Tricks and treats

I had an awesome running week... Until today.

I felt so good Tuesday that I rocked out 8 miles before work, finished my APFT in 16:09 Thursday, and busted out 6.5 miles Friday. I woke up today ready to dominate this 12-miler, but didn't even make it a mile before I knew it wasn't happening. It was hot, humid and allergies made my head feel like it weighed 50 pounds. I kept up a walk/run ratio to force myself to go 6 miles out, but I had no motivation to run on the way back. Oh well, 12 miles is 12 miles, either way.

Looking on the bright side, walking let me focus on the beautiful scenery

Another factor that slowed me down were the hills. I have complained about hills on many occasions, but today I want to talk about how I push through this necessary evil. I know everyone has their own technique, whether it's to walk them, lean into it and sprint, or even go backwards (I've seen it happen!). My (weird) trick is that I look to see how big the hill is and come up with a number I think is high enough to count down from and reach the top. Then I look down and count down with each deep breath and don't allow myself to look up until I've reached zero. This way, I'm focused on my breathing and not the hill itself.

Evil.

 

If you read my 50 random things post, you know that I have a thing about counting and that's why this works so well for me, try it out if you're looking for something new, but going backwards keeps your focus away from the hill too because I'm sure you're trying not to fall.

After my (painful) "run" this morning, I was starving! I made a super tasty pizza using a 90 calorie Flatout wrap, shredded cabbage, Lightlife chicken tenders (a vegetarian staple) and this chipotle salsa that was on fi-yah! Om nom nom nom.

I also have to highlight these new Under Armour running shorts I got this week. Amazing. They are so lightweight and they don't ride up at all. I think I need to get a pair in every color available.

Well here's to hoping my run tomorrow is better than today!