I wasn’t going into an office this morning, but I definitely had a case of the Mondays.
When my alarm clock went off at 6:30, I stumbled over to it and hit the snooze button. Aahhh. Nine more minutes of blissful sleep. Well, not really. Does anyone ever sleep well after hitting “snooze”?
So nine minutes later, I was up, but dragging. It took me more than 30 minutes to get ready for my run. That’s way too long. I guess my 3-year-old’s stalling tactics are rubbing off on me.
But finally, I was out my front door. And then I was back in to find my sunglasses. And then I was back out again. My warm-up run was HARD. Like Monday hard. Like I’d rather drink coffee and put on my slippers hard.
About a mile and a half later I was at my hill. On my sub-2-half training plan this morning: 5 x 200 meter hill repeats.
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| The view up. Picture from February 2010. |
I did a little research yesterday (using MapMyRun) to find out what hills in my neighborhood were about the right length and grade for hill repeats. This one, above, the one I’ve always used for hills, ended up being the best one even though it might be a tad steep. It is around .12 miles (about 200 meters) long. The grade starts at about 8-10 percent, then goes up to about 13-15 percent, then stays about 5-6 percent till the top.
I knocked out the first of five hills really focusing on driving with my glutes and hamstrings. My PT keeps reminding me how strong the glute muscles are — wide and flat. “Ever heard of anyone getting an overuse injury in their glutes?” she pointed out last week. I try to keep this in mind on my runs now.
A couple people were around while I was sprinting up then jogging down. I felt sort of silly, but I was too out of breath to care. The fifth uphill was rough and I was gasping for air at the top as I set off on my cooldown run.
Honestly, I didn’t want to cool down. I wanted to go home. But I made myself stick it out. Why am I so sluggish this morning? I couldn’t figure it out.
Then I ran past the coffee stand in town. I breathed in the warm smell of caffeine and muffins, and I realized I hadn’t eaten anything pre-run or had any water since last night. I’m not the kind of person who can run well on empty.
At home, I refueled with half a glass of chocolate milk, and a 1/2 cup of oatmeal loaded with strawberries, blueberries and half a banana, a Tablespoon of brown sugar and some whipped cream. And I knew those hill repeats were worth it.
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day!
What is your favorite breakfast food? Do eat before you run in the morning?
12 comments
WOOT!! you rock sister, inspiring me to push through my Monday sluggishness and I get out there.Hugs!!
AWESOME job on the hills! That is no joke on a Monday (zzzz) morning!Breakie is my fave too – I *heart* bagels after running.
Great job! I have hills tomorrow. Ugh. I know my neighbors think I'm crazy but I can live with that.
Awesome job! I feel like that so many times when my alarm clock goes off and then I drag my feet forever until I finally get it done. It always feels so good to get it done! My favorite breakfast lately has been rice cakes with yogurt and frozen berries on top.
Hey Kerrie,Been following your progress lately. I wanted to tell you that I'm so happy for your marathon achievement and to also let you know that your posts are inspiring me.I fell off the running wagon after my half last October. I worried that I might have had a stress fracture in my foot so I took some time off. Then the weather got cold and I had no motivation to run since I hate the cold weather (I'm a baby I know).I'm back to running again and working on rebuilding all that I lost. I'm running a 10k on 9/11 and really want to run another half but am not sure that I can commit fully to training for another.Anyway, your posts lately have been chock full of really helpful info and this one especially. I'm planning hill repeats in my 10k training and used May My Run just now to figure out the grade of a hill near my house.So thank you again! Wishing you the best of luck in your sub 2-hour half. I KNOW you can do it.BTW, you are looking really good. Running has done you well!!!
So proud of you for just hitting snooze. At 4:40 this morning, I turned the damn thing off. Now I'm at work with zero workouts completed today. I am such a loser.Great job on finding a hill and getting those repeats done!
I felt really off this morning too (spin, no run). In fact, I even took an afternoon nap… and in the middle of reading your post, I had to make some coffee. Way to tackle those HILLS!!
Hills on a Monday?!? Ouch – good for you for getting it done. I'm curious how often do you do hill repeats? I want to add them to my training but have only done them sporadically and on the 'mill.
Great job on the hills… and on a Monday.. Killer!
Wooo Mondays. For some reason those are the easiest for me to get up for. Weird, I know.For two weeks, about a month ago, I ate breakfast for every meal.Breakfast: Greek Yogurt & KashiLunch: Satrbucks H&C SandwichDinner: Eggs & hashbrownsOne of the better weeks of my life, I think.
It is exactly 5:26pm and all i've been doing is procrastinating and eating all day. Time to head out the door. I hate mondays!!!
i think starting the week off with a workout is great! i spend my monday mornings at the gym busting out some cardio and strength training :)i think hill repeats are a great workout but i can't do them because they make my shin splints really really bad 🙁 so i avoid standard hill repeats and instead try to run my long runs on a rolling hilly route. the marathon i'm doing in december is hilly for the first 1/2 and last year i failed to due any hill training … not this year!dinner is my favorite meal of the day! i dont think i have a favorite breakfast food, i tend to eat the same things for breakfast over and over. i eat a bagel thin with organic strawberry spread {from costco} or plain butter on it before every.single.run. and usually i have either a smoothie or a banana with soynut butter or a greek yogurt bowl with berries after a run with some chocolate soy milk 🙂