Head for the Hills!

Hill training is important, right?

Today I test-ran the course for the Shamrock 15k in Cuyahoga Falls with Shelby and Mandy.  It is EXTREMELY challenging and super-fun.  I signed up for the race in March because I was tempted by a lower race fee, and I realized that I don't have anything on my radar until April 25 (when I run the Pro Football Hall of Fame Gold Jacket 5k in Canton).

Now, keep in mind that when I say "super-fun," I mean, "This course will kick your butt.  You'll gasp, you'll groan, you'll swear a LOT.  You will be glad when it's done."  That's the kind of fun I mean.  I had a lot to say about the race when I ran it in 2013.

This is EXACTLY how I look when I run the Shamrock 15k.  This is my happy look.

Just kidding.  This is EXACTLY how I look when I run the Shamrock 15k.  In freaking 25-degree weather.

The first 5k goes down, down, downhill.  It's fabulous if you don't think about the next 5k, which is the steepest, longest set of hills EVER.  I am used to hill repeats, but this hill is tough.  I have to lean forward and run it on my toes.   Deep down I wanted to walk the hills, but I couldn't let Mandy, who is a damned kid, show me up, especially when we started the ascent and she said, "This isn't so bad."  Shut up.  Actually, I'm glad she and Shelby were there. The great thing about group runs is accountability.  I can't quit because they are watching me, and I'm sure at certain points in the run they are thinking of quitting, too.  Shelby and Mandy, you complete me.  Don't feel too flattered, though, because I say the same thing to my glass of wine at dinner.

So, how will this help me for the Rite Aid Cleveland Half Marathon in May?  I seem to remember a set of hills starting around Mile 10.  If I can continue my practice on that big-ass hill on the Shamrock run, those hills will look like NOTHING to me.  Nothing.  Right.

Do you include hill repeats in your training, or do prefer to run hilly routes regularly?  I like to do both, but I would say I enjoy the hilly routes more.

Until next week. . .Run hilly, Peeps!

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PR!!!

Holy Shmoly!  I just compared my finish times in the Columbus Hot Chocolate 15k and the Shamrock 15k, and . . . I PR'd by three whole seconds!!!!! Woohoo!

Reasons why I am amazed by this:

1.  The Columbus race was relatively flat, and the Shamrock was all hills.  Painful hills.

2.  I deliberately held back because I didn't want to die on the hills.

3.  I spent at least two previous posts bitching about the fact that I wasn't going to PR.

4.  I spent my last post bitching about the race itself,  and

Finally,

5.  I did it without music!  

This is EXACTLY how I look when I run a 15k without music.  Right now, the Voices in my head are saying, "Punish them.  Punish them all."

Among other things, running teaches me that I am stronger than I think.  I do know that I often try to sabotage myself with negative thinking (hence the music), but obviously my spirit is telling me something completely different.  Now I'm pissed because I'm wondering how I could have done if I hadn't held back.   Ok, enough.  A PR is a PR.  I will take it.

Thanks again for your kind words of encouragement (and of course for the Turtle calls on the course).  I will definitely run this course again, and I will start with the right attitude.  FEAR THE TURTLE!!!