Good Tuesday Hill Workout

            Course:  Longview Out & Back, 3rd Street Hills
                Miles:  13            
                Time:  1:41:05
         Mile/Split:  7:46/mile
         Workout:   Hill Run
               Temp:  29 Degrees, Wind 8SE
          Calories:  1549
  Total Ascent:  1082 ft
            Avg HR:  160 bpm
Miles this week:  31

I don't have a lot of hills that really prepare me for races where I live.  There are some adequate rolling hills, but nothing with much more than a 150-200 ft incline over a one mile distance or so.  I ran one of those courses this morning and I was really encouraged with how I performed and how I felt afterwards.

I ran to Longview Community College along third street which features 4 main inclines of 200ft over a 2  mile distance, with a couple of 100ft spikes along the way.  I didn't run the hills overly hard, but tried to stay around 7:30-7:45 on the inclines, and accelerate a little on the declines.  Considering all of the recent knee and ankle issues, that was fast enough.  The ankle felt pretty good today and the knee was not an issue.

After every race I vow to myself to run more hills in preparation for the next race.  However, I have to be careful - nothing strengthens and increases speed like hills, but hills are a great source of injury.  It seems like I always end up with something aching or tweaked a little after a tough hill workout.  I was really encouraged about how I felt throughout the day after this morning's run.