Have you ever thought of running as an ART?

I love healthy little reminders...

Last Wednesdays run left me feeling a little bit defeated. Perhaps, defeated is the wrong word but it felt much tougher than it normally does. I'll remind you that this run involves running an hour up a logging road that switchbacks 7 times, followed by the best reward ever: a kick ass mountain bike trail descent. I had gone for a long bike ride the day before this run and it was no surprise that my HR was higher than normal.

Yesterday however, I felt flippin' fantastic. The first 15 minutes of this run (what i would call the 'warm-up')is actually on some decent technical trail before hitting the logging road. It can get quite steep in parts and I hardly consider it much of a warm-up. I am usually having to work quite hard here, in full concentration as to to attempt to keep the HR as low as possible. Today though, I finished the warm-up without even having to think about what I was doing. I just ran, and all of a sudden, there was the logging road. I knew it was going to be a good day.

I was fully recovered from all previous days workouts and it showed as I was able to run up the hill with ease. We finished the ascent 4 minutes faster than the previous week. It is a very mentally challenging hill but somehow the hour of running uphill just seemed to pass by. I brought my IPod along with me today and maybe that helped keep my mind distracted. The descent just made me smile. Every negative thought I was thinking about as I climbed up that logging road just disappeared (yes, sometimes I have negative thoughts when I run uphill...weird?).

We had such a blast rip roaring down the trail. We take the Baden Powell Trail back home and it's a very technical trail full of rocks and roots. The speed we were traveling involved a lot of fancy footwork and sometimes I truly feel that trail running is an art. The art of the placement of each foot, choosing the best line, and doing all that while moving at max speed. I love it.

Runs like this serve as great confidence boosters. I do like variety with my runs but sometimes it's nice to have that weekly run where you can gauge your fitness level. Hills are a well known weakness of mine and as much as it's a struggle some days, it is going to make me a much stronger hill climber.

It's a glorious day here in North Vancouver and today's run was nice, easy and enjoyable.

Alright, I am off to do a talk to a running group about the benefits of strength training.

See you in the trails!