New Route

Now that Summer weather is upon us, running outside is getting harder.  Even when I take extra care to be hydrated, it's still a lot harder to run in near 90 degree heat than when it was cooler.  And since I get a form of heat rash when I get too hot, sweating out in the heat can be extremely uncomfortable.  However, I know that even in the heat, running helps me clear my head and prevents episodes like I had on Saturday, so what do I do?

For Monday's run, I decided to take a different route, skipping one of my favorite parts: Murder Hill.  That's what I affectionately call the steepest hill on my normal route at about the halfway point.  Seriously, this thing is ridiculously step, like a 50 degree angle (is that steep? I really don't know).  It's certainly steeper than the hill I grew up on and had to regularly walk up after being dropped off by the bus after school.  So I skipped Murder Hill and you know what?  I missed it.  It takes grit to keep running up a crazy-steep hill and I didn't have that extra challenge.  Weird as it may seem, having that huge obstacle makes the rest of the run easier, even though there are still more hills to climb.

(I feel like there's a metaphor here about big obstacle make smaller obstacles more bearable.)

While I am mostly happy that I maintained my habit of going on my run, I am a bit disappointed that I didn't take my normal route.  When I go for my next run, I'll be sure the take my old route and run up Murder Hill.