Running up That Steep Hill Looks Fun.....

They built a new multi-purpose trail at the top of the Mesa and I have been driving by it for a month.  I really want to run up the hill and around the top. My husband did it about a week ago and he said it was 5 miles round trip from my house. The problem is I am only running around 2 miles. I got this bright idea on Wednesday and I drove to the bottom of the hill.  I estimated it would be about two miles up the hill, around