Mon 5/18 - PM 80 minutes elliptigo

Spent too long riding in all likelihood, particularly with a late start thanks to afternoon errands. Headed east towards Concord on Lawsbrook, on to Sudbury before heading over to Lower Village via 117. Hard to say how legs are feeling with the lack of impact, but the right hip/thigh continues to feel tight and restricted after yesterday.

Sun 5/17 - AM 95 minutes incl. half-marathon

Return to Berkshire County for another trip down the Ashuwillticook RT. After last year's tactical experience I was intrigued to see how things would unfold given the fact my personal pace car from a year ago was also returning. Some trepidation involved as I could tell right away that I wouldn't be dealing anything close to my A-game after a couple of less than stellar nights of sleep and spending much of yesterday afternoon and evening working at a track meet after having done the sandbag road race thing yesterday morning. From the outset, the goal was to win the age group with as little effort expended as necessary. Initially it looked like my competition had learned his lesson, hanging off my shoulder as I hung off someone else's. The pace for the first few miles, in contrast to last year, felt laughably easy. This because it was in fact quite slow. At three miles the pace car took over the group and I figured I was in for some sort of repeat of last year. However, at the water stop just before 4 I found myself in the front of the group we were in and never saw any of them again. Tried to stay relaxed and fluid, deciding that if no one else would take the lead I wouldn't let any of them draft right behind me. In fact I didn't take a peek behind me until after halfway, by then no one was in sight. In fact I ended up well behind the next runner in front and over four minutes ahead of the next runner behind, which was surprising. Overall the race could be divided into thirds, the first third feeling like a lark, the middle third an honest effort, and the last third a tiresome chore that seemed to drag on forever. The pace stayed within ten seconds a mile of six minute pace except for the first mile around the mall parking lot which was 5:49. Splits overall:

5:48
5:58
6:06
6:11
5:58
5:50
6:05 (seemed long)
5:55
5:53
5:59
6:09
6:03
6:31 - pulled the rip cord at mile 12, this felt a lot slower than 6:30

No breeze when I first arrived at the mall but within a few minutes it kicked in and like last year, blew into our faces the length of the rail trail. Warmer than a year ago as well. Some clouds of bugs to run through as well alongside the Cheshire reservoir that I don't remember from last year. Overall this effort pales in comparison to last year's but with the same overall result.

Sat 5/16 - AM 35 minutes incl. 5k

Front half of a perhaps ill-advised double dip weekend. Couldn't resist the sandbagging opportunity that I also took advantage of last year, even though the date for this year was bumped back two weeks into the same weekend as the half marathon in Pittsfield. Hoping to put in as little effort here as was required last year. As it turns out I had to go a bit quicker but still quite manageable. Feeling less refreshed than I would have liked upon getting out of bed, which was followed by a solid hour plus of driving to get to the race site. Started out faster than I would like, as I felt irrationally compelled to stay among the top 3 from the get-go. A prize winning spot was assured by around the mile mark and spent the rest of the way gradually decelerating. Minimal warmup and cooldown, as I didn't want to overdo it on volume in advance of tomorrow. Sunny morning but with a reasonably stiff breeze.

Fri 5/15 - PM 40 minutes very easy

Out and back along the Charles river path. Would have gone longer but time was short and the weekend promises to be a busy one, so didn't want to overdo it. Legs feeling relatively good following Wednesday's workout.

Thu 5/14 - AM 45 minutes very easy plus 45 minutes elliptigo

Area 51. Easy recovery jog before a late breakfast. Later in the afternoon, went for a somewhat disjointed ride on the elliptigo with lots of stops for aluminum mining. Warm and breezy conditions.