Week Three: Day Six

Today is Day Six and this would be the day that I would have done my speedwork on the track. When looking at my training schedule I couldn't get my head around what they wanted me to do exactly. The discription for today's speedwork was this: "2 miles at 10-K pace, 2 x 1 mile at 5-K pace, 2 x 800 meters at slightly faster than 5-K pace, with 5 minutes recovery after the 2-mile and 3 minutes recovery after the miles and 800."
After a long blank gaze and some head scratching I figured that the only way I could do this was on a track. One mile alone equals 4 times around a 400m track and honestly I didn't like the idea of my just running and running and running around the track seeing the same old thing over and over again. It wasn't the kind of workout that I would be enthusiastic about. I also couldn't figure out if the 2 5-K miles were consecutive followed by 2 consecutive 800 meter runs or was it 1 mile-800m-recover-1 mile-800m- recover. I'm thinking its the latter...but that was a lot of running in circles for me to be doing by myself with no headphones or anything.
I remembered reading about how important it is to incorporate hillwork into your training for any sort of running. My half marathon training plan didn't include any of it and I decided that I was going to deviate from the plan today and do my interval training up a hill instead. No running in circles! Yay!

I was supposed to get up at 5:30 today but I ended up getting out of bed at about 5:45. Not that big of a difference but I wanted to be on the road by 6:45 and I needed an hour to digest breakfast...so today was another breakfast smoothie day so I could still get out there early.


Strawberries, oats and almond milk smoothie with whey protein.











Today is also the first day that I've noticed exactly how much my legs have filled out. I now have to put Vaseline on my inner thighs when I wear my shorts because what used to be roomy running shorts are now turning into fitted pum-pum shorts and they are starting to chafe me. I bought them only a few months ago!

I planned out my route so that I could run straight from my house to the hill that I chose to use for my training. This route would take me over a few small hills to start before I ran down the steep one that I chose and there I would turn around and begin the interval work.
I made sure to stretch properly before my run. The first few minutes of my 'easy run' felt like the warm up mile of the tempo session before. I wasn't pushing hard but for a while it felt like I wasn't getting anywhere. When I reached the base of the first small hill I wasn't enthusiastic about running up it but I kept going and was surprised to see that my pace quickened slightly on the incline and I made it over with a bit more confidence. I was wondering if I should just do my hillwork there but the mean coach in me said 'No!'...Jerk. So I had to keep going.
I reached the second small hill which was more of a steady incline than the last and I wondered if I should do my hillwork there instead of the steep hill I chose for myself...but I had gotten this far and I may as well try to run up the big hill. Soon after that I found myself plodding down the steep hill of my choice and wondering how the heck I was going to do this.
My training was to be this: Ten 200 meter uphill intervals. I was going to run 200 meters up the hill as fast as I could manage and then walk or slowly jog my way back to the start and do that ten times. Standing at the bottom of the hill I wondered if I could even do it two times! But there was only one way to find out. I took a deep breath and bounded up the hill as fast as I could. I didn't time myself, but I'm happy with the speed that I worked at. The first 100m was the steepest part of the hill and I always did that the fastest. Once it leveled a little the incline was steadier but I always found that part more difficult. It wasn't the easiest hill but I was doing it.


This is the base of the hill. It curves up and keeps going and going...











This is just about where the first photo cuts off...










Where the other photo cuts off. I stopped about two telephone posts higher than this photo shows.
(taken from my car)






After doing it twice I began doubting myself again but this is where you have to tell your conscience to just shut up and do it...and it really wasn't so bad once I got to the fifth and sixth time. My body seemed to like the new workout and when I approached each interval I felt stronger and a slight indifference to how many more intervals were left. Maybe this is where breakfast kicked in.
I finished all ten and jogged back down the hill feeling proud of myself.
If I had to try to do more I think I could have managed about two more intervals comfortably and then it would have started to take its toll. Ten was enough though and I still had to jog a couple miles back home.
After running that hill over and over the flats seemed to glide under me like I was on a treadmill. The run back was so much easier than the way there and the small hills that I had to go over seemed like jokes. Of course, they were nothing compared to home stretch. I think I must be slightly masochistic. You see, to get to my house you have to go up a monstrously steep hill that a lot of people don't even want to drive up. I still went ahead and allowed it to be the last hurdle of my workout. I ran up to the bottom of my hill and for a moment I stopped and just stared at it. I contemplated walking up it...but my inner trainer piped up again and called me a chicken. And that just wouldn't do. I also realized that this hill was all that was standing between me and a shower, protein shake and a NAP!


The hill doesn't end there. The tree is blocking the last of it.












And yes...I made it up! Huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf I ran straight through my front door into my shower. The whole workout from beginning to end took me about an hour and twenty minutes. I'm so glad that I decided not to go to the track. It was well worth the challenge.

After my shower and protein shake I really wanted to take a nap before work. Just as I started to doze off I heard this very sad little whimper and I turned over to find this:



Play? Play now? Play now Mom? Now? Please? Lemme up then? Help? Can I come up? Now now? Please?










How can you ignore that face? He manged to jump up into the bed followed by the cat and they both proceeded to walk all over me and then harass each other so I had to get up and part them.
No rest for the wicked. Eventually they nodded off side by side. Lucky I had my phone handy.

The cat is plopped on his favourite sleeping place, my laptop. You can see a print out of my training plan under the Daily Bread book.

They slept more than I did...
But yeah...what more do you really need after a run than a heavy helping of pet cuteness?







Then off to work! I nibbled on some rye bread and peanut butter as a mid-morning snack and then lunch was more grocery sushi as I didn't have time to cook. The sushi was a plain salmon roll and then I had a large orange not too long after.

The power nap was just enough and I feel refreshed! On to the rest of day six!

Tomorrow is Day seven which is yoga yoga yoga!

P.S...my backside is on fire.