Wed 1/25 - PM 60 minutes easy

Winter St./Sheridan to Tiger Drive and on to Longfellow loop. This would have been the day for some kind of workout session and I had myself convinced it would happen but 15 minutes or so in I knew it wasn't to be. Too tired and flat still from the weekend, more specifically from the terrible night's rest on Sunday. Did five pickups of about 150m near the end instead, with a few shorter ones as well. Emphasis on turnover which is about all I could do.

Tue 1/24 - PM 50 minutes easy plus 20 minutes elliptigo trainer

Levittown. Raging nor'easter overnight left the area covered in white lead, snow followed by rain. Trails off the table and roads in crappy shape as well. Still raining a bit and leftovers of nasty winds earlier in the day. Not quite as late a start as yesterday which enabled me to get a bit more time in although the start time was still later than it should be. Still no way I could expect to get through an afternoon without some form of nap, due to not sleeping enough or well enough at night. Run portion was a slow trudge, trainer was all at lower resistance with emphasis on cadence.

Mon 1/23 - PM 30 minutes elliptigo trainer

Unable to do what I had planned, i.e. treadmill followed by trainer, due to yet another super late start. Late start of course thanks to an overlong nap, latest in an unending series of late afternoon/early evening 2+ hour blackouts. Needed nothing more than a decent night's rest last night, so of course it was time for the teflon consciousness aided by the caffeine from the meet that had yet to clear the system. Laid awake for what felt like hours. Got through the work day fine, got home at which point the caffeine ran out (well over 24 hours post-ingestion) and promptly collapsed. As a result, another inadequate day of training.

Sun 1/22 - AM 80 minutes incl. track 3k, 800

Double that seemed a good idea ten days ago, before the hamstring went awry. Expectations lowered significantly as a result to not further aggravating the problem. Hopefully this was the case since the races themselves were well beneath mediocre. 3k a joke, second a lap slower than my previous attempt at the distance three weeks ago which I thought at the time was garbage. What that makes this performance, who knows. Rolled through the first kilo in 3:12 and the mile in 5:08 and in a form of cruise control from there. In addition to aforementioned leg troubles, feeling quite flat and tired for a change. If anything that situation has worsened of late. Between races, a period of time of some 3+ hours, got in a cooldown jog, lunch and plenty of waiting. Very perplexed about how to approach an 800 on a bum wheel and in the end realized I was only trying to run a bit faster than the first half of the last mile I ran and to stop obsessing about it. Another cooldown jog, shorter than planned in rapidly deteriorating weather, and that was that. Depressing how much I've backslid in a scant week after indications a week ago that I might actually be making some progress.

Sat 1/21 - PM 50 minutes

Area 51 outskirts, finally able to pick up the pace a little bit although hamstring is still more problematic than I'd like. Tried a few ever so subtle pickups in the last 15 minutes of the run without major incident. Despite the predicted mild temperatures once the sun came out I was caught by surprise at how warm it was, and found myself quite overdressed as a result.

Fri 1/20 - 45 minutes easy

More jogging, this time with many stops for scrounging. At least that was profitable. Frustrating in the extreme to be stuck in a low gear most of the week. Leg is feeling better and coming along with continued rolling but still feels dodgy, and the calf is of course involved as well. Still confounded over how this caught me by surprise. Quite tired as usual and especially typical for a Friday, took a long time go get out the door.

Thu 1/19 - PM 70 minutes easy

Area 51. More slow jogging, waiting and hoping that the leg will heal sufficiently in time for Sunday. A plod overall, would like to have done some pickups near the end but that wasn't happening. Rolled out the leg afterward which helps somewhat.

Wed 1/18 - PM 30 minutes easy

Super late start led to a short run, ambivalent about going out the door in the first place as the weather conditions went straight into the toilet soon after sunset with black ice forming all over the place. Nothing better for a dodgy hamstring, I should have stuck to the trainer entirely.

Tue 1/17 - PM 50 minutes incl. 3x800

A failure on multiple levels. Flat and tired after sleeping fitfully last night, something I could feel from the first step of the warmup.What I didn't feel was anything whatsoever wrong with the right leg, something that continued through a set of drills and strides before starting the first of what was supposed to be five reps, hopefully in the 2:25-2:28 range. Instead I felt a twinge in the right hammie on the second lap and proceeded to make it worse of course by persisting for two more pointless reps. Unable to go any faster than 2:30 which I'm feeling wouldn't have been much better even without the leg issues.