Mon 12/11 - PM 55 minutes easy.
Tue 12/12 - PM 50 minutes incl. 6x400. For once, discretion was the better part of valor and I chose the low end of the suggested range of reps for this session. Slightly longer recoveries (just under 2 minutes) than what I would normally do but of course this allowed me to do them faster as well. Splits of 73.6, 73.1, 73.6, 72.8, 72.4, 72.7.
Wed 12/13 - PM 60 minutes easy.
Thu 12/14 - PM 50 minutes easy. Wanted to do some pickups near the end but the hamstrings weren't feeling up to it. Cold and windy.
Fri 12/15 - PM 60 mimutes incl. 5x1200. Short rest of just under a minute made for a broken tempo type effort. Not much of a sense of what pace was appropriate but figured it out fairly quickly. Overall felt quite controlled, other than the last one when I got a bit ahead of myself esp. the last lap.
4:19.7 (56)
4:16.9 (56)
4:15.3 (57)
4:13.5 (57)
4:10.3
Sat 12/16 - off. I had planned to do a run in the evening but after spending the entire day in the city with a good chunk of it walking around outside I was too pooped and it was too late by the time we got home.
Sun 12/17 - AM 50 minutes easy, TJ run. Legs stiff, quite cold but thankfully not very windy. PM 40 minutes, quicker than the morning run but not terribly fast.
12/20/17
12/11/17
Week of 12/4-12/10
Mon 12/4 - PM 45 minutes very easy. Nice run on the rail trail and around the schools with the CH. The type of relaxed active recovery I could have used yesterday. Legs not feeling that terrible but some stiffness in the glute of course. Definitely tired though from overdoing it on the weekend and staying up too late to boot.
Tue 12/5 - PM 55 minutes incl. 2(6x200). First time on an indoor track since the end of January, a day that was memorable for all the wrong reasons. With that and the weekend's efforts still in mind doing a less demanding session was right up my alley. Recovery between reps was between 55-60 seconds of jogging. Tried to build into each rep as best I could and leave something for the end. Splits:
36.2/36.9/37.7/36.9/37.0/36.6
3.5R
36.9/36.7/36.4/36.1/35.9/35.7
Wed 12/6 - PM 60 minutes easy, Area 51.
Thu 12/7 - PM 55 minutes, round trip to 10 Spencer. I wanted to do some pickups on the way back but the legs didn't feel up to it. Still a bit off from Tuesday apparently. Other than that a rather ho-hum experience.
Fri 12/8 - PM 50 minutes incl. 6x800. Plan was for cruise intervals with 90 second recoveries, thinking of this as a broken up tempo run at least at the start anyway. Pace got quicker and the last rep was plainly a bit quicker than it should have been but at least the exuberance was contained to the last rep. Managed to negative split most of them. Didn't notice the recovery creeping down to 80 second range rather than 90. Overall felt controlled. Splits:
2:57.7 (88.0)
2:55.5 (84.6)
2:50.3 (77.8)
2:48.5 (80.1)
2:47.9 (78.8)
2:44.6
Sat 12/9 - AM 95 minutes easy, Area 51. Headed out the door as the predicted snowfall was getting going, continued to pick up intensity throughout. Still Finished up just as the accumulation was starting in earnest. Left hammie and glute stiff after the workout last night but felt better after a thorough round of stretching.
Sun 12/10 - AM 60 minutes easy, round trip to 10 Spencer. Same run as three days ago but with about half a foot of snow on the ground this time. Ran some of it along the rail trail which was passable if a bit of a trudge. Felt a familiar bit of a twinge in the right calf from the running on a slippery surface which will have to be watched going forward. Plenty of shoveling out today as well.
Tue 12/5 - PM 55 minutes incl. 2(6x200). First time on an indoor track since the end of January, a day that was memorable for all the wrong reasons. With that and the weekend's efforts still in mind doing a less demanding session was right up my alley. Recovery between reps was between 55-60 seconds of jogging. Tried to build into each rep as best I could and leave something for the end. Splits:
36.2/36.9/37.7/36.9/37.0/36.6
3.5R
36.9/36.7/36.4/36.1/35.9/35.7
Wed 12/6 - PM 60 minutes easy, Area 51.
Thu 12/7 - PM 55 minutes, round trip to 10 Spencer. I wanted to do some pickups on the way back but the legs didn't feel up to it. Still a bit off from Tuesday apparently. Other than that a rather ho-hum experience.
Fri 12/8 - PM 50 minutes incl. 6x800. Plan was for cruise intervals with 90 second recoveries, thinking of this as a broken up tempo run at least at the start anyway. Pace got quicker and the last rep was plainly a bit quicker than it should have been but at least the exuberance was contained to the last rep. Managed to negative split most of them. Didn't notice the recovery creeping down to 80 second range rather than 90. Overall felt controlled. Splits:
2:57.7 (88.0)
2:55.5 (84.6)
2:50.3 (77.8)
2:48.5 (80.1)
2:47.9 (78.8)
2:44.6
Sat 12/9 - AM 95 minutes easy, Area 51. Headed out the door as the predicted snowfall was getting going, continued to pick up intensity throughout. Still Finished up just as the accumulation was starting in earnest. Left hammie and glute stiff after the workout last night but felt better after a thorough round of stretching.
Sun 12/10 - AM 60 minutes easy, round trip to 10 Spencer. Same run as three days ago but with about half a foot of snow on the ground this time. Ran some of it along the rail trail which was passable if a bit of a trudge. Felt a familiar bit of a twinge in the right calf from the running on a slippery surface which will have to be watched going forward. Plenty of shoveling out today as well.
Week of 11/27-12/3
Mon 11/27 - PM 50 minutes easy. Back and forth a couple of times on a scrounging expedition.
Tue 11/28 - PM 65 minutes easy, Levittown. All over and back and forth on a fairly epic scrounging run. Pace remained mostly low key throughout.
Wed 11/29 - PM 55 minutes incl. 3 (400-300-200-100). 300-200-100 recoveries to make each full set the even four laps around, with ten minutes between the start of each consecutive set. Revisiting the same workout from six weeks ago. At that time it was a somewhat terrifying plunge into the unknown after many months of not doing anything at a higher speed on the track. The numbers were encouraging overall and showed some signs of progress in fitness which is always nice to see. Still lacking in anything approximating a top end of turnover. While chilly, the lack of wind helped make things go smoothly as well. Splits:
74.3 (82.9) 57.6 (58.0) 37.5 (29.2) 18.6 - 5:58.1
75.5 (84.6) 55.9 (60.0) 36.8 (30.5) 18.3 - 6:01.6
73.2 (84.1) 55.8 (58.5) 36.8 (28.7) 18.3 - 5:55.4
Thu 11/30 - PM hamstring and piriformis are sore from yesterday, as I knew they would be.
Fri 12/1 - PM 45 minutes easy, Area 51. Later start than I would have liked. Hammie/glute feeling somewhat better than yesterday. Something of a tummyache.
Sat 12/2 - AM 65 minutes incl. 5k road race. Final sandbagging expedition of 2017, and successful if not particularly impressive. Which describes most of my road racing for the year in fact. Tummyache from last night turned into stomach issues this morning with multiple visits to the toilet before the race started. Course included one rather steep hill a little after the 400m mark, then flattened out until the mile mark when it went down the other side and back along mostly flat terrain with a bit of a gentle incline in the third mile. My place in the standings was secured by about the 3 minute mark and after that it was hard to resist the temptation to put it on autopilot the rest of the way even though I had wanted to get a fitness check out of this effort. The course didn't really lend itself to that however. Cold but thankfully not too windy. Wandering cooldown around downtown Clinton.
Sun 12/3 - AM 65 minutes incl. 15k threshold effort. The hair of the dog for sure and the last thing I needed after yesterday's effort and feeling under-rested the past few days. Agreed to fill on on a leg of this road relay as a favor and was told I could go as easily as I wanted but unable to contain the competitive juices and went at a controlled but still to hard clip from the get-go. Didn't see a mile marker until mile 3, from there I was fairly consistent in hitting around 6:30 but it sure felt a lot harder than that. Realized by halfway that I had bitten off more than I could chew but soldiered on despite there being no reason for it. Except to get off the graceless stretch of road where the race was being held. Fully exhausted by the time I got home. Long weekend.
Tue 11/28 - PM 65 minutes easy, Levittown. All over and back and forth on a fairly epic scrounging run. Pace remained mostly low key throughout.
Wed 11/29 - PM 55 minutes incl. 3 (400-300-200-100). 300-200-100 recoveries to make each full set the even four laps around, with ten minutes between the start of each consecutive set. Revisiting the same workout from six weeks ago. At that time it was a somewhat terrifying plunge into the unknown after many months of not doing anything at a higher speed on the track. The numbers were encouraging overall and showed some signs of progress in fitness which is always nice to see. Still lacking in anything approximating a top end of turnover. While chilly, the lack of wind helped make things go smoothly as well. Splits:
74.3 (82.9) 57.6 (58.0) 37.5 (29.2) 18.6 - 5:58.1
75.5 (84.6) 55.9 (60.0) 36.8 (30.5) 18.3 - 6:01.6
73.2 (84.1) 55.8 (58.5) 36.8 (28.7) 18.3 - 5:55.4
Thu 11/30 - PM hamstring and piriformis are sore from yesterday, as I knew they would be.
Fri 12/1 - PM 45 minutes easy, Area 51. Later start than I would have liked. Hammie/glute feeling somewhat better than yesterday. Something of a tummyache.
Sat 12/2 - AM 65 minutes incl. 5k road race. Final sandbagging expedition of 2017, and successful if not particularly impressive. Which describes most of my road racing for the year in fact. Tummyache from last night turned into stomach issues this morning with multiple visits to the toilet before the race started. Course included one rather steep hill a little after the 400m mark, then flattened out until the mile mark when it went down the other side and back along mostly flat terrain with a bit of a gentle incline in the third mile. My place in the standings was secured by about the 3 minute mark and after that it was hard to resist the temptation to put it on autopilot the rest of the way even though I had wanted to get a fitness check out of this effort. The course didn't really lend itself to that however. Cold but thankfully not too windy. Wandering cooldown around downtown Clinton.
Sun 12/3 - AM 65 minutes incl. 15k threshold effort. The hair of the dog for sure and the last thing I needed after yesterday's effort and feeling under-rested the past few days. Agreed to fill on on a leg of this road relay as a favor and was told I could go as easily as I wanted but unable to contain the competitive juices and went at a controlled but still to hard clip from the get-go. Didn't see a mile marker until mile 3, from there I was fairly consistent in hitting around 6:30 but it sure felt a lot harder than that. Realized by halfway that I had bitten off more than I could chew but soldiered on despite there being no reason for it. Except to get off the graceless stretch of road where the race was being held. Fully exhausted by the time I got home. Long weekend.
12/7/17
Week of 11/20-11/26
Mon 11/20 - PM 65 minutes easy, Area 51.
Tue 11/21 - PM 40 minutes easy, Wayland. Stumbling in the dark along the aqueduct before returning to the school along Stonebridge. Finished up with strides on the turf field, hamstring stuck the whole while.
Wed 11/22 - PM 45 minutes easy, Area 51. Lots of rain during the day made for sloppy conditions underfoot.
Thu 11/23 - AM 65 minutes incl. 5k cross country race. Another visit to Maudslay which is worth the early wake up call and trip. Cold but not terribly windy. Thought I was going to get worked over by the local competition (who it turns out has aged out to the next bracket anyway) after he rolled by me between 1 and 1.5 miles. Hung in there and was able to put him away on the final climb back up to the finish. Yesterday's rain made for some mucky spots, while other areas were frozen solid as a brick. Cooldown with the CH.
Fri 11/24 - PM 50 minutes easy
Sat 11/25 - PM 70 minutes easy, Area 51.
Sun 11/26 - AM 55 minutes incl. 7k cutdown on the track. Original plan was to go longer and do it on the Longfellow loop but both of those things went by the boards. Overall feeling of flatness had a lot to do with the curtailing of this, as well as starting out too quick. Windy conditions didn't help any. Last five laps felt a lot harder than what the watch was saying. Splits by km:
3:52.3
3:51.4
3:49.5
3:46.7
3:45.9
3:42.8
3:38.9
Tue 11/21 - PM 40 minutes easy, Wayland. Stumbling in the dark along the aqueduct before returning to the school along Stonebridge. Finished up with strides on the turf field, hamstring stuck the whole while.
Wed 11/22 - PM 45 minutes easy, Area 51. Lots of rain during the day made for sloppy conditions underfoot.
Thu 11/23 - AM 65 minutes incl. 5k cross country race. Another visit to Maudslay which is worth the early wake up call and trip. Cold but not terribly windy. Thought I was going to get worked over by the local competition (who it turns out has aged out to the next bracket anyway) after he rolled by me between 1 and 1.5 miles. Hung in there and was able to put him away on the final climb back up to the finish. Yesterday's rain made for some mucky spots, while other areas were frozen solid as a brick. Cooldown with the CH.
Fri 11/24 - PM 50 minutes easy
Sat 11/25 - PM 70 minutes easy, Area 51.
Sun 11/26 - AM 55 minutes incl. 7k cutdown on the track. Original plan was to go longer and do it on the Longfellow loop but both of those things went by the boards. Overall feeling of flatness had a lot to do with the curtailing of this, as well as starting out too quick. Windy conditions didn't help any. Last five laps felt a lot harder than what the watch was saying. Splits by km:
3:52.3
3:51.4
3:49.5
3:46.7
3:45.9
3:42.8
3:38.9
11/30/17
Week of 11/13-11/19
Mon 11/13 - PM 55 minutes easy. Scrounging run.
Tue 11/14 - PM 50 minutes incl. 3x200, 2x300, 500, 2x300, 3x200. 300 jog between each repeat, i.e. just under 90 seconds. On the plus side, the left thigh/butt held together fairly well and the splits got marginally faster toward the end. Alas, said splits were quite unimpressive. Chilly but not a breath of wind which I greatly appreciated. Splits:
37.8 (85.8) 38.9 (86.6) 39.0 (83.7)
59.0 (83.8) 58.9 (85.5)
1:39.7 (83.6)
57.8 (84.6) 58.5 (85.7)
38.2 (86.6) 37.9 (87.1) 37.3 (92.4)
Wed 11/15 - PM 65 minutes easy, Area 51.
Thu 11/16 - PM 50 minutes easy
Fri 11/17 - PM 55 minutes incl. 3k-2k-1k. Back to the track even though the original plan was to do this on the roads by time and feel. Unable to resist the lure of pace feedback particularly since I wanted to do it as a cutdown. Able to hit the numbers I set out, a bit quick the last two km of the 3k. The final rep was definitely a different level of effort than the first two. 600 jog after the 3k, 400 jog after the 2k i.e. 3 minutes then 2 minutes. Splits:
3:45/3:37.3/3:33.5 - 10:55.8
3:34.7/3:30 - 7:04.7
3:25.7
Sat 11/18 - off, had every intention of running today but too tired to pull it off after a morning spent at the MFA with the CH.
Sun 11/19 - AM 70 minutes incl. 3k cross country race. Successful defense of the old fart title I won so cheaply a year ago at the inaugural edition of this event, the only time I jump over hay bales. Weather included driving rain just before the start, then cleared up, then more rain, then wind advisory conditions for the cooldown around Horn Pond and adjacent golf course.
