The Defeatist

With the glutes doing much better, I decided it was time for some speed work.  I should say first off that I am a long runner.  I am not a fast runner.  But with my Calico goals, there’s no way around speed work.  If I’m going to better my time, I’ve got to run faster.  Not faster on the street, not faster on flat trails, faster on rugged terrain, faster on hills. 

I was kind of looking forward to this morning.  I actually thought it might be fun.  My plan was a short run with speed bursts, longish speed bursts (about 1/2) along West Ridge, and overall run those rolling hills faster than I usually do.  And then when I come to the steepest hill (I call it “Good Girls Don’t”), run that short hell climb a few times as fast as I can. 

Getting ready for my “new” training, still thinking it might be fun (wearing full gear, because that’s how I will run Calico)

Well, I hated it.  I HATED IT.  I really cannot stress how difficult this was for me.  I started off strong on mildly rolling hills, about 8 1/4 minute pace.  Strong for about 1 minute!  My breathing quickly felt out of control.  I had to rest at .47 of a mile.  But I kept on going afterwards, bursting up the hills, trying to fly on the down hills.  And then after running up “Good Girls Don’t” three times as fast as I could (I had to stop midpoint all 3 times), I felt like I might vomit. 

On the way back to the car, I ran West Ridge faster than I usually do, but my bursts had slowed quite a bit from my run in.  And I did stop to click one beauty of a picture of the Laguna Coast and the great Pacific.

Overall, this is what I thought at my first attempt at speed work

Elevation Profile:  The 3 spikes around mile 2 is the hill I call “Good Girls Don’t”

Miles logged this morning:  3.94