Thu 2/14 - 65 minutes

Levittown. Right leg felt off for a good chunk of this run, quasi-limping but that's not quite an accurate description. Definitely some kind of hitch in the giddy-up. Finally able to move somewhat more freely in the last 15 minutes or so but still range of motion not quite what I'd like it to be. Calf isn't as bad as it was yesterday but still frayed. Perhaps all the running on snow over the weekend, even packed snow and even with yaktrax and the like, didn't treat it very well. Tuesday's workout simply couldn't have been the sole cause of its current kinked-up state. Another relatively mild day meant more melting of the snowpack, dry enough that the puddles are less prominent as well. Pre-travel anxiety has me quite frazzled, main effect being not sleeping well at all.

Wed 2/13 - PM 75 minutes very easy

Tiger Drive to Longfellow loop. Yesterday's session, an extremely modest glorified tempo run, left much more of a mark than I ever could have anticipated. Right calf in particular is surprisingly distressingly frayed from the 32 laps last night. The right leg as a whole is somehow off, i.e. weak and not functioning smoothly. The hammie is definitely having an effect on the calf and possible vice versa. Links in the same vulnerable chain. Between that and the usual fatigue from a late bedtime after working out, the run was an easy putter throughout. With mild temps and mostly sun during the day the  ablation of the snowpack continues but there's still plenty of the stuff left. Major sidewalks are plowed to one degree or another, but with no place for the meltwater to go there are plenty of puddles and slick spots where one can come to grief.

Tue 2/12 - PM 65 minutes incl. 4xmile

Ambivalent about doing a track session after a poor night's sleep and the fact that there's no track racing on the horizon, but given the state of the roads it was the only way to get in running faster than a jog. Planned on doing 5 reps with 90 second recoveries. Made a conscious effort to progress the pace even if it meant dawdling a bit early. After 4 I waffled for a moment but knew deep down I was done, and one more would put me over the edge. The numbers such as they are:

5:27 (2:45, 2:42)
5:29.2 (2:46.5, 2:42.7)
5:29.2 (2:46.4, 2:42.8)
5:30.3 (2:46.6, 2:43.7)

The fact that I could only get through 4 at such a pedestrian pace speaks volumes about where my fitness is at right now. Which is to say in the dumper. Status of right leg, both hamstring and calf, is a big contributing factor as I started to feel the calf stiffen up on the second rep and by the end the hammie was twinging as well. Underlying fatigue remains an issue as well, seems like I'm physically incapable of getting to bed at a decent hour during the week. In hindsight, attempting to race on the track last weekend would likely have been fairly disastrous.

Mon 2/11 - PM 45 minutes easy

Back and forth, forth and back in and around mill pond/Tiger Drive area of Maynard. The walls have certainly closed in with the enormous snowbanks everywhere, and after a day of rain and sleet the inevitable enormous slush puddles as well. Took it easy throughout and yet still managed to slip or slide at a few points and feeling it in the left TFL as a result. On the plus side, right hammie feeling pretty much normal in the absence of any kind of fast work of late.

Sun 2/10 - PM 65 minutes

Levittown. Despite sleeping so much since Friday (or maybe because of it), feeling flat and listless all day. Cabin fever also setting in after the storm and its aftermath, and like yesterday I wanted to see the effect on the roads nearby. The road race I registered for earlier in the week after finding out the Valentine invite wouldn't be happening for me was itself postponed, of course. What a pipe dream in hindsight. It turned out to be a layer of snow as hard packed as possible over much of the side streets, which actually could have been a lot worse for traction purposes. Certainly not suitable for running fast but that wasn't a concern. At times esp. near the end the pace did still progress beyond simply trudging like yesterday, but still nothing really to write home about.

Sat 2/9 - PM 45 minutes easy

Overnight the snow bomb detonated, 2 feet or so of drifted snow pushed up against both doorways. Following two rounds of shoveling, totaling 3 hours or so, took a brief nap and then out for a mellow jog around the block. Mostly interested in seeing how big the snowbanks were. Wore yaktrax given the fact that no roads were cleared down to pavement. A laughable idea quite frankly, it'll be a few days at least before the side streets are clear.