Tue 11/14 - PM 50 minutes incl. 3x200, 2x300, 500, 2x300, 3x200. 300 jog between each repeat, i.e. just under 90 seconds. On the plus side, the left thigh/butt held together fairly well and the splits got marginally faster toward the end. Alas, said splits were quite unimpressive. Chilly but not a breath of wind which I greatly appreciated. Splits:
37.8 (85.8) 38.9 (86.6) 39.0 (83.7)
59.0 (83.8) 58.9 (85.5)
1:39.7 (83.6)
57.8 (84.6) 58.5 (85.7)
38.2 (86.6) 37.9 (87.1) 37.3 (92.4)
Wed 11/15 - PM 65 minutes easy, Area 51.
Thu 11/16 - PM 50 minutes easy
Fri 11/17 - PM 55 minutes incl. 3k-2k-1k. Back to the track even though the original plan was to do this on the roads by time and feel. Unable to resist the lure of pace feedback particularly since I wanted to do it as a cutdown. Able to hit the numbers I set out, a bit quick the last two km of the 3k. The final rep was definitely a different level of effort than the first two. 600 jog after the 3k, 400 jog after the 2k i.e. 3 minutes then 2 minutes. Splits:
3:45/3:37.3/3:33.5 - 10:55.8
3:34.7/3:30 - 7:04.7
3:25.7
Sat 11/18 - off, had every intention of running today but too tired to pull it off after a morning spent at the MFA with the CH.
Sun 11/19 - AM 70 minutes incl. 3k cross country race. Successful defense of the old fart title I won so cheaply a year ago at the inaugural edition of this event, the only time I jump over hay bales. Weather included driving rain just before the start, then cleared up, then more rain, then wind advisory conditions for the cooldown around Horn Pond and adjacent golf course.
11/20/17
Week of 11/6-11/12
Mon 11/6 - PM 45 minutes easy. Took the usual good long while to get going. Left leg stiff from yesterday but not going nearly fast enough to aggravate it further.
Tue 11/7 - PM 70 minutes easy, Lincoln woods. A taste of freedom from the seemingly never ending grind of kiddie practices. Not quite the same running in the woods at this time of year compared to the summer, with gloomy overcast and the sun about to set with leaves covering everything on the trail. And of course no hope at all of getting in the pond which sits forlorn in its chilly depths. Legs stiff and clunky for most of the run.
Wed 11/8 - PM 55 minutes incl. 8x3 minute pickups. Piss poor attempt at something resembling a long rep threshold workout, with the left hamstring/piriformis feeling stuck and twinging the entire way. Apart from that, the energy level was also lacking, made for a dismal effort all told. Thankfully I didn't try doing anything measured on the track.
Thu 11/9 - off. Super tired.
Fri 11/10 - AM 30 minutes very easy, putter around Maynard PM 45 minutes easy. Cold and viciously windy.
Sat 11/11 - AM 50 minutes incl. 8k progression on the track. Meandering warmup. Forced by scheduling of kiddie meet to do this workout in the tail end of the arctic blast that came through yesterday. Also still windy although not the wind tunnel that it was yesterday. Combination of all these factors made for a supremely unimpressive start to the cut-down. Finally made it under the mythic 6 minute pace barrier at the very end. Splits by 800:
3:17/3:12/3:06/3:05/3:04/3:04/3:01/3:01/2:57
Sun 11/12 - AM 80 minutes very easy, Area 51. Easy putter in the woods with the CH, with a few breaks to check out the scenery.
Tue 11/7 - PM 70 minutes easy, Lincoln woods. A taste of freedom from the seemingly never ending grind of kiddie practices. Not quite the same running in the woods at this time of year compared to the summer, with gloomy overcast and the sun about to set with leaves covering everything on the trail. And of course no hope at all of getting in the pond which sits forlorn in its chilly depths. Legs stiff and clunky for most of the run.
Wed 11/8 - PM 55 minutes incl. 8x3 minute pickups. Piss poor attempt at something resembling a long rep threshold workout, with the left hamstring/piriformis feeling stuck and twinging the entire way. Apart from that, the energy level was also lacking, made for a dismal effort all told. Thankfully I didn't try doing anything measured on the track.
Thu 11/9 - off. Super tired.
Fri 11/10 - AM 30 minutes very easy, putter around Maynard PM 45 minutes easy. Cold and viciously windy.
Sat 11/11 - AM 50 minutes incl. 8k progression on the track. Meandering warmup. Forced by scheduling of kiddie meet to do this workout in the tail end of the arctic blast that came through yesterday. Also still windy although not the wind tunnel that it was yesterday. Combination of all these factors made for a supremely unimpressive start to the cut-down. Finally made it under the mythic 6 minute pace barrier at the very end. Splits by 800:
3:17/3:12/3:06/3:05/3:04/3:04/3:01/3:01/2:57
Sun 11/12 - AM 80 minutes very easy, Area 51. Easy putter in the woods with the CH, with a few breaks to check out the scenery.
11/7/17
Week of 10/30-11/5
Mon 10/30 - PM 45 minutes very easy. Legs feel even worse than yesterday, if that's possible. Quads in particular are busted. Took forever to get out the door.
Tue 10/31 - PM 50 minutes very easy. Lather, rinse repeat, although I'm starting to feel a bit better I think. Right hamstring has a knot in it I didn't notice the last two days.
Wed 11/1 - PM 50 minutes very easy. Thought I might be ready for something more substantive but the neverending grind of the coaching schedule combined with ongoing difficulties getting to bed at a decent hour have left me in total fraud state. Incapable of training at the moment, just jogging along.
Thu 11/2 - PM 50 minutes incl. 15x200, 400. Return of an old chestnut that I haven't done in far too long. Numbers terribly unimpressive, total time 26:25. Cleared splits off my watch before recording them but they were garbage, 39-41 for 200s and 81.3 for the 400 at the end. Left leg felt like crap from the start, still not right after the race five days ago. Soldiered through which was probably not the best idea in hindsight but an itch that needed to be scratched.
Fri 11/3 - off. Straight from kiddie practice to an evening on the town with the CH. Left hammie/TFL pinched and stiff from yesterday, not fun at all sitting for any length of time.
Sat 11/4 - AM 30 minutes very easy. Scrounging run around Maynard with various stops along the way.
PM 30 minutes easy. More running around Maynard after spending the late morning/early afternoon standing in a field at the kiddie meet. Nursing the sore leg along, not exactly a huge double but better than nothing.
Sun 11/5 - AM 50 minutes incl. 5k road race. Something of a last minute decision to return to this particular miserable course that has yielded positive results in most every previous visit. Knew from the start that second was the best I could do, which is where I found myself after passing the obligatory high school kid/sacrificial lamb just before the mile mark. From there tried not to undo myself on the uphill then downhill second mile which is as onerous as I remember it. From there I wanted to shut it down but the next guy was too close to let the foot off the gas too much. In the end I was able to gear down but only at the 3 mile mark. Mile splits of 5:25, 6:04, 5:36. Warmup and cooldown were both leisurely affairs as I wasn't feeling energetic at all after getting to bed too late last night
PM 30 minutes very easy around Maynard with the CH. Very relaxed run with the best company.
Tue 10/31 - PM 50 minutes very easy. Lather, rinse repeat, although I'm starting to feel a bit better I think. Right hamstring has a knot in it I didn't notice the last two days.
Wed 11/1 - PM 50 minutes very easy. Thought I might be ready for something more substantive but the neverending grind of the coaching schedule combined with ongoing difficulties getting to bed at a decent hour have left me in total fraud state. Incapable of training at the moment, just jogging along.
Thu 11/2 - PM 50 minutes incl. 15x200, 400. Return of an old chestnut that I haven't done in far too long. Numbers terribly unimpressive, total time 26:25. Cleared splits off my watch before recording them but they were garbage, 39-41 for 200s and 81.3 for the 400 at the end. Left leg felt like crap from the start, still not right after the race five days ago. Soldiered through which was probably not the best idea in hindsight but an itch that needed to be scratched.
Fri 11/3 - off. Straight from kiddie practice to an evening on the town with the CH. Left hammie/TFL pinched and stiff from yesterday, not fun at all sitting for any length of time.
Sat 11/4 - AM 30 minutes very easy. Scrounging run around Maynard with various stops along the way.
PM 30 minutes easy. More running around Maynard after spending the late morning/early afternoon standing in a field at the kiddie meet. Nursing the sore leg along, not exactly a huge double but better than nothing.
Sun 11/5 - AM 50 minutes incl. 5k road race. Something of a last minute decision to return to this particular miserable course that has yielded positive results in most every previous visit. Knew from the start that second was the best I could do, which is where I found myself after passing the obligatory high school kid/sacrificial lamb just before the mile mark. From there tried not to undo myself on the uphill then downhill second mile which is as onerous as I remember it. From there I wanted to shut it down but the next guy was too close to let the foot off the gas too much. In the end I was able to gear down but only at the 3 mile mark. Mile splits of 5:25, 6:04, 5:36. Warmup and cooldown were both leisurely affairs as I wasn't feeling energetic at all after getting to bed too late last night
PM 30 minutes very easy around Maynard with the CH. Very relaxed run with the best company.
10/31/17
Week of 10/23-10/29
Mon 10/23 - PM 55 minutes easy
Tue 10/24 - PM 20 minutes easy. Hot garbage, totally flat and tired, also left hamstring has a knot in it.
Wed 10/25 - PM 60 minutes easy. Second try at doing a workout, second fail. Left hammie better than yesterday but still not right.
Thu 10/26 - PM 20 minutes easy. Second day in three with a big whiff. So tired, went to bed a bit earlier last night and felt better for it this morning but still totally spent by the end of the day.
Fri 10/27 - off. Kind of figured there'd be no time, and there wasn't. Long day with coaching responsibilities stretching from lunch to dinnertime.
Sat 10/28 - 95 minutes incl. half marathon. Much less competitive race overall than last year but that mattered little to me as my competition was no more than 3 meters away for at least 12.5 miles of the race. Unable to close the deal after going back and forth between thinking I had the thing in my hip pocket and later on, figuring I had been exposed for the undertrained, underrested fraud I very much feel like at the moment. First mile was relaxed to the point of being lazy and I was perfectly willing to take it but the competition wasn't and bolted at the mile mark. There followed a consistent stretch of miles in 6:05-6:15 range. Various annoying surges which I figured I could weather well enough. Started to feel it for real around 8 miles, thought I was done for initially by 9 or so but then the rope got pulled back in between 10 and 11. Licking my chops during the 12th mile but then the rope got stretched again over the final mile and I couldn't keep up. Very tired from before the gun going off and finished feeling quite spent. Not that broken up over what is on the surface another garbage performance. The work on normalizing my pathologically late bedtime continues but it's a tough slog while coaching continues. Very nice conditions overall, cool and light breezes. Splits:
6:22/12:13 (2+3)/6:05/6:07/6:11/6:11/6:08/6:05/6:15/6:12/6:13/6:14
Sun 10/29 - 50 minutes very easy, Area 51. Putter through the refuge with the CH, which made up for the fact that my legs were trashed utterly from the race yesterday. Quads in particular took a beating and are tender in the extreme. Spent the morning doing yard work, then the run as I could smell that it wouldn't happen if I didn't get out right then and there. Sporadic rain and overcast skies rolling in.
Tue 10/24 - PM 20 minutes easy. Hot garbage, totally flat and tired, also left hamstring has a knot in it.
Wed 10/25 - PM 60 minutes easy. Second try at doing a workout, second fail. Left hammie better than yesterday but still not right.
Thu 10/26 - PM 20 minutes easy. Second day in three with a big whiff. So tired, went to bed a bit earlier last night and felt better for it this morning but still totally spent by the end of the day.
Fri 10/27 - off. Kind of figured there'd be no time, and there wasn't. Long day with coaching responsibilities stretching from lunch to dinnertime.
Sat 10/28 - 95 minutes incl. half marathon. Much less competitive race overall than last year but that mattered little to me as my competition was no more than 3 meters away for at least 12.5 miles of the race. Unable to close the deal after going back and forth between thinking I had the thing in my hip pocket and later on, figuring I had been exposed for the undertrained, underrested fraud I very much feel like at the moment. First mile was relaxed to the point of being lazy and I was perfectly willing to take it but the competition wasn't and bolted at the mile mark. There followed a consistent stretch of miles in 6:05-6:15 range. Various annoying surges which I figured I could weather well enough. Started to feel it for real around 8 miles, thought I was done for initially by 9 or so but then the rope got pulled back in between 10 and 11. Licking my chops during the 12th mile but then the rope got stretched again over the final mile and I couldn't keep up. Very tired from before the gun going off and finished feeling quite spent. Not that broken up over what is on the surface another garbage performance. The work on normalizing my pathologically late bedtime continues but it's a tough slog while coaching continues. Very nice conditions overall, cool and light breezes. Splits:
6:22/12:13 (2+3)/6:05/6:07/6:11/6:11/6:08/6:05/6:15/6:12/6:13/6:14
Sun 10/29 - 50 minutes very easy, Area 51. Putter through the refuge with the CH, which made up for the fact that my legs were trashed utterly from the race yesterday. Quads in particular took a beating and are tender in the extreme. Spent the morning doing yard work, then the run as I could smell that it wouldn't happen if I didn't get out right then and there. Sporadic rain and overcast skies rolling in.
10/24/17
Week of 10/16-10/22
Mon 10/16 - off. Dead tired and flat.
Tue 10/17 - PM 60 minutes easy. Back and forth on the streets of Levittown in the dark.
Wed 10/18 - PM 55 minutes incl. 3(400,300,200,100). First workout with any kind of turnover whatsoever in months, courtesy of the chronically tight and sore left hamstring/glute/piriformis death triangle. It occurred to me while warming up how much of a problem the quasi-injury has become in the sense that it's become such a stumbling block to doing any kind of faster work. Dove in regardless with something I thought would be manageable, with 3k worth of fast running. Recovery of 300-200-100 between the fast reps and started the each set 10 minutes after the previous one, i.e. between 3.5 and 4 minutes recovery there. Splits:
81.2 (92.4) 59.4 (61.7) 37.8 (33.4) 18.9 - 6:24.5 total
78.9 (88.6) 57.1 (61.2) 37.3 (33.0) 18.3 - 6:14.4 total
76.6 (85.9) 56.9 (62.1) 37.5 (31.1) 18.7 - 6:09 total
On the plus side the left thigh/butt area didn't shrivel up and die nor did the right calf get horribly tight. That the numbers got faster is a hopeful sign as well, although as much down to having no sense of appropriate exertion level at the outset. Everything felt faster than it actually was of course.
Thu 10/19 - PM 60 minutes very easy. More scrounging around the neighborhoods of Wayland. The afflicted butt area stiffened up overnight and during the day with too much desk sitting I was fearful that it would slide back into the way it was in late June/early July. However, felt much better after a thorough round of stretching post-run including the all-important pigeon pose which seems crucial in gapping the SI joint.
Fri 10/20 - PM 50 minutes easy, Area 51. Wanted to do some pickups near the end but wasn't feeling it when the time came, also a bit stiff still on the left hammie. Warm conditions continue, fairly sticky as well.
Sat 10/21 - AM 85 minutes incl. 15k progression run, Longfellow loop. Started out modestly but finished off better than expected. Early pace felt tougher than I thought it should and it was clear that another abnormally warm day was on tap with the sun getting higher each passing minute. I figured it might be another early bailout on the planned four laps. Persisted long enough to give that fourth loop a try and wound up bailing out, but only 750m from finishing the fourth loop. Splits:
6:15/6:25/2:59
6:11/6:18/2:59
6:02/6:08/2:54
5:56/6:03
Except for the final lap, the second mile felt a bit like I was taking the foot off the gas somewhat, even though its twisty nature lends itself to a slower split time anyway compared to the first mile. Left thigh/butt held up well considering how stiff it was on Thursday.
