21 March 2012

Another Day, Another Hill...

...and today is rockin' just like Monday :)

In keeping with my get-as-ready-as-possible-given-the-situation-at-hand (i.e. startlingly little running or exercising of any sort) training plan, this morning I repeated Monday's double workout scenario. After meeting with my physical therapist yesterday, we agreed that I am not going increase my level of fitness by this Sunday, all I can really do is get my body prepared to handle what's coming at it in it's given level of unpreparedness. Did that make any sense?

Today, I mixed things up a little.

The gym was the logical place to begin since it is right around the corner from dropping the kids off at school, but here's where I get all crazy... watch out! First, I did 10 backward minutes on the elliptical. Second, I ran on the treadmill. I know... so confusing. Last time I did it the other way around.

I discovered what many before me have already discovered...the elliptical is an excellent warm-up! When I was done with my 10 minutes and jumped onto the heinous road-to-nowhere, I was not nearly as bored treadmilling as I was on Monday...mostly because I was able to start out faster than an 11-minute mile. I was ready to go and cranked that puppy up to a brisk 7 mph at some incline...that part I haven't figured out entirely yet so I just pushed that ^ a couple of times. I am way to lazy to do the math but I do know that it is faster than a 10-minute mile and slower than an 8-minute mile so I'm good with it. I felt great at that pace for 5 minutes and then every minute I made it faster, running the last 2 minutes at 8 mph. I felt great and this is still my run fast song :)

A little walking cool-down, a little more backward ellipticalling, and a session on that cool, arm-burner...the hangboard.

Time to tackle a hill!

Monday was Moeser Lane...when I told my p.t. I was using Moeser, she started laughing hysterically.

"Only YOU would go after Moeser! Only you..." as she stood there shaking her head.

Today in the interest of mixing things up, I went a quarter-mile north to Potrero. Potrero is a bit shorter than Moeser...but it's got some agonizing steepness...

See those houses on the diagonal at mid-picture? 
That is where the steep part begins. 
The foreground is a gentle incline but looks almost downhill in comparison.

So...yeah...it's kinda steep...

...for a ways.

Even when you're nearing the top, there is still a slight incline...
and the neighborhood is chock full o' super interesting bush shapes!


On the way back down, I noticed this sign ^.
I don't think Moeser has one which may indicate that this section of Potrero is steeper
than any portion of Moeser... :)

I swear it looks like the road just drops off.

While Monday's hill is longer and runs through a section of open space and had the statue of the boy fishing with barbed wire, today's hill running exclusively through a residential neighborhood showcased some stunningly sculpted bushes and one of the awesomest displays of lawn ornamentation I have ever seen...

It's Cupid sitting in the fountain.
The wolf is howling.
The whole thing is in the shape of a heart! It took me a minute to figure that out :P
And technically I guess it isn't 'lawn' ornamentation since there's no lawn...
but the rocks are red and sparkly white so that's got to count for something.

I'm now on the hunt for more wickedly gnarly hills to take on in my quest for fitness and spectacular garden accessories!

What is the most interesting yard display you have ever seen?

15 comments:

  1. Those hills are gonna make you soooooo strong! Awesome :)

    You asked about trail shoes in my last post: I love the Brooks Cascadia. They are one of the few neutral cushioned trail shoes. They still have enough knobbiness that they work well in mud.

    It all depends what kind of trails you want to run on and how far. Most running stores will help fit you in them too based on your needs.

    My favorite discovery in trail running footwear this year was the Dirty Girl gaiters. Seriously, everyone needs a pair of these to keep trail junk out of their shoes. :)

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  2. Awesome job on the hill! That is crazy steep. I need to work on my hills, but since I hate them, I avoid them. My punishment for not doing hills is climbing 1311 stairs on Sunday. Torture!

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  3. Holy cow, that hill! You know it's bad when it looks awful in the pictures!

    Looking at Karen's comment above mine, I LOVE my Asics Trail Attacks.

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  4. Now I need that hill for my training!!!! You go girl!

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  5. Wholly smokes! Great job conquering those hills and awesome job for capturing them on photos! I find hills hard to photograph!

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  6. I'm gonna give you a new nickname - "The Hillwalker." Just remember, the only difference between "hill" and "Hell" is one letter! :)

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  7. Best of luck in your next hill-acious quest! There is a yard about a mile from us that has a discarded toilet out front with one of those peeing boy lawn statuettes---classy, no?

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  8. Wow, THAT is one monster hill. You guys in the SF area have the best training hills :). Keep being strong, girl!

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  9. those hills are KILLER! go girl!

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  10. Nice hill and yard art, what more could you possibly need?

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  11. Love that heart shape lawn stuff. And backwards on the elliptical?! I'm so clumsy I'd probably fall off ;)

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  12. Holy eff that hill is huge!! you have inspired me to tackle some hills though...I don't think Pullman has one that steep...maybe. :)

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