Thu 1/17 - PM 30 minutes

Dragged the right leg around for about 20 minutes of light jogging, mostly around the outside of the track at Harvard. Followed this with an attempt to do some drills, it wasn't happening. Motivation to do anything else rapidly declining, jogged back to the car and that was that. Originally I had planned on a longish warmup, drills, then 4-6x200. Utter fantasy as it turns out. High hammie stuck and refused to loosen up unlike on Tuesday. If it's at all like this on the weekend I won't bother toeing the line. As an added bonus right calf is back to being tight as a drum, from favoring the fucking hamstring. In its own stealthy way this was the lowest point of all the recent low points since the momentous slip on the ice that has left me running on one leg for the past 2.5 weeks.

Wed 1/16 - PM 60 minutes

Levittown to Summerhill and Sheridan. More snow fell during the morning, fairly dismal conditions underfoot although temp and wind were reasonable. The ever so brief taste of running on trails again is of course over with heavy wet stuff on the ground, back to shitty road loops. Right hammie sticking at the outset, not to an unbearable degree but enough to make things harder than they should be. It's improving but not as quickly as I'd like and of course I do myself no favors by overdoing it. Pace actually progressed somewhat as the leg loosened up over the course of the run. I have a better idea of what happened on the night I slipped and fell on the ice thanks to a moment this evening when I tripped on the edge of the road with my left foot, started to fall off to the side and caught myself with the right leg. Wrenched the right hammie just a bit in doing so. Given the immediate sensation in the right hip and butt, this had to have been what happened on that fateful evening when I was running timed pickups and hit the deck. Of course this aggravated things at least a little but hopefully not too much. I'm continuing to do what I can with the compressions and cross fiber friction, but it seems like a holding action at times.

Tue 1/15 - PM 60 minutes incl. 10x440

Perhaps ill-advised return to the track, but unable to resist testing out the hamstring. Still somewhat shocked at how much better it felt yesterday compared to the weekend. Still, it's not 100% and took a full 30+ minute jog and a full set of drills and strides (outside, on the turf field) for it to feel ready to go. Until the drills in fact I was seriously considering letting discretion be the better part of valor and taking a pass. Also not entirely sure of what to do for a workout given my focus has been on simply feeling better with the hammie. In the end decided to go with a short threshold-ish session of quarters with short rest (110 jog). Started out just under 79 and finished just over 80, with around 30 second intervals. The effort level required didn't inspire confidence, it was a lot harder to maintain that modest pace than I would have liked. I even considered quitting after the 8th rep. In the past I've been able to run this type of pace for 16 reps. The right leg was the main factor in this, despite the improvement it's still not pulling its full weight. The infernally hot temperature in the building didn't help either. Hopefully this session won't set things back and it will continue to feel better in the coming days. It felt pretty good for the first 10 minutes of a short 15 minute cooldown but then started tightening up a bit.

Mon 1/14 - PM 55 minutes

Area 51. Somewhat shocking turn of events in the last 24 hours. After spending a good chunk of the afternoon yesterday doing compressions on the upper hamstring on the edge of a chair the right leg felt much better upon waking up in the morning. While not pain-free, much better range of motion and like night and day as compared to yesterday. This got my confidence up and after the warmest day yet of the recent mild spell, it was apparent that the snowpack was gone even in the woods. While there were some icy patches on the trail it was passable and what a pleasure to be off of the mind-numbing road loops. Even had the temerity to do some short pickups on the way in, may have overdone it a bit there but time will tell. To top everything off, got a massage soon after the run ended, which was helpful in dealing with various tight spots and adhesions in the thigh-butt region that I couldn't get to.

Sun 1/13 - AM 65 minutes very easy

Waltham St. to Willis, on to McMansionville and back via rt. 27. A dreary route for another dreary exercise in frustration, semi-limping on the right hamstring. While it is somewhat better than yesterday that's not saying much, and it tapped out at about the 40 minute mark leaving the glute and piriformis to pick up the slack the rest of the way. Like yesterday, I felt quite ambivalent about whether I was just doing more harm than good by running at all.

Sat 1/12 - double, 85 minutes very easy total

AM - 40 minutes very easy. A chore from start to finish. Right hammie is a mess after the fool's errand last night. Probably shouldn't run at all today, although running is a charitable description of what I was doing. Weather to match the mood, dank and fogged in.

PM - 45 minutes very easy. Levittown to Tiger Drive via Summerhill. Better than the morning, slightly, after spending tons of time doing all manner of self-massage and gentle stretching as well. Went to bed feeling better about the condition of the leg than when I woke up but it's still a long way from healthy.