Goodbye spring weather!

I know, all good things must come to an end.  After almost 2 weeks of awesome, spring-like weather, winter will return this weekend, just in time for long runs and super bowl parties.  I am not complaining though, especially since most of the east coast is getting slammed with snow.  I enjoyed opening up my email today and reading blog after blog about fun in the snow, as all of my east coast bloggers are buried in.  I ran in shorts and a lightweight long sleeved shirt last night and it was glorious:)  We even fired up the grill and had grilled pork chops and sweet potatoes for dinner!

I had hill repeats on my schedule for the first time since pre-Konquer the Konza and pre injury.  I was kind of nervous.  Coach Jenny gave me a range 6-8 repeats and gave me instructions of finding a hill that took 45 sec to a minute to climb.  I never really timed my hills previously, as I was doing distance versus time, so I was unsure about what hill would be the best.  I have a variety of hills I do, with varying grades to choose from, so headed out to find which one took the right amount of time to climb.  It just so happened that one of my favorites, favorited mainly due to the fact that it is near my BRF's house and it has lighting at night, did indeed take the required time to conquer.  The second part of my challenge was to combine the warm up and cool down and repeats for a total of 4-5 miles.  Hmmm...well it just so happens that it takes me about a mile and a half to get to this hill, so I would be guaranteed 3 miles just going to and back.  I managed to get exactly 4 miles in between running to and from and the repeats.  How perfect is that?  My hubby also timed it that the meat went on the grill as I was coming in from running, so it really was a perfect night.  Overall, hill repeats are my favorite type of speed workout and even though they were super tough (and these were really, really tough because most of my speed work and or recovery/long runs are done on flat roads), i had a smile on my face at the end for sure.

I did get my cool wrap in the other day, and have been using it ever night for my sometimes naughty ankle.  I am so hoping I win one from Running in SD mom's blog but if not, I will be for sure purchasing the next biggest size for my legs.  I LOVE this product.  I can ice and do whatever needs to be done around the house, and apparently judging by this pic I need to clean up the various toys and shoes (that aren't mine of course).  I would wear flip flops with this on but not shoes, as it does tend to warm up and get whatever you have on wet.    I had socks on last night under them, and they were soaked by the time I was done.  I am trying a protocol of ice/heat/ice, and it seems to be working great.   I was really anxious to see how my leg/ankle held up after hill repeats, so will continue to ice and monitor today and tomorrow.  

I just love this picture.  Andrew loves his uncle.  While it can be a bit of a challenge having an extra person in your house, it's all about family right?  I have to remember that sometimes:)