Fri 1/13 - PM 85 minutes

Charles River, round trip between Harvard Stadium and North Station with a 20 minute break in the middle. A bit over 40 minutes on the trip there, a bit under 45 minutes on the trip back. While the trip there was on the right bank and the trip back on the left, I'd say much of the time difference can be ascribed to the wind which was hammering from the WSW all afternoon. Sustained around 30 mph with gusts more than that, all alongside the flat expense of the waterway. There were moments on the trip back where I could barely make forward progress. This was as exhausting mentally as one would imagine. Calf feels better than yesterday, still light years from normal. Dry pavement is better for it than yesterday's slush of course. Both high hammies feeling tight and stiff.

Thu 1/12 - PM 70 minutes easy

Area 51. Snow in the morning gave way to a driving windswept rain most of the afternoon, which of course meant slush on every uncleared surface. Hideous. I was thinking of sticking to plowed roads instead of going in the woods but soldiered on mostly due to force of habit, with predictable results. In hindsight taking another zero might have been the better move as even slow jogging did the calf no favors. Lots of poking and prodding at it after the run, incl. more lax ball work. Felt like it muddied the waters more than breaking up adhesions.

Wed 1/11 - off

Calf felt like garbage after yesterday, although much better after some more intensive work with the lax ball. Besides this, feeling very tired after two days with no nap and no earlier bedtime to make up for it. Really wiped out my mid-afternoon.

Tue 1/10 - PM 35 minutes

Charles River. Another setback, to add to the recent pile of them. Wore thin-soled shoes which was a mistake but didn't seem like that big a deal at the time. Felt pretty spry and snappy for the first few minutes which led to a pace that was too fast which led to another near miss with the calf almost popping. All this within 15 minutes of starting. Picking at the scab isn't a strong enough analogy for what's going on here. Unlike last Thursday or the hill drills eleven days ago, this time I was just running at a steady pace. Had I been wearing the gunboat shoes I'm sure this wouldn't have happened, but something like it eventually would. Indoor track is out of the picture, with my worst fears following the half-marathon in November realized. "Blindsided" and "hindsight" are the two words that keep coming to mind through this whole experience with the fucking calf. At every unhappy accident starting with the original injury I've been unpleasantly surprised at the severity and mere existence of the problem; on further reflection the chain of causation is quite clear. The whole mess started with reading this article and deciding that I should adopt more of a forefoot strike. In other words fixing what wasn't broken. This of course loaded up already tight calves, a week or so later I toe the line in Portsmouth wearing flats, and away we go. Since then just one miscalculation after another.

Mon 1/9 - PM 80 minutes easy

Lincoln woods. Realized I could sneak a run in before sunset, perfectly timed to catch the last of the daylight as it turned out. After two days of quasi-hammering the bill came due today, as such the run was straight recovery. If anything the pace slowed down gradually towards the end. Kept it very relaxed as a result. Little stress on the calf although thanks to the length of the run there were twinges near the end. A pleasant afternoon in the woods. Dead calm with slightly warmer than normal temps, about as nice a day as one could hope for.

Sun 1/8 - AM/PM 85 minutes

Out and back to Brues Woods, just under 45 minutes on the trip out and a little over 40 on the way back with a good hour in between spent checking on the camera and traipsing around taking pictures of turds. Like yesterday, pushed the pace as things went on for no good reason, probing the status of the calf. It's still no good for any kind of actual fast running of course so I settled into a sub-threshold no-man's land pace inevitably. Before bed worked on the gastroc with the lax ball, eliminated a fairly sizable knot with compressions on the area. Kind of exciting, even if the relief is only transitory. Not as warm as yesterday but still a few degrees above normal, but with a brisk breeze blowing.

Sat 1/7 - PM 70 minutes

Area 51. First massage in a long time, too long of course. Entire hour was spent on the left calf. It helped to be sure, some knots got addressed that I couldn't really reach myself. The area is still a mess though, and remains quite vulnerable to reinjury with any kind of fast running. Simply put, any contraction of the gastroc while knee and ankle are flexed is inadvisable. So push-off is the problem, nothing new here but it bears pointing out. As for the run, started very gingerly and when I was convinced that jogging was no problem gradually increased the pace until I was hovering right at the edge of danger the last 10 minutes or so. Too dumb to not pick at the scab. Unseasonably warm day, although of course it's the norm for this winter so far.