Tuesday, May 12, 2009

I Hate Hills

Yes, I know, it's a bad attitude to have, but there you go. Fitness-wise, I know that incorporating hills into my runs is a Good Thing. That doesn't mean I have to like it.

My current nemesis is this hill, the one that starts just before the mile 1 marker and goes up at a 4% incline for about a quarter mile.
I can make it about half way up before I have to walk, and at the top I have to stop and gasp for breath for a good 20 seconds.

Aside: The hill at the end isn't a picnic either. I end up walking partway up that one too.

This week is the second week that my running partner and I have run this route. Last Tuesday, I got an email from running partner E. saying she couldn't stand to run our regular evening route one more time. Could I find us another route? And I came up with this one, so I have no one to blame but myself.

This evening, as I was huffing and puffing my way to the top of the Horrible Hill, I decided that this will be my long-term goal for the summer. To build up to being able to run the entire route, including the Horrible Hill.

I still have a ways to go. Alas, my three runs last week, did not give me an instantaneous increase in speed and stamina.
  • Last week's time: 45:35
  • This week's time: 45:36
That's a very sad, 12:34 pace.

Ah well, at least I'm consistent.

This evening running partner E. finally confirmed what I long suspected: she speeds up on hills. It's almost enough to make me want to cry.

4 comments:

The Merry said...

See, the thing is, you're doing this backward. You're supposed to run down the steep ones, not up!

The Merry said...

Wait a minute -- where's the gold star? You've earned it!

Theresa said...

Oh yeah, I definitely earned a star! Look to the sidebar on the right, you'll see it.

Unknown said...

I know that doing any kind of run uphill is not easy. Thought you might like a little tip from me.. whenever I have a big uphill to go, I tend to shorten my stride and do "babystep" running. It is impossible for me to run in fast gear uphill. After that, I go in full speed downhill.