Day 49: 17.5 miles logged, 631.14 miles to go. Big mile day to make up for the last few days : ) OMG… can I just tell you how bad hills kicked my butt today. The uphills were brutal, and you’d think that running downhill would be a breeze. However, you would be shocked at how much body control you have to try and maintain so as not to face plant when keeping a running pace… so I will fess up to not running near as much of that 17+ mile total as I would have liked to, but since the South Bend full marathon is mostly flat, I’m not going to be terribly hard on myself for it, though! Miles are miles, and I am inching closer to that 1000 mile goal!
So, with that being said, I thought I would delve into the 4-1-1 on what the deal with hills is…
a) Apparently, they can make you stronger and faster: http://www.runnersworld.com/workouts/can-hill-running-make-you-faster (well, duh?!? If I did hills every day, I could imagine how much faster I’d be on my flat courses)
b) According to Shape, we should be loving hills so that you can burn more calories, reduce your risk of shin splints, and increase your endurance: http://www.shape.com/fitness/cardio/hill-running-5-reasons-love-incline
c) Running Injury Free tell us how to change our run pattern when tackling the incline: http://www.runninginjuryfree.org/2008/09/running-hills.html
d) Lastly Running Advisor shares, “In hill running, you use more muscles than in other types of running and you use them more efficiently. You even will use muscles that you normally do not exercise through your daily or weekly runs.” (source: http://www.therunningadvisor.com/hill_running.html)
So it sounds like, for a tougher workout, I might start mixing in more inclines. Good times!!!
1000 Mile Mom 
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