4/19/08

Sat 4/19 - AM 75 minutes incl. 6x1200

As expected, stiff legs on the warmup, took a while to get going but eventually things loosened up sufficiently. Recoveries between reps only a minute, which kept things interesting and kept the pace on the conservative side. ENE breeze picked up into a steady wind, esp. after the second rep. Splits as follows:

3:53.7
3:50.2
3:54.5
3:53.7
3:50.2
3:49.0

the three slower reps felt too slow, but the pace did wind up a bit at the end. Finished feeling tired but not completely spent. Cooldown on the grass field barefoot.

Fri 4/18 - PM 75 minutes, Area 51

Legs remain somewhat sore while the rest of me is bouncing back more quickly from Wednesday. Strides on the way in that felt somewhat awkward. Right hip a bit inflamed. Excellent day to be outside, warm afternoon gave way to a cooler evening and dry with little wind.

4/18/08

Thu 4/17 - PM 90 minutes easy, Lincoln woods

Legs stiff and sore pretty much throughout today, right calf feels like it was mildly strained by yesterday's workout. Resulted in a relaxed putter through the woods, not nearly the same intensity as Monday's run on the trails. Sunny but a bit cooler due to a persistent easterly breeze.

4/17/08

Wed 4/16 - PM 75 minues incl. 6x1000

20+ minute warmup, followed by drills and the following splits:

3:05.9
3:06.5
3:06.5
3:06.3
3:04.8
3:04.8

Recoveries at or just under 3 minutes throughout. I had originally planned on a steady progession starting at 3:08 and ending at 3:04 or so. This went out the window when I hit the first 200 of the first rep in just over 35. Established a more realistic rhythm after that and kept it going the rest of the way. Tried to leave enough effort in the tank over the next three reps to wind it up on the last 200 of the penultimate rep and the last 300 of the final rep. The times did drop down on the last two but I sagged just a bit in the middle of the last one. This kept me from running under 3:04 as I was shooting for. Overall though it was a solid effort, esp. given that I was doing it alone. Under control after the spastic first 200 and relaxed. Wind was an annoyance but it could have been worse. Cool but not uncomfortably so.

4/16/08

4/15 - off

Long day at work incl. officiating the kiddies' meet left no time to run in the PM. I had figured as much, kept the volume up the past few days as a result.

4/15/08

Mon 4/14 - PM 85 minutes, Walden woods

Stayed mostly on the west side of the rr tracks, over to Mt. Misery and back. Feeling friskier than I had expected after yesterday's slog. Had to check myself a few times lest the pace get out of hand. Windy and more than a bit chilly as a result, the trees offered protection but out in the open was no picnic.

4/13/08

Sun 4/13 - PM 90 minutes incl. 7.6 mile Lincoln tempo

Lincoln tempo plus this loop which took me 43:15 to complete. I had originally entertained notions of a double tempo but I knew after the first three miles that this would be inadvisable. The 5:45 effort for the putative first tempo loop weren't overly hard, but I could tell there wasn't much more room, if any, to go faster on a second go-round. Instead of stopping at 4.6 I chose to add on another 3 miles at the same relatively modest pace. Having done the add-on as the warmup I knew what I was in for, i.e. a steady uphill trend on much of Conant Road which just about put me under. Really ready to get it over with at that point. Overall, splits were as follows:

5:45
5:53
5:40
3:22
5:30
11:40 - 2 miles plus maybe 50 yards or so on the add-on loop
5:25 - same last downhill mile a second time

Dragging ass on the hills and feeling plainly flat and tired. I was in no condition to tackle the challenges of the rolling terrain. It may well be overtraining time yet again. Certainly this workout fits in well with the trend of declining fitness that race results have demonstrated over the past three months. Hopefully more and better rest, if that's even possible, will take care of things. On and off rain showers, less annoying than the ever-present breeze which kept things on the chilly side.

Sat 4/12 - double, 1:40 total

AM - 55 minutes very easy, Area 51. Took a longish break at around the 35 minute mark, in no rush this morning. Still feeling somewhat tired.

PM - 45 minutes, Area 51. Strides on the way in. Moving quicker than in the morning which is to be expected, but feeling a bit frayed around the edges. Not feeling quite as spry as I would hope.