Hill Intervals

Planned on doing the dreaded hill intervals during lunchtime, but forgot about a mandatory CMMI presentation the whole department had to attend during lunch period.  They did serve lunch since we were a captive audience, but that wasn't a welcome reward for me since I wanted to eat light not have to worry about digestion before running.  Menu was tandoori chicken, curried rice, salad, hummus and pita. I risked a single chicken, some salad and over-indulged in the pita and hummus.

A couple hours later, I simply was not psyched to do the hard intervals.  It was still dreary and overcast with a little mist.  My stomach wasn't completely settled.  And I just knew the repeats were going to be hard.  12 just seemed so daunting.

At 3, I just pushed myself out of the office and got dressed.  I drove over to the stretch of Palomar Airport Rd, where the Carlsbad Marathon route makes it's final climb to its crest at Mile 9.  I parked at the Arco on the corner and walked across the intersection, and began.

No.	Time	HRpeak
1	1:37	158
2	1:39	160
3	1:43	160
4	1:43	162
5	1:45	161
6	1:46	157
7	1:44	160
8	1:46	161
9	1:45	163
10	1:48	158
11	1:44	163
12	1:46	162

I did it.  Getting to #6 got progressively harder and I began to worry there was no way I was going to be able to complete all 12; but after that, the difficulty kind of leveled off.  They didn't get easier.  But neither did they get impossible.  Quads would burn and my calves and ankles were getting sore.  It didn't look like it, but the grade over the final 1/2 to 1/3 sure seemed steeper. 

I was supposed to run these at 10K pace.  I think I did that okay.  I never went slower.  Most of the repeats were actually a little faster.  I figure my HR at peak ranged from 90-92% of max. 

I'm tired tonight, and I'm sure I'm going to be feeling my calves and ankles tomorrow.  I'll rest from running tomorrow and try to prepare for the 13.5 miler on Sunday.