Mon 2/26 - 80 minutes, Sonoita Creek. Hillier than expected getting into and back out of the creek itself. Followed up the run with a hike that probably covered more distance than the run.
Tue 2/27 - PM 25 minutes very easy errand run to the local Safeway and back. Very tired.
Wed 2/28 - rainy garbage
Thu 3/1 - AM 65 minutes, Douglas Springs trail. Mostly uphill to a point somewhere beyond the Bridal Wreath falls trail junction, then backtracked to the falls and hiked down with the CH. A solid effort to be sure. Yesterday's cold and rainy mess replaced by sunny warm conditions.
Fri 3/2 - PM 50 minutes, A mountain. Spent much of the morning and early afternoon hiking in Aravaipa creek, a pleasant and cool experience although it left the shoes surprisingly full of sand.
Sat 3/3 - AM 4 hours up and back along the Tanque Verde trail in Saguaro NP. Thinking I might head to the summit but the extra $10 it would have cost to drive to the trailhead vs. get there on foot, along with a 10 AM start put paid to that idea. As it was I got as far as Juniper Basin which was high enough to see snow left over from Wednesday's weather. The trip up was just as obnoxious as I had remembered with the various false summits and rollercoaster stuff once above the steep climb out of the bajada. Took a good long break, nearly 30 minutes, before heading down. The trip down was not my finest effort, threw in some walking breaks thanks to rubbery legs and general fatigue. Plenty warm at the bottom of the hill. No gila monster sightings this time.
Sun 3/4 - off, travel back home which took all the live long day. Worth it for the time spent in a warm and mostly dry climate.
3/16/18
3/15/18
Week of 2/19-2/25
Mon-Thu 2/19-2/22 - filler, i.e. 50-65 minutes easy running each day.
Fri 2/23 - off. Travel to Arizona for a desert respite from the depredations of late winter.
Sat 2/24 - filler
Sun 2/25 - 70 minutes out and back to A mountain. Not terribly creative choice of route but it never gets old either.
Fri 2/23 - off. Travel to Arizona for a desert respite from the depredations of late winter.
Sat 2/24 - filler
Sun 2/25 - 70 minutes out and back to A mountain. Not terribly creative choice of route but it never gets old either.
Week of 2/12-2/18
Mon 2/12 - filler
Tue 2/13 - 3(600,400) 90 seconds after each 600, 2 minutes after each 400. Splits: 1:54.5, 74.5, 1:54.6, 74.4, 1:53.9, 73. As I write this it happened a long time ago but I remember being pretty gassed by the end of what was a relatively short workout.
Wed 2/14 - filler
Thu 2/15 - filler
Fri 2/16 - filler
Sat 2/17 - 50 minutes easy
Sun 2/18 - USATFNE meet, 3k in just under 9:42. A result exactly in line with the uninspiring mile races of the past two weeks. At least I raced smartly, helped in no small part by wearing my watch during a track race for the first time in a very long time. Exact km splits hard to get down on Harvard's imperial track but I can say the last one was the fastest one. Worked steadily through the field of mostly teenagers as well. The inability to do anything approaching what I was able to do even a couple of years ago remains annoying and confounding but the amount of training and focus on it have been lacking for some time now.
Tue 2/13 - 3(600,400) 90 seconds after each 600, 2 minutes after each 400. Splits: 1:54.5, 74.5, 1:54.6, 74.4, 1:53.9, 73. As I write this it happened a long time ago but I remember being pretty gassed by the end of what was a relatively short workout.
Wed 2/14 - filler
Thu 2/15 - filler
Fri 2/16 - filler
Sat 2/17 - 50 minutes easy
Sun 2/18 - USATFNE meet, 3k in just under 9:42. A result exactly in line with the uninspiring mile races of the past two weeks. At least I raced smartly, helped in no small part by wearing my watch during a track race for the first time in a very long time. Exact km splits hard to get down on Harvard's imperial track but I can say the last one was the fastest one. Worked steadily through the field of mostly teenagers as well. The inability to do anything approaching what I was able to do even a couple of years ago remains annoying and confounding but the amount of training and focus on it have been lacking for some time now.
2/16/18
Week of 2/5-2/11
Mon 2/5 - PM 60 minutes easy.
Tue 2/6 - PM 50 minutes incl. 2x600, 4x200. Two days after running the whole workout at race pace I tried to go out and do a couple more 600s at race pace which was plainly a mistake. Still not recovered sufficiently from Sunday's effort. Alas this only became clear after the first repeat. In hindsight a mile at threshold pace followed by the glorified strides would have been a much more sensible choice.
