Fri 5/23 - PM 75 minutes, Walden woods

A bit dinged up from Wednesday's workout, still some soreness in left lat but not as tender as it was yesterday. Relaxed, but legs a bit rubbery on uphills and stumbling on roots more than I'd like. Sustained pickup the last 2-3 minutes in lieu of strides. Some tiredness but I've felt a lot worse on Fridays before. Continued windy gusty conditions, clouds came in again during the afternoon but not complete coverage.

Thu 5/22 - PM 70 minutes

Track Road to Area 51 with a few stops along the way, mostly nature-related. Counting down the days until the deer flies make this particular neck of the woods impassable, just mosquitoes for now. A bit dinged up from yesterday's workout, most noticeable was soreness and tenderness just above left iliac crest that goes down into TFL and up into lat attachment on my spine. Still did some strides on the way in anyway. Wind picked up during the afternoon, along with overcast made for conditions a bit on the cool side.

Wed 5/21 - PM 75 minutes incl. 3x(1200,800)

Weather deteriorated just before the start of practice, with showers passing through. Led to my slipping on a muddy spot while warming up, thankfully avoided any major scrapes or muscle pulls. After the rains cleared out a pleasant evening the rest of the way with very little wind.

Splits as follows:

3:42.0 - 2:25.1
3:41.0 - 2:25.1
3:39.4 - 2:22.5

2.5R after each 1200, 3.5 after each 800. With the recovery structured as such, the pace on the 1200s stayed under control. Each repeat was done with negative splits, at least slightly. Legs not as spry as they felt yesterday, I was ruing this fact during the warmup but still able to complete the workout smooth and relaxed throughout. I'm thinking Sunday's effort may not have been wholly representative of my current fitness level. Calves a bit tight, esp. the left one. Cooldown barefoot on the grass, cold and wet but still soft and forgiving.

Tue 5/20 - PM 55 minutes, Area 51

Similar to yesterday, the pace of the run today was a bit quicker than what I've become accustomed to. Had to check myself a couple of times during the run so as not to overdo it. Strides on the way in as well. Apart from some mild hamstring soreness, legs felt good and my stride felt crisp. Second day in a row of sunny morning followed by cloudy and cooler in the afternoon, although much less windy today.

Mon 5/19 - PM just under 90 minutes, Walden woods

Overall, moving quicker than normal for the day after a hard effort and perhaps too quickly. For whatever the reason I wanted to push it a little and took what was available in that respect. Still relaxed if a bit tired by the end. Hammies a bit sore from yesterday but not as bad as expected. Warm sunny morning gave way to partly cloudy skies and relentless winds in the afternoon, too chilly to hang around and stretch outdoors.

Sun 5/18 - AM 75 minutes incl. 5k road race

15:53 for the SCT 5k in Stow on this course, an effort that felt smooth and relaxed but a bit off in terms of energy level and underlying fatigue. Mile splits of 5:01, 5:00, and (ahem) 5:18 bear this out. Thankfully there was no competition unlike last year when my cookies were stolen at this same race, so the 3rd mile slowdown didn't affect my standing in the race. Effort wise it didn't feel like I was slowing on the last mile, although a combination of a net uphill and turning back into the wind made it a little tougher. I wouldn't call this a hilly course at all however. As in the past, the warmup consisted of a 5k bike ride over to the start in addition to a 20 minute jog. Legs felt more rubbery than I had expected after biking over, overall legs felt a bit sluggish. I'll chalk it up to the past few days of somewhat higher volume. Cooldown was 30 minutes on Marble Hill. Sunny morning, a bit breezy but not too bad.

Sat 5/17 - double, 90 minutes total

AM - 50 minutes easy, Area 51. Relaxed morning shakeout. Still noticing some calf soreness on the left which I'm realizing is part and parcel of the tib muscle issues I had been experiencing recently. Should be on the way out though. Overcast to start the run, clouds broke near the end and the temp shot up immediately.

PM - 40 minutes easy, Walden woods. Very relaxed, not driving the pace too hard but feeling quite comfortable. Picked it up the last 600m or so in lieu of doing strides.