Thu 1/1 - PM 45 minutes easy

Area 51. Not particularly impressive on its own but there was also a 2.5 hour hike in the Lincoln woods in the afternoon as well. The combination of these two things left me fairly tuckered out by the end of the run, and sore as well. Chilly day but the wind died down after sunset.

Wed 12/31 - AM 70 minutes easy

Area 51. Relaxed putter in the woods. Right leg feeling a bit better than I thought it might following yesterday's track workout. Took a while to get out of bed and get going, unsurprisingly. Colder weather has taken a firm hold with more of a breeze than the other night as well.

Tue 12/30 - PM 60 minutes incl. 4(600, 300) + 400

More of the short sweet stuff. "Sweet" meaning intense. Thought up this particular session last night thinking it would be best to hit the faster paces again. Sticking to the swimming rest interval idea, I thought it would be doable to run the 600s on 4 minutes (i.e. about 2:10 rest) and the 300s on 2 minutes (a bit less than 70 second recoveries). Recognized intellectually that the turnaround after each 300 would be tough but actually experiencing it was another matter. Although to be fair the first lap of the first 600 felt flat enough that extending the rest after the 300s might not have made much difference. If nothing else it forced me to measure out the effort a little bit more. Originally had planned on running the 600s around 1:50 but that plainly wasn't happening, but 300s were mostly dead on. Following an 8+ minute break after the last 300 that included a brief bit of rolling on the right TFL and putting on spikes I threw in a standalone 400. Trying to bear down without digging a tunnel into the track. Before the workout I thought I might be able to hit something under 65 but instead it was 67, evenly split and not the least bit surprising. This has to be 800 pace I should think. Alas, getting old sucks for sure. Splits:

1:52.3
53.0
1:52.0
53.0
1:51.8
52.3
1:51.5
52.7

67.1

Mon 12/29 - PM 50 minutes

Area 51. Somewhat late start made this a shorter run than I had originally intended. Still feeling some lingering fatigue and thought it better to err on the side of caution. Did a few short pickups on the way in which were no more than 85% effort, with the right butt/hamstring feeling stuck. Stretching and rolling afterward helped with this. Right calf felt fine up until the pickups when I noticed a slight twinge to my chagrin. The recent mild weather pattern is near an end, something more recognizable as winter taking its place. Colder but no wind thankfully.

Sun 12/28 - AM 65 minutes easy

Area 51. Sluggish as expected. Originally planned to go longer but too much lolligagging after rolling out of bed ate into the time I had available for running. Feeling quite wiped out from yesterday for sure. Both TFLs tight and tender, unlike yesterday when it was just the left one. Stretching and core had slipped the past two days, made sure to get it done today though. Still mild, although with passing showers that made things feel a bit raw.

Sat 12/27 - double, 95 minutes total incl. 6x 4 minute pickups and 4(200,100)

AM - 60 minutes incl. 6x 4 minute pickups, Longfellow loop. Given the lingering fatigue from yesterday, I wanted to do something not measured specifically by pace and distance covered. 2 minute recoveries, which is maybe a little longer than what would be done in a straight threshold repeat workout. Aiming to do the workout as a progression, which held through the first four reps okay but the last two felt like things stalled out in the third minute. Right butt felt somewhat stiff throughout, but calf held together okay. Headed out the door as the sun was getting high enough to bring on what turned out to be a mild sunny day.

PM - 35 minutes incl. 4(200, 100). Glorified strides with 300 jog after each 200 and 200 jog after each 100. As close to leg prep as I'm likely to get. Untimed but felt like I had decent enough turnover going. Considering I spent the morning and early afternoon standing and walking around downtown, I was happy to get anything of any substance done. Left TFL tight from the aforementioned walking but the usual suspects on the right side held together surprisingly well.