Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The Hills are alive...

... with the sounds of my panting! Sexy huh? Well if you were on the Cady Way last night that's all you would've heard as I did hill repeats on the bridge. This bridge:



The closest thing to a hill I have to work with 'round here. I did 4 repeats on it (repeats being up, over & back again) with a total distance of just over a half mile each repeat. It was my first official Hill workout EVER and also of the new training plan Coach EK put together. I was hauling major @ss each repeat and basically wanted to die at the end but it was def worth it; I felt like I had totally OWNED that hill when I was finished. (Side Note: I have got to figure out something regarding when/where I do hills; it gets too dark too early and it was pitch black when I finished up = NOT Safe Solo!!! Perhaps I can convince Lazy Runner to start doing Clermont with me... hmmm...) Anyway, my wretched, always inaccurate, Nike+ told me that I had done 2.6 mi @ 8:30 pace but when I got home and mapped it out on MapMyRun the final tally was 2.48 mi @ 7:49 pace! Ummm... SLOW DOWN SPEEDY McSPEEDERSON!!! Holy Guacamole that is NOT the 8:55 pace Coach EK had on the training plan! Whoops! Needless to say this is just another example of why I need a friggin' Garmin. *sigh*

After kicking my own @ss on the hills I had a dinner date with Beaker Luv and Baby RJ. It was so great catching up with my Beaker Luv and um seriously... this kid is going to be the death of me! He is so friggin' cute, makes me laugh so much and I just want to snuggle him FOREVER!!! Just look at him and tell me you wouldn't go ga-ga over him?!?!? Happiest baby ever!

This morning I had 4 mi @ 10:00 pace on deck but opted to xtrain instead; So down to the complex gym I went for a good cardio bike session followed by some leg/calf presses. I know mileage is important in marathon training but I've decided that at least every other week I'm going to nix that 4 miler in lieu of some xtraining. According to my training plan, Sundays leave me the option to run or not and since I adore working out the kinks from the Long Run with Deputy S, I'm going to keep that run on deck and use my trade up run this way instead. Personally I think it's a win/win situation; I only loose out on a few miles every other week, which isn't so bad considering Deputy S and I always run 5 milers instead of the plan's scheduled 4, and I get in xtraining which I'm used to having weekly. See... win/win.

On deck for the rest of the week I have a 6 miler tomorrow, of which at least 3 mi will be with Therese keeping with our weekly Wednesday tradition, pace work (not to be confused with speed work) on Thursday, OUC 5k (part of the OUC Half Marathon & 5k) on Saturday & finally a 14 miler Long Run on Sunday. Yup... marathon training is in full swing once again!

I hope ya'll are having a fantabulous week thus far, I know I for one am absolutely READY for the weekend already...

43 comments:

Therese said...

I am so glad to hear you sucked it up and did some cross training! See the condo gyms aren't so bad in the morning!

I will see you bright and early my friend :)

Marlene said...

Is it Friday yet?!


Nice hill (/speed) workout. Um, maybe that pace is why you were sucking wind! haha. Way to bust some redhead bootie.

That boy is TOO CUTE. I got to hang with my BFF's 4 month old yesterday and my uterus aches for a baby when I see him.

(But don't worry, I get my senses back when he has a poopy bum or starts to cry - heh)

RunningLaur said...

Yay for 'hill' work!

unathleticrunner said...

Great working with what you got with hills! Check out Ebay for Garmins---tis the season--it's probably on sale! Good luck! :)

unathleticrunner said...

Great working with what you got with hills! Check out Ebay for Garmins---tis the season--it's probably on sale! Good luck! :)

Harold B Photography said...

Well it is Christmas....maybe someone will buy you a Garmin!

NY Wolve said...

Hills in Florida? Hmmm. When I was running at the beach, the highest point of elevation was... 11 feet above sea level. Lowest: 3 feet. Good luck with that!

Viper said...

Nice job on the hills. Believe it or not, you can track distance and pace without a Garmin. But then again, I'm probably in the minority with my anti-Garmin perspective. Cheers!

Kate said...

Great hill workout! I am pretty jealous that that is the only hill you have to work with... there's about 1 flat mile in Charlottesville. And to get to it I have to go downhill 2 miles and then to get home it's uphill 2 miles.

I love my garmin :) I got a really good deal on Amazon and I totally don't regret it for a second (and I'm a poor college student, so that's saying something.)

Jon said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

7:49 pace with hills is SUPER fast. Congrats!

Mel -Tall Mom on the Run said...

Is there any one you can ask for a Garmin for Christmas girly? I know you have OCD, but you need to join the DARK SIDE..

Good work on the hilly hills, you are a rockstar.

Wow that is one CUTIE PIE..so smiley.

Back at the training...Woot!

shellyrm said...

No working Garmin here either. I love MapMyRun!! Although I have found that it is not always accurate (compared to some runner I used my prev1ously working Garmin on) but it is close enough till I break down and replace the Garmin (pain).

He is so cute!! Love that smile!

Great job cross training. Someday I'll get back to that.

Have a joyful week.

Jeri said...

I think the more you make your training program work for you, the more beneficial it will be. XT is good for you, so no harm in swapping it out every once in a while. That little guy is sooooo stinkin' cute. :D

Jennifer Juniper said...

