On Saturday mornings, I can sleep in. I don’t have to go to work. It’s nice. Sleeping in for me generally only means sleeping until 8:00 or maybe 8:30, but it’s still better than 6:45, or if I get up for the gym on a workday, 6:00. However, this morning I didn’t sleep in. I set my alarm for 6:25 am, so I could get up and go walk hills with trainer Jen.
She walks hills every Saturday and Sunday morning, because, well, she wouldn’t have a walking route without them; her neighborhood is just that hilly. Her neighborhood’s hills make the hills I normally run look like ant hills. The hills in Jen’s neighborhood are hills I used to take my kids for rides on when they were little because it would give them butterflies in their tummies, kind of like a rollercoaster. Yes, these are hills. I know you’re thinking, on Long Island? Trust me, on the North Shore, where I live, you can find hills. It might not be San Francisco, But the hills are effective, just the same.
I’ve been invited along for hill walks before, but I’ve cordially declined. My excuses have been that I like to sleep in on Saturday mornings or it’s been too cold. But today, I decided it was time to give it a try. See, the real reason I declined hill walking was because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle them. I’m glad I changed my mind.
I met Jen at 7:00 this morning (a spectacularly gorgeous day!) and we walked about 4 miles, up and down the hills. It was challenging going up, but rewarding when I could straighten up when we reached the tops. While it was tough at times, we were chatting most of the time and it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I anticipated. It really is true that often the way we build up a task in our minds is much worse than the actual task.
I’m sure my butt is going to hurt tomorrow morning from the hills. I’m feeling that now. That’s ok. It means I worked muscles I haven’t yet. A good feeling.
But tomorrow, I think I’ll go for a nice flat run. And next week, I’ll walk hills again. Who knows? Maybe someday, I’ll be running those hills.
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