To Hill With It

So, as I continue on this path of step-training, our coach saw it fit to really kick our butts this weekend. You see, at miles 14 and 26 we (the East Bay training group) go to San Francisco in order to train with our counterparts there. This coming weekend is our 14 miler in San Francisco, and as such Coach Eve (our coach) told us we needed to prepare for their conditions. What does this mean you might ask? Hills. Apparently the course in Golden Gate Park is full of hills sporadically strewn through the high mileages we have to endure. As if running 14 miles wasn't bad enough, now we have to run 14 miles with HILLS. So, as preparation, during out 6 mile recovery run this weekend we ran one hill 4 times. There is a hill near Golden Gate Fields (the horse racetrack) and we proceeded to run up and down each side of the hill 4 times. That plus the 1.5 miles it took to run there and back amounted to our 6 miles for the day. One word can classify what I think about running hills - HELL.

So, this weekend is 14 miles. I've started running twice a week on my lunch breaks at work. I figure now that we're really getting up there in mileage I need to pull my own weight and make sure I am doing the maintenance runs to their full capacity. It's nice running on my lunch break because 1) I hate having an hour to sit around and do nothing, 2) it's always cool down by my office because it's near the SF bay so I don't sweat as much when I'm running, 3) there's a locker room in my office!, and 4) It provides me with opportunities to explain to people why I'm running.

OK, work time. Wish me luck for 14!