Breakthrough

So despite the hard workout and race the previous two days, my workout yesterday went quite well. I ended up running my coach ragged, which was unexpected. But at least I gave him a workout for once. 8x2min hills is a pretty tough workout for anybody, actually. I almost always feel like I'm about to puke by the end of it.

I was debating whether to even go last night. Here in Boulder, we had somewhere around 15-25MPH sustained winds with gusts up to 50+MPH. It literally threw you off balance when it gusted. The way we arranged the hills was a little odd, too. We ran with the wind up the hill . . . The wind pushed you straight into the hill rather than up it, but despite that, whenever a particularly impressive gust of wind caught you, you were suddenly moving faster than your legs would normally be carrying you. It was unnerving, actually.

The most difficult part, though, was that since you were running into the wind during your rest, you still had to work (even going downhill) just to keep moving forward. Wind that speed does the opposite of robbing you of breath: it forces air into your lungs. So during the workout, we never really got the chance to catch our breath.

Needless to say, I"m sore today. I don't think my arms have ever been this sore from a pure running workout. And I currently have difficulty walking up stairs on campus. Gotta love it!