•9:54 AM
So Wednesday afternoon I left work at 3pm (due to the pending massive snow storm that never quite materialized) and went straight to my in-home gym (a/k/a my bedroom!), popped in my Jari Love Ripped & Chiseled to do my warm up and lower body, and then proceeded to switch over to Dolores Munoz's Killer Butt, per my normal legs workout. But I guess it wasn’t so “normal” because it is now almost 72 hours later and my lower body is still. so. sore. It’s awesome. 
Why is it that both Jari & Dolores can kick my arse, but good 'ole Heartbreak Hill can't break me down? Not that I'm complaining or anything ... which brings me to my next point. So "The Hill" ... the hill of all hills ... well, truth be told it's actually the last hill of 4 hills. At a not-so-convenient place in the 26.2 mile journey from Hopkinton to Boston. According to Wiki:
"Heartbreak Hill is an ascent over 0.4 mile (600 m) of the Boston Marathon course, between the 20 and 21 mile marks, in the vicinity of Boston College. It is the last of four "Newton hills", which begin at the 16 mile mark. The Newton hills confound contestants (out of proportion to their modest elevation gain) by forcing a late climb after the downhill trend of the race to that point. Heartbreak Hill itself rises only 88 vertical feet (27 m), from an elevation of 148 feet at the bottom to an elevation of 236 feet at the top,[8] but is positioned at a point on a marathon course where muscle glycogen stores are likely to be depleted—a phenomenon referred to by marathoners as "hitting the wall.""
Last Saturday I had one of the most enjoyable and memorable runs of my entire running career to date (which really hasn't been that long, but still ... it was fantastic). The sun was out, I had the best running partner a girl could ask for ... it was a bracing 23 degrees with 15 mph winds but I was in heaven. We drove out to Newton on Route 16, parked the car, and began tackling the hills. It really wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting. Of course, I hadn't run 16 miles before I started the hills, so I need to be fair. But all in all it was a highly successful 8-mile jog up and back down Hearbreak. You know how you have certain memories that are etched in your brain forever? And a certain sound, smell or taste will immediately bring a snapshot of that memory to your mind - to the point where you can literally replay that moment as if it were yesterday? Well, last Saturday afternoon was one of those moments. I will treasure that run, and the company in which I kept, for the rest of my life. It was incredible. Who knew that I would get such enjoyment out of running 8 miles in sub-zero temperatures up and down the hills of Newton?! Crazy ...!
Why is it that both Jari & Dolores can kick my arse, but good 'ole Heartbreak Hill can't break me down? Not that I'm complaining or anything ... which brings me to my next point. So "The Hill" ... the hill of all hills ... well, truth be told it's actually the last hill of 4 hills. At a not-so-convenient place in the 26.2 mile journey from Hopkinton to Boston. According to Wiki:
"Heartbreak Hill is an ascent over 0.4 mile (600 m) of the Boston Marathon course, between the 20 and 21 mile marks, in the vicinity of Boston College. It is the last of four "Newton hills", which begin at the 16 mile mark. The Newton hills confound contestants (out of proportion to their modest elevation gain) by forcing a late climb after the downhill trend of the race to that point. Heartbreak Hill itself rises only 88 vertical feet (27 m), from an elevation of 148 feet at the bottom to an elevation of 236 feet at the top,[8] but is positioned at a point on a marathon course where muscle glycogen stores are likely to be depleted—a phenomenon referred to by marathoners as "hitting the wall.""
Last Saturday I had one of the most enjoyable and memorable runs of my entire running career to date (which really hasn't been that long, but still ... it was fantastic). The sun was out, I had the best running partner a girl could ask for ... it was a bracing 23 degrees with 15 mph winds but I was in heaven. We drove out to Newton on Route 16, parked the car, and began tackling the hills. It really wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting. Of course, I hadn't run 16 miles before I started the hills, so I need to be fair. But all in all it was a highly successful 8-mile jog up and back down Hearbreak. You know how you have certain memories that are etched in your brain forever? And a certain sound, smell or taste will immediately bring a snapshot of that memory to your mind - to the point where you can literally replay that moment as if it were yesterday? Well, last Saturday afternoon was one of those moments. I will treasure that run, and the company in which I kept, for the rest of my life. It was incredible. Who knew that I would get such enjoyment out of running 8 miles in sub-zero temperatures up and down the hills of Newton?! Crazy ...!
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