Return of "The Hill"

On December 18, the "Snowpocalypse" hit, covering Washington, DC, Baltimore and most of the Mid-Atlantic of upwards of 20 inches of snow. Fairfax County decided that instead of piles of snow on the street, they should be on the sidewalk. Then it was cold, very cold, for pretty much the next month leaving the snow in its frozen form. The gigantic ice/asphalt mountains on the the sidewalks made running the second half of my favorite loop impossible and blocked me access to The Hill.

The Hill is over a mile long and 10% grade. Ok, I exaggerate, but it is a quarter mile long and really steep (now that I have a Garmin I guess I can figure out exactly what the grade is...) I hate it. It's hard and usually comes at the end of my runs, but I tell myself every time I run up it that it's only making me a better runner. It is the perfect hill for hill repeats (either long or short), of course, I wouldn't really know because I've only been insane enough to do that once. Needless to say, like most runners, I am slightly crazy, and despite the pure torture, I began to miss it during the nearly 6 weeks it was inaccessible. When I realized on my way home from work today that the snow had finally melted, I knew it was time. I ran my Five Mile Alternate route, which involves going down the hill at the beginning, and up it at the end. My legs missed it, and pushed me hard the whole way up.

Last week I had an easy week. I was back down to 25 miles (for the week) with a long run of 10. I really needed the break. I was getting tired of training and my legs were hurting. This week I'm doing 35 or so miles, with a long run of 16. Next week its up to 38 with another 20 mile run. Yikes! The first 20 mile run was fine, I'm just hoping that the next two continue to get easier so I have some more confidence going into my race!