Speed vs. Hills

On Wednesday Amy and I met up at our favorite running store (South Sound Running rocks!)
for our mid week run.


5 Miles easy with 8 X 30 second Hill Sprints.

30 second sounds so short until you're sprinting up a hill...then it seems like it goes on forever.

1. 379ft     7:23        2. 339ft     7:43       3. 345ft   7:32       4. 342ft    7:35        5. 360ft 7:41

6. 367ft   7:30          7. 371ft     7:35       8. 382 ft  7:30


Courthouse Hill...15-20% grade.


I have to be honest...it felt like I should have been running faster for how hard it was.

It was also a bit warm...I found myself wishing I had brought a water bottle with me, but no such luck.


While I actually like hills, sprinting is not my forte.  I have trouble with abrupt pace changes.
It's a really different mindset to try and go as fast as you can for a short distance rather than settling in and running for distance.

ALTHOUGH...

I totally beat Amy at our Speed Work out on Monday.
Rich gave us a fun light workout where we ran 800 meters as hard as we could.  He started Amy 15 seconds behind me because she runs better with someone to chase.  She almost caught up with me at the end but not quite.

On our second Repeat Rich had Amy start 20 seconds behind me.  As I started my second lap, I heard Martinho and Rich yelling that she was catching up with me...I was pretty sure they were just trying to egg me on so I ignored them and kept running.  BUT in the last 100 yards I heard her breathing right behind me!

Good thing she's a heavy breather.

And BOOM.  I sprinted!  It's was pretty cool- took Amy by surprise.  We've run together for almost 3 years so we both know what the other is capable of.  She thought she had me.

Wrong!

On the other hand if I had that much speed at the end of a run where I was supposed to be running as hard as I could...I probably wasn't.

It was still cool though.