Sub-11 Again

I've been struggling to get my running legs back. It's been an uphill battle, literally, the hills in my neighborhood have been killing me. I usually walk them. My pace has been terrible, 11 and 12 minute miles. Makes this former 10:00 min/mi girl very sad, especially since at my best I was getting into sub-9 territory. But, baby steps. One doesn't take three and a half months off and just jump right back in at peak performance. But, if I really am going to run two half marathons in the spring three weeks apart, I need to get going and get back into proper running form. Step one? Try to run the hills. That's what I did today. When the hills came up, I did my best to resist the urge to walk and instead slow my pace and try to jog up them. While I still had to take quite a few walk breaks during the 2 mile loop, I finally got into a sub-11 minute mile average. Running legs may just be returning after all. And I can definitely feel it. My legs are sore. The foam roller is calling my name.

 

And, a different perspective, so you can see all the hills and just how steep they truly are: