Thu 5/5 - PM 65 minutes

Area 51. Late start cut short the length of the run, still struggling with getting enough sleep and it comes to bear every afternoon upon getting home from work, with the nap going for far too long. Once finally out the door, gradually loosened up after a slow start, finished the run with some strides that felt decent if not spectacularly quick. Yesterday's rain mostly gone, although caught in a shower right near the end that was quite obnoxious. Blustery winds all day of course.

Wed 5/4 - PM 30 minutes easy

Area 51. Swing and a miss, had planned on some kind of leg prep workout today but far too flat to pull it off. This became increasingly clear as I went along, got to the track after 25 minutes or so and knew by then not to even try. Basically goes back to not getting to bed early enough the past few nights, kind of important after the weekend's efforts but unable to follow through. Hip and lower back (QL) also far tighter than I would have expected, could be that the hill drills aren't such a good idea yet. Plenty more work with the lax ball and foam roller. On the plus side the ankle wasn't as stiff today as it has been.

Tue 5/3 - PM 65 minutes

Lincoln woods, incl. hill drills. Moving better than yesterday, less stiffness in hip. Ankle still somewhat problematic but it loosened up well enough eventually. In need of a shorter run, no qualms about keeping it close to an hour. Windy again of course, still relatively warm at least.

Mon 5/2 - PM 80 minutes easy

Lincoln woods. Got slower as things went along, particularly the last 20 minutes when underlying tiredness really came to the fore. Left hip/SI joint tight and stiff throughout. They felt better after work with the lax ball and foam roller after the run but that didn't help me any during the run itself. Blustery day, relatively warm at least.

Sun 5/1 - PM 80 minutes incl. 10k road race

Made it through my foolish gambit, better than expected all things considered. Legs, incl. the problematic left thigh and ankle, felt reasonably good which came as a surprise. Particularly worried going in about the downhill second mile and the toll it would take on the left hammie after the way it felt running downhill yesterday. It held up better than expected for the final 4+ miles of it. Course overall had a fair amount of roll, elevation lost in the second mile made up for in the last two. Settled into second by soon after the mile mark, planned on downshifting to tempo effort by 2 miles when I realized the next guy was uncomfortably close. This resulted in my keeping the pressure on for the next three miles, to the point that I was gaining on the leader for a while. Clicked off 5:30s for the first 4 miles, required a bit more effort than I would have liked but given the lack of fitness and dodgy leg I can't expect any more. Pace slowed going uphill the last two miles, back to 5:50s, also seemed to hit the worst of the wind at that point in the course. Still, ran well within myself and overall the thing felt like a mostly controlled effort which was all I was capable of under the circumstances. Felt fairly satisfied with how the weekend went with the back to back hard efforts. Air went out of my balloon when I found out the guy who beat me was doing his second 10k of the day. Hindsight being what it is, had I chosen the 5k at this event instead of the 10k I would have won with ea$e. C'est la vie. The podunk road race tour continues until/unless I can get the left leg to where I can do actual training, something that hasn't been doable since December.

Sat 4/30 - AM 90 minutes incl. 5m road race

Front end of what is surely a bad idea, road whoring at its finest. Looking to secure a money spot with the least possible amount of effort expended. Abundantly clear after 600m that third place would be it. Spent the first two miles establishing a cushion (11:00, not a particularly competitive race) and the next two miles using it up (11:40 or so). Realized I was being stalked at this point and threw in two surges in the last mile to hold the spot which resulted in a final mile just under 5:30. The second surge probably wasn't necessary, and I was mildly ticked that I felt compelled to do it but better safe than sorry. Cool and blustery conditions, the usual situation where it felt like a headwind no matter which direction we were headed. Overall felt quite flat, stayed up too late last night so no surprise there. More of a downer was the way the left hip locked up on the only downhill stretch of any significance on the course. The whole thing felt like crap afterward, esp. TFL, glute, and IT band. Did some serious work with the foam roller which was both painful and worthwhile. Left ankle stiff too, yippee. Very slow cooldown of course.