Friday, October 9, 2009

Hilly loops

Today I decided to do hilly loops around my neighborhood. Normally, I just roam around, turning where I feel like at the moment. Often I choose the flattest route. But, today, I decided to do three loops near my house. My road is a gradual incline of about 1/4 mile. The next street over, however, is much steeper. The steeper part is shorter, of course, and then any incline is more gradual than my street. So, I ran downhill from my house and ran up the steeper hill on the next street. The whole loop was 0.95 miles, which is a pretty nice, even number! Who woulda known?!

From top to bottom, the elevation change is only 162ft (49.7 meters) so it's not that big of a deal. But it's enough of a challenge for 5am in 39degF weather with 5mph wind. Actually, the weather was perfect. The coldness was just right. I could feel my lungs wheezing a tiny bit, but nothing to worry about yet. I wore about the same gear as last time. It was a bit on the warm side, I think. Not too bad, though.

I listened to a 156bpm Podrunner podcast called Running to Elysium. There is a line somewhere around 20-25 minute in that repeats "You don't stop" over and over again. That always makes me pick up my pace!

Overall, I did 3.04 miles in 31:05 for a pace of 10:13min/mile. That's pretty good for me!

No bunnies, but I saw a stray cat! I forgot to mention I saw one bunny during my last run. I'm sure you were wondering...

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