Today’s Run: 8.6 miles – hill repeats

I started my workout a little after 5:30 this morning – about an hour earlier than yesterday – and it was so. much. cooler. Sleeping in is for chumps. Of course, finishing The Pillars of the Earth yesterday meant that I didn’t stay up reading half the night, so that made the whole early-morning thing easier.

My training schedule today called for “long hill repeats” –up and down hills that take two to three minutes to climb. The biggest hills in town take less than a minute, so it was time to head outta town…a little bit. My favorite hills for this type of workout are a little over four miles from home. Since I didn’t want my warm-up and cool-down to be longer than the actual workout, I grabbed my trusty two-wheeler and rode a little more than halfway there, then parked the bike and started the run. That way, my warm-up and cool-down were only about a mile and a half each—much better.

(This is a crummy picture; I was using my phone and couldn’t really see the screen. Those are hills.)

These are my favorite hills to run repeats on because there are several in a row, which makes the workout feel MUCH less tedious than running up and down the same hill ten times.  These hills are perfect for this workout:

 

I got a nice, long downhill run for my cooldown and biked home.  I’m practically a duathlete (or not). And I got a bike ride in for Bike to Work Day, even though I don’t actually have to go to work today (neener neener).

(source)

 In other news, our five-year anniversary is Friday, so J brought me these yesterday:

I heard that someone *coughSarahcough* said that J and I are nauseating. Whatever. I got flowers.

So I made him potatoes for dinner. The poor potato has gotten a bad rap recently, but potatoes are actually good for you…as long as they’re not fried or smothered with cheese and butter, of course. Potatoes are high in fiber, potassium, vitamin C, and B-vitamins, plus they provide complex carbohydrates to give you energy without a crash later on.  So eat them!

Here’s how we had ours:

1 lb frozen French-fry cut potatoes (pre-cut, not pre-fried)

Fresh basil, oregano, thyme, and rosemary

A sprinkle of Parmesan cheese

Baked at 450 for 15 minutes and devoured alongside turkey burgers.

Yum.

 

What’s your favorite potato recipe (healthy or not so much)?

Did you bike to work (or wherever) today?