I Love Running

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I thought I'd try on "I love running" as my title for today's post. Yes, I know Valentine's Day was yesterday, but better late than never. I had all the intentions in the world to post my Top Ten reasons (Dave Letterman style) for loving running before V-Day, for a contest put on my #runchat but I didn't find the time.... So instead, I am borrowing a graphic from their site (i.e., the lovely graphic on the right here), and posting a little something different the day following Valentine's Day. That's not wrong, is it. 

Like I mentioned last post, one of the things I love about running are the "little victories". There are so many little things about running that can put a big smile on your face. Here are a few that have come to my attention this week (i.e. since my awesome weekend 20km training run):

• I'm super excited to announce that I've been featured on another blog! Blogger, Tina Lane, has featured an interview with me on her web site Girl With A New Life, where I tell my story about transforming my life through fitness. What a great experience, being able to write for her, and it's only been online a day, and I've gotten so many encouraging comments. Thank you! 

• As a staffer at the Running Room, I get some pretty sweet deals on running shoes. I recently ordered a pair of New Balance 890, a shoe I've read tonnes about, and realized it could be the ideal shoe for me, well, that's if the shoe fits.... It came in the mail yesterday, they fit like a charm, and I took them out for my little 6km tempo run. They were amazing! Now there were several other factors for me feeling awesome yesterday (good / happy news, good / restful sleep, good / nutritious food, warm / fuzzy Valentine's Day feelings of love...etc.), but I'm pretty sure the shoes were a major factor as well. I'm taking them out for my 10km run tomorrow just to be sure :) Stay tuned for my next product review! These shoes are fabulous!  

• I started my hill training today! This is week one of seven, of having hill training in my weekly routine (i.e., today was 4 hills, next week 5, then 6....all the way to 10 by week 7), focusing on building strength before the final weeks of training where the focus shifts to speed. I was reminded of two things doing these repeats on my favourite hill (discovered during training for Victoria last summer - it was nice to go back!) ...#1 - Hill training is HARD! I'm so glad that week 1 calls for only 4 repeats, because that's just what I was ready for. The nice thing though was that they were way easier than I remember them being. I had consistent pacing over all 4 repats, and didn't need to walk my downhills at all. I just kept running, but slowed the pace down to a recovery jog downhill. But that doesn't mean that my thighs weren't burning after each hill. Woooo boy!... #2 - Hill training is FUN! It's a great way to challenge yourself, and have a different workout, even though it's still running. On my 3rd repeat, I ran so hard up my hill, I passed a cyclist who was struggling...I felt bad. But I felt good. :) I felt kind of hardcore... I came home tired, thirsty like heck, hungry like heck too, and eager in anticipation for tomorrow's run.

Oh and tomorrow's run, I'm wearing my new shoes again. Yay!