Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Quick hillwork

brickMy husband came home for lunch today, which allowed me THIRTY GOLDEN MINUTES to escape my babies and get outside on this beautiful day to "enjoy" a quick little workout. I had swapped out the evil new knife-edge bike saddle, and need to road-test the more comfortable old one that I put on Buttercup. However, I need more time for that ride.

I opted for a quick series of hill repeats up the quarter-mile hill by our place. It's steep. It's steep enough that I have never yet been able to cycle up it, nor run up it without doing a significant amount of walking. History tells me that four repeats of the hill climb is enough to give me a seriously Sore Butt. So off I went.

1. First attempt, walking as a warmup. I smile when I notice there are Hash House Harrier Marks in purple chalk: a series of -+-+-+-> leading up the hill. Somebody who laid this trail is Pure Evil. I laugh out loud when I get to the top of the hill and notice the reward for the harriers who made it to the top: "Beer Near!" 3:42 split.

2. I try to jog up it, taking teensy tiny steps, and I'm forced to walk by halfway up. 3:01 split.

3. I try to jog again, keeping the pace relaxed from the start. I walk, but pick up a jog again, working hard toward the top. 3:01 again, dammit.

4. I'm slowing down now. I try power-walking the second half of the hill, to see how much time I actually lose. Only 15 seconds: 3:16.

My fat butt is going to hurt tomorrow. Note to self: Add "jog up entire hill without walking" to list of 2005 goals.

2 comments:

:) said...

You just reminded me that I need to do some hill work soon (both on the bike and running). Gee, thanks alot Nancy... ;)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the inspiration. I wasn't sure what I should do on my run tomorrow: hills or speed, speed or hills?

I think I could use some hills. And a beer!