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...

Quote of the Month & AFC

"I'm trying to reclaim my pre-Boston fitness, but my legs feel like pantyhose stuffed with sand."--Kristen Armstrong

Hahahahahahahahah!

My legs feel and look this way right now, but it's definitely NOT because I just ran Boston. If anything I'm getting further and further away from my goal to one day qualify for Boston.

I figure it's time to look to the next race for motivation. So, I signed up for American's Finest City (AFC) Half Marathon this week. If you're looking for a kickass 1/2er to do this August (the 21st actually), then this is a great option. It's $95 from now till it sells out, and it always sells out quick--so jump on it, jump on it. Not kidding. If you're even slightly considering it, sign up today, right now. Here's the link: CLICK ON THIS.

Quick Overview of the Race if you've never done it and are considering.

The Start: Is up at Cabrillo National Monument in Point Loma-- you'll take a bus from Balboa Park (zoo area) up to the monument.

Miles 1-4: Contain a lot of downhill stuff--and it's pretty steep. If you struggle with shinsplints or knee issues you may not want to do this one.

Miles 5-10: Mellow, flat along the Harbor by the San Diego airport, to the Embarcadero, and then through part of downtown.

Miles 11-12.5: Slight up hill. The worst of it starts at Mile 11.5 up 6th Avenue to the Laurel Street bridge. Be sure to prepare yourself for the uphillyness or you'll be PISSED. However, this is my favorite race in San Diego--despite the last two miles. Seriously--it's a good run and easy to PR if you can run downhill fast without injury.

Do it.

Ch ch ch ch chaChange

Well, it was a good run while it lasted, but my stint as a columnist for San Diego News Room's Endurance section has succumbed to budget cuts and I won't be contributing anymore (at least that's the reason they gave me...but maybe they just didn't like my articles). So, I'm moving on. To what and where? Who knows. But, I'd like to keep writing about running and being healthy-- so luckily my blog can't fire me.

My most current project--30 Hills in 30 Days--is still in the works. I'm collecting hills still. Here's my current list but I need more suggestions. Lots more.

1. Laurel Street
2. Lake Murray Blvd
3. Hill Street
4. Xenophon
5. Torrey Pines Reserve (thanks ang)
6. 6th Avenue (thanks again ang)
7. 56 Bike Path (east)-- (thanks Run DMZ)

Sigh...see what I mean? I need some more suggestions. I'll probably use a bunch of other small hills around here just for convenience sake...like:

8. Browning
9. Point Loma Nazarene's Young Hall-Hendrix hill
10. Canon
11. Talbot

Anyway... not much is going on in my running world right now, unfortunately. Well, except for the back part of Lake Murray's bike path that finally opened up, so we can once again get a 6 mile run out of the place. That's some big news (for me at least). It's time to start keeping a look out for rattlers at the Gorge and on those trails in North County. A running friend of mine just saw a big fat one while rock climbing...or maybe he was hiking....

I wish all you crazies running La Jolla this weekend good luck-- especially going up that reserve and I especially hope it's cool weather for you.

Keep on truckin'

30 Hill Challenge.

I turned 30 recently. I also wrote this article about hills recently. And then I had this crazy idea that I want to run 30 different hills in 30 days. I need to plan them out first so that I can get them into my schedule. So... I'd like your suggestions for good San Diego hills. There are all sort of hills that I can do around Point Loma and Ocean Beach and I'll do those throughout the week. But, I'd like to try some new places in North County or East County...so please share your favorite hills here. And, in case you need a reason to have that beer tonight-- drink to me being 30!

Stewart's just sayin'

I really appreciate the way John Stewart talks about teachers, so I'm attaching a link below to an entire episode of The Daily Show on hulu (hopefully it works--if not, I included the episode info so you can google it or search in hulu for it). I'd really appreciate it if you took 20 minutes of your time to watch what he has to say. His guest is author of The Life and Death of the Great American School System, Diane Ravitch, who discusses the education system in America and other countries.

This episode in particular gives me hope that there are people in this country still willing to fight for true education. That there are people who see beyond the superficial statistics and get at the real root of the problem. I don't hear many people right now with good things to say about teachers-- I find myself wondering nearly every day When did we become the bad guys?. I've been feeling frustrated, broken hearted and just generally low because of the way I hear the public and public officials talk about teachers. It's hard enough to stay positive when things are going well with teaching, but when it feels like everyone thinks you're evil or that you're greedy or that what you do can be easily replaced -- it makes me want to crawl into a hole and never come out. Actually it makes me want to move to FInland (you'll see why on the episode).

I haven't been running much lately, which is probably why my resistance to it all is down a bit...and when my skin is thinner like now, it's hard to get out on the road which makes the skin even thinner...vicious cycle, but it's people like Stewart and Ravitch who renew my hope that one day teaching will be a respected profession once again. Please watch:

The Daily Show with John Stewart, Thursday March 3, Season 16, Episode 32