This Hill Sucks!
This hill is about halfway through my usual run. It is nicknamed the "Great Divide" and while it is great, it divides nothing. It is near the border between our town of Sunapee and neighboring town, Croydon, but runs perpendicular to the line. Anyway, according to my new handy dandy Garmin Forerunner 301,
I know that the top of the hill has an elevation of 1315 feet and the other side is 1300 feet. The bottom of the hill is at the 2.5 mile point in the run and has an elevation of 1151 feet. I realize with this information and a couple of distances I could calculate the gradient of the hills but I won't. Suffice it to say that I go down the hill VERY fast and up the other side much more slowly! I can give some more nifty numbers from my Garmin:
Heart rate downhill: 150 bpm
Heart rate uphill: 178 bpm
Pace downhill: 6:30 min./mile
Pace uphill: > 10:00 min/mile
Stops during run uphill to keep heartrate below 180 bpm: priceless
Sorry, couldn't resist that last one.
I've discovered something since I began running with this great gadget: No matter how much data I have available to me, I still find numbers to contemplate while running. Maybe the calculating is as therapeutic as the running.
Music is essential for these runs. Not all the songs on my MP3 player have a fast beat, but each puts me in a certain state of mind. Current running playlist:
Aerosmith No More No More - gets me started
Red Hot Chili Peppers My Friends - sounds great through headphones & good for warmup
Pearl Jam In Hiding - reminds me of moving back to NH
Boston More Than a Feeling - first album I ever owned
Foreigner Feels Like the First Time - helped me get running again 3 weeks after my c-section
Jack Johnson Sitting, Waiting, Wishing - I'm not sure why, but it works
Counting Crows Long December & Train Calling All Angels - reminds me of Rome for some reason
Paul McCartney Band on the Run - before I had an MP3 player, I ran with a CD player and this album was good for running (before I had a CD burner)
U2 One - This song was on my MP3 player for almost 2 years in Atlanta - reminds me of my daily runs there (Sybil: this reminds me of Penhurst subdivision)
Allanis Morrisette You Learn, Thank U, Uninvited, Hand in my Pocket - angry chick music that helps me think
No Doubt Don't Speak - alright, this just has a great beat
Sarah McLachlan Adia - reminds me of being a new-hire at Delta & moving to Atlanta from Charleston SC
Dido White Flag - a song courtesy of my daughter that I find I can also sleep through on airplanes
Neil Young Old Man - I've been finishing up to this and it's great for my final hill - by this point my head is totally clear and I'm ready to start my day!
Snowmobiling has its own (somewhat headbanging) playlist on my MP3 player, but that's another story for perhaps another time...
posted by Notsocranky Yankee at 2:25 PM
7 Comments:
I do the same thing when I cycle. I will spend much of the ride running various numbers thru my head, averages, shift counts, cadenceds, rates, time and speed estimates. I wonder sometimes if I am going nuts or I am just trying to NOT concentrate on the exercise. The computer and HRM on my handlebars just add to the distraction.
I would love to put on a head set when I ride, but since I am on County roads that would be suicidal
Can't believe you live near Croydon, it's actually a really shit part of Greater London.
try giving cake's comfort eagle a listen. really makes me think of rome.
and i so wouldn't even get near that hill unless i was driving over it in a car.
Mallory:
Number crunching during exercising is cool.
Daniel:
All I can say about our Croydon is it has shitty roads. Yesterday I was a half mile from our house, crossed into Croydon and the road was nothing but ice. I slid sideways down the road (not scary at 2 miles per hour) and had to wait on the side of the road for the sander to come - and he had to back down the road while sanding because it was undrivable! It was 11:30 am and I guess noboby had bothered to take care of that road yet.
Colleen:
Love that album! Comfort Eagle is on our dinner music list - you should see the kids jam to it! Our daughter could sing all the songs on Fashion Nugget when she was 3 yrs old.
Our town also borders New London, which is a quaint little college town...
It looks like your area was named after bits of London then...
Yah, we love living in New England...
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