Fri 12/9 - PM 55 minutes very easy

Area 51. No issues with the calf today, I was going too slow. The main issue was getting out the door in the first place. I was feeling more tired than I thought I would be. Given it's Friday I suppose I should have known better. Pace petered out towards the end, simply ran out of gas. Wasn't looking to do much more than an easy putter after yesterday's frustrating day but even so, it was damn slow by the end. Milder temps than yesterday, mugginess making a comeback. Left SI joint stiff, rolled on it with the lax ball after the run. Feels like it would the day after an honest to goodness hard session as opposed to yesterday's underwhelming fool's errand.

Thu 12/8 - PM 60 minutes

Failed attempt at some kind of threshold running, thanks to left calf being fried again. Unable to run at any kind of speed faster than a jog w/o aggravating it further than it already is, which became abundantly clear after running 2k on the track at a hardly robust 90 seconds/lap. Called it a day and jogged an easy half hour on the bad wheel after that. In hindsight, this isn't from the recent fool's errand of a race from Sunday, but rather the step-ups, hill drills and finally lunges I've done between now and then. The vulnerable area isn't ready for the stresses inherent in those types of movements. Should have known better but in my defense I've suffered this type of injury so infrequently. Hamstring strains are more up my alley, esp. since it seems I can bounce back from them much sooner. Yesterday's miserable weather replaced by a different kind of miserable, windy vs. rainy. Could have been worse I suppose.

Wed 12/7 - PM 75 minutes easy

Area 51. Rained all day, inescapable and gross. I had delusions of doing a workout today, the weather convinced me not to try but once out there I found that it wouldn't have gone off had I tried. Too flat and legs still too sore. Right adductor stiff and left calf is feeling like I might have aggravated it. The hill drills yesterday were in hindsight premature. All in all a frustrating day, sick of the generally wet weather we've had since I got back from Colorado in late August.

Tue 12/6 - PM 55 minutes easy

Area 51, with a somewhat rushed set of hill drills on White Pond Road. Right leg remains sore, although not so much in the IT band as yesterday. Hip flexor/psoas stubbornly twinging though, did some direct pressure on it after the run and found it to be quite tight. Not as tight as both calves feel though. Length of run somewhat less than what I had originally been shooting for. Spitting rain but still unusually warm out, shorts weather in fact.

Mon 12/5 - PM 75 minutes very easy

Area 51. Painfully slow putter, energy levels low and right leg feeling like garbage. Hip flexor was sore at the start, within fifteen minutes it was more a TFL/IT band thing that got worse if anything over the rest of the run. Shuffling along for most of it as a result. Straight recovery, but a chore nonetheless. Temperatures back up to unseasonably warm, confounding my attempts to dress appropriately.

Sun 12/4 - PM 60 minutes incl. 5k road race

The race went well enough, better than I thought it would, the awards ceremony was another matter. Feeling flat and justifiably concerned about how good an idea it was to have entered this thing in the first place. Not sure how the right leg would hold up to any kind of fast running. Ran the course as a warmup at a fairly quick tempo, feeling lethargic the whole way. All signs pointing to a lackluster performance. Dragged out from the gun, controlled but only barely. Thought at various times in the first half of the race that I would be dropped eventually, esp. as the early leader seemed to make some surges. However, I'm guessing he didn't preview the rolling course beforehand because the second of two gradual climbs in the second mile softened him up sufficiently that I took the lead without trying or wanting to. Decided to maintain the effort level until near the end so as not to blow up, and put my hopes into holding him off with a final sprint. Took a peek with about 300m left and to my surprise I was in the clear. With no small sense of relief, took the foot off the gas pedal and slowpoked it in. Cooldown was a very slow 20 minutes or so around the former hospital grounds.

Sat 12/3 - AM 65 minutes easy

Easy putter through Mine Falls, mostly east of the route 3 underpass. More extensive than I had realized back there. Right leg bothersome pretty much the entire way though which took away from the enjoyment of it some. Reduced range of motion in hip/thigh and soreness in the hammie after yesterday. The post-run foam roller stuff, while good in the long run, left its mark for today. Temps remain somewhat milder than normal for this time of year, the low sun and chilly mornings have been leaving me overdressed on some of these runs.