Addicted to Exercise

I hadn’t been to one of Gilbert’s workouts since before the marathon.  I have been just doing easy running, but my legs have been pretty trashed this whole time.  I heard that my favorite workout was on the schedule for today, and I couldn’t pass it up.

I did the full version of the warm-up from RunTex through Barton Hills.  I figured I would just do a few times up Wilke, but I ended up getting roped into like eight up, three back, and another three of the short quick version.  Whew!  Those backwards ones are just as tough as ever, but I really like the feeling of having done a pretty hard workout.

That really went much better than I expected.  I had a really fun time and felt really good running up and down that hill.  I’m kind of tempted to go do it again really soon!

I guess this is just a plan to get all the junk out of my system before this weekend.  I’ve got an early meeting tomorrow, so I did the workout today with the Monday group.  I joined a few folks for the long version of the warm-up (Riverside to Lake Austin) which was right about three miles.  Today was exactly the kind of day that reinforces why I don’t like this workout at all.  With the rain coming down, the ground was wet, and I was even more scared of falling than usual on the steep downhill section at the end of each lap.  Thankfully Gilbert said these were for form, not time, and he actually told me to not use my watch.  I know I didn’t do them very fast, but I did do five laps, followed by the usual five sprints up and three backwards.  I couldn’t stick around to chat because I had a long way to go back and a meeting to get to today, too, just not as early as tomorrow.  Everything felt fine.  I’ll be thankful to run on flatter ground tomorrow.

Our group was in Barton Hills again this morning, running back and forth on Spring Creek.  I slept in a little bit and didn’t do my pre-warm-up that I had been doing lately, so maybe that’s why I felt a little off.  Gilbert noticed it too and said I needed to get rid of the tension in my upper body.  I just felt forced and out of balance, especially running down the steep part of the hill.  Fitness-wise, I could have just kept doing them, but he stopped me after six laps.  Then the backwards climbs were as punishing as ever, and the sprints up the hill at the end felt really good.  I focused on my form on the way back and threw in a couple pick-ups to get my turnover going as well.  I stretched a little bit, and that was it for the day.

My favorite workout was back on the schedule today, and it had a new twist.  I ran over to Barton Hills from RunTex like I usually do, and I was surprised to see no cars at the baseball fields.  I thought maybe the workout had been moved or something, but then I saw Gilbert drive by and say they were all parked somewhere else because there were gates up.  So on to the hill I ran.

After the warm-up drills, we got the news.  This time, once we reached the end of the really steep part, we were supposed to sprint to the end of the street.  I started doing them, and it went surprisingly well.  It felt really good to open it up there at the end of each climb.  I ended up doing ten of them the normal way before moving on to the backwards and the sprints.  The backwards climbs ripped through me as usual, but the rest of it felt really good.  I felt kind of tired at the end, but I knew I could have done more if I had to.

I ran back to RunTex, did a few stretches, and called it a day.  I was amazed all day at how good my legs felt.  I knew that was a very tough workout, but my legs felt even better than they usually do.  Go figure.

This morning we ran up and down the secret hill again.  Is this hill still a secret?  I hadn’t been there in a while, and I enjoyed it.  Following the normal hill workout customs, this included normal running, backwards running up the hill, and some sprints.  My legs felt pretty good, and I had a little over seven miles for the day.

Nineteen months: According to my spreadsheet, that is how long it had been since I had seen this workout. I was scared going in. I remembered the darkness and the feeling that I would trip and roll down that last hill. In reality, it didn’t turn out to be so bad.

We did the short warm-up from the Lake Austin RunTex, and then we did the drills in the dark. We were trying to be quite, but some car that was passing by did not think we were getting out of his way fast enough, so he honked a bunch of times. Good morning, everyone!

The drill was five laps around the block. I think all the core work I’ve been doing has paid off because I felt a lot more stable on the downhill sections. My times were not superb, but I did speed up each time, and I wasn’t terribly worn out. I had: 4:21, 4:10, 4:08, 4:08, 4:05.

After those, we did five up and three back on 11th. Gilbert told us to race each other on the second backwards one, so that was a new twist. It was certainly tiring!

After jogging back to RunTex, I did a handful of stretches, and that was it for the day.

After the really hard week last week, I had to promise to take it easy today. It was worth it, though, because then I got to do my favorite workout. I ran to Wilke from RunTex for a nice long slow warm-up. I knew the warm-up and cool-down would be a nice recovery. I just had to make sure I kept things under control on the hill. I ended up doing six times up. I didn’t go too fast, and a few people caught me smiling, so I know I did it right. I did a few backwards and sprints after that, and those felt surprisingly good. I tried to focus on my form this time, and I think it payed off. I didn’t feel too beat up on the run back, either. I did a handful of stretches and then hit the gym for a few essential leg and core exercises. I feel really good now, so this was probably just what I needed.

My favorite workout was on the schedule today. At first I was a bit concerned I would not be allowed to go since I had just done my long run yesterday, but I felt great and Gilbert let me do it. The majority of the people were doing the full warm-up from RunTex, and it was pretty sticky all the way through Barton Hills. To save time, we skipped the drills and went straight into the hilly part of the workout. The prescription was only for seven times today, and that seemed pretty easy after having done so many more than that in the past. I was a bit out of practice, so I had my work face on instead of my traditional Wilke smile. After those, the three backwards ones were all right (better than usual I think), and then the three sprints to loosen up felt really good. I wasn’t too worn out on the cool-down run back, and I did just a couple stretches before heading out to start the rest of my day.