Thu 12/1 - PM 70 minutes incl. 8x 3.5 minute pickups

Area 51. Back to the refuge driveway, this time for shorter reps with shorter recoveries, i.e. a minute jog between each. Despite some trepidation over feeling less than energetic upon heading out the door, the session went well overall. The effort certainly felt consistent. Getting blinded by the stupid floodlight on the outside of the bathroom building, which was tripped every time I passed by due to its overly sensitive PIR sensor, was the most annoying thing about the evening in fact. Warm enough that a long sleeved shirt and shorts were sufficient.

Wed 11/30 - PM 45 minutes

With rain pouring down today harder and colder than yesterday, going outside wasn't going to happen. 6 miles on the treadmill, in two bouts of 3 miles starting out at 6 mph and ticking up to 10 mph which is as fast as the CH's treadmill goes as it turns out. Once at 10 I kept it going another couple of minutes until the 3 mile mark was reached. Longish break in between the two segments. Had I started earlier I certainly could have done another 3 miles or else done two longer segments instead and run for longer. As is the case on the treadmill, felt quite smooth.

Tue 11/29 - PM 70 minutes easy

Area 51. Waited out the worst of the day's driving rain, wound up overdressed for the dregs of it in fact. Some soreness in the right calf from yesterday plus a little bonus stiffness in the right adductor from being on the track for the first time in a while. Took the requisite long time to get out the door but at least I got started before 7 PM this time.

Mon 11/28 - PM 60 minutes incl. 10x200

An attempt at true leg prep, i.e. not what I've been calling "leg prep" the past few years but rather a workout that's not a workout. In this case, 200 meter reps with 400 meter recoveries, run continuously at a "no rig" speed. Partly this was motivated by the fact that I had to push this session up a day to avoid the horrible weather that's forecast for tomorrow, and I knew in my bones that I wasn't close to recovered from the weekend. Also dreading the prospect of doing turnover work in what were legitimately cold if almost perfectly still conditions. As it turned out the fatigue was more worth worrying about as I could definitely feel it. Took a few reps to dip under the magical 40 second barrier for the 200s, not sure if this is a measure of how atrocious my fitness is or of how hard it was to get going in the chill weather. I'm going with the former though, as I'm really out of shape at the moment.

40.4 (1:57.0)
41.7 (1:56.2)
40.7 (1:52.3)
38.9 (1:52.9)
38.9 (1:56.2)
39.0 (1:53.4)
38.1 (1:51.2)
37.8 (1:52.9)
38.3 (1:58.4)
38.2 (2:03.4)

As unimpressive a set of splits as one will ever see.

Sun 11/27 - double, 1:35 total

AM - 65 minutes very easy, Lincoln woods. Easy putter in the woods with the CH. While I knew going in that the fallen leaves would make running here more problematic, the actual experience was still annoying with the reduced traction. Tried to mix it up with clear stretches and road when necessary. Tired.

PM - 30 minutes easy. Thought I'd do something a bit more uptempo but it wasn't happening. Still too tired and flat from the past few days. Not exactly quality volume today.

Sat 11/26 - double, 80 minutes total incl. 3k xc race

AM - 45 minutes incl. 3k xc race. Another race after Thursday's effort maybe the last thing I needed but it was worth the while nonetheless. Course included multiple sets of hay bales which I scrupulously avoided while warming up. Thankfully no real competition to speak of which made it a low-stress occasion. Warmup and cooldown focused mainly on scrounging empties. Nice bit of running at Horn Pond before the race.

PM - 35 minutes easy. Trying to boost the volume if only a little bit. Not quite as energetic as I'd like.

Fri 11/25 - AM 30 minutes easy

Easy shakeout, plan was to follow it up with an evening jog as well but too tired and too late by the time we got home.

Thu 11/24 - AM 55 minutes incl. 5k cross country race

Maudslay Park. Felt like I ran a much better race than last year, triumphed in the old fart category and rather convincingly to boot. Moved through the field throughout after dodging the kids and people dressed in turkey costumes in the initial mad dash across the field. Made good progress on people heading uphill. In terms of time though, pretty much the same as a year ago. Less amenable conditions with much colder temps and a bit of a breeze. Planned on an evening shakeout but it wasn't to be after having dinner out.

Wed 11/23 - 55 minutes easy

Area 51. Got home from work super early and still didn't get out the door for an easy shakeout until it was already well past sunset. A recurring and seemingly hopeless theme. Legs feeling fine at least.

Tue 11/22 - 65 minutes incl. 5x hill reps

Area 51, then headed over to Garfield and McKinley for some runs around the block that involved going up and over the neighborhood bump. Controlled effort at the end, trying to get some turnover on the way down and using the flat to recover.

Mon 11/21 - 45 minutes easy

Summerhill to Tiger Drive via Winter St. Typical dawdling nonsense getting out the door, even though I no longer have coaching as an excuse. Just lazy apparently. This curtailed the length of the day's run.

Sun 11/20 - AM 90 minutes incl. 4x 6 minutes

Area 51. Long warmup with the CH through the trails, followed up by running the length of the refuge driveway with 2 minute recoveries. Why I haven't thought to use this stretch of road in the past for workouts is beyond me, as it has much to offer. Next to no traffic even on their busiest of days, a modest bump of a hill about halfway along providing some resistance without being overwhelming, and just far enough from home to make for a decent but not overly long warmup/cooldown. Won't be my last time back there for sure. Blustery conditions meant that the first and third reps were into a decent headwind. In a perfect world I would have done more reps, maybe a lot more, but four will have to do for the time being given how tremendously worn down and unfit I am at the moment. Also started late enough that I had to cut it short in order to get home for lunch at a reasonable hour. No idea exactly how long the driveway was, splits got a bit quicker as I got into them:

6:01.6 out
5:51.3 back
5:55.4 out
5:43.2 back

Sat 11/19 - double, 75 minutes total

AM - 30 minutes very easy, pre-breakfast shakeout with a few uphill strides thrown in near the end.

PM - 45 minutes easy, hoping to do a little more but legs were fried from the running back and forth during the afternoon at the final kiddie meet of the season.

Fri 11/18 -

Thu 11/17 -

Wed 11/16 -

Tue 11/15 -

Mon 11/14 -