Wednesday Intervals

So, I couldn't decide whether to do a hill run or a speed workout or what. So, I opted for the best (worst?) of all worlds.

I did an interval workout on a hill.

I've done this before, but it's been a while..

So, to set the scene.. it's a bit over a mile to get to where I was running this workout. Probably 1.25 miles.. There's a lot of uphill to get to this spot as well, but I tried to take it easy getting there. (It also seems like it's uphill on the way back... maybe that's just me, though)

The hill I was running on has a nice loop.. it's about .25 miles up, and then an equal amount back down through a quiet street.

I took the first interval really easy. A moderate pace up, with a jog back down.
The second interval I went full bore up the hill.. until I ran out of gas and proceeded to finish at a slow trot. Too bad, too.. I had an audience on this interval. chuckle.

The third was another zippy one.. I started a bit slower, with a big sprinting finish. This led me to barely be able to jog back down the hill...

My last interval, I wussed out on. I did another interval just like the first one.. pretty easy going. I guess I'd be glad about this later, as you'll see. I felt a bit bad at the time, though.

So, I finished up, and started the jog home.. On the way, I typically hit this little dead end side street, just to add a bit more distance. At the very end, there's a house on the hill, and usually a dog tied up which barks when I get near the end of the street. Anyone guess where this is going?


I approach the end of the street, and I see the owners of the house at the end of the street getting out of their car. I also see the dog. Loose.

It starts running at me.. I decided that I'd skip the end of the street, and turned around... I heard the owner whistle and yell at his dog to stay. I was waiting for the comment that typically comes from dog owners.. "oh don't worry, he won't bite".. Didn't hear that, though.

So, I know I'm not going to out run a dog. I have trouble out running snails and turtles. Dogs are completely out of the question. I was hoping to just get far enough away that it would lose interest.

I was also looking for some sort of heavy stick or projectile during my sprint away. Nothing.


Thankfully, the 'flight' portion of the 'fight or flight' prevailed, and the dog lost interest in tracking me down. He did go pretty far, though.


Down the street from where I live, there were some kids yelling something as I was coming home.. It took me a minute, but I finally figured out they were selling Kool-Aid. (Oh Yeah! Oh Yeah! That's me, being the Kool Aid man).
They seemed annoyed I didn't want to stop and buy some.

Kids: I don't carry my wallet when I go running. Plus, if I'm going to drink some sort of sugar laden thing, it sure as heck isn't going to be Kool Aid.

I know, they're just doing their thing, and I wasn't mean.. I just turned up the final stretch and finished my run. They were annoyed with me, though. <shrug>

Run wound up being around 4.25 miles.