"There's only one hard and fast rule in running: sometimes you have to run one hard and fast."








Saturday, March 5, 2011

Steve Heads for the Hills

Did my first hill workout of the year today. The plan was to run up and down the Ohio Street Hill in St. Paul until I just couldn't stand it any more. With a wind chill of 5, I wasn't expecting much.

Got out there and did the first couple of trips up and down a bit faster than planned, but there's been this "speed carry-over" the past couple of days; yesterday I ended up running much faster than planned and the day before was my first interval run of the year.

The hill is not easy. It averages 8% grade for a half mile, the first half being much steeper than the second. I did 10 miles and then decided to do 5 miles at "moderate, maybe marathon" pace. I averaged 9 minutes per mile for these, which would be about 7 min/mile on flat ground. I ended up with 15 miles in exactly 150 minutes and stood in place trying to convince myself to continue. I decided to do a relatively flat cool down instead and try to get to 4 hours or so. Three miles later, I was bonking, so I quit. 18 miles, 3:03. A flat ground equivalent would be about 22.5 in 3:03.

I'll take it.

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12 comments:

PiccolaPineCone said...

merde! c`est fort en tab-ar-nouche!
that's quebec speak for good work-out!

FIRST COMMENTER WOOHOOOO!

SteveQ said...

@PPC: Quebecois swearing! I've hit the big time!

Jean said...

Good run today, Steve! It was a pretty nice day out there today.

Saw 14 wild turkeys roosting in my neighborhood today, and I didn't get tackled by any dogs. :)

shannon said...

Impressive run on the hills today!

nwgdc said...

That's a HECK of a run! On a flat equivalent, 22.5 in 3:03 has me re-thinking my goals for my 20 miler tomorrow. Well done!
I'll be sure to report on what I can turn in for the 20-22 tomorrow.

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

Were you wearing a shirt for this workout, Stevicus?

Veni, Vidi, va-va-va-VOOOOM!1!

(Quebecois for "How's that for avoiding sequiturishness?")

Plus - a successful link AND a graphic?

EAT STEVEQ'S DUST, DR. NIC!1!

sea legs girl said...

Ha! PPC - did you just say "Shit! that's strong as a tabernacle!" in, um, your own way?

Steve - woman served on a platter for you: beautiful, talented and a red head (who sings Blur) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xNaKWnHXpw.

Pharmie said...

I know Ohio well from my bike rides. That is one nasty run! Congrats on sticking it out!

Deb said...

So I can't run hills worth a damn (or a "merde", even).

But at least I can pronouce "Siobhan". Those other Mick names, though? They all look like "Ashley" to me.

SteveQ said...

@SLG: I'm currently on a Scottish accent kick, so watching videos of fave redhead Shirley Manson of Garbage. The rapid zoom and pan editing of the Danish X-Factor vid made me seasick!

slow pounding turtle feet said...

Great job Steve. I believe your 50 now in 2011 right?
Go show "em",that age is just a number .
Keep it up!!!!!!!
Scream'n Turtle

DCS said...

I remember that hill from a race I ran in 1982. As I recall, the first mile was uphill and I ran it in over six minutes. The second mile was all downhill and I ran it in 4:46, which was my track PR. Unfortunately, I got a lot of hamstring stiffness and pulled the muscle running Get in Gear a week later. Had to walk the final 5K. Ouch!