My hilly run

I went out for my first hilly run today. It was 3 miles and I climbed three decent-sized hills. A good portion of the run was at a steady incline, too - much different than the flat-as-a-pancake roads I run on at home.

I was excited to get out. It was a nice, sunny afternoon, 64 degrees. No kids, no stroller to push. Peace and quiet. I checked the clock as I headed out the door. 3:01. I walked the driveway, then hit the pavement at what felt like a nice jog. Downhill...good start. Then came the first big hill. Not too bad, though my legs were still fresh. Flat for a stretch, then downhill once more. At the end of the road, my mom had said I could go right (flat) or left (a climb) to a certain point to make it an even 3 miles. Today I chose left. A long, steady climb. It was a little rough, but I was able to get through it fine, I just told myself that I'd be going back down soon enough.

Back down I went, followed by the steady incline that was my way back home. Remember the downhills at the beginning? I was making up for them. As I climbed my way home, I kept giving myself one more spot to run to. After I hit that sign, it's flat for a minute, and so on. About half a mile from home, the run started to get really hard. My legs were tired and my chest was tight. I'll just run to the park, then I can walk. Wish I could say that I just kept running, but I didn't. I passed the park, but I did stop to walk for about 20 seconds, then started trudging up the incline once more. Stopped to walk for about 10 seconds, then finished off the last 100 feet strong.

When I walked in the door, the clock read 3:31. 30 minutes (give or take a few seconds)! As my average pace at home is a 10 minute mile or more, I was quite pleased with roughly 10 minute miles on hills, with a couple short walk breaks.

Just thought I'd share. We'll see what happens when I try to take the double jogger out...if I dare.