Mon 6/12 - PM 55 minutes easy plus 15 minutes in Walden. Somewhat pressed for time thanks to appt. with the dentist. Disgustingly hot and humid, with more to come. Left hamstring and piriformis locked up tight.
Tue 6/13 - PM 60 minutes plus 20 minutes in Walden. Slightly quicker pace than yesterday although it never felt anything close to smooth what with the left hamstring and right calf both barking. Even warmer than yesterday, although late arriving t-storms took the edge off somewhat.
Wed 6/14 - PM 45 minutes very easy. Outskirts of Area 51 with the CH. So, so tired after the past two days of being far too overextended schedule-wise. Without the company I don't think I would have gotten out the door despite the much nicer day after the past three days of 90+ temps. Dragging the left leg for the most part.
Thu 6/15 - PM 70 minutes elliptigo arc plus 20 minutes plus 15 minutes in Walden. Wanted to give the legs a break, mostly left hammie, after the past two days of feeling like garbage. Reminded of the strenuous nature of riding the arc vs. the regular elliptigo.
Fri 6/16 - PM 80 minutes incl. 6x2:30 pickups. Obnoxiously heavy rain arrived just as I was about to get ready to hit the trail, which changed the original plan to run loops in the field. In hindsight the left leg wasn't up to that kind of work anyway. Standing water everywhere on the paths. Jogged over to CCHS field and ran timed reps there, with brief 30 second recoveries. Both the left hamstring and right calf became increasingly locked up, with the slippery conditions not helping.
Sat 6/17 - AM 35 minutes very easy, mellow shakeout. Left leg stuck.
PM 50 minutes very easy, out and back along the rail bed (soon to be rail trail) to S. Acton trestle. Disgustingly humid. Leg a bit better after lots of rolling.
Sun 6/18 - PM 60 minutes elliptigo arc, 35 minutes to/from Walden, 15 minutes in Walden. Heat returned to go along with the humidity.
6/19/17
6/6/17
Week of 6/5-6/11
Mon 6/5 - PM 60 minutes very easy, 62 to Knox trail and then some bushwhacking around the former Grace (now Superfund) site before heading back home via Parker. Much more dinged up from yesterday's run than I would have liked or expected, although at least not in the right calf. Left piriformis and high hamstring a stiff mess, decreased range of motion and puttering the only option available. Also feeling quite pooped after staying up too late last night, all told made for a shambling slow putter. Another late start and more hideous conditions, ill wind blowing and drizzly at best.
Tue 6/6 - PM 55 minutes easy. More slow jogging on stiff legs. Another late start after another nap that dragged on way too long. Without doubt the worst weather day I can remember for this time of year. Continued gloom with rain and an ill wind blowing all day. Temperature topped out at 50 degrees. Gross.
Wed 6/7 - PM 60 minutes easy. Flat and listless as per usual, incapable of putting forth any kind of hard effort as I'd originally planned for today. Left leg made it a moot point anyway as the hamstring remains stuck. Weather finally improved somewhat.
Thu 6/8 - AM 25 minutes very easy, shakeout with various stops. Finally some sun. No work today and able to keep from sleeping in until all hours. Worked on left leg after the run, rolled out some of the kinks in the piriformis.
PM 65 minutes, Lincoln woods incl. 4 laps around the field with 90 second recoveries. Splits of 3:37, 3:38, 3:32 and 3:35 alternating direction each time. I would have liked to do a couple more but got started too late and as it was, finished in the gathering darkness. Better than nothing.
Fri 6/9 - PM 45 minutes easy, Area 51. Took forever to get out the door, back to work and back to the pernicious death spiral I've been in all week since having such difficulty getting to sleep Sunday night. Get home from work, sleep for 2+ hours, feel groggy and listless running, go to bed late, struggle to sleep well, rinse, repeat.
