Sunday, September 02, 2012

Hills Make You Strong


Great long run today, hitting every big hill within a five mile radius of my house including Ossipee Hill (summit is 1034'). Total elevation gain for the run was 1722'. Pace was pretty easy, but the good news is it felt easy and I even picked things up in the end.

Before I got to Ossipee Hill, I ran up Deering Ridge and down the hill to the town hall. Pretty uneventful and I just got into the grove during that seven mile portion. Then I hit Ossipee Hill. It's about a two and a half mile climb to the top, gaining 720' in the process. This was the first time that I ran the whole thing. There are a couple of sections that are wicked steep and in the past I would just power hike them, but today I raised the bar and ran up the entire route non-stop.

Climbed up the firetower once I was there and took in the panoramic views at the top. I could clearly see the ocean, Mt. Washington and even Portland. Hung out there for about seven minutes and then ran back down.

Next climb was up to Robert's Ridge Road, which seemed like a mere speed bump after Ossipee. Down that, and then up Bennet Hill Road and then looped around back home.

This capped off a great training week that turned out to be pretty hill specific, including this run, the run up Cadillac the other day and a tempo run on hills earlier in the week. Quite pleased and good hay in the barn for MDI. Weekly total now stands at 58.6, and I just might be a nerd and go out later for a couple of miles to get over 60 for the week.

Ran 20.5 miles @ 8:16/mile pace.
Paved roads, dirt roads, jeep trails.
Extremely hilly.
Lower 60s, overcast, light rain.
Saucony Kinvara 3, shorts, short sleeved shirt, handheld bottle (diluted Gatorade).

3 comments:

Jeremy Bonnett said...

That sounds like a hell of a run man! Love to join you on that one sometime.

Jamie Anderson said...

Ya know, it occurred to me during the run that I should have asked if you wanted to join me. Next time for sure, even if we just do Ossipee. It's a great hill run. I bet Jeff would love it as well.

middle.professor said...

I would...if you shrunk the distance 25%