Hill Training

Last Wednesday we started our hill training. Hill training lasts for 7 long weeks. We do hills every Wednesday, tempo runs every Thursday, and long runs every Sunday. We always start our hill training doing three hills. By the end of the first hill run we do around 7k: 2k going from the store to the hill and of course 2k coming back, and 3k of hills. Next week we will add one more hill, which means one more kilometer to our Wednesday night run, and we will go up to 9 hills. Sometimes we vary the hill and we do a shorter one but steeper. Hill training is something that you hate and love at the same time. I hate it because it is extremely hard and it always makes me feel as if I am out of shape (which I am not!). This feeling becomes more intense when Laura, one of my running buddies, runs up the hill as if it is the easiest thing in the world. She goes up fast and easy, while the rest of us, common humans, barely survive getting to the top. I have discovered her secret though: she has a pure, beautiful heart, which makes it lighter, so she has less weight to carry up hill. No matter how many times I have done this kind of training, it is always hard. On the other hand I love it because it helps me building my endurance, it prepares me for any kind of hill that comes across during a race, plus it gives a nice shape and tone to my legs.
My animal lover note: