A Surprise Hill Workout

Today I went to PiYo and then went for a 5 mile tempo run outside. I've decided that 30 degree weather isn't so bad after the first mile. But that first mile was FREEZING!

I started my run from the DAHLC (my gym) for the first time. I had never run this route, but I was pretty confident that I knew where I was going. At one point, I thought I took a wrong turn (which in hindsight I now know I was going the right way) so I decided to turn around. Problem is, I had just gone down a really long downhill, so then I had to go up a really long uphill. After that, I still didn't know where I was, so I just kept going west until I found the highway, then took the bike trail from there. It actually didn't alter the distance of my run much (it only added a tenth of a mile) but it sure screwed up my splits. Here's what they looked like:

Miles 1 and 5 were at warm up/cool down pace; miles 2-4 were at tempo pace. You can probably deduce that mile 2 was where I ran down the huge hill and mile 3 is where I had to run back up it. (Note to self: incorporate some hill workouts into training.) Mile 4 was probably closest to my ideal tempo pace, although it was probably a little fast.

After my workout I went to the dermatologist since I've had a rash on my face for a little over a month now. It started out as a small dry patch, but now it's spread over my entire chin. The PA shined a little light on it and was like "Oh yeah, that's perioral dermatitis." But since it was my first time being seen in that department, he wanted to get the doctor to confirm it. Same conclusion. Turns out I have to take doxycycline for one to two months to get rid of it. Meaning I'll have to apply copious amounts of sunscreen every time I go for a long run outside so my overly sensitive skin doesn't burn. And I'll probably get sick at some point because I love my dairy, and dairy and doxycycline don't mix well. I'm just glad it's not psoriasis- my grandma had psoriatic arthritis and so does my mom, so I was little worried that I was destined for the same fate. But it appears as though I don't need start worrying about achy joints just yet.


Do you incorporate hill workouts into your training?

How cold is "too cold" for you to run outside?