Hill Yeah.

It doesn’t matter where they hit, they’re tough. Today I was asked if there was a way to get good at them without actually running them.

No, not miles.

Hills.

So it got me thinking. Scary, I know.

As runners, we find that with hills, we have a love/hate relationship. We hate them, but we love what they do to us. The more we run, the faster and stronger we get. And pretty quickly too. Unless we slack off and just ease up them. Bleh.

Whenever I run with certain people, ahem—you know who you are! – ahem

We run up the same darn hill. EVERY TIME!

The last time we did, she turned to me about half way up the hill and said, “I thought you’d miss this one, Megs.”

I feigned a laugh on a deep breath outward, noting we still had a few more miles to go.

There are tough hills, depending on where you live, some are tougher than others. And depending on where they hit you on the run, they can be the worst nemesis for that hour. Who knows.

In Gig Harbor, it has to be the bottom of Rosedale all the way up to the high school. Actually it is tied with the hill from the Fox Island bridge all the way up to the T- in the road on the island. Yikes. Every state champion from Gig Harbor, individual or team, has run either of these hills, over and over again. Makes ya’ tough.

fox island bridge. 

So where is the toughest hill in Spokane? I’ve run a few of them. And there is talk that Doomsday is the toughest. I mean the name in and of itself implies the difficulty of this hill. But is it really? Where it lands during the famous Bloomsday run (mile 5), and during the Spokane Marathon (mile 22), it does not make it the funnest hill I have ever run. Sure.

Running up the South Hill from downtown, isn’t exactly the easiest either. But hey, it makes you tough right?

Bloomsdayrun.org

gig harbor, wa

Put your head down and grind, was our motto in college. Empty the tank, also a classic on hill repeats.

But as much as I hate them, they make me stronger, and as much as I try to avoid them, they’re always there. Sometimes in a mocking tone, sometimes laughing, and always humbling.

I’m in search of it, because even though it is going to hurt, I just have to know. And hey, I’ll get something out of it in the long run.

Pun definitely intended.