Hill Repeats

I gotta say, I was pretty disappointed about missing my quality run on Tuesday since I was sick. Given that running is my weakness, I've really been looking forward to those key run sessions, knowing that no matter how much they hurt, they are making me stronger. So skipping them sometimes hurts worse than actually doing them.

Given that I was feeling back to my old self yesterday, I sent Jen an email and asked if I could do Tuesdays run this morning instead of the easy run that would have been on tap had I been following the normal schedule. She said ok. YES!

The run workout this week was to find a hill that would take about a minute to run up, and charge up it 8 times. That didn't sound all that hard to me, but I figured it would be once I was actually doing it. See, I run hills all the time here. There's no flat option unless I were to drive myself to the track- even just running over to the track I've got some hills to cover before I get there.

But I've heard that running up hills during normal workouts is different than running up hills during a hill workout. I was about to find that out for myself.

Part of my challenge was to pick the right hill. I was pretty much a victim of overchoice when it came to this... But when she said to run about 2 miles before and after, I knew just where to go.

This incredible park is just over 2 miles from my house. I know I've written about it several times before, but it's just the most awesome place to run and it's my sanctuary so I can't help but write about it again. Humor me. ;)

So this first hill was where I watched the sun come up this morning.

I placed my water bottle on the grass next to a plant that would serve as my Start Line. Then I charged up the hill and around the corner until I got to a 'Caution Pedestrians' sign that would serve as the Finish Line. First time up, OUCH. This is going to hurt. 7 more times.

I gave myself two minutes to walk/jog down the hill to recover, so the repeats were on 3 minutes (You just can't take the swimmer out of me- I need interval 'Go' times.) I let my watch run continuously and went off on my hill attack every time the number was a multiple of 3. This was key because then I didn't have to worry about losing count after my brain was officially oxygen deprived and ceased having the ability to do simple math. Just keep going until the watch said 24 minutes and then jog home.

By the sixth one I could feel myself starting to fall apart... desperately swinging my arms (and whole upped body) as if that would help my feet pick themselves up off the pavement... I had to make a conscious effort to not let my shoulders actually touch my earlobes... My legs felt like J.E.L.L.O. Who would have known that just a few hard minutes could produce such an effect?

I barreled up the hill for the eighth time as fast as I could. WOW! I made it~ 5 seconds faster than I'd done the first few! Gasping for breath at the top. Hands on my knees as I tried to steady myself and not actually fall over. Goal accomplished. I worked that hill. I own that hill.

But I was happy for every red light I got to stop and wait at during that jog home.