Hill Repeats

Last night, Bill and I found a nice, short, steep hill (there are LOTS of them in Riverside Park) and did some repeats. We basically sprinted up the hill 8x with very little rest in between.

I noticed a few things.

First of all, I am now very sensitive when it comes to running. Maybe "aware" is actually a better word than sensitive. Like, when I am running on a new surface (there were some stones laid into the concrete in the middle of the hill) I can feel my gait change to accommodate. This is actually where I started to lose my speed every time. So I could work to push through, harder, at that point the next time. I also noticed that I was running on my toes again. I stopped that right away. I can also feel which of my muscles engage when I go up different parts of the hill.

I think this is kind of cool. I used to just run to run. I would sort of zone out. In fact, the first time I ran a "long" run (which I think was 9 miles) I zoned out so much that I didn't even realize that I was in pain until I stopped. I mean, this is good and what you are supposed to do to some extent, but it is also nice to tune in to your body. It's all about the happy medium.

I think it is sort of like when I was in school and all of the seniors would be out with us and be like "Oh, nice use of Gill Sans." when they looked at a menu or something, and I always thought "How in the world can they differentiate one typeface from another?" Now, I do it all the time.

The second thing is that I basically pushed myself so hard that I almost puked.

I mean, I was DONE at the end of that workout (Even if Bill wasn't, and was like "Eh. I felt like it was ok. I could have done a lot more." Ptttt. I equate this with the skinny girls who are like "No, I can eat like, a whole pizza and not gain an ounce." I know them personally, because I was one of them in high school. Now I realize how annoying that is :) )

I literally had to STOP before we started the 7th repeat, stand over to the side, bend over, cough and spit (very ladylike).

But I have to say, I feel GOOD when I push myself. That's why it makes me mad that I haven't been able to fully dedicate myself to running this training season. Who knows what I could have done?

I know, I know! I still have a little over a month left. So I am going to continue to push. Because who knows what I can still do?