Thursday, April 03, 2008

Ups & Downs

So, perhaps it is only a momentary reprieve, but I am up and running (literally) again. It is much reduced from the fall, but probably as strong as I could expect at 5 + months pregnant while pushing two 35 lb kids. It may seem counterintuitive, but I am finding that hill workouts are more successful than flat runs.

Given that I have to take walking breaks intermittently anyway, the hills help to keep my heart rate up while I walk. Second, different muscles are utilized in the up vs. down vs. flat so it does not feel like it is tearing things up as much as the repetition of running on flat terrain.

You might feel tempted to avoid hills while running with your stroller, but it is awesome mental training too. Then when you are heading up a hill in a race or just on your own, you can really tell yourself how it could be so much harder….

Most importantly, the kids still get the running-fast downhill-rush which keeps them happy. They’ve been getting fidgeting with this walking thing.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I love hills! It completely takes my mind off of other issues...like breathing. And nothing inspires me more than anticipating the rush of downhill. Once I get down, I always want to go back up until eventually I'm like, "OK. You can stop now."