Tue 4/11 - PM 80 minutes

Lincoln woods. Started out slowly and to be honest gingerly, concerned that the uneven terrain would blow out the vulnerable strained calf. To my happy surprise the leg held up to both the length of the run and increasing the pace to the point where I was moving reasonably well and could throw in a few short pickups near the end, at maybe 80-85% effort. Telling that a few days of TLC could make such a dent, if only I'd paid attention in the weeks and months leading up to the recent strain. Downright hot, with temps well into the 80s that had sunbathers sitting along the shore of the pond that was far too cold for swimming.

Mon 4/10 - PM 85 minutes very easy

Summer street to Lower Village, then Crescent to W. Acton/S. Acton roads and back via Tuttle, Red Acre, and Rockland Ave. Glacially slow putter on the stiff right calf, taking care not to aggravate it. An exercise in patience and little else. Took stretching breaks which helped it seemed, and more direct pressure at various points during the day. Warm day, breezy of course but nice overall.

Sun 4/9 - PM double, 60 minutes elliptigo arc plu 30 minutes very easy

PM - 60 minutes elliptigo arc. Perhaps not the best way to give the calf a break but with nicer weather and a new machine to try out I couldn't resist. An exercise in frustration as the gears were slipping right out of the box. Also windy, of course which detracts from the fun.

later PM - 30 minutes very easy. First run with the CH in a long while, an opportunity I couldn't pass up. Took it very slowly to avoid putting any undue strain on the calf. Some hands-on work before and after seems to help as well.

Sat 4/8 - AM 65 minutes incl. 5k road race

Quite foolhardy sandbagging expedition, in which the calf very nearly went on me with 800m left. Up until then I was holding out hope of reeling in the kid who had keelhauled me at the mile mark, but immediately the focus changed to getting across the line without completely pulling the muscle off the bone. Great times. Should have known better but that apparently is not in my makeup. The fact is I can't pin down a discrete moment that caused the strain, other than the 12k progression of 3/25 in flats followed by some 200s on the track a few days later that aggravated the issue. This has led me to stick my head in the sand instead of deal with it any substantive way. In all likelihood the lack of stretching combined with pushing the trainer pedals has dialed up the tension on my achilles. This could very well ruin my entire spring, or I could deal with it appropriately. On top of the injury woes, and I'm certainly closer to injured than healthy at the moment, the conditions were horrendously windy and I was flat from the jump as well.

Fri 4/7 - PM 45 minutes easy

Basic shakeout, with some pickups thrown in to test the calf a bit. Made it through in one piece, I think.

Thu 4/6 - PM 65 minutes easy

Area 51. Slightly better weather than yesterday which isn't saying much. Took forever to get going as usual.

Wed 4/5 - PM 20 minutes easy plus 45 minutes elliptigo trainer incl. 20x 1 minute pickups

Horrible weather, dodgy motivation and continued concern over the calf led me to head inside after an aborted attempt at braving the conditions. Did the on/off thing in lieu of a workout in the great outdoors. How adequate a replacement this is who knows. The malaise continues unabated.

Tue 4/4 - PM 55 minutes very easy

Levittown. Feeling quite flat and tired. Calf not bothersome at the slow putter I was going. Spring has not yet sprung, continued cold and windy conditions. Although the wind is of course an integral part of springtime.