New Workout

I always enjoy when my training schedule throws something new at me. Today was 6 X 1 minute hill repetitions, with a 2 mile warm-up and 2 mile cool down. It ended up being challenging for sure, but wasn't as taxing as I thought it might be.

My legs were still not fully recovered this morning and it was raining, so I elected to run after work. The rain was supposed to stop before my shift ended, but now it is supposed to continue all night. That was frustrating, but I had to head out and get the run done. I drove to Lloyd Hall. There isn't much worse than rain on a cold day.

I ran an easy mile out and another mile back along Kelly Drive. I then got into my 1 minute hill repetitions on the side of the Art Museum. There were to be done at a 3K pace. I still don't quite have a great feel for how fast that is though. I ran the first one pretty hard and it was difficult. The surprising thing is how long a minute uphill actually is. Staying strong mentally through that time is really the hardest part.

The one good thing is that it wasn't the steepest hill. It made for a good workout, but the incline wasn't overly difficult. That said, after a few of them, I was quite gassed.

I just focused on one repeat at a time. I was very happy when I got through 3 of them. I knew I'd finish at that point. My legs got a little sore towards the end and my IT band acted up a little bit, but it wasn't too bad. I was very happy with the workout.

The 2 miles easy following the repetitions were a little tough. It just seemed to take forever and the IT band was sore. I've felt much worse though. I stretched out quite well afterward. It was a challenging workout, but didn't leave me as taxed as I thought I'd be.

Tomorrow is a 10 mile progression run (last 6 miles moderate). I'm hoping to take my car and head out to Pennypack Park. I'd like to run with some more hills and challenge myself. It is supposed to snow later in the week and I need to get in as much of my running as I can. Luckily, Thursday and Friday aren't too difficult. One is 6 miles easy with hill sprints and the other is 8 miles easy.

6.12 miles - 48:39 (7:57 pace)