Hills in the Hood

What better to do than to run hills on St. Patrick’s Day? Wednesday’s are always early mornings in our house, up at 4:00 so Tim can be on the road for his 2 ½ hour commute. I used to slip back into bed and pretend I could run later, but not anymore. Now, I drink a cup of coffee, maybe a piece of toast and head out the door as he gets in his car.

It was a fun and challenging run through the “hood” - neighbor that is. My neighborhood in Eugene is somewhat like a roller coaster if you want it to be and this morning, I sought out as many hills as I could find. Buddy and Lilly joined me for a 2 mile flat warm up. We headed up a small hill on the last ½ mile, but I could see Lilly dragging a bit so we headed for home. She had such a good run this past weekend on the McKenzie trail, but I guess her dogs were still recovering. Old coot, she never let’s up.

So after I dropped the dogs in the backyard, I headed out again, up Lincoln St. hill, down the backside, down 24th for reprieve and then up on 22nd. It felt good not to have a destination or a loop in mind. When I was ready for another hill, I went for it, actually seeking out the steepest one I could find. None of them were as long or as steep as on the trails, but it felt good to do fast surges and short recoveries. Almost like a hilly speed workout.