Fri 9/18 - PM 85 minutes plus 24 minutes in Walden

Similar run to one earlier in the week, took just about an hour for right leg to loosen up to the degree that I felt like I wasn't hobbling along on it. Still, not as stiff as it was yesterday. Moving relatively well the last 20 minutes. Warm sunny day, gusty west wind, lots of clouds by the time I hit the trail. Pond is getting on the cool side, next week may be the final hurrah for its use.

Thu 9/17 - PM 60 minutes

Area 51. Spent the day at work feeling both incredibly tired and obnoxiously sore from knee to hip; as such I was seriously considering taking the day off. Felt better after a nap and some direct pressure on the goosefoot/VMO area. After much lolligagging finally shoved off at a very slow pace. Mostly stiff and sore for a full 45 minutes, got towards the end and decided to stretch it out a bit regardless, which ended up being five quasi-accelerations and a sustained 8 minute stretch to the end. Feeling the oblique again somewhat and I'm sure everything will be locked up tomorrow but all in all I'll take it. Certainly the last 15 minutes felt much better than the first 15. Gloomy overcast all day gave way to still cool conditions, very nice.

Wed 9/16 - PM 50 minutes easy

Putter through Area 51, right thigh locked up the entire time. Adductor stuck, vastus lateralis twinging, goosefoot sore and swollen. Other than that a great time. Finished off yesterday's run feeling pretty good, in fact both of the past two days, but today was another story. Did a good amount of compressions on the high hammie area after the run, felt somewhat better after that. Gloomy overcast much of the day, some breaks in the clouds while I was out there but alas in no mood to enjoy it.

Tue 9/15 - PM 80 minutes plus 24 minutes in Walden

Went further than I had originally wanted, as usual underestimated how long it would take to cover the route I chose. Hammie continues to be sore from the other day, the inflammation is running its course there. Adductor firmly stuck at the beginning of the run, felt better only after a break to do some direct pressure on the offending spot. Overall much less stiffness towards the end of the run. Warm and sunny again, like yesterday.

Mon 9/14 - PM 85 minutes easy plus 25 minutes in Walden

Pace relaxed throughout, started easy and if anything tailed off after an hour or so. Right leg sore of course, but the soreness settled mostly in the belly of the hammie as opposed to the usual suspect areas. Likely strained from favoring the non-functional adductor yesterday, some swelling in there now as well. It'll take a few days to settle down. Still left wondering how the condition of the leg went downhill so suddenly late last week, i.e. after the off day on Thursday. Maybe a delayed onset thing from the two hard efforts in five days last week. Warm and thankfully dry day after a weekend of the muggies. Pond feels like it's cooling off but still relatively comfortable.

Sun 9/13 - AM 75 minutes incl. 6m "race" in 37:10

Ugly, ugly effort, and not at all representative of whatever modest fitness I have at the moment. Leg stiff and sore from the get-go, flat, tired, the whole thing went poorly right from the start. Painful every single step of the way. Ran the first 2 miles at 5:50 pace, which was embarassing in itself and demoralizing because I knew it wasn't sustainable. Fell off from there, then the hills started in earnest. 3+ miles of get it over with mode stuck in no-man's land. Even within the context of diminished expectations thanks to the neverending leg problems, this was an unpleasant surprise. Based on recent results and the relatively favorable conditions--warm, not as humid as this event last year--I thought a time in the 34-35 minute range was doable. In hindsight it wouldn't have been enough to hold onto the lead anyway. Not much consolation for how crappy I felt from start to finish. Oblique started twinging quite early on, sore the rest of the day. The one semi-positive to come out of this is that the pelvic area didn't tighten up on me afterwards the way it did following the Magnolia race. But that's probably simply due to not being able to run fast enough to incur that kind of damage.

Sat 9/12 - double, 70 minutes total

AM - 45 minutes easy, Area 51. Adductor area feeling better than yesterday, although that's not saying much. Whatever caused the specific adhesions that cut things short, and I'm convinced it was from doing the plank with one leg off the ground, it's been worked out for the most part. Raining for 24 hrs straight, big puddles everywhere.

PM - 25 minutes on Tanglewood grounds incl. drills and strides on the lawn barefoot. I need of a shakeout after the drive out. Less stiffness in the legs and the strides helped in this regard.