Speedwork

Why does a 43 year old woman do speed work?  Especially on a hot July morning on a highway in Mississippi?  I asked myself this question repeated this morning.

Hill Repeats.
That's what I just finished.

In case my summer wasn't challenging enough, I have set a time goal for the Tupelo 14.2 Miler in September.  In order to hopefully reach this goal (which is more mental than physical), I have been following a Bart Yasso half marathon training plan.  Since my race will be 14.2 miles instead of 13.1, I have been adding one mile to each week's long run.

This plan includes weekly speed work, which so far has been either running on a "hilly course" (I ran our trails on these days), or 1/2 mile repeats (which I have done once).

Today's workout was hill repeats.  I planned a workout that somewhat resembled what Bart Yasso described in his book.

I warmed up for almost 2 miles.  Then I ran up a short hill (.15 mile) and jogged down it.  Next I ran up a long hill (.43 mile) and then jogged back down it.  I tried to run really hard on the uphills, and I walked until I caught my breath and then jogged down to the bottom of the hills.  I repeated this three times, and by the 3rd long hill, my legs were jello!  I did my last two repeats downhill (ran hard down, and jogged up to recover).  The last part of the workout was a 2 mile cooldown run, and that was torture too!  The run was 8 miles in all, and it was difficult!

Today is a special day!  We are celebrating a birthday tonight and tomorrow.  I will share pictures of the big event hopefully in the next couple of days.

One more thing-----I am considering getting back into scrapbooking.  I have so many supplies, and my children enjoy looking through the very few scrapbooks that I have made.  When I get all of my school planned for the upcoming year, I hope to get out my supplies and make a scrapbook!