Summer Forecast: Hills and Dogs

I spent the weekend at the cottage and, as will hopefully be the norm for the Summer, ran my Sunday 12km on the rural roads. My biggest worry is strange dogs running out at me as I run past, and getting lost. One of these things I can plan for, the other I might have to buy some sort of repellent spray and carry it with me. (Luckily, the only canine I had to contend with was rather loud and scary, but remained within the limits of his property's boundary despite the lack of fencing. Whew!)

But the other thing I will definitely have to contend with is the HILLS! We acquired this little shack/hovel last Fall and it sits on a lake at the top of a hill. It's high enough that my ears always pop when we drive up there, but I recognize it's not actually that high up. Nevertheless, for the injury prone runner who is used to relatively flat terrain the hills around this lake are a bit of a challenge.

Case in point, as I ran my easy 12km run in the beautiful countryside I stumbled upon a major decline that I easily traversed, but recognized that I would have to get back up on the way home. I wasn't carrying anything with me, preferring to run with no extraneous contraptions (i.e. no water bottles, no iPods, no fuel belts, no cell phone, etc.). In this instance it didn't matter, but in the future I might have to carry some of the above. Had I done it this time I would have snapped a photo of the hill as it really did surprise me how long and steep it was, but alas, all I have is the elevation profile from Garmin Connect:

When looking at the above I am aware that it simply doesn't do the hill justice. That or I am really out of shape. Perhaps a bit from each of column A and B?

Anyway, it was surprisingly a good run, though my heart rate went higher than I'd have liked due to both the hill(s) and the weather (which was rather warm, sunny and humid). With this being the shortest (or one of the shortest) Sunday runs I will do all Summer it means that I will likely encounter more than just one of these types of hills on my long runs. I look forward to the challenge, discovering new territory, and hopefully getting stronger, all the while keeping a keen eye on that heart rate to ensure that I am not over stressing my pathetic "system". Next week I hope to see just how things will pan out as I have a 21km run on the schedule.

Here's to not getting lost or bitten!