You should run by my house, all I have are hills!

EZEthan said...

Better watch out on those hill workouts... they sound suspiciously like your dreaded nemesis speedwork in disguise...

RunToTheFinish said...

i swear vacations just make me itch for the next vacation!!

hot dang look at that speed!

Steel Springs said...

Wow! Great job on those hills!

J said...

I am ready for the weekend too! This whole work thing gets in the way of all the stuff i have to do!

lindsay said...

blech. hills. but nice job overachieving on the pace!

i am always ready for the weekend. why can't i just win the lottery and retire?

Amber (Girl with the red hair) said...

Nice job on the hill training! I LIVE on a giant mountain, so unless I want to drive somwhere to run (which I often do, actually) all of my training is on hills.

When I trained for my first half I had no vehicle so I did all my training in my neighbourhood. Omg, it was painful. Took me over 2 hours to do my first ever 10-miler because of all the friggin hills. BUT they did leave me feeling prepared that's for sure. And now, I actually kind of like that burning feeling. Crazy, right? Haha

Brandi said...

Boo for hillwork!! But seriously at that pace? Goodness girl!! Good job!!!

And what an adorable baby! Now put him at the top of the hill and that might just motivate me to do some hill repeats!

Anonymous said...

What a cute baby!!! His parents must have good genes...I think they should make 10 more :) Love you!!!

aron said...

nice job on the speedy run!!! i think santa needs to bring you a garmin!

Coach EK said...

Hmmmm. 2.48 miles @ 7:49 per mile? I thought I made you a marathon training plan, not a 5K training plan.

Not that I have ever, ever run a workout too fast. Of course not.

I've got my eye on you....

Fair Weather Runner said...

wow nice speed. i feel you on the hills, there are about two spots in this town where i can find ONE good hill. it's sad and bad for running any hilly race! but congrats. also it sounds like you had a great thanksgiving and i just read all your relay posts (so behind i know) which sounded AMAZING!!

The Laminator said...

Hills, yeeaaacckk...
I hate them for kickin' my butt every time but then love them when I'm passing people on those hilly races...What gives?
You've got such speedy legs for so early in your marathon training...great job!

TallGuySurfing said...

Sounds like you have a FUN weekend ahead! Enjoy it! :-)

Spike said...

a 5K then a 14M, ouch, sounds like a terrible weekend; at least you had an awesome hills workout.

and don't you know someone who can give you their old Garmin?

Yasi said...

That baby does seem happy and cute to boot! Do they need a sitter? Kidding..I'm ready for the weekend too, and it's only Tuesday?! And what, it's December?!

That Pink Girl said...

Hill repeats and the best (and the worst) all at the same time! Way to go!

Rookie on the Run said...

That IS an adorable baby!! I love babies... especially smiling, happy ones!!

Great job on the hill repeats! I hope you find a way to do them when it's not getting dark out. :p

GatorAte said...

I'm no coach, but I'm all for the cross-training to replace the Tuesday recovery run. I did that on the BRA plan training for Chicago and it got me to Boston. I think it's important to get some leg strength training into the mix.

Of course I also replaced the Wednesday mid-long run with a hash...

trialsoftraining said...

0.5 mi for a hill repeat is killer! even if it's not *too* steep, that's a gooood workout, speedy!! ;)

I like your idea of nixing the easy 4 with some x-training - might have to be my strategy too!

B.o.B. said...

Ok so baby RJ is absolutely adorable. I love him.

Yay for crosstraining. You should get more in tomorrow. :)

Mel-2nd Chances said...

checking out your blog since we've been paired up for the gift exchange! But, while you did hint about it in your post..... don't be expecting a Garmin in the mail :D You can email me at mel.2ndchances [at] gmail [dot] com

Katie A. said...

Awesome speed/hill workout girly! And you are smart to add in that xtraining - I need to get on that!

Adam said...

Nice work on the hills! yeah, you need to do something about that Nike+. Having data that is junk would be really annoying.

The Shabby Princess said...

Speedy!!! My legs are jealous--they will never move that fast!

I did a hill workout today too--it's the first legit hill workout I have done since August. My other hill workouts have consisted of running a hill loop in my neighborhood--yeah, not the same. I hate hills, but, they will make me fast--and since I'm super slow to begin with, this is a good thing!

Annnnd you totally need to stalk eBay for Garmins. That's where I got mine for one sweet deal.

Jill said...

Love love love the baby...I'd be hugging him up all day, too.

Nice hill. It cracked me up since I live in Denver and I can't find a flat spot anywhere.

Good luck with the rest of your week!!

Christy said...

I am in love with hill workouts. Since moving out here to Florida I've been forced to do mine on the treadmill. I much prefer the mountains for that kind of thing. Regardless, I still LOVE hills. Maybe it's the whole kicking your ass thing....

Shelly Rayedeane said...

What a cute picture of the baby!

I just got back from Oregon where I ran with my brother .

Holy crap. I wasn't used to the elevation and it was difficult to control my breathing.

joyRuN said...

I think skipping some of my slow little runs for cross training was great for me to break the monotony. So I'm all for the cross training!

Hills, not so much ;)

Captain Nuts said...

You can always come and run our hills.

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