Hill Training - Day One -

I have been looking at my training outline and dreading the day that I started hill training.  Basically you pick a hill you can run up for approximately 400m and do exactly that.  Run up.  Run down.  Run at the bottom of the hill for a minute to catch your breath and do it all over again.  Tonight was three times up and down the hill. 

According to curriculum notes on the Running Room layout "Hills are a wonderful way to add some resistance to your training.  When you overcome resistance to your training, your muscles get stronger and the intensity of your training increases.  Runners have used hills for decades as a way to increase endurance, strength, and speed."

I don't know what got into me but I found myself having to hold back from all out sprinting up the hill.  It was challenging, and instantly rewarding.  How amazing did it feel to get to the top, turn around and look at what I had conquered.  I was grinning during the last hill and laughing quietly to myself at how much fun I was having.  

Call me crazy...hill training is my new friend.  I can't wait until next Wednesday to add one more trip up and down.  Who knew?

Pain Free

Quick update on my neck:  The day after my massage I was quite sore, my muscles sure got worked.  The next day I rolled my shoulders back in a stretch and tilted my head at an odd angle and CRUNCH - my neck cracked in a way I have never, ever felt before.  My co-worker thought I had broken my neck.  My bones shifted and presto, no pain.  Nothing.  No pain since.  I am convinced my god of a massage therapist relaxed my muscles enough that my neck could correct itself.  I am forever grateful to him.  Thank you Matthew!

Elk Lake 10 km

I ran the 10km loop around Elk Lake yesterday for the first time.  I am so blessed to have such a beautiful place to run.  My run felt a bit hard at the beginning and I had to keep reminding myself that this was my long, slow run and to take my time and enjoy it.  I learned that I prefer to not listen to music when running outside.  I find it very distracting.  It is easier to pace myself when I can listen to my breathing and focus on my form.  The sun broke through the clouds around 8km.  I couldn't help but feel it came out just for me to light the last stretch of my run with radiance and beauty.  When I entered my first 10km last April, the TC 10km, I finished in 1 hour and 11 minutes.  My run yesterday felt much slower and more difficult.  I took a lot more walk breaks than I did last year.  I finished in 1 hour and 12 minutes.  This tells me I am getting faster and making marked improvements.  I am proud of myself for being so focused and working so hard.  I look forward to running the 10km loop and turning around and running it backwards - the day will come in my training that my long run is 20km.  Until then I bask in the glory of once around the lake!

"Our calling is where our deepest gladness and the world's hunger meet." Frederick Buechner