Making Hard Happen

Hard Is Where It Happens is the workout mantra I draw on when my muscles start whining and I want to quit–or at least skip those last few reps and take a breather. I remind myself that in order to get stronger I have to push beyond that point and do more than I’m comfortable doing. It’s only in challenging myself that I will reach my next goals.

But knowing that hard is where it happens isn’t enough. I have to make hard happen and take on challenging workouts. And that’s been more of a struggle lately.

Making Hard Happen

I thought about all this while doing hill repeats last week. As you can see from the elevation profile, I chose a long-ish hill in my neighborhood that is really two hills in one. I always notice that transition to the second hill–although I don’t notice that dip before it!– and have to dig deeper to keep going.

When my legs started complaining, I reminded myself that ^THIS^ is what I NEED.

I NEED to struggle now so mile 8-9 of the Reston 10 Miler won’t be so tough.

I NEED to struggle now so the Central Park hills won’t trash my legs for the rest of the NYC Half Marathon.

I NEED for this workout to be HARD so *IT* will happen.

Making Hard Happen #motivation #runchat
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NYC Half Training Recap

So, how did I make hard happen last week? Here’s my recap for the Weekly Wrap link up hosted by Holly and Tricia and the Training Recap link hosted by Courtney.

Monday: Orange Theory Fitness
There’s always plenty of hard happening at OTF. This week we cycled through three intense rounds, including challenging incline intervals on the treadmill. 7% at 7.0 mph!

Tuesday: Week 6, Workout 11 from Quick Strength For Runners
I actually had to make this workout easier because something wonky was going on in my right shoulder. As long as I broke the compound shoulder raise moves into single moves I was able to avoid the searing, shooting pain.

Wednesday: Hill Repeats
Yep, these were hard!

Thursday: Indoor Cycling at Revolve
I usually use my heart rate monitor to make sure I am working at the target intensity, but it would not cooperate. I’m pretty sure my heart was beating faster than 93 bpm during those intervals!

Friday: 8.9 mile run
The hardest part about this working was making it happen at all! Because of my business trip I decided to squeeze in my long run before heading to the train station. I figured out that I had just enough time to fit in 8 miles if I finished packing the night before, didn’t hit snooze, and didn’t dilly dally getting out the door. Well, I did all that, but somehow miscalculated my route! I got back to the house @ 6:30 and was in my taxi by 6:59–although I think I left my Fitbit charger behind.

Saturday: Week 6, Workout 12 from QSFR
This routine has plenty of hard core exercises, including fitness ball jackknives and knee tucks–I always hate those because they are so hard.

Sunday: 5 mi on the hotel gym treadmill including 3 x 7.0 mph mile repeats
OTF has spoiled me with 1-3 minute intervals on the treadmill, so doing mile repeats tested my mental and physical endurance!