Head for the Hills

My legs were feeling pretty fresh last night so I instead of running an out and back on Kelly Drive I decided to hit some hills in Manayunk. I follow a 7.6 mile loop that has about 7 inclines of varying intensity. I know a true hill work out involves repeats of charging up and relaxing down but a lack of motivation for that type of workout makes a a run like this much more appealing.

I follow a standard route that weaves through Manayunk and includes "The Wall" along with many lesser but still painful hills in the neighborhood. "The Wall" is part of the U.S. Cycling Championship that Philadelphia hosts every year in the first week of June. The male cyclists have to repeat a loop that includes 10 trips of this very steep and fairly long hill in the neighborhood of Manayunk. I think the nickname of "the wall" came out of this race. If your interested I mapped it out the route on Google http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=149160.

I felt a bit lethargic, especially in the middle miles, but I finished strong and was surprised to see a 7:06 pace over the 7.6 miles. This is easily the fastest I have run this loop.