Fri 3/25 - PM 70 minutes easy

Area 51. Just jogging needless to say, at least I didn't aggravate things with the haunch any worse--I think. Took a decent-sized break halfway through for some compressions on the hammie, leg felt better for it afterward. I needed the time spent in the woods today in the worst way. Sheltered trails still covered in too much snow to be passable, not going anywhere soon given the continued colder than normal temps. At least there was no precipitation today.

Thu 3/24 - PM 40 minutes

modest step forward yesterday, big steps back today. Decided that I should try some form of uptempo running (not fast mind you) and should have known better when I could feel the high hammie "pinch point" twinging from the word go. Tried anyway, made it through one six minute pickup where all I could think about was how much I was aggravating whatever the fuck is wrong with my leg, and butt, and hip, etc. Jogged it in from there. Big spasm in the glute but I think what's sticking on the pinch point is also hamstring. That shit never heals, esp. not when I don't let it. Adductor remains really tight despite all my attempts to remedy the situation. SI joint got sore too of course, fairly certain that was the glute pulling on it. Gamboling happily up and down mountains in Tucson and doing barefoot drills and strides in the close-cropped grass seems like it was years ago, and running a 5k on the track seems like a fantasy when I did it a month ago. WTF indeed. Spent lots and lots of time with the lax ball crushing every adhesion I could find in the area after the run, probably overdoing it, not caring. Something rotten in Denmark. Weather continues to be a notch above miserable but only just, unseasonably cold with snow squalls passing through all afternoon. A day above 50 degrees would be much appreciated but it's not happening anytime soon.

Wed 3/23 - PM 60 minutes

Area 51, with a set of drills on the track near the end. Possibly some light at the end of the tunnel with the left haunch, all that rolling around on the lax ball last night may have done something. Felt better at the moderate pace of most of the run. Adductor still an underlying issue, it's far too tight. Drills felt pretty good though, short as they were. May try something more ambitious tomorrow. Continued cold overcast, not pleasant.

Tue 3/22 - PM 75 minutes

Pratt's Brook to Stow/Red Acre, in via White Pond and Track road. Better energy level thankfully. Left hip/butt/thigh feeling marginally better than yesterday which isn't saying much. Tried doing hill drills but it was too much strain on the SI joint, or more accurately, the muscles attaching around said joint. Very frustrated by this at the time but mellowed out after the run. Worked on a large adhesion in the glute with the lax ball, good times. The party continues. Weather less obnoxious than yesterday but still raw and unpleasant, with more of this type of thing in the forecast.

Mon 3/21 - PM 45 minutes very easy

Area 51. The tailspin continues. Got home from work much more exhausted than I realized or expected, afternoon catnap stretched out to over an hour. Energy levels back down in the basement. Within a few minutes of heading out the door, realized that the left adductor was stuck tight, left hip as a whole stuck in a vise. Planned on doing hill drills but too tired to bother, which is saying something. Still waiting/hoping that all the post-run rigamarole will have some effect on the left leg which has gone downhill and stayed there since returning from Tucson. To top it off, utterly dismal weather, gray overcast with spitting drizzle and a penetrating chill. Disgusting.

Sun 3/20 - PM 65 minutes easy

Track Road to Area 51. Yesterday's face plant changed my approach for the rest of the weekend, all grandiose plans for a morning long run went out the window. Spent all afternoon running errands and eventually, at long last, got out the door to give it a go. More than a little apprehensive, but it ended up turning into a garden variety easy run much like most of the others this week. That is to say, fairly slow and somewhat monotonous. Stiffness in left hip/SI joint diminished for the most part by the second half of the run, but never felt truly smooth or fluid either. Re-instituted the pigeon pose as part of the post-run routine as a better way of gapping the SI joint, hopeful this will have some salubrious effect on it. Time will tell. Sunny breezy day, more brisk than I would like but seasonable.

Sat 3/19 - AM 60 minutes incl. 8k tempo

Longfellow loop. Terrible effort, sabotaged by left leg/hip back. Adductor and glute medius attachment felt like shit from the very start and instead of loosening up in any way, they simply got worse as the thing wore on. Had planned on doing 4 laps starting at close to 6:00 pace and seeing if it could go down a bit from there, instead the first loop went at that pace and then slowed on the second lap. Gave up for all intents and purposes at 6k but kept going for no good reason. Hard to describe how crappy the leg felt. Simply put, any kind of faster running right now, "faster" meaning anything more than say 6:30 pace or so, results in failure and further aggravation of this neverending bullshit with the left side. I'm at a loss to understand how sensitive it is, esp. after how good it felt at the tail end of the Tucson trip where I was going up and down mountains every day and running barefoot strides and drills most evenings. Since the flight back and the road race last weekend it's been nothing but shit. Extremely extremely frustrating, particularly in light of the hour plus I'm spending every goddamn evening massaging, stretching, strengthening, etc. Must be doing either the wrong things or not enough of the right things. To cap things off, underneath the leg issues it felt like I was quite flat and lacking in energy. The three hour nap after lunch would back that up. Still quite windy, but it's shifted to colder direction making for less than comfortable conditions unlike yesterday.