May is Here!

I did it! I did it! I completed 40.50 miles for the month of April. I shouldn't doubt myself anymore because I know I can do this. I have to not skimp on my schedule with either skipping a run or reducing the mileage. I also have to keep a watch on any "flat tires." You know, those mornings when the night before was either a) a late night or b) partnered with too many cocktails!

This month my last 4 miles scheduled will be on the 31st, Monday, Memorial Day. That's a work holiday so I can get up, run the last 4 miles (or hopefully less) then off to the bar-b-que!

I'm getting way ahead of the month though. In the morning I have a 40 minute incline run for 3.0 miles. I have two options for this incline run. I can watch the DVD Runtervals where an instructor leads five runners on a run with different incline pyramids. I can't quite keep up with them but I get my own really good hill workout. The other option is to use a pattern that I wrote out on the back of an envelope that is basically a 6-8% incline for 2 minutes, 0% for 3 minutes repeated for 35 minutes. A five minute warm up equals 40 minutes. I listen to my ipod "running" playlist for this workout.

Wait! I have another option. The treadmill has quite a few pre-loaded workouts that have inclines. These are all only 30 minutes but that's okay.

Wait! There is one more option. If I wait and run when I get home tomorrow afternoon I can run to the bottom and go up the hill 2 - 3 times. That's always a great incline workout. The only problem with this option is timing. By the time I get home I'm usually too tired from the day to run with that much effort. I usually run to the bottom (which means I go down a rather tall hill) on the weekends and it is in the morning. That might not be the best option for tomorrow.

Hmmmm...choices and decisions......