Run The Hills Like LC

With not much training, I feel like I did a relatively good job with the last few races I have completed. It had my confidence through the roof! 🙂 This past Saturday I ran the Balboa 4-miler in Balboa Park. I ran 28:10 for 4 miles. That’s an average pace of 7:03. My half marathon average pace was 7:10. Clearly something is very off with this. The Balboa-4 miler was  my definition of a “real” cross country course. By real I mean various terrains and some serious hills. The course consisted of grass, soft sand, dirt, gravel, road and sidewalk. It had everything: slight inclines, steep downhills, slight declines and some on-your-toes climbing. I was not prepared for this. It was quite the eye opener.

The finish at the Balboa 4 miler in Balboa Park. I am so dead.

If you want to master the hills similar to how Lauren Conrad conquered The Hills in LA, then you have to put in the work and create some drama in your training. By drama, I mean blood, sweat and tears. Hill workouts and tough trail running are the best ways to get into great shape. I am not there. I have A LOT of room to improve. If you like to challenge yourself with your runs or races, pick something that has a lot of climbing. You’ll soon discover where your true fitness is.

Speaking of hills, on Tuesday of last week I attempted a hill workout. It was super difficult, but I pushed through it. I still wasn’t ready for what that race had in store for me. There were several times where I thought I was going to walk, but I wouldn’t let it defeat me. I chugged through that course, finishing with little to no kick, but I did it. Now I know what I need to really work on: my training. I have been doing a lot of races back-to-back. Now I am going to start really putting in the workouts and switching up my runs.

At the top of Crouch Street in Oceanside. The top is to the right of me and the bottom is to the left at the building. eeek!

Last Week in a Nutshell

Monday I ran 10 miles because I wanted to make up for not running my Sunday long run the week before. Not sure if it works like that, but mentally I redeemed myself. Tuesdays hill workout was the Crouch Street hill. Crouch is a hill by my apartment. It’s a good climb. It was probably just over 200 meters. I ran up it as hard as I could four times. Jogging down was my rest. I ran about 8 total miles. Wednesday was an easy 8 miles. Thursday I took off from running, but got in a good 12 minute HIIT workout and some attempted yoga stretches. Friday I ran 6 miles.

Attempting the Cat-Cow yoga poses. Stretches my back really well.

Saturday was the race. I got there with little time to spare, so I checked in and warmed up about 3/4 of a mile. The day ended up being almost 8 miles with a 3 mile cool down.

Guess what?! I also ran on Sunday! I finally got in a good solid long run on a Sunday. I ran with one of my biggest motivators Erika. She made plans with me the night before, so I was thankful. I was soooooooo lethargic and sore, but got on our feet and were moving. My average pace was about 8:15. My legs definitely felt the solid week of training. I jumped more than 15 miles. I should slow my roll for sure. I need to work on building miles consistently.

Sweaty and tired after our 10-mile long run at the Oceanside Harbor

Sunday was also my 26th birthday! My wonderful boyfriend bought me the Garmin Forerunner 220 in violet and purple. I am more than stoked for this. It’s a life saver and a motivator. The week ended up being about 49 miles (way more than I should have ran.) I spent my labor day birthday relaxing at the beach. It was awesome. I also discovered that vodka mixes very well with coconut water. Its quite refreshing if you’re looking for a good day drink.

This week I also decided to give back with the miles I run. I joined Runkeeper and The Saucony Run for Good Challenge. If you sign up on Runkeeper take the challenge to fight child obesity. For every mile you run, $1 is donated to the foundation. I’ve been clocking my miles via the Runkeeper app and am glad that my running isn’t only helping me, but others too.

Sign up! The Run for Good Challenge runs all of September!

 

 

Next weeks goals:

1. Maintain strength training/12-min HIIT
2. Add more trail running
3. drink a lot of water (why is it still hot?!)

How did your race go this weekend? 

Any one have any good strength training routines to share?