Hill Repeats (Run 47)

Tuesdays are currently hill runs on my training schedule. This week, instead of running a hilly course, I ran hill repeats on the Centennial Trail. Since the trail is right across the street from my office, I headed west on the trail (on the south side of the river) to the bridge over Hamilton Street. From my office to the Hamilton bridge it's just over 1.5 miles, so a good warm-up before I tackled the actual hill.

Once I hit the hill, I was in L.T mode (LaDanian Tomlinson not Lawrence Taylor).* I had seen a few interviews with L.T. over the past few years in which he talked about running the sandy hills behind his home to condition himself for running routes. I know that Tiki Barber, pre-retirement, did the same thing in the Jersey hills. So, my hill wasn't sand, but I am preparing to run a half-marathon, not preparing to run a route while men who are 6'5" and 300lbs. try to pummel me into the earth. With thoughts of L.T. in my mind, I sprinted up one side of the hill and walked down the other, for six repeats. I was out of breath by the time I reached the hill's peak on each sprint, but I felt so strong and accomplished.

I ran the rest of the way back to my office (on the north side of the river) with tired legs and a positive outlook.

*I am fairly certain the original L.T. (Lawrence Taylor) "trained" by cutting back on the amount of cocaine and the number of "escorts" he consumed. I am pretty sure that is not the best training method for me to follow, even though it clearly worked from him.