I am so proud… I ran 8 miles this weekend on trails with a friend… and I’m still feeling the pain! Hills around here are a little hard to find (without driving too far), so the park we went too is about the best we’re gunna get! It was lightly misting as we were running, and it was so muggy that we were soaked in the first 10 minutes of running, but it was wonderful =)

Our next 1/2 marathon is in seven weeks in the hilly town of Williamsburg, and we’ve got some serious training to do in order to meet our goals. I want to do the race in under 2:30 hrs, and Tyler is aiming for 2 hrs *GASP*
I realize I did our last in 2:34:54, but I know Williamsburg is going to be MUCH more challanging.

Tonight we are planning on running at Mount Trashmore, which will hopefully help with our hill endurance (and make my legs hurt EVEN MORE).

Here’s some helpful advice from HowToBeFit.com on running hills:
Different hill workouts can hit a variety of training goals.  Running hills, like lifting weights, is resistance training. Hills strengthen the leg muscles to meet the specific demands of running. By working hard on hills, you force the muscles to overcome the incline and resistance of gravity. This strengthens the driving muscles the hamstrings, calves, buttocks, and particularly the quadriceps, which don’t get much work on the flats. Fatigued quads are particularly a problem late in races, especially marathons. It’s hard to pick your feet up and move them forward if the quads are growing tired of this important repetitive task.  

I also asked the experts over at Runners World (my most favorite running magizine ever) how to run Hills:
“I once had a coach tell me that if you keep moving your arms, your legs have to follow,” says Erholtz, “so I focus on keeping my arms moving.” She says she also leans slightly forward into the hill. “I think a shorter stride is more efficient on the hill, with a more rapid turnover. Keep your head and eyes focused ahead, but not all the way up.”

I feel like we’ve got a good chance at this and we’re going to ROCK it!