I have made no secret of the fact that I hate hills. Really, really, really hate them.
And they hate me right back.
Last Sunday, however, on my long run (16K this week), I encountered a hill that made me realize I had been unfair in my attitude. While tackling the hill, my muscles felt strong, my pace picked up, my heart rate slowed and I was able to catch my breath. And I was fast … by God, I was fast. A later look at my Garmin revealed that my speed on that hill represented my fastest pace of the entire run.
That’s when I realized that I don’t hate all hills; I only hate hills that go up. I feel just the opposite about hills going down. Me and “down” hills are B.F.F. Seriously, when I am standing at the top of a long descent, I feel an intense passion for the hill that I usually reserve for my children, my husband, and the first Dairy Queen Chocolate Xtreme Blizzard of the summer. (Except that only the first Blizzard of the season is good, whereas every “down” hill is just as good as the last one.)
I think downhill running should be a sport. After all, there’s downhill skiing. And lots of other downhill sports, like bobsledding and luge (although they may actually be the same thing; I’m not sure.) I bet I’d be good at it. I bet I’d be the most enthusiastic downhill runner ever. And when I made the Canadian Olympic Downhill Running team, I would come to all the regular running events to cheer on my fellow athletes.
Because I know how hard that sport is.
Downhill running as a competitive sport---I'm in!
Posted by: Donna | February 27, 2008 at 08:32 PM
Oh poo. I am going to attempt some hills this weekend because I am sooo bad at them and my next race is hill-heavy. Very scared. Any tips???
Posted by: P.O.M. | February 28, 2008 at 11:29 PM
Downhill running is harder on the quads and knees!
I for one LOVE HILLS! My favorite part of training, in fact doing repeats on the HILLS around my house!
Posted by: Emily | February 29, 2008 at 01:43 PM
Donna -- welcome to the Downhill Running team!
POM -- Hill training really does make them so much more do-able in the race, so it sounds like you are doing just the right thing. I have built up gradually when hill training -- picking a day then adding one hill repeat every week. That really helped though it didn't make me love them any more.
Emily -- I would like to test your theory about downhills by running A LOT more of them. :-) I do appreciate your positive attitude, though ... I may never love hills but we may reach some kind of understanding some day.
Posted by: Reluctant Runner | March 01, 2008 at 11:23 AM
Hi! I just wanted to tell you that you are one incredibly entertaining individual, and a motivating influence on me as I attempt my own running quest: training myself to run the 10 Mile Cherry Blossom Run one month from now. http://stillwaitingfortherunnershigh.blogspot.com
I'll probably put you on my links, and I hope you get the chance to check out my blog and cheer me on sometime. :)
Matt
Posted by: Matt | March 03, 2008 at 02:00 PM