Fri 11/28 - PM 60 minutes very easy

Area 51. Something of a scouting expedition, seeing how Wednesday's storm left the trails. Still passable on foot, not quite skiable although at least one person tried. Footing far from ideal for the most part with some parts quite rough, incl. all of track road, from the thawing and refreezing. Somewhat frustrating in the dark to negotiate these sections. Took a good long while to get out the door after yesterday's adventure followed with a day at work today. Quite cold, only a light breeze thankfully.

Thu 11/27 - double, 1:45 total incl. 5k xc race and 10 minutes, 5x1 minute pickups

AM - 60 minutes incl. 5k xc race at Maudslay Park. The definition of a slog, but a compelling experience nonetheless. It became clear on the ride up that the NBPT area received as much snow as Maynard, and that this would make for atrocious footing. Warmup on the first mile or so of the course only confirmed this. At the start, it felt like I was post-holing for the first 100m or so. Kept the stride short, esp. on the hills, and was able to move up a few spots in the second half of the race. By the final ascent to the finish it was clear I had the old fart title in the bag, thought about relaxing a bit but kept it going through the line anyway. Quite tired at the finish but pleasantly so. Thankfully the wind wasn't nearly as bad as last year which made it much more tolerable weather-wise. Very easy cooldown on the road running past the park.

PM - 45 minutes incl. 10 minutes, 5x1 minute, Levittown. After a long afternoon nap, headed out for the back half of the daily double. Feeling a bit logy from the outset, right hammie somewhat pinched from the running on the snow in the morning. Soldiered on with the planned workout, although the first few minutes of the 10 minute rep were very restrained. Got through the rest of it okay.

Wed 11/26 - off

White hell descended with a vengeance, snowing hard by lunchtime. By the time late afternoon rolled around Maynard was right in the sleet belt, which persisted until bedtime. Got home early from work, took a long nap, woke up for the first of two rounds of shoveling and realized then there would be no run outside, not even the easy 45 minute putter I had planned. Atrocious footing and frozen slush everywhere on paved surfaces there wasn't untrammeled snow. With the sleet juicing it up the snow was more like wet concrete. This could very well be a long and trying winter, using the skis and possibly elliptigo more than I had anticipated. Calf and piriformis on the right side feeling tweaked all day, somewhat better after direct pressure and stretching but more dinged up than I'd like after yesterday's modest effort.

Tue 11/25 - PM 60 minutes incl, 8x30 seconds

Area 51. With the race coming up Thursday morning, this would be the logical day for something of substance, but I wasn't interested in pushing it too far. To that end, did a gradual pickup from 20-40 minute mark of the run before a break at the fishing dock. Relaxed and doing it purely on feel. Easy jog out to Old Marlboro where I started doing the pickups, 30 seconds with 60 second jogs. These felt reasonably good if not exactly blazing. Only about 10-15 degrees cooler than yesterday but felt a lot cooler than that with enough of a breeze to require a lot more clothing than yesterday's t-shirt and shorts.

Mon 11/24 - PM 70 minutes

Area 51. Feeling surprisingly good from the start, perhaps thanks to taking it easy yesterday. Maybe also thanks to the abnormally warm temperatures which had me running in shorts and a t-shirt. Felt unnatural to be doing so in the dark, in late November, but a no-brainer. Windy but quite mild all day. Thought about doing short pickups near the end of the run but held back from doing so until tomorrow.

Sun 11/23 - AM 45 minutes very easy

Area 51. As expected, feeling pooped from yesterday. I had notions of going for a second run in the afternoon as a way to facilitate post-run flexibility work that there was no time for in the morning, but decided to take a pass on a second run which was the smart move. The cold snap of the past week finally came to a close, took the better part of the morning though with the late sunrise.

Sat 11/22 - double, 1:40 total incl. 8k threshold and 4(200,100)

AM - 60 minutes incl. 8k progression, Longfellow loop. For the first time in a long long time, a weekend that could be set aside for training purposes only. Trying to do some sort of double workout, frayed calf be damned. The front end a threshold session, capped at two laps and theoretically trying to run around 6 minute pace. Splits:

6:01/5:59/2:49
5:48/5:51/2:42
ca. 29:30 for the full 8k

Got a little tougher than I would have liked the second loop, of course the pace increase had something to do with that. Not as cold as last night thankfully, or as windy but still not exactly ideal. Overall a decent effort despite feeling somewhat tired from the get-go

PM - 40 minutes incl. 4(200, 100). Took a long nap in the afternoon but still feeling more flat than I would like. More from the week as a whole than the morning. Didn't bother timing the repeats, but it was 8 laps total and 4 sets of running a 200, jogging 300, running 100, jogging 200. Glorified strides. Originally I had grandiose notions of something more substantial but as the day wore on I knew I wouldn't be up to anything like that. Windier than the morning.