Hills & Burritos 2: The Wrath of Don

Part 1: Hills & Burritos

Lured again by the promise of a burrito from Anna's Taqueria in Davis Square again, I drove to Tufts with my teammate Brendan for a hill workout.  I wasn't exactly psyched at the prospect of running those hills again but I was interested to see if there had been any improvement in my fitness at all over the past two weeks.  Hills are a good indicator of that.  The increased effort on the hills increases your heart rate and your breathing rate. 

After a slow 1 mile warm up with the other ten people that decided to freeze their asses off, the coach told us to run the same loop we had done at the last hill practice.  But wait, there's a twist.  This time we were told to "attack" the hills.  I thought, "those are fightin' words" which immediately motivated me to visualize my own attack on the hills.  It went something like this:

The assault on the hills went nothing like this but the motivation was there.

The loop we run starts with a shorter hill which I easily taught a lesson by stomping its midsection with my Asics.  Over the next half mile I prepared for what would be the most painful portion of the night, the assault on the big hill.  This hill is about a quarter mile long and it looks like the side of a mountain.  It can surprise you as it comes just after a longer stretch of flat surface, then you take a sharp left onto another street and it looks like you are about to run into a wall, but that's the hill.  Fortunately I had my game face on. 
Can you imagine this running toward you at night?  Super scary.


Motivating myself: "It's just you, me and the moon Big Hill.  Let's do this!"

The first loop was a cinch and I figured I had conquered my enemy.  I could already taste the salsa and guacamole, fundemental elements of my reward for the evening.  Filled with confidence I finished the first loop and started an attack on the first short hill section.  "No problem," I thought.  The arrogance had taken over and I was convinced of my athletic superiority.


Then came the second assault on the big hill.  My hubris at an all time high I began punishing the hill at the bottom with high knees and a strong kick but I began to fade near the top.  It was at this point that the game face began to transform.

Then it was over.

I crested the top of the hill just as my lungs were at their limit.  The light headed feeling and jello legs forced me to walk for about 50 feet.  Then when I felt a bit less dizzy I continued into a jog down the other side of the hill.  The recovery took longer this time and I was now sweating even though it was in the low 20's.  Tired but still upright, I got back to a consistent easy pace for the last 3/4 mile.  We finished with a 1 mile cool down and we were done.

Revitalized by the promise of a warm flower tortilla bursting at the seems with flavors reserved for a king, I summoned my remaining energy for the night's next endeavor.  I knew the super burrito at Anna's would require efforts beyond measurement but somehow I got the job done. 

Overall, there was some improvement so I felt good.  "Attacking" the hills is good mental preparation and I'm sure these workouts will help me on Marathon Monday.