I can’t run fast, and I can’t run long distances, but I can run hills.

I didn’t always love to run hills, in fact, I used to avoid hills as much as possible during my runs.  But then I realized that being a slow runner actually helps me on the hills.

No matter how slow I go uphill, I still feel like I am getting in a good workout.  I don’t need to beat myself up if I am barely moving faster than a snail, because I am running uphill!  And when I finally manage to make it up a particularly long or steep hill that has been kicking my butt, the feeling of accomplishment can’t be beat. Running is a great leg workout in itself, but running uphill works out my quads and hamstrings like nobody’s business, and I love it.

My method for getting myself up the hills is simple, I break it into small chunks.  I am a huge fan of the Couch to 5k and Bridge to 10k running programs and I use those for my hill circuits.  I just pick a run/walk interval that feels manageable based on my energy level and the difficulty of the hills and go.  Sometimes I can run up giant hills without stopping and sometimes I have to break it up into 90 seconds of running and 60 seconds of walking, it all depends.  But no matter what, when I get to the top of the hill I feel good.  Another great thing about running hills is that running the flat parts in between the hills actually feels like I am taking a break.

Now that the weather is cooling off I am going to try to do a hill workout several times a week, I am going to have quads of steel!