A Hilly 7-Miler & Several Lessons Learned

This past Saturday our training group had our first long hill run. A week ago we had our first hill work, where we did a shorter run (about 3.5) that included 4 hill repeats. The 7-miler on Saturday was our first long run with lots of hills though. My two girl friends in my group weren't there for various reasons, so I was already pretty nervous about doing 7 for the first time this season and for the first real hill run of the season. Combine that with the fact that I was housesitting, so not sleeping in my own bed and not used to hearing a dog moving around the house at all hours of the night (scared me to death!!!)... and don't forget that I had a bar dinner with my dad and stepmom to celebrate my birthday, first interview since the layoff and my dad's first paycheck at his new job. Translation: cocktails, beer and greasy pizza. Not fun the next morning at 4:30, trust me on this one. Also not fun? Coffee. But hey, that's what training is for--to figure out what NOT to do on race day. It ended up being ok in the end, and perhaps it was just nerves all along, but my tummy wasn't happy with me when I showed up at the run.

One thing that is nice and that I've been noticing the past few runs is how I've been starting to feel better, pick up speed and really collect myself as the run progresses. At the beginning I find myself thinking "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know..." and feeling very unsure, but later I feel much stronger. It's much better than the reverse! The 7 miles of hills was kind of a beating, but in a great way. I felt fantastic after we finished.

A word on the runner's high: it doesn't necessarily mean it feels fabulous. It's a lot like being half drunk, minus the mental buzz and quick wit. It's more of a physical feeling rather than a mental one. You feel off, semi-disoriented, almost out of body b/c usually your legs are shaking or you feel a bit numb from all the jarring and pounding you've been doing for the past hour and a half or so. Then you get the laughs--just thinking about what you just did is like, "Wow. That's nuts." It's surreal. Love the run!