Wed 2/7 - PM 55 minutes easy. Snowstorm led to an early dismissal from work which I celebrated by napping for almost 3 hours. Awoke in a confused daze. Snow was followed by rain which left the roads and sidewalks in predictably awful condition. Plenty of slush and large puddles, something of a nightmare.
Thu 2/8 - PM 65 minutes easy. Longest run of the week. Threw in some pickups near the end which felt terrible. Very cold after yesterday's horrible wintry mix which has left plenty of places resembling a hockey rink.
Fri 2/9 - PM 45 minutes, back and forth along the rail trail.
Sat 2/10 - PM 60 minutes incl. track mile. Two weeks after my previous attempt at this distance I went out and ran pretty much the same race, faster by less than a second. I had hoped to have gained some fitness over the intervening fortnight but whatever ground may have been gained in that department was surely erased by my continued folly with the poor sleep habits. By the time the weekend comes around I'm dragging ten tons of ass. More resigned than frustrated at this point. If nothing else I certainly know my current limit for the mile. The backward regression continues unabated.
Sun 2/11 - PM 60 minutes elliptigo. Brutal weather with cold and persistent rain which I tried to wait out without success. Just looking to do some kind of recovery effort after yesterday, in the end this took the form of riding the elliptigo. No pounding on the legs at least. Came close to taking a zero after taking a long nap in the afternoon. Late start as a result.
Tue 2/6 - PM 50 minutes incl. 2x600, 4x200. Two days after running the whole workout at race pace I tried to go out and do a couple more 600s at race pace which was plainly a mistake. Still not recovered sufficiently from Sunday's effort. Alas this only became clear after the first repeat. In hindsight a mile at threshold pace followed by the glorified strides would have been a much more sensible choice.
Wed 2/7 - PM 55 minutes easy. Snowstorm led to an early dismissal from work which I celebrated by napping for almost 3 hours. Awoke in a confused daze. Snow was followed by rain which left the roads and sidewalks in predictably awful condition. Plenty of slush and large puddles, something of a nightmare.
Thu 2/8 - PM 65 minutes easy. Longest run of the week. Threw in some pickups near the end which felt terrible. Very cold after yesterday's horrible wintry mix which has left plenty of places resembling a hockey rink.
Fri 2/9 - PM 45 minutes, back and forth along the rail trail.
Sat 2/10 - PM 60 minutes incl. track mile. Two weeks after my previous attempt at this distance I went out and ran pretty much the same race, faster by less than a second. I had hoped to have gained some fitness over the intervening fortnight but whatever ground may have been gained in that department was surely erased by my continued folly with the poor sleep habits. By the time the weekend comes around I'm dragging ten tons of ass. More resigned than frustrated at this point. If nothing else I certainly know my current limit for the mile. The backward regression continues unabated.
Sun 2/11 - PM 60 minutes elliptigo. Brutal weather with cold and persistent rain which I tried to wait out without success. Just looking to do some kind of recovery effort after yesterday, in the end this took the form of riding the elliptigo. No pounding on the legs at least. Came close to taking a zero after taking a long nap in the afternoon. Late start as a result.
2/12/18
Week of 1/29-2/4
Mon 1/29 - PM 65 minutes easy.
Tue 1/30 - PM 65 minutes incl. 8x1000. Cruise reps with 1 minute recoveries. The plan was to do the first two in 3:40, then the next two in 3:35, then two @3:30 and finally the last two in 3:25. That pattern held through the first six but the final progression proved a bridge too far and I had to hold at 3:30 for the seventh rep before finishing off the workout with a 3:28. Overall a solid workout.
Wed. 1/31 - PM 55 minutes easy. Late start as usual.
Thu 2/1 - PM 60 minutes easy. Had hoped to go a bit longer.
Fri 2/2 - PM 30 minutes elliptigo. No time for anything more as I was pressed for time as it is. Quite cold and windy outside so staying indoors was a welcome respite.
Sat 2/3 - PM 65 minutes easy, back and forth along the rail trail mostly after starting out up Thompson to Sudbury Road. Not feeling terribly energetic after a day spent outside freezing my ass off. A brief nap helped a great deal to warm up at least. Workout gets pushed back a day, no chance to do it today. Cold.
