Hello World!

Share Hubby was back from traveling and so I was able to sneak away from the treadmill Saturday morning for my run.  OUTSIDE :) !!

Conditions were perfect.  It had just rained and it was nice and cool.

Thunderbird park is close to my house and I love to run on the trails there so I decided that even though I was suppose to do a long run and not a hill run that maybe I could combine the two?

Bad Decision.

It started off fine but by mile 2 I was well past warm up and into the hill and already starting to revise my plan.  I decided--okay, I'll do short hill repeats instead of the steady hill run.  So I would run hard for 30 seconds and then take a 2 minute slow jog break then another hard 30 second run then another jog break.  It was ugly.

Thunderbird hill isn't really a running trail but a few of us still try to run on it.  It's super rocky and you end up looking down most of the time so you don't twist your ankle.  I guess I didn't really notice this before when running the hill because I haven't ever worried about my pace on the hill before,  I would just run it to run it.  Trying to keep a "solid" pace and running this hill is a lot more difficult, but since I'm trying to do quality miles instead of just quantity miles I was trying to salvage the run and get it to fit in one of my goal runs for the week.

As I just finished one of my 30 second hard runs up a steep part of the hill I rounded the corner and was sucking some serious wind catching my breath when a walking hiker, 80 years old at least (!), on his way down, asked "Are you okay?!!"  I was SO ANNOYED!  I panted out a "yeah I'm fine thanks".

--- BUT---unless I am on the ground convulsing PLEASE do not ask if I'm "okay"!!

If I'm up on both feet,  putting one foot in front of the other just know I'm fine.  It may not look pretty but some of us crazy SOB's are trying to run up a rock pile that most people walk up.  Am I alone here?  It was almost as bad as when you are in a race and coming up on the last mile and someone WATCHING from the sidelines yells--"You're almost there!"  I feel like taking off my shoe and chucking it at their head.  Maybe I'm over sensitive.

Suggestions of appropriate things to say: "Good work", "You got this", "Holy crap your running up this beast--that's awesome!"

Well I made it to the top and when I turned around to run back down I quickly was reminded of why I love this hill!

#1 The Views are Amazing!!   --This is why I run--   So I can see the places that you can't get to in a car or a bike. Someday I'll bring my camera with me (I say this to myself every time I run this hill)

AND

#2 Flying down the mountain at top speed feeling my body just relax and letting my legs "just go" is a feeling I can only get running downhill, THIS hill especially where my adrenaline is high because if I take just one miss step I'm going into the cactus or a rock, there are plenty of them around--Love it!

At the bottom of the trail I didn't get into my car like my hiker friends.  Instead I cooled down by running home where I greeted my car in my garage where I left it that morning.  Don't feel sorry for me.

I'll be  "Okay".

Thanks,
NRR

**I have to put a disclaimer at the bottom of this post so I won't have guilt.  I'm sure the gentleman asking if I was okay is a very nice person and was just concerned for his fellow (wo)man.  Good for him, we need more like him out there don't we?