My friend Laura is running the Death Valley Marathon in February, which includes a long uphill and a long downhill. Our coach suggested that she go out Skyline Drive to train on the hills and since I too have a hilly marathon, that I should accompany her. So we decided to go out this weekend.
Skyline Drive is actually a National Park with a beautiful scenic road running the length of the park. The views over the Shenandoah Valley and to the Appalachian mountains are spectacular in good weather. It's over an hour's drive from DC and in the mountains so it's hard to know what to wear. Turns out that the weather was just above freezing and there was so much fog that we couldn't see more than 100 yards ahead. The good thing about that was that there were very very few cars on the road, although they hadn't a hope of seeing us in the fog. And with all the dampness and the soon freezing temperatures, icicles formed on my eyelashes and little ice crystals formed on my hair and cloths pretty quickly. I felt warm enough running, but it took probably 30 minutes for us to warm up in the car, with the heat going full blast and even then my core never really warmed up. The good news is that I coped just fine with the hills (long and gradual) and the downhills, so I hope I'm losing some of my fear of hills. And this was my longest run ever - 16.5 miles. My legs hurt like heck today, but heart and lungs seem to have recovered.
Today's workout was 2.5 hours sitting on a trainer watching Casino Royale. Daniel Craig lifesized got me in the front row of the class, and I was grateful not to have to deal with the hassle of all the outdoor riding equipment and clothing.
Recovery week now. Phew! I really need it.
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