Thu 9/4 - double, 65 minutes total plus 20 minutes in the lake

AM - 20 minutes very easy, Swellesley. Started out quite slowly, picked it up ever so slightly near the end. Right calf continues to be a bit bothersome from Monday I suppose.

PM - 45 minutes plus 20 minutes in the lake. Weston aqueduct to Getchell trail to Danforth. In theory today would have been a day to do something of substance but that theory doesn't take into effect how crushed I've been by the added responsibilities and time spent on coaching. Just dead tired and the days of a leisurely afternoon nap are most definitely over for the time being. Surviving from day to day at the moment.

Wed 9/3 - AM 25 minutes easy

Swellesley, slightly longer than the usual thanks to yet another morning of pre-waking the alarm. Planned afternoon off, spent the late afternoon/evening cooped up in a shoe store instead. It was worth it in the end though.

Tue 9/2 - double, 60 minutes total very easy

AM - 20 minutes very easy. Utterly disgusting conditions, you know it's going to be sticky when it's necessary to pull off the shirt and go bare-chested at 6:45 in the morning. Right calf is feeling cranky after yesterday's race and all the time spent sitting in the car afterward.

PM - 40 minutes very easy, to and from the Wayland town beach from the school. An exercise in pure frustration, as a wave of apocalyptic t-storms (the second of the afternoon) rolled through just as I was ready to head down the road. After a gross and sticky day stuck in a building with no AC, and standing around during practice while the first line of storms passed through and soaked me to the core of my being, all I wanted to do was go for a dip in the lake. It wasn't to be as there was thunder and visible lightning popping off every minute it seemed. Close enough and frequent enough that even someone as stubborn as me stayed out of the water. So I ended up running there, looking at the beach hoping the thunder would stop, and running back. Slowly. Right leg feels fairly crappy.

Mon 9/1 - AM 65 minutes, up Mt. Greylock

Up the mountain for the umpteenth time. The end result was favorable for me, but as per usual this is to a large extent a reflection of the relatively weak field. In fact I woke up after a reasonably good night of sleep to feel heavy with fatigue, accumulated from the past week of course. All the anxiety driven pre-waking of the morning alarm leaves a mark. Nothing about the very short warmup in sticky conditions did anything to dispel this. When the early leader appeared to be stretching his advantage as we hit the switchbacks in the second mile, I thought I was done for. In fact I was almost ready to pack it in at 15 minutes. Within 10 minutes however I found myself in the lead without trying to do so and played keep away the rest of the way. Made a conscious effort not to overdo it and bust myself on the middle climbs. Found the flattish stretch before the final corkscrew to be even longer than I remembered, but at least that final mile or so went by relatively quickly. Finished feeling fairly spent but not utterly depleted as in the past. Held something back it seemed. Sticky at the summit as well, and fairly gross by the time I got back down on the bike around noon.

Sun 8/31 - PM 75 minutes easy

Northfield, from the library. Once more with a trip up and over Birch Point, along the power lines to School Street. Doing this as a recovery run is a laughable idea at best, but it's likely the last time I'll see this area for months so I couldn't resist. Underestimated how long it would take, plus I got a late start thanks to errands which delayed my departure from home. All this meant running in the noon hour which was no fun as the humidity was building by the minute it seemed.

Sat 8/30 - AM 1:50 plus 20 minutes in Walden

AM - 1:50, Lincoln woods plus 20 minutes in Walden. Eventful and undoubtedly frustrating morning jaunt in the woods with the kiddies and one parent. Who inadvertently sabotaged the run by continually and blithely running away from me and the pace that would have been appropriate for the group, and dragging a couple of them (incl. his kid) along for the ride. I was left to try and stay in between them and the rest of the group that wisely wanted no part of it. Annoying to say the least. Tried to have the group take multiple short breaks to cool their jets which probably only made it worse. After finally wrangling the hard chargers near the hour mark, picked up the pace for the next 15 minutes or so. This was part of the original plan but given how turned out the pace was early on I should have left it alone. At that point I was venting my frustrations as much as anything. Another 10 minutes or so of jogging after that while looking to retrieve one who got lost, then a very long break in the parking lot before heaind directly over to the pond for a dip and then back. Another sparkler of a day, much drier than we have any business expecting around here at this time of year.