Fri 11/4 - PM 70 minutes incl. repeats

Franklin Park. First time I've run fast here in years, today with the wildcats of course. Very brief warmup jog, 10 minutes at most. Then 2 trips up and over Bear Cage down to the backstop, a little short of 800m probably, followed by two trips around Wilderness loop that were probably a bit short of 1k. One final run around Plaisted, something a bit less than 600. As I did last week, worked my way through the groups from slower to faster. Very relaxed and easygoing at first of course, the last two reps done with the top two boys who were in well over their heads and racing each other as teenagers are wont to do. Relaxed but I can't say it was controlled, stretched right to the limit. Of course with 4-5 minute recoveries this behavior was enabled if not encouraged. Long mellow cooldown of 30 minutes afterward. Left glute feeling better after last night's work on it, but left hammie feeling off in the belly of the muscle. Cool and windy, if anything the wind picked up after the sun set.

Thu 11/3 - PM 50 minutes easy

Area 51. Would have run longer but schedule constrained my options. Predictably stiff after yesterday, even though it wasn't much of a session. Not quite as tired as I was feeling earlier in the week. Left high hammie feeling quite tight, realized just before bed the likely source was up in the glute. A few minutes of rolling on the lax ball left the area in much better shape.

Wed 11/2 - PM 50 minutes incl. 8x400

Semi-successful attempt at doing an actual workout, despite mojo still not back after the marathon and recent issues with getting to bed early enough. Set the bar intentionally low, 400s with 100 jog recoveries at something around tempo pace. Repeats avereaged around 80, recoveries 30 seconds. Also flexible going in as to pulling the plug if necessary after fewer repeats than planned. As the original plan was to do 16 reps the plug was indeed pulled. I also thought it would be a good idea not to check the watch so as not to get discouraged by what would surely be slow numbers. In hindsight I would have been better served checking the splits, as I thought I was going 2-3 seconds slower than actual. Tried to keep the effort relaxed and hold something back for later but it became clear that I had bitten off more than I could chew by #8. In the end it was a version of the Deek with truncated rest breaks.

Tue 11/1 - PM 65 minutes easy

Area 51. Took some doing to get out the door today. Still tired, although not as much as yesterday. Took it quite easy to start, showing some signs of life near the end. Enough to do strides but they were pretty mediocre as strides go. The slipping and sliding has left its mark on the hammies and stabilizing muscles, unforeseen but totally predictable. Avoided the stretch of Patrol Road that had all the downed trees yesterday, no idea if those had been cleared. Chilly and breezy, snow that's still on the ground adds enough moisture to make things dank as well.

Mon 10/31 - 40 minutes very easy

Area 51. A fool's errand of a run, dragging much more than anticipated and cut things short as a result. In fact, walked it in the last few hundred meters once I got back to downtown. Feeling the effect of the weekend, as much the underlying fatigue as the runs themselves which weren't all that. No energy whatsoever. Left hip tight again, rolled the SI joint on the lax ball as a result. Felt better for it but a holding action at best. Many, many trees down across the patrol road from the storm, stopping every 50m or so on average to clamber around them. Interesting to see but a pain nonetheless. At least I didn't step on any live power lines.

Sun 10/30 - 90 minutes

Walden woods. Mostly different route, utterly different footing after yesterday's storm which left the trails in varying degrees of snow, slush, and/or standing water. Made for quite the messy slog. Legs responded exactly how I thought they would, i.e. hammies got stiff and range of motion decreased as the run progressed into the final half hour. Still, not quite as bad a fade as yesterday's run on dry ground. Third morning in a row of being glued to the bed come wakeup time, took forever to get going.

Sat 10/29 - AM 90 minutes

Walden woods, with drills on Pine Hill. Moving at a decent clip for the first hour and then hit something of a wall after that. The run in from the hill after doing drills was especially slow, I was done by that point. Possibly the uneven footing had something to do with the fade, whatever the case both hammies felt tight by the end and I was pooped. Overcast conditions, but at least I avoided the weather bomb that showed up later on in the afternoon.