What does Heartbreak Hill have to do with finding my thrill you may ask?
Well around mid this year I was starting to feel my running mojo slip a little. I had completed a half-marathon and decided to sign up for another half-marathon in September whilst I debated whether I should eventually run a full marathon. And as part of my interim training plan, I signed up for the August City 2 Surf, a 14K run from the Sydney CBD to Bondi. In preparation for the the race, my training was pretty unfocussed. After all, I reasoned, if I could run a half-marathon a 14K race would be a "no trainer".
But I was wrong. The word that comes to mind when I think of my City 2 Surf experience is "up". Up, up, up, up and more up (and at one point, I almost threw up). Most of that race was a big hill and the biggest hill of all was named Heartbreak. By the time I reached the top of it, I thought my heart would break. And when I reached the 12K/13K mark, I was never so overjoyed to see the downhill leg of a course.
Actually maybe I should have called this blog "I found my thrill at the bottom of Heartbreak Hill" - but I digress.
Unfortunately, in short, that race kicked my butt! But fortunately, I am often at my best when I am recovering from a nudge in my derriere. So it was with renewed humbleness and determination that I tackled my half-marathon training program.
A final thought for the ladies (and for a few of my male friends - you know who you are!). Who says you need a man to get your thrills. Just go find an enormous ....... hill. And after you run that hill, you can eat some Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey and maybe even a little whipped cream, guilt free. Mwahhh!
