Wed 4/1 - 70 minutes easy

Acton St. to Conant and on to Pratt's Brook, then River Road to S. Acton and around the mini tempo triangle before heading back on rt. 27. A spontaneously generated loop, as an antidote to trail fever. Decided more or less on a whim to cut through Pratt's brook to see what the trails were like, unsurprisingly completely snowed in still under the tree canopy. Even the relatively short stretch of trail was enough to start bothering the legs. Easy pace overall after yesterday, legs not as sore as I was expecting. Some signs of warming, still not quite at the seasonal average high temp though.

Tue 3/31 - PM 70 minutes incl. 6x long hill reps

Back to Heartbreak for the first time in years. Bottom to top, with the recently added wrinkle of working the descent as much as the ascent. Took the recovery at the base, just over a minute as I started each rep 5 minutes after the previous one. I had notions of doing 10 reps, in fact 8 would have been a much more realistic upper limit. In reality, I could feel myself flagging on the sixth, much more than the fifth, and I could tell any more would be a bridge too far. Quickly reminded of why I came to despise doing workouts here, while not especially steep the damn thing drags on forever. Tried to measure out the effort so as not to feel like I was stalling out, with mixed results at best. Biggest surprise was how close the splits were up vs. down. The wind blowing up the hill had something to do with this for sure but still.

1:59.3/1:50.4
1:55.2/1:51.0
1:56.2/1:50.1
1:56.4/1:49.3
1:56.6/1:46.8
1:57.1/1:51.2

Overall, still feeling more tired than I would like although much better than yesterday's drag-ass effort. Went for another long cooldown despite there not being much in the tank.

Mon 3/30 - PM 55 minutes very easy

Another shuffling putter around Maynard. Thought erroneously that I'd feel better than I actually did, but it quickly became clear that wasn't happening. The early morning pre-waking nonsense continues of course, which I have to think contributed a lot to the blahs. Right leg also stiff from piriformis to calf. Other than that a great day.

Sun 3/29 - AM 1:45 easy

Waltham St. to Concord via Old Marlboro Road, on to Old Stow Road and Lawsbrook heading back via Parker Street. Tried in vain to find Old Mill off of "Caterina Heights" aka the land of the 1% but stymied there and so had to backtrack. With the trails still firmly inaccessible I wanted to do something from my door that wasn't the same old same old. After getting to bed too late and waking up involuntarily at the usual weekday time, not feeling at all spry at any point. Right hamstring and piriformis stiff and stuck throughout as well, these factors made for a dreary experience overall. No progressing the pace, leg never really loosened up. Upon returning I did 6 short pickups along Glendale just to try and loosen up the legs. Venting my frustrations if nothing else. Yesterday's miserable snowy conditions replaced by clear skies but of course still cold, and windy as well. Worried I might have overdressed upon heading out the door but this turned out not to be the case. All signs point toward an absolutely soul-crushing late winter/early spring, with temps struggling and failing to get out of the 40s most days in the near future.

Sat 3/28 - AM 65 minutes incl. road race

Flat and disappointingly mediocre effort in typically miserable conditions. Slept poorly, what else is new, and felt the predictable effects from the moment I started the warmup. Thought that this event, held as part of some gear-freak triathlon nerd expo, would be a low-key fitness test and found to my chagrin that there were more than enough people who showed up capable of putting me out of the running for even a modest GC prize. Moved up past a few people in the first half, but then stalked and passed on the second of two loops around MIT's athletic fields. I could feel myself slowing the second time around, just waiting for it to end the last half mile or so. Weather played a big role as well, for the second Saturday morning in a row a miserable wet snow was falling. Unlike last weekend though, much more wind with this event which made things miserable, particularly the half of the course that went into the teeth of it. Good day to wear half tights, which I conveniently forgot to bring. Took a somewhat extended cooldown along the river knowing I'd get blasted by the wind but at least I was better dressed by then. The back end of a planned double went completely by the boards as the snow and wind didn't quit and I found myself running multiple errands.