Fri 9/17 - PM 80 minutes

Late start for no good reason, gloomy overcast skies, left leg locked up for the first 20+ minutes, went too fast for what should have been a recovery day. Overall not a stellar day. Felt better at the end than at the beginning at least.

Thu 9/16 - PM 85 minutes incl. 10x1000

Back and forth on the Longfellow Loop, 200m jog between reps. I came to realize that it was either going to be a half-assed attempt at circuits (omitting the walking lunges of course after last week) or resumption of some form of interval training after over 3 months break from it. Went with the latter, had to get back on the horse sometime. Jogged up the road and dove right in with the first rep, too lazy to do drills beforehand. First rep went by in 3:25, subsequent reps within 3 seconds of this either way. Recoveries just under a minute by and large. I was originally shooting for slightly slower pace, and thought the first one was going to be unsustainable. This turned out to not be the case, although there were moments where I felt possibly overextended. Less tired/exhausted than expected upon finishing. Left adductor started barking about halfway through the workout and got tighter after that. Not to a debilitating degree but it's still an issue, definitely affected more by the faster pace of the reps compared to the slower type of running (in some cases much slower) I've been doing lately. On and off showers, quite heavy for a time, while I was out there. Cool and humid throughout.

Wed 9/15 - PM 80 minutes easy plus 20 minutes in Walden

Legs seems to be most of the way back from Sunday, although left hip rotator remains stuck. Energy levels still low, so pace remained easy although I did pick it up a bit on the way in. Breezy and relatively cool, if this keeps up my days in the pond are numbered.

Tue 9/14 - PM 65 minutes easy including 20 minutes in Walden

Today's run picked up where yesterday's left off in terms of pace and relative intensity. Legs are feeling better, although left hip rotator was stuck and pinching at times. Yesterday's dip in the pond definitely helped, as did today's. In both cases, better range of motion and less soreness after getting out of the water. Sunny all day and relatively warm, nice day to be outside.

Mon 9/13 - PM 70 minutes very easy plus 20 minutes in Walden

Easy, easy, easy putter after yesterday. The whole point was to get to the pond so the legs could spin weightlessly and hopefully get a mild anti-inflammatory effect from being in the water. The first few minutes were in slow motion, which is not an exaggeration. Embarassingly so in fact. Very gradually legs de-stiffened, and felt much better after getting out of the water, but still never faster than a light jog at any point. Warmer than yesterday but still on the cool side, with partly sunny conditions giving way to overcast by the end of the workout. Thankfully I finished before heavy t-storms rolled through.

Sun 9/12 - AM 32k threshold run

The long-awaited (and feared) 20 miler on the Longfellow loop. Plenty to worry about going in, what with the left adductor that's been tight and/or stuck for the past 6 weeks, and the hip flexor that I strained on Wednesday. After that little accident I was ambivalent about even doing this even though it's been in the works for a while. Gave it a go anyway. Splits as follows:

5:54 5:57 2:50
5:50 5:54 2:52
5:54 5:54 2:53
5:52 5:57 2:51
5:52 5:53 2:52
5:51 5:54 2:51
5:52 5:56 2:55 (stopped to pick up gel that had fallen)
5:51 5:54 2:51
tacked on an extra 400m in 89 seconds to make up for the 40m shortfall on each lap.

Overall very consistent, good to know I can rattle off an effort like this even with the various muscle strains. Of course the flat nature of the loop made it easier to hold the pace. Got into a groove within the first few miles and made it a point not to deviate from that, for fear of cratering later on. I may have been capable of a slightly faster pace, or more of a negative split, but the goal was to finish the entire thing first and foremost. The difference between the 15 miler I did last month and this time was noticeable, mainly in how much more sore I felt after it was done. Tightness and fatigue spread into upper body (shoulders and back), legs wobbly. Not totally fried from an exertion standpoint, but getting close to the end of my rope the last two loops. Psychologically I feel like this has helped with the patience needed to race a marathon. Good practice taking fluids and gels as well. Conditions were generally quite favorable, cloud cover returned overnight which kept the temperature down. Somewhat humid but cool enough that it didn't matter. Warmup was riding my bike up Waltham Street to the start of the loop and some half-assed drills, cooldown was riding my bike back down the road.

Sat 9/11 - PM 45 minutes plus 20 minutes in Walden

Light day running wise, although I did spend a lot of time outside with the river cleanup in the morning. Lifted many many tires out of the muck. This left me a bit tired for the run, took it easy for the most part. Tried a moderate pickup on the way in as a test of the right hip flexor before tomorrow's long effort, it held up well enough. Nice day to be outside, the cloud cover of the past two days broke along with warm temps.