Hills, Love 'em and Hate 'em

Runners have a unique relationship with hills. Everyone knows they need to practice running on them but only a mad few actually enjoy it. I'm just as guilty of skipping hill work as anyone. And I have no excuse, I live at the top of one! It has gotten so bad that I legitimately drive one mile down hill to the gym, leave my stuff there, run on the trail next to the gym and then go back to the gym to work out before driving one mile home. I have gotten stuck in traffic on my way to the gym. Something that is honestly embarrassing. This weekend we've been riddled with storm warnings and I was saying how lucky I was that I could walk to the gym if my car got snowed into the garage. Then I heard what I had said....pretty sad, isn't it?

So guess who ran to the gym today? This girl! Getting there is fine, absolutely no problem. Getting back home, on the other hand, is a battle of the wills. One mile that is completely up hill after an already grueling workout did not my shining moment make. I just kept reminding myself "You don't get better at running hills by walking them."

I used to run this hill no problem, used to do it all the time. But that was a couple years ago. I know all I need to do is keep practicing but it's still gonna take a while before I feel any sort of speedy on my way home.

In between my mile runs today I did manage to stick it out at the gym for a great workout. All I needed was a 40lb bar, a medicine ball, a 10lb plate, and a mat.

I used the 40lb bar for the Thrusters, Lunges, Deadlifts, and Squats. The 10lb plate for the Inverted Sit ups and Russian Twists, the medicine ball for the Vups and the mat for all the ab work that required me to be on the floor.

This workout combined with my hilly two miles ended up being a great workout I have no doubt I'll be doing again in the near future.