Sat 6/10 - AM 50 minutes incl. 5k on Spectacle Island. One of my most lackluster efforts at this event, garbage in gets garbage out. Staying up way too late last night was the cherry on the sundae and left me completely unable to access whatever meager fitness I currently have. Packed it in on the second of two loops around the island, particularly in the last half mile. However I thought with the faster early pace the overall time would be at least a bit quicker than last year when the race was run in gale-force winds. Instead it was about the same which was depressing. Calf also feeling tight and sore after wearing the wrong shoes. Planned on a longer cooldown but couldn't muster the interest or energy for it. Hot morning with barely a breeze to cool us off until well after the race was done.
Sun 6/11 - AM Elliptigo arc approx. 90 minutes, run 30 minutes easy, aquajogging 20 minutes. Temps about 35 degrees warmer than earlier in the week. After originally planning to run in the woods I thought better of it and went for the first dorkathlon of the season instead. Tacked on some extra time to the trip over to Walden, with the elliptigo portion of the day serving as the aerobic heavy lifting. Pond was brisk bordering on frigid but just what was needed on gross conditions that I'm not the least bit acclimated for.
Tue 6/6 - PM 55 minutes easy. More slow jogging on stiff legs. Another late start after another nap that dragged on way too long. Without doubt the worst weather day I can remember for this time of year. Continued gloom with rain and an ill wind blowing all day. Temperature topped out at 50 degrees. Gross.
Wed 6/7 - PM 60 minutes easy. Flat and listless as per usual, incapable of putting forth any kind of hard effort as I'd originally planned for today. Left leg made it a moot point anyway as the hamstring remains stuck. Weather finally improved somewhat.
Thu 6/8 - AM 25 minutes very easy, shakeout with various stops. Finally some sun. No work today and able to keep from sleeping in until all hours. Worked on left leg after the run, rolled out some of the kinks in the piriformis.
PM 65 minutes, Lincoln woods incl. 4 laps around the field with 90 second recoveries. Splits of 3:37, 3:38, 3:32 and 3:35 alternating direction each time. I would have liked to do a couple more but got started too late and as it was, finished in the gathering darkness. Better than nothing.
Fri 6/9 - PM 45 minutes easy, Area 51. Took forever to get out the door, back to work and back to the pernicious death spiral I've been in all week since having such difficulty getting to sleep Sunday night. Get home from work, sleep for 2+ hours, feel groggy and listless running, go to bed late, struggle to sleep well, rinse, repeat.
Sat 6/10 - AM 50 minutes incl. 5k on Spectacle Island. One of my most lackluster efforts at this event, garbage in gets garbage out. Staying up way too late last night was the cherry on the sundae and left me completely unable to access whatever meager fitness I currently have. Packed it in on the second of two loops around the island, particularly in the last half mile. However I thought with the faster early pace the overall time would be at least a bit quicker than last year when the race was run in gale-force winds. Instead it was about the same which was depressing. Calf also feeling tight and sore after wearing the wrong shoes. Planned on a longer cooldown but couldn't muster the interest or energy for it. Hot morning with barely a breeze to cool us off until well after the race was done.
Sun 6/11 - AM Elliptigo arc approx. 90 minutes, run 30 minutes easy, aquajogging 20 minutes. Temps about 35 degrees warmer than earlier in the week. After originally planning to run in the woods I thought better of it and went for the first dorkathlon of the season instead. Tacked on some extra time to the trip over to Walden, with the elliptigo portion of the day serving as the aerobic heavy lifting. Pond was brisk bordering on frigid but just what was needed on gross conditions that I'm not the least bit acclimated for.
Week of 5/29-6/4
Mon 5/29 - PM 30 minutes elliptigo trainer with 8x1 minute pickups. The entire day off and this is all I could come up with, with a very late start to boot. Waste of a day, with more shitty conditions outside to boot.
Tue 5/30 - PM 55 minutes incl. 2 sets of 100-200-300-400-300-200-100 on the track. Recovery jog equal to the distance just run. First track workout in a good long while, too soon probably to be doing such a thing but I was in need of a test to see if the calf could hold up to any kind of speed. "Speed" being a relative term as the splits were nothing to write home about, all hovering around 5 minute pace. Confirmation of just how unfit I've become doing little besides jogging slowly the past 8 weeks thanks to the calf. The calf did seem to hold up all right, the CH's wooden neck/spine roller seems to be doing the trick as a massage tool for getting direct pressure on it. Another super late start like yesterday, not a great re-entry to the work routine in fact after the holiday weekend.
