We have a saying on the Team, especially for those of us training for Country Music: “Hills are our friends!” That is because we hear from everyone how hilly the Nashville half and full marathon courses are. So after yesterday’s challenging run, I decided to get more information, and downloaded the elevation profile of the CMM course:
While it is hilly, it is not mountainous. It looks like the steepest and longest climbs are in the first seven miles, when we should be at our freshest. And since what goes up must come down, there is a long, fairly steep three mile downhill right after that. Then, the last 16 miles of the race looks undulating up and down – short climbs and short descents without many flat parts.
One of my teammates, Dave, wrote about hills being our friends and I like what he said: “Hills are incredible. This is why: Without hills, there would be no fantastic cartoons of ever-growing snowballs barreling down on the heels of funny rabbits who always made us laugh on Saturday mornings while we wore our snuggly-footie pajamas. Without hills there would be no mountains. Without mountains, Julie Andrews would not have had a place to sing on her days off from the Abbey. She'd have to, like, go buy cheese or something on her days off. If we didn't have hills, there would be no opportunities to go downhill sledding in the winter. If there were no sledding opportunities, there would be no need for hot cocoa to warm your chilly-bones after sledding all day. Can you imaginea world without hot cocoa? I can't. It would be a dark, dismal place.” Dave, you are so right! Hills rock! And to add to what he wrote, as Julie Andrews sang, “The hills are alive with the sound of music.” And with the labored breathing of marathoners!
Yesterday’s training was an eye-opener, because it was far hillier than even our most hilly routes here in Richmond. It is also apparently hillier than the Nashville course, which is encouraging. But clearly, I will need to go out of my way to find routes with elevation change for training on, and not try to avoid running up hills. After all, who would want to avoid their friends?
While it is hilly, it is not mountainous. It looks like the steepest and longest climbs are in the first seven miles, when we should be at our freshest. And since what goes up must come down, there is a long, fairly steep three mile downhill right after that. Then, the last 16 miles of the race looks undulating up and down – short climbs and short descents without many flat parts.One of my teammates, Dave, wrote about hills being our friends and I like what he said: “Hills are incredible. This is why: Without hills, there would be no fantastic cartoons of ever-growing snowballs barreling down on the heels of funny rabbits who always made us laugh on Saturday mornings while we wore our snuggly-footie pajamas. Without hills there would be no mountains. Without mountains, Julie Andrews would not have had a place to sing on her days off from the Abbey. She'd have to, like, go buy cheese or something on her days off. If we didn't have hills, there would be no opportunities to go downhill sledding in the winter. If there were no sledding opportunities, there would be no need for hot cocoa to warm your chilly-bones after sledding all day. Can you imaginea world without hot cocoa? I can't. It would be a dark, dismal place.” Dave, you are so right! Hills rock! And to add to what he wrote, as Julie Andrews sang, “The hills are alive with the sound of music.” And with the labored breathing of marathoners!
Yesterday’s training was an eye-opener, because it was far hillier than even our most hilly routes here in Richmond. It is also apparently hillier than the Nashville course, which is encouraging. But clearly, I will need to go out of my way to find routes with elevation change for training on, and not try to avoid running up hills. After all, who would want to avoid their friends?
2 comments:
Thanks, Art for your words of encouragement. I have been having fun getting back into running! It's always been an important part of my life. And...I love hills! My friends think I'm crazy!
Take care!
Art, I'm running the Crystal Coast Half in Morehead City, NC. In October I'm running the Marine Corps Marathon in D.C. I'm VERY excited!!!!
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