We had to leave the house pretty early this morning to bury grandpa, so I woke up before dawn for a three mile run. I consulted with my dad and did a little online research to decide my route. I decided on a seemingly easy out and back route that consisted of a combination of sidewalk and a very wide shoulder on a pretty busy road. As soon as I started, I sensed some trouble. I found myself running quickly down a pretty steep hill.
The air was cool, and the quick but easy pace was refreshing until somewhere near the bottom I realized I’d have to run back up that hill at the very end of my run. There was little time to fret because I was heading up an equally steep hill. Now, this wasn’t exactly the Alps, but it most certainly wasn’t the flatlands of Florida either. Imade my first mile in about 9:11, which was right about what I was shooting for. I ran uphill again to the turnaround point and then headed back downhill.
I w as making pretty good time on the way back until I developed and awful side stitch atabout 2.7 miles. I started to walk, but that didn’t help at all. In fact, it got worse. With only 0.3 miles to go and on a downward slope, I just decided to screw it and start running again. I made my way quickly downhill and came upon the final uphill section. I’m really not sure what happened. I guess I just wanted the run to be overwith. I started to run really hard. My side stitch quickly disappeared and I was flying up this hill. Looking back at the data from my Garmin, I hit 5:00 minute mile pace midway up the hill. Shortly after, I tired out but I stumbled to the 3 mile mark and beat my goal time.
Planned workout
8 minutes warmup
3 miles at 8:45 pace
5 minutes cool down
Actual workout
5 minutes warmup
3 miles at 8:41 pace
5 minutes cool down
Sorry to hear about your grandfather!