Sun 10/22 - PM 55 minutes very easy. Jog around Gardner Hill with the CH. First visit to this area in a very long time. Various stops and starts and some nostalgic moments. Quite tired from yesterday, kiddie meet took 10 hours plus.
Tue 10/17 - PM 60 minutes easy. Back and forth on the streets of Levittown in the dark.
Wed 10/18 - PM 55 minutes incl. 3(400,300,200,100). First workout with any kind of turnover whatsoever in months, courtesy of the chronically tight and sore left hamstring/glute/piriformis death triangle. It occurred to me while warming up how much of a problem the quasi-injury has become in the sense that it's become such a stumbling block to doing any kind of faster work. Dove in regardless with something I thought would be manageable, with 3k worth of fast running. Recovery of 300-200-100 between the fast reps and started the each set 10 minutes after the previous one, i.e. between 3.5 and 4 minutes recovery there. Splits:
81.2 (92.4) 59.4 (61.7) 37.8 (33.4) 18.9 - 6:24.5 total
78.9 (88.6) 57.1 (61.2) 37.3 (33.0) 18.3 - 6:14.4 total
76.6 (85.9) 56.9 (62.1) 37.5 (31.1) 18.7 - 6:09 total
On the plus side the left thigh/butt area didn't shrivel up and die nor did the right calf get horribly tight. That the numbers got faster is a hopeful sign as well, although as much down to having no sense of appropriate exertion level at the outset. Everything felt faster than it actually was of course.
Thu 10/19 - PM 60 minutes very easy. More scrounging around the neighborhoods of Wayland. The afflicted butt area stiffened up overnight and during the day with too much desk sitting I was fearful that it would slide back into the way it was in late June/early July. However, felt much better after a thorough round of stretching post-run including the all-important pigeon pose which seems crucial in gapping the SI joint.
Fri 10/20 - PM 50 minutes easy, Area 51. Wanted to do some pickups near the end but wasn't feeling it when the time came, also a bit stiff still on the left hammie. Warm conditions continue, fairly sticky as well.
Sat 10/21 - AM 85 minutes incl. 15k progression run, Longfellow loop. Started out modestly but finished off better than expected. Early pace felt tougher than I thought it should and it was clear that another abnormally warm day was on tap with the sun getting higher each passing minute. I figured it might be another early bailout on the planned four laps. Persisted long enough to give that fourth loop a try and wound up bailing out, but only 750m from finishing the fourth loop. Splits:
6:15/6:25/2:59
6:11/6:18/2:59
6:02/6:08/2:54
5:56/6:03
Except for the final lap, the second mile felt a bit like I was taking the foot off the gas somewhat, even though its twisty nature lends itself to a slower split time anyway compared to the first mile. Left thigh/butt held up well considering how stiff it was on Thursday.
Sun 10/22 - PM 55 minutes very easy. Jog around Gardner Hill with the CH. First visit to this area in a very long time. Various stops and starts and some nostalgic moments. Quite tired from yesterday, kiddie meet took 10 hours plus.
10/16/17
Week of 10/9-10/15
Mon 10/9 - off. Following up a garbage weekend with a mostly unplanned zero. With kiddie practice in the morning and the final ballgame of the Farrell era in the early afternoon that wound up being a 7+ hour experience including travel time, the only time to get anything at all in would have been early in the morning. Got to bed far too late for that type of thing. Hopelessly overtired right now.
Tue 10/10 - PM 55 minutes very easy, Area 51. Late start after sleeping away much of the late afternoon. Trying in vain to turn around a deeply dysfunctional sleep pattern at the moment with little success. The coaching routine is really grinding on me at the moment.
Wed 10/11 - AM 75 minutes incl. 10x1000, Lincoln field loop. Finally something of substance again, squeezed in between leaving work early and the kiddie meet. Had some ambivalence about how capable I would be of shouldering this type of effort given how flat I've been feeling of late but held up well enough. Started each rep five minues after the one before which meant recoveries of around 80 seconds on average. Splits:
3:42.6/3:40.7/3:40.5/3:38.6/3:37.8/3:37.3/3:38.4/3:38.3/3:38.1/3:36.2
If nothing else, saved the fastest one for last. Good and tired by the end but not incapacitated.
Thu 10/12 - PM 45 minutes very easy. Very late start after napping for too long. Soreness and stiffness from yesterday not overwhelming but noticeable.
Fri 10/13 - PM 70 minutes easy, Lincoln woods. I had hoped to do some pickups at the end of the run but it wasn't happening. Made it through the day without a nap at least.
Sat 10/14 - AM 70 minutes easy, Lincoln woods. Ran the first half hour or thereabouts with the kiddies, jogging over to the field and then back after watching them run around the field loop for a solidy 45 minutes or so. From there headed back out into the woods for a fairly short and definitely low key jog over to the school/ballfield area. Sluggish and not particularly awake throughout. Cool to start in the morning but then sticky and warm.
Sun 10/15 - 90 minutes incl. road race. Beaten at my own game this time around at this reliable stop on the sandbagger tour. Flat and sluggish from the jump. Went through the mile in 5:30 trying to maintain contact, became clear over the second mile (5:40) this wouldn't be happening, gave up and packed it in the third mile (5:50). Overall a fade I could feel coming. Conditions didn't help as it was warm and muggy. Went for a longish cooldown along the rail bed into Weston and onto some of the trails there.
Tue 10/10 - PM 55 minutes very easy, Area 51. Late start after sleeping away much of the late afternoon. Trying in vain to turn around a deeply dysfunctional sleep pattern at the moment with little success. The coaching routine is really grinding on me at the moment.
Wed 10/11 - AM 75 minutes incl. 10x1000, Lincoln field loop. Finally something of substance again, squeezed in between leaving work early and the kiddie meet. Had some ambivalence about how capable I would be of shouldering this type of effort given how flat I've been feeling of late but held up well enough. Started each rep five minues after the one before which meant recoveries of around 80 seconds on average. Splits:
3:42.6/3:40.7/3:40.5/3:38.6/3:37.8/3:37.3/3:38.4/3:38.3/3:38.1/3:36.2
If nothing else, saved the fastest one for last. Good and tired by the end but not incapacitated.
Thu 10/12 - PM 45 minutes very easy. Very late start after napping for too long. Soreness and stiffness from yesterday not overwhelming but noticeable.
Fri 10/13 - PM 70 minutes easy, Lincoln woods. I had hoped to do some pickups at the end of the run but it wasn't happening. Made it through the day without a nap at least.
Sat 10/14 - AM 70 minutes easy, Lincoln woods. Ran the first half hour or thereabouts with the kiddies, jogging over to the field and then back after watching them run around the field loop for a solidy 45 minutes or so. From there headed back out into the woods for a fairly short and definitely low key jog over to the school/ballfield area. Sluggish and not particularly awake throughout. Cool to start in the morning but then sticky and warm.
Sun 10/15 - 90 minutes incl. road race. Beaten at my own game this time around at this reliable stop on the sandbagger tour. Flat and sluggish from the jump. Went through the mile in 5:30 trying to maintain contact, became clear over the second mile (5:40) this wouldn't be happening, gave up and packed it in the third mile (5:50). Overall a fade I could feel coming. Conditions didn't help as it was warm and muggy. Went for a longish cooldown along the rail bed into Weston and onto some of the trails there.
10/13/17
Week of 10/2-10/8
Jogging. A week of puttering around that was so nondescript, formless, and of marginal (read: nonexistent) training value that it wasn't worth recording. Took Wednesday off as the prospect of squeezing in a run between leaving work early and getting on the bus for the kiddie meet held no appeal. Easy double on Saturday adding up to a bit north of 90 minutes, a bit over an hour Sunday after spending the entire morning standing around at a kiddie meet. Weekday runs didn't top an hour for the most part. Had every intention of getting in a long workout over the weekend but it didn't happen. Saturday would have been the day but simply too tired and flat for it.
10/3/17
Week of 9/25-10/1
Mon 9/25 - off. A bit of light jogging to and from the ballyard but I wouldn't call it a run of any notable length.Almost as hot today as it was yesterday.
Tue 9/26 - PM 65 minutes easy plus 15 minutes in Walden. Probably the last dip in the pond for the season barring another late season heat wave. Worth the trip over for sure.
Wed 9/27 - AM 25 minutes incl. 5k progression on the track. Truly a fool's errand, thought I'd get in a quick hitter before heading off to the kiddie meet and instead found myself roasting to death on the griddle of a high school track close to noontime on a despicably hot and sticky day. Should have stuck with the original plan to run an 8k cutdown starting at a more modest pace but thought I would one up myself by doing 2x5k instead. Realized at the 3k mark I wouldn't be doing a second one as in sticking to the planned pace numbers I was working way too hard in the swamp sauce conditions. All five kms were within a second of planned, starting at 3:55 and ending at 3:35, the whole thing in 18:42. In addition to being heat addled I was also undeniably tired from an unending and unyielding string of too late bedtimes. No more afternoon naps and this is how I respond, at a loss to understand it.
Thu 9/28 - PM 70 minutes easy, Area 51. It occurred to me that the refuge is back in play and has been for some time now in fact. Calf a bit stiff from yesterday.
Fri 9/29 - PM 35 minutes easy. Late start, shorter run than I would have liked.
Sat 9/30 - PM 30 minutes easy. Flat and fairly tired after a long day standing around in a field watching the kiddie races in a chilly rain.
Sun 10/1 - AM 85 minutes including half marathon. Water finding its own mediocre level. Felt tired and stiff-legged from the jump and it took the better part of 8 or 9 miles to feel any different, and by then exhaustion had set in and simply maintaining the pace was a chore. I fully expected an epic fade over the last 5k, and while that didn't quite happen I was stuck at around 6:10 pace from start to finish. Certainly the 2 hour pre-dawn car ride didn't help matters but that kind of thing hasn't been an excuse in the past. Course was mostly flat except for a few rollers on either side of the turnaround point. My reaction to those small hills suggested that if there was more roll on the course it would have gotten really ugly. Cool and dry, minimal breeze and excellent conditions overall. Splits:
6:09
6:03
6:06
5:55
6:08
6:15
6:12
6:11
6:01
6:11
6:25
6:09
6:16
Tue 9/26 - PM 65 minutes easy plus 15 minutes in Walden. Probably the last dip in the pond for the season barring another late season heat wave. Worth the trip over for sure.
Wed 9/27 - AM 25 minutes incl. 5k progression on the track. Truly a fool's errand, thought I'd get in a quick hitter before heading off to the kiddie meet and instead found myself roasting to death on the griddle of a high school track close to noontime on a despicably hot and sticky day. Should have stuck with the original plan to run an 8k cutdown starting at a more modest pace but thought I would one up myself by doing 2x5k instead. Realized at the 3k mark I wouldn't be doing a second one as in sticking to the planned pace numbers I was working way too hard in the swamp sauce conditions. All five kms were within a second of planned, starting at 3:55 and ending at 3:35, the whole thing in 18:42. In addition to being heat addled I was also undeniably tired from an unending and unyielding string of too late bedtimes. No more afternoon naps and this is how I respond, at a loss to understand it.
Thu 9/28 - PM 70 minutes easy, Area 51. It occurred to me that the refuge is back in play and has been for some time now in fact. Calf a bit stiff from yesterday.
Fri 9/29 - PM 35 minutes easy. Late start, shorter run than I would have liked.
Sat 9/30 - PM 30 minutes easy. Flat and fairly tired after a long day standing around in a field watching the kiddie races in a chilly rain.
Sun 10/1 - AM 85 minutes including half marathon. Water finding its own mediocre level. Felt tired and stiff-legged from the jump and it took the better part of 8 or 9 miles to feel any different, and by then exhaustion had set in and simply maintaining the pace was a chore. I fully expected an epic fade over the last 5k, and while that didn't quite happen I was stuck at around 6:10 pace from start to finish. Certainly the 2 hour pre-dawn car ride didn't help matters but that kind of thing hasn't been an excuse in the past. Course was mostly flat except for a few rollers on either side of the turnaround point. My reaction to those small hills suggested that if there was more roll on the course it would have gotten really ugly. Cool and dry, minimal breeze and excellent conditions overall. Splits:
6:09
6:03
6:06
5:55
6:08
6:15
6:12
6:11
6:01
6:11
6:25
6:09
6:16
9/27/17
Week of 9/18-9/24
Mon 9/18 - PM 45 minutes easy. Shuffling around Maynard with many stops for scrounging. Late start and feeling quite low energy.
Tue 9/19 - PM 65 minutes easy. Same idea as yesterday, only a little longer and in a different part of town, in this case Levittown. Still not feeling anything other than lethargic.
Wed 9/20 - off. Spent the afternoon at the kiddie meet in rather gloomy damp conditions but the worst of the predicted rain held off thankfully.
Thu 9/21 - AM 85 minutes incl. 6x2k, Lincoln woods. Two lappers around the field loop with 2.5 minute recoveries. The big workout day of the week if not the month. The original hope was to do 8 reps but a late start took care of that idea and I'm not sure I could have pulled it off regardless, having started out at a pace just a bit too quick for a session that long. Not as gloomy as the past couple of days but still fairly humid with gusty breezes. Alternated direction with each rep, mostly for the variety. Splits:
3:52/3:46
3:51/3:52
3:51/3:52
3:48/3:51
3:52/3:49
3:53/3:49
Not the least bit impressive but it got done.
Fri 9/22 - PM 70 minutes easy, Lincoln woods. Very relaxed run. Right calf tight after yesterday, what else is new. Still overcast and humid.
Sar 9/23 - AM 30 minutes very easy. Jogging with the kiddies before and after their workout around the field. 10 minutes then almost an hour of standing around then 20 more.
PM 45 minutes very easy. Puttered around Concord center.
Sun 9/24 - AM into PM 70 minutes incl. 5k road race. The noontime start of this race did no one any favors, as the weather finally broke yesterday with the sun reappearing after a four day absence. The humidity stuck around and this made for a slog of a day racing in temps in the mid 80s. Made a conscious effort to hold something back as I approached the mile mark after feeling like I was getting ahead of myself a bit. Reached the turnaround in 8:45 and made the return trip in 9 minutes or so. Despite this if the 2 mile split is to be believed I ran the same unimpressive even pace throughout. Of course, the likelihood is that he 2 mile marker was simply off. Feeling tired and somewhat flat which is no surprise given the late bedtimes I've been guilty of the past two nights. Mission accomplished nonetheless.
later PM 25 minutes very easy plus 18 minutes in Walden. As the day progressed and I left the city for the inland suburbs, temperatures rose to 90+ degrees which is just delightful at this time of year. Sweating simply sitting in the shade. Getting in the water was sweet relief. Legs feeling heavy and stiff after the effort earlier in the day.
Tue 9/19 - PM 65 minutes easy. Same idea as yesterday, only a little longer and in a different part of town, in this case Levittown. Still not feeling anything other than lethargic.
Wed 9/20 - off. Spent the afternoon at the kiddie meet in rather gloomy damp conditions but the worst of the predicted rain held off thankfully.
Thu 9/21 - AM 85 minutes incl. 6x2k, Lincoln woods. Two lappers around the field loop with 2.5 minute recoveries. The big workout day of the week if not the month. The original hope was to do 8 reps but a late start took care of that idea and I'm not sure I could have pulled it off regardless, having started out at a pace just a bit too quick for a session that long. Not as gloomy as the past couple of days but still fairly humid with gusty breezes. Alternated direction with each rep, mostly for the variety. Splits:
3:52/3:46
3:51/3:52
3:51/3:52
3:48/3:51
3:52/3:49
3:53/3:49
Not the least bit impressive but it got done.
