Fast Hills

Rather than kidding myself by trying to cruise my shorter hills course from home. I went out the door on a mission.

This course is 7.75km, it starts with a slight down hill for almost 2km, so a early warm-up with little effort is possible. Then an uphill turns into the first nasty hill. It is not long but gets very steep. Quickly followed by a very steep down-hill, I am sure I've never let myself go on this one. A little rest with slight down-hill, then the start of the long steady up-hill section. Often timed this at 9min and nearly 2km. Then some more downhill (can you see the pattern yet??), then the last of the tough hills. Once at the top of this bit, I come to a downhill which is the trigger for the fast finish I have got into a habit of doing. A couple of small rises to end the course.

Last night, I didn't allow myself to relax into it or to switch off at any time. I didn't wear my watch, so I have no idea of my key marker splits. The first big hill was hard work but comfortable. I was breathing hard. The downhills were taken with effort so no real breather time. The 2nd long climb was tougher than normal, but it was also faster so expected. The tops seemed to arrive earlier than expected. The 2nd half of the run was pretty good. The last 1.5km was tough but I felt in control and not too fatigued, so my endurance in holding together. Hard sprint up the last little rises, home and stopped. 34m34s. My quickest time by well over a minute. My quickest this year by over 2min. Happy with that, and it was on a full stomach in the dark.

Todays run was aborted due to some family needs. There are days when you just have to stay home. Tomorrow is hopefully a very early start and 2hr+ on the road and 24km+.

BTW - I've decided to take some proactive steps to avoid getting runners physique. Just simple push-ups, sit-ups but the goal is to avoid skinny arms without spending any $$$.