Andrea vs the Incline, Take Two

Back on May 17th, I did the Incline, a crazy hike up some 5000 stairs in the mountains. Today I returned for a second attempt.

I gave myself the goal not to rest on the climb, and headed steadily up the stairs. It’s humbling when your heart rate is wavering at 174 beats per minute, yet your garmin isn’t even measuring a pace (because you’re moving so slowly!). I just kept putting one foot in front of the other, however, even chatting a bit with others as I climbed. For some reason I’d had in my mind that I finished it in 48 minutes last time, so I was surprised when I crested the top in 35:28. As it turned out, I finished it in 39:10 in May. Still, a marked improvement, especially considering I hadn’t taken a break, either. Interestingly enough, the Garmin measured the distance as .82 last time and only .76 today, but because of the extreme vertical distance covered, I’m not too concerned. I’m fairly confident no rails were removed from the track in the past month!

Since the marathon on June 7th, I’ve only covered a single running mile not in heart rate zone 1. My heart rate was high today, but when I neared the end of the run I felt really strong and really wanted to tear into it. I think I understand now part of the merits of the recovery zone running, and I am eager to see how things will go once I start officially training again. Next weekend is the Barr Mountain Trail Race, and then the next day I will start training for Twin Cities. I’m looking forward to a formal training plan again, hopefully life will comply and let me do what I need to do!