Taking it up a notch

So, in an attempt to prepare for the craziness that is Ragnar: Adirondacks, I have upped my training.  This morning, I ran with some of my teammates up a massive hill.  We went up three miles and then came back down for a total of six miles.  Since Ragnar is full of steep hills (remember, it's through the mountains), we figured we should start doing some serious hill work.  This fit the bill!

I actually really enjoyed it.  There's something very therapeutic about running straight uphill for three miles.  It definitely makes you feel tough.

If that wasn't enough, I added another component to my training.  I started running more than once throughout the day.  Normally, I just run once every day or so.  But, Ragnar requires me to run three different legs, each about 10 hours apart.  I need to be able to run three times in a day and a half.  So, after the brutal hill work this morning, I added a second evening run.  I ran six miles this morning and three miles this evening.  It wasn't so bad...except for the intense heat.  I really dislike running in the heat.

Now that I'm adding more intense training to my schedule, I'm even more excited about Ragnar.  It's going to be tough, but I know I can do it, and that's a great feeling.