Okay…W-O-W!  That was one of the toughest workouts I’ve done in a long, long time.

I ran about 1.75 miles before the first 400m interval. The temperature was about 26 degrees and there was about 1/2 inch of snow on the street. At the time, the wind was gusting to about 12 mph. There were a few stars out while I was running.

The long warm up run placed me in position to run a 4% to 7% grade during the 400m (or 1/4 mile) which I planned to repeat 6 times. I shot for a 6:10 to 6:25 pace for each interval. I did pretty good until the 7% grade which came after about 200 meters on my first one. Then my legs began to feel like lead and any sort of energy that I had was instantly zapped. In only made it to about 300 m before turning around gasping for breath. I was able to run the next interval the full 1/4 mile but I was really slow and digging deep to complete it up that hill. I don’t think I had anything left. The third up hill interval was the worst. I made it to the base of the steeper grade and then went about 100 yards farther before giving it up. It was just too daunting and certainly did nothing for my confidence. Instead of scrapping the whole workout, I ran down the hill and found a flatter 1/4 mile stretch to complete the next 3 intervals.

Out of those, I had a really good 5th interval hitting my pace and keeping good form. The 6th one I was shot. I did it as best I could and then jogged very slowly back home.

Yes…my head hung in shame. However, this was a morning run…which I am used to doing training runs in the evening or late afternoon AND it was my birthday. I had a skimpy pre-run toasted waffle (one) and a few sips of water. It took me about 15 minutes to clear the sleepiness away and get dressed for the cold weather.

The rest of this week looks really cold and I will probably be hitting the gym treadmills to complete my training. I think the long run on Sunday will be done in the teens. Hoping for no wind.