Fri 5/24 - PM 75 minutes

Area 51. Not as slow as one would expect for the day after a track workout but the workout in question wasn't so long or hard which may explain it. Certainly ran fast enough yesterday on suspect right leg that I was expecting more trouble from the calf. It was certainly tight, enough for a couple of stretch breaks sprinkled into the run, but could have been worse. Late start but didn't let that keep me from running a rather extensive loop in the woods. Weather starting to take a turn for the worse while I was out there, overcast humidity is one thing but when the temp starts dropping with wind picking up speed it's not pleasant. Will get worse before it gets better.

Thu 5/23 - PM 55 minutes incl. 3(400-300-200-100)

Modest track session approached with considerable ambivalence. While the right leg held up reasonably well to yesterday's hill drills, calf was feeling quite tight after spending too much of the work day sitting with legs flexed. This is not so good for calf stiffness in particular, I've found. Big surprise there. Did a 20 minute warmup through Concord center and reformatory branch with strong reservations about whether I should be attempting any kind of fast running at all. Feeling an incipient mind/body disconnect, soldiered on anyway of course. Unable to give myself over to a week of "just jogging" at this juncture in what looks to be an underwhelming track season. Originally planned on doing some kind of 400 repeat workout, namely 1600 at tempo followed by 3-3-3 faster/slower/faster. Chickened out of that session due to how the leg felt, how long it took me to get started, and perhaps most convincingly the wind that was 20+ mph on average, down the back straightaway. Decided to approach this workout as glorified strides and not obsess over how slow the numbers were going to be. The wind had its expected deadening effect of course, in general the 400s and 300s felt awkward more than uncomfortable, like visiting a strange land. 300-200-100 jog recoveries between reps for 1600m total running, 3.5 minute jogs after each set. Splits incl. recovery jogs:

74.3/85
57.4/55.3
37.4/27.8
19.0 - total 5:56.1

73.4/83.3
56.3/57.2
36.7/26.8
18.9 - total 5:52.5

72.6/84.3
55.8/58
35.8/28.9
18.1 - total 5:53.4

As expected the numbers were far from impressive. Worth noting that the final 100m of each set was run right into the wind, comparing those numbers to the 200s which were mostly with a tailwind gives some indication to its effect on the pace. Effort remained relatively consistent I'd like to think. Calf felt awkward and a couple of twinges but it survived the workout intact. Belly of right hammie was feeling pinched after the first set, some quick pressure and cross fiber friction helped with that between each set. Disgusting humidity if not very hot, not the greatest of days weather-wise.

Wed 5/22 - PM 70 minutes

Lincoln woods. Big news today was that I did hill drills for the first time in a long long time. Stretching counterintuitiveness to its limit I feared, but I do wonder if the specific resistance and movement patterns might help to loosen up the chronically stiff calf and hammie on the right side. I survived the work although the right side felt noticeably weaker and less capable on single leg hops for height and skipping. Not at all surprising. I'd like to think there was less tightening of the hamstring and piriformis after having done the drills but I could be kidding myself there. Conditions similar to yesterday, if a bit cooler. The heavy duty weather skirted to the north today as opposed to the south yesterday.

Tue 5/21 - PM 80 minutes

Lincoln woods. Feeling better today than yesterday, as a result pace was noticeably quicker. Calf not nearly as tight after doing some serious compression work on it last night with every tool at my disposal, the rolling pin stick seemed most effective. Still tight of course but not as locked up so not as weak feeling. Hammie stiffened up around the hour mark and I could feel the telltale tightening build from there on, a bummer. More rolling on the lax ball post-run like last night, which helps release some of the tightness in the piriformis. Conditions just as muggy but much cooler than yesterday, under increasingly threatening skies. Serious t-storm activity passed through the region but to the south, so only gusty winds, passing showers and overcast.

Mon 5/20 - PM 90 minutes very easy

Lincoln woods. Barely moving and not at all surprised by it, given the weekend's depredations. At the outset, right leg felt like a block of granite from the knee down and about as useful. Improved moderately over the course of the run but by then whatever energy I had was gone and so the pace didn't pick up one jot. If anything things slowed down actually. Finished at barely a putter, with hammie stiff and tight as well. Also contributing to this was the appearance of the muggies, in earnest for the first time this season really. Stood in the pond up to my waist for a good 10 minutes which was quite refreshing. Still felt too cold to go in for a full-on dip but if this type of weather keeps up it'll be soon.

Sun 5/19 - AM 65 minutes incl. 5k road race

Back to shameless road whoring mere hours after the unsuccessful try at a mediocre track 10k. Having pulled this same double off last year I figured I could do it again, but the chronically tight and stiff calf added an unwelcome wrinkle this time around. Woke up with right leg feeling like hell, as expected. Did some compressions on the foam roller in the parking lot after arriving at the event site, and a few minutes more before heading out to warm up on the course. This left scant time to do drills and strides before the gun went off, and hammie was feeling pinched. Sizing up the competition I realized immediately that third place was the best I could hope for and sure enough that's where I found myself within seconds of the gun. Tried to establish a gap the first, modestly uphill mile and then ideally cruise from there. Overdid it a bit the second half of the race in terms of keeping a gap over the next guy but better safe than sorry. Moved up a spot in the standings when the guy in front of me missed a turn in the final 800m. Overall the effort felt more strenuous than the finishing time, which was slower than last year. Partly this might be from the warm breezy conditions but mostly it was a reflection of the reduced range of motion and effective strength in the right leg. Cooldown a very slow jog along the nearby rail trail.

Sat 5/18 - PM 60 minutes incl. 7600m on track (DNF)

The chickens came home to roost. In short, unable to maintain the relatively modest 80 second pace I had planned on. The two looming factors coming into the race, right leg muscular dysfunction and underlying fatigue/exhaustion from poor sleep habits, both played a role to be sure. Tried to deal with each of them during the course of the day leading up to the race, not with any real success of course. Both problems far too deep-rooted to respond to a couple days' worth of TLC. I feel like the calf was the more influential problem but who knows, who cares. I do feel that had one or the other of the two issues not been an issue I would have made the 33:30 cutoff. Wherever the fault lies, the pace felt doable for a good chunk of the race, first 4k felt quite controlled in fact. At that point though I had to shove off from the person I was using as a draft and make the pace on my own. Hit halfway still on pace and figuring with a ten second cushion for the second half I could hold the line to the end even if I slowed a bit. The sixth km things started to feel like they might go sideways, calf starting to twinge. Soon after that it became painfully clear I wasn't going to hold the pace and the rate of decay outstripped my cushion. Almost stopped at 7k but the fact that I had already made it so far into the race kept me from going through with it. At 19 laps however it was enough. Easy to say in hindsight that it would have been possible to dip under 33:30 with a rally near the finish but the trend was unmistakable and not to be denied. I would have hit 8k in just under 26:50 (7600 reached in 25:27), i.e. 6:40 to run the final five laps. There would have been no finishing with a flourish, only 81 second laps turning into 82s and so on. I would have ended up within 5 seconds or so on the wrong side of the standard, having turned myself inside out for nothing. Galling as it is to drop out so deep into a race, the choice was clear. The mounting pain and stiffness in the calf certainly facilitated the decision. Calf felt weak and compromised afterward, no surprise there, piriformis stiffening with every passing minute during the car ride home. Splits by km:

3:20.4
3:19.0
3:20.0
3:22.4 felt the pacer slow, ditched him at 3900m
3:19.4
3:21.6 first signs of trouble
3:22.1
last 600m 2:02