Fri 5/27 - PM 70 minutes easy

Lincoln woods. Easy but not easy enough, realized at a certain point I was forcing the issue and had to repeatedly catch myself from doing it again. More hot and sticky conditions, more reminiscent of late June than late May. First dip in the pond, bracing.

THu 5/26 - PM 75 minutes incl. 12x400

Cruise pace quarters with short rest (100m jog). Hot, sticky and windy day. Not the greatest combo for running on the track, plus Tuesday's workout was more of a workout than I gave it credit for. As a result, feeling a bit flat and cut back from the originally planned 16 reps. Hit the first one in 81 and I knew that would be about it for pace. Dipped under 80 for a few of the middle reps, then the wind seemed to pick up to the point I was getting crushed on every backstretch. Times went back up to around 81 near the end. Last rep actually 500m to make it an even 15 laps. Left leg held up okay although QL muscle stiffened up some later on in the evening. Cooldown included the first post-run soak of the year, in the river as there was no way I was running all the way to the pond. As often seems to be the case the weather has gone suddenly and directly from high temps in the mid 50s to highs in the mid 80s. Ever-present wind of course, just a question of which direction it's coming from.

Wed 5/25 - PM 70 minutes easy

Coolidge Corner to the river, back up Beacon to Summit Ave for a set of hill drills. Moving slowly until the last 15 minutes or so, combination of loosening up and boredom brought the pace down. Summit Ave a particularly appropriate place to do the drills. Warm sunny day, with a cool breeze coming off the water, what one envisions for this time of year.

Tue 5/24 - PM 70 minutes incl. 3(100-200) in increments

Sluggish warmup, took almost the full 30 minutes of jogging for the various creaks and aches to loosen up. Left ankle in particular feeling locked up, along with achilles. Feeling decent enough after drills, only minor tightness in hip flexor. In terms of effort, the workout was closer to an actual workout than glorified strides. Still, short enough that I'm confident the effects won't be overly lasting. Timed the overall 1600m worth of running for each set, including jog recoveries, as well as the final 200. As always, trying to stay relaxed through the 100 and hopefully change gears from there. This was hit and miss, strong wind down the homestretch had some effect on this. First and third set around 6:00 total, final set 5:45 with the decrease coming from faster recovery jogs I'd guess. All three sets capped off with a 200 of 34.2 or 34.3, which was quicker than I expected them to be. 2.5 minute jog between sets. The southerly breeze brought warm air, 20 degrees hotter than yesterday, turning dank into muggy.

Mon 5/23 - PM 90 minutes

Track Road to Area 51. Feeling much better than I would have expected for the day after running back to back 5ks. Left hip hung in there well until near the very end, pace overall quicker than I thought it would be. Didn't sleep especially well the past few nights, no idea where this came from. Continued overcast, a bit warmer than yesterday but still quite dreary.

Sun 5/22 - AM 65 minutes incl. 5k road race

Decent effort, nothing to write home about though. Rode the bike over to Stow and saw soon after arriving I had no chance at all of winning which put a damper on my mood. Gave it a go anyway, felt smooth enough although definitely a little flat. Second mile marker off but I'd guess the pace actually was fairly even which is unexpected for this course with the upward trending final mile. Not that the pace itself was ever anything to write home about, but at least it felt relaxed for the most part. I'd like to think the sub-maximal effort yesterday didn't put me in too much of a hole today but probably kidding myself there at least to some degree. Longish cooldown over to the trails of Gardner woods, a nostalgic spot that I haven't visited in years. Took the scenic route home on the bike. Hip held up surprisingly well to all this, some tightness in hamstring but never debilitating. Left ankle is actually the most tight and sore thing right now. Overcast gloom with ill wind returned after a 36 hour break, getting really old at this point.

Sat 5/21 - double, 90 minutes total

AM - 60 minutes incl. 5k in 18:10. What looked to be a fool's errand ended up being a break-even experience. Still probably not worth the effort but interesting nonetheless. Cruised a 5k trying not to overexert myself, mostly successful although the effort felt harder than I would have liked given the slow pace. Warmup on the course route, cooldown something shorter than that. Sun poked out just before the start and temp rose immediately. No real issues from the hip but it certainly is tight.

PM - 30 minutes very easy, to and from supermarket. Easy shakeout, hammie tight but felt better after post-run rigmarole.