Back to Oucho's for another torture session. Oucho's is our name for a run through the Himalayas of West Little Rock, starting at what used to be Gaucho's Restaurant, hence the name. You need ropes, crampons and a Sherpa to run Oucho's -- particularly today when I was dodging patches of black ice; those crampons would have come in handy. It was about 28 and clear this morning, but there was still frozen runoff from the rain earlier in the week. I'd say Oucho's is like running up and down a ski slope, for 16 miles. But it was a good run. I pushed on through when the quads were screaming at me, felt better once I picked up the pace, and finished at less than a 10-minute average. I thought that was decent for my first 15-plus run in two months, especially with all those hills.
So I've completed week one of the 18-week plan for Newport with 60 miles. I'll get up over 80 a time or two in the program, but this is a good start. This is building the base that I need to have to get that 3:30:xx with time to spare. Newport doesn't have hills like this, but a few Oucho's runs will help me get the quad strength I need to carry a sub-8 pace. | 