What goes up must come down...

This week is another week of traveling...this time in the area of Atlanta, Georgia. We are staying with friends just outside of Atlanta in Woodstock. I brought along my running gear in full attempt to seize the opportunity to run. I must say the options are limited. The terrain in Georgia is much different...there are hills! And I'm not talking about baby hills. The neighborhood where we are staying has a nice 1.3 mile loop that I have done twice this week. Notice that I say it is "nice"...meaning that it is short and I can still feel like I've had a workout. I have never huffed and puffed up a hill, like I did here. Wow! I can't find out the specifics on the grade of the biggest hill on the route, but estimations are about a 25 degree slope and 1/4mile distance. Once I get up and over the hill, the road is still not "flat", but not nearly as steep as the big hill. Running on hills is a form of resistance training. When I am running up the hill and trying to maintain my natural running movement, I am also lifting my body weight up the hill. In turn, my leg muscles have to work harder to run the same pace. It’s important that my stride is shortened and I rise up on the forward part of my feet. Most importantly, I need to keep focus of my form while running hills as it can help propel without losing energy. My arms need to be swinging forward and backwards instead of side to side. Not only do I gain physiological benefits, there are also psychological benefits to this strength workout. Tomorrow morning my running group will be running 15 miles. Unfortunately, I will not be there since our vacation has taken us out of state. But, I plan to keep running the hills of Georgia and will make up my long run next weekend. Next week will mark the longest run I have yet to complete. To date, my longest run is 13.1 miles. Stay tuned for updates on the 15 mile run….I also have some great information about running temperatures and how they affect finishing time. This will be imperative for the 15 mile run and its success.