Hill workout [2011 Running]

I haven't filled all of ya in about my latest motivational kick in the keester!
On Saturday, my sister-in-law Bethann sent me a text wondering if I was serious about running the Paavo Nurmi Marathon Relay. We spoke about this a few weeks ago, shortly after she finished her FIRST HALF-MARATHON! Yeah Bethann! She's picked up running this year and is hooked, but needs some "push" herself to stay running through the summer. I understand COMPLETELY! Soooo....we committed to running the Marathon-relay, set for August 13th, eight weeks away. PLENTY (??) of time for me to get my butt back in running shape ((literally!))

Some of you may recall the last time I ran this with my previous running partner, Julie. (2008 Paavo Nurmi Marathon-relay recap)

I ran (more like run/walk/walk/run/walk/jog/run/walk/walk) ;0) Saturday evening and again Sunday evening. Cassie joined me on Sunday and handled the first 1.5 miles really well, but then was pretty much done, so I ran some "loops" away from her and back, working on some intervals. It worked; I can improvise AND still keep Cassie motivated to run.

Yesterday, took the day off of running, but did get an upper-body workout in (remember the 2-hour paint-off-carpet scrubbing???) ;0).

At 5:00 today, I headed outside with intentions of doing my first real miles in YEARS!! Goal: 5 miles.
Hmpf! It was WINDY! A strong, gusty, easterly wind. Therefore, I ran my north/south out-n-back road, which is only 1.8 miles, but has a great 200M hill smack-dab in the middle of it. Hence, today's run turned into a hill workout. A bit over a mile warmup, then 4 x 200M hill climb/jog down, and finished with the final half mile back to the house.

If you are a graph person, here's my run today. Those hills sure took my heart-rate up (and OVER) its max. Good thing I wore my Runner-ID bracelet in the event I keeled over on the side of the road! (Legend: Purple = Heartrate %; Gray = Elevation)

As usual, it's sheer will-power and discipline to get my butt going, but once I do....I feel wonderful once finished. More energy.....it's crazy, really!

Eating healthier is important too. The fridge is stocked with some low-fat yogurts and cottage cheese for those mid-morning snacks; plenty of eggs from the chickens, so we'll always have some hard-boiled ready for a quick snack too (great protein!).

Today's menu:
Breakfast: Bagel with strawberry jam, coffee (need to layoff that French Vanilla creamer, though)
Morning Snack: Toast using the last bit of strawberry jam (time to make more!). Water.
Lunch: BIG salad with chopped ham, turkey and egg (hardboiled, yolk removed). Half a grilled ham-n-cheese and some tomato soup. Water.
Dinner: Maple-Orange glazed pork chops (new recipe), corn, rice with some scrambled eggs (4-2 ratio; 4 eggwhites to 2 yolks). Lemonade.

Regarding the new recipe for the pork chops----YUM! But next time, I'm going to make a bit more glaze and use it as a dipping sauce while eating the chops. Also, I didn't use orange juice, but rather 2 tablespoons of the OJ concentrate from the freezer. Quite de-lish.