30 Hills in 30 Days Update

Well...it's been a long time since my last post. School got the best of me there at the end of the year, but now I am free free freeeeeeeee for the summer. This was my first official week of summer vaycay and I am doing it right. After assessing the serious flub happening from my ass down, I've decided that my workout routine needs a bit more than mileage to get things sorted (though I'm upping mileage too). About a year ago my husband bought the P90X program off eBay for $40. If you don't know anything about the program and are interested in learning about it, click here, cuz I'm just going to talk like you know what it is.

So in addition to my runs happening about every other day (which is a whole lot more than what was happening from April till now) my husband and I are doing the P90X program according to the "Classic Schedule." It's brutal. I'm sore in places I didn't know existed. But it's a really good sore. My new song/mantra is Kanye's "that-that-that-that don' kill me/ Can only make me stronger... do it faster/ makes us stronger." I can't stand Kanye as a person, but as a mantra provider, he's legit. It suits the program and the way it makes us feel every day because I do wonder sometimes if it will in fact kill me.

(*Insert appropriate transition here*)

I vaguely remember making a goal for myself: 30 hills in 30 days. Well... I technically started my "30 days" on May 23rd, which means today is my last day. I didn't really think it through enough, so I slacked and didn't hit 30 hills, but here's what I did. I found some really good hills and revisited some of the classics. If you're in need for some hill repeats or just a long slow hill, here are the bitches I conquered in the last 30 days. (Pics not provided for all hills discussed. Whaaat sometimes I don't run with my camera.)

1. Lake Murray Drive: A long, steady hill totaling .6 mile. Start at the corner of Lake Murray and Wisconsin Ave and head north up Lake Murray Drive to Kiowa Drive. Turn left on Kiowa and take a lap around the lake (6-7 miles). Once at the lake, about 1/2 a mile from the access gate is another paved hill on your right: small, steep as hell and perfect for sprint repeats. (Hill count 2)




2. Hill Street: Long long long. Steep, levels out a bit, then steep again. But the view is totally worth it. A good hill for full or partial repeats because you can pick and choose what grade you prefer. A brutal 1/2 mile. (Hill count 1)




3. Young Hall Hill on PLNU's campus: Now I remember why I used to wait for the shuttle or hitch a ride with someone up this hill. It's steep. It's long, but not as long as Hill St. You can access this hill from the dirt trail at the end of Corning near Sunset Cliffs. (Hill count 1)




4. Random hills in OB and Pt Loma. Head east from anywhere along Sunset Cliffs and you'll get a nice hill in. I don't remember all the names of the good ones I found, but I do remember the name Monaco, because I had a friend in college with that last name, and here's a pretty picture of a purple flowered wall I ran by somewhere up there. (Hill count 3)



5. At the intersection of Rosecrans and Whittier is a really steep hill (less than a 1/4 mile) that leads to 4 sets of stairs. It can do amazing things for your ass if handled correctly... just beware of jr. highers who skateboard here...I came around the bend the other day and caught one of them peeing against the wall. Gross. (Hill count 1)



6. W Laurel St to 6th Ave/Laurel Street Bridge: The steepest part of this 1.5 mile hill is actually the easiest part I've found... now hear me out. The steepest part is so steep it's like going up stairs, whereas the more gradual part is the majority of the hill and just wears down the will. You have to be OK walking part of this hill or it will break you. It will break you so good. (Hill count 1 x the 3 times I did it= 3)


7. 6th to Laurel: (Disclaimer: Yes I am ashamed of the time that appears with this map--and the map is a picture of my RunKeeper app.--But let me just say that the time includes all the waits I had at stoplights because the timer doesn't automatically pause like some of those fancy-schmancy watches out there (Angie)--and I don't take the time to pause and unpause the time myself--and I had to stop at every.single.light on Ash street on route to 6th. And it was hoooot that day. So there.) Let me also just say, 6th Ave is a sneaky 1 mile a-hole, but it's a good one to practice mid to end run because it's part of the final miles of this August's AFC half marathon. (Hill count 1 a-hole)

So my total hill count for the last 30 days is approximately 12. Just gonna have to try for 30 in the next 30 days. Because that-that-that-that don' kill me, can only make me stronger...