Week of 1/8 - 1/14

Mon 1/8 - PM 70 minutes, back and forth and back again on the streets of Maynard. Many areas of terrible footing throughout town. In an earlier day I would have hit the trails on skis or snowshoes but the thrill is gone from that.

Tue 1/9 - PM 55 minutes incl. 3x200, 2x300, 500, 2x300, 3x200 with 90 second recoveries throughout. First time doing a track workout with other people in a long, long time. Forgot how it makes it easier to hit and also exceed the desired numbers. The plan was to run everything at 37 second/200 pace after Sunday's underwhelming effort. I figured things would wind up as it went along but instead this is what went down:

37.3, 37.9, 36.8
53.2, 54.0
91.2
54.0, 52.2
35.7, 34.9, 33.2

Significantly faster splits than the last time I did this which was seven weeks ago outside in the cold by myself. Not really a fair comparison as I was still getting into the swing of doing faster track work. Felt good to air it out the last couple of reps but I'm under no delusion that it represented anything I could maintain for any length of time.

Wed 1/10 - off. Fried from yesterday, lack of sleep more so than the intensity of the effort. As such the nap went far longer than planned and by the time I woke up the moment had passed.

Thu 1/11 - PM 60 minutes easy. Temperatures have increased dramatically since Monday, fog and puddles everywhere.

Fri 1/12 - PM 60 minutes incl. 1200, 1600, 1200, 800. That last rep was supposed to be a second and final 1600 but I had to bail as I was clearly flagging and unable to hit the pace anymore. Splits of 4:04, 5:25, 4:01, and 2:45 before sputtering to a stop. Disappointing but the underlying fatigue was unmistakable. The reps were supposed to be at 5k pace with relatively short recoveries of 2.5 minutes after each 1200 and 3.5 after the 1600. With more rest, or with the workout structured differently like 7x800 at the same pace, I probably could have made it through. If.

Sat 1/13 - PM 50 minutes very easy. Hard to get out the door.

Sun 1/14 -AM 80 minutes easy, Area 51. Thought I would try my luck on the refuge trails which were a decidedly mixed bag, but more icy than clear. Able to avoid any devastating falls by taking it easy and crawling along the margin of the trail in the worst parts. Temperature dropped like a stone from Friday.