Today Was A Hill Of A Run ... And I Ran Like Hell

Day 56, Oct. 3, 2012

Today I'm 189.2 pounds of rolling thunder.

Today was a long-run day out on the road, and the first hill did not serve notice that it was going to be a particularly good one.

The weather was perfect. Eighty degrees and slight breeze to keep things mild. There was a sunny, cloudless sky above, and the path ahead was clear.

The first hill is usually my bellwether that indicates whether it's going to be a run/walk/run day or a run/run/run day. Lately, they've all been run/run/run days, and that's a major turn of events. For the past few years, hills and slight inclines have not been my friends.

But in the past few weeks, that's all started to change. Hills that I once struggled on, I now am able to clear without walking. That's not saying there isn't a certain amount of huffing and puffing and really slow jogging involved, but no walking.

Today I made it up the majority of the first hill before giving in to the walk for the final 150 yards or so. I was out of air and out of leg power, so I gave in to my inner-demon and walked a bit, figuring it was better to sacrifice on the first hill than to suffer and not be able to make the 6.5-mile loop.

Fortunately, hill No.2 was actually a better indicator of how the day would go. I have to admit I was going to be really bummed out if I fell back into the run/walk/run routine after having some really good runs of late.

So I started the climb with loads of doubt in my mind and a few pangs of frustration in my heart. But you know what, I climbed that steep little hill without a stop, and things started to loosen up. I rolled my 189.2 pounds of thunder up and down the hills and made it back to home base with energy to spare.

Now it may not have been pretty, but in running there are no style points -- thank goodness!

So if you see a rather clunky, slow human being out on the streets, give me a wave.