My First Hill and Speed workout since Tunnel Hill 100
I feel like I’m starting to get back in the groove of things lately. It seems like it’s been a while since I was able to string together a streak of runs like I have over the past two weeks, mostly due to the persistent pain I’ve been having in my left hamstring. It’s definitely not 100%, but it’s getting closer and I can now say that it isn’t really holding me back on the long runs or the faster runs. Mostly, it bothers me going up hills and when I spring into a sprint, which made Tuesday’s work out (Main Street Hill 2/18) a lot of fun.
The Main Street Hill workout is definitely not my creation, but that’s why it’s best to run with other people; they can push you or simply just give you new ideas for training. This workout consisted of one minute sprints followed by two minutes fairly easy, repeated over a circuit from Fountain Square Park up the Main Street hill, then back down to a side street for a 400 m straightaway before running up a few blocks then back down State Street to Fountain Square Park to repeat the process.
I don’t live in the area and I showed up late, but just happened to be standing there snapping a picture of Fountain Square as two fellow runners from the group I run with sped by in a full on sprint. They had been out on the hill for a while already and were nearing the end of their workout. Well, I guess that’s that, I thought as I just burst into the fastest stride I’ve run in a long while and tried to catch up (forgetting to start my watch until halfway through the circuit, of course).
I hadn’t run hardly any sprints or done any speed work in several months because the hamstring just ached too much and felt like it was tearing in two. My hill workouts had been very limited as well and I spent most of December and January avoiding them as much as I could, as even the slightest of inclines brought out pain and weakness. But after running the Groundhog 50K and recovering basically within a day, I realized that my hammy was more or less back in the game. Nevertheless, as is common when you’ve had an injury, there’s always a slight apprehension about overdoing it and ending up worse off or setting yourself back.
To my surprise, while I felt some weakness and tightness, there was nothing that seemed debilitating and on the first one minute sprint I felt like I was just floating down the road. My heart was pounding and my feet were banging on the ground with each stride, but I loved every second of it because it was a feeling I hadn’t felt in a while and it was nice to be moving fast for a change.
After a circuit together with the other two, we climbed the hill once more, then they headed home while I turned and went back down the hill to start another circuit from the beginning. It’s sometimes hard to hold yourself to a high standard when no one else is looking, but I pushed just as hard up the hill, with a one minute sprint ending right as I got to the steepest part of the climb. I shifted to a slower pace to finish going up and back down before bursting off into another one minute sprint, continuing this in a long rectangle until I was back around to Fountain Square.
I began my next sprint up the hill and as the minute clicked over and I started to slow down, I ran into another runner from our group and his dog, and we jogged up and back down the hill together before exploding into what would be the final sprint of the circuit. I felt like barfing and after three circuits I didn’t think I could keep the sprinting up any longer so we just jogged some more, but this time taking the climb completely up and over the hill where I had to take a slight break in the shadow of the giant water tower with an American flag painted on it; one of the distinct landmarks of Bowling Green. We jogged another couple of miles together and cut through WKU’s campus before ending at the square.
I needed to be at work in about 45 minutes, but had managed to cram in about an hour of training. This is a constant theme of my running life. Sometimes I get 5 or 6 miles in before work and sometimes I get 7 or 8, but if I don’t get my run in before 6:15 AM, then it’s going to end up being a rest day because at this point in my life it is just too difficult to run consistently in the evenings. I have a 6 year old daughter and 3 year old son and by the time we get through dinner and baths I am ready to lay down and doze off. I’ve always been a morning runner by choice, but now it’s also by necessity. If I can’t get Claire ready for the bus in time I’ll be doing even more running. I would be running her to school in the morning traffic and then running the traffic lights because I’m running 30 minutes late to work all while praying that my boss hasn’t walked over to my desk to run anything past me as I run into the side entrance of the office and pull some papers out to hold as I ultra run (aka walk) by his desk to try to make it seem like I’ve been there all morning and just had to go to the printer. That type of running sucks.
Sometimes you just have to cram in as many beneficial runs and workouts that you can manage and somehow find a way to have yourself ready to do a 100 miler or crush a marathon while balancing all of the other challenges and responsibilities in life. Could I be a much better runner? Absolutely. Sometimes, though, we just have to do the best that we can and trust that we’ve done enough to achieve all of our goals and not constantly be worried that we can’t succeed because we only managed 5 miles when our training plan called for 8. Training plans are fine as such, but sometimes you just need to wake up and run before you go to work even if you don’t have a lot of time. I’m glad I decided to do the Main Street hill, because in a short amount of time I was able to work so hard I felt miserable, and that probably means that I’m a little better off today than I was before.
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