The Peak Of My Hills

I'm just over two weeks from the Hospital Hill Half Marathon and this week is the peak of my condensed training for the race.

The past couple of days involved running hill repeats... a lot of hill repeats.

Pic Source

I saved Tuesday's workout for after work because of Monday night's track work. I went over to Top Notch while Liz did one of her prenatal workout videos. I sprinted my little segment of the hill 8 times and the physical exertion was complicated by the fact that the house at the top of the hill where I turn to jog back down was having some roofing work done. Whatever chemicals the roofers were using smelled strong enough that I was a little worried about getting a contact high. Every time I got to the top of the hill, I was gasping in lungs full of the stuff. I got through the workout fine, but I might now have cancer.

I took Wednesday off completely. I'm trying to work in a few more rest days so I can recover from the over-training I've been doing in time for the race.

Thursday was a surprising day at The Never Ending Hill Of Doom. I ran up The Hill 4 times. As is the custom on The Hill, I use the term 'ran' loosely. But I felt a lot better on my third and fourth summits than I thought I would. Maybe it was Wednesday's rest. Maybe the hill work as a whole is paying off. Or maybe it was just a good morning. Whatever it was, The Hill didn't feel as deadly and intimidating as it usually does.

So I plan to do a very brief speedwork session tomorrow in my FiveFingers and then run 10-12 miles on Sunday. After that, I'll have two solid weeks of tapering. I'll cut back on my workouts and mileage and hopefully start feeling more rested by the time the race comes around.

Tuesday
Goal For The Day: Hill Repeats.
Distance: 4.08 Miles.
Time: 37:40. 9:14 Avg. (8:46, 8:44, 9:43, 9:41, 0:44*).
Route: 8 x Top Notch.
Conditions: 80 degrees. 5:57PM.
Run Details On Garmin

Wednesday
Goal For The Day: Rest.
Distance: 0.00 Miles.

Thursday
Goal For The Day: Hill Repeats.
Distance: 5.19 Miles.
Time: 46:37. 8:59 Avg. (8:12, 7:49, 9:11, 9:43, 9:56, 1:43*).
Route: 4 x Never Ending Hill Of Doom.
Conditions: 52 degrees. 7:19AM.
Run Details On Garmin

Notes: The temperature has been all over the place so far this month. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Race Day is has one of the cooler mornings.

Daily Miles: 9.27 Miles.
2012 Totals:
  Run - 372.87 Miles.
  Bike - 0.00 Miles.
  Swim - 8,250 meters.