Well, maybe "Burnin' Quads in KC" would be a more a propos title. I set out from the Hyatt last night for an easy 3-5 miles, just wanting to take it easy and explore a bit. Instead of running into the heart of downtown towards the Missouri River, I decided to stay to the south, near the hotel.
Through a quarter mile, I was feeling my oats, not having run since Saturday. Turning south onto Main St., a foreboding hill appeared suddenly before me. Part of me really wanted to just keep heading west and skip the hill but I was sort of trapped by the tangle of intersecting freeways and underpasses in that direction. So, my choice was to backtrack or take the hill. I took the hill.
Obviously, I slowed to a crawl as I trudged up the hill. Still, not an "old Vic" crawl but rather a steady, strong 14 minute/mile push. I looked for relief at each intersection, hoping that the sidestreets would provide a recovery, but at every light, the climb continued. It was like Main street was in the trough of a big drainage pipe.
I finally came to the crest of the hill and turned to the left, onto rolling neighborhood streets. It was a beautiful evening. The neighborhoods were decorated with a variety of flowering trees. Pink, white, even purple. In total, I think I climbed steadily for about 1 mile. My thighs definitely were spent. Still, I kept thinking that what comes up must come down. The route back to the hotel took me down a very short stretch of steep, steep downhill. Then, the rest of the trip back to the hotel was a lot more gentle of a slope than the uphill portions that had just torn my thighs up. I was glad because I didn't really feel like pounding down a long stretch of extreme downhill.
Total miles were just under 3 but it was a good workout. This evening, I think I'll do 3 or 4 easy on the treadmill at the hotel. There's really not any place to run around town that isn't very hilly and I need a recovery day.
Can't wait to get back to the flatlands of Houston.
