Double: Easy Run and Hill Sprints

Morning

Was out the door for a trail run at 5am.  Goal was to get in around five miles at a pretty easy pace.  Temps were in the upper 60s, and the deer flies were horrendous.  

Their behavior at the crack of dawn was notably different.  They swarmed, but also simply landed on my shirt and stayed there.  It was almost horrifying to look over the back of my shoulder at one point and see at least a dozen of them hitching a ride.  Can't imagine how many more there were on the rest of my back that I couldn't see.  One swat yielded several deaths to the little bastards.  I then broke off a pine branch and swatted my back intermittently to keep them away.  

As for the run itself, it went well.  The pace picked up at the end a little simply because I wanted to get inside and away from those little yellow and black winged crapheads.  

Ran 5.0 miles @ 8:15/mile pace. 

Deer flies killed:  20+

Trails and fire roads. 

Slightly hilly. 

Upper 60s, extremely humid. 

Asics Trail Attacks, shorts, short sleeved shirt, cap. 

Afternoon

Got home from my summer mentoring job and took a nap.  Woke up and was out the door to run a little over a mile down the road to a short section of hill that is also steep, possibly making it a good candidate for hill sprints, so I thought I'd test it out.  Turns out the hill section was about 365 feet long and climbs about 40 feet. 

Goal was to get in 10 reps, including a sprint up the hill and a walk back down.  Mission accomplished, but next time I think I'll jog down the hill, as the walk down seemed to allow too much of a rest break.  

I otherwise really liked the workout and thought the hill was perfect.  I wanted something shorter and steep to sprint up, as I already get in plenty of hill running anyways.  This should provide some good strength training and also get the heart rate jacked. 

Cool down run home, cold shower and done.  Looking forward to much needed thunderstorms tomorrow.  Ahhhhhh...

Warm up 1.2 miles  @ 8:13/mile pace. 

Hill sprints x 10.  Pace up started at about 4:50/mile average, slowed to around 6:10/mile at the top. 

Cool down 1.2 miles @ 8:14/mile average. 

Paved roads. 

Lower 80s, sunny. 

Asics GT-2130, shorts, short sleeved shirt, cap.