the daily runaround: Training Log (6/18-624)

SUN - AM: 15 miles. New England Championships 5K at MIT, 1st, 15:53. Basically, I won the battle of attrition at the humid hellhole otherwise known as the Steinbrenner track. Not a bad effort really coming off a Mayall-like episode of insomnia. See last week's exclusive post for a more detailed recap.

MON - AM: 2 hours, 17 miles. 93 degrees, 85 % humidity and due to various circumstances I was forced to run at 11:30. Finished with enough salt caked on my hat to season a small steak.

TUES - AM: 42:15, 6 miles. Solo from home, starting off at a snail's pace and working down to that of an excited turtle. PM: 60:25, 9 miles. Headed out to Holyoke to run with Matty-Mulv at the Ashley Reservoir. Nice run with a good pal and fellow Sox nut on a pleasant (albeit humid) evening in Western Mass. Never short on drama in towns west of my neck of the woods, a toothless local lady offered us an extra Big Mac for dinner while we were stretching in the parking lot after the run. Luckily, I remembered what my mom told me about taking food from strangers and we wisely settled on grabbing some grub at Friendly's instead.

WEDS - AM: 35:15, 5 miles. Felt like total ass from the time I rolled out of bed until Mile 1 or so, at which point feelings of anality thankfully subsided. PM: 12 miles. Meat-n-potatoes workout of 3 x mile w/3:30 recovery at Bentley. 4:50, 4:53, 4:47, followed by 4 x 200 w/1 min recovery in 33.38, 32.42, 31.57, 31.73. Pretty easy workout given the copious amounts of recovery. Closed the last mile with a 69-second final lap, which was encouraging.

THURS - AM: 46:40, 7 miles. Out in 24:30, back in 22:10 w/Adam Ten out at my beloved Rail Trail. 5:58, 6:02, 5:58 for the last three miles. PM: 95 minutes, 14 miles. Easy run in the Lincoln Woods with Terry, Matt Ely, Voce, Greg Ward and a fella named Eric. Probably a touch under 14, but the AM run was just over 7, so it all evens out.

FRI - AM: 67:55, 10 miles. Solo to start, then picked up Adam and McKay for the second half of the run. PM: 27:45, 4 miles. Solo from home before an unexpected late night at work. 6 Driscollesque strides to spin the wheels a bit. With the apocolypse apparently approaching outside, I headed out a little earlier than planned, just to make sure I got my run in if this was indeed the case.

SAT - AM: 79 minutes, 11 miles. Concurrent mileage and intensity increase, along with recent lack of sleep and accompanying fatigue are proving to be a potentially lethal combination. This brilliant revelation led me to wisely scratch this morning's tempo in favor of an easy run on the roads with Voce and Pat Callahan. Good run, albeit a tired one. I'll push it a bit tomorrow.

WEEK TOTALS: 110 miles, 11 runs. Good week with a decent race on Sunday considering the conditions. I got through Monday's long run as best I could and I'm happy with Wednesday's workout for this stage of the game. Things are slowly starting to click and my confidence is growing each week. 110 marks a new weekly mileage PR and although tired, I seem to be handling the jump well. The plan is for another couple weeks of building strength through higher mileage before bringing it down a bit for Stowe on July 16th.