SC Loves to Run!

Run for the Hills!

August 9, 2007 at 6:24 pm | Posted in Hill Repeats, Marathon training, running | 4 Comments

Oooh-weee!  I’m beat!

As part of my new training schedule devised by Coach Mark, today was hill repeat day.   Coach’s instructions were, “Find a hill 1/2 mile in length, but not too steep, run up at a hard effort, recover on the way down.  Do this 4 times.  Of course, warm up and cool down for at least a mile.”  My mind quickly did the math and shouted, “Four times!  That’s four miles of hills! Yikes!”

Again, I found myself terrified of the workout but I quickly reminded myself that if I set my mind to it, I could do it.  So, I began my workout from the beautiful Perinton Park where I ran along the canal and through the quaint village of Fairport for 1.6 miles, to be exact.  And then, there it was – THE HILL!!  I stopped, looked at it, set down my water bottle, turned up my ipod, and proceeded to run up.  At the top I thought, “YEAH!!!  I did it!  Only 3 more of these to go!” 

Singing merrily as I moved down the hill I thought, “Piece of cake.  I’ve got this workout.”  Thus, I started up THE HILL for the second time, not quite so easy this time.  By the time I got to the fourth repeat I thought, “Oh God, not again!” My legs were feeling a bit jelly-like and I was breathing hard, but I was bound and determined to conquer that hill for the last time.  And I did!

Cooling down after such a hard effort (to me, this was much more challenging than the 400 meter repeats) is extremely important.  So, I allowed myself a good 2.4 miles of nice, easy running on the way back to the park.

In case you were wondering, my mantra for this workout was, “Hills create legs o’steel.”  They also left me feeling like a zombie, but I know I’ll recover and be stronger for it in the end!

Oh!  Amy at Runner’s Lounge is wondering about the sinful treats we reward ourselves with after difficult runs.  My all-time favorite food after a tough workout is TK’s thin crust cheese pizza washed down with a couple of Corona Lights or Michelobe Ultra Lights.  Unfortunately, I can no longer indulge in the pizza due to my stomach problems, but you can bet I’ll be drinking a couple of beers tonight!