I was supposed to go out for four miles today - then life happened, again.So I figured I had to squeeze a run in where ever I could and, knowing the evil hill awaits me on Sunday, I decided to squeeze in another evil hill. Because New England is full of such things, I found an evil hill not far from Heartbreak Hill. This discovery has the same sort of roll up and down and then WHAM there it is - an almost vertical wall daring you to just try and make it all the way up without stopping just like the hill in Cohasset. (See the elevation profile I added.)
For my training run, the hill was shortly after the 1 mile mark rather than the three mile mark, but I was more interested in the idea of the intensity. I made it over the initial up/down roll before hitting that wall and ran a quarter of a mile up the hill when my body said, "That will do Donkey, that will do."
It was encouraging actually quite encouraging - I made it a quarter of a mile up a huge hill after running over some interesting rolling hill-like bumps (compared to that puppy).
One thing I hadn't factored in for this run was the amount of auto exhaust when you run on main roads in the middle of the day. I'm used to running paths, less traveled roads and roads shut down on race day. While this wasn't entirely new, it did catch me off guard a little. Even in a liberal community filled with fuel efficient vehicles and hybrids, I think I sucked more exhaust for the mile I was on main roads than I have in months.
But the good news is, I got a quarter of a mile up a hill I didn't know I could walk up until today. Tomorrow I'll do a neighborhood 4 miler - the one I would have done today had I the time/chance to do so. Even with it's hills, it's not even enough to be more than an annoyance and I'll get another 4 miler (minimum) in this week as well before Sunday's 10k.
At the end of the day, all that really matters is do I feel I did it? Today is one of those days where I say, "yeah, I nailed it."
4 comments:
Nice work attacking those hills. I have been there, done that, and while I'm no master, work at least one evil hill in with each run,usually 2x, once on the way out, and once on the way back. (It's the one on the way back that really gets me...talk about vertical walls...the upside to the mountain goat climb though is that it feels shorter than the less severe grade that seems to go on and on....) I ran in the run up Mt. Wachusett last year and it was an eye opener although rewarding. There were no fumes, but plenty of nuisance little gnat like bugs at the top...You'll be fine this weekend...mind over matter...just think of how much stronger you are now!
Sweet, Pika! That's a helluva hill and you did nail it. Studly chick!
Great job tackling those hills! Congrats and keep it up!
Okay, the weather forecast for Monday is pure hell! Looks like we'll be running in a serious rainy and windy storm. I think it'll be a blast no matter what, but there goes the PR I'd hoped for. I'll be lucky to get in under 4 hours. If you're not out on the course that day and tracking from home, my bib # is 15579. But hopefully you'll be out there!
Post a Comment