Running Up Mt Coot-tha

Yes.  Today I ran up a mountain.  True, it's not a huge mountain.  But it's definitely more of an incline than my normal run by the river.

This is something I've been wanting to do for months.  I was all set to do it in the July holidays but other things happened and then I got sick.  On the weekend I was talking with my brother and we decided it had to happen.  Today was the first possible day.  This was also the first time we've run together (it was weird for both of us) and only the 3rd time I've run with someone else.

We set out in the afternoon, just after 4 o'clock.  There were are few "Are we there yet?"s and "Can we stop for ice cream?"s - all jokes, in case you're wondering.  It's about 4km to get to the start of the track (including a short, steep rise; a long, steep rise; and a very long, moderate incline).  The actual mountain bit is about a mile up.  You have to get an ice cream at the top (I think it's the law).  We ran down and took a longer route home (via the bottle shop...).  The whole trip took about 2 1/2 hours - the actual mountain running bit only took 18 minutes up and about 15 minutes (surprisingly) coming down. 

On the way up I did better than I expected.  True, I did some walking - so I have to keep doing this until I can run the whole thing.  I was surprised that I seemed to do better on the steeper bits than the gentle but consistent rises.  When we got to the stairs - well this was when my legs got a bit jelly.  The ice cream was so worth it, although it did make me cool down in a super hurry.  Being at the summit near sunset was rather aesthetically pleasing, to say the least...  And the run down was so fun!

Yes.  I wore my Gold Coast Half Marathon Finisher's shirt.  And, yes, I felt extra smug in that shirt at the summit.

I'm also looking forward to my next flat(ish) run, to see how much easier it is to run after a hill climb.  And right now (after a super recovery meal!) I really need a good stretch.  Although it's hard to tell what's sore from today, and what's still complaining after yesterday's pt session.