Hill Training... Push it!

Salt and Pepper knew what was up! After my long run for my first marathon, one of the girls came up to me and said "Way to kill it on those hills!" I let her in on my training secret. Hills, hills, and more hills. Every article on training will tell you hill running will improve your time. I can tell you from personal experience, the experts don't lie. My first marathon is famous for it's hills (Heartbreak Hill). Everyone kept warning me about the hills. Newton is not what did me in but a mountain in Brighton tripped me up and made a fool out of me. Let me tell you, I will never let that happen again.
When I first started running I was training on a treadmil with no hills. My walking program was a hill program. It took a long time to work up going over a bridge. Once I mastered the bridge, I went on to the famous Beacon hill. Beacon Hill is famous for beatiful brownstones, scenic views of the city and the feel of "you will never afford this!" It's the same feeling I get when I run past Hermes on Boylston street. Someday I will have a Birkin Bag! It's also famous for crazy hills. All of the streets are a steep incline and horrible brick sidewalks. Considering I live in a city, no sprawling hills in the country readily available, I figured this was the best way to train. You can still find me everyday over in this area sweating up the hills. My first crazy training injury was on the lovely Garden street (pictured above). I pushed it up the hill , finished the run, then got a massive stomach ache. I ended up throwing up all night confused. When I consulted my doctor, I apperantly got an internal organ concusion. I didn't even know this was possible but its coomon in marathon runners. Lesson learned, push it but don't go crazy!
All of my run routes involve hills. I live in Boston, kind of hard to aviod. It really helps push your endurance. Bonus is once you've tackled the mountain, you can always look down and think "And what! Boo-ya!" It's kind of a mental test no matter if it's a long or short run. If you run all flat, it's easy. Throw in some crazy hills and see where your at. Hills are also great for the mental aspect of running. Pushing yourself can really relive some stress. Every run I usually have at least 5 hills, varied in size.
Going downhill is a whole different ballgame. Going downhill scares the bejesus out of me. I usually just slow down and chant "Please Mr. Knee, don't give out!" Going downhill is not an easy task and you can really screw yourself up. If you go up a steep hill, you have to go down a steep hill! While it might be fun to barrel down the hill and pretend your sliding down a rainbow, chances are you could get run over not being able to stop. I've barrelled down the hill and almost ate pavement. It's an extremely scary moment.
Hills are extremely important to anyone training for a road race. The world was unfortunately not made flat. Plus the view from the top is always amazing!