A love-hate relationship

Okay guys.  Here's the deal.  Few things that I know of will make you better faster than hills.  They're the things we all love to hate.  Many of us avoid them and would rather add mileage than attack a hill.  But, they are SO good for you.  They challenge you and make you push yourself.  When I'm doing them, I have a mantra, "They make my butt look good.  They make my butt look good."  You're welcome to barrow it if you like.

So I have a workout.  It's hill repeats.  I know.  I know.  Who wants to do hill repeats?  You do because you want to be better.  Find a good hill.  You want it to be a challenge but not so hard that it kills you the first time you run/ride it.  I have a hill that's about two miles from my house.  I use those two miles to warm up and the two home to cool down.  The work out then goes like this:
     60-sec. run up the hill/come back down
     60-sec. run up the hill/come back down
     60-sec. rest
     70-sec. run up the hill/come back down
     80-sec. run up the hill/come back down
     60-sec. rest
     90-sec. run up the hill/come back down
     90-sec. run up the hill/come back down
     60-sec. rest
     80-sec. run up the hill/come back down
     70-sec. run up the hill/come back down
     60-sec. rest
     60-sec. run up the hill.come back down
     60-sec. run up the hill/come back down

So this a pyramid, easy to remember.  It's simple but effective.  By the time I run that second 90-second run, I'm almost dying but then I know I only have four more repeats and I can do that.  I love the feeling of accomplishment when I complete it.  This works for both running and cycling.  I've even done it in a Spinning class.  You always end up with wobbly legs.

When I first started running, I avoided hill, especially the really good ones.  They were hard and I was kind of a wimp.  I kind of had that mentality for a long time.  I remember the first time I ran hill repeats.  I'd been invited by a group of ladies I sometimes ran with and thought it would be a good idea.  By that point I had become a stronger runner and figured I could handle some hill repeats.  It humbled me.  The little stabilizer muscles in my legs were so sore the next day.  Somewhere along the line, I started to hate hill less.  I embraced them as a challenge and started to love the feeling that I was no longer being conquered by a hill, I was now conquering hills.  I'd love it when I'd be out running errands and look at a hill I had recently conquered and love that I was no longer scared of that particular hill.

Now I have a running route that is pretty hilly.  We run it most weekends.  It's part of the Ironman St. George 70.3 course.  It climbs for about two and a half to three miles.  It's not steady the whole time.  It has rolling hills but it's a challenge and I love it.  That route is what we used to train for last year's marathon.  I'll admit there are times even now when I'm climbing my hills and I'm really glad when we reach the top.  But I'm stronger now that I've ever been and I know that my hill repeats are partly responsible for that.    

If you have questions about this workout or anything else, let me know.  I hope you're hanging in there with your goals and staying strong, both body and mind.  Thanks for checking in with me and come back again soon!