Ready for Tiger and Some Workouts

So, tomorrow I will be running up Tiger Mountain for 15.5 miles. It's not the 50k I was planning on, but I think in my current mental state about running, 4 hours is going to be plenty!

Since I have already run this trail before, I know what to expect. Basically I am ready to run up, and down, and up and down the entire time. I used to shy away from hills. Even a small hill was a huge obstacle for me. Now, I crave them and most of my longer runs, if I'm not trail running, are spent searching for hills!

I am also expecting it to be cold and snowy up there. I've got a plan for my outfit, which is the more layers the better. Although I tend to warm up during the first hour, I also know I can start to get cold again and that there will be cold pockets on the mountain as well. I'm going to wear 2 layers plus a jacket, so hopefully I'll be good to go!

I also got a new hydration pack awhile ago, that is ready to rock tomorrow morning!

I love this one for several reasons. First, front pockets! My other pack had pockets on the actual pack, but I always had to take it off to access them, which was annoying if I didn't want to stop. Now, I can carry things right on the straps, so I will have easy access. The hydration bladder on this pack is also larger, coming in at 70 oz, which is 20 more than my other pack. In true idiotic fashion, I haven't had the chance to test the new pack it on a long run yet, but I have done several shorter runs with it. So I have faith it'll hold up just fine!

I'll be running with Ultra Marathon Jess, and several other friends as well. I'm super excited and am just hoping that my stomach wants to cooperate because 4 hours on a snowy mountain, fighting stomach problems is not going to make me very happy!

Although it's been a short week, I sure feel like it's dragged on forever! I've had some good runs, mostly thanks to the beautiful weather we had for a few days.

Beautiful sunrise at Discovery Park.

It's been very cold, but perfectly clear and sunny. I love those kinds of days! They always manage to put me in a good mood.

I've had some rough Crossfit workouts this week. Lots of rowing, which I always dread. I remember worrying last summer that I was going to dread Crossfit when the weather was bad and we didn't run much anymore. I was right. But at least I'm getting better at rowing!

Yesterday topped the cake when we had to do a 2000 meter row followed by a dumbbell complex. Ouch! My butt was so sore!

We did a workout that I really enjoyed on Wednesday evening. It was 5 rounds of the following:

300 meter row
7 deadlifts
10 pushups

Although I hated the rowing, I love it when there are so many rounds. While it always takes longer, the longer the workout is, the more I can reach the endurance level and just go at a steady pace. For me that is so much easier than short, super intense workouts.

And, lastly, here is a workout I gave to my HIIT class last night. If you give it a try, let me know! I did a version of this on my own this weekend and really enjoyed the variation.