Confession time: I have only run twice in the entire month of July. I’ve been conditioning, for sure, but I just haven’t worked out the time to go running. All of the endurance training on my bikes has soaked up an insane amount of time.
So when I showed up to running club on Wednesday, and heard the workout included hill repeats, I was a little nervous. It wasn’t as if my legs were fresh, after banging out a bunch of miles on the MTB in the previous two days.
Dale, the coach, sensed my trepidation and put me back with the “easy” group. We were only supposed to do three hill repeats, but after my first couple, I was feeling good, and surprisingly strong. Instead of pausing at the top with the rest of my group, I started turning and chasing the next group. I got in five repeats before Coach pulled me off, and we jogged back to the track to finish up our workout with some regular intervals.
Even during the last two sets, tired legs and all, I was surprised how much juice I had. I was a few steps off of Vince, the guy I’m usually right with, but only a few steps. Not bad, considering.
At the end of the workout, I was stretching and noticed a fresh crop of freckles on my shins. I’ve always had bunches of freckles, but the past two years have seen them sprouting on my legs like never before, courtesy of countless hours spent in the sun, running and riding and racing.