Getting back to Boston

Snow returns to Arkansas today. Already about an inch when I drove home, still coming down when I ran two hours later. Weather wasn't much of an issue; it was only mid-20s and the white stuff kept drivers inside so I could run on the road for the most part. The damn leg was the issue. It finally loosened up in the last two miles, but that just got it down to a dull ache. Before that, it REALLY hurt. Miserable. But I HTFU and got it done anyway. We'll see what the weather allows tomorrow. Might be time to slide down to Harbortown and use the dreadmill.

Basically a 10K in the snow. Hobbled the first three miles in 10+ pace. After some stretching, found it felt better to run faster, and ran the last 3.2 in 8:41 pace. I'm supposed to do 12 tomorrow with 2 at GMP. Don't know if that's going to work. They're gonna have to open up Ben Geren, for one thing; I ain't running the hills around here, nor am I going to run 8 laps around the mall. Got the run in, though. Now to decide if I'm gonna watch the BCS game (remember, the C is silent).

Thirteen miles of slog today in just over 2 hours. Temp about 25, wind same. Which meant I spent about six miles running dead into it. Tried to run 2 at GMP; might have managed 1.25. Might being the key word. I can definitely tell that I've missed a bunch of training because of the AT and the sciatica. I now have 96 days to correct that. But today's a good step toward doing just that.

Intervals on the dreadmill at Harbortown today. I was going by there to sign my new lease, so thought I'd kill two birds and get a workout in. Bad move. Until that place gets some kind of fan, or I bring my own, horrible place to run. Turned the AC on at 60 degrees, no help; still felt like I was running in a sauna. And the weather outside was not bad -- below freezing, but sunny and little wind. Running in track pants at SHS would have been fine. Note for next time... Also did a little upper body work, just to say I did, a few butterflys.

Anyway, the plan was 6 X 800 at 5K pace with 400 jog intervals, warm up/cool down 1.5 miles, total of 7.25. Pulled it off, except most of my intervals were walked. I chalk that up to the lack of air flow in that room. I was frankly surprised at how well my legs handled it. I'm having more discomfort now sitting here than I did running. Cardiovascular discomfort, and heat stress, yeah. But the legs handled it OK. My 5K pace is what I would like it to be, about 6:58. I probably would have done that if Iron Pig had actually been 5K instead of 2.76 (I averaged 6:50 for the 2.76). But it wasn't.

Easy run at Ben Geren with strides and drills tacked on the end. Wound up at 8.04, four strides, dipsy-doos, high knees, and buttkicks. Wasn't a great run, didn't need to be. Leg acted up more than I'd like, but got through it. Evidently the leg will have good days and bad. I just have to hope the bad days become less frequent as well as less severe. Already done 34 miles since Monday; this should wind up as a 50-plus week.

Also volunteered myself to set up an FE at an Italian restaurant in Boston the night before the race. Already have three attendees (counting me). I'll try and drum up some more later if I don't get more inquiries. Just wanted to get our foot in the door. There will be other forumites there at 6, my group arrives at 7.

Progression run tonight at Cross Park, 12 laps around the lake. Seven laps, 4.00 miles, moderate effort. Hard progression for four laps (2.29 miles) -- 8:31, 8:19, 8:20, and the11th lap at 7:50, just about GMP. Then jogged a lap to cool down. Probably the toughest progression run I've done in a while. Considering I didn't sleep worth a darn last night and worked 11 hours today -- plus was fighting nausea for a while -- I'm quite pleased with it.

Plan either tempo intervals or an easy run tomorrow night, and the other one on Sunday to complete what would be about a 55-mile week. And, best of all, the leg was virtually no issue at all. It's yapping at me right now, but didn't act up during the run at all, and very little during the day. I wish I knew what I could do to have more days like today, other than sit a lot and stand up as little as possible.

Pure recovery run tonight. No progression, no nothing. Got a tiny bit faster as the leg pain resolved, but that's all. Did 6.20 after work, which was kinda dumb in that I didn't wear lights or reflectors or nuthin', but no major close calls. That puts me over 50 miles for the calendar week, which is the first in quite a while. I'll have to dig out the old log to find out how long. May well be since before Memphis, which would be 14 months or more. (Addendum: It was mid-April, so nine months back. Still, it's been a while -- and I took a day off that week.)