Fri 9/22 - PM 70 minutes easy, Lincoln woods. Very relaxed run. Right calf tight after yesterday, what else is new. Still overcast and humid.
Sar 9/23 - AM 30 minutes very easy. Jogging with the kiddies before and after their workout around the field. 10 minutes then almost an hour of standing around then 20 more.
PM 45 minutes very easy. Puttered around Concord center.
Sun 9/24 - AM into PM 70 minutes incl. 5k road race. The noontime start of this race did no one any favors, as the weather finally broke yesterday with the sun reappearing after a four day absence. The humidity stuck around and this made for a slog of a day racing in temps in the mid 80s. Made a conscious effort to hold something back as I approached the mile mark after feeling like I was getting ahead of myself a bit. Reached the turnaround in 8:45 and made the return trip in 9 minutes or so. Despite this if the 2 mile split is to be believed I ran the same unimpressive even pace throughout. Of course, the likelihood is that he 2 mile marker was simply off. Feeling tired and somewhat flat which is no surprise given the late bedtimes I've been guilty of the past two nights. Mission accomplished nonetheless.
later PM 25 minutes very easy plus 18 minutes in Walden. As the day progressed and I left the city for the inland suburbs, temperatures rose to 90+ degrees which is just delightful at this time of year. Sweating simply sitting in the shade. Getting in the water was sweet relief. Legs feeling heavy and stiff after the effort earlier in the day.
9/22/17
Week of 9/11-9/17
Mon 9/11 - off. Squeezed by practice and then the team's spike night which I didn't have to rush to in hindsight.
Tue 9/12 - PM 65 minutes plus 18 minutes in Walden. Sticky conditions under overcast skies. Water has cooled off some.
Wed 9/13 - PM 40 minutes easy. Too flat to do anything other than jog down to track road via the rail trail and then back through the outskirts of Area 51. Took a good 25 minutes for hamstring to feel less stiff and pinched. Hot and a bit humid.
Thu 9/14 - PM 60 minutes incl. 2(4x1000). Another instance of turning laps in the dark. Happily, the hamstring held up, although the right calf got tighter and tighter. The idea with the reps was to start slow and gradually pick up the pace. All the reps were negative split but the pace transitions maybe not as sharply defined as I had originally intended. 200 jog between reps, 3.5 minutes between sets. Splits:
3:45.2 (59.4)
3:41.9 (62.8)
3:42.8 (61.6)
3:40.8
3:40.1 (60)
3:40.0 (65)
3:39.5 (66.3)
3:38.2
Very humid after a hot sticky day.
Fri 9/15 - PM 70 minutes easy, Lincoln woods. Took the most direct route possible to the visitor center at the pond and then on to CCHS before turning back and making the return trip on trails. Right calf more tweaked than I would like after yesterday. Left hamstring sore but it's been worse after less in the recent past. Humid.
Sat 9/16 - PM 70 minutes incl. 12k progression. Longfellow loop. The original plan was for this to be a four lapper but I didn't crawl out of bed until the time I had promised myself I would be heading out the door. By the time I had eaten breakfast and got my shit together it was too late to start with climbing sun and temperatures. Spent the balance of the late morning and afternoon stuck in errand hell, with the lawn needing to be mowed as well. This forced me out the door in the late afternoon feeling a bit flat from the get go. The pace on the first lap felt harder than it should have for how slow it was. Overdid it a bit early in the second lap, but able to get the pace down to a reasonable level for the last lap. Overall a faster speed than the 15k a few weeks back but still nothing worth writing home about. Splits:
6:31/6:34/3:04
6:15/6:18/3:00
6:03/6:04/2:51
Still quite warm and a bit sticky even as the sun was setting. Went from the cooldown directly into pushing the lawnmower around the yard.
Tue 9/12 - PM 65 minutes plus 18 minutes in Walden. Sticky conditions under overcast skies. Water has cooled off some.
Wed 9/13 - PM 40 minutes easy. Too flat to do anything other than jog down to track road via the rail trail and then back through the outskirts of Area 51. Took a good 25 minutes for hamstring to feel less stiff and pinched. Hot and a bit humid.
Thu 9/14 - PM 60 minutes incl. 2(4x1000). Another instance of turning laps in the dark. Happily, the hamstring held up, although the right calf got tighter and tighter. The idea with the reps was to start slow and gradually pick up the pace. All the reps were negative split but the pace transitions maybe not as sharply defined as I had originally intended. 200 jog between reps, 3.5 minutes between sets. Splits:
3:45.2 (59.4)
3:41.9 (62.8)
3:42.8 (61.6)
3:40.8
3:40.1 (60)
3:40.0 (65)
3:39.5 (66.3)
3:38.2
Very humid after a hot sticky day.
Fri 9/15 - PM 70 minutes easy, Lincoln woods. Took the most direct route possible to the visitor center at the pond and then on to CCHS before turning back and making the return trip on trails. Right calf more tweaked than I would like after yesterday. Left hamstring sore but it's been worse after less in the recent past. Humid.
Sat 9/16 - PM 70 minutes incl. 12k progression. Longfellow loop. The original plan was for this to be a four lapper but I didn't crawl out of bed until the time I had promised myself I would be heading out the door. By the time I had eaten breakfast and got my shit together it was too late to start with climbing sun and temperatures. Spent the balance of the late morning and afternoon stuck in errand hell, with the lawn needing to be mowed as well. This forced me out the door in the late afternoon feeling a bit flat from the get go. The pace on the first lap felt harder than it should have for how slow it was. Overdid it a bit early in the second lap, but able to get the pace down to a reasonable level for the last lap. Overall a faster speed than the 15k a few weeks back but still nothing worth writing home about. Splits:
6:31/6:34/3:04
6:15/6:18/3:00
6:03/6:04/2:51
Still quite warm and a bit sticky even as the sun was setting. Went from the cooldown directly into pushing the lawnmower around the yard.
9/12/17
Week of 9/4-9/10
Mon 9/4 - PM 40 minutes easy plus 15 minutes in Walden. Took the kiddies for a tour of the trails and into the pond as well. The time in the pond reminded me of how much I miss the place and aquajogging in general. Went as smoothly as possible but still plenty of stops. Picked up the pace dramatically on the return trip heading down rt. 126, this surge lasted all of five minutes. Legs felt as good as I could have hoped.
Tue 9/5 - PM 100 minutes very easy. Slow putter from Wayland HS via route 27 and then Water Row, Newbridge, and Morse to Levittown. A slog from start to finish, not the run I had in mind but after needing to return to the school the CH offered to drop me off so I could run back. Very tired after getting to bed way too late last night following the ballgame. Hamstring felt like garbage, took a longish break at Featherland to do some compressions on it. Disgusting humidity.
Wed 9/6 - PM 30 minutes easy. Utterly flat after two nights in a row of staying up far too late. In theory today was the day to try doing something at least a little bit uptempo but it wasn't happening. Gave up on that idea and went for an easy putter instead.
Thu 9/7 - PM 60 minutes incl. 8k cutdown on the track. Thankfully feeling less exhausted than yesterday. After a somewhat aimless warmup jog started at the scintillating pace of just under 1:45/lap and aimed to cut it down from there. Under control, although breathing heavier than I'd like the last few laps. Splits of 4:14/4:08/4:02/3:57/3:53/3:50/3:43/3:37 so if nothing else, the pace did progress throughout. 31:25 total, on the planned schedule it would have been 31:40 but shaved a few seconds off each km.
Fri 9/8 - PM 75 minutes easy, Lincoln woods. Escaped after practice to get some time on the trails. Hoping not to feel too flat but I was plenty flat nonetheless.
Sat 9/9 - PM 40 minutes easy. After spending the morning and early afternoon at the first kiddie meet of the season in NBPT, too tired to do much of anything until it was too late for the planned elliptigo ride. Wound up doing a relatively short run around town, felt reasonably good. Cool conditions.
Sun 9/10 - AM 45 minutes incl. 5k race. Second visit to Peddocks Island for the race around the remains of Fort Andrews. Without doubt the least competitive event I've ever done, not that I'm complaining at all. Not quite as tired as I have been lately but still laboring under a heavy burden of fatigue in general. Warmup curtailed by the fact the boat dropped us off 30 minutes before the start. Ran the loop once to reacquaint myself with the twists and turns. Ran it backwards as a cooldown with various stops to check out the sights. Some tugging from the left hamstring but my sense is it's getting better. Excellent conditions, sunny but not hot and dry unlike last year's apocalyptic rains.
Tue 9/5 - PM 100 minutes very easy. Slow putter from Wayland HS via route 27 and then Water Row, Newbridge, and Morse to Levittown. A slog from start to finish, not the run I had in mind but after needing to return to the school the CH offered to drop me off so I could run back. Very tired after getting to bed way too late last night following the ballgame. Hamstring felt like garbage, took a longish break at Featherland to do some compressions on it. Disgusting humidity.
Wed 9/6 - PM 30 minutes easy. Utterly flat after two nights in a row of staying up far too late. In theory today was the day to try doing something at least a little bit uptempo but it wasn't happening. Gave up on that idea and went for an easy putter instead.
Thu 9/7 - PM 60 minutes incl. 8k cutdown on the track. Thankfully feeling less exhausted than yesterday. After a somewhat aimless warmup jog started at the scintillating pace of just under 1:45/lap and aimed to cut it down from there. Under control, although breathing heavier than I'd like the last few laps. Splits of 4:14/4:08/4:02/3:57/3:53/3:50/3:43/3:37 so if nothing else, the pace did progress throughout. 31:25 total, on the planned schedule it would have been 31:40 but shaved a few seconds off each km.
Fri 9/8 - PM 75 minutes easy, Lincoln woods. Escaped after practice to get some time on the trails. Hoping not to feel too flat but I was plenty flat nonetheless.
Sat 9/9 - PM 40 minutes easy. After spending the morning and early afternoon at the first kiddie meet of the season in NBPT, too tired to do much of anything until it was too late for the planned elliptigo ride. Wound up doing a relatively short run around town, felt reasonably good. Cool conditions.
Sun 9/10 - AM 45 minutes incl. 5k race. Second visit to Peddocks Island for the race around the remains of Fort Andrews. Without doubt the least competitive event I've ever done, not that I'm complaining at all. Not quite as tired as I have been lately but still laboring under a heavy burden of fatigue in general. Warmup curtailed by the fact the boat dropped us off 30 minutes before the start. Ran the loop once to reacquaint myself with the twists and turns. Ran it backwards as a cooldown with various stops to check out the sights. Some tugging from the left hamstring but my sense is it's getting better. Excellent conditions, sunny but not hot and dry unlike last year's apocalyptic rains.
8/29/17
Week of 8/28-9/3
Mon 8/28 - 85 minutes elliptigo arc. Headed for the hills of Weston near Highland Ave, over to Natick briefly as well. Yesterday's effort left its mark on the left hamstring/glute area, which feels frayed and weak overall. Rolled on it last night and rolled on it again tonight which helped some. The underlying damage remains unmistakable, and not as healed as I had deluded myself into thinking it was. Warm but not hot and dry once again.
Tue 8/29 - 55 minutes easy incl. 6 trips up and down Garfield Road at the end. Left hamstring/glute area tweaked from Sunday and I felt it all day. Not pleasant, and the ongoing woes relating to it suggest that it's damaged a bit more than I'd care to admit. Exhaustion starting to sink in already a mere 5 days of practice into the coaching season.
Wed 8/30 - PM 65 minutes elliptigo arc. Framingham/Sudbury including a trip down Water Row. Glad to have this thing to work out on as running didn't hold much appeal. Dry and cool conditions.
Thu 8/31 - PM 40 minutes incl. short track reps. Super late start after getting home exhausted following kiddie practice that went forever, again. Jogged up the road to the track and dragged myself through 8x100, 8x150, 4x200, and 8x100. Left hammie feeling stuck at the outset, loosened up somewhat by the middle portion, and then started feeling fatigued by the end. Remains the single biggest impediment (among many) to getting any worthwhile training done. Another cool and dry day.
Fri 9/1- PM 70 minutes elliptigo arc. Out and back from the high school to Walden Pond and back, with a slightly out of the way route on the way there. Feeling quite tired overall after a long week but able to muster up the energy for spin down the road. Left hammie feels quite stuck from yesterday.
Sat 9/2 - off. Not a planned zero, only time to get in a run was in the morning and I frittered away that opportunity. Trip across the state after that.
Sun 9/3 - AM 70 minutes incl. uphill road race. Another disappointing flat tired effort, feeling fatigued from the moment the gun went off. Finished with the usual fatigue headache. Not able to tackle an event such as this with as little as I've been sleeping of late, never mind the ongoing issues with the leg and trying to establish some kind of fitness. As an added reminder that the universe can be kind of a dick, heavy rain and wind arrived just ahead of the start of the race. This made for an especially miserable experience. Ordinarily some consolation would have come from hanging out at the summit with the CH and perhaps hiking to a nearby waterfall but no one in their right mind was doing that today. While this event has a strong nostalgic appeal given how many times I've done it and done reasonably well, it seems those days are behind me and it seems likely I'll give it a rest going forward.
Tue 8/29 - 55 minutes easy incl. 6 trips up and down Garfield Road at the end. Left hamstring/glute area tweaked from Sunday and I felt it all day. Not pleasant, and the ongoing woes relating to it suggest that it's damaged a bit more than I'd care to admit. Exhaustion starting to sink in already a mere 5 days of practice into the coaching season.
Wed 8/30 - PM 65 minutes elliptigo arc. Framingham/Sudbury including a trip down Water Row. Glad to have this thing to work out on as running didn't hold much appeal. Dry and cool conditions.
Thu 8/31 - PM 40 minutes incl. short track reps. Super late start after getting home exhausted following kiddie practice that went forever, again. Jogged up the road to the track and dragged myself through 8x100, 8x150, 4x200, and 8x100. Left hammie feeling stuck at the outset, loosened up somewhat by the middle portion, and then started feeling fatigued by the end. Remains the single biggest impediment (among many) to getting any worthwhile training done. Another cool and dry day.
Fri 9/1- PM 70 minutes elliptigo arc. Out and back from the high school to Walden Pond and back, with a slightly out of the way route on the way there. Feeling quite tired overall after a long week but able to muster up the energy for spin down the road. Left hammie feels quite stuck from yesterday.
Sat 9/2 - off. Not a planned zero, only time to get in a run was in the morning and I frittered away that opportunity. Trip across the state after that.
Sun 9/3 - AM 70 minutes incl. uphill road race. Another disappointing flat tired effort, feeling fatigued from the moment the gun went off. Finished with the usual fatigue headache. Not able to tackle an event such as this with as little as I've been sleeping of late, never mind the ongoing issues with the leg and trying to establish some kind of fitness. As an added reminder that the universe can be kind of a dick, heavy rain and wind arrived just ahead of the start of the race. This made for an especially miserable experience. Ordinarily some consolation would have come from hanging out at the summit with the CH and perhaps hiking to a nearby waterfall but no one in their right mind was doing that today. While this event has a strong nostalgic appeal given how many times I've done it and done reasonably well, it seems those days are behind me and it seems likely I'll give it a rest going forward.
Week of 8/21-8/27
Mon 8/21 - PM 50 minutes elliptigo arc plus 20 minutes easy and 15 minutes in Walden. Late start cut the overall length of the workout short. Had supreme difficulty waking up from the afternoon nap.
Tue 8/22 - PM 40 minutes very easy plus 18 minutes in Walden. Felt absolutely horrible when time came to run, after a 2+ hour appointment wiped out any time for a nap after work. Desperately tired as a result, and the steambath conditions didn't help any. So tired my head hurt.
