THE MYTH

Thursday = hill workout. I went to a different neighborhood that had a shorter (75 seconds versus 90 seconds) but steeper hill than Tuesday’s workout. To make up for the shorter hill, I ran two repeats during each circuit. After the two repeats, I ran to the bottom and did 2 x 40 second strides. I did that circuit 4 times for a total of 8 hills and 8 strides. The total workout ended up being a 30 minute warm-up, 42 minutes on the hill and an 18 minute cool-down for 11 miles.

Again, these hill repeats are a bounding motion rather than just “normal” hill repeats where you try to hammer up as fast as possible. I focused on driving my knees up, pushing off with my toes and moving vertical, not horizontal.

I still think I need to find a bigger hill. Adding a second repeat helped, but with the rest in between, it’s not quite the same as a long repetition. There’s a perfect hill near my house. I think I’ll try that next week and then just sit in traffic if I have to.

Friday = strong run with Scott. I had a nice run around Lake Calhoun with Scott this morning. Spring must be in the air because there were a lot of runners and walkers out this morning. I just wish it’d warm up a little. We’ve been stuck in this pattern of 25 degree mornings and 30-35 degree afternoons. It’s March 24th already – LET’S GO!

I’ve probably mentioned this numerous times, but I like running with Scott because he keeps the pace honest. It’s not so fast that it counts as a workout or so fast that I can’t handle the pace the day after a hill workout. But it is faster than I’d go by myself. Had I been alone, I’d probably just run 8:00-8:15 pace and call it a day. Instead, we got in 8 miles (plus 1 with the dog), probably around 7:15 pace.

Quote of the day:
“The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus