Thu 10/24 - PM 90 minutes easy

Lincoln woods. Looking forward to this for at least a couple of days when I realized I could make it work with a headlamp. Effort bordered on very easy, particularly after the sun set and the headlamp went on. Right hammie still torqued up as it's been all week, not surprising. I've been stretching in the evenings at least. Cooler again today and with a biting wind to boot, but the wind disappeared at sunset which made for nice still conditions.

Wed 10/23 - PM 45 minutes easy

Area 51. Apparently overdid it yesterday, as the right hammie was more stuck and stiff than anticipated. Took most of the run to loosen up even a little bit. Did a few half-hearted pickups on the way in which will be the closest thing to fast-paced running between the two races this week. Cooler temps necessitated pants and gloves for the first time this fall. Some rain earlier in the afternoon but it had passed through by the time I got out the door. Trying to keep up on the post-run stretching, will be much easier when the coaching season ends--in five weeks. Ugh.

Tue 10/22 - PM 65 minutes

Area 51. Feeling a bit better than yesterday, so went a bit quicker than yesterday as well. Right knee somewhat swollen though from yesterday's spill. Ended up going somewhat further than originally planned or expected. Not too cool and quite still conditions.

Mon 10/21 - PM 55 minutes very easy

Area 51. Not quite the slog I was expecting but likely that was down to taking it very very slow. Right leg of course quite stiff but I was expecting to barely be able to move it. Apparently all the compressions and rolling I did on the right thigh after yesterday's "race" had some effect. Tripped on a rock that did a perfect job of blending in with the rest of the trail, or else maybe my night vision is worse than I had thought. Left a decent bruise on the right knee, wonderful. Cool evening but nice, still conditions.

Sun 10/10 - AM 90 minutes incl. half marathon

The circling of the drain continues. This went far worse than I expected and that's saying something as expectations were low given the lack of workouts specific to this length of race, how crappy the hammie's been feeling the past two weeks and how late I got to bed last night (and every night before that for the past six months basically). Functionally injured at the moment in that I can jog around slowly to my heart's content but any kind of quality running is a bridge too far and leaves my leg a fucking mess for days afterward. As this surely will. Splits tell the story:

5:45

6:04

5:56

6:20

6:24

6:20

6:24

6:12

6:23

6:15

6:15

6:36

6:55 

Settled into survival mode after 4 miles and watched as people passed me one by one the rest of the way. Much as I'd like to call this a glorified tempo run it surely wasn't as I was quite pooped by 9 miles and powerless to do anything to stick with the people rolling past. Course was a mix of scenic rolling back roads and more open exposed stretches near town. Overall quite nice. Fairly stiff wind blowing all day which hit us square in the face at times, not so nice. Nothing about the course or the conditions can be fingered as substantive reasons for how slowly I was going. Worth noting that I averaged a faster pace for this for a full marathon two years ago. The fact that the top woman's master rolled by just after 11 miles is also worth noting. Still won my age group though, and in the venal acquisitive sense the day was a success. Lather rinse repeat six days from now. Maybe I'll regain some semblance of stability and fitness when the godforsaken kiddie season ends (only six more weeks, hooray) but that would assume I'll be doing more regular stretching/core maintenance and getting to bed earlier when that much-anticipated day arrives. The stretching I can imagine, the earlier bedtime not so much. 

Sat 10/19 - AM 35 minutes easy

Maynard TF with just a bit of Area 51. Originally planned on doing this as a morning shakeout, instead did a TJs run on my bike to start the day off. The run ended up being delayed until just before lunchtime as a result.

Fri 10/18 - PM 75 minutes easy

Lincoln woods. Kiddies practice was short enough that I was able to sneak over to the trails and get in a reasonably long run, longer than planned in fact. Still just jogging thanks to the charley horse sustained in the bike crash the other day. Finished in the dark pretty much but able to avoid any stumbles. Right hammie/piriformis remains stuck of course but at least I've been doing some kind of flexibility work of late after letting it slide for far too long.