Fri 11/2 - PM 35 minutes easy

Planned on a shorter run, but not this short. Surprisingly flat and listless, even taking into account the usual Friday fatigue. I had also planned on doing hill drills but the calf was twinging ominously so I had to take a pass on that as well.

Thu 11/1 - PM 60 minutes easy

Area 51. Easy recovery run and a chance to see what the storm wrought in the woods as well. Not as many downed trees as I thought, but I was traipsing around back there in the dark so I may have missed some. Right hammie remains tweaked, although it didn't bother me in yesterday's workout in any material way. Left ankle quite stiff during the day at work, likely thanks to going right to bed w/o stretching after yesterday's workout. Cooler windy conditions during the day but the wind was coming out of the SW so it didn't drop much at all after sunset.

Wed 10/31 - PM 65 minutes incl. 5k-4k-3k

I appear to have found the ceiling for duration of a threshold track workout, that being 12k worth of stuff. Fixated on progressing km by km, within that framework the possibilities are of course endless. Decided on longer reps for purposes of focus. Some concern during the 5k that I dropped the pace too much the second km but I was able to drop the pace straight through. By the end of each rep it was no longer a tempo, but still manageable. Splits:

3:44/3:38/3:33/3:27/3:23
3.5R
3:36/3:31/3:27/3:21
3R
3:30/3:24/3:20

Cooler weather than the past two days, but once again almost perfectly still, no wind to speak of.

Tue 10/30 - PM 75 minutes

Lincoln woods. Another day off from work thanks to the aftermath of the storm, i.e. downed trees and powerlines. I thought about running in Area 51 again just to do a before/after comparison but the chance to run in the trails in Lincoln was too good to pass up. Curious to see how many trees had fallen in the woods, not as many as I was expecting really. I wanted to pick up the pace in the second half of the run but the right hammie which is stuck more or less prevented that from happening. I did try to do some short quick strides toward the end despite this, made it through in one piece. Unusually warm conditions for this time of year, warm air mass in place for now soon to be replaced by a cooler one.

Mon 10/29 - AM 1:45 easy

Area 51 via Track Road and Sudbury Road. Work called off thanks to the storm, forecast for strengthening winds over the course of the day meant starting early as possible was the way to go. Still somewhat windy and rainy when I went but nothing unmanageable, more annoying than anything else. It did pick up in intensity the last 10 minutes or so I was outside. Some gusts nearly took my hat for a ride, but not cold enough for the rain to be a source of misery. Run itself was straight recovery after yesterday. Calf tight and fairly sore.

Sun 10/28 - AM 70 minutes incl. 10k road race

Not a bad effort all things considered. Feeling somewhat flat as usual waking up in the morning, not an enthusiastic warmup either. The race was much more competitive overall than it has been in the past few years, thankfully being old has its benefits as all I cared about going in was winning the age group. Course was basically two miles gradual downhill, close to ideal for blasting out, then 1.5 miles or so rolling, then mostly uphill to the five mile split before it flattened out for the rest of the way. Splits reflected this unsurprisingly. First two in just under 5:10 apiece despite running into a headwind thanks to the approaching mega-storm. Safely ensconced within the pack for this stretch. Next mile around 5:30, then 5:20, 5:45, and another 5:20. The fourth mile seemed a little short but who knows. Sat on the main age group competition waiting for the uphill grind in the second half of the race where he popped himself as expected. Last mile was holding the spot. Longer cooldown than warmup, easy jog on nearby trails. Calf stiff afterward.

Sat 10/27 - double, 85 minutes easy total

AM - 25 minutes easy, if not very easy. Pre-breakfast shakeout/crawl. Still, feeling a little better than yesterday after sleeping a bit more last night. Dense ground fog made for a quaint atmosphere if nothing else.

PM - 60 minutes easy, Walden woods with drills on Pine Hill. Feeling somewhat better than the morning but still nothing to write home about. Something of a trudge for the most part, but a relaxed one at least. Somewhat warm and vaguely sticky. The real weather fun may start as early as tomorrow night though.