The Hills Are Alive With Panting And Wheezing

I've been keeping my running on the treadmill - not so much because of the cold but because of the softer landing surface and I needed flat. Hills and inclines really aggravate the hamstring injury.

But I have a 10 mile race approaching a lot faster than I would like to actually think about, and I have a hilly 10K a week or two after that. The 10 mile race is flat however some of the terrain is a little bit uneven and there are a couple of ramps that we go up.

So I know that I have to little by little get myself accustomed to the harder surfaces, the uneven ground, and the inclines. Since I bailed on my run yesterday, today I really wanted to attempt a 3 or 4 mile hilly run near my house.

My hamstring is
still extremely sore, but I think it's more so from the challenge workout that I'm doing and I did the elliptical this week. But I could definitely feel it as I began running. For most of the run my injury seemed okay. Of course I am wearing my compression shorts to help with any pain. But I didn't feel any sharp twinges or anything that really got my attention.

But wow were those hills tough! For the first 2 miles I was pretty much able to tackle the hills without walking. On the two-mile return trip, I had to do some run/walk on the hills to catch my breath. I can definitely tell that I haven't done hill work in quite some time.

But it felt great to be out there. The scenery was beautiful. The creek is frozen. There's snow on the ground still but the temperatures were in the 30s which was warmer than my last run outside.

So it was great to get some fresh air, challenge myself, and get in some hill work.

How have you challenged yourself today?

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