Fri 1/10 - PM 60 minutes incl. 6x1200

Repeat of the workout I did a few weeks ago, only inside this time with company. Notable difference in the split times, some of which is from being more sharp but also not having to deal with the wind and cold made it easier. In addition the right hammie is holding up better than it did the last time I did this. Calf still feeling tight and stiff, had a pegleg feel for much of the workout esp. the warmup but still able to keep it relaxed and under control. Splits:

4:16.4 (60)
4:16.7 (60.6)
4:15.2 (61.3)
4:13.6 (63)
4:06.7 (63.4)
4:02.8

The increase in pace on the last two reps, which included a final lap of 35, wasn't my idea but was doable. Considering how tired and disinterested I felt going into this workout I'll take it on the whole. Despite the beginnings of a warming trend outside I had no desire to do either warmup or cooldown outside. Cooldown in fact could barely be called that.

Thu 1/9 - PM 75 minutes

Levittown to Longfellow Loop via Summerhill/Tiger Drive. Mostly easy although I tried to increase the pace a bit the last 20 minutes. Right leg still bugging me in various places, I had thought it would be better off today but no such luck. More stretching and rolling afterward. Soleus was quite bound up and seemed to respond well to compressions. Warming trend continues but still below freezing temps.

Wed 1/8 - PM 45 minutes very easy

Rockland Ave to Levittown. Barely moving because I was barely able to move with legs mighty stiff from last night's workout. Right leg in particular feels like a chain of twinges. Having to stay up an hour later than I would have liked to last night due to an empty oil tank didn't help matters. Nor did the continued cold conditions, not quite as frigid as the past two days but still no fun. At least there was less wind. Despite all this I would have gone a little further if the schedule allowed for it but in hindsight a shorter effort was a better idea.

Tue 1/7 - PM 55 minutes incl. 2(4x400)

Back on the track with a great deal of trepidation thanks to the knotted-up calf. While it felt better than yesterday after lots of compression work, still stiff and in something of a spasm. This death grip loosened somewhat by the end of the warmup and drills but still not firing on all cylinders. Got through the workout in one piece and it appears I've dodged the bullet for now at least. What effect it has over the next month in terms of actually developing some kind of fitness remains to be seen. Workout was much harder than I would have liked coming on the heels of Saturday's double. Hopeful at the outset that keeping the times in the 72-3 range would enable to me to do 3 sets. Relatively short recoveries within each set of 4 reps made for a rapidly accumulating level of lactate, by the third rep I could feel the threshold being crossed. Longer break between sets only held off the inevitable. Ran without straining but the effort required to maintain a consistent pace was significant. By the end of the second set it was clear I shouldn't go any further. Aside from the calf which hindered efficiency and made it harder than it should have been to hit 36 second laps, the underlying fatigue was unmistakeable. Splits:

71.0 (83)
72.5 (79.8)
72.4 (75.8)
72.1
3.5R
71.6 (76.2)
72.3 (78.5)
72.7 (82.6)
72.0

I'd like to think I could run faster than this pace for a mile but having to tap out after 8 reps makes me wonder. Cooldown was a disjointed lazy affair, not really interested in even a slow shuffle. Hideously cold and windy conditions outside, not that I ran a single step there.

Mon 1/6 - PM 75 minutes very easy

Tiger Drive to Longfellow Loop. Thought I'd do a side trip to McMansionville but I was going too slowly for it to be feasible. Also right leg felt like garbage, with the calf feeling like a block of granite for a good 45 minutes or so. Led to other problems as I was surely favoring it. Paying the price for that double on Saturday on the heels of whatever the hell I did to myself last Wednesday. Right ankle is locked up, able to mobilize it somewhat afterward with heel raises thankfully. Also got some good use out of the foam roller. After an unseasonably warm day with spectacular amount of ablation the temperature was dropping and bitter west wind picking up while I was running.

Sun 1/5 - double, 75 minutes total plus skiing

AM - 30 minutes very easy, pre-breakfast shakeout. Woke up to the calf feeling quite stiff and more sore than I had even expected. Feared the worst but it's not totally incapacitated, just a little bit incapacitated. Just before lunchtime, went for a nice skiing excursion in Area 51. Like racing the 800, something I haven't done for 20 years. Not exactly high octane effort, took a few breaks to enjoy the scenery and use the facilities.

