Running Chick

I strained my hamstring last week, I think doing my hill repeats, so I took the weekend off to let it heal. I missed a scheduled 5-mile run on Saturday, but I'm not too concerned about that. I don't have any trouble running that distance and last week was a repeat week, anyway. My hamstring feels much better and I avoided most hills (not an easy thing to do in Houghton!) and ran my 4-miler with no problems.

Report

After yesterday's hill routine, my poor legs were feeling fairly fatigued today. I wasn't looking forward to my scheduled 3.5 mile run and considered skipping it, but I am way too stubborn to do that. So, off I went. My usual route takes me up Military Road, across on Jacker Ave and up Dodge Street. I head by the transfer station and come out across from Houghton HS. This first one-mile section of my run is completely uphill. It was probably not the best idea to be running hills after the beating I gave my legs yesterday, and about 1/4-mile into my run, I knew I was in trouble. My calves and quads were on fire. I kept on thinking that I should stop and walk to the top, but again, I'm too stubborn to give up and walk. I have scheduled walk breaks in my runs, and it was not time! Anyway, I gutted it out up the hill and my legs felt a little better once I was on the flat, but the majority of my run was spent thinking that I probably should have taken a rest day. In any event, I ran to campus and caught a ride home with Josh.

Report

I've been reading about the proper way to train to increase strength and stamina. One thing that was mentioned over and over again is the importance of doing hill repeats. A hill repeat is exactly as it sounds - find a hill, run fast up the hill. Walk or jog down the hill. Run up the hill again. Repeat until you puke your guts out or your legs give out, whichever comes first. I've been scouting around for a nice hill to do my repeats. The hill has to be about a block in length, and moderate in elevation. Something between flat and Agate Street, which I figure is just about as steep as you can get. I found the perfect hill down by the Super 8 Motel so I jogged the mile from my house to the Super 8 for a nice warm-up. The first three repeats were okay, then I started to get tired. I lost count after that, I think I did five. Maybe six. I just couldn't do any more, I was exhausted. I must say, that is a serious kick-ass leg work out. On the way back home, I decided to continue with the hill work out and ran up several one-block sections of steep streets in Houghton as I worked my way back home. Isle Royale Street (steep), Huron Street (really steep), Dodge Street (really, really steep). I was never so happy to see the perfectly flat Seventh Street in my life. At the end, my legs were spent. I basically wobbled home and collapsed on the floor.

Because I forgot to press the Lap key on my 205, my hill repeats aren't shown on the report. Oh well, I'll remember next time.