Double Hill Run

Rick and Cat in the lead.

First, thank you all for your concern about our weather. For some reason, the storm was terrible in all the counties surrounding us, particularly to the south. But not Pierce County - we got the storm, and some near the river were flooding, but we did not get the extremes that others did. Plus, for those that were worried, Eric and I live on a hill above the valley, safe from floods. (So does Rob - I know someone mentioned worrying about him too.)

Running for the week - I was slightly sore after Mt. Peak on Sunday, but felt the urge to tackle the hill run Tuesday anyway. That gave me six for Tuesday, about 4.5 for Wednesday, and twice on Thursday for a total of 7.5. That gave me 24 miles leading into today's double hill run.


Mt. Rainier from the ridge.

I feel the need to do some serious hill training this winter and spring. I've got the half-asses at Capital Peak (17 miles) and Orcas Island (15 miles) coming up, and Big Sur in the spring. I want to be ready for all of them, so I decided a double hill run was in order.


Jenny.


Jane and me.

In the way of our fabulous running club, I posted my intentions. Rick, Jenny and Eric had already planned to come along. Pretty soon Jane and Cat were on board, and as a surprise Rob and Linda both showed up. We left the Y at sixish this morning - dark and cold, about 30 degrees and clear as could be. It was fun running out as a group, with our lights shining. The first loop felt normal to me - I've been hitting it weekly for a few weeks now. I wondered how that second loop would be...but before I tell you, let me tell you about my "newish" Garmin.


Rob

It arrived on Wednesday, a "fully reconditioned" new-to-me one. I set everything up and ran with it on Thursday. Mileage/time looked good. Today, I wore it again - somewhere, about 15 minutes before we made it back to the Y, it went nuts. I didn't pay any attention till we were headed back out when I realized it was showing 11.5 miles! We had only gone 7.5. Once we got home and I uploaded it, I found that I had apparently run over 1000 mph for those extra three miles. It showed us clear down in the next town! Very strange. I'll be keeping a close eye on it to see if something like that happens again.

So anyway, the second loop was tough. My goal was not to walk on any hill. Unfortunately, I had to walk for about 20 feet on the big hill during that second loop - I thought my calves would seize up if I didn't. I was pleasantly surprised to find I could run the others - tough, but I did it. I also discovered that a little caffeine and sugar in a bit of coke can rev me up. Our group was pretty quiet at the start of round two, except for me - I was chatting away and even had the energy to run goofy. Once we hit the first hill, I settled down.

These are to try and give perspective of the big hill.





Total mileage: 15.33, time (with stop at Y) 3:16:02.

It was a fun run and one I will plan to do again. I'm thinking I've got to work my way up to three loops...