PM - 45 minutes very easy, Levittown. Thought about taking a pass on this after the skiing but decided I could use the shakeout. Complicating matters was the fact that the temps were hovering right around freezing resulting in patches of black ice. Very unpredictable and I was having flashbacks to previous slips and stumbles but this run was too slow for anything calamitous to happen. Short mincing steps both to protect the calf which remains stiff and not slip on the ice.

Sat 1/4 - AM/PM 65 minutes incl. 3k, 800

BU. Bracketing exercise that ended up falling in the category of "seemed like a good idea at the time." Original plan was to run the 3k as a progression, starting at 39 sec/lap and increasing it 1s/lap for each subsequent km (3:15/3:10/3:05). More than a tempo for sure but less than an all-out race, although I had my doubts going in about being able to hold 37 for any length of time after the first 2k. Then a nice long break before tackling the 800 for the first time in 20 years, in hopes that the experience would be beneficial for feeling relaxed racing the mile later on in the month. In my glory days when indoor track was about racing 3k and 5k I could perhaps justify completely ignoring anything shorter than a mile but not the case any longer. Got to bed later than I should have last night which left me feeling somewhat flat. Left myself too little time for an adequate warmup before the 3k, not that I was that concerned given the way I'd be approaching it. Despite the pack of good time charlie high schoolers who were doing their darndest early on to show to everyone how nonchalant they were, got into a groove soon enough. Although it did indeed feel a bit harder than I would have liked from the outset. Still able to come close to hitting the numbers, tellingly the final km was the one furthest from the goal:

39.3/39.8/39.6/39.0/38.2 - 3:15.9
37.6/38.1/38.1/38.1/38.4 - 3:10.3
37.4/37.9/37.5/37.4/36.6 - 3:06.9

The difference between clicking off 38s and trying to click off 37s while already a bit tired was noticeable, but overall a qualified success. Breaking 9:20 is about all I could hope for were I racing the distance in earnest. The new normal. Wore spikes instead of flats, a decision I had dithered over far too much but flats would have made things that much harder to accomplish. Alas, the spikes didn't treat the already frayed-feeling calf so well and this ended up becoming the dominant factor later on. With 4+ hours to kill went out for a very slow cooldown jog on the roads before a small lunch. Realized to my dismay that the calf was more frayed than before and maybe adding a short and fast effort to the day wasn't such a great idea. Nothing about the secondary warmup jog and drills did anything to dissuade me, not able to get a full force push off. Nevertheless, toed the line petrified I might pull it at any moment. Went out very tentatively the first 50m as a result, realized I would survive in one piece albeit running at less than 100% efficiency. However, by 250m in the burning arms feeling had set in and it just got harder from there. Tried to keep some turnover going but I could feel myself sagging with each step. Two others were in the same kind of trouble just in front of me, made a move on the final back straight to pass them and didn't really make it stick. Lap splits of 32/34/35/36. I had seeded myself at 2:13 and thought for sure I could break 2:15. The calf issues surely affected the time somewhat, how much is anyone's guess though. The time is more embarrassing than discouraging though, the real concern is with the right calf which since Wednesday has suddenly gone back to its bad old self. Easy jog cooldown inside before calling it a day.

Fri 1/3 - PM 30 minutes

Treadmill. Finally broke down and got on the thing after another day of hideous garbage, snowstorm cleared out but in its wake bitter cold, biting wind and awful footing from yet another shit plowing job. Got an extremely late start, so late in fact that I considered bagging the day's run entirely but it seemed inadvisable to have two zeroes going into tomorrow's efforts. Steady progression from 6.1 to 10 mph, starting in 30 second increments and moving up to 60s after 8 mph. Felt smooth of course but more of a strain on the right hammie than I'd like and the calf continues to feel tight after Wednesday's workout. Not sure what about Wednesday's session was so problematic for it. The only difference between Wednesday's workout and other sessions recently is that it wasn't on a track which in theory should be easier on the calf.