So base building is going well (except for the occasional foot or minor ITB ache) - I have several weeks under me at 15+ miles and carefully building from there. I'm incorporating some hill repeats on my Thursday runs (oh wait, that's today - yipee!) mostly because I...am...terrible...at hills. My mind says "engage!" and my glutes say "Engage what?" I've been going to some yoga classes to stretch out that ITB and strengthen the tendons in my foot which have been wonderful, but another major weakness is my lack of core and butt strength. Those cross training components will be added in next (didn't want to jump head first into everything at once).
But to find more motivation on these hill repeats, I just registered for "The Ascent" run. Remember "The Bear" race I did a bit ago? Yeah, this looks even more challenging and I am definitely not in near as good of hill run shape. The race is 3.7 mi with an average grade of 6.1%.... and the subtitle for the race is "The Hardest Hill Climb in the South". Oh Joy. Alas it is in 2 1/2 weeks and so I am no serious threat to the competition but I'll be out there and I'll get from Point A to Point B with some walks in between for sure.
Race Bonus: It's on the ridge across from my mom's so I guess it's kind of in my "hometown backyard" whatever. Except I never ran when I lived in the mountains. Definitely regretting that now. But seeing as it's just down the street and the race is at 11am, I forecast some post race beers and burgers on the deck at Mom's in the mountains with friends :)
Check out the course map below:
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