Wed 8/23 - PM 50 minutes plus 18 minutes in Lake Cochituate. Feeling much better than yesterday after something resembling a decent night's rest. Much nicer weather than yesterday also helped, sunny and dry with a crisp breeze. That breeze made for some heavy chop on the water though, as the lake is less protected and more of a fetch than the pond. With the start of kiddie practice tomorrow I think I may have taken my last weekday afternoon nap for a good long while.
Thu 8/24 - PM 60 minutes incl. 10x100 (100 jog) and 10x150 (50 walk) on the track. All I could manage after a 12 hour day. Feeling a twinge in the piriformis/hamstring area but surprisingly enough it loosened up some as I was doing the reps on the track. Not timing anything for this type of "work" at this point. Feeling vaguely febrile after a long day with the afternoon spent under a hot sun.
Fri 8/25 - PM 75 minutes elliptigo arc. Mostly in Framingham including a climb up Edmands Road. Feeling less tired. Very nice day for being outside, cooler than yesterday.
Sat 8/26 - PM 50 minutes elliptigo arc plus 20 minutes easy and 18 minutes in Walden. I had thought I would get some exercise in the morning after kiddie practice, but when kiddie practice didn't end until noon that went by the boards. Waited until later in the afternoon, another nice day.
Sun 8/27 - AM 85 minutes incl. 15k progression run, Longfellow loop. In a big twist I tracked km splits not miles. Thought I would start at a very reasonable (slow) pace and tick it down km by km, in reality I started out a bit quicker than that pace and wound up running each lap at about the same pace overall. Overall pace not at all impressive but it was more of an actual progression than almost anything I've done on this loop in the past, so there's that. Original plan was the full four laps and 16k, however upon embarking upon the fourth time around the loop what had been manageable rapidly became much less so. Splits:
4:13/4:15/4:14/3:59
4:04/4:01/4:04/3:54
3:53/3:54/3:57/3:42
3:50/3:48/3:53
Another sparkler of a day, third in a row. Very dry conditions in fact.
Tue 8/22 - PM 40 minutes very easy plus 18 minutes in Walden. Felt absolutely horrible when time came to run, after a 2+ hour appointment wiped out any time for a nap after work. Desperately tired as a result, and the steambath conditions didn't help any. So tired my head hurt.
Wed 8/23 - PM 50 minutes plus 18 minutes in Lake Cochituate. Feeling much better than yesterday after something resembling a decent night's rest. Much nicer weather than yesterday also helped, sunny and dry with a crisp breeze. That breeze made for some heavy chop on the water though, as the lake is less protected and more of a fetch than the pond. With the start of kiddie practice tomorrow I think I may have taken my last weekday afternoon nap for a good long while.
Thu 8/24 - PM 60 minutes incl. 10x100 (100 jog) and 10x150 (50 walk) on the track. All I could manage after a 12 hour day. Feeling a twinge in the piriformis/hamstring area but surprisingly enough it loosened up some as I was doing the reps on the track. Not timing anything for this type of "work" at this point. Feeling vaguely febrile after a long day with the afternoon spent under a hot sun.
Fri 8/25 - PM 75 minutes elliptigo arc. Mostly in Framingham including a climb up Edmands Road. Feeling less tired. Very nice day for being outside, cooler than yesterday.
Sat 8/26 - PM 50 minutes elliptigo arc plus 20 minutes easy and 18 minutes in Walden. I had thought I would get some exercise in the morning after kiddie practice, but when kiddie practice didn't end until noon that went by the boards. Waited until later in the afternoon, another nice day.
Sun 8/27 - AM 85 minutes incl. 15k progression run, Longfellow loop. In a big twist I tracked km splits not miles. Thought I would start at a very reasonable (slow) pace and tick it down km by km, in reality I started out a bit quicker than that pace and wound up running each lap at about the same pace overall. Overall pace not at all impressive but it was more of an actual progression than almost anything I've done on this loop in the past, so there's that. Original plan was the full four laps and 16k, however upon embarking upon the fourth time around the loop what had been manageable rapidly became much less so. Splits:
4:13/4:15/4:14/3:59
4:04/4:01/4:04/3:54
3:53/3:54/3:57/3:42
3:50/3:48/3:53
Another sparkler of a day, third in a row. Very dry conditions in fact.
8/21/17
Week of 8/14-8/20
Mon 8/14 - PM 75 minutes easy plus 18 minutes in Walden. Never really got going the way I had hoped to, not feeling particularly energetic. Right adductor not as stiff as it was yesterday. Humid
Tue 8/15 - off. Slept through the narrow window of opportunity in the afternoon.
Wed 8/16 - PM 60 minutes elliptigo arc plus 20 minutes in Walden. Got started late enough that I had to go directly to the pond on the bike and then directly into the water. Tires a bit underinflated which made for a slog of a ride with unnecessary resistance. Sunny and warm.
Thu 8/17 - PM 50 minutes elliptigo arc plus 20 minutes easy and 15 minutes in Walden. Right calf feeling tight at times, unwelcome and unexpected.
Fri 8/18 - PM 65 minutes very easy plus 18 minutes in Walden. Disgustingly humid and very tired, a combination that made for a dull slog of a run in the woods.
Sat 8/19 - AM 55 minutes elliptigo arc, 8k progression on track. Rode over to Emerson Field and ran 8k on just over 33 minutes. As the overall time suggests this was far, far from impressive but one has to start somewhere after months of "just jogging" with the occasional race thrown in. Kilo splits of 4:25, 4:20, 4:18, 4:12, 4:08, 4:01, 3:54, and 3:45. The idea being to start slowly enough that the pace could be picked up gradually throughout without stalling out, and this was achieved. In fact the pace was quite controlled until the last 2k when I started breathing harder. All the laps around the track left the calf feeling more tweaked than I would like. Overcast conditions which kept the temp down enough, the cloud cover broke on the ride back, it would have been a tough ask to do the same run in the sun. Still warm and fairly muggy.
Sun 8/20 - AM 60 minutes elliptigo arc plus 35 minutes easy and 15 minutes in Walden. Still some stiffness in the right calf from yesterday but the left hamstring feels better than I thought it would have. Overall moving a bit better than expected given the early start (early a relative term). Drier air than the past few days but hot.
Tue 8/15 - off. Slept through the narrow window of opportunity in the afternoon.
Wed 8/16 - PM 60 minutes elliptigo arc plus 20 minutes in Walden. Got started late enough that I had to go directly to the pond on the bike and then directly into the water. Tires a bit underinflated which made for a slog of a ride with unnecessary resistance. Sunny and warm.
Thu 8/17 - PM 50 minutes elliptigo arc plus 20 minutes easy and 15 minutes in Walden. Right calf feeling tight at times, unwelcome and unexpected.
Fri 8/18 - PM 65 minutes very easy plus 18 minutes in Walden. Disgustingly humid and very tired, a combination that made for a dull slog of a run in the woods.
Sat 8/19 - AM 55 minutes elliptigo arc, 8k progression on track. Rode over to Emerson Field and ran 8k on just over 33 minutes. As the overall time suggests this was far, far from impressive but one has to start somewhere after months of "just jogging" with the occasional race thrown in. Kilo splits of 4:25, 4:20, 4:18, 4:12, 4:08, 4:01, 3:54, and 3:45. The idea being to start slowly enough that the pace could be picked up gradually throughout without stalling out, and this was achieved. In fact the pace was quite controlled until the last 2k when I started breathing harder. All the laps around the track left the calf feeling more tweaked than I would like. Overcast conditions which kept the temp down enough, the cloud cover broke on the ride back, it would have been a tough ask to do the same run in the sun. Still warm and fairly muggy.
Sun 8/20 - AM 60 minutes elliptigo arc plus 35 minutes easy and 15 minutes in Walden. Still some stiffness in the right calf from yesterday but the left hamstring feels better than I thought it would have. Overall moving a bit better than expected given the early start (early a relative term). Drier air than the past few days but hot.
8/11/17
Week of 8/7-8/13
Mon 8/7 - PM 75 minutes, Lincoln woods plus 20 minutes in Walden. Moving reasonably well for most of the second half of the run. Muggy conditions back after a sunny dry day yesterday.
Tue 8/8 - PM 50 minutes very easy, out and back along the newly paved rail bed in Maynard and South Acton. Took a nap that went a good hour and a half longer than planned and woke up completely out of it. Stumbled out the door so as to join the CH. Many stops to check out the new construction along the path. Desperately need to get to bed earlier.
Wed 8/9 - PM 55 minutes elliptigo arc plus 20 minutes easy and 20 minutes in Walden.
Thu 8/10 - PM 60 minutes very easy. Slow putter of a jog around Maynard. Mowed the lawn upon getting home and celebrated this achievement by frittering away the rest of the afternoon asleep on the couch. Woke up in a confused daze and groggy for hours. Incapable of getting to bed at a decent hour and I don't have a decent reason for it at the moment. Run was utter garbage as a result, and as an added kick in the nuts I somehow aggravated the piriformis/hamstring area again although it certainly wasn't from anything I did in training the past few days.
Fri 8/11 - PM 50 minutes easy plus 18 minutes in Walden. The left leg not as stuck as it was yesterday but still something off. Tired and fatigued overall, unsurprisingly.
Sat 8/12 - AM 60 minutes incl. 10k road race. Fourth year in a row of this race, humid like last year but 15 degrees cooler and overcast which made a big difference. Given how drag-ass tired I've felt of late, more so than usual even, the race went as well as I could have hoped. Made a conscious effort to hold something back early on, first two miles evenly split in 5:52 apiece. Then up the hill where I lost a few people I had been running with. Third mile in 7:37, fourth downhill mile in 5:35 or so. Upon bottoming out I realized my legs felt more like jelly than I had realized and took care not to blow up in the fifth mile. Thought I was in the clear for the age group prize but the one guy I had to worry about who was right on my shoulder for the first two miles was worming his way back into contention at the turn off 112 heading back to town. At this point I wanted nothing more than to take the pedal off the gas a bit but instead I was obligated to keep pressing until the final turn on to the bridge, at which point I knew I was safe. Sixth mile 5:47. Very easy cooldown with the CH.
Sun 8/13 - PM 65 minutes elliptigo arc plus 20 minutes easy and 20 minutes in Walden. The original plan was to do a hilltopper run out in Northfield and/or Winchester but that went by the boards last night when heavy rains washed out the campsite and we headed home early. Woke up completely frazzled and lost any chance of getting a workout in during the morning hours as a result. In hindsight, for the best that I went with the dorkathlon instead, as the legs are a bit trashed from yesterday. Right adductor in particular feels like I might have mildly strained it, something I actually first noticed while warming up yesterday morning. Quite humid but not terribly hot.
Tue 8/8 - PM 50 minutes very easy, out and back along the newly paved rail bed in Maynard and South Acton. Took a nap that went a good hour and a half longer than planned and woke up completely out of it. Stumbled out the door so as to join the CH. Many stops to check out the new construction along the path. Desperately need to get to bed earlier.
Wed 8/9 - PM 55 minutes elliptigo arc plus 20 minutes easy and 20 minutes in Walden.
Thu 8/10 - PM 60 minutes very easy. Slow putter of a jog around Maynard. Mowed the lawn upon getting home and celebrated this achievement by frittering away the rest of the afternoon asleep on the couch. Woke up in a confused daze and groggy for hours. Incapable of getting to bed at a decent hour and I don't have a decent reason for it at the moment. Run was utter garbage as a result, and as an added kick in the nuts I somehow aggravated the piriformis/hamstring area again although it certainly wasn't from anything I did in training the past few days.
Fri 8/11 - PM 50 minutes easy plus 18 minutes in Walden. The left leg not as stuck as it was yesterday but still something off. Tired and fatigued overall, unsurprisingly.
Sat 8/12 - AM 60 minutes incl. 10k road race. Fourth year in a row of this race, humid like last year but 15 degrees cooler and overcast which made a big difference. Given how drag-ass tired I've felt of late, more so than usual even, the race went as well as I could have hoped. Made a conscious effort to hold something back early on, first two miles evenly split in 5:52 apiece. Then up the hill where I lost a few people I had been running with. Third mile in 7:37, fourth downhill mile in 5:35 or so. Upon bottoming out I realized my legs felt more like jelly than I had realized and took care not to blow up in the fifth mile. Thought I was in the clear for the age group prize but the one guy I had to worry about who was right on my shoulder for the first two miles was worming his way back into contention at the turn off 112 heading back to town. At this point I wanted nothing more than to take the pedal off the gas a bit but instead I was obligated to keep pressing until the final turn on to the bridge, at which point I knew I was safe. Sixth mile 5:47. Very easy cooldown with the CH.
Sun 8/13 - PM 65 minutes elliptigo arc plus 20 minutes easy and 20 minutes in Walden. The original plan was to do a hilltopper run out in Northfield and/or Winchester but that went by the boards last night when heavy rains washed out the campsite and we headed home early. Woke up completely frazzled and lost any chance of getting a workout in during the morning hours as a result. In hindsight, for the best that I went with the dorkathlon instead, as the legs are a bit trashed from yesterday. Right adductor in particular feels like I might have mildly strained it, something I actually first noticed while warming up yesterday morning. Quite humid but not terribly hot.
8/8/17
Week of 7/31-8/6
Mon 7/31 - PM 65 minutes, Lincoln woods plus 18 minutes in Walden. Puttering at first, but moving better later on.
Tue 81 - PM 60 minutes elliptigo arc plus 15 minutes easy plus 18 minutes in Walden. Got back just in time to mow the lawn, or most of it until darkness put an end to it.
Wed 8/2 - PM 75 minutes, Lincoln woods plus 15 minutes in Walden. Moving better than the last run in the woods Monday.
Thu 8/3 - off. This zero was planned as I had a date at the ballpark with the CH. Mowed the lawn and it was hot enough for me to be sweating profusely after 20 minutes of that.
Fri 8/4 - PM 45 minutes very easy plus 15 minutes in Walden. Very very tired after too many days in a row of getting to bed far too late. A struggle to get on the trail and from there a plodding slog. Disgusting humidity didn't help any.
Sat 8/5 - PM 60 minutes easy plus 18 minutes in Walden. Still really tired from the week, and again a struggle to muster up the energy to get out the door. Nothing a few nights of sleeping a reasonable amount of time wouldn't fix but that's saying a lot. Heavy rain showers which is less annoying than the humidity they left behind.
Sun 8/6 - PM 65 minutes elliptigo arc plus 30 minutes and 18 minutes in Walden. Spent the late morning paddling in Hingham harbor, making the dorkathlon a late afternoon affair. Felt more energetic than I was expecting. Left leg stiffened up on car ride but felt better after some stretching and rolling before heading out.
Tue 81 - PM 60 minutes elliptigo arc plus 15 minutes easy plus 18 minutes in Walden. Got back just in time to mow the lawn, or most of it until darkness put an end to it.
Wed 8/2 - PM 75 minutes, Lincoln woods plus 15 minutes in Walden. Moving better than the last run in the woods Monday.
Thu 8/3 - off. This zero was planned as I had a date at the ballpark with the CH. Mowed the lawn and it was hot enough for me to be sweating profusely after 20 minutes of that.
Fri 8/4 - PM 45 minutes very easy plus 15 minutes in Walden. Very very tired after too many days in a row of getting to bed far too late. A struggle to get on the trail and from there a plodding slog. Disgusting humidity didn't help any.
Sat 8/5 - PM 60 minutes easy plus 18 minutes in Walden. Still really tired from the week, and again a struggle to muster up the energy to get out the door. Nothing a few nights of sleeping a reasonable amount of time wouldn't fix but that's saying a lot. Heavy rain showers which is less annoying than the humidity they left behind.
