“Hill work” would be an understatement

11:14 am

HOLY shit. THAT was interesting.

Five miles pretty much all uphill. And, the downhills hurt more than powering up the uphills because my knees (mostly left–finally, the pain is back where it has been and should be?) hurt a lot going down.

Jesus. They don’t call it “8 Tuff Miles” for nothin’! To give you some idea, at about 5 miles, we reached the highest elevation of the course–999 feet. That means, sea level to 1,000 feet above sea level over the course of 5 miles. Like I said, all uphill.

I have to say–cheesy, but here it comes–powering up those hills (well, one long hill) reminded me a LOT of moving through getting sober! Repeating those moves that just don’t come naturally, like running up a sustained incline for over an hour, over and over until you can actually force yourself to do them! Or, going slow and not stopping, not stopping unless you have to. Breathing into the pain and breathing out–sitting with it (well, moving with it). Bracing for hard work, but knowing that you’ve got this, you’ve practiced your moves, all you have to do is keep going.

My legs felt strong, and that’s because I’ve been practicing this incline shit for a few weeks already. But, dayum! Gotta take a break before I go and pound more on these knees, yes I do.

And…yup, feels pretty darn awesome to have gotten up, gotten my ass over to the course, and run it–all before…8:30, I guess. My time was 1 hour, 5 minutes, 30 seconds. That’s 13-minute miles, which I’m pretty OK with seeing how the course was all uphill and I had to walk some of it and most of the steep downhills.

It’s also awesome to like, not thought it really all that astounding or medal-worthy that I got out of the house before the sun came up. Drinkin’ days? It never happened. EVER. Especially to work out or run a race. Years-never, we’re talking about.

Happy weekend, friends.

Tags: alcoholic, alcoholism, drinking, exercise, goals, recovery, road race, running, sober, sobriety, wine, women

Comments 8 Comments
Categories Addiction, Alcoholism, Binge drinking, Goals, Health, Recovery, Running, Sobriety

8 Responses to ““Hill work” would be an understatement”

carrythemessage February 9, 2013 at 3:59 pm #

You’re a much braver and fit person than I have ever been (and may be). I got tired just reading that. But cheesy or not, your idea of this slow incline being like sobriety is an apt analogy. The changes that happen in our life are gradual. They don’t happen overnight. We make adjustments as we go, we take in the growing pains of sobriety, we stop and look at the view now and then, and we feel the exhilaration as we hit certain parts of our journey. It’s when we look back, we get a true sense of where we started and where we finished. But of course, we never finish. We keep going on. But it’s not all uphills. Sometimes we coast on joy and love and the good feeling of having fun without alcohol. Other times we stop as sit by the road, and breathe in the warm air. Sometimes it pours rain. But that’s the journey – and you describe it so well.

Congrats on your fantastic morning…I just shoveled some of this winter storm away just an hour ago and I am still beat…ha ha. Have a wonderful weekend yourself.

Paul

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- Drunky Drunk Girl February 10, 2013 at 11:57 pm #
  
  So well said! I look forward to coasting at some point… 🙂
  
  Uh…not sure I would call myself “in shape” after yesterday. OUCH! The real race (this was just a “tune-up”) is in two weeks–hopefully I’ll be recovered by then. Haha.
  
  Have fun in the snow!
  
  Reply
Belle (Tired2012) February 9, 2013 at 5:08 pm #

cheerleading from the sidelines. and i did run today. because of you. well well well done 🙂

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- Drunky Drunk Girl February 10, 2013 at 11:57 pm #
  
  Go, Belle! Hope it gave you a lot of good energy!
  
  Reply
Cheryl February 10, 2013 at 1:13 am #

I think you are cool, on many, many levels. Congratulations!

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- Drunky Drunk Girl February 10, 2013 at 11:58 pm #
  
  Thank you, Cheryl!!!
  
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Mrs D February 10, 2013 at 5:14 am #

Congratulations! Sounds like a mean feat… well done xxxx

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- Drunky Drunk Girl February 10, 2013 at 11:58 pm #
  
  Thanks, Mrs. D! I’m still recovering, I think… 😉
  
  Reply