Fri 5/23 - PM 80 minutes easy

Lincoln woods, with drills on Pine hill. Felt pretty good at the outset but found myself feeling more worn out than I would like after the drills, which made the last 20 minutes something of a trudge. Lack of stretching lately has led to the right glute and piriformis getting more stiff and tight than I should allow. Second day in a row of wearing long sleeves, continued overcast with the ill wind blowing most of the day as well.

Thu 5/22 - double, 75 minutes easy total

AM - 20 minutes easy in Swellesley, brook path to Grove St and back. Becoming something of a staple, not much of a run to be honest but I'll take it. Very rickety the first few minutes, barely able to move even with the ride down to wake up a bit. I find it difficult to imagine doing what I did on the treadmill back in March and early April with the ever-increasing speed.

PM - 55 minutes easy, Area 51. I had planned on going to Lincoln but the dismal overcast conditions with drizzle convinced me otherwise, like it makes a difference. Or perhaps I just wanted to take a nap in my bed instead of the car before shoving off. Either way, the run was going to be a putter anyway so I figured the flatter terrain of the refuge would be preferable.

Wed 5/21 - PM 65 minutes incl. 4x400, 4x300, 4x200, 4x100

Dreamed up this workout the other day while jogging in the woods, thought it would be a lark. With recovery jogs equal to the distance just run I thought the rest would be long enough to allow for something close to leg prep. In practice, doing it with a persistent wind crushing the back straightaway takes some of the shine off, but still worthwhile. Felt somewhat flat warming up, not expecting glamorous splits as a result. Still, hoping to at least float the recoveries at least for the 400s and 300s. Tried to run each rep as a buildup of sorts but the wind ruined that and made the 200s in particular into a chore as I was heading into the teeth of it. Finished the whole thing (8k) in 31:35, more spent than I was expecting. As the reps got shorter the recovery pace got slower, something I could feel as it happened. Cooldown was a wandering very slow putter, took a scenic route through the cemetery. Splits:

79.1 (1:49.0)
78.1 (1:44.7)
78.2 (1:44.4)
79.0 (1:47.4)

58.9 (83.4)
58.5 (85.4)
58.1 (84.5)
58.8 (86.3)

38.5 (55.5)
38.3 (55.9)
39.0 (57.1)
39.1 (58.8)

18.8 (29.7)
18.8 (30.6)
19.2 (30.6)
18.9 (31.7)

Tue 5/20 - double, 2 hours total

AM - 70 minutes very easy, Area 51. Early but not too early. Some stiffness and sore muscles but I was expecting worse to be honest. Loop took longer than planned because of how slowly I was going. Nice morning, sunny with a breeze.

PM - 50 minutes easy, Area 51. Did this run directly after getting a massage. Felt better than the morning of course, more awake at least. Moving somewhat better but still an easy recovery run. Overall, legs are in better shape than they were the last time I got a massage. More light jogging later on in the evening as I went to and from the ballpark.

Mon 5/19 - off

Not exactly planned, but after driving across the state, a late lunch in Greenfield, and doing various errands I found the motivation was at zero as the window of opportunity for a run was closing. In hindsight it would have been the morning or nothing. Went for a short leisurely hike in the morning at Rounds Rock partway up the side of Mt. Greylock, This was followed by a longer stroll around Williamstown incl. a visit to the art museum. This pushed lunch back late enough in the afternoon to leave me with little time for anything before dark but unpacking by the time I made the rest of the trip back home.

Sun 5/18 - AM 85 minutes incl. half marathon

Mission accomplished, not that it was easy. Woke up with the sun and made the long drive to Berkshire County for this race which has one of the more unique courses I've seen. 1.5 laps around the mall and then the rest of the way on the rail trail, straight and (basically) flat. Hoping for a sandbag situation for the old fart prize money, within a mile realized I had my hands full as a guy with white hair and beard moved in front of me. The next 11 miles consisted of me following him as we ran into a persistent headwind. After the first three miles in 5:40 apiece I was hanging on for dear life, knowing that the pace was unsustainable and figuring I would probably get popped eventually. Just to make it more galling the guy was quite chatty, telling me mile splits and waving and saying hi to volunteers. Left with the hope he would burn himself out and slow down. First sign of this happening was when we reached the edge of the reservoir which was particularly exposed to the wind. Pace slowed a bit although still there were various surges incl. whenever the rail trail crossed a road. By halfway I figured I had a chance if the right leg didn't stiffen up too badly. Some nervous moments in the tenth mile as it felt like stomach issues might be coming on, but that held off thankfully. By this point though I was also sensing some definite vulnerability from my personal escort. Pulled alongside briefly just after 11 mile mark, without wanting to, which was followed by a last sustained surge from him. While I had promised myself I would wait until as late as possible to make a move, at the 12 mile mark the pace flagged and I jumped. Some nervous moments for the next 3 minutes as I thought I might have gone too early given his sustained pickup in the previous mile but a quick peek 4 minutes into the 13th mile and I knew I was in the clear. Why this guy didn't slow down drastically and force me to do some of the work at any point I'll never know. While I didn't appreciate the early pace and having to cover it, I certainly didn't mind the wind break. Splits:

5:40
5:41
5:40
5:50
5:45
5:46
5:51
5:50
5:54
6:06
5:56
5:47
5:34

5/17 - PM 40 minutes easy

Area 51. Shakeout of in-between length before tomorrow's effort. The 200s yesterday left more of a mark than I'd like, right hammie/piriformis/TFL was twinging during what was supposed to be a relaxed jog in the woods. I had originally planned on doing the run in the morning but errands ended up taking precedence and the run happened smack in the middle of the day. Sun is quite bright after yesterday's rain clouds cleared out.