Thu 11/28 - double, 90 minutes total incl. trail 5k

AM - 60 minutes incl. 5k on the trails of Maudslay SP. A nice place to visit, if not under the best of conditions as the wind was howling off the river all morning (and day). Combined with an early start, the focus was more on surviving than thriving. After a fairly ridiculous start in a field of tall grass and lumpy footing that involved running a rather ill-defined and curved route around widely dispersed cones, the course went into rollercoaster mode for at least a mile after that, down then up, then up some more then down then up again. Leveled off for a time, long enough to get into a decent rhythm before going back down again. Then a final climb back up the same trail as the initial descent, where I picked off one last straggler. Kind of figured the time would be as mediocre as it ended up being, and it was clear I wouldn't be winning the old fart division a couple of minutes in when I got passed definitively by the guy who did. Lack of any kind of useful fitness made plain, the past two months of mostly jogging will do that. Still, I was happy to be able to do a longish cooldown without the right thigh locking up completely. That would have certainly happened as recently as a couple of weeks ago after racing on a course like this. The most painful part of the race was the state of my hands after racing in the cutting wind with only a thin pair of gloves, made for a very uncomfortable 15 minutes or so directly after finishing.

PM - 30 minutes easy. Shakeout after a long nap and before dinner and stretching. Right hamstring and butt sore but not incapacitated, after the up and down pounding this morning I'll take it as a good sign. Wind subsided a bit but still cold.

Wed 11/27 - PM 50 minutes easy

Area 51. Not quite as energetic as I was expecting or would have liked following a short day at work. Perhaps the length of yesterday's run had more of an effect than originally anticipated. I had hoped to do some short pickups on the way in but didn't feel particularly inclined at first, but ended up doing them anyway but in somewhat half-hearted fashion. Right thigh feels fine now under light strain (i.e. jogging) and minor pinching when going faster than that. Rainy and mild conditions all day, I thought it was cooling off by the time I got out the door but it was warmer than expected.

Tue 11/26 - PM 90 minutes easy

Lincoln woods. Exactly the low key effort I was looking for. A few minor stumbles in the woods but the headlamp is working out better than I had hoped overall. I did get turned around on the trails near Sandy Pond but that might have happened even in broad daylight for the particular spot I was in. Right thigh feels better today than the day after last week's similarly slow-paced "workout" on the track so I'm hopeful things are heading in the right direction. Another visit to the picnic table at the end of the run for compressions but the adhesions in the belly of the muscle weren't nearly as extensive as 10 days ago. Gloomy overcast, light snow shower in the second half of the run.

Mon 11/25 - PM 55 minutes incl. 3 (800,400,200)

More running at 6:00 pace on the track. Taking one for the team as it were, my penultimate coaching obligation of the season being pacing one of the kiddies. All the reps were at or near 90 seconds a lap, with 100m jogs as recovery and 3 minute or so easy lap jog between each set. Right leg less locked up by the end of it than it was after last week's workout. Still not out of the woods but it seems like it may finally be getting better. Stretching and foam rolling key to all this. Chilly and breezy but nothing like yesterday.

Sun 11/24 - AM 90 minutes

Lincoln woods, with a visit to both Farrar and Walden ponds. A day completely dominated by the weather, in this case an absolutely hideous NW wind that made yesterday morning's conditions seem like a gentle breeze. The woods offered some respite from the worst of it but still not exactly pleasant and my hands were completely frozen for the first 20 minutes. The Farrar Pond trail wasn't the greatest choice at this time of year, with leaves covering the trail and obscuring roots in some spots. Had to tread very lightly at times. Picked up the pace a decent amount over the last 20 minutes, more of an effort than I was planning on putting forth in fact but it felt reasonable enough. Some stiffness in the right hammie but given the uneven footing and coming off yesterday's workout it seems to be doing better on the whole.

Sat 11/23 - double, 90 minutes total incl. 2x3k

AM - 60 minutes incl. 2 sets of 3x800/200 in/out running. After surviving (more or less) Wednesday's slow track session I've decided to soldier on with faster-paced stuff in hopes that the right hamstring holds up to it. Looking to break back into it somewhat gently however, and this workout seemed like a good way to do it. Aiming to run 800m in about 3 minutes, ideally with negative splits, then a 200 at 90% effort or so, repeated 3 times. Had some trouble judging the pace, unsurprisingly, and went out in under 42 for the first 200m of the workout. Things settled in for the rest of the first rep, then a reasonably short break before repeating the whole thing again. Splits:

2:59.2 - 39.4
2:59.7 - 39.6
2:56.8 - 39.2
10:53.9

3.5R

2:57.9 - 38.2
3:00.0 - 39.8
3:01.8 - 38.9
10:56.6

Ideally I'd like to be able to do something like this 3 times instead of 2 esp. given the very slow pace. In fact by the end of the second rep I was digging far deeper than I would have liked just to try and (unsuccessfully) hold the line at 90 second pace. No idea what to expect for the 200s, lack of any kind of turnover not at all surprising given the lack of any kind of training structure the past 6 weeks. Glad to be doing any kind of running on the track without the leg shutting down, although it did stiffen up somewhat over the course of the workout. Conditions not exactly favorable, blustery with a noticeable wind crushing me on every backstretch--second 200 of each rep run into this breeze. Relatively early start as I wanted to mimic somewhat the upcoming morning start time. Cooldown was very slow with various breaks.

PM - 30 minutes very easy. Light jog around town, extension of the cooldown and testing how the hamstring held up to the stress of the morning run. While some stiffness was present, overall it felt as good as I could hope, no obvious limping on the hamstring.