Training Log 02/08/2024

A cold, clear early morning for a run. You know it’s cold when your water bottle partially freezes up. Whatever.

It seemed darker than usual. Harder to see potholes in the dark-gray asphalt roads. It also affects my stride a bit, since variations in the surface profile, e.g., some patch or small dip, can’t really be seen.

Today’s run was a 13.09 mile rolling hills route. Pace was 9:58. Weight was 148.6. Total climb was about 595 feet.

Training Log 02/06/2024

Another nice, cool early morning for a run. Temperature around 28 degrees and a cold wind. Some days you feel like the route is challenging you and other days you feel like you’re out there to challenge the route. Today was the latter case. My kind of run.

Today’s run was a 9 (or so) mile rolling hills route. Pace was 9:51. Weight was 147.8. Total climb was about 460 feet.

Training Log 02/02/2024

A rather damp, mild early morning for a run. Some of the roads have those tar strips to seal cracks — those can get slick when they’re wet. Felt good to get in a mid-distance run. Up the distance, then work on pace.

Today’s run was an 11.17 mile rolling hills route. Pace was 10:01. Weight was 147.0. Total climb was 595 feet.

Training Log 02/01/2024

No issues with the knee or ankle this morning. A rotting galvanized steel pipe started to leak in the basement on Tuesday, and that trumped any road work. Took all day to fix (I’m not a professional plumber). Tuesday evening I noticed a twinge in the right knee. Hmmm. I decided to take Wednesday off to see if it was transient. No issues this morning. One more “whew.” I’m probably paranoid and overreact when I feel anything.

Today’s run was a 5.26 mile hills route. Pace was 9:38. Weight was 146.8. Total climb was about 320 feet.

Training Log 01/29/2024

A snowy morning. Fortunately, I could wait a bit until the roads cleared off a bit. Breezy and about 30 degrees.

Ankle felt fine again. That’s a relief. Now it’s time to get back to it.

Today’s run was a recovery-ish 2.18 mile rather flat route. Pace was 9:38. Weight was 146.8. Total climb was about 90 feet.

Training Log 01/28/2024

More good news. No issues with the ankle on a run today. It was a mild (for January) very early morning. Went out early both to get back to running at that time and also to avoid a messy winter storm heading right for us. Later in the morning it first started to rain, then sleet, and as I type this it’s snow. Hopefully it’ll move out in time to get roads clear for early tomorrow morning.

So glad that the ankle and knee aren’t an issue. I actually stepped in a pothole or two and didn’t notice anything complaining. Lots of potholes these days.

Today’s run was a 9 mile rolling hills route. Maybe a bit longer if I include dodging potholes ;-]. Pace was 9:45. Weight was 147.8. Total climb was 480 feet.

Training Log 01/27/2024

Twisted by ankle (ugh!) a few days ago, and today’s the first day to try some work. The least stressful is the indoor trainer, so start with that and see how it goes. Good news: not bad at all. Dodged a bullet. I’ll take it. A few years ago I thought I twisted an ankle (stepped on golf ball-sized debris along a 12.5 mile route twice) but in fact I torqued my knee around and lost the majority of 2022 as a result.

Today’s ride was a 32-minute stiff workout on the indoor trainer.

Training Log 01/24/2024

Woke up to snow-covered roads. Nuts. If roads like mine are still covered, then the side roads I now run on are definitely bad. I’m funny this way, but, given a choice, I’d prefer to not risk getting hit by a car sliding around on a hill. There could very well be black ice under that snow. OK, switch gears: move today’s run to tomorrow and put in some work on the indoor trainer.

Today’s ride was a 32 minute stiff workout on the indoor trainer. The legs are still letting me know that it wasn’t a trivial workout.

Training Log 01/20/2024

A rather frigid morning for a run. Temperature was around 12 with a stiff, bitter breeze. Really freezes the face off. Lots of ice along the berms as well.

The route I had planned to run is at the Blue Hills ski ares. I bet that it’s totally snow/ice covered. Didn’t think of that until yesterday.

Today’s run was five loops around a route that includes a short, 10+% grade hill Total distance was 4.65 miles. Pace was 9:38. Total climb about 365 feet. Weight was 146.2.

Training Log 01/18/2024

A brisk, cold early morning. Temperature around 15 degrees and breezy. The snow has taken away much of the road berms. Glad I adjusted my routes to be more on side streets.

It’s the first day back on the road after the race on Sunday. Didn’t feel too bad. Legs were a bit tired. Doesn’t matter — it’s training time.

Today’s run was a rolling 9 mile route. Pace was 9:47. Total climb was about 460 feet. Weight was 147.0.