Another Trip Up Round Top

I ran up Round Top again this morning.  My plan was to run 45 minutes uphill to see how far I could get.  I ended up going 3.5 miles in 45:53, 13:04 pace.  This is completely uphill with over 1,100 feet of elevation gain.  I then turned around and ran fast downhill.  My total was 7.06 miles in 1:15:54, 10:45 pace.  My downhill pace was 8:34! 

One of the cool things about Round Top is there is very little traffic.  It is so quiet up there I know when a car is coming and can move to the side.  When there was no traffic I ran in the middle of the lane which seemed to make my IT band happy.  One of the most common reasons for IT band pain is running on the side of the road which generally has a slope.

Strava's Grade Adjusted Pace (what my pace would have been if the terrain was flat) was really interesting to look at.  My mile splits:

Mile 1 - 12:12/GAP 9:14
Mile 2 - 13:21/9:46
Mile 3 - 13:38/10:07
Mile 4 - 10:27/9:37 - this was half up, half down
Mile 5 - 8:33/9:32
Mile 6 - 8:04/9:00
Mile 7 - 8:00/9:32

So even though my actual times were all over the place, my GAP was actually pretty close!

Of course the views are amazing!

I'd really like to explore this trail someday...

Ave HR 152
Max HR 165 (which occurred while running downhill!)
Calories burned 572

PTE 3.8 - this is my highest effort since I got my Suunto.
Recovery time 44 hours - perfect since tomorrow is a rest day!