Must Love Hills

With moving to a new house (tour here!), we've also moved to a whole new neighborhood. And, well, the running is tough. Tougher than I expected. I thought the Laurel Festival 10K was bad with all its mountains and valleys, but it seems like I'd be in great shape next year if I chose to do it again.

At our old place, I could run up to 13 (or more!) miles with few inclines to break my stride. In fact, to compare to everything I'll show you in a moment -- here's the elevation map for my all-time favorite 4-miler that I used to run at least a couple times a week.


Now? I used MapMyRun to check out some of the routes I've tackled or plan to try soon.

And . . .


OK. So, these hills are still nothing compared to running in Wellsboro (and other places, I'm sure). I mapped out one of the long runs I did last month when I was visiting my parents and was sort of shocked with what I discovered. So, I guess it could be worse.


Anyway, after playing around with different paths, I was able to map out a relatively flat 10 miler for my next long run. The only problems: It's not in the nicest area. Not dangerous, but just sort of urban decay. And it's out-and-back, and I don't love being far away from home during the summer months with heat and all.

But this looks better, doesn't it?


Not really.

But if you examine all those jigs and jags carefully, you see that the elevation only toggles between 870 and 885 feet or something like that. This image is a tad deceiving. So, I'm feeling hopeful I'll get some flat ground and finish my run without too much peril.

Runners who live in hilly areas: WHAT DO YOU DO!? 

I am getting the idea that I just need to shut up and run, and that eventually my body will adjust. I guess I'm thinking ahead to my next pregnancy. I've already written at length about what I want to change about running the next time around. Not entirely sure if I should run all these hills on the regular. Will I be doomed for the treadmill?

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Hit the Hills // A Workout

Thanks for all your congrats on my race win! Since my kitchen is mostly packed up and I've been eating off paper plates, there's not much in the food department to talk about now. Only 5 more days, though! Anyway, several of you have asked about my training, so I thought that'd be a fun topic for today.

// THE CLIMB

Over the past year, I've made some solid gains in my race paces at all distances. I haven't done much (if any, really) speedwork, though. So, I wanted to share my "secret weapon" workout with you guys today because it's one that truly works. It will make those typical "hilly courses" we all complain about feel like a cake-walk, too!

But first: On every training run, I try to do at least one climb. If it's not a long hill, I try to find a steep one and go as fast as I can. If it's a long hill, I try to just power up at whatever pace can carry me there. But I do this every single run at least once during the run. If you live in a flat area, try running up man-made inclines (like bridges) or visiting the treadmill more often.

Then once a week I try to do hill repeats.

This workout, which I did as part of my half marathon training, has the potential to be as long as 10 miles. I know. That sounds a bit nuts. I usually just do 10 repeats for a total of 7 miles. However, when I was starting out, I'd do 6-8 repeats and even shorten the warmup to just a half mile warmup/cooldown. You can also choose a shorter hill. Anything over .10 of a mile is better than nothing!

Basically, you can get the idea to modify according to your race distance. And you can even choose to simply follow the general idea of incorporating regular HILL REPEATS into your training. Stephen also favored hills versus speed for his training this year and is seeing similar gains in his race times. Something must be working!

Otherwise, I don't do "workouts" necessarily. I run the rest of my mileage at an easy pace. If on a short run I feel particularly strong, I'll choose to go faster that day. And I always try to get a long run of 8-10 miles in on the weekend despite where I am in a training cycle.

How do you work to get faster? Do you like doing repeats at the track or preferring heading for the hills? Or are you a beast at both!

For more running tips, be sure to check out our RUNNING PAGE full of information about workouts, races, nutrition, gear, and much more. We haven't written much in recent years -- but I'm hoping to add to this area on the site as time goes on.

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20 Minute Treadmill Workouts

Pssst: Have you heard of Hello Fresh? It's a grocery delivery service. Anyway, this week they have come out with new vegetarian grocery boxes. You should check 'em out. I will be reviewing the service soon, soon, soon!

Treadmill time: I'm struggling to keep up with fitness at the moment. I'm not training for anything, and as the weather has gotten colder, I've become especially good at coming up with excuses to skip. We just had our treadmill serviced a couple weeks ago, and I've been trying to promise myself at least five runs a week.

Even if those runs are only 2 miles. So far, so good.

It's easy for me to get caught in a doomed mindset of "I USED to run X number of miles when I was marathon training" or "Five miles should be EASY for me." It's all very negative and eventually leads to my mental downfall.

So, I've come up with some short, sweet workouts I can do on those days my mind gets the best of me. Each of these sessions can be completed in either 2 miles or 20 minutes. What I've found is that I can often jog a cool-down mile to make it three total. Sometimes more.

If not? No big deal. At least I've done something instead of nothing. Kept the momentum going. The pacing is just what I do. Simply adjust according to your normal paces, whether faster or slower. For reference, my normal jogging pace on the treadmill is 7mph.


I hope you enjoy these short, sweet runs. I always tend to take the winter season relatively easy. There aren't many races on the agenda, so it's a good time to let the damage of harder training heal.

I don't worry so much about my weekly mileage either. My totals range from 10 miles to 30. It's crazy. Instead, it's all about keeping my legs moving and complimenting with cross-training like yoga.

I don't love running on the treadmill, but I get a different quality out of them. Most of my outdoor mileage is run at an easy pace on mostly flat surfaces. On the treadmill, unless I'm challenging myself, I'm bored.

How about you? Can you run most every day indoors -- or do you need to play games to pass the time?

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