterday's run with a stop at 45 minutes, four strides on the way in. If anything today was faster-paced than yesterday, lately the pace on runs like this has gotten quicker. Had to make a conscious effort to hold back at times. Hopefully I'm not frying myself by doing this, but so far there's been no downturn in motivation or energy level so I'll continue to play it by ear. Hill repeats scheduled for today will be done tomorrow, as there'll still be plenty of time to recover for Sunday.

Mon 11/12 - PM just under 70 minutes, Area 51

Moving at a medium intensity most of the way, with a longish break at 45 minutes and four strides on the way in. I had considered going a little further but decided to hold back a bit on the volume today. Some residual soreness from Saturday's workout, incl. tightness on left knee, but nothing major. Still on the cold side but not as windy as it has been which is a welcome relief.

Sun 11/11 - AM just under 105 minutes, round trip to bakery

Took a while to get going, legs stiff and sore to start. Cold as well. Eventually loosened up as things also warmed up. As such, the return trip was 10 minutes faster even though I did it with 4 pounds of bread on my back. Same route as the TJ run only with a couple extra miles on the rail bed tacked on. The rail bed is in rough shape in places, had to take it slow at times.

Sat 11/10 - PM 90 minutes incl. repeats at Franklin Park

First mile of the FP course in 4:58, 3.5R, then 4x3 minutes (2R) 4x2 minutes (1.5R), 4x1 minute (1R). I spent 6+ hours at the park today, most of it watching the races, with the workout squeezed in between. Cold with a bitter NNE wind, which made things much more uncomfortable than I would have predicted or preferred. Thankfully the workout itself coincided with the warmest part of the day. Despite some concern that I'd be low on energy after the morning spent standing around freezing, I was able to complete the long workout. The mile was supposed to be race pace, I'm assuming 10k race pace, in which case it certainly wasn't. Still a worthwhile exercise as I now know what too fast feels like for next Sunday. As expected, the 3 minute reps were a real slog after the fast mile, but as the reps got shorter and farther removed from the start of the session I was moving relatively better. Cooldown was very slow as I was wiped out. After Tuesday's underwhelming workout I had doubts about my fitness, but resting better seems to have helped in the interim. I like doing workouts like this in the park and it's a shame we don't do them more often.