Sun 8/6 - PM 65 minutes elliptigo arc plus 30 minutes and 18 minutes in Walden. Spent the late morning paddling in Hingham harbor, making the dorkathlon a late afternoon affair. Felt more energetic than I was expecting. Left leg stiffened up on car ride but felt better after some stretching and rolling before heading out.
8/6/17
Week of 7/24-7/30
Mon 7/24 - PM 65 minutes easy, Lincoln woods. Ill wind blowing all day and decidedly cool temps for the time of year. Not feeling especially energetic after the weekend's efforts. Hamstring feels reasonably good relative to where it's been the past six weeks.
Tue 7/25 - off. Conditions even more miserable than yesterday with rain and gusty winds. In a different month this would have been a situation. Also still feeling the accumulated fatigue from last week, spent the entire late afternoon in bed.
Wed 7/26 - PM 60 minutes elliptigo arc plus 20 minutes easy plus 18 minutes in Walden. The dismal garbage of the last two days were replaced by warm sunny and dry conditions. Felt alert enough after all the sleep yesterday to skip the nap today and meet the CH at the pond.
Thu 7/27 - PM 65 minutes easy plus 18 minutes in Walden. Took a while to get going, but finally thankfully done with the 4 day long day work weeks.
Fri 7/28 - PM 50 minutes plus 15 minutes in Walden.
Sat 7/29 - AM 85 minutes incl. trail race. One more go at the trail race on a mtb race course, this will surely be the last time. Course altered slightly from my previous visit but with the requisite twists and turns as well as numerous gnarly and awkward bumps to get up and over. Hamstring held up reasonably well to all this nonsense but I could feel it stiffening up on the cooldown, which went far longer than anticipated, in the neighborhood of 45 minutes. Got home with plans to go for a bike ride but a combination of gloomy overcast weather and my right ankle suddenly blowing up on me after not giving any trouble during the race or cooldown put paid to that. Wound up icing it multiple times over the evening, an unheard of step for me but necessary.
Sun 7/30 - PM 60 minutes elliptigo arc plus 15 minutes easy plus 18 minutes in Walden. Left hamstring and piriformis took the brunt of it predictably but at least the ankle feels much better than it did yesterday afernoon.
Tue 7/25 - off. Conditions even more miserable than yesterday with rain and gusty winds. In a different month this would have been a situation. Also still feeling the accumulated fatigue from last week, spent the entire late afternoon in bed.
Wed 7/26 - PM 60 minutes elliptigo arc plus 20 minutes easy plus 18 minutes in Walden. The dismal garbage of the last two days were replaced by warm sunny and dry conditions. Felt alert enough after all the sleep yesterday to skip the nap today and meet the CH at the pond.
Thu 7/27 - PM 65 minutes easy plus 18 minutes in Walden. Took a while to get going, but finally thankfully done with the 4 day long day work weeks.
Fri 7/28 - PM 50 minutes plus 15 minutes in Walden.
Sat 7/29 - AM 85 minutes incl. trail race. One more go at the trail race on a mtb race course, this will surely be the last time. Course altered slightly from my previous visit but with the requisite twists and turns as well as numerous gnarly and awkward bumps to get up and over. Hamstring held up reasonably well to all this nonsense but I could feel it stiffening up on the cooldown, which went far longer than anticipated, in the neighborhood of 45 minutes. Got home with plans to go for a bike ride but a combination of gloomy overcast weather and my right ankle suddenly blowing up on me after not giving any trouble during the race or cooldown put paid to that. Wound up icing it multiple times over the evening, an unheard of step for me but necessary.
Sun 7/30 - PM 60 minutes elliptigo arc plus 15 minutes easy plus 18 minutes in Walden. Left hamstring and piriformis took the brunt of it predictably but at least the ankle feels much better than it did yesterday afernoon.
7/31/17
Week of 7/17-7/23
Mon 7/17 -PM 60 minutes easy plus 20 minutes in Walden. Even with the day off from work, kind of tough getting out the door.
Tue 7/18 - AM 60 minutes elliptigo arc plus 15 minutes easy plus 18 minutes in Walden.
Wed 7/19 - AM - 60 minutes elliptigo arc plus 15 minutes in Walden
PM - 60 minutes very easy, Northfield/Winchester. Thought I'd have a bit more in the tank for this one but found myself dragging after making the drive out. As such, first run of "training camp" was a slow putter. Sticky conditions.
Thu 7/20 - AM 60 minutes, Shelburne Falls. After a short loop around the village starting from the school, did a loop that included Crittenden Hill twice. Trying to leave a bit in the tank for the second trip which I feel I was able to do. Quite hot and fairly humid, got started later than I would have liked and sweat out what seemed like many pounds of fluid. Leg feeling reasonably good but certainly not 100%.
PM - 40 minutes very easy, Northfield/Winchester. Out along Winchester Road, back along route 10. The morning's effort definitely took a fair bit out of me, just jogging in the evening.
Fri 7/21 - AM 65 minutes, Old Wendell. Another solid uphill effort, this one without the pesky downhill stretches. Once again hot with a somewhat late start.
PM - 35 minutes very easy. Out and back along the rail trail in Northampton/Hadley. Absolutely fried and still hadn't fully digested lunch which made for another slow waddle. Worn down for sure.
Sat 7/22 - AM 75 minutes, Staddle Hill to Burt Hill Road, up to the TV tower from the covered bridge. Punked out of the planned Schofield Mountain portion of the run, as it became clear it would have taken too long to do and taken too much out of me. The hilly running of the past two days left its mark in terms of general fatigue. Moving rather slowly the first half of the run, somewhat better after that.
Sun 7/23 - AM 80 minutes elliptigo arc plus 18 minutes in Walden. Longer ride with the CH with a sightseeing break at the rude span that arched the flood followed by a dip in the pond, which was a welcome relief from the heat. Headed back via 126 and 117 with the deceptively challenging climbs out of Sudbury.
Tue 7/18 - AM 60 minutes elliptigo arc plus 15 minutes easy plus 18 minutes in Walden.
Wed 7/19 - AM - 60 minutes elliptigo arc plus 15 minutes in Walden
PM - 60 minutes very easy, Northfield/Winchester. Thought I'd have a bit more in the tank for this one but found myself dragging after making the drive out. As such, first run of "training camp" was a slow putter. Sticky conditions.
Thu 7/20 - AM 60 minutes, Shelburne Falls. After a short loop around the village starting from the school, did a loop that included Crittenden Hill twice. Trying to leave a bit in the tank for the second trip which I feel I was able to do. Quite hot and fairly humid, got started later than I would have liked and sweat out what seemed like many pounds of fluid. Leg feeling reasonably good but certainly not 100%.
PM - 40 minutes very easy, Northfield/Winchester. Out along Winchester Road, back along route 10. The morning's effort definitely took a fair bit out of me, just jogging in the evening.
Fri 7/21 - AM 65 minutes, Old Wendell. Another solid uphill effort, this one without the pesky downhill stretches. Once again hot with a somewhat late start.
PM - 35 minutes very easy. Out and back along the rail trail in Northampton/Hadley. Absolutely fried and still hadn't fully digested lunch which made for another slow waddle. Worn down for sure.
Sat 7/22 - AM 75 minutes, Staddle Hill to Burt Hill Road, up to the TV tower from the covered bridge. Punked out of the planned Schofield Mountain portion of the run, as it became clear it would have taken too long to do and taken too much out of me. The hilly running of the past two days left its mark in terms of general fatigue. Moving rather slowly the first half of the run, somewhat better after that.
Sun 7/23 - AM 80 minutes elliptigo arc plus 18 minutes in Walden. Longer ride with the CH with a sightseeing break at the rude span that arched the flood followed by a dip in the pond, which was a welcome relief from the heat. Headed back via 126 and 117 with the deceptively challenging climbs out of Sudbury.
7/24/17
Week of 7/10-7/16
Mon 7/10 - PM 60 minutes plus 20 minutes in Walden. Left leg not dragging as badly as it has been of late, perhaps down to a bit more time spent stretching the past few nights.
Tue 7/11 - PM 30 minutes elliptigo arc plus 10 minutes easy. Rode over to the pond, brief jog to get from parking lot to the pond's edge, sat in the water and jogged back. At this point I realized I had no energy to make the trip back. The rapidly setting sun had something to do with it as well. Thankfully the CH was there to save the day with a ride back.
Wed 7/12 - PM 70 minutes plus 20 minutes in Walden. Just as I hit the trail the rain started and it quickly progressed to full-blown torrential downpour, the most intense of a summer that has featured rain on a regular basis it seems. Raining so hard that the trails became waterways or linear ponds, depending on the slope or lack thereof. Along with it came the usual thunder and some visible lightning, which thankfully passed by the time I got to the pond. After a steamy and gross day, the temp dropped 20 degrees or so and as such the water in the pond was warmer than the ambient air temp. Not a typical situation for this time of year. Left hamstring still stiff but it might, might be getting better rather than simply staying the same.
Thu 7/13 - off. Once again worn down to nothing by the grind of the short week with long days.
Fri 7/14 - AM 50 minutes plus 15 minutes in Walden. Kept the overall volume down a bit. Hamstring still stuck but stretching may be having some positive effect.
Sat 7/15 - AM 50 minutes incl. 5 mile road race. Unimpressive on the whole but a step forward compared to the last couple turds. Hamstring stiff and tight, my feeble attempt at warming up didn't do much for it and it felt hideous off the line. Took the better part of the first mile, which thankfully was flat and straight, for it to feel somewhat better. The layout of the course led to a pattern of alternating mile splits in the 5:40s with mile splits of just north of 6 minutes on the hillier 2nd and 4th miles. Tried to wind things up on the final mile with only limited success. With no training to speak of for months now and dragging one leg or the other around with nagging strains and insults, not much else can be expected in terms of lack of fitness. With a little bit of attention to detail I'm hopeful things will eventually turn around but I do myself no favors much of the time by not sticking to the routines that are boring but necessary. Very humid morning but overcast and cooler than normal for this time of year and given how little shade is on the course I can only imagine how bad it could be on a year without the cloud cover.
PM 60 minutes very easy out and back along the trail to Franconia Falls. Perhaps the only trail in the area that isn't a rollercoaster and I was certainly thankful for it. Easy jog with the CH to the falls which came as advertised, very scenic and a great way to cool off. Left leg sore but not as stiff as I was expecting after the effort this morning.
Sun 7/16 - AM 60 minutes elliptigo arc plus 15 minutes easy and 20 minutes in Walden.
Tue 7/11 - PM 30 minutes elliptigo arc plus 10 minutes easy. Rode over to the pond, brief jog to get from parking lot to the pond's edge, sat in the water and jogged back. At this point I realized I had no energy to make the trip back. The rapidly setting sun had something to do with it as well. Thankfully the CH was there to save the day with a ride back.
Wed 7/12 - PM 70 minutes plus 20 minutes in Walden. Just as I hit the trail the rain started and it quickly progressed to full-blown torrential downpour, the most intense of a summer that has featured rain on a regular basis it seems. Raining so hard that the trails became waterways or linear ponds, depending on the slope or lack thereof. Along with it came the usual thunder and some visible lightning, which thankfully passed by the time I got to the pond. After a steamy and gross day, the temp dropped 20 degrees or so and as such the water in the pond was warmer than the ambient air temp. Not a typical situation for this time of year. Left hamstring still stiff but it might, might be getting better rather than simply staying the same.
Thu 7/13 - off. Once again worn down to nothing by the grind of the short week with long days.
Fri 7/14 - AM 50 minutes plus 15 minutes in Walden. Kept the overall volume down a bit. Hamstring still stuck but stretching may be having some positive effect.
Sat 7/15 - AM 50 minutes incl. 5 mile road race. Unimpressive on the whole but a step forward compared to the last couple turds. Hamstring stiff and tight, my feeble attempt at warming up didn't do much for it and it felt hideous off the line. Took the better part of the first mile, which thankfully was flat and straight, for it to feel somewhat better. The layout of the course led to a pattern of alternating mile splits in the 5:40s with mile splits of just north of 6 minutes on the hillier 2nd and 4th miles. Tried to wind things up on the final mile with only limited success. With no training to speak of for months now and dragging one leg or the other around with nagging strains and insults, not much else can be expected in terms of lack of fitness. With a little bit of attention to detail I'm hopeful things will eventually turn around but I do myself no favors much of the time by not sticking to the routines that are boring but necessary. Very humid morning but overcast and cooler than normal for this time of year and given how little shade is on the course I can only imagine how bad it could be on a year without the cloud cover.
PM 60 minutes very easy out and back along the trail to Franconia Falls. Perhaps the only trail in the area that isn't a rollercoaster and I was certainly thankful for it. Easy jog with the CH to the falls which came as advertised, very scenic and a great way to cool off. Left leg sore but not as stiff as I was expecting after the effort this morning.
Sun 7/16 - AM 60 minutes elliptigo arc plus 15 minutes easy and 20 minutes in Walden.
7/10/17
Week of 7/3-7/9
Mon 7/3 - PM 50 minutes plus 20 minutes in Walden. Extended the run a bit too long given the race tomorrow morning on tap but I wanted to test the hamstring a bit. Feels moderately better than it has of late but still sticking somewhat. More intervals in the water, not sure why I went away from doing this while aquajogging however many years ago.
Tue 7/4 - AM 60 minutes incl. 4 mile road race. Terrible effort, effectively beat myself before the gun went off. Unable to get to bed at a decent hour and as such showed up hopelessly overextended. Combined with the fact that the left leg has made any type of substantive training a pipe dream and my goose was cooked. Unable to maintain 5:45 pace after two miles. Took a lot of leg swings, i.e. around a hundred or so, for the left leg to feel like something other than a stuck piece of garbage. Took a nap later in the day and woke up with the entire hamstring feeling like it had hardened into a giant spasm. Warm morning quickly turning to hot but with little humidity.
Wed 7/5 - PM 70 minutes easy plus 20 minutes in Walden. Hammie felt predictably terrible after yesterday's insult to it. Dragging the entire way. Felt better after being in the water, it seems spinning my wheels in the water helps to loosen up the joint somewhat.
Thu 7/6- PM 65 minutes elliptigo arc plus 10 minutes in Walden. Late start cut short the time in the water. Happy to get any time in the water at all as I wasn't expecting to.
Fri 7/7 - off. Not expected but in hindsight I had it coming. Overextended the past two days with no nap then or Monday either and long days at work. A little taste of what's to come in late August with coaching. Overcast day with persistent rain showers, not the greatest for biking or swimming, but not a reason to skip them entirely. Just too tired after lunch, and by the time I woke up after a far too long nap the window had closed.
Sat 7/8 - AM 35 minutes very easy. An excursion that could only loosely be categorized a run, with stops aplenty. With the hamstring continuing to plague me and at its worst in the morning, this was an exercise in slow futility. Feeling like I'm injured in all but name only, and likely to be leaning on cross training heavily for the near future. Yesterday's rain gave way to the morning's sticky gross conditions.
PM 60 minutes elliptigo arc plus 15 minutes easy and 20 minutes in Walden. Much more of an aerobic stimulus than the morning at least. Arrived at the pond just in time for the predictably obnoxious late afternoon showers with thunder of course. Once I saw the guy swimming around the pond's circumference I knew at least I wouldn't be the only casualty in case of a lightning strike.
