Goofy Challenge training, part 7

I live in an area of the Twin Cities which has a deceptively large number of hills. After all these years, I did not realize how many hills are in my surrounding neighborhood until last Saturday’s run. I ran 17 miles, no big deal for me after three years of marathon training, but it was a new route in an area I had thought was relatively flat. Imagine my surprise when I turn a corner about 6 miles in and I’m faced with one of the steepest hills I’ve ever run up and as I slow to a walk, I realize that I will have several more hills like this. This was the first run this year that I actually considered cutting short and finishing on the elliptical at home. I didn’t quit, though. I kept at it, kept running, and finally finished. I was done a little quicker than I thought I would be, but still I was slower than I’d have liked to have run.

I planned this week’s 18 miler to avoid too many hills. Most of the route I’ve run before, but I added several miles of new roads. I’ve eyed these roads for a couple of years and since we shouldn’t have any snow this weekend, I thought I’d give it a try. We’ll see how it goes!