Fri 12/19 - PM 40 minutes easy

Brookline/Boston, jogging around the Coolidge Corner/Comm Ave. area. Feeling more tired and flat than I would like, recovery from Wednesday's workout not quite where it should be. Cold wind blowing made for more chilly conditions than the past couple of days.

Thu 12/18 - PM 70 minutes easy

Round trip to 10 Spencer, much of it along the railbed. Tired and flat after getting to bed an hour later than normal last night, took a lot longer than it should have to get out the door. Right leg quite stiff to start out, some uneven footing at times along the railbed didn't help any. Even with the headlamp, picking up protrusions and depth perception in general can be problematic. Felt somewhat better after stretching it out afterward. Something of a headwind on the way out.

Wed 12/17 - PM 50 minutes incl. 4(3x400)

Another try at the swimming-style recovery intervals. News flash, it can be quite hard with short enough recoveries. In this case, did each set on 2 minutes for the first two reps and then on five for the third, i.e. nine minutes total for each set. Aiming to alternate a set at 78 with a set at 73 which in theory represents 5k and 3k pace. Splits:

78.4/76.9/76.7
73.5/73.1/72.4
78.0/77.5/76.6
73.0/72.4/72.1

Feeling wobbly and overextended on the final rep of the second set. Hung in there better on the final set but the fact I put on spikes for this probably had something to do with it. The slower paced reps were fairly relaxed but I was hoping they'd feel a bit easier quite frankly. Legs bounced back somewhat from yesterday but still not exactly spry. Warmup and cooldown both on the short side as per usual with these track sessions so far this winter.

Tue 12/16 - PM 60 minutes easy

Area 51. I had been hoping to extend the length of the run a bit and finish off with some short pickups on the way in. Late start precluded the former, and the right leg feeling a lot worse than expected nearly kept me from trying the latter. Right IT band and TFL feeling like garbage, likely from the race Sunday but who knows. Certainly didn't feel this crappy yesterday. Did a few pickups on the way in but they were far from crisp. Plenty of rolling and direct pressure on the piriformis and IT band after the run was done. Relatively mild temps.

Mon 12/15 - PM 55 minutes easy

Area 51. Easy putter from start to finish. Calves are sore of course but could be worse I figure. Right TFL twinging near the end which seems to happen sometimes when running slowly. Relatively comprehensive set of stretching/core exercises before bed.

Sun 12/14 - double, 80 minutes total incl. 5k road race

AM - 45 minutes incl. 5k road race. Two weeks in a row of running 16:30. This week's course was certainly more challenging than the dead flat layout last week, but a more favorable starting time and less wind today. Time was of less concern though, as I found myself in the unexpected and unwelcome position of having to make the race from the front. In fact I led basically the entire race. Two-time defending champ didn't show which is the only reason this was the case. Made a conscious effort to hold something back the first few minutes, but sensing people itching to make moves made me drop the hammer somewhat just before the mile, reached in just over 5:10. By the time I got to the second mile mark in 10:25 or so I had the feeling that I had overdone it between 1.5 and 2 and would surely pay for it near the end. In fact the gradual uphill just after that didn't treat me well at all and I had to scale back to keep from blowing up completely. To my surprise I wasn't passed and the gap actually built up a bit. Threw in a couple of blind corner surges, or tried to, leading up to the final gradual downhill stretch. In the end I was peeking over my shoulder a lot and trying not to lock up completely. When it was clear the deal was sealed I relaxed some which is partly why the third mile was substantially slower than the first two. Not that I wasn't slowing down regardless. As nice a day as one could hope for at this time of year, wind from the NW earlier in the morning but it died down somewhat. Very short cooldown.

PM - 35 minutes very easy, Watertown. Along the river's edge. A nice afternoon and nice company. Very relaxed which is all I had in me. Calves sore but not as much as after last Sunday's road effort.

Sat 12/13 - double, 80 minutes total

AM - 40 minutes very easy. Stumbling pre-breakfast shakeout, not nearly awake enough for anything more. Some stiffness in legs but seems mostly related to the early hour.

PM - 40 minutes. Moving better from the jump than the morning jog. Thought about doing some pickups on the way in but decided to go with discretion rather than valor.