BRF Tami and I had scheduled a run date for Friday morning and being the awesome person that I am {please note the sarcasm}, I had agreed to tackle her hill workout. The goal was to spend 15 to 20 minutes of the workout climbing a hill for 30 to 35 seconds before jogging back down and doing it again. Our normal route is fairly flat but there is a hill nearby, and I suggested that it could work.
But when I headed out to the car that morning to warm it up, I slipped and nearly biffed it before even jogging a step. The temperature was just cold enough that the morning frost was able to create a sheet of black ice. I called Tami and suggested we would meet downtown, as it just didn't seem safe to do hill repeats on a likely slick sidewalk. She agreed and made the turnoff to head my way.
When we convened in the parking lot, we worked out a plan of attack. We were both dressed in fleece tights so heading to the Y for a go on the treadmill wasn't an option. The downtown sidewalks are usually salted as are the streets, and we could easily run loops to hit 5. But I felt terrible that she would miss a workout. She saved the hills for us.
I thought and thought. And, then, I had an idea. It wasn't my own idea. I had read about people doing this many a time and thinking, "I should try that sometime," but never half-knowing I'd never actually try it. It would be perfect, though, for our early-morning quandary.
Running in a parking garage!
Tami agreed and off we went to run a cautions mile warm-up around downtown before heading into one of the garages. We stopped, stretched, took a deep breath and then headed up, up, up.
There were so many pros to this, I can't even tell you. Wait, I will. It was relatively covered so there was no concern about ice. The building kept us shielded from the wind, which has been the biggest con of this mild winter. The garage, about seven levels, offered about 4 minutes of climbing – inclines like that are near impossible to find in this part of Indiana. At the end of each set (we did it three times), we were rewarded with an amazing starlit view of the downtown skyline.
Don't get me wrong, it was HARD. I might have cussed a few times ... or a thousand – but in the best way.
The one thing to note: GPS tracking was next to nill on this excursion so we just guestimated the distance based on time and effort.
The week, in running:
Monday: 5 miles as 2-mile warmup, 2 miles at tempo (8:03, 8:11), 1-mile cool down
Wednesday: 3.2 easy miles
Friday: 5(ish) miles, hills
Saturday: 10.8 miles as 8 miles easy and 2 miles fast finish (8:36, 8:33)
Sunday: 6 miles (Scott Jurek run)
Total miles: 30
Total miles: 30
I once ran 10K uphill in a parking garage. 25 repeats of 1/4 mile each, then back down the stairs. Got some weird looks from the people who pull into the garage and then sit in their cars for a while, but I thought they were weird too, so it worked out.
ReplyDeleteGood on ya for being creative and persisting!