Thu 5/29 - PM 60 minutes

Lincoln woods, with drills on Pine Hill. Moving reasonably well for most of the run and able to do a pickups on the way in as well. Feeling a bit more rested than the past few days. Weather much improved, not that it required much to be better than yesterday.

Wed 5/28 - PM 50 minutes incl. 4(200,100)

Walden woods. Seriously considered taking a zero today, feeling quite flat all day plus the utterly horrendous weather had a suprisingly large effect on my mood overall. Really couldn't be worse for this time of year, temp hovering around 50 with showers and an ill wind blowing most of the day. Absolute and utter garbage. Finally got out the door however and went for a run around the pond, with long sleeves, gloves and a vest once again. As this would be the last opportunity to do any speedwork I decided on the way in to ditch the vest and do glorified strides. Initially I was going to do 200s but decided to add in 100s as well, with equal jog recoveries. Untimed of course but felt pretty decent. Some tightness in the right adductor, something I need to work on dealing with. Looks like I'll have to go into my abbreviated track season relying on whatever strength I've been able to accumulate.

Tue 5/27 - double, 85 minutes total

AM - 35 minutes, High Street to Maynard TF. A late start after sleeping in. Right thigh continues to feel stuck of course. Nevertheless, did a few strides on the way in that didn't feel half bad. Warm morning, a bit humid.

PM - 50 minutes, Area 51. Thinking about doing a workout here but unable to muster the courage or motivation for it. The dogshit weather didn't help any, as a backdoor cold front passed through after lunchtime and brought the temp down 25 degrees. Combined with an ill breeze and drizzle, it forced me to put on long sleeves, pants, gloves, and a vest, this after heading out this morning in a t-shirt and shorts. WTF doesn't even begin to describe my feelings on the matter. More strides on the way in, which may end up being as close to speedwork as I get this week.

Mon 5/26 - AM 65 minutes

Back to the boat ramp and Winchester for more running up and down hills. Went directly from South Parrish to Staddle Hill, up and over Burt Hill and along the river to the covered bridge. I had every intention of going up and over Schofield Mountain but it became clear as I was approaching the covered bridge that I didn't have nearly enough in the tank to manage the extra 40 minutes or so that would require. So straight up Gunn Mtn. road to the tower and that was that. I was moving pretty well up to the summit of Burt Hill but the cumulative effort of the past few days hit me soon after. Dragging more than a little bit of ass after yesterday which took more out of me than I'd care to admit. In addition the right leg has become increasingly more twisted up in a pretzel as the weekend has progressed, with no foam rolling or any substantive stretching to help work out the inevitable kinks. Crappy weather returned, more clouds and showers after a nice day yesterday. The overcast did keep the temp down which helped given the late start I got.

Sun 5/25 - double, 1:40 total

AM - 70 minutes, Northfield. Started from the library, up and over Birch Point and along the power lines to School Street. Brief stop at the reservoir on the way up, longer break at the point before heading down the other side. Stretching out the tight hamstring/glute area each time. Much to my surprise I discovered that a graded gravel road has been installed underneath the power lines, as it appears the wood pylons are being swapped out for metal ones. Whatever the case a much smoother running surface, still wickedly steep in spots of course. I had concern about how the right thigh would hold up to the long gradual descent from the power lines back to School St., it went reasonably well but still a little hitch in the giddyup. Still got moving relatively quick the last few minutes which was nice. Awoke to gloomy fog, almost chilly, but the sun burned through by 10 AM and made for a much warmer morning.

PM - 30 minutes, Norwottuck rail trail. Shopping center to the river, rode the bike back. Started at a decent clip, hit by fatigue a bit after 10 minutes. Sagged for a while after that but finished quick esp. over the bridges at the end. The end of an unexpectedly warm day, a pleasant surprise. Feeling quite tired by the end of it.

Sat 5/24 - AM 65 minutes incl. 10k road race

Another successful stop in the sandbag tour. Hoping that I could break the soft course record for the cash bonus, but leave room for further improvement in subsequent years should I want to return. As it turns out I overdid it. After a restless night not sleeping particularly well made the drive out to western MA for the second weekend in a row, not as far out this time at least. Took a wrong turn getting there which made for a scenic drive but less time to warm up than I'd like. Feeling relatively lethargic and right glute/hamstring kind of stuck before the gun went off. These led to a less than stellar effort although I was able to keep the effort level relatively controlled through the first four miles. The first mile was almost dead flat, decent sized hill leading up to the second mile, third mile mostly down, then flattened out for four before a bit of an upturn the fifth mile then flat again the rest of the way. The downhill third mile set me up for some twinging in the hammie which was most unwelcome. This and the modest uphill at the start of the fifth mile led to a surprisingly slow split which caused me to overcompensate and run the sixth mile far faster than I needed to. Finished trying to slow down as much as possible over the final two tenths which maybe looked a little odd to the assembled throng. I had every intention of doing a shakeout run in the evening so as to get some stretching in but those plans went by the by. Too tired and disinterested for it by the time late afternoon rolled around, with rain showers killing any lingering motivation.