Last minute 5k...because, hills!

I came across a race called Hike the Hill 5k, in Abingdon, scheduled for April 15.  I thought that was the date of Blue Ridge, so I figured it was not an option for me.  Then I found out that Blue Ridge was a week later than I thought it was...and I couldn't find a good excuse not to run the Abingdon race.  (I mean, resting for Blue Ridge was an excuse, but not a good enough one to keep me away from a hill challenge!)  I'll post my race recap tomorrow or sometime this week.  I'm waiting to see if any race photos come out...

This week : 

M : run 10 / 7:33 / 561

T : group 4.3 / 7:51 / 151 ft

W : rest

R : run 8 / 7:34 / 581 ft

F : 45 minute Power Yoga

Sa : warm up 1.6 / 7:22 / 79 ft

race 2.76 / 7:34 / 414 ft

cool down 0.7 / 9:51 / 89

Su : bike 21.2 / 17.3 mph / 1286 ft

total run miles : 27.4

total bike miles : 21.2

On Monday I decided I needed another long hill workout since I still had almost two weeks til Blue Ridge.  So I went out to the closest hill from home that most closely resembles the Mill Mountain climb at Blue Ridge - White's Mill Road.

I ran down to the bottom at a moderately hard pace, and then really pushed the uphill coming back.  My pace was close to 7:00 and I was feeling really strong, until I reached the steep part towards the end, and then I completely died.  I dug deep and found every bit of grit in my body to keep pushing for the top, but it was a major struggle, and I fell way off my pace as I gasped for air and my legs slowed from lack of oxygen.  Needless to say, I will be running that hill again, and trying to make strategize better so as to make it to the top without dying.  But it will have to wait until after Blue Ridge at this point.

Heading down the hill...sporting some nice blue argyle compression socks!

On Thursdays run, I again decided to push some hills.  I ran a moderate pace in between the hills, and pushed the uphills.  And I sought out as many uphills as I could during the 8 miles...some long, some short.  The last one looks tiny, but it was really steep and definitely hurt that late in the run!

Today's bike ride was supposed to be pretty easy, but the wind had other ideas.  I still managed not to quite overdo it out there, but I had to work harder than I wanted to with the wind in my face for the last 7+ miles!  It was a gorgeous day though, I rode out to the Emory & Henry campus and back.