Sun 2/4 - PM 50 minutes incl. 600, 800, 600 on the track. Short workout with long recoveries, 4.5-5 minutes in fact. Shooting for mile pace on each one. The 600s went in 1:48.8 and 1:47.7 which was good but the 800 was 2:27 which was disappointing. That extra lap made quite the difference apparently.
Tue 1/30 - PM 65 minutes incl. 8x1000. Cruise reps with 1 minute recoveries. The plan was to do the first two in 3:40, then the next two in 3:35, then two @3:30 and finally the last two in 3:25. That pattern held through the first six but the final progression proved a bridge too far and I had to hold at 3:30 for the seventh rep before finishing off the workout with a 3:28. Overall a solid workout.
Wed. 1/31 - PM 55 minutes easy. Late start as usual.
Thu 2/1 - PM 60 minutes easy. Had hoped to go a bit longer.
Fri 2/2 - PM 30 minutes elliptigo. No time for anything more as I was pressed for time as it is. Quite cold and windy outside so staying indoors was a welcome respite.
Sat 2/3 - PM 65 minutes easy, back and forth along the rail trail mostly after starting out up Thompson to Sudbury Road. Not feeling terribly energetic after a day spent outside freezing my ass off. A brief nap helped a great deal to warm up at least. Workout gets pushed back a day, no chance to do it today. Cold.
Sun 2/4 - PM 50 minutes incl. 600, 800, 600 on the track. Short workout with long recoveries, 4.5-5 minutes in fact. Shooting for mile pace on each one. The 600s went in 1:48.8 and 1:47.7 which was good but the 800 was 2:27 which was disappointing. That extra lap made quite the difference apparently.
2/6/18
Week of 1/22-1/28
Mon 1/22 - 65 minutes easy.
Tue 1/23 - PM 50 minutes incl. 4x500 with 2.5R. Trying to hit mile pace, which in theory is something a bit over 90 seconds. Wound up doing all four reps within a half second of each other, from 91.5 to 92 seconds. Had the unmistakable feeling of being fully extended by the end of the workout which tells me this is indeed my race pace or thereabouts.
Wed 1/24 - 55 minutes easy.
Thu 1/25 - PM 60 minutes incl. 6x100 on the track. Fairly low-key effort for the most part, the pickups on the track felt somewhat stiff but I've had worse. Cold and windy.
Fri 1/26 - PM 40 minutes easy.
Sat 1/27- PM 65 minutes incl. track mile. Able to exceed vanishingly low expectations after last weekend's turd of an effort. Hoping to not drop out again, and come within five seconds of the 4:50 seed time so as not to embarrass myself. Warmup was truncated somewhat due to my not showing up with enough time to spare beforehand, a stupid miscalculation. This did not make for a terribly positive attitude going in but I had resolved to hang out at the back of the field and hope that others in front of me slowed more than I would. Rolled through the first half in 2:25 running roughly evenly paced, next quarter went in 75 which came as no surprise. Held together through the end in the sense that I didn't slow down any further, with overall splits of 2:25/2:30. Long cooldown jog afterward.
Sun 1/28 - PM 80 minutes easy.
Tue 1/23 - PM 50 minutes incl. 4x500 with 2.5R. Trying to hit mile pace, which in theory is something a bit over 90 seconds. Wound up doing all four reps within a half second of each other, from 91.5 to 92 seconds. Had the unmistakable feeling of being fully extended by the end of the workout which tells me this is indeed my race pace or thereabouts.
Wed 1/24 - 55 minutes easy.
Thu 1/25 - PM 60 minutes incl. 6x100 on the track. Fairly low-key effort for the most part, the pickups on the track felt somewhat stiff but I've had worse. Cold and windy.
Fri 1/26 - PM 40 minutes easy.
Sat 1/27- PM 65 minutes incl. track mile. Able to exceed vanishingly low expectations after last weekend's turd of an effort. Hoping to not drop out again, and come within five seconds of the 4:50 seed time so as not to embarrass myself. Warmup was truncated somewhat due to my not showing up with enough time to spare beforehand, a stupid miscalculation. This did not make for a terribly positive attitude going in but I had resolved to hang out at the back of the field and hope that others in front of me slowed more than I would. Rolled through the first half in 2:25 running roughly evenly paced, next quarter went in 75 which came as no surprise. Held together through the end in the sense that I didn't slow down any further, with overall splits of 2:25/2:30. Long cooldown jog afterward.
Sun 1/28 - PM 80 minutes easy.
