the other hill

It was a slow start; I didn't feel like running this morning, but I had to take the dog somewhere. Finally I convinced myself that it wouldn't be too hard to run on the creek path, but when we got there, the prospect was boring, so we kept running. The sidewalks ran out so we ran on grass until we came to a cross street that I knew had sidewalks. I didn't know how far it went, though, and eventually it ended at a T intersection. It seemed more prudent to go in the direction of home, and after a bit of uncertainty, the street met another street which I recognized. And this street had sidewalks, but these eventually ran out and the street curved up a hill without much room on either side of it. My first inclination was to turn back, but I was feeling pretty good by this point; lately, I've been feeling the sort of efficiency that comes with running more, and it's become almost enjoyable to run up the hills with this added strength. I guess I've finally gotten used to the hills here.

We went up the road. A few times, we had to stop to step aside for cars, but these were welcome breaks. After the curve, there was another curve and more hill, and so on, and finally we ended up at the top, where there was a large cross street that I recognized. This had a generous sidewalk and an amazing view. I could see the large hill that we've run (suffered) up a few times.

In short, I'd found the even taller hill in town. We coasted down and I enjoyed the feeling of being transported somewhere else...it was one of those places that looked like another place, and though I'm enjoying this place, I also liked the change.

We wound up close to the first large hill, at the foot of the steepest ascent. We made it halfway up before I had to stop. It's a ridiculously steep slope; it's hard enough walking up it, and it felt like I was hopping up it rather than running up it...there must be some sort of benefit in running up it, but I'm not exactly sure what beyond cardiovascular stress. That incline is probably too steep even for steep hill sprints.

We got to the top, I enjoyed the view, and then we ran home.

A surprisingly good run for a low-energy morning. 9ish miles.