Fri 7/29 - PM 80 minutes plus 25 minutes in Walden

Lincoln woods, incl. first visit in two years to the horse paddock trail. Doable now that the beaver dam by route 2 has been taken care of. Right foot of course continues to dominate my attention, felt okay given the fact I aggravated it yesterday evening. Wore the clunky shoes for the support and of course, rolled my left ankle on a rock in the trail, something that wouldn't have happened with the shoes I usually wear back there. Second toe (Morton's toe) has a decent sized blister on it and the pain is definitely localized to the muscle/tendon associated with that toe. Temp stayed reasonable all day but humidity sky high, a relief to get in the water.

Thu 7/28 - PM 60 minutes incl. 5k road race

Charity-centered athletic tourism at its finest. When I signed up for this event, which takes place on an island in Boston Harbor that's otherwise closed to the public and requires a ferry trip to get there, it wasn't a big deal. That was before the strained plantar which changed my whole perspective and made it a nerve-wracking experience. Running fast a problem and running fast in flats a bigger problem, not that it stopped me from doing both of those things. Okay during the warmup, felt some dangerous twinges during the race itself which definitely had me treading on eggshells. I had hoped to be able to sandbag the race itself but no such luck, it takes only one and that's what it ended up as. Kept up until about halfway, lost contact and then gave up in earnest soon after two miles. First two miles went by about 5:10 each which was a surprise, third mile closer to 5:45. No one in sight behind me. Foolishly I thought the course would be dead flat, it actually had some roll to it. Nothing extreme but enough that it affected the foot on downhills. Apart from all the foot drama, feeling flat and tired from the jump, felt like no nap in the afternoon really had an effect. Short slow cooldown, lots of compressions and direct pressure on the foot. Stiffened up some of course but not as bad as I thought it might. Pleasant evening, breeze off the water of course but it kept things cool. Overall an interesting event, hopefully I can do it next year under healthier circumstances.

Wed 7/27 - PM 90 minutes plus 25 minutes in Walden

Did the first half of the run around Concord Center and Old North Bridge area, over to Hapgood forest. A spur of the moment decision, again looking for flat smooth terrain. From there, up over Pine Hill and back to the pond. Right foot improving gradually, but remains tender and sore. Left adductor off, SI joint felt tweaked much of the run and I'm not sure what I did to make it that way. Felt better after stretching but still not good. Somewhat sticky conditions but the temp was reasonable thankfully.

Tue 7/26 - PM 75 minutes plus 20 minutes in Walden

Mostly easy run, in deference to the sore foot of course. Pace picked up a bit near the end, more or less by accident. Plantar less sore than yesterday, but this type of thing doesn't just go away. Responds well to direct pressure but stiffens up overnight and after long periods of sitting. Sunny and relatively dry most of the day, until of course I hit the trail at which point the humidity was building as a line of t-storms approached. Made getting into the pond a bit of an adventure, had to wait for the worst of it to pass.

Mon 7/25 - PM 50 minutes very easy

GMNWR. Flat and easy a no-brainer. Took a nap in the car that was far too long, really tired from the weekend still. Pace started out easy but tailed off within 20 minutes or so. Right foot still sore of course but it feels like it's slowly improving, easy running in clunky shoes for the time being. About 30 degrees cooler today than it has been of late, with waves of heavy rain showers passing through. Most of the run between rain episodes but it did get wet near the end.

Sun 7/24 - AM 4 hours run/hike

Crawford Path from the notch to Lakes of the Clouds, back via Edmands Path to Mt. Clinton Road. Not at all certain of whether I'd be able to run at all today after the apparent plantar strain yesterday. Still stiff and sore, but able to hobble through the first few minutes and it was okay by the time I reached the ridge a little less than an hour in. Had to protect it from landing wrong on one of the thousands of angular rocks that the trail is mostly comprised of. Became very irritable and tired on the way out in the last 2 miles leading to the Lakes of Clouds hut, more walking than running at one point. In hindsight this was a combination of gaining elevation along the ridge and being a bit dehydrated. Took a long break of a half hour or so at the hut, with food and lots of water. Not coincidentally felt much better on the way down. Descent down the Edmands path seemed to take forever, legs thoroughly rubberized by the bottom, but no trips or falls.

Sat 7/23 - 80 minutes plus 20 minutes in the Pemi

AM - 80 minutes incl. 10k road race in 34:30. Much-need sleep last night delayed by idiot rednecks in adjacent campsites, then interrupted by unexpected rain that forced me to put on the rain fly when I had originally left it off to keep things cool. Camping in NH this summer hasn't worked out so hot this summer. Hoping all the fast people would do the accompanying 5k, which they did in impressive times, not thinking that 4 of them would double back in the 10k that started 15 minutes later. As such any chances of a money slot were gone before the gun went off, trudged through the thing with no motivation. Barely controlled deceleration the second 5k. Temp not as hot as yesterday thankfully but the dewpoint was still sky high at the time we ran. Actually would have been better a little later on in the morning, but as it was I wilted pretty noticeably. The tightness in my right shin migrated to the bottom of my foot, definitely strained and something I didn't notice until  the 6 mile mark. It proceeded to stiffen up the rest  of the afternoon and feel like absolute crap, very worrisome. I liked the pain better when it was in the shin.

PM - 20 minutes aquajogging in the Pemi. Back and forth in a deep pool that happened to be located within walking distance of my tent. Right foot very tender and sore, in sudden and acute style. Whistling as loud as possible past the graveyard.