A Monumental Shift

Okay, for about six years now, I have had the same basic breakdown of training days. 

Sundays -- long run with my running buddies
Mondays -- boot camp, sometimes at a very easy effort if the Sunday run was long/tough
Tuesdays -- group run with my running buddies
Wednesdays -- boot camp
Thursdays -- group run with my running buddies
Fridays -- boot camp
Saturdays -- race or rest

And since November, I've tacked on 7.5 commuting miles on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and 3.75 commuting miles on Thursdays. 

But still, the routine was the routine. 

It's official to say it has now changed.  It's only been a couple weeks, but the plan is that this change is permanent, at least until after the Berlin marathon.

I am now skipping boot camp on Fridays and instead doing a 10k hill loop with my running buddies. 

In some ways, this sucks because a.) I pay for boot camp, even if I'm only going two days per week, and b.) one of my favorite things about boot camp is working out with hubby.

But I'm serious about hitting my goal time in Berlin, and hills are a major running weakness for me (it doesn't help that I live in pancake-flat Dallas).  So this is what must be done.

And I can no longer say Dallas is pancake flat.  There is apparently a mountain range right in the middle of the city that I somehow never noticed.  It starts on "Mount Flagpole" and is a huge range of six mountains with very steep climbs.  Or at least that's how it feels on the 10k mountain loop.  Haha.  Someone who runs somewhere with hills would probably still laugh at this loop, but it seriously kicks my @ss, and that can't be a bad thing!