Hurrah!

Hill month is over!!!! Thank goodness. I also just got Ramon's new schedule and it looks like August is going to be MUCH nicer. We even have some shorter (tenish miles) long runs, and NO running on Fridays.

Last night was tough, but because the run was broken up into different sections you didn't have too much time to think about it because your mind was always going. It was basically a series of tempo runs. The goal was to build up a lot of lactic acid in your muscles and then see if you could overcome it.

The first part was a warm-up, from East 85th to 102nd. I made sure I wasn't speeding on this one, like I like to do. From there we were supposed to run FAST down the Lasker Pool hill and up that mean and awful Harlem Hill. Our coaches warned us that even though we were supposed to be taking this part of the run fast that we should hold back a little on the downhill. Otherwise our quads would kill us at the end of the workout. But overall, we were not supposed to hold back on this hill. It should be at least our 5k pace and if a coach asked us how we were doing all we should be able to get out was "good" and nothing more, because we should be breathing that hard.

I was nervous because the hill defeated me last week. Over and over. Eight times.

So I put in my mind that I wasn't going to let it beat me this time. I had this running conversation in my head the whole time I was running up it.

ME: I'm going to spank you, you *%?#ing hill! Here I come! I'm not even tired yet! This is my FIVE K Pace you *%$#!
HILL: You're not even halfway there yet and you're getting tired
ME: Oh, you don't even KNOW how much endurance I have...and I can almost see the water fountain from here.
HILL: But the water fountain is only halfway.
ME: Well I just hit the waterfountain *&%$ and I STILL have energy.

(Kind of stupid, I know...but I did have a running dialogue in my head).

So I was definitely tired after that hill, and wondering how I was going to make my next tempo run, which was the 1.5 miles around the Reservoir. Luckily, this one was flat AND luckily this one was only at a 10k pace. So I got to slow down a LITTLE. It was still tiring me though. Especially at the end. Kristin was on my tail the whole time, which was great. I think she is right around my pace, so she was pushing me to stay on pace. She passed me at the end though, and I was dying.

I stopped to take a drink at the fountain and had to ask the coach what the next part was (this whole workout was very confusing). The last part was .5 miles recovery. When we got to 90th on the west side we had to run it in with as much speed as we could muster. The problem with this, of course, is that we were all wiped out by this point. So this was the part that was the "test".

You were supposed to be able to get around or better than your last mile test. If you could do it, it meant that your training was going well and that your muscles were strong. If you were off, it meant that you needed to work your muscles more.

I had NO energy. But the recovery did help me a little bit. As we got closer and closer to 90th street I just got that feeling in my stomach that you get when you are going up the hill on the rollercoaster. You know it will be fine, but it's the anticipation of getting there. I had to stop myself from taking the recovery too fast so that I could just get it over with.

When I hit 90th I took off. I felt like I had a lot of range of movement in my legs...like my shins were paralel to the ground when I kicked back (like Bob [Roncker] always said they should be in his running clinic). Don't get me wrong...I was breathing heavily. That mile seemed to last forever. But when I clocked in...8:03!!! I guess my training is going well :)

Now THAT was the kind of workout I feel GREAT after!