4th of July Hill Training

As I mentioned in my last blog entry, I ran the access road to Mt Holyoke's summit as a hill workout on Friday. It was almost exactly 2 miles from the tree at the corner of Route 47 up to the summit house so that worked out nicely for a good workout. I decided I would park at the summit and run down for a warmup and then start my workout... that way if I get tired and don't want to run up again, I don't have a choice because my car is up there!

As I ran down slowly, I couldn't help but think of the times I had been up the access road in the past. If you remember, on my web site I said that I had ridden from NH to MA with my best friend back in high school and we had planned to ride our bikes up Mt Washington while up in the White Mountains. To train for that ride, we used to ride up to Hadley and climb Mt Holyoke on our bikes... in 10th gear... to strengthen our legs for that long ride. As I ran past I remembered how tough those same switchback curves and hills were 30 years ago. Today they are but a distraction in my training routine. One the first run up, I averaged a crisp 9:45 pace and felt good at the top. I took a quick break to take the photos you see on my web site, but when I could see the rain coming towards the mountain I decided that was enough of lolly-gagging and time to get back to training.

The second run down was tougher... running down hill really beats up my shins quickly and I was hurting half-way down. At the bottom, I turned an headed up and it was amazing how the pain went away on the hill! My legs are ruined! It is now considerably more pleasrable to run up a hill than down a hill! The run back up was a little tough but a good workout, I could feel my left hip flexor getting inflamed again like it did on Mt Washington so I didn't push too hard but I made sure it was a good hard workout. It was a good workout filled with memories from my childhood and rides up the same mountain with my best friend Jeff. Who says you can't go back?