Wed 5/31 - PM 40 minutes easy. Calf a bit tweaked from yesterday but more rolling on it afterward was helpful. Some break to the gloomy overcast garbage weather of late.
Thu 6/1 - PM 55 minutes incl. track mile. Terrible performance, not that I should have expected anything different. Calf held up fine which is the only positive, although I was understandably nervous about it and eschewed wearing spikes as a result. Totally flat and listless while warming up, something I wasn't counting on and which carried right over into the race itself. Combined with the lack of fitness and sharpness and the garbage time was inevitable. Laps of 73/78/79/77 for a time as slow as I've run since 9th grade.
Fri 6/2 - PM 45 minutes incl. track DNF. Knew this was a terrible idea but went through the motions anyway. Two track races scheduled on consecutive days would have been a tough ask were I at all fit and close to 100% health, in my current compromised condition it was nothing doing. Further compounding matters was the fact that an already thin field was missing the guy I was counting on to run as slowly as me. Made for a lonely and pointless exercise in being the caboose and as such stopped at 500m. On the plus side I did get to watch the meet without paying for a ticket, a chief motivating factor. I also feel like the worst of the recent bout of calf issues is over, have to wonder how much quicker I could have put it behind me with earlier use of the wooden roller.
Sat 6/3 - AM 45 minutes very easy. Back and forth with lots of stops. A good scrounging run and little else. Dead tired.
Sun 6/4 - PM 95 minutes, Lincoln. After yesterday's lighter than expected day I had more in the tank for today, moving at a decent clip pretty much from the outset. Looped down to CCHS back to the field next to Mt. Misery in about 50 minutes. Proceeded to run 8 laps of the field loop in 32:30, with relatively consistent lap splits of around 4:03-4:05 until the last one which was under 4 minutes. Told myself this was an uptempo long run but it was more like a tempo run period in my current dull fitness state. Put off the run to late afternoon in order to yard work in the morning, in so doing able to avoid running in the sunnier hotter time of day.
Tue 5/30 - PM 55 minutes incl. 2 sets of 100-200-300-400-300-200-100 on the track. Recovery jog equal to the distance just run. First track workout in a good long while, too soon probably to be doing such a thing but I was in need of a test to see if the calf could hold up to any kind of speed. "Speed" being a relative term as the splits were nothing to write home about, all hovering around 5 minute pace. Confirmation of just how unfit I've become doing little besides jogging slowly the past 8 weeks thanks to the calf. The calf did seem to hold up all right, the CH's wooden neck/spine roller seems to be doing the trick as a massage tool for getting direct pressure on it. Another super late start like yesterday, not a great re-entry to the work routine in fact after the holiday weekend.
Wed 5/31 - PM 40 minutes easy. Calf a bit tweaked from yesterday but more rolling on it afterward was helpful. Some break to the gloomy overcast garbage weather of late.
Thu 6/1 - PM 55 minutes incl. track mile. Terrible performance, not that I should have expected anything different. Calf held up fine which is the only positive, although I was understandably nervous about it and eschewed wearing spikes as a result. Totally flat and listless while warming up, something I wasn't counting on and which carried right over into the race itself. Combined with the lack of fitness and sharpness and the garbage time was inevitable. Laps of 73/78/79/77 for a time as slow as I've run since 9th grade.
Fri 6/2 - PM 45 minutes incl. track DNF. Knew this was a terrible idea but went through the motions anyway. Two track races scheduled on consecutive days would have been a tough ask were I at all fit and close to 100% health, in my current compromised condition it was nothing doing. Further compounding matters was the fact that an already thin field was missing the guy I was counting on to run as slowly as me. Made for a lonely and pointless exercise in being the caboose and as such stopped at 500m. On the plus side I did get to watch the meet without paying for a ticket, a chief motivating factor. I also feel like the worst of the recent bout of calf issues is over, have to wonder how much quicker I could have put it behind me with earlier use of the wooden roller.
Sat 6/3 - AM 45 minutes very easy. Back and forth with lots of stops. A good scrounging run and little else. Dead tired.
