Sun 1/3 - AM 65 minutes very easy

Longfellow loop, at a relaxed pace for a change, back via Tiger Drive. Calves quite stiff and sore, something I should have anticipated after wearing spikes for only the second time in six months. In fact it never occurred to me that racing 3k in them could leave such a mark. The joys of aging. Right knee also stiff to start to the point that I was limping somewhat. Did some compressions on the quad which helped with that and it eventually worked itself out.

Sat 1/2 - double, 2:10 total incl. track 3k

AM - 65 minutes incl. track 3k. Terrible flat effort, completely incapable of holding what I thought was a relatively modest pace of 37 seconds/lap. Realized this within three laps and the rest of the way, which was a long way, was a futile holding action. Kilos of 3:07, 3:11, and 3:16. Spared the indignity of seeing my name in the results as it never made it there for whatever reason. Dead tired and flat with legs that felt stiff. In hindsight, no chance of racing well given the last few days of sleep disruptions. Same old story alas. Originally planned on doing a workout of some type after the race like two weeks ago, but I knew better. Jogged an easy 30 minutes afterward instead.

PM - 65 minutes very easy, Levittown. Joined the CH for a leisurely run through the side streets of Maynard. Benefit of more running today debatable at best but I wanted the quality time and the tour of the streets was needed.

Fri 1/1 - PM 30 minutes easy

Slow short putter around Maynard, feeling quite flat and listless. Yesterday's super long nap had all the predictable effects, far too late getting to sleep later in the night, laying around in the morning. Went for an afternoon hike around Walden of a couple of hours, thought it would be doable with yaktrax. Just enough snow on the ground to cause slippage and by the end of the walk my hip flexors were quite tight. 

Thu 12/31 - AM 45 minutes incl. 10x200

Harvard. Almost made it through the month of December without a single workout indoors but with the snow hardened into concrete and a brisk wind blowing options were few and unattractive to continue that particular streak. After yesterday's failure to complete anything of substance and with a race coming up on Saturday I found myself looking to do a placeholder of some sort, which took the form of 4x200, then 3, 2 and a final solitary rep. The wrinkle being that it was all done new interval style with 200 meter floats after each rep, and 3 minute easy jogs between sets. Under a bit of time pressure so the warmup and cooldown were both quite compressed. Splits:

36.6 (45.8)
36.9 (46.8)
37.3 (45.3)
37.3 (46.0)

36.6 (45.0)
36.7 (46.7)
36.9 (46.0)

35.7 (45.4)
36.7 (45.7)

35.6 (46.4)

I wasn't checking the splits while doing the workout and was surprised afterward at how quick some of them were. Certainly a difference between doing track work outdoors and doing it in a climate controlled environment. Legs felt clunky and awkward for much of the workout which also contributed to the surprised feeling. After a brief cooldown, went straight to lunch and then spent the afternoon at the MFA with the CH which was most enjoyable. Following that, went home and lay down for what was supposed to be a brief nap but turned out to last nearly 3 hours. A lot of time on my feet made me more tired than expected I suppose.

Wed 12/30 - PM 65 minutes easy

Longfellow Loop. The hockey rink conditions that ruined yesterday's run thankfully were no more which is about all the good I can say about today's effort. Headed out thinking I'd do three sets of cutdown timed reps, 3-2-1 minutes with 2-1-1 minute recoveries. Got through the first rep and 30 seconds of the second one before pulling the plug. Put up a brave front up until that point but it was for naught and I should have known. Yesterday's shoveling and slip and slide was followed up with an inexcusably late bedtime. Left me dragging ass and feeling quite hollowed once it came time to do some running of actual quality.

Tue 12/29 - PM 50 minutes very easy

Levittown. Snow arrived overnight, putting an end to the carefree idyll that has been the month of December up to this point. Trails a no-go until further notice. Making matters much worse was the snow changing over to rain in a classic case of the dreaded wintry mix. The 1-2" of snow soaked this up like a sponge making for slush everywhere. Got home to an hour of pushing this shit around instead of taking a nap as I would have preferred. Thankfully the assistance of the CH shortened that time a bit. With sunset the temps dropped below freezing but the rain didn't stop, a fine drizzle that coated every surface and froze on them. Including any road not treated by the Maynard DPW, who as usual let nature take its course and left most roads unsalted. This made for slippery hockey rink conditions on most of the Levittown roads except for the main ones. I spent enough time on the other ones even though I should have avoided them. No falls or injuries but the last thing my legs needed for sure. The party's definitely over alas. 

Mon 12/28 - PM 65 minutes easy

Area 51. Mellow effort, feeling tired from yesterday and the weekend in general. Temperature returned to a more seasonally appropriate level with a nasty wind blowing. Humid enough to make it bite a little bit. Tomorrow promises to be worse in that regard.