Finding an Alternative... Tuesday, February 4

You'd think that me working at my own boxing club would mean it'd be easy for me to get in a workout, not so!  Definitely not so.  Thinking I could get in a workout before members starting arriving, I arrived all wide-eyed and bushy tailed, ready to train... only to see before me three members sitting outside of Hulk's, waiting for us to come unlock the doors.  Within the first hour of opening, I had nine members to train.  These days getting in a solid hour of boxing training has been so incredibly challenging to do.  I could always leave it to the last hour of work, when the club is winding down and only some of the bigger guys who train alone are present, but who has any energy after training 30+ members in a day?!  Exactly.  I'm usually able to get in a quick weight training circuit in but it's quite difficult because productive training isn't about getting in this exercise or a few exercises, it's about getting in a full workout and then accompanying that undisturbed training session with an adequate post-training meal.  My training and meals are very much dependent and planned around each other so timing is key.

And don't even get me started on trying to fit in my boxing.  After getting my hands wrapped and warming-up, I really need an undisturbed hour to focus on my boxing training and that just doesn't happen as much as I'd like.  These days my hour turns into either me coming in early to train, staying late to train or compromising for only 20-30 minutes.  Members come according to what time fits their schedule, not mine, and it's my job to train them, not make them wait because I'm finishing up sandbag work or have one more set to do.   These days my running is the only undisturbed training I'm able to do because I do it before work.

Resuming our original work hours means I don't have to head out for a morning run feeling sleep deprived and already tired before the work day has even started.  Instead, I can wake up, have a meal and then go running.  For the month of January, opening just two hours earlier each day meant as soon as I woke up I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off.  When I woke up, it was go, go, go.  There was no room for rest and my weekly socialising basically only consisted of a once a week coffee date with my friend Cat.  I tried to make it out weekly to the Sunday breakfast club but at the cost of feeling limited with my time to enjoy and very much dependent on Cat bringing coffee.  We are back to our regular hours which only means a two hour difference in our work day but it adds up to a whopping 12 hours less a week for me.  But there's no rest for the wicked and I've already designated how to use these 12 extra hours I've got.  

Today I found the perfect compromise between having to do HIIT training and getting a run in -- hello mountain running!!! I absolutely hate, hate, HATE having to do HIIT runs and vouch that even the benefits of them with connection to my overall pacing doesn't justify me trying to fit them into my schedule.  They're dragging but incredibly discouraging to me because I'm not a fast runner, I'm a long distance runner.  My HIIT runs leave me always grumbling in the morning when I wake up for them and then leave me desperately seeking out the chicken delivery dude on his scooter.  There's this particular chicken delivery dude that works around where I do my HIIT training and every time I'm out on the path behind Shinsaegee, he's always sure to cheer me on whenever he sees me and he's been doing this for the past 3-4 years now.  These days I no longer live behind the Shinsaegee Department Store so I don't see him much.  I basically only see him with I do HIIT but he's very much a much-needed sight when I am there training.  Today I decided to hell with HIIT training -- I hate it probably as much as it hates me hating it -- so I decided I needed to change things up, find a run that's just as intense but one that isn't accompanied by me grumbling and just wanting to get it over and done with.  

With my tunes cranked up and my MapMyRun app turned on, I headed up to Taedu Mountain.  I was going to go mountain running instead of doing HIIT training.  I live smack dab downtown but just around the corner, like a kilometre away, is a mountain -- perfect for mountain running.  Initially, I figured running up to the top of the mountain would be just as intense as my HIIT runs but boy was a wrong.  I was so incredibly wrong!!!   I had told myself today that I was going to run up it and not walk at any point -- mission gazebo.  However, despite the hike up to the top being only 1.5km, it was exactly that -- UP!!!  My pacing was a ridiculous 7min/km but I did in fact stay true to my plan and run up it.  Sure my run may have been a snail's pace and I felt like I was jogging on the spot for the most part, but I didn't give up and I didn't walk.  It was such an incredibly gruelling training but I vouch that the beautiful scenic path made it worth is as did the beautiful gazebo at the top.  The gazebo was my target, my halfway point, so upon reaching it I snapped some shots and then leaned forward, over Cheonan, and screamed.  The feeling of accomplishment mixed with my calves that felt completely on fire was just so awesome -- I love the burn, I live for the burn!!!  It was such a refreshing change of training that both my body and mind totally needed.  Of course there was the challenge that came with having to run straight back down and avoid falling but it was so worth it.  Hardest 5km I have done in a very, very, VERY long time but definitely one of the most self-fulfilling one too.  I've officially replacing my much-hated weekly HIIT run with a mountain run and am actually looking forward to next week's run.