Penance

Daily Quote: "Ultras are perfect vehicles for Catholics and lapsed Catholics to do penance for their sins and the sins of everyone they know or have ever known. As an added attraction, if you run a long enough ultra, you also get to experience apparitions, although to avoid getting theological about the subject, ultrarunners learn to refer to them as 'hallucinations.'" --Rich Benyo, "Marathon & Beyond," July/Aug 2009, pg 12.

I had to chuckle at the above quote! I'm Roman Catholic, but my wife is Southern Baptist, maybe I can convince my wife to allow me to run an ultra race next Spring as to fulfill my "penance?" Of course, she would probably counter by threatening another Catholic tradition..."Last Rites!!"

Now that my 5k training is over, I won't be doing 800's intervals, instead today my plan is to run a hill program on the gym's treadmill, which challenges me with intervals of multiple hills and valleys with each hill becoming progressively more difficult. During base building I won't be doing any 800's intervals until I start my marathon training.

10:00 a.m. 24 Hour Fitness Gym, Alta & Rainbow location. Life Fitness Treadmill, Hill Program, Level 5 (the highest hill will be at a 5% grade), speed set at 6.2 mph (9:40 minute miles) for 6 miles. Time, 58:00 minutes. Average heart rate, 158 bpm. Cardiac drift, 169 bpm. (Note: my maximum heart rate is 190 bpm)

No aches nor pain, even my right ankle isn't complaining! My heart rate shows it has adapted to the threshold effort and I can now increase the effort of my hill program next Monday...I'll experiment with the speed at 6.3 mph (9:31 minute miles.) with the same Level 5 Hill Program.

Looking forward to a nice easy Recovery Run tomorrow!