Thu 5/24 - PM 70 minutes incl. 8x800

Longfellow loop. Feeling flat on the warmup jog and while this type of thing has cleared up in the past upon getting into the workout in earnest, today that wasn't the case. Definitely scraping away at my fatigued nervous system which wasn't in a good place to withstand that kind of stress. Thought I could handle 82 pace for at least 10 reps, found out after four that wouldn't be happening. The last two reps were a triumph of stubborn stupidity over common sense, as I had been thinking about pulling the plug but didn't bother actually doing so. To top things off, aggravated the left adductor and dragged the hip flexor into it as well, felt like garbage by the end of the very slow cooldown. Still not recovered from the weekend obviously. Not a huge surprise. 

2:44.3

2:43.9

2:45.7

2:46.5

2:43.6

2:44.7

2:47.4

2:48.7

200 jog recovery between each rep, which stayed around 55 seconds or so throughout. Conditions not exactly favorable, muggy and warm, but could have been worse. 

Wed 5/23 - PM 75 minutes

Lincoln woods, with drills on Pine Hill. Moving better overall, although left adductor remained stuck for the first 40 minutes. Took a break at the cliff overlooking the river and did some direct pressure which was helpful in releasing some of the adhesion. Not quite sure how the drills would go or if they were even a good idea but they felt fine. For the second night in a row, rolled the left SI joint for a good while on the lax ball. While productive, it's bothersome that the first night's rolling on it didn't break up the stiffness that's pervaded the area. No doubt related to the stuck adductor. Muggy and warm unlike yesterday's muggy and cool weather, with the sun poking through the clouds before very long. Tempted to jump in the pond, should have jumped in quite frankly, but skipped it for today.

Tue 5/22 - PM 80 minutes easy

Area 51. Only a little better than yesterday, alas. Especially at the start, just shuffling along with left adductor still feeling quite stuck. Got better over time but still more stiff than I would like. Threw in some very low-key (i.e. slow) strides just to break up the slogging and hopefully loosen up the legs a bit. Moderately successful at best. Overcast continues, with showers as well. As gloomy as it gets for this time of year.

Mon 5/21 - PM 90 minutes easy/very easy

Track Road to Area 51. The weekend and more specifically the 10k on the track left its mark in the form of a locked up left adductor. I have to think that besides the abuse I heaped on it the moderate slacking from core exercises contributed to how stiff and sore it felt today. I need to literally get back on the ball which has been collecting dust for a few weeks now. Eventually loosened up some, but never felt particularly good. Muggy overcast has returned after a bright warm weekend, with a drenching shower passing through about the midway point of the run that I didn't much appreciate.

Sun 5/20 - AM 55 minutes incl. 5k road race

Nothing like the hair of the dog. Second weekend in a row of backing up a Saturday evening track meet with a Sunday morning road race. Surviving last weekend (although it probably affected the 10k negatively) emboldened me sufficiently to give this a try. Almost overslept but got there in time to run the course as a warmup, under rapidly warming sunny skies. From the start it looked like I might be able to run away and hide until I realized at the mile mark I was being stalked by one guy. He made the pass at halfway, and it was over by 2 miles. Still, I waited another mile before packing it in for good and jogging home. I chose wisely from a sandbagger perspective though, so not winning outright was not that big a deal. Later on in the day I found out to my chagrin that a similar effort would have won the race in Stow, a sandbagger special from years past that had become dominated by the d-grade Kenyans from Lowell the past couple of years, but not this year. Had I known I could have saved myself the drive. Oh well. I toyed with the idea of an easy shakeout jog in the afternoon, but instead went for a paddle on the Assabet with a short hike thrown in as well.

Sat 5/19 - PM 70 minutes incl. track 10k

Thoroughly, utterly mediocre. After last week's 5k in the heat and wind I figured I was good for a time between 32:30 and 33:00 but I was wrong. Kind of galling given that the weather was better this time around, cooler thanks to later start time and less wind to deal with. I did have to spend most of the race running alone or at least with no one in front of me, but that couldn't have been worth more than 5-10 seconds overall. Given the overall even pacing, it sure looks like this was an effort representative of my current fitness. Of course, overdoing it with the sandbag racing is a major factor but I'm unable to leave that alone. In particular, I feel like I only narrowly avoided getting stuck in a massive stale rut following the Groton races, and followed that up with a solid chain of too-late bedtimes. When it came time to toe the line, I knew better than to go out faster than 78 and right from the first 200m this strategy was confirmed. Kilometer splits:

3:15.6
3:17.0
3:20.0
3:20.6
3:23.2  - 16:36
3:21.0
3:21.1
3:21.8
3:18.3
3:15.3 - 16:37

the slow fifth km came as a result of following behind someone who was rapidly fading mid-race, as he usually does. Knew better than to stick there but didn't want to shove out on my own that early. No choice but to do so though. Got some help near the end from being lapped which is part of the reason for the pace increase there. The final km bookended the first but didn't feel anything like it of course. Isn't that always the way.