I Love Hills!

Part of the hillier route that I ran today.

Now that the weather has cooled down, it finally feels like Autumn! Encouraged by the change of seasons, I have taken on the challenge of choosing hillier running courses. 

This morning, Craig and I slept in a little bit. I helped him edit a draft of his thesis, then we went to a wreath making event that our apartment director was putting on for residents.

The wreath Craig and I made together this morning.

It was a lot of fun! It was nice to meet a few people who lived near us. Craig helped me make the wreath by hunting for leaves and pine cones outside!

I think the wreath turned out pretty cute. It is our only fall decoration!

Today’s run was a 4-miler in the rain. I never thought I’d say it, but I actually really enjoyed running a hillier course today. Over the past few months, I’ve been choosing between a couple of completely flat routes in town, not looking for much of a challenge. I haven’t had much confidence and my main goal was just to run a few times a week.

I think I have been hesitant about challenging myself as a runner because of all the change that has been going on in my life. This year I have had three different jobs, married Craig, and moved across town. In August, I got a new last name, a new job and a new apartment. That’s a lot of change!

Now that things are becoming calmer, though, I finally feel I am running more consistently. I am getting in better shape and am no longer avoiding more “challenging” routes.

Case in point: today. It was raining out and pretty windy, but I didn’t care! I decided to do a 4-mile loop route around campus. It is homecoming for WSU today, so there were a ton of people walking around and tailgating. Parking is always difficult on game weekends, but I managed to find a place where I could park for free.

I started my run at the bears. WSU has a bear research facility, and it is actually one of the touristy things you can do here. The bears are pretty cute! They are often out walking around in a field that they have for themselves. Today they were staying inside though because of the rain.

One of the bears at the WSU Bear Research Facility, where I started my run 

The route was pretty hilly, but I really enjoyed the variation. To be honest, the hills didn’t seem as hard as I remembered, either. Maybe strength training is paying off?

I really enjoyed running the hilly route!

I didn’t mind all the people and cars around either. It kind of made the run more entertaining. The rain was also refreshing rather than bothersome.

I had 217 feet of elevation gain which is a lot for me! Normally I gain less than 100 feet in a run.

Summary of my run

I enjoyed the run so much, I didn’t want to stop! Technically, my long run for the weekend is tomorrow, and today’s run was just optional. Hopefully tomorrow’s run is just as fun!

Miles splits with elevation loss/gain

I am so glad I am finally gaining more confidence in myself as a runner again.