Kenan Stadium workout!

Imagine going up and down each of those biege columns... Yep, that is what we did.
Credit to this website for the pic!

Wowza. My runningmate Atomic Tamgerine (yes, our running group is team Crayola, haha) went above and beyond today with organizing our workout. She had the workout planned with full details - warm up, cool down, estimated times, a contingency plan just in case... Props, AT, you put my organizing skills to shame!

Our original plan was to do all the steps until we worked our way around the stadium, but some sections were taped off (safety reasons? reconstruction?) or just inaccessible (the elite alumni/booster area - where there were nicely painted Carolina blue seats rather than the minion bleacher benches).  So AT decided that we would go for 20 minutes instead, but the communications definitely did not reach the rest of us.  The speediest among us had been lighting the match to finish one circle around the stadium and were howling from the bottom of our souls when we realized that we had another 7 minutes to go before we were finished.  We charged up the stairs, nonetheless! 

The steps were interestingly short - it was possible for a shorty like myself to take them two at a time, but approaching the top, they got dangerously larger.  At the double lettered rows I kept fearing I would fall flat on my face!  Going down the steps was difficult too.  As much as I wanted to take in the view from the top of the stadium like the king of the mountain, the oddly short steps required superhuman concentration to maintain balance.  AT reminded us to "Choose life" as she usually does.  I replied, "Yes, don't choose gravity."

The workout was challenging enough, but we didn't realize there was a "victory lap" around the field, followed by a 10 minute repeat of the stair climbs.  Other people and I cried mutiny, so we cut it at that 20 minutes.  I just couldn't do it...  I didn't pace myself to go at the stairs for another 10 minutes.  So we did a shortish mile cool down and called it a day. 

Now that I think about it, the last time I did a stair workout was during high school - at least 12 years ago.  Challenging and rewarding!  Next Wednesday I'm up for organizing our speed workout.  It's been a super fun time this summer with my group members keeping each other accountable.  There are a couple of interesting runs in the works before I leave for the next 3 weeks.  I'm definitely looking forward to it!

Random other things:

Got the audio and presentation for the mentor training session that I'm going to miss cause I'll be out of town, eeeee!  I am on my way to being a full marathon mentor for Fleet Feet this fall.  So excited.  :)

I've been Nuuning and nourishing (energy chews) myself up this summer, but I've been having some stomach issues.  I think the sugar is killing me.  I used to carry a bagel or Luna bar with me on my long runs because they're not too sweet and bagels are usually a little savory... After all this foraying into new uncharted nutrition and hydration territory, it might be time to return to what's tried and true for me...

Also, big news - I am finally finished with my summer semester teaching obligations.  Grades were submitted today, cashed my fat check for teaching.  Onto the real dissertation work again!  I don't think I've ever been so excited to say this, hahaha.