Fri 6/24 - PM 75 minutes easy

Walden woods, with drills on Pine Hill. Right on the edge of very easy for much of this run, still feeling dead tired though not as bad as Wednesday. Thought about clambering up Devil's Staircase but going too slow and too buggy to bother. Drills were a total slog. The afternoon naps have been too long and too deep this week, not coincidentally having to get up earlier for work now. Third day in a row of gloomy overcast with unseasonably cool temps, more of the on and off showers as well. A routine which is getting old indeed.

Thu 6/23 - PM 80 minutes incl. 15x200, 400

Better this than nothing. Not planning on a leg-prep type session originally, but still too tired to handle anything more substantial. Legs still quite flat from the weekend, not surprisingly, this and the windy rainy conditions made for some slow splits esp. at the outset. Started around 38 or so, got down to around 37 by the end with the final 400 going in a little over 75. 300-200-100 on the jog recoveries.

Wed 6/22 - PM 55 minutes easy

Concord center. The "donut hole" workout in that there was a warmup and a cooldown, even drills after the warmup, but no actual workout. This due to feeling completely dead tired. Legs heavy and overall quite listless. Slept poorly last night, desperately tired driving over to Emerson field after work. Quick nap went far too long. No energy whatsoever. Tried to give it a go anyway, knew I was kidding myself. Effort petered out toward the end, just wanted to stop. Adding to the fun is the fact that the QL has stiffened up again, not quite sure how. Cool and rainy conditions, obnoxiously so.

Tue 6/21 - PM 70 minutes easy plus 20 minutes in Walden

Originally planned on doing a workout today, but after Sunday's excursion in the mountains it was a no-brainer to put it off a day. Pace was quite slow to start with stiff legs, picked up in time. Bruise on shin still noticeable but nothing major. Fittingly warm and sunny for the longest day.

Mon 6/20 - 55 minutes very easy

superslow jog on the Charles. Legs about what could be expected after yesterday. The scrape/bruise on left shin from one of the countless blowdowns on Dry River trail is particularly tender. Warm day and moderately sticky.

Sun 6/19 - AM - 5.5 hours run/hike, White Mountains

Dry River trail to the Lakes of the Clouds hut, along the ridgeline to Mt. Webster and then down the cliff trail to 302. Underestimated the length of time this loop would take, by a couple of hours. Trail was dry along the alpine ridge, some nice running up there in fact with the requisite spectacular views, but getting up and coming back down were both a pain in the ass. Dry River trail became increasingly muddy and obstructed by blowdowns on the way up, cut both legs multiple times on the branches and limbs across the path. Ankle-sucking mud everywhere. Got up to the ridgeline and of course was blasted by the wind, no surprise at all. Longish break at the hut, then along the hut for relatively flat terrain which was a relief. Descent down to Mizpah Spring hut was obnoxious, got there and realized how much more trail I had left to cover, incl. the big descent off of Webster. Upon getting there, my heart sank to see how much that actually was, over a vertical mile of drop in "3 miles" of trail. Mileage amounts of course don't mean a damn thing on mountain trails. Those 3 miles took well over an hour. From there a very slow putter on 302 back to the car. Not in nearly the dire straits that I was on the last one of these mega-hikes I did at Great Sand Dunes, thanks mainly to not having to run in loose sand at altitude. Better fueled and had access to water at the huts which came in very handy as well. Finished up tired but not exhausted, quads not as sore as expected from the descent but knees were. From there a 3+ hour drive back to civilization. Nice area to visit but a pain to get there.

Sat 6/18 - AM 90 minutes incl. Mt Washington road race

A solid effort, but undermined from the start by a lack of rest going into the race. Not sleeping quite enough through the week, but that was nothing compared to last night when the final rain shower of the day started pelting my tent at 11 pm and steadily picked up in intensity for the next four hours with water slowly making its way into the tent. Took forever to fall asleep, probably about 3 hours total before it was time to get up. Not in the best frame of mind after this needless to say. Felt vaguely nauseous while warming up (during one last rain shower, of course). Knew I would have to be super-conservative to avoid blowing up completely. And that was how it went, watching people I know I could run with steadily pull away, knowing it would be inadvisable to try to stick with them or worse yet reel them in. Hoping I could keep it together and maybe pick off people who couldn't. The first part of that equation worked out but it became clear that no one was coming back to me except for one guy I was able to catch at the very end. Spent two thirds of the race alone, much of that in pea soup conditions with only a vague idea of where the road was up ahead. Difficulty of the course about what I expected although the final super-steep section was a bit oversold IMO. Only split to report was at halfway, a bit over 33 minutes. Cooldown pretty much non-existent, and consisted of some light jogging to and from the summit building.