Sun 6/4 - PM 95 minutes, Lincoln. After yesterday's lighter than expected day I had more in the tank for today, moving at a decent clip pretty much from the outset. Looped down to CCHS back to the field next to Mt. Misery in about 50 minutes. Proceeded to run 8 laps of the field loop in 32:30, with relatively consistent lap splits of around 4:03-4:05 until the last one which was under 4 minutes. Told myself this was an uptempo long run but it was more like a tempo run period in my current dull fitness state. Put off the run to late afternoon in order to yard work in the morning, in so doing able to avoid running in the sunnier hotter time of day.
Week of 5/22-5/28
Mon 5/22 - Off. Not planned, way too tired upon getting home from work. Also awful weather.
Tue 5/23 - PM 70 minutes very easy, Lincoln woods. Calf is a wreck, Sunday's effort left much more of a mark than I was expecting. Ugh.
Wed 5/24 - PM 65 minutes easy, Maynard. Many stops. Calf somewhat better than yesterday but still a mess. Reduced to easy jogging, again.
Thu 5/25 - AM 40 minutes easy with many stops PM 45 minutes easy. Half day at work.
Fri 5/26 - PM 50 minutes easy. The old "took forever to get out the door" routine.
Sat 5/27 - AM 80 minutes easy, Area 51.
Sun 5/28 - Off. Again, not planned. Had a narrow window of time to get in a run and no energy in which to pull it off.
Tue 5/23 - PM 70 minutes very easy, Lincoln woods. Calf is a wreck, Sunday's effort left much more of a mark than I was expecting. Ugh.
Wed 5/24 - PM 65 minutes easy, Maynard. Many stops. Calf somewhat better than yesterday but still a mess. Reduced to easy jogging, again.
Thu 5/25 - AM 40 minutes easy with many stops PM 45 minutes easy. Half day at work.
Fri 5/26 - PM 50 minutes easy. The old "took forever to get out the door" routine.
Sat 5/27 - AM 80 minutes easy, Area 51.
Sun 5/28 - Off. Again, not planned. Had a narrow window of time to get in a run and no energy in which to pull it off.
5/23/17
Sun 5/21 - AM 95 minutes incl. half marathon
Fourth year of racing the length of the Ashuwilticook, although racing might be putting it too strongly. With the combination of jet lag and the still-dodgy calf strain I wanted to do the minimum required to defend my old fart title. The main and only competition for this, having learned from his head-scratching tactic from three years ago of insisting on leading while setting an irrationally fast early pace, this time glued himself to my shoulder from the outset and refused to budge. After rolling through the first three miles in 18:10, I slowed it down to see if the guy would take the bait which he didn't. Miles 4-9 went in 37:30 and felt like a joke. Calf was not a problem through this although I felt some twinges at around 5 miles. This middle portion of the race went slow enough that two randos behind us caught up and passed my barnacle and I around the 7 mile mark. I was grateful to have someone to follow as the usual persistent NW breeze was in effect. Decided to end the suspense at 9 miles and changed gears substantially, although I had to pull back a bit when the calf started barking. The next three miles went in 17:38, a pace I'd like to think I could have done for the whole thing had I not been dealing with a muscle strain. By mile 12 the barnacle was far enough behind that I couldn't see him. The calf was feeling increasingly frayed however and I had to put the brakes on for the final mile which I was planning on doing anyway but maybe not to the degree that I did. 13th mile went in 6:40 or so and the final bit from there was a jog. Finished feeling not particularly tired, but aggravated the calf more than I had thought which was disappointing. Mission accomplished nonetheless.
Sat 5/20 - AM 45 minutes easy
Puttered around Maynard and the edge of Area 51 with various stops along the way for scrounging. Sunny day but thankfully not as hot and humid as yesterday when we returned to mid-summer conditions. It'll take a while to bounce back from the travel. Need a vacation from my vacation, ha.
Fri 5/19 - off
Gifted six hours by the time zone fairy after the most tolerable of the few transatlantic flights I've taken. Still a beating. After a few hours of errands it was nap time, which wound up lasting the better part of 12 hours. Slept through dinner which is saying something.
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