Sat 10/24 - AM 85 minutes incl. half marathon

Falmouth. Race went reasonably well although I had some concern about how I'd hold up following a night of restless sleep, prewaking what was already an obscenely early alarm. Combination of that and the underlying ongoing fatigue of the past two plus weeks, I was fully prepared to be quite conservative from the outset. Definitely running for place and not time. Happily, the field was not as competitive as last year's edition. By the time we hit the incorrectly marked first mile, I was at the tip of the spear side by side with the eventual winner and not feeling at all uncomfortable. Soon after that we were hauled in by an energetic chatty kathy who as it turned out was the guy who reeled me in just after 9 miles a year ago. He kept right on going out the front dragging the other guy with him, but within a couple miles his audacious move started backfiring on him and I began reeling him in. Having resigned myself to finishing third this was a pleasant realization. Caught up sometime around the halfway mark, took a couple miles to shake him after that. Enough separation the last 4 miles that the outcome wasn't really in doubt although I had to work right to the 13 mile mark to ensure that this was the case. Cleared the splits off my watch by mistake afterward but hit 3 in just under 18 minutes, 5 in 29:52, and a string of miles at or just under six minutes from there on out. Overcast morning, cool but not cold and something of a breeze. Cooldown consisted of riding the bike along the rail trail with the SO which was the highlight of the day.

Fri 10/23 - PM 30 minutes easy

Low key putter around Tiger Drive. Too tired for pickups on the way in.

Thu 10/22 - PM 60 minutes easy

Area 51, made much better by pleasant company. Right hip flexor twinging a bit after yesterday's track workout.

Wed 10/21 - 45 minutes incl. 12x400

First workout of any actual quality in a long time, which in itself was a nice feeling of accomplishment. Kept the recoveries at 100m both to stay disciplined and get the workout done in the time allotted. Ideally I would have liked to go for 15 reps and 20 total laps but didn't have the time for it. To be perfectly honest I had settled on 12 by the time I got to about 8. Didn't check the watch during the workout, upon reviewing the splits they were a bit quicker than what I was expecting given how flat and unimpressive the training has been of late. Splits:

83.8 (29.3)
83.9 (30.0)
83.7 (28.0)
82.4 (27.5)
83.9 (28.3)
82.0 (27.1)
82.0 (27.6)
81.4 (27.8)
81.6 (27.1)
81.5 (28.1)
81.5 (26.3)
81.9
20.5 last 100m

Some wind along the backstretch but otherwise relatively favorable conditions.

Tue 10/20 - PM 65 minutes easy

Area 51 to Old Marlboro. More of same from yesterday. Not feeling nearly energetic enough for anything but jogging. Fair number of stops near the end in particular. Warmer than yesterday but still a cool edge to the weather.

Mon 10/19 - PM 60 minutes very easy

Area 51. Headed out just as the last of the daylight was fading. Easy putter throughout, etc etc. Legs not feeling too beat up from yesterday at least. Another rather chilly day.

Sun 10/18 - AM 70 minutes incl. 10k road race

Second and final leg of the Wayland racing tour. Almost two minutes faster than last year but still well-beaten, by almost three minutes in fact. Outcome a foregone conclusion. Feeling very vulnerable after the tired and useless week of jogging I'd just experienced, not at all sure what kind of pace I could hold for any length of time. Sucked out for a too-quick 5:30 first mile, then quickly settled into 6 minute pace or thereabouts for the rest of the way. Course appears to be a tenth of a mile long which doesn't jibe with the splits I was able to get, although perhaps I finished faster than I'm giving myself credit for. Warmup was abbreviated and inadequate, cooldown a nice relaxed out and back trip along the rail bed with lovely company to check out the milkweed. Cold and windy day again.