Hills and Speedwork in the same workout.

I sat in my kitchen for 10 minutes trying to get myself to go run. I finally did. I had a lot of stress and other issues bubbling around in my brain. I finally went outside and stretched out to run. I had planned all week to do either 5 or 7.5 today, and here I was, struggling to even put my shoes on. As I stretched, I decided I would do a hill workout and just go from there. As I ran, I decided I would do hills and speed - why not? At just over a mile in to my regular route is an overpass. I ran over that, back over that, and then back again. I hit mile two at about the top of the 3rd crest. I was fairly happy with how fast I was able to climb the hills, and then speed up on the way down. I began my walking recovery at about 2.4 miles and after my first bout of that - I decided to do start the speedwork. I hit mile 3 just as I was to start the climb on the overpass again and for the last time. I walked the flat and then "sprinted" the downhill. I don't know whether to call what I was doing "fartleks" or if they weren't more accurately "strides". In any event, I was enjoying myself, except for the wind. It was a cold wind, and a bit of a bear when it was a headwind.

In any event, I ended up with splits of 9:11, 9:15, 9:49, 10:51, and 3:52. My overall pace was slower than I wanted, but I suppose that is due to the far too much walking I did in mile 4 - and the headwind. On a good note, there was a 669 calorie burn. Maybe tomorrow I'll get in a long run in preparation for the Siberian. I hope I can get it done with no rain