What the Hill

I knew this day was coming.  I had been anticipating it about as much as I had the August electric bill.  What is this you ask?  Running hill repeats!!!  I've been doing hill repeats on the bike for a while now, but I've been running on flat surfaces.  Sure, there are some slight inclines here and there, but to call them hills would be a stretch.  I knew at some point my coach would add running hill repeats into the mix. 

My workout began around 6:00 this evening with a one hour bike ride.  Since I knew I would be running hills after, I had a good excuse to take it easy....and I did, for the most part.  I ended up climbing Windhaven twice, but I took my good sweet time. Other than forgetting to take off the shorts that I threw on over my tri shorts, the ride was pretty uneventful.  I figured out that my cover up shorts were still on about halfway through the ride when I was stopped at a red light.  I was a little embarassed, so I pulled over in a neighborhood and shoved the shorts in the pocket of my tri top.

After my ride I threw on my running shoes and headed back to the hill.  Before I could run up the hill I had to run down. I began psycing myself up for the uphill.  When I got to the bottom I felt like I was challenging it to a fight.  I cocked my head back and stared it down.  I even told the hill (in not so lady like terms) that it wasn't that tough.  I continued to trash talk the hill the entire way up.  I kept my  head held high and my feet moving.  As soon as I reached the top I turned around and began heading back to the bottom.  One down, four to go. 

On the second hill I decided to time my climb.  It was about .3 mile, and it took me about 3.5 minutes.  My plan was to keep track of each climb to see if I could maintain my pace, but I forgot all about this great idea by the time third climb came around.  My ADD was kicking in.

I spent the remainded of the run picturing myself in Austin.  Did I want the spectators, espically my friends and family, to see my wincing in pain or struggling on the hills?  Of course not.  I tried to stay strong as I ran.  I kept thining of everything Coach Roberto told me about form....keep my head up and pump my arms back.  I pretended that Windhaven was Quadzilla, a  hill I've heard about on the Austin 70.3 course.  I finished my hill repeats without allowing myself to walk a single step, and I was still feeling good.  I still had a few more minutes of running to do, so I ran around neighborhood.  It was a good feeling knowing that Windhaven didn't kick my butt. I reward myself with a trip to the Chik-fil-a for a chargilled chicken sandwich with cheese (because I deserved the cheese) and a chocolate milk. 

I really don't know what the hills will be like in Austin.  People say the east side of the city isn't as bad as the west side as far as the hills go.  Lucky for me I'm racing on the east side.  Hopefully my training will prepare me for whatever the course has in store for me.  

The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender . - Vince Lombardi