Fri 3/23 - PM 35 minutes very easy

Area 51. Big fail, as the kids would say. I had planned to do a workout today but realized within 5 minutes of heading out the door that the well was dry. Not sleeping enough or well enough the past few days and it caught up to me today, too fried for a hard effort. With the race coming up on Sunday that does it for training this week, not exactly overwhelming. Puts more emphasis on next week. A shame because the conditions were once again excellent for being outside, and look to go downhill (to seasonable) over the weekend and beyond.

Thu 3/22 - PM 70 minutes easy

Lincoln woods, with the reappearance of drills on Pine Hill. Made it a point to take it easy today, incl. a break at Devil's Staircase. Left heel continues to feel somewhat tight, but the drills didn't seem to aggravate it. Nicest day of the week thus far, which is saying something.

Wed 3/21 - PM 95 minutes easy

Lincoln woods. Easy putter incl. a visit to Farrar Pond for the first time in a long while. Some stiffness on the left side (SI joint and heel) from yesterday but nothing debilitating. The unseasonable warmth continues, the dissonance between the temperature and the lack of leaves on the trees has me spooked. Breezy again as well, from the SW of course.

Tue 3/20 - PM 65 minutes incl. 1600-1200-800-400

Stepping out of the comfort zone of slower-paced, short rest type of sessions, for the first time since January really. Unlike then, no strained calf to deal with. After yesterday's rather flat run I had planned on putting this off until tomorrow but after feeling pretty good at work decided to try it today instead. Splits:

5:10.0
4R
3:46.8
3R - put on spikes
2:26.3
2R
70.3

1600 and 400 were ever so slightly negative split, other two pretty much even. Given the lack of faster-paced stuff for such a long time I had only a vague idea of what kind of pace to shoot for on the initial rep. Since this sets the stage for how to approach the rest of them it would be a good thing to have nailed down. Hoping for a negative split effort, thought about starting at 80 but decided a bit quicker would be more representative of current fitness. Inability to increase the tempo in the second half of each rep mildly disappointing, but the workout as a whole was relatively controlled. Given the longer recoveries, the numbers aren't overly impressive but it'll do. Steady but not overwhelming wind on the backstretch, in the 10 mph range. Even warmer today than yesterday, and unlike yesterday the temp didn't drop nearly as much as the sun set.

Mon 3/19 - PM 85 minutes easy

Lincoln woods. Started out easy and slowed down towards the end, as usual I went with it rather than fight it. Some stiffness in left SI joint but overall legs feel decent after yesterday. Incredibly warm temps again, with a gusty breeze. Hit the trail in full summer gear, sleeveless top, sun hat, shorts. Somewhat dissonant to have this kind of weather with no leaves on the trees. Cooled off notably as the sun set of course, and also much cooler on the path right next to the pond which creates its own microclimate, but still a bit jarring.

Sun 3/18 - double, 1:45 total incl. 12k progression run

AM - 70 minutes incl. 12k on the Longfellow loop. Got started later than I would have liked, which officially put paid to any delusions I had of doing 4 loops instead of 3. Started out too quick (first 200m in 42, 800m 2:52) into a headwind to boot. Paid for it a bit later on but able to recover enough to pick up the pace substantially the final mile or so. Didn't increase the effort overly, in part because I was already pushing right to the edge of the threshold to begin with. The wind, which was steady from the SSW, played a role in this. After feeling like death warmed over the past two days I'll take it. Starting to feel like the fatigue from travel is wearing off finally. Splits:

5:50/5:54/2:48
5:51/5:54/2:52
5:50/5:41/2:44

Compares favorably to the last time I did this (2/12), although it was quite cold and windy that day.

PM - 35 minutes easy. Ridiculously warm, with the temps trending upward throughout the course of the day it was warmer at sunset when I did this shakeout than it was near noontime when I did the progression run. Legs feeling better than I thought they would although the SI joint definitely felt stuck.

Sat 3/17 - double, 2 hours total

AM - 55 minutes easy, Area 51. Typical morning shakeout. Left SI joint back to being stiff again. Continued gloomy overcast.

PM - 65 minutes easy, Lincoln woods. Straight to the pond, a picturesque lap with the sunset as backdrop, then back to the trailhead. As usual, legs felt better and energy level higher for the afternoon run. The two naps I took over the course of the day probably helped with that. Clouds finally broke and sun peeked through which was a welcome change to the past three days.