1/29/18
Week of 1/15-1/21
Mon 1/15 - PM 45 minutes easy plus 30 minutes elliptigo. Cold, windy and gross all around. Cut the run short to get inside and the elliptigo was a welcome option which I was glad to take advantage of.
Tue 1/16 - PM 55 minutes incl. 7x600. Idea was to start at 3k pace and work down from there. While the pace at the start was slower than 3k (I hope) and the 3.5 minute recoveries seemed extravagantly long, the pace did drop particularly on the third rep and again on the last two. Ran the final rep alone after having company the first six and the difference was telling, at my limit and not able to match the penultimate split time. Splits:
2:00, 1:58.8, 15:4.8, 1:53.7, 1:52.8, 1:48.1, 1:49.8
Wed 1/17 - PM 40 minutes very easy. Puttering around after a very late start following another drag-ass tired Wednesday. The typical pattern after these late workouts on Tuesday nights I'm afraid. Taking the zero would have been the more sensible option in hindsight. Ran some on the rail trail which is covered in snow again after the morning's weather. Not too deep but deep enough to be a nuisance.
Thu 1/18 - PM 55 minutes easy. Similar to yesterday but stayed off the snow-covered rail trail. Realized within the first few minutes I was still quite fried and took it easy from there.
Fri 1/19 - PM 50 minutes incl. 6x35 second pickups, Longfellow loop. Not feeling particularly inspired or energetic. Left piriformis and hamstring have felt better as well.
Sat 1/20 - AM 45 minutes easy, similar to Wednesday's run with a mix of rail trail and roads in Maynard. Less snow to deal with, or at least it's more packed down.
Sun 1/21 - AM 40 minutes incl. track DNF. Disappointing and to be honest demoralizing stinker. Not that I've been feeling like a million bucks lately but I thought I had developed some modest fitness. Even if that's the case, it's clear that I'm too tired to use it at the moment. Felt the fatigue from the moment I woke up and no amount of caffeine was going to help. Still, I had no idea it would be so hard to run 38 second laps, something that lasted for the first km before I could feel myself starting to fade. Hit the mile in around 5:08 or so, not that far off my seed time in fact. However, given I thought the seed time was conservative and I was running DFL by a solid 20 yards at that point there was no reason to continue. The unimpressive effort felt like it was much more strenuous in terms of the aftermath, with the post-race headache and general muscle soreness.
Tue 1/16 - PM 55 minutes incl. 7x600. Idea was to start at 3k pace and work down from there. While the pace at the start was slower than 3k (I hope) and the 3.5 minute recoveries seemed extravagantly long, the pace did drop particularly on the third rep and again on the last two. Ran the final rep alone after having company the first six and the difference was telling, at my limit and not able to match the penultimate split time. Splits:
2:00, 1:58.8, 15:4.8, 1:53.7, 1:52.8, 1:48.1, 1:49.8
Wed 1/17 - PM 40 minutes very easy. Puttering around after a very late start following another drag-ass tired Wednesday. The typical pattern after these late workouts on Tuesday nights I'm afraid. Taking the zero would have been the more sensible option in hindsight. Ran some on the rail trail which is covered in snow again after the morning's weather. Not too deep but deep enough to be a nuisance.
Thu 1/18 - PM 55 minutes easy. Similar to yesterday but stayed off the snow-covered rail trail. Realized within the first few minutes I was still quite fried and took it easy from there.
Fri 1/19 - PM 50 minutes incl. 6x35 second pickups, Longfellow loop. Not feeling particularly inspired or energetic. Left piriformis and hamstring have felt better as well.
Sat 1/20 - AM 45 minutes easy, similar to Wednesday's run with a mix of rail trail and roads in Maynard. Less snow to deal with, or at least it's more packed down.
Sun 1/21 - AM 40 minutes incl. track DNF. Disappointing and to be honest demoralizing stinker. Not that I've been feeling like a million bucks lately but I thought I had developed some modest fitness. Even if that's the case, it's clear that I'm too tired to use it at the moment. Felt the fatigue from the moment I woke up and no amount of caffeine was going to help. Still, I had no idea it would be so hard to run 38 second laps, something that lasted for the first km before I could feel myself starting to fade. Hit the mile in around 5:08 or so, not that far off my seed time in fact. However, given I thought the seed time was conservative and I was running DFL by a solid 20 yards at that point there was no reason to continue. The unimpressive effort felt like it was much more strenuous in terms of the aftermath, with the post-race headache and general muscle soreness.
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