Fri 10/4 - PM 55 minutes easy

Area 51. Back to the site of the shutdown again. And again, not alone although this time it was a stupid redneck on an ATV sufficiently spooked by my headlamp to turn tail and speed away. Got to choke on his fumes for a bit as a result which was no fun. Late start as usual and planning on going for a shorter run anyway. Right hammie still stuck, the workout Wednesday was rougher on it that I had hoped it would but I can't say I'm that surprised. Mostly nice day but starting to cloud over after sunset, vaguely muggy.

Thu 10/3 - PM 75 minutes easy

Area 51. Paid a visit to the currently shut down refuge as the sun set, not that I was alone back there. Not as tired as I thought I'd be however the legs felt like dung from the start and so the pace stayed relaxed throughout. Both calves sore from yesterday but mostly the high hammie was stuck, remained so despite a longish break at 50 minutes to try and work out the knot a bit. Did some rolling on the lax ball afterward which was more productive, glute and piriformis really locked up though. Another nice day turned into a mellow evening, made for a nice run otherwise.

Wed 10/2 - 55 minutes incl. 6x(800,400)

The best and most logical place for another session on the track. Decided I would try mixing repeat 800s and 400s with short recoveries in the threshold style, i.e. 200 after each 8 and 100 after each 4. In hindsight, while I'd do the workout again but the 100 jogs before each 800 wasn't enough, and dragged down the pace overall. Also started out much too quick, incl. a first 200 under 38 seconds which set me up for a lackluster finish. By which I mean the second half of the workout which was uniformly craptastic. Recoveries followed the same pattern as the repeats, slowing down over the first four sets before bottoming out. The rhythmic breathing, tried in a workout setting for the first time, will take some getting used to. Splits with recoveries in parentheses:

2:38.6 (56.9) 79.4 (30.6)
2:43.3 (57.8) 81.0 (32.6)
2:46.8 (61.8) 81.6 (34.1)
2:50.5 (67.9) 82.3 (34.2)
2:50.4 (66.6) 82.1 (36.5)
2:50.4 (68.9) last 500 1:44.3

Right hammie not feeling good at all by the end, unable to switch directions and it was a lot of laps. Not that being able to switch would have made much difference I'm afraid. Still warm conditions after a warm sunny day.

Tue 10/1 - PM 85 minutes plus 15 minutes in Walden

Lincoln woods. Feeling better for the day off yesterday, more energetic for sure. Moving relatively well from the outset. Due to the unfortunate drowning at the pond, I had no expectation of actually being able to access it, in fact I assumed the trails around the pond would still be closed. In fact it was open, and conditions were perfect for this time of year, warm after a sunny day with no wind to ruffle the water's surface. This made for a fairly sublime experience.

Mon 9/30 - off

Not a planned zero but definitely necessary. Holding on to vague notions of doing some version of the threshold/progression run I skipped yesterday but far too tired when I got home to muster up the energy. Did get in a good stretching/core session.

Sun 9/29 - PM 85 minutes plus 20 minutes in Walden

Lincoln woods, with drills on Pine Hill. The antidote to the past two days. After a hike around the pond in the morning I was feeling the pangs of summer nostalgia so strongly that the originally planned threshold run on the Longfellow Loop was scrapped for a run on the trails and a dip instead. The warm and sunny day also contributed to my decision, simply too nice a day to pass up. While plainly no longer summer, it was quite pleasant to do one of the typical summer loops without bugs or humidity. To my surprise the pond wasn't that much cooler than 8 days ago, no blue fingers afterward. Some stiffness in right hammie and left hip flexor but felt better as the run went along and especially after trying out rhythmic breathing after about the halfway mark. Remains to be seen how useful it is in the long term but we'll see. Pickups on the way in, felt reasonably smooth if not especially fast.

Sat 9/28 - AM 50 minutes very easy

Another shitty run from the Quality Inn in Fishkill. Puttered around the cemetery just before and during dawn. Fog everywhere which matched my mood and state of mind. Impossible it would seem to get a decent night's sleep lately, and trips like this one don't help any. Right hammie felt like garbage from the jump, left knee also stiff which made for a super slow and awkward trot down the road to start. Sort of gradually got better but the whole thing was just a boring trudge. Rest of the day comprised of the typical kiddie meet activities, i.e. lots of standing around with occasional fits of jogging up and down the godforsaken hill of Bowdoin Park. Then a lovely 4 hour or so trip back. Not exactly enjoying the coaching life at the moment, remains to be seen if that changes but I kind of doubt it. May not be long for it quite frankly.