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Saturday, February 19, 2011

New route--Hill work

It was a beautiful day here in the Pacific Northwest.  The sun was out and I was definitely going to take advantage of it!  I wanted to go on a longer run.  I took the time to actually map out a new course on Nikeplus.com before I left so I knew if my mileage was synced up or not.  It's a combination of my two usual courses.  
Today's course...hill work.

I layered up because even though the sun was out, the wind was also out in full force!  I threw on my sunglasses too and took off.  The wind sure does have it's way with you when you run.  I'm not a fan of head-wind but I know in the long run it will pay off for me big time.  It will help me to get stronger and push through it, but does it have to be so dang cold?

The first mile was actually pretty quick and smooth.  I entered into the new Quadrant Homes neighborhood and was surprised that more people were not out and about on such a beautiful day.  A little past mile 1.5, I made the determination that I don't like to run next to Toyota Priuses.  Those dang cars are way too quiet and it scared me half to death as it quietly purred on by!  I kept running as fast as I could up the big hill and out of the neighborhood.

At mile 2, I entered into McCormick Woods.  By then, I was nice and warm.  I ditched my gloves at the stop sign at the entrance and trekked in.  Running down McCormick Woods Drive was really nice.  Almost no one was on the road: walking, running, or driving for that matter.  The sun was facing directly at me so thank goodness I brought my shades! 

The next 2 1/2 miles were also pretty easy.  Either I'm losing my mind because I think it's getting easier or else I really am getting stronger and faster! :)  40 minutes into my run I made the turn for home onto Hawkstone.  It's a fairly quiet street with a big sidewalk and lots of houses.  The only problem I had was it was really shady on this road today.  So it seemed a lot windier too!  My goal was to maintain my speed and get all the way out of McCormick Woods in less than 20 minutes. 

I made the turn on to MaryMac.  It's a pleasant street with rolling hills.  It was a bit of a struggle towards the end of my run since the shade and wind were making me frozen.  As I crested the final hill I actually almost to cry because I really had wanted to stop and walk before then and I didn't!  One more big hill and I was out of the "Woods"  and in much less time then I had anticipated. 

I got to the entrance and was pleased to see my gloves were still waiting by the stop sign.  They were so needed after the run through the shade.  I put them back on and made the turn for home.  One final hill to climb up Old Clifton and back into The Ridge.  Right as I had entered my neighborhood, I looked at my Nike+GPS...1 hour exactly!  I knew the mileage was off though because as I entered, it said I was only at mile 6.5.  I decided to take the long way home from there just to complete my run.  I ran a little past my house then turned and came back.

Power song of the day:  Florence and the Machine---Dog Days are Over

7.13 miles in 1:05:12 with an average pace of 9'08"/mile!

http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikeplus/en_US/plus/#//runs/gps/676716880/630573704/
 

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