The Big Dipper Tempo Run

On Tuesday, I completed the NTC Intermediate Get Strong Perfect Score, the first NTC workout that I had completed previously. Full disclosure: I hated it. It was in the morning, and I just didn't have the energy... I mean, I sat through one of the exercises, I was so unmotivated! I'm pretty sure it's because I hadn't completed a full NTC workout since the Wednesday before, (which was the wrong workout, let me remind you). Oh well... at least I did it, right?

Back to running this morning!

I rolled out of bed, almost literally, at 6:45 to go and conquer a 6 mile tempo run around the neighborhood. I had planned out my run via Google Maps the night before, so I at least knew where I was going to run instead of aimlessly running around and getting stopped by dead ends. Unfortunately, Google Maps doesn't tell you where the hills are.

I tried this G Series Prime 01 before I went out. Can I ask Gatorade buffs: WHY is this in a squishy pouch when the liquid inside is NOT a gel? Being my curious self, I expected it to be gel-like, and I gripped it so hard during my first sip that it ended up shooting to the back of my throat, instantly choking me. At 7 in the morning! I spent at least 5 minutes trying not to cough up a storm and get the liquid out of what felt like my lungs. Ugh. Not a good start.

I also packed these for fuel:

Ugh. Has anybody tried these? I do NOT recommend them. I ate one around Mile 2 and almost spit it out - I felt like I was chewing a tire. The consistency was much too hard, not at all like the gummi-ness of my Clif Shot Bloks. Once I got home, I threw the rest of the pouch away. Never again!

So, my fuel wasn't as top notch as it usually is. That's okay, I'm learning what I like!

Big Dipper Run?

I started the run with a slight incline, and then turned the corner, and there it was. The MOTHER of all hills. Here's a street view shot for you to understand my horror at what I'd done.

Maybe you can't tell because of the fish-eye of Google... but it was steep!

Um. Okay. So, no matter that miles 2-5 were supposed to be at "tempo" pace (which to me just means sprint), I had to do it uphill??

Despite all of that, plus feeling like I was gonna die in the middle of the 2nd mile, I actually did okay on my tempo run. What goes up must come down, right? The only reason why miles 3 and 5 were SO fast were because I was running downhill or on a flat plane almost the entire time. I felt like I was flying! It was still hard, of course, but I'm sure if it had been flat I would have only been getting in the mid 8s, like mile 4.

Hmmm, interesting. I still don't think it counts since it was on hills!

In any case, I'm glad it's over, and now the only run left for the week is my extremely slow 12-miler. I've been meaning to make a special playlist of slow-but-motivating songs for this run. That, or listen to an audiobook to keep my mind off of how long I'll be out there. The instructions say to run it 1-2 minutes slower than your regular pace, so I'm just gonna try and hit around the 11s and 12s.

Have you ever ran while listening to an audiobook?