Making Hills Your Bitch

Back in November after the Puerto Rico Half Marathon, I promised myself and the World that I would start looking at Elevation profiles for Races.  I'm kind of wishing that I hadn't promised this, because now I'm obsessed.  I don't like hills, seriously, I hate them.  The only way I can get through them is to constantly think 'I'm going to make this hill my bitch'!  Sometimes that works, most times I get made the 'Bitch'.

This is the elevation profile for the Mercedes half marathon in Birmingham, Alabama.  Notice the 249 ft gain.  I've done this half quite a few times and there is a long huge hill that starts at mile 4 and ends around mile 8. My friend Jenfer and I always make this hill our bitch.  We get to the top where a Marching Band greets us and it might as well be playing Eye of the Tiger, cause that's what I'm hearing!  I want to jump around and shout 'Adrianne!!!'.  In fact, we run this half marathon knowing we will always run the hills.  Walking is for the flat areas.  We get all high and mighty and scoff at the walkers as we run by on hills. 

Hills aren't the only thing that can make me their bitch....Karma can also make me her bitch.

Here is the Puerto Rico Half Marathon,   190ft of Gain, which I believe means the sum of all the hills elevation.  Looks pretty hilly right?  These hills made Me their Bitch.  And that's all I have to say about that!

Here is the Auburn Half Marathon.  223ft of Gain.  I'm sure you can imagine that if 190ft of gain in Puerto Rico killed me, then yes...the Auburn hills hurt worse.  Although, they look so demure, don't they?  Made the bitch once again.

And here is the race that I'm doing this coming weekend, Feb 18th.  The Run the Reagan in Atlanta.  272ft of Gain, the worst yet!!  Arrrgggggg.....I'm not doing myself any sort of favors lately, am I? 

But I like to sandwich the bad between the good, so I'll end on this elevation profile.  Above is the original 'Make this hill my Bitch' Hill and where my hill mantra was born.  It was leg 22 of the Hood to Coast relay race in 2008.  It is almost a 400ft gain in 1.5miles.  It scared me to death.  And the only way I knew how to conquer it was to come up with a new mantra, put my head down, blast Eye of the Tiger and run.  This hill will always be special to me, it is the first hill that I truly conquered.   And I was rewarded with an awesome downhill run through the beautiful woods of Oregon.  One of the best runs of my life.

Back to the task at hand.  THIS weekend.  I'm going to approach this race as two races.  The first 9 miles and then the 'other part'.  I'm going to think of how much I'll enjoy those first 9 miles and how wonderful they will be.  How calm and serene I will be...  And then once I get past mile 9, I'm going to start thinking about making that last huge 4 mile hill my bitch.  Wouldn't it be empowering to know that I ran all the way up that last hill?  Probably time to make sure 'Eye of the Tiger' is on my playlist.  I'm gonna need it!