Fri 9/12 - double, 60 minutes plus 20 minutes in Walden

AM - 20 minutes easy, Swellesley. Ambled along except for a five minute stretch where the pace zoomed up in order to keep up with a morning warrior who blew by me so fast I had to follow just to see what the hell she was up to. Cool and overcast.

PM - 40 minutes, Lincoln woods with drills on Pine Hill plus 20 minutes in Walden. I could have done this in Wayland but snuck over to Lincoln instead because I wanted to do the drills on the big hill rather than the short slope on the WHS campus. Plus I was feeling nostalgic for the summer routine that's gone by the boards. Ran directly to the hill and directly back. Not feeling at all spry or energetic.

Thu 9/11 - double, 70 minutes easy total plus 20 minutes in the lake

AM - 20 minutes very easy, Swellesley. Awoke well before the alarm this morning. A stubbornly persistent feature of the coaching lifestyle it would seem. At least falling asleep hasn't been a problem of late.

PM - 50 minutes very easy, out and back to the lake from WHS via Lakeshore Drive. A beguiling and scenic route, much better than taking the main roads. Feeling quite flat from the early wakeup, legs stiff as well after yesterday's session. Humidity seemed to be increasing by the minute and became insufferable despite overcast and relatively modest temps. The water was bracing to say the least.

Wed 9/10 - AM 70 minutes incl. 15x200, 400

First of the mid-morning, mid-week half days for the next five weeks. Revisiting a cherished chestnut of a workout under the noonday sun with the rotating 3/2/1 recoveries. Right leg feeling a little dodgy but gave it a go nonetheless, in fact the right leg held up reasonably well. Noticeable change in the level of effort required the last five reps, splits reflect that to a certain extent:

38.1 (84.0) 39.5 (53.8) 38.8 (28.3)
38.3 (80.4) 38.2 (55.0) 38.3 (28.0)
39.0 (81.7) 37.4 (55.0) 37.6 (29.3)
38.3 (81.0) 37.5 (55.8) 37.6 (30.1)
38.6 (83.0) 38.2 (55.5) 38.6 (28.9)
78.4 to close
24:42 total time

Fairly warm with a decent breeze but not crushing in either aspect.

Tue 9/9 - AM 20 minutes very easy

Swellesley. The pre-breakfast shakeout was all there would be as I went straight from practice to the ball game, which took longer than I thought. I should have known better. Leisurely walk/jog to and from the park. Game sucked though.

Mon 9/8 - double, 65 minutes easy

AM - 20 minutes very easy, Swellesley. Decidedly cool this morning for the first time in recent memory.

PM - 45 minutes easy, Area 51. First time running here in a good long while. Enjoyable and quite relaxed, with a very nice sunset at the Otter Alley culvert. Legs feeling a little frayed after yesterday.

Sun 9/7 - 40 minutes incl. 5x(1200,100) plus 60 minutes elliptigo

AM - 60 minutes elliptigo. Through South Acton, West Acton and Stow with a bit of Boxborough thrown in as well. Pushing the bigger gears a bit much at times but overall fairly restrained.

PM - 40 minutes incl. 5 sets of 1200-200j-100-100j. Waited until almost too late to start this, as such the warmup was the lunge matrix and whatever leftover effect of the morning's workout. Looking to do something structured and pace progressive. Hoping to start each rep at about 90 second pace and drop it from there. In the end the typical pattern was 89-85-83 or so. Controlled but maybe not as manageable as I would like given those numbers. Undoubtedly the stretched out days and coaching-related stress had something to do with this. Nonetheless, the splits for both repeats and jog intervals remained consistent so that's a good sign. Right calf a bit sore from the middle of the workout on but it and the right leg in general held together well enough. Cooldown was a very easy 10 minute barefoot jog on the infield grass. Splits:

4:16.7 (55.5) 18.7 (27.2)
4:18.4 (53.7) 18.6 (27.4)
4:16.3 (54.1) 18.8 (26.5)
4:16.6 (53.7) 18.9 (27.2)
4:15.2 (52.7) last 200 38.2

total time for 8k 29:35

Sat 9/6 - PM 60 minutes plus 16 minutes in Walden

Started the day with an even earlier wakeup call than the despicably early alarm for the workweek. Spent the morning and early afternoon at Maudslay Park in Newburyport in a coaching capacity. Unlike prior visits here for this meet, I wasn't standing in the cool shade at the mile mark but rather roasting in the sun in the open field where the race begins and ends. After being baked in the sun for almost 3 hours I was hungrier than I've been in a while. Hour plus bus ride back after lunch and finally got home to take off the sweat rag clothes I was wearing. Humidity absolutely disgusting by mid-morning and stayed that way through the afternoon. After a couple of hours in the air conditioned library, decided to do what I could in the daylight that was left. This ended up being a very easy run to start which got gradually faster and finished with 4 short pickups on the way in. The inevitable t-storms arrived just before I hit the trail, with some truly impressive lightning and thunder that I assumed would keep me out of the water. By the time I got to the pond it seemed to have passed far enough away but of course it probably wasn't. Well into darkness by the time it was over.

Fri 9/5 - double, 65 minutes easy plus 20 minutes in the lake

AM - 20 minutes easy, Swellesley. Slept like a log due to exhaustion, but like a moron I decided that laundry had to be done at 10 PM which pushed back the bedtime later than I should have allowed. Very tired right now.

PM - 45 minutes easy, to and from the town beach plus hill drills on the poophouse slope. Went out along the aqueduct, back along the road. Another disgustingly hot and humid day, that and the underlying fatigue meant this run went painfully slowly. Getting in the water was a blessed relief but steady SW breezes made for very choppy waters. The powerboats ripping back and forth with their attendant wakes didn't help any.