Wed 12/30 - PM 65 minutes easy

Longfellow Loop. The hockey rink conditions that ruined yesterday's run thankfully were no more which is about all the good I can say about today's effort. Headed out thinking I'd do three sets of cutdown timed reps, 3-2-1 minutes with 2-1-1 minute recoveries. Got through the first rep and 30 seconds of the second one before pulling the plug. Put up a brave front up until that point but it was for naught and I should have known. Yesterday's shoveling and slip and slide was followed up with an inexcusably late bedtime. Left me dragging ass and feeling quite hollowed once it came time to do some running of actual quality.

Tue 12/29 - PM 50 minutes very easy

Levittown. Snow arrived overnight, putting an end to the carefree idyll that has been the month of December up to this point. Trails a no-go until further notice. Making matters much worse was the snow changing over to rain in a classic case of the dreaded wintry mix. The 1-2" of snow soaked this up like a sponge making for slush everywhere. Got home to an hour of pushing this shit around instead of taking a nap as I would have preferred. Thankfully the assistance of the CH shortened that time a bit. With sunset the temps dropped below freezing but the rain didn't stop, a fine drizzle that coated every surface and froze on them. Including any road not treated by the Maynard DPW, who as usual let nature take its course and left most roads unsalted. This made for slippery hockey rink conditions on most of the Levittown roads except for the main ones. I spent enough time on the other ones even though I should have avoided them. No falls or injuries but the last thing my legs needed for sure. The party's definitely over alas. 

Mon 12/28 - PM 65 minutes easy

Area 51. Mellow effort, feeling tired from yesterday and the weekend in general. Temperature returned to a more seasonally appropriate level with a nasty wind blowing. Humid enough to make it bite a little bit. Tomorrow promises to be worse in that regard.

Sun 12/27 - double, 1:40 total incl. 3x 8 minute pickups

AM - 60 minutes very easy, out and back to Mason's Island. Easy pre-breakfast shakeout, hoping to catch some scenery by the water but mostly socked in with fog.

PM - 40 minutes, Levittown incl. 3x 8 minutes. After a fairly long afternoon nap headed out just as a line of showers was about to arrive, did most of the workout in a rather chilly rain as a result. Original plan was to do this as a continuous effort on the Longfellow loop but decided to break it up instead, with two minute recoveries between the hard chunks. Didn't feel like I was breaking any speed records out there but moving reasonably well by the end of the third one.

Sat 12/26 - AM 65 minutes very easy

Mystic, loop that included a visit to Beebe Pond with the CH. Some gnarly trails around said pond with plenty of rock garden sections, mixed in with more mellow stretches of road. Overall very relaxed effort which I appreciated.

Fri 12/25 - PM 60 minutes incl. 8x400

Celebrated the holiday with a track workout at a random high school in CT. Warmup and cooldown 2.5 miles to and from the track. After not being able to complete Tuesday's session I decided this one would be the Deek and held myself to that. Slept enough the past two nights to make that happen I suppose. While t didn't feel especially crisp or fast, I made it through in one piece. Made sure not to overdo it in the middle stages of the workout so as to make it through the whole thing. Floating between reps now becoming old hat, not that it will ever feel especially easy. Recoveries got a little bit slower in the second half of the workout but still under 50 seconds throughout. Splits:

78.7 (46.3)
80.2 (47.2)
79.5 (46.2)
79.0 (46.8)
79.6 (47.3)
79.2 (48.0)
79.8 (47.1)
78.9 (47.6)
total 16:51

Overall time nothing spectacular but I'll take it. Record warmth meant I did the entire thing in t-shirt and shorts. 

Thu 12/24 - AM 70 minutes easy

Area 51. Relaxed jog through the refuge with the CH before heading to CT for the holiday weekend. We eventually went our separate ways after which I picked up the pace rather substantially and also threw in a few short pickups once back on the roads. Feeling more energetic than yesterday at least.

Wed 12/23 - PM 30 minutes treadmill

Ongoing rain showers that showed no sign of letting up completely killed my motivation to go outside. After much lolligagging it became clear the only running I'd be doing would be a short one on the treadmill. Started at 6 and ended at 9.5 mph and got the hell off the thing. Felt smooth but still feeling more fatigued than I'd like.