Uphill Struggle

Just a quick check-in: I’m still alive.

My run today was a bit rubbish — I’d forgotten that bit of the A4 Portway between me and my target hill, Bridge Valley Road, was closed all day today. They’re doing rockface safety checks, basically making sure that no falling rocks are likely to kill any pedestrians or knock any cars into the river.

So, I got as far as the “footpath closed” sign and had to turn around. Instead, I tried to head pretty much straight from my place up to Clifton Village, which is a fair bit steeper, I think.

My route ended up looking like this on RunKeeper.com. Note the elevation graph — 80 metres upwards in about a kilometre.

I couldn’t keep going for long. I had to stop a couple of times for a rest, once to walk, once to stop completely and get my breath back for a couple of minutes.

So, I definitely need more practice on hills. But hey, it was pretty nice once I got up there, so I really want to get to the stage where I can run all the way up to the Downs and still have enough breath left to jog around them.

I think I’m just going to have to stick to my plan to run up Bridge Valley Road — making sure it’s actually open first — and try to get a little further up it without stopping every time. I figure the only way to get better at hills is just to keep on trying!