My facebook friends will know that Saturday, I conquered the bane of my existance. "Nickajack."
My run group has lots of pet names for this hill. Nick-a-whack. Nick-a-crack. The beast. Whatever.
The first 1/4 mile is by far the worst of this hill. After a long run on the comet, it's daunting. If you're not careful, you can exert way too much on the first 1/4 mile of the hill, leaving yourself struggling with 2 more miles to the top. Oddly, it's how my group ends every long run after 6 miles.
Until Saturday, I've never ran the full 2.3 miles up the hill. I'd make it a bit and then resolve to 'walk/run' the rest of it. Several people kept saying "Nickajack's mental," but I had a hard time wrapping my head around running the whole thing.
Saturday was hot and so the 9+ miles leading up to Nickajack were just miserable. It was hot. Sweat was dripping off my clothes. I was ready to be d.o.n.e. I got to the bottom and thought, "not this week, for sure."
But, my friend from the bike wreck - she was right there with me. She drug my arse up that hill, breaking it up piece by piece and making it much less...overwhelming...
And I ran every damn step. And I got high fives from everyone waiting for me at the top.
And next week, I'm going to do it all over again.
nice job! from your facebook pics I've seen that you're lookin good! Augusta just around the corner eh? Keep up the great work! The run at Augusta has the potential to be HOT. This is great training for you.
ReplyDeleteOde to running buddies! Love how much harder I work with mine! and LOVE your shoe organization - that was really helpful. Smart to ONLY wear them whilst running!!
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