The Hills are Alive........With the Sound of Repeats

Yup, the hills at Hyland have been alive with the sound of repeats. With the season over for me, I've been focusing on my off-season training, which is centered around building strength. Once a week now for the past 3 weeks I've been scampering up the ski hills at Hyland, adding a rep each week. Since my mileage and training has been pretty sparse for a while, I started out at a meager 10 reps, and will be up to 13 this week.

In addition, I've been making an effort to get out to Afton and run the 25K loop and focus on running all of the hills at a decent tempo. So far, I've seen some significant improvement in only 3 weeks time. This past Sunday I attacked each and every climb and recovered quickly at the top. Who knows, maybe by next Spring I'll be up to Julie Berg's epic 60 repeats at Hyland? It could happen...........right? I'll also be doing some cycling as well to supplement my training. I really enjoy riding and it's a great cross-training tool since it's easy on the knees, helps develop leg speed, and uses other muscle groups. Plus, it's something I'll be able to do inside on a mag trainer when it's lousy outside.

So, that's it in a nutshell. I'm running lots of hills and building up those chicken legs into mountain climbing legs of steel. Oh, I also have to say I'm really enjoying running more than ever this Fall. Last year I didn't get to enjoy as much of it because I was traveling so much for work, and then got laid off. Now I'm at home every week, have a job that I absolutely love, and get to enjoy the best time of the year out on the trails. Life is great!

Coming up next is the P.H.O.U.R. "underground" run on October, 4. Even though I won't be able to run the whole thing, I'm looking forward to meeting a few more trail runners from the area. Should be good fun!

See ya on the trails.