Fri 10/19 - PM 80 minutes

First quasi-double of the fall season, maybe the only one. Started things off with a 35 minute out and back in Weston with the kiddies, something of a blah route. About an hour or so after finishing this, I was on the trails in Lincoln. Threw in a set of hill drills, something I was thinking of doing tomorrow but seeing the opportunity to do it today it was a no-brainer. Right calf is tight from the workout and the patella tendon area is still somewhat sore, but neither is debilitating. Finished just before the daylight failed but didn't quite finish before the forecast rains arrived, in full gullywasher mode. Sticky and quite gross all afternoon leading up to this.

Thu 10/18 - PM 50 minutes

30+ minutes on the roads in Weston, then three flat-out sprints on the grass, and finally 15 minutes more on the grass in bare feet. This all went much better than I was expecting given how sore the right patellar tendon and area around it was during the day. Definitely some mild inflammation in there but hopefully nothing that will blow up on me. Clear breezy day.

Wed 10/17 - 70 minutes incl. 5x2k

The workout I was planning on doing yesterday, bumped back. In hindsight a no-brainer, as I had much more energy today and the conditions were more favorable. No wind to speak of and a cool night made it easy to get in a decent groove. Also got in an honest to goodness warmup and cooldown this time unlike a week ago. Some tightness and soreness below right knee the first two reps, no idea where this came from but given it's the right leg it's surely related to all the other things that are tweaked on that side. Modest pace on the reps but the idea was to pick it up on the second half of each one. 400 jog between each rep which came out to about 2 minutes. Splits:

3:40/3:31 - 7:11
3:32/3:27 - 6:59
3:34/3:24 - 6:58
3:33/3:17 - 6:50
3:33/3:17 - 6:50

the uniformity over the last two suggests water had found its level.

Tue 10/16 - off

Oh well. I had every intention of doing a threshold rep session this evening but I realized upon arriving home that it wasn't happening. The past three days having a good deal to do with it of course, still fried from the weekend and Sunday's long nap made getting to bed Sunday night more difficult. Which led to accumulated sleep deficit yesterday and today. Bulled through yesterday, not so much today. Chilly conditions and a persistent NW breeze didn't make me any more motivated either. Missing my mid-afternoon free time block right about now.

Mon 10/15 - PM 70 minutes easy

Mostly out and back along the aqueduct in Weston and Wayland, with a loop on Surrey/Country/Highland thrown in at the end for deviation from the horizontal. Feeling pretty good until the calf started twinging on the hills. Did some direct pressure and compressions on it after dinner, felt better but still tight. What else is new. Much warmer today than the past couple of days, with a gusty SW wind to go along with it.

Sun 10/14 - PM 75 minutes easy

Walden woods. Far too ambitious plans of doing a much longer run in the morning went right by the wayside, as I slept in and woke up to obnoxiously heavy rain showers. Kidding myself that I'd be in any condition to do anything this morning after going directly from the race yesterday morning to the kiddies' meet that involved standing around for a good five hours or so in decidedly cool conditions. Decided to wait out the rain with a forecast of warmer temps later in the day. Waiting in this case means going back to sleep for the bulk of the afternoon. Quite groggy upon waking up from that nap, made for a pokey start to the run. Started just a bit later than I would have liked which meant gathering darkness put an end to things, but it was nice to take an easy jaunt through the woods. Right hammie still somewhat stuck. As predicted, it was much warmer by mid-afternoon, somewhat sticky even thanks to the rain and SW winds.

Sat 10/13 - AM 60 minutes incl. 5k road race

Another sandbagging visit to Plymouth. After a decent night's rest, feeling more energetic than yesterday although that isn't saying much. Warmed up on the course, something I'm glad I did because it rolled relentlessly. No major hills but very little flat ground to speak of, and knowing what to expect was helpful. Noticed my old pal Titus while finishing off the warmup, not exactly thrilled to see him. I had no desire to lead but found myself in that spot, though not working overly hard to do it. After the first 4 minutes or so it was just the two of us. Covered a surge just after a mile, tucked in for a time and figured I would try to make one decisive counterpunch in the final half mile. Instead, I pulled away without trying to before two miles on one of the short steep climbs. From there on out did enough to maintain advantage without killing myself. Didn't bother to take splits so the final time was a pleasant surprise but that who knows if the course is accurate. Conditions more like November than October with a chilly wind and cold temps following the first frost of the season overnight.

Fri 10/12 - PM 60 minutes easy

Area 51. In desperate need of a recovery run after the past few days of shorter quicker stuff. Worth putting off the run until after sunset. Too tired anyway to do anything but an easy jog. Despite the lack of energy and a stuck right hammie I was able to do some short strides (short being the new default for strides) on the way in. On the nippy side with a persistent NW breeze.