Sun 7/9 - AM 40 minutes easy plus 65 minutes elliptigo arc and 20 minutes in Walden. The return of the dorkathlon, done with the sun at its height. Luckily dry and breezy weather came in after yesterday's showers. The entire experience took closer to 3 hours with the various breaks and transitions. Left leg the same garbage as it has been all week.
Tue 7/4 - AM 60 minutes incl. 4 mile road race. Terrible effort, effectively beat myself before the gun went off. Unable to get to bed at a decent hour and as such showed up hopelessly overextended. Combined with the fact that the left leg has made any type of substantive training a pipe dream and my goose was cooked. Unable to maintain 5:45 pace after two miles. Took a lot of leg swings, i.e. around a hundred or so, for the left leg to feel like something other than a stuck piece of garbage. Took a nap later in the day and woke up with the entire hamstring feeling like it had hardened into a giant spasm. Warm morning quickly turning to hot but with little humidity.
Wed 7/5 - PM 70 minutes easy plus 20 minutes in Walden. Hammie felt predictably terrible after yesterday's insult to it. Dragging the entire way. Felt better after being in the water, it seems spinning my wheels in the water helps to loosen up the joint somewhat.
Thu 7/6- PM 65 minutes elliptigo arc plus 10 minutes in Walden. Late start cut short the time in the water. Happy to get any time in the water at all as I wasn't expecting to.
Fri 7/7 - off. Not expected but in hindsight I had it coming. Overextended the past two days with no nap then or Monday either and long days at work. A little taste of what's to come in late August with coaching. Overcast day with persistent rain showers, not the greatest for biking or swimming, but not a reason to skip them entirely. Just too tired after lunch, and by the time I woke up after a far too long nap the window had closed.
Sat 7/8 - AM 35 minutes very easy. An excursion that could only loosely be categorized a run, with stops aplenty. With the hamstring continuing to plague me and at its worst in the morning, this was an exercise in slow futility. Feeling like I'm injured in all but name only, and likely to be leaning on cross training heavily for the near future. Yesterday's rain gave way to the morning's sticky gross conditions.
PM 60 minutes elliptigo arc plus 15 minutes easy and 20 minutes in Walden. Much more of an aerobic stimulus than the morning at least. Arrived at the pond just in time for the predictably obnoxious late afternoon showers with thunder of course. Once I saw the guy swimming around the pond's circumference I knew at least I wouldn't be the only casualty in case of a lightning strike.
Sun 7/9 - AM 40 minutes easy plus 65 minutes elliptigo arc and 20 minutes in Walden. The return of the dorkathlon, done with the sun at its height. Luckily dry and breezy weather came in after yesterday's showers. The entire experience took closer to 3 hours with the various breaks and transitions. Left leg the same garbage as it has been all week.
7/3/17
Week of 6/26- 7/2
Mon 6/26 - PM 60 minutes elliptigo arc plus 15 minutes in Walden.
Tue 6/27 - PM 80 minutes easy, Lincoln woods. Had every intention of getting in the pond after a hot day but a heavy storm with hail, lightning and the whole bit ruined all that. Still dragging left leg.
Wed 6.28 - PM 60 minutes elliptigo arc. No time for anything more. Not sure if the elliptigo riding might be makng the perpetually sore left hammie worse or not.
Thu 6/29 - off. Paying the bill for the past few days of being overextended.
Fri 6/30 - PM 80 minutes easy, Lincoln woods. Same script as Tuesday, unable to get into pond thanks to more obnoxious late afternoon t-storms. Left hammie complete garbage and a source of much frustration.
Sat 7/1 - AM 65 minutes elliptigo arc plus 15 minutes in Walden. Left hammie stiff, in desperate need of getting back into some kind of stretching routine. Piriformis a likely root cause and it remains tight as a drum. Lots of driving after finishing up.
Sun 7/2 - PM 60 minutes elliptigo arc, 15 minutes easy, plus 20 minutes in Walden. Got started as late as I could after a hot day that included time spent at the beach and a coupld of hours behind the wheel along with yard chores. Left leg better than it was on Friday but nowhere near good and not really functional for running worth a damn. Incredibly frustrating, and finding time to do stretching has become ridiculously difficult.
Tue 6/27 - PM 80 minutes easy, Lincoln woods. Had every intention of getting in the pond after a hot day but a heavy storm with hail, lightning and the whole bit ruined all that. Still dragging left leg.
Wed 6.28 - PM 60 minutes elliptigo arc. No time for anything more. Not sure if the elliptigo riding might be makng the perpetually sore left hammie worse or not.
Thu 6/29 - off. Paying the bill for the past few days of being overextended.
Fri 6/30 - PM 80 minutes easy, Lincoln woods. Same script as Tuesday, unable to get into pond thanks to more obnoxious late afternoon t-storms. Left hammie complete garbage and a source of much frustration.
Sat 7/1 - AM 65 minutes elliptigo arc plus 15 minutes in Walden. Left hammie stiff, in desperate need of getting back into some kind of stretching routine. Piriformis a likely root cause and it remains tight as a drum. Lots of driving after finishing up.
Sun 7/2 - PM 60 minutes elliptigo arc, 15 minutes easy, plus 20 minutes in Walden. Got started as late as I could after a hot day that included time spent at the beach and a coupld of hours behind the wheel along with yard chores. Left leg better than it was on Friday but nowhere near good and not really functional for running worth a damn. Incredibly frustrating, and finding time to do stretching has become ridiculously difficult.
6/26/17
Week of 6/19-6/25
Mon 6/19 - PM 80 minutes easy plus 15 minutes in Walden. Moving slowly pretty much throughout, with hamstring and left piriformis still stuck. Hot day.
Tue 6/20 - off. Super tired after a long night.
Wed. 6/21 - PM 60 minutes easy. Late start as per usual when going from home. Left leg kind of useless, very stiff.
Thu 6/22 - PM 80 minutes elliptigo arc. The idea of heading to the pond had little appeal, headed out to Sudbury and Stow instead. Up and over Whitman Street which was predictably exhausting. Overall a good ride although I'm not certain if the elliptigo exacerbates the tightness in my piriformis or not.
Fri 6/23 - PM 80 minutes plus 20 minutes in Walden. Frustrating run as I was unable to get any kind of a decent pace going thanks to the left hamstring which remains stubbornly pegged. One muscular issue has been seamlessly replaced by another with the hamstring/piriformis picking up where the right calf left off. Incapable of keeping myself in a place where I can actually train it would seem.
Sat 6/24 - AM 60 minutes elliptigo arc. First half in disgusting humidity, second half in a driving rain. Followed by a drive up to Maine and thankfully much better weather.
Sun 6/25 - AM 40 minutes incl. 5k road race. Seemed like a good idea when I signed up. That was before the left leg issues came to the fore. Made even a very low key local yokel event seem a daunting task. Combined with getting there too late to do anything resembling an adequate warmup I had no idea whether the leg would hold up at all. As it turns out it did but plenty sore afterward. Flat course along rail trail and Back Cove path, ran only as fast as I had to to secure the second spot overall. First wasn't happening as I'm utterly incapable of running a 17 minute 5k on a flat course right now. Not getting more than a few hours sleep overnight as I forgot my sleeping pad for camping didn't help matters. Sunny and getting quite warm (hot) by the 9 AM start.
Tue 6/20 - off. Super tired after a long night.
Wed. 6/21 - PM 60 minutes easy. Late start as per usual when going from home. Left leg kind of useless, very stiff.
Thu 6/22 - PM 80 minutes elliptigo arc. The idea of heading to the pond had little appeal, headed out to Sudbury and Stow instead. Up and over Whitman Street which was predictably exhausting. Overall a good ride although I'm not certain if the elliptigo exacerbates the tightness in my piriformis or not.
Fri 6/23 - PM 80 minutes plus 20 minutes in Walden. Frustrating run as I was unable to get any kind of a decent pace going thanks to the left hamstring which remains stubbornly pegged. One muscular issue has been seamlessly replaced by another with the hamstring/piriformis picking up where the right calf left off. Incapable of keeping myself in a place where I can actually train it would seem.
Sat 6/24 - AM 60 minutes elliptigo arc. First half in disgusting humidity, second half in a driving rain. Followed by a drive up to Maine and thankfully much better weather.
Sun 6/25 - AM 40 minutes incl. 5k road race. Seemed like a good idea when I signed up. That was before the left leg issues came to the fore. Made even a very low key local yokel event seem a daunting task. Combined with getting there too late to do anything resembling an adequate warmup I had no idea whether the leg would hold up at all. As it turns out it did but plenty sore afterward. Flat course along rail trail and Back Cove path, ran only as fast as I had to to secure the second spot overall. First wasn't happening as I'm utterly incapable of running a 17 minute 5k on a flat course right now. Not getting more than a few hours sleep overnight as I forgot my sleeping pad for camping didn't help matters. Sunny and getting quite warm (hot) by the 9 AM start.
6/19/17
Week of 6/12-6/18
Mon 6/12 - PM 55 minutes easy plus 15 minutes in Walden. Somewhat pressed for time thanks to appt. with the dentist. Disgustingly hot and humid, with more to come. Left hamstring and piriformis locked up tight.
Tue 6/13 - PM 60 minutes plus 20 minutes in Walden. Slightly quicker pace than yesterday although it never felt anything close to smooth what with the left hamstring and right calf both barking. Even warmer than yesterday, although late arriving t-storms took the edge off somewhat.
Wed 6/14 - PM 45 minutes very easy. Outskirts of Area 51 with the CH. So, so tired after the past two days of being far too overextended schedule-wise. Without the company I don't think I would have gotten out the door despite the much nicer day after the past three days of 90+ temps. Dragging the left leg for the most part.
Thu 6/15 - PM 70 minutes elliptigo arc plus 20 minutes plus 15 minutes in Walden. Wanted to give the legs a break, mostly left hammie, after the past two days of feeling like garbage. Reminded of the strenuous nature of riding the arc vs. the regular elliptigo.
Fri 6/16 - PM 80 minutes incl. 6x2:30 pickups. Obnoxiously heavy rain arrived just as I was about to get ready to hit the trail, which changed the original plan to run loops in the field. In hindsight the left leg wasn't up to that kind of work anyway. Standing water everywhere on the paths. Jogged over to CCHS field and ran timed reps there, with brief 30 second recoveries. Both the left hamstring and right calf became increasingly locked up, with the slippery conditions not helping.
Sat 6/17 - AM 35 minutes very easy, mellow shakeout. Left leg stuck.
PM 50 minutes very easy, out and back along the rail bed (soon to be rail trail) to S. Acton trestle. Disgustingly humid. Leg a bit better after lots of rolling.
Sun 6/18 - PM 60 minutes elliptigo arc, 35 minutes to/from Walden, 15 minutes in Walden. Heat returned to go along with the humidity.
Tue 6/13 - PM 60 minutes plus 20 minutes in Walden. Slightly quicker pace than yesterday although it never felt anything close to smooth what with the left hamstring and right calf both barking. Even warmer than yesterday, although late arriving t-storms took the edge off somewhat.
Wed 6/14 - PM 45 minutes very easy. Outskirts of Area 51 with the CH. So, so tired after the past two days of being far too overextended schedule-wise. Without the company I don't think I would have gotten out the door despite the much nicer day after the past three days of 90+ temps. Dragging the left leg for the most part.
Thu 6/15 - PM 70 minutes elliptigo arc plus 20 minutes plus 15 minutes in Walden. Wanted to give the legs a break, mostly left hammie, after the past two days of feeling like garbage. Reminded of the strenuous nature of riding the arc vs. the regular elliptigo.
Fri 6/16 - PM 80 minutes incl. 6x2:30 pickups. Obnoxiously heavy rain arrived just as I was about to get ready to hit the trail, which changed the original plan to run loops in the field. In hindsight the left leg wasn't up to that kind of work anyway. Standing water everywhere on the paths. Jogged over to CCHS field and ran timed reps there, with brief 30 second recoveries. Both the left hamstring and right calf became increasingly locked up, with the slippery conditions not helping.
Sat 6/17 - AM 35 minutes very easy, mellow shakeout. Left leg stuck.
PM 50 minutes very easy, out and back along the rail bed (soon to be rail trail) to S. Acton trestle. Disgustingly humid. Leg a bit better after lots of rolling.
Sun 6/18 - PM 60 minutes elliptigo arc, 35 minutes to/from Walden, 15 minutes in Walden. Heat returned to go along with the humidity.
6/6/17
Week of 6/5-6/11
Mon 6/5 - PM 60 minutes very easy, 62 to Knox trail and then some bushwhacking around the former Grace (now Superfund) site before heading back home via Parker. Much more dinged up from yesterday's run than I would have liked or expected, although at least not in the right calf. Left piriformis and high hamstring a stiff mess, decreased range of motion and puttering the only option available. Also feeling quite pooped after staying up too late last night, all told made for a shambling slow putter. Another late start and more hideous conditions, ill wind blowing and drizzly at best.
Tue 6/6 - PM 55 minutes easy. More slow jogging on stiff legs. Another late start after another nap that dragged on way too long. Without doubt the worst weather day I can remember for this time of year. Continued gloom with rain and an ill wind blowing all day. Temperature topped out at 50 degrees. Gross.
Wed 6/7 - PM 60 minutes easy. Flat and listless as per usual, incapable of putting forth any kind of hard effort as I'd originally planned for today. Left leg made it a moot point anyway as the hamstring remains stuck. Weather finally improved somewhat.
Thu 6/8 - AM 25 minutes very easy, shakeout with various stops. Finally some sun. No work today and able to keep from sleeping in until all hours. Worked on left leg after the run, rolled out some of the kinks in the piriformis.
PM 65 minutes, Lincoln woods incl. 4 laps around the field with 90 second recoveries. Splits of 3:37, 3:38, 3:32 and 3:35 alternating direction each time. I would have liked to do a couple more but got started too late and as it was, finished in the gathering darkness. Better than nothing.
Fri 6/9 - PM 45 minutes easy, Area 51. Took forever to get out the door, back to work and back to the pernicious death spiral I've been in all week since having such difficulty getting to sleep Sunday night. Get home from work, sleep for 2+ hours, feel groggy and listless running, go to bed late, struggle to sleep well, rinse, repeat.
Sat 6/10 - AM 50 minutes incl. 5k on Spectacle Island. One of my most lackluster efforts at this event, garbage in gets garbage out. Staying up way too late last night was the cherry on the sundae and left me completely unable to access whatever meager fitness I currently have. Packed it in on the second of two loops around the island, particularly in the last half mile. However I thought with the faster early pace the overall time would be at least a bit quicker than last year when the race was run in gale-force winds. Instead it was about the same which was depressing. Calf also feeling tight and sore after wearing the wrong shoes. Planned on a longer cooldown but couldn't muster the interest or energy for it. Hot morning with barely a breeze to cool us off until well after the race was done.
Sun 6/11 - AM Elliptigo arc approx. 90 minutes, run 30 minutes easy, aquajogging 20 minutes. Temps about 35 degrees warmer than earlier in the week. After originally planning to run in the woods I thought better of it and went for the first dorkathlon of the season instead. Tacked on some extra time to the trip over to Walden, with the elliptigo portion of the day serving as the aerobic heavy lifting. Pond was brisk bordering on frigid but just what was needed on gross conditions that I'm not the least bit acclimated for.
Tue 6/6 - PM 55 minutes easy. More slow jogging on stiff legs. Another late start after another nap that dragged on way too long. Without doubt the worst weather day I can remember for this time of year. Continued gloom with rain and an ill wind blowing all day. Temperature topped out at 50 degrees. Gross.
Wed 6/7 - PM 60 minutes easy. Flat and listless as per usual, incapable of putting forth any kind of hard effort as I'd originally planned for today. Left leg made it a moot point anyway as the hamstring remains stuck. Weather finally improved somewhat.
