My hill run days are not days I look forward to. However I must say that I like them more than my tempo runs.
Yesterday went well. It was still cool and overcast but not raining. I got my 2 warmup miles in and then headed for the hills!
I did better this time. As I’ve mentioned this hill is very steep on the first half and then less steep but longer for the last part. This time I decided to time my assent on each half with the stopwatch in my phone.
So… I ran the hill 4 times up and down. This was the first time I ran down as it is so steep I was concerned running down it, but I figured eventually I’d have to start, so I went for it. The first time up I ran the steep part in 1 minute and the long part in 1 minute. Not bad. After going up and down 3 times, I went for my forth. It was tough. I did it in 1:11 for the steep part and 1:04 for the long part.
All in all it was my best hill run so far. My splits were in the 8:00 range until after my fourth run up the hill, and I finished the last two miles in the 9:00 range. The whole run was at 8:49 for 7 miles and 6:00 faster than last week.
One last note: This morning I got on the scale and weighed 176.9. That is lower than I have weighed since college. Wow, it has been a strange week. I started weighing 184 and ended lower than after my diet. Must be because I added some carbs to my diet.
7 miles today and then the weekend. I decided to take today off from work, so it is going to be a nice 3 long weekend for me. More time to run 🙂
278 to Boston 
Glad to hear you are taking a day off from work! A free Friday is so rejuvenating for running and for life in general. I’m impressed by your hill workout! Do you know the grade of the hill you are running? In DC we really don’t have steep hills so I’m only able to do a meaningful hill workout on the treadmill.
Congrats on the weight loss!
Thanks!! I needed the day off. I’ll look on my Runkeeper and see if I can figure out the grade. Our neighborhood is all hills, but this one is almost a mountain to me. BTW, I used to live in the DC area in my late teen years. It has changed a lot since then I’m sure. My dad and siblings always ran the Marine Corps Marathon in DC. I was the only slacker. Now I hope to run it one day!
Okay, thanks! The mountain description might be enough if you can’t find the grade! And yes, I have run the MCM 10K several times, but have never tried to do the half or full, but I hear great things about it! The idea of training in the summer heat deters me from it though haha
My app said the total elevation was 669 feet, but that was for the whole run. I would love to try the whole MCM marathon. I have only run a half marathon locally, but hope to run a full in PA in September. Summer is coming. I like the Southern winter better though!
We had 3 to 6 inches of snow in southern VA yesterday, (fortunately I don’t live in southern VA), but I did have to run in full winter gear yesterday. Sucks. Where’s summer?!
It has been in the 50s here for the past few days. Going into the 80s finally next week. I’d rather run in the 50s though.