Sunday, January 17, 2010

Chilly Hilly

Okay, I am posting this a few days late, but better late than never!

This past weekend I went to beautiful Bainbridge Island for a weekend getaway. Although I was pretty busy, I still wanted to get a run in. I set out to run a few roads I had never run before (I had run elsewhere on the Island, and love it!) Lets just say, it wasn't what I was expecting!

View of Eagle Harbor from Winslow (image via)

I started out in Winslow and ran a few miles on one of the side roads. Even though I know the island well, it AMAZED me how hilly some of the roads can be! I ended up going just over 3.2 miles, but with the hills that I encountered, I was pretty exhausted! Luckily, I still ran a 10 minute mile pace (exactly!), but it was a struggle. The run reminded me of an annual bicycle race that is held on the island every year, called the Chilly Hilly. Little did I realize, that there is a good reason it is called that! The Chilly Hilly's bike course is roughly 33 miles and over 2,675 feet in elevation gain. Coming from an island that has a highest point of about 425 feet above sea level, that is a LOT of hills! I cant even imaging running that course:

Chilly Hilly route 2009, via Seattle PI

I HATE biking, but I really enjoyed my difficult but beautiful run. Guess I will need to start incorporating hills into my training for the Mercer Half!

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