Mon 9/9 - PM 50 minutes very easy

Area 51. Decided with the long day and cooler weather to keep the run local. By the time I was able to leave kiddies' practice which had me biking back and forth along the aqueduct, I had hit the wall energy-wise. Barely able to keep my eyes open on the ride home, made it as far as the Old Marlboro Road entrance to the refuge before I had to take a blackout catnap. It was quite clear within the first few minutes that the pace would be quite slow throughout. Made for a pleasant enough if boring experience, nice to be back on these trails again after a deer fly imposed break of a months. Breeze settled down as sun started to set making for very nice conditions, calm cool and still.

Sun 9/8 - PM 60 minutes incl. 5k xc race

Scratching a stupid itch, nearly got my ass handed to me as a result. Toying with the idea of doing this low-key race and following it up with a 20-30 minute tempo run on nearby roads. With the alternative being laps around the Longfellow Loop, the race option became more attractive as the weekend wore on. This despite the fact that I slept too little both of the last two nights and had a longish drive just to get to the start line from where I spent last night. On top of that arrived about half an hour before the gun went off with the lunch I ate far too close to race time still digesting in my stomach. Burping both before and after the race which is never a good feeling. Warmup was cursory at best, maybe 10 minutes combined of jogging and drills. I was figuring that I might be able to vulture a win running around 18 minutes. While this ended up being the case it certainly wasn't the relaxed controlled effort I would expect for that execrable a time. In fact it was clearly a race as I was being chased/ doing the chasing right until the final 200m on the track. In fact he put in a move with 600m to go that I thought would do me in, although I was able to rally it required digging a lot deeper than I would have expected. While part of the slow-ass time can be ascribed to the ridiculous course that included literally dozens of turns (which I should have recognized going in) and the fact that almost all of the trail in the woods was rocky and particularly rutted and strewn with tree roots. By the end it was a stumble-fest and very annoying, and only more annoying for the fact that the guy who was dogging me had a much better attitude towards the layout than I did. Afterward, took a 10 minute break, then 10 minutes of superslow jogging, then a 15 minute progression/tempoish steady run that while better than nothing certainly pales in comparison to the training value of a three-lapper on the LL. Warm and sunny day with gusty breezes blowing throughout.

Sat 9/7 - PM 75 minutes plus 15 minutes in Walden

Lincoln woods, with drills on Pine Hill. Somewhat tired from the morning spent at the kiddies' meet and long bus rides involved. Got this run in a bit earlier in the afternoon than is usually the case, which made for brighter sun and slightly warmer temps. Nice conditions for being outside.

Fri 9/6 - PM 80 minutes easy plus 20 minutes in Walden

Lincoln woods. Snuck away from the kiddies practice early enough to get in a decent length run in the woods. Striking while the iron is still hot, or before the sun sets. Left hip flexor stiff and sore of course from yesterday, but felt better by the end of the run. No outstanding issues with the right hammie/glute after the first extended running on a track in months. Excellent weather with dry warm conditions all day.

Thu 9/5 - PM 65 minutes incl. 4(1000, 200)

Back to the track, Emerson Field to be more specific. Approached with some trepidation due to the ongoing issues with the right leg but I needed to be getting back on the horse at some point if I have any hope of doing anything worth a damn on the roads this fall. Decided on this particular workout a few days ago, mix of long and short reps with short (200m jog) recoveries, both because I like it and because it offered an easy way to pull the plug if need be. Felt reasonably good on the warmup and while doing drills and strides, but more stiffness in the left hip flexor and adductor than I was expecting. This became the running theme of the entire session, in fact more of a limiting factor than the right leg which came as a surprise. Decided not to do any pace checks in the midst of the km reps, run on feel instead. With no idea what a decent effort would be on the watch it was a no-brainer. Splits:

3:26.5/38.2
3:27.8/38.4
3:24.2/38.2
3:24.3/38.2

23:33 for the entire thing. The recoveries were all within a click or two of 55 seconds which came as a pleasant surprise. That the 200s were that consistently mediocre was no surprise and a reflection of how clunky and awkward the left thigh felt. Cooldown was very slow for the same reason, not that taxed overall but the left adductor was tapped out. Conditions were near perfect after a wet and sticky start to the day, showers cleared out and breeze was minimal.

Wed 9/4 - PM 45 minutes

Weston. Over to the reservoir, once around, up Wellesley Street for a bit before turning around and heading back. The first 10 minutes or so were extremely slow, pace picked up from there. Ran with the kiddies at the beginning and end, alone during the middle 30 minutes or so. Moving reasonably well and light years ahead of how I felt yesterday. Weather also light years better, humidity finally gone and clear warm conditions in its wake.

Tue 9/3 - PM 55 minutes very easy plus 20 minutes in Walden

Lincoln woods. Dragging big time after the usual too-late bedtime followed by an afternoon of watching the kiddies run around a field instead of taking a nap in the commuter rail parking lot. Grieving the loss of the summer routine at the moment. Listless would be an understatement for the putter over to the pond, barely moving at times. A bit better on the way in after the dip in the cooling waters but still quite easy. Continued gross humidity with bruise-colored overcast skies.