Hills are hard, but the beach is beautiful!

In the majority of races I have run, the largest climb has been between 100-200 feet, and the biggest climbs have been the Newton Hills of the Boston Marathon. I do train on hills regularly, and try to incorporate them into many of my runs. I had thought I had mastered the hills - the hills were not only alive, but I could really pass people on them.

Until I got to Santa Cruz.

This is crazy! From campus to the beach, it is an 800 foot drop, which means an 800 feet climb on the way back. I have never experienced anything like that - you really do need to slow things down, be patient, and know that you'll reach the top at some point. They make the long runs really hard, but I know that this will definitely pay off when I return to normal hills - 100 ft. climbs will feel flat!

On Saturday, I actually went to the beach and back during my 10 miler, and took a couple of pictures when I arrived at the beach. Absolutely amazing. One of these days I'll stay longer, but now I have at least set foot there.

All in all, I was pretty proud of what I was able to fit in last week, given that our camp was in full swing:

Monday, June 27^th: 6000 meters rowing, weights

Tuesday, June 28^th: 2.5 mile warm-up; 1200, (500 meter jog) 2 x 800, (1 lap jog between) 2 x 400, (200 meters jog between);1 mile jog, 10 x 200 (run 200 between each, but make sure you aren’t going super slow during the rest, a moderate rest). Aim for about 5:15, 800s in 3:20 and 3:18, 400s in about 90; 200s should be hard but not all out sprinting, aim to keep all consistent at about 44 seconds. 2.5 cool-down. Total= 12 miles

Wednesday, June 29^th: weights

Thursday, June 30^th: 8 miles easy (not so easy with hills!)

Friday, July 1^st: 30 minutes rowing, weights and core

Saturday, July 2^nd: 44 minutes out easy, back in 40 minutes. Total=10 miles

Sunday, July 3^rd: 12 miles easy

Weekly Totals: 42 miles, 180 minutes