Week 20: Expect a down week

5/27: Off - wedding weekend in Maine.

5/28: Off - schedule was so packed today there was no chance. Work day was 6:30am-7:15 PM followed by dinner and bed.

5/29: Nothing!

5/30: 2.4 miles very, very easy shakeout in the meadows. Testing the knee. I fell on Saturday banging my right knee pretty hard. There's a moderate bruise but no discomfort while running. A little bit of swelling the next morning.

5/31: Off - work then straight to wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

6/1: 2.5 miles with the groomsmen in Portsmouth. Princic sighting!

6/2: 65:14 / 8.4 miles / 7:44 pace. Met up with Wesley at NHPTV for the classic Radar-Foss Farm. Felt better than I expected. As is usually the case after such an inconsistent week, my knee was a little cranky but nothing concerning. Beautiful weather.

Week #19

5/20: 7 miles / 7:20 pace - on the rail trail in Epping with JVG. 83 degrees, moderately humid made for the first real warm run of the year. I definitely got a little dehydrated and overheated in the last 20 minutes and struggled to get home BUT this was a great start to the week! Great company per usual. Heel was tight but not painful to start and way less stiff in the evening than usual so I think things are sorting themselves out.

5/21: 5.32 miles / 8:07 pace - out and back in the Meadows, 25:00 out, 23:13 back. Cool and very blustery. Kept things easy which has been hard for me to do... especially since being out of shape makes most paces feel at least a little rough. Kept an eye out for widow-makers.

5/22: rest day. Just trying to be smart, which was extra challenging because it was absolutely PERFECT out. Took Connor for a 1.5 mi hike in the Meadows. He snored the entire time.

5/23: 5.6 miles to spruce hole and back in College Woods. Felt alright. Hoped I'd have felt a little stronger after a rest day.

5/24: 4.6 miles in the Meadows targeting single-track. Felt pretty sluggish.

5/25: 8.3 miles completing the full Sweet Trail out and back with Drew and Max. This was a great run.

5/26: Off - wedding weekend in Maine.

Summary: Good start to the week with some great running. The weekend was a bit of a lost cause with learning how to travel with an infant and arriving just an hour before the wedding festivities began. This coming week is going to be challenging with another wedding, this time in which I'm a groomsman with festivities starting on Friday and carrying through the weekend. Oy!

Weeks #13-18

4/8: Off - Baby!
4/9: Off - Return from the hospital
4/10: Off - Getting used to things
4/11: Off - Getting used to things
4/12: Off - Getting used to things
4/13: 5.7 mi mountain bike ride / 51:17 - first time truly out on the mountain bike. Trails were pretty saturated. Rode slowly just getting the hang out things. In the Meadows.
4/14: Off

Pretty much a lost week but for good reason!

4/15: Off
4/16 Off
4/17:  3.3 mi run / 34 minutes easy with dad who was visiting. First run in a long time. Felt bad!
4/18 Off
4/19: 33 min mountain bike ride but mostly on roads exploring the area north of Lucas Pond
4/20 Off
4/21: 48:37 mountain bike with Cox and Bass. Raining. Crashed once but it was a gentle fall. Riding in a group was helpful. I could see and understand the lines they were taking. Definitely took the single track to the next level!

A couple days of exercise has been good for the mind and body.

4/22: 40:29 mountain bike ride solo in the Meadows.
4/23 - Off
4/24: 54:56 mountain bike ride in college Woods to the bog and out to Radar before eating it on skinny trail. Good hard ride. Found a few trails I'd never been on in College Woods. Trails were soaked.
PM: Meadows trail run with Joe. 4.6 miles. Felt wildly bad but hey! first double.
4/25 67 minute mountain bike ride with a group of 7 in Bear Brook. Amazingly fun trails. I wish I lived a tiny bit closer.
4/26: 1.5 mile trail jog just to get something in. Night time run.
4/27: 2.1 mil trail jog.
4/28:: 15 minute trail run behind CBNA.

Getting moving again. My sleep deprived brain benefits from getting outside. Exercised 6 out of 7 days which was huge!

4/29: 39 minute mountain bike clumsy and not in it today.
4/30 33:40 mountain bike ride
5/1 85:30 mountain bike mostly on roads.
5/2 66 minute run on the Sweet Trail solo felt good!
5/3 42 minute mountain bike
5/4 44:41 trail run checked out the boulder, ledges and hill loop in from the CBNA trail at the Meadows.
5/5 39:46 mountain bike ride. Heal was sore. Feels like mild PF. I wanted to run a bit today but opted not to.

This was a big week! Feeling stronger and stronger on the bike. 5 rides, 2 runs and no missed days.

5/6: 21 minute run / 3 miles/ 6:55 pace was all I had time for. 4 hrs of sleep last night and first day back at work. Time to adjust, yet again.
5/7: Off. things happen.
5/8: "5.5" miles in 51 minutes on the Sweet Trail. Pretty warm, dry day. According to trail markers, the GPS could be shorting me by up to a mile. But, the trail is very technical and I was dehydrated so I didn't feel great, turning around and cutting things short by 2.5 miles.
5/9: 5.5 miles / 45 minutes on the roads with the girls' squad in Durham. Beautiful day for a run.
5/10: Off - womp
5/11: 67:45 / 7/8 mi trail run in the Meadows with Wes and Joe. Climb on Saddleback was challenging but I'm feeling stronger.
5/12: 75 min bike ride on trails and a little bit of road in Durham. Set Strava segment PRs all over the place which was fun. Cleared the Oyster River trail to Spruce Bog in both directions which was a first. Fun solo ride.

Summary: Four runs, one good bike session. Not bad for the first week back at work with a baby at home. Days off this week mixed with some easy-moderate efforts seemed to be a good balance but I'm hoping to keep it closer to six days on, one off. I'm hopeful to get my runs closer to 60 minutes as an average and I think I'm ready to get my rides up to 90 minutes. I've forgotten about core recently so it's time to get back on it.

5/13: 3 miles: 6:47, 9:01, 6:54 on Meadows Trails. The temp must have dropped 10 degrees by the time I got there and it started to rain so I called it early. Felt good to push it a little bit on the climb coming back. 1 x 60 push-ups.
5/14: 0 - Nothing! Zilch! Nada! Baby shenanigans sidelined me today. Nasty day out so I'm not super disappointed.
5/15: 4.1 miles last couple at 7:00 pace. 6x100m strides afterwards. Trying to dial in my form a bit. Hips feel tight as I get below 5:20 pace. Time for the foam roller!
5/16: 5.6 miles harder than usual in the Meadows. Pushed really hard up Saddleback mountain road narrowly missing the Strava segment there.
5/17: Off - amazingly stressful day at work. Needed a run but my heel was extra cranky after yesterday's run.
5/18: Off - Another rest day for the heel. Felt pretty good going for a couple walks with Connor in the ergo-carrier.
5/19: 7.1 miles / 63 minutes - with Wesley in College Woods after a couple days off. Heel felt completely normal but stiffened up later in the evening.

Summary: Not a bad week but not great. 4 runs, 0 bike rides, 3 days off, no core work. Happy with the run on Sunday. My heel has been showing signs of a little PF but it's not presenting like it usually does. There's basically a single square centimeter that is sore to the touch and my whole heel feels tight after running but everything clears up by the next morning.