Loooooooooooooong Hills

This morning I ran up Crouch Hill (the long Finsbury Park side), from bottom to top, five times. 5!

I used to live near the top of the hill and have always struggled to run all the way up it without walking. This morning I discovered that I could run a full 1 minute 50 second ‘long hill’ session at 10k pace from the junction of Shaftesbury Road to the big tree at the top. Not only that, but I could do it five times in a row. 5!

I also discovered that 1 minute and 50 seconds is a long time. Particularly the last 50 seconds. After the second rep I stopped looking at my watch until I was nearly at the top and that helped a bit. The fourth rep was the hardest. I gave everything I could to the final one, much to the amusement of the builders blocking the pavement at the top. Sod them, I have walked up so many hills this year that nothing could rain on this morning’s little victory parade.

I’ve no idea if these sessions will make me faster over 10k, but if they stop me walking up every hill of a morning, that will be enough.