BASS-ACKWARDS

I managed a very easy 6 miles yesterday morning. I had time for 8, but not the desire. My legs were as tired as they’ve been in a long time. It’s really no surprise given my last 4 days of training; 11 miles of hills, 9 strong miles, 14 miles of hills and 18 miles. I did manage to go to bed at 8:15 on Sunday night and 8:45 on Monday night, so that helped in the sleep department.

Even though my training group is running hills tonight, I decided to go by myself this morning. During this 3-4 week hill phase, I want to focus on bounding/springing up the hills, not just getting to the top. In addition, I’m adding in some 200 meter strides – something the training group doesn’t do.

It’s amazing what a very easy day will do. My legs bounced back nicely for this morning’s workout. I did decide to run from my house because there’s a great hill nearby. It’s in a park with a loop that’s nearly a mile long. The first part of the loop is about a 3-minute steep uphill, followed by a 5-minute gradual downhill. The hardest part of the hill took about 1:45 to bound up, then it leveled off a little, but I kept bounding for another 1:15. After running fairly hard down the hill, I did two 40-second strides. These were done on a gradual downhill – free speed – to help boost leg turnover. I managed 4 complete circuits for 11 miles in 88 minutes.

During my cool-down I was thinking about how I have things bass-ackwards. While I was in college (during my running prime), I was busy studying and trying to prepare for a career. Now that I’m working, I’m more focused on my running. Who knows what would have happened if I’d focused on running while in college and working afterwards?

Quote of the day:
“I was out training one black night when I heard a noise. I turned around and saw a leopard. I threw some stones at him and he went away, so I went on my way.” Filbert Bayi, on training in Tanzania