Fri 1/25 - PM 40 minutes

Sheridan to Tiger Drive, a couple of laps around the track with short pickups thrown in. A shakeout before tomorrow. The pickups felt as good as I could have hoped, with the right hammie as close to normal as it's been since I fell three weeks ago. Not as cold or windy as yesterday but still more than cold enough.

Thu 1/24 - PM 65 minutes easy

Levittown, via Rockland Ave. Bitterly cold like yesterday, windy as well. Wearing as much clothing as I ever would as a result, enough to take the edge of the weather's effects. Still a chore though. Right hammie stiff and sore from yesterday, perhaps less so than it would have been a week ago I hope. Two steps forward one step back and all that. Plenty of post-run compressions on the area. Took it easy throughout.

Wed 1/23 - PM 55 minutes incl. 4x880, 5x220

Hardly an impressive session, felt compelled to do something however. Compared to recent (failed) attempts at running on the track this counts as a qualified success I suppose, but the right thigh remains an issue. Overall it's getting better, although running fast on a track is not good for it and has to be retarding a more speedy recovery. Some stiffness during the warmup, enough to make me feel some ambivalence. Went with a modest mixed platter of threshold reps followed by faster shorter "glorified strides." The first three 880s all went in just over 2:39, roughly even split with a lap jog between each rep. Last one 2:42, and not really by choice. Overall these took far too much effort and this part of the workout left me wondering if I should even continue. Took 6+ minute break much of which was spent rolling on a lax ball. Things felt better after this but still not sure if I could make it through one 220 w/o locking up completely. However, the first one felt smoother than expected and I proceeded to rattle off four more, all of them between 35 and 36. Same lap jog (roughly a minute) for recovery. While I went in with the idea of doing six, I had edited that down to 5 after the forst part of the workout, so in the end I split the difference. By the last rep I could feel the hammie starting to stiffen up again and knew the point of diminishing returns had been reached.  Right leg mostly held together on the cooldown, although it did stiffen up some afterward on the ride home. Every step of the workout from warmup to cooldown was inside thanks to the deep freeze that's taken hold.

Tue 1/22 - PM 50 minutes easy

Concord Road to Drummer Road, Silver Hill to Conant and back through the near edge of Levittown. Flu symptoms mostly on the wane, although I wasn't able to sleep well at all last night thanks to tooth pain of all things. This left me fading fast after lunch, barely able to stay awake on the ride home. Made it without crashing the car and immediately fell into bed, most desperately needed nap in a long time. Deep freeze firmly in place, headed out towards Levittown but decided to change things up and headed down the road towards S. Acton instead. With dry roads and sticking to pavement, this run was totally slip-free and the hamstring appreciated it. Did a few strides on the way in, the closest the leg has felt to normal since the big fall two weekends ago.

Mon 1/21 - 75 minutes easy

Area 51. Woke up from advil-induced sleep amazed that I had actually fallen asleep, after the miserable time I had yesterday when no position, standing sitting or lying down, was at all comfortable. The symptoms that were fairly intense a day ago were mostly gone, only a lingering hint of a headache likely from mild dehydration. I was prepared to take a second day off but given the way I felt it seemed pointless, went out for an easy jog instead. Getting even more ambitious, I decided to give the trails a try even though snow was just beginning to fall. The falling snow wasn't an issue so much as the aftermath of last week's snow, i.e. icy crust for most of the way. Able to avoid any disasters by taking great care and going slow when in doubt, but still a couple of minor slips. Once back on terra firma, tried a few short semi-pickups on the way in, by then the fatigue from running on the uneven terrain had brought back some of the tightness and soreness in the thigh and hammie. Still the day off yesterday and the advil had some positive effect on the area.

Sun 1/20 - off

Unable to toe the line because I was unable to get out of bed thanks to a swiftly emergent case of something, likely the flu. Woke up 5 AM with upset stomach, the next three hours included four trips to the bathroom. Then the headache and fever started in. Miserable miserable day, barely able to ingest even enough fluids to replace what I had lost. In fact I probably didn't ingest enough fluid. Absolutely no appetite to speak of. Well into late afternoon before I could eat anything solid, that being "energy cubes" like one would have during an ultramarathon or something. Followed up with oatmeal. Tried to rest during the day but pounding headache and stomachache kept that from happening. Finally able to sleep after taking ibuprofen.

Sat 1/19 - double, 55 minutes total

AM - 25 minutes easy. Very low key pre-breakfast shakeout.

PM - 30 minutes, right thigh felt distressingly stuck at the start but loosened up fairly well over the course of the relatively short run which was encouraging.

Fri 1/18 - PM 60 minutes

Levittown to Summerhill and Sheridan. Hamstring in somewhat better shape today than yesterday, thankfully. In hindsight I think I was feeling the effects of the tweak from stumbling on the curb during Wednesday's run. I'm coming to detest running in the dark as a result of all these slips and stumbles. Right calf kind of tight.