Climbing Hills & Other Trials

I actually meant to post this last week but things got busy so tonight is a combination post.

Last Thursday I did my first hill training work out. Hills have never been my favorite part of running. In fact aside from racing I tend to avoid them all together. Naturally you can see why this would cause problems for me in competitive events. The hills here in Lethbridge are especially intimidating. Esentially I run for fun and trudging up a 1000m hill is not my idea of a good time.

I have been reading a book on the mental aspects of training by J. Dahlkoetter. Ironically the day before I ran my hills I read a chapter on positive affirmations. Ordinarily I might think that this sort of self talk would be useless. However desperate to improve my times and better my love of running, I came up with some affirmations of my own. Specifically I focused on affirmations for my hill workouts. Well color me surprised because it worked. For the first time that I can remember I was able to run 4 hill repeats at a speed very close to my tempo. I didn't want to puke and it didn't feel like it was taking forever to end. Maybe Dahlkoetter is on to something because I am actually looking forward to my next hill training day!!

Tonight was my first long run. Originally slated for Sunday but my confounder and company this weekend got in the way. I'm pleased to report that 60 minutes was not tiring and I felt great the entire time. I covered over 8km and finished strong. I am now confident that I will be able to handle the 10km this March in the moonlight!