Thu 6/8 - AM 25 minutes very easy, shakeout with various stops. Finally some sun. No work today and able to keep from sleeping in until all hours. Worked on left leg after the run, rolled out some of the kinks in the piriformis.
PM 65 minutes, Lincoln woods incl. 4 laps around the field with 90 second recoveries. Splits of 3:37, 3:38, 3:32 and 3:35 alternating direction each time. I would have liked to do a couple more but got started too late and as it was, finished in the gathering darkness. Better than nothing.
Fri 6/9 - PM 45 minutes easy, Area 51. Took forever to get out the door, back to work and back to the pernicious death spiral I've been in all week since having such difficulty getting to sleep Sunday night. Get home from work, sleep for 2+ hours, feel groggy and listless running, go to bed late, struggle to sleep well, rinse, repeat.
Sat 6/10 - AM 50 minutes incl. 5k on Spectacle Island. One of my most lackluster efforts at this event, garbage in gets garbage out. Staying up way too late last night was the cherry on the sundae and left me completely unable to access whatever meager fitness I currently have. Packed it in on the second of two loops around the island, particularly in the last half mile. However I thought with the faster early pace the overall time would be at least a bit quicker than last year when the race was run in gale-force winds. Instead it was about the same which was depressing. Calf also feeling tight and sore after wearing the wrong shoes. Planned on a longer cooldown but couldn't muster the interest or energy for it. Hot morning with barely a breeze to cool us off until well after the race was done.
Sun 6/11 - AM Elliptigo arc approx. 90 minutes, run 30 minutes easy, aquajogging 20 minutes. Temps about 35 degrees warmer than earlier in the week. After originally planning to run in the woods I thought better of it and went for the first dorkathlon of the season instead. Tacked on some extra time to the trip over to Walden, with the elliptigo portion of the day serving as the aerobic heavy lifting. Pond was brisk bordering on frigid but just what was needed on gross conditions that I'm not the least bit acclimated for.
Week of 5/29-6/4
Mon 5/29 - PM 30 minutes elliptigo trainer with 8x1 minute pickups. The entire day off and this is all I could come up with, with a very late start to boot. Waste of a day, with more shitty conditions outside to boot.
Tue 5/30 - PM 55 minutes incl. 2 sets of 100-200-300-400-300-200-100 on the track. Recovery jog equal to the distance just run. First track workout in a good long while, too soon probably to be doing such a thing but I was in need of a test to see if the calf could hold up to any kind of speed. "Speed" being a relative term as the splits were nothing to write home about, all hovering around 5 minute pace. Confirmation of just how unfit I've become doing little besides jogging slowly the past 8 weeks thanks to the calf. The calf did seem to hold up all right, the CH's wooden neck/spine roller seems to be doing the trick as a massage tool for getting direct pressure on it. Another super late start like yesterday, not a great re-entry to the work routine in fact after the holiday weekend.
Wed 5/31 - PM 40 minutes easy. Calf a bit tweaked from yesterday but more rolling on it afterward was helpful. Some break to the gloomy overcast garbage weather of late.
Thu 6/1 - PM 55 minutes incl. track mile. Terrible performance, not that I should have expected anything different. Calf held up fine which is the only positive, although I was understandably nervous about it and eschewed wearing spikes as a result. Totally flat and listless while warming up, something I wasn't counting on and which carried right over into the race itself. Combined with the lack of fitness and sharpness and the garbage time was inevitable. Laps of 73/78/79/77 for a time as slow as I've run since 9th grade.
Fri 6/2 - PM 45 minutes incl. track DNF. Knew this was a terrible idea but went through the motions anyway. Two track races scheduled on consecutive days would have been a tough ask were I at all fit and close to 100% health, in my current compromised condition it was nothing doing. Further compounding matters was the fact that an already thin field was missing the guy I was counting on to run as slowly as me. Made for a lonely and pointless exercise in being the caboose and as such stopped at 500m. On the plus side I did get to watch the meet without paying for a ticket, a chief motivating factor. I also feel like the worst of the recent bout of calf issues is over, have to wonder how much quicker I could have put it behind me with earlier use of the wooden roller.
Sat 6/3 - AM 45 minutes very easy. Back and forth with lots of stops. A good scrounging run and little else. Dead tired.
Sun 6/4 - PM 95 minutes, Lincoln. After yesterday's lighter than expected day I had more in the tank for today, moving at a decent clip pretty much from the outset. Looped down to CCHS back to the field next to Mt. Misery in about 50 minutes. Proceeded to run 8 laps of the field loop in 32:30, with relatively consistent lap splits of around 4:03-4:05 until the last one which was under 4 minutes. Told myself this was an uptempo long run but it was more like a tempo run period in my current dull fitness state. Put off the run to late afternoon in order to yard work in the morning, in so doing able to avoid running in the sunnier hotter time of day.
Tue 5/30 - PM 55 minutes incl. 2 sets of 100-200-300-400-300-200-100 on the track. Recovery jog equal to the distance just run. First track workout in a good long while, too soon probably to be doing such a thing but I was in need of a test to see if the calf could hold up to any kind of speed. "Speed" being a relative term as the splits were nothing to write home about, all hovering around 5 minute pace. Confirmation of just how unfit I've become doing little besides jogging slowly the past 8 weeks thanks to the calf. The calf did seem to hold up all right, the CH's wooden neck/spine roller seems to be doing the trick as a massage tool for getting direct pressure on it. Another super late start like yesterday, not a great re-entry to the work routine in fact after the holiday weekend.
Wed 5/31 - PM 40 minutes easy. Calf a bit tweaked from yesterday but more rolling on it afterward was helpful. Some break to the gloomy overcast garbage weather of late.
Thu 6/1 - PM 55 minutes incl. track mile. Terrible performance, not that I should have expected anything different. Calf held up fine which is the only positive, although I was understandably nervous about it and eschewed wearing spikes as a result. Totally flat and listless while warming up, something I wasn't counting on and which carried right over into the race itself. Combined with the lack of fitness and sharpness and the garbage time was inevitable. Laps of 73/78/79/77 for a time as slow as I've run since 9th grade.
Fri 6/2 - PM 45 minutes incl. track DNF. Knew this was a terrible idea but went through the motions anyway. Two track races scheduled on consecutive days would have been a tough ask were I at all fit and close to 100% health, in my current compromised condition it was nothing doing. Further compounding matters was the fact that an already thin field was missing the guy I was counting on to run as slowly as me. Made for a lonely and pointless exercise in being the caboose and as such stopped at 500m. On the plus side I did get to watch the meet without paying for a ticket, a chief motivating factor. I also feel like the worst of the recent bout of calf issues is over, have to wonder how much quicker I could have put it behind me with earlier use of the wooden roller.
Sat 6/3 - AM 45 minutes very easy. Back and forth with lots of stops. A good scrounging run and little else. Dead tired.
Sun 6/4 - PM 95 minutes, Lincoln. After yesterday's lighter than expected day I had more in the tank for today, moving at a decent clip pretty much from the outset. Looped down to CCHS back to the field next to Mt. Misery in about 50 minutes. Proceeded to run 8 laps of the field loop in 32:30, with relatively consistent lap splits of around 4:03-4:05 until the last one which was under 4 minutes. Told myself this was an uptempo long run but it was more like a tempo run period in my current dull fitness state. Put off the run to late afternoon in order to yard work in the morning, in so doing able to avoid running in the sunnier hotter time of day.
Week of 5/22-5/28
Mon 5/22 - Off. Not planned, way too tired upon getting home from work. Also awful weather.
Tue 5/23 - PM 70 minutes very easy, Lincoln woods. Calf is a wreck, Sunday's effort left much more of a mark than I was expecting. Ugh.
Wed 5/24 - PM 65 minutes easy, Maynard. Many stops. Calf somewhat better than yesterday but still a mess. Reduced to easy jogging, again.
Thu 5/25 - AM 40 minutes easy with many stops PM 45 minutes easy. Half day at work.
Fri 5/26 - PM 50 minutes easy. The old "took forever to get out the door" routine.
Sat 5/27 - AM 80 minutes easy, Area 51.
Sun 5/28 - Off. Again, not planned. Had a narrow window of time to get in a run and no energy in which to pull it off.
Tue 5/23 - PM 70 minutes very easy, Lincoln woods. Calf is a wreck, Sunday's effort left much more of a mark than I was expecting. Ugh.
Wed 5/24 - PM 65 minutes easy, Maynard. Many stops. Calf somewhat better than yesterday but still a mess. Reduced to easy jogging, again.
Thu 5/25 - AM 40 minutes easy with many stops PM 45 minutes easy. Half day at work.
Fri 5/26 - PM 50 minutes easy. The old "took forever to get out the door" routine.
Sat 5/27 - AM 80 minutes easy, Area 51.
Sun 5/28 - Off. Again, not planned. Had a narrow window of time to get in a run and no energy in which to pull it off.
5/23/17
Sun 5/21 - AM 95 minutes incl. half marathon
Fourth year of racing the length of the Ashuwilticook, although racing might be putting it too strongly. With the combination of jet lag and the still-dodgy calf strain I wanted to do the minimum required to defend my old fart title. The main and only competition for this, having learned from his head-scratching tactic from three years ago of insisting on leading while setting an irrationally fast early pace, this time glued himself to my shoulder from the outset and refused to budge. After rolling through the first three miles in 18:10, I slowed it down to see if the guy would take the bait which he didn't. Miles 4-9 went in 37:30 and felt like a joke. Calf was not a problem through this although I felt some twinges at around 5 miles. This middle portion of the race went slow enough that two randos behind us caught up and passed my barnacle and I around the 7 mile mark. I was grateful to have someone to follow as the usual persistent NW breeze was in effect. Decided to end the suspense at 9 miles and changed gears substantially, although I had to pull back a bit when the calf started barking. The next three miles went in 17:38, a pace I'd like to think I could have done for the whole thing had I not been dealing with a muscle strain. By mile 12 the barnacle was far enough behind that I couldn't see him. The calf was feeling increasingly frayed however and I had to put the brakes on for the final mile which I was planning on doing anyway but maybe not to the degree that I did. 13th mile went in 6:40 or so and the final bit from there was a jog. Finished feeling not particularly tired, but aggravated the calf more than I had thought which was disappointing. Mission accomplished nonetheless.
Sat 5/20 - AM 45 minutes easy
Puttered around Maynard and the edge of Area 51 with various stops along the way for scrounging. Sunny day but thankfully not as hot and humid as yesterday when we returned to mid-summer conditions. It'll take a while to bounce back from the travel. Need a vacation from my vacation, ha.
Fri 5/19 - off
Gifted six hours by the time zone fairy after the most tolerable of the few transatlantic flights I've taken. Still a beating. After a few hours of errands it was nap time, which wound up lasting the better part of 12 hours. Slept through dinner which is saying something.
5/12-5/18 France
Arrived in Paris Friday morning, fresh off Thursday morning's long hard workout and not sleeping worth a damn on the plane. Needless to say this set things up for a fairly exhausted feeling first few days. Runs as follows:
Fri 5/12 - Easy 45 minutes or so with our host in the Pyrenean hinterlands. Flat and mostly smooth dirt tracks through an idyllic agrarian setting. Not exactly what I was expecting but nice nonetheless.
Sat 5/13 - 60 minute loop from the Col d'Aspin down to Lac Payolle and then back up. Down and back up in this case meaning descending a bit over 1000' and coming back up on what was a shorter and therefore much steeper route. Punishingly, soul-crushingly steep at times. Pics below.
Sun 5/14 - 70 minutes, longer version of Friday's route exploring the fields in more depth. From there on to Spain for a visit to San Sebastian and Eibar, soccer match and not getting back until 2 AM.
Mon 5/15 - double, AM 30 minutes very easy, PM 55 minutes progressing the pace to a reasonably quick clip, closest thing to a hard workout the entire week.
Tue 5/16 - AM 80 minutes mostly easy but got the pace going a bit near the end.
Wed 5/17 - AM 35 minutes easy in Pau, where we mistakenly decided it would be a good idea to rent a room and spend the night before flying back to Paris. Should have stayed in the hinterlands one more day but oh well. Hindsight 20/20. Quite fried by this point. Planned on running again in the evening in Paris but that wasn't happening after a surprisingly hellish journey from Orly to our final lodging near Bois de Vincennes.
Thu 5/18 - double, AM 50 minutes easy in Bois De Vincennes which I missed on my last visit here. Excellent spot for running, just ask the groups of police cadets running in formation. Reminiscent somewhat of the refuge back home. PM 45 minutes easy with the CH, Coulee Vert to Lac Daumesnil. I thought I might do something uptempo, if only a few strides, but it wasn't to be as I was totally fried after a day spent strolling through the Marais and Pere Lachaise. Wind driven rain added to the fun.
Calf felt quite good by the end of the week, after withstanding the insult of climbing back up to the Aspin from the lake. Weather was fantastic in the Pyrenees, sticky with evening rains for the 36 hours we were in Paris. No recounting of an international trip would be complete without pictures of course:
Fri 5/12 - Easy 45 minutes or so with our host in the Pyrenean hinterlands. Flat and mostly smooth dirt tracks through an idyllic agrarian setting. Not exactly what I was expecting but nice nonetheless.
Sat 5/13 - 60 minute loop from the Col d'Aspin down to Lac Payolle and then back up. Down and back up in this case meaning descending a bit over 1000' and coming back up on what was a shorter and therefore much steeper route. Punishingly, soul-crushingly steep at times. Pics below.
Sun 5/14 - 70 minutes, longer version of Friday's route exploring the fields in more depth. From there on to Spain for a visit to San Sebastian and Eibar, soccer match and not getting back until 2 AM.
Mon 5/15 - double, AM 30 minutes very easy, PM 55 minutes progressing the pace to a reasonably quick clip, closest thing to a hard workout the entire week.
Tue 5/16 - AM 80 minutes mostly easy but got the pace going a bit near the end.
Wed 5/17 - AM 35 minutes easy in Pau, where we mistakenly decided it would be a good idea to rent a room and spend the night before flying back to Paris. Should have stayed in the hinterlands one more day but oh well. Hindsight 20/20. Quite fried by this point. Planned on running again in the evening in Paris but that wasn't happening after a surprisingly hellish journey from Orly to our final lodging near Bois de Vincennes.
Thu 5/18 - double, AM 50 minutes easy in Bois De Vincennes which I missed on my last visit here. Excellent spot for running, just ask the groups of police cadets running in formation. Reminiscent somewhat of the refuge back home. PM 45 minutes easy with the CH, Coulee Vert to Lac Daumesnil. I thought I might do something uptempo, if only a few strides, but it wasn't to be as I was totally fried after a day spent strolling through the Marais and Pere Lachaise. Wind driven rain added to the fun.
Calf felt quite good by the end of the week, after withstanding the insult of climbing back up to the Aspin from the lake. Weather was fantastic in the Pyrenees, sticky with evening rains for the 36 hours we were in Paris. No recounting of an international trip would be complete without pictures of course:
Payolle from the col d'Aspin
the lake
Post-climb
on the way to Luchon
halfway through the 788m long pedestrian/bike tunnel in San Sebastian
the beach
snacks at the game, all in Basque
hike to waterfall
Views like this a dime a dozen in the foothills
hiking up the Pibeste near Lourdes
text in three languages, one of which is new to me
farmhouse low on the ridge, not easily accessed
cowpath
much lesser of two evils won
Jardin de Reuilly along the Coulee Vert/Viaduc des Artes/Promenade Plantee
Split
many many tombs
welcome to la Ville Lumiere
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