Hills

Hills: 10 minutes easy out to the hill. Then 3 repeats of 7 minutes of hills (1 minute up, one minute down) followed by 4 minutes easy in between. Then a 10 minute easy run home.

Distance: 4.9 miles

Time: 46:24

Performance Stats (out of 5 ★)

Legs: ★ ★ ★ ★

Gut: ★ ★ ★ ★

Energy:  ★ ★ ★

Mind:  ★ ★ ★ .5

Overall:  ★ ★ ★ .5

Soundtrack: The Prodigy, The Fat of the Land

No matter how tired or sore you feel when you get out of bed; and no matter how many times you walk out the door and forget something, then have to go back in (again and again), making yourself later and later; once the run is over, you just feel great. It happens almost every time.

I found myself super bummed when the alarm clock went of this morning. I hit an extra snooze, but then did manage to get on my feet (very key!). Getting out the door was a little comical. First I forgot my watch, then my headphones, then my water. It's partially a 'haste makes waste' thing, but at 4:30 AM, things are a little blurry.

During the ten minute jog out to the hill, I think that I was still waking up. Even the air felt funky - it was cool, but still humid from the past few days. Kind of a weird feeling. Then the first set of hills. You almost just get started instinctively, but then by the first set you are all warmed up, and this is really happening. As I ran each set of hills, I could see Jupiter on the rise in the Eastern sky. Nice and bright and getting higher each time I turned around to run another hill.

It's nice to get to the last set, and then the jog home. I love sitting here with my fresh cup of coffee, but the 45 minutes on the road is as good as coffee to wake you up. You just gotta get out there and do it. Put one foot in front of the other for ten minutes, and you are on your way. By the end of the thing, it's the best start to the day that you can think of.