Fri 1/14 - PM 65 minutes incl. mile, 3x440

Quasi-fail of a workout. In a nutshell, too short and too fast esp. given the continued struggles with the strained hammie. Had a 4-3-2-1 cutdown workout in mind that I would of course have to do alone, instead I succumbed to the desire to have people to train with. Full workout was mile, 4x440, 880, 4x400, althought I thought the second set of 440s was only two. Not that it mattered in the end. I was under the impression the mile would be 5k pace, instead it went in 5:04 (2:33, 2:31). I had no problem with this, felt relaxed and left leg was okay. 440s went in 66 high, 67, and 68, with 2 minutes rest, each one harder than the last. Running this speed for this duration was too much for the leg to bear, plus still feeling somewhat tired so it was a no-brainer to stop there. Even fresh and healthly, this kind of workout is at cross purposes with what I've become accustomed to. Hammie, and glute, and lower back started stiffening up soon after, cooldown was a chore. Felt much better after some post-run stretching though.

Thu 1/13 - PM 65 minutes easy

Levittown. An exercise in utter frustration, with the left hammie still bugging me and only made worse by the absolutely horrendous condition of the side streets. The worst I've ever seen in this neighborhood after a storm, and that's not an exaggeration. Also not an exaggeration to say it would have been possible to ski the route I chose on skate skis. I was wishing I had skis after 10 minutes. Packed snow with some loose snow on top, ensuring lots of slipping even with short stride length and screw shoes. I should have run on the treadmill instead but I couldn't bring myself to do that. The only roads that were at all clear were of course the south-facing slopes of Rice and its two neighbors. So hill drills were a go, and actually felt better than I had expected. State of the left leg is becoming a major thorn in my side. Waited too long to schedule a massage and I may end up paying dearly for it when the real racing starts.

Wed 1/12 - off

No running but I did spend 3 hours shoveling the 20 inches of white lead that fell on my driveway. Still tired, of course, despite sleeping in and taking a nap after round 1 with the shovel. Planning on an easy run after round 2 but by the time that was over with the fatigue was overwhelming. Went through the stretching/exercise routine regardless. Came to the realization that at least some if not most of the tightness I've been feeling in the upper thigh region is coming from an inordinately tight glute/hip/TFL on that side. Did some direct pressure there and noticed an immediate difference. Of course it will tighten right up again overnight.

Tue 1/11 - PM 65 minutes incl. 3x mile

Utterly flat workout, in hindsight shouldn't have bothered. Realized halfway through the warmup jog that the left hammie still feeling stuck, although it may be as much in the glute/hip extensor as the hammie. Planned on doing 5 repeats with 90 seconds rest starting around 5:20 and hopefully getting a little faster as things progressed. Instead, the first 440 went by in 85, first rep 5:26. Followed that with a 5:23, then ran out of gas on the third and final rep. More or less gave up at the 3/4 mark of that one when I could sense the flatness. At the time I thought it was all about the leg, but on the cooldown slog I realized just how tired I felt. Still feeling it from the weekend I suppose, Sunday night's poor sleep didn't help either. The double from 10 days ago feels like it happened 10 months ago. It's becoming clear that unless I take care of the leg and get to bed earlier I'll be regressing instead of progressing at precisely the wrong time.

Mon 1/10 - PM 65 minutes easy

Winter Street to Levittown via Summerhill, with hill drills on Rice. Tired and flat today, slept poorly last night in large part due to right foot feeling sore along instep. Fingers crossed it's just some tendon inflammation from wearing thick socks on yesterday's run. Left hammie feeling somewhat better early in the run, but in time I could tell that it's still locked up more than I would like. Responded well to post-run massaging though. Cold again but the wind slacked off completely by the time I was done which makes it much more tolerable.

Sun 1/9 - PM 90 minutes easy

Tiger Drive to Longfellow Loop and McMansionville. Easy going the entire way, much needed after the past two days. Spent a good chunk of the morning tromping around in snow-covered fields looking at animal tracks, even after a long nap I was fairly wiped out from this and the rest of the weekend's activities so going slow was the only option. Left hammie felt stuck for the first hour or so, after a short climb it felt like tightness had eased somewhat which was interesting. Much better range of motion in the muscle afterward while stretching. Cold but the wind died down as the run progressed, an added bonus.

Sat 1/8 - AM 70 minutes incl. 4.8 mile road race

One of the more shameless instances of sandbagging, idea that was hatched earlier in the week despite the strained hammie that's been a problem since the track meet last Sunday. Long drive down, but an interesting place to visit that I never, ever would have thought to visit. Despite spending a good deal of time last night working on the left leg, to the point that I got to bed later than I should, it of course stiffened up overnight and was locked up. Warmup a chore, although the drills helped like last night. Once the gun went off, spent all but the first 150m in second place. Soon enough maintaining this spot with a minimum of exertion or incurring further damage to the hammie became the overriding goal. The guy behind me stayed close enough for the first half of the race that I felt compelled to keep the foot on the gas longer than I would have liked. Overdid it a bit as I realized at 4 miles that the gap was a lot more than I thought. Semi-jogged it in from there, getting slower as the finish line approached. Cooldown was broken up into chunks in order to make sure not to miss the awards. Mile splits of 5:24 for the first two, then slowed from there to 5:39.62 for each of the next two miles after that. The pace felt harder than it actually was but given the leg and how tired I was going in, it was something I fully expected.