Tempo run on hills

We got back into town about 7:30 p.m. Sunday, and after a quick run to the grocery store and gas station it was after 8, but I was still considering getting in my normal Sunday run of 4 miles. I debated back and forth several times: on the one hand I had a lot of extra calories to burn after eating too much for two and  a half days, I had a strong urge to move after sitting in the car for 6 1/2 hours, and I just generally hate to give up miles when I'm training. On the other hand I knew today's run was going to be relatively long and tougher than normal, since it would be done on a hilly route and I knew a full day of rest on Sunday would help ensure a high quality outing on Monday.

Reason finally won and I let Sunday go without doing any exercise at all. It paid off with a very good hill workout this morning. The weather cooperated, too. The temperature was about 62 and there was a nice breeze, so it was very comfortable.

The schedule called for 8 miles of hills, so I moved my start time up a little so I'd be done at the right time. I felt good right out of the door, but kept the pace slow for the first mile, which I did in 9:46. The second mile was 9:07, and then everything else was well under 9, except for the mile with the longest hill, which I did in 8:58. I averaged 8:45 for 8.5 miles, running the distance in 1:14:22. That definitely qualifies as a tempo run.

I'll still pick up those four lost miles by running a little extra on every workout the rest of the week.