The Hills, Season One

Q: Why are people so tired on April 1?
A: Because they just finished a 31-day March.

My officemate is interesting or annoying depending on my mood. He is constantly talking! Yesterday I even had my earphones on and iPod going and he was still talking. And, nope, I didn’t take out my earphones…he could see I had my earphones on and still kept talking. I don’t mind talking to him but he never asks if I’m busy before he just starts talking. He’s one of those people that talk to hear themselves speak…he’s not looking for conversation so I don’t feel bad about ignoring him. Yesterday he told me that I was secretive and never tell him anything about me…well, it’s because he doesn’t want me to talk, he just wants to talk. Anyways, he doesn’t really bother me too much now because I’ve learned to just tune him out.

I went running this morning and went the opposite direction on the trail that I run on in the mornings. Wowza!! There are some major hills going in that direction. At one point I grunted very loudly but darn it, I was going to get up that hill running!! That is the first time I have ever grunted when running (I hate those guys at the gym that have to grunt loudly so you know that they are working hard and lifting lots of weight). I just didn’t think I was going to get up that hill but knew I could do it. And, again, another reason why I like running in the morning when there’s very few people on the trails…I can grunt without getting embarrassed. (Other reasons: singing along with my iPod, doing crazy dance moves to certain songs, punching the air like Rocky…don’t you guys wish you could see me running in the mornings? I’m sure I look like a crazy nutjob.)

It’s actually a really great thing because the marathon I’m training for is hilly and has a 6 mile stretch from miles 16-22 similar to Boston’s Heartbreak Hill. So training on those hills will actually be helpful in the long run…but I’m anticipating I’ll be a little sore tomorrow. I'm going to try to do the hilly part of the trail a couple of times a week (including my long runs). It'll be interesting to see my improvement as I do them more and more.