Don’t
underestimate the importance of hills.
When it
comes to a runner nerd post, this might take the cake. If it’s not for you,
stop now. (You’ve been warned …)
So many
of these running-specific posts come down to the question of, How Do You
Motivate Yourself to Keep Going? Not how do you keep your body fit enough to do
so, but your mind.
One
answer: Hills Are Alive.
Park
Slope, Brooklyn, where I’ve lived for 27 years, is named “slope” for a reason.
From my address below Sixth Avenue, the road is pitched upward to get to
Prospect Park, which is not exactly flat land itslef. In fact, there are two hills
on the 3.3-mile Outer Drive run. And plenty of hilly expanses mid-park.
Running
outside I head for those hills. So much so that even in a quick 30-minute run,
I’m probably spending 7-10 minutes going uphill.
My
mind, in fact, demands that I choose the most uphill challenge. (In the 3½ block
run to the park, I chose to go up the most vertical in my vicinity, Fifth
Street.) In that half-hour run, I don’t lope around, but rather test myself in
the rocky hills mid-park.
When I
return home I’m psyched with how much better I feel than when I left. Only 30
minutes? But a lifetime of them, keeping the hills alive within me, has made
quite a difference in how I manage my day, my months, my years ...
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