Week 15... $&^#@ Hills!!!!
Today's run was by far the most difficult training run I have ever done - 18 very hilly miles. I came face-to-face with the mental aspect of running today. When my legs were screaming at me to STOP, my mind had to power through.
My crazy coach thought it would be fun if I did the super-hilly Bishop loop twice (for a total of 12 miles) plus the mostly-flat Edgewild out-and-back route (another 6 miles, for a total of 18). It is difficult for me to convey how difficult the Bishop loop really is. There are hills that are near-vertical ascents (at least they sure feel that way!). How was I going to do that twice and then run another 6 miles on top of that?
Oh but wait, it gets better! When I arrived at our meeting location this morning, I met the other TNT coach. Nice guy, very fast runner. In the true spirit of coaching, he presented me with a more challenging option. I should run the Bishop loop, then the Edgewild route, and then finish with the Bishop loop. End my run with lots of hills??? Wouldn't that be hard? Well, yes. That was the point. Learning to run strong on tired legs makes you a better runner, or some such crap. ;-) "Okay, fine. I'll try it," I said, a little reluctantly.
And off I went. And it was hard. Very hard. I ran very slowly, and had Gatorade and Sport Beans at every beverage stop (about every 2 miles), and generally took my time. But the hills wore me down. I was pretty tired at mile 12. I wasn't sure how I was going to do 6 more. I just knew I had to. My coach was great - driving around to meet me at various spots, and pour me extra Gatorade. On the BIG hill, he even ran up with me - that really helped. I don't think I would have tried to run the hill if he hadn't been there with me. The encouragement of a coach and a team does wonders for one's motivation! When I got to the last water stop, I knew I didn't have very far to go (about 1/2 mile), so I kicked it into high gear. Well, as high a gear as I could, given the fact that my legs felt like Jell-o. I finished strong - I always try to finish strong. I was exhausted, sore, hungry, and tired. But I sure felt accomplished. A new milestone in training. 18 miles done. It was just a few weeks ago when the longest run I had ever done was 13.1 miles. I can't believe how far I've come. It's almost surreal.
Thankfully, next week is a recovery week. My long run is "only" 100 minutes - I am very much looking forward to it. I need the recovery. I will be doing a lot of Yoga this week to stretch out my tight muscles. Of course, I'll keep on running too. :-) 'Til next weekend.... Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble gobble!!! :-)
My crazy coach thought it would be fun if I did the super-hilly Bishop loop twice (for a total of 12 miles) plus the mostly-flat Edgewild out-and-back route (another 6 miles, for a total of 18). It is difficult for me to convey how difficult the Bishop loop really is. There are hills that are near-vertical ascents (at least they sure feel that way!). How was I going to do that twice and then run another 6 miles on top of that?
Oh but wait, it gets better! When I arrived at our meeting location this morning, I met the other TNT coach. Nice guy, very fast runner. In the true spirit of coaching, he presented me with a more challenging option. I should run the Bishop loop, then the Edgewild route, and then finish with the Bishop loop. End my run with lots of hills??? Wouldn't that be hard? Well, yes. That was the point. Learning to run strong on tired legs makes you a better runner, or some such crap. ;-) "Okay, fine. I'll try it," I said, a little reluctantly.
And off I went. And it was hard. Very hard. I ran very slowly, and had Gatorade and Sport Beans at every beverage stop (about every 2 miles), and generally took my time. But the hills wore me down. I was pretty tired at mile 12. I wasn't sure how I was going to do 6 more. I just knew I had to. My coach was great - driving around to meet me at various spots, and pour me extra Gatorade. On the BIG hill, he even ran up with me - that really helped. I don't think I would have tried to run the hill if he hadn't been there with me. The encouragement of a coach and a team does wonders for one's motivation! When I got to the last water stop, I knew I didn't have very far to go (about 1/2 mile), so I kicked it into high gear. Well, as high a gear as I could, given the fact that my legs felt like Jell-o. I finished strong - I always try to finish strong. I was exhausted, sore, hungry, and tired. But I sure felt accomplished. A new milestone in training. 18 miles done. It was just a few weeks ago when the longest run I had ever done was 13.1 miles. I can't believe how far I've come. It's almost surreal.
Thankfully, next week is a recovery week. My long run is "only" 100 minutes - I am very much looking forward to it. I need the recovery. I will be doing a lot of Yoga this week to stretch out my tight muscles. Of course, I'll keep on running too. :-) 'Til next weekend.... Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble gobble!!! :-)
posted by Emily at
5:33 PM
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