Hill Runs are a Must in Training

Today I ran what I call the "Keller Killer Hills" in Keller.  I ran 14 miles and the first half was done on some steep crazy hills.  I always try to get a hill run at least once a week as part of my training.  Every marathon I have ran always has some crazy hill in there and it comes towards the end when you are already tired.  So, once I discovered these hills while I was training for the San Francisco Marathon (my second full marathon), I knew they would be part of my marathon trainings thereafter. You have to get both your mind and body ready for the challenge.  They are not always fun, but somehow they make me stronger and when that hill comes I'm ready to tackle it.  Nowadays, I rather do hill work over sprints.  My pace for the 14 miles was 7:55 per mile and I was really surprised by that.  When I do hill work, I tend not to worry about my pace because I know that I'll be all over the place.  You can't keep a fast pace uphill as you would on flat ground.  If you do, you might get hurt.  I just run and listen to my body.  The weird thing about this run was that it didn't even seem like I was going that fast.  That's when you are in the zone and just feel good running.  It also helps when I listen to some good music to get me going.  I didn't eat my normal pizza or pasta for dinner last night.  I decided to try something different.  I was craving my favorite Mexican Restaurant, El Paseo and ate a ton of tortilla chips, hot sauce, chicken enchiladas with rice and beans....WHAT?!!  Well, that was a first for me...LOL!