That's more like it!

After a couple of confidence boosting workouts, I'm feeling a lot better about my running fitness:)

The hill workout that I was about to do the night of my last post, started off quite badly, but turned out to be a fantastic run:) I set out with my dad around dusk, just when I like to go because it's still light enough to run in my friendly neighborhood trail, yet dark enough that people can't really make out who you are when you're running as slowly as we were:P About 15 minutes into the run, traveling at around 6:30/k, my sore legs became so tight that I pulled over and went through my stretching routine again. It didn't really do much and within a few km, my achilles was so tight that I decided to throw in the towel to avoid doing any damage. At that point, I was still a good km and a half away from home, which meant I had to utilise my least favourite method of transport: walking. Surprisingly, it seemed to help. After about 10 minutes, my achilles was feeling a little better. Seeing a car pulled over on a hectic, rainy High Street Road, I walked down and gave this guy and his son a hand to shift a big branch that had fallen onto the road and was creating a traffic hazard. We managed it, but it meant that the footpath was now pretty inaccessible and I decided to do a further good deed and clear the way a little bit. Breaking the branches off was a great way to let out my frustration. I walked through the corridor I had created and was pleased to discover that my legs were no longer tense at all! Seizing the opportunity, I stretched again, and then picked up where I left off.

Having already done, 40 minutes, I did an hour of hill repeats, and then conscious of a severe lack of any long runs over 20km for over a month, I jogged for another twenty minutes to bring up 2hrs and 20.4km (5:55/km). I was feeling good at the end, endurance wise, it was no trouble at all. My legs were pretty shattered, but I have come to expect that recently.

On Friday, I continued my streak (woot 5 days!) and did an easy run around the uni playing fields. It was raining and really wet, so I decided I wasn't keen enough on running barefoot to cover my legs with mud, and kept my shoes on for the whole workout. It was a really satisfying run because I set out feeling pretty tired and sore. I felt stronger as the workout progressed, and was edging towards 4:30/k. After doing a strider though, my hip started tensing up (almost certainly because of all the downhill running the day before, which had caused my hip a bit of grief by the end), and that forced me to slow down quite a bit. Still enjoyed the run very much and was pleased with the overall pace.
12.53km/1:03:44 (5:05/km).

Tonight wasn't too bad either. The first three km were pretty blazing by my standards - 4:42, 4:14, 4:26. It felt great, particularly when I was edging towards 4:00/k. It confirmed my theory that my very slow pace at the start of the week was simply due to a loss of short term neurological adaptations rather than a loss of fitness:) After 4km it was a similar scenario to the workout on Thursday, with a bit of a pause to walk around for a bit and do some stretches before getting back into the run. I think it shows I need to do more of a warmup. I know I definitely didn't warmup enough on Thursday because my dad gets very impatient with the length of my stretching and walking routine:P The tough part of the run - the hill repeats - didn't go too badly either. I was slow - slower even than on Thursday - but I felt very strong on the downhills and on the flat.
16.08km/1:30 (5:36/km)

Tomorrow should be fun. I'm going up to Lake Mountain again, but this time with company:) I'm introducing the friend who will hopefully be going on the massive cycling/skiing/running junket at the end of the year to the art of skating on cross country skis:) It'll be interesting to see how far behind my dad and brother we get.

A final bit of news is that I made the last payment on my bike today and had the immense pleasure of riding it home:D It's so beautiful! And most importantly, it rides like a dream! Pedalling is so smooth and it just oozes power. Hills that were a major challenge on my crappy, old bike are now child's play:D I can't wait to take it on a proper ride and see how much faster I can go:)