Fri 1/28 - PM 45 minutes

Silverhill to Levittown, with hill drills. Left leg still feeling locked up but not as bad as yesterday. No idea how it will feel tomorrow but still not particularly sanguine. Footing is mixed to poor in most places, the snow won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

Thu 1/27 - PM 60 minutes easy

Levittown, after yet another snow day. Traction less than ideal even with the screw shoes. Left leg locked up as I expected it to be, really down in the mouth about it for most of the run but it did start to feel a bit better towards the end and better still after all the post-run ministrations. Multiple rounds of compressions both before and after the run on the hammie.

Wed 1/26 - PM 60 minutes incl. 5x880

Demoralizing experience, left leg didn't respond as hoped to yesterday's massage. Ran the reps just under 2:40 with one lap jog recoveries (50 seconds avg.) and while the pace was nothing to write home about that wasn't the issue. After feeling some soreness during the warmup but nothing too major, the SI joint got stiffer and stiffer with each successive rep, and the effort required to run the pace was more than it should have entirely as a result of that stiffness. I had planned on doing a small amount of faster leg prep stuff after finishing the 800s but that wouldn't have even been possible much less advisable. Before cooling down, driven to lie on a lacrosse ball in an attempt to release the spasms in lower back, only partially successful. I've seen this movie before and it typically doesn't end well. Suddenly feeling a lot closer to injured than healthy, and the prognosis for Saturday went from iffy to doubtful. Taken very much by surprise by just how locked up the high hammie/SI/lower back area felt. Bummer.

Tue 1/25 - off

The day began with a soul-crushing commute in the snow (again), straight from work to much-needed massage where I fell asleep on the table. Too fucking tired to think about running after that, although I tried.

Mon 1/24 - PM 80 minutes

River St.-Stow Rd.-White Pond Rd. loop, same as last Saturday although at a somewhat quicker pace. Started out easy enough but the pace picked up over time. In all likelihood this was a result of the cold, lowest temps of the season and the coldest I can remember for some time. Well below zero this morning, didn't get much higher later on in the day. Other than some toe numbness in the first 30 minutes, no real discomfort but I didn't want to spend any extra time out there. At the start only noticed the glute being stiff on the left side, over time though the hammie got sore and near the end, the psoas as well. All in all, leg not as bad as it might have been given the race yesterday. Still could be better of course.

Sun 1/23 - AM 60 minutes incl. 3k in 9:10

Lackluster in the extreme. Kilos (approximate of course thanks to the imperial track) of 2:56, 3:03, and 3:11. Steadily deteriorating from about the 800 mark onwards. Still it didn't dawn on me that a pace which would have been perfectly reasonable 3 weeks ago was biting off more than I could chew until just before the mile, which went in 4:46 or so. Soon after that I realized it wasn't going to end well and really stopped trying. Nothing whatsoever to run for. I should have dropped out. Last lap was around 39, truly just getting it over with. At the time it seemed like a worthwhile exercise to see if the left leg would hold up to the entire distance as a test to see if next week's 5k would be doable. Having become a source of obsession over the past two weeks, for the past couple of days the afflicted area actually felt as good as it has been since the mini meet. Still not 100% though, SI joint stiffened up noticeably on the cooldown but wasn't that sore later on in the day. The degree to which it hampered me in the race is an open question. Certainly the training since the mini meet has been a series of failed and diminished attempts at workouts with the hammie getting more and more aggravated over time. Going into the race and during the race itself though I couldn't shake the feeling that I was flat and tired with no energy to speak of. Looking at the log entries over the past two weeks this has been a recurring theme, not sleeping enough or well enough. Along with the leg issues this has affected the training, and today it certainly affected the race. Less sugar before bedtime and earlier bedtime are the steps I'll be taking, we'll see how that goes. Downgrading expectations for the rest of the season. The Valentine meet is in doubt because I'm not fit enough for it.

Sat 1/22 - PM 50 minutes easy

Levittown. Took a while to get out the door this evening, pooped after a day spent doing mindless errands. Quite cold, coldest air of the season and looks to be around for a few days. Side roads now down to hard packed snow and ice with some clear stretches, mostly smooth sailing with screw shoes but that's partly thanks to going at an easy pace. Left leg feels as good as it has since the mini meet when I aggravated it, still not 100% but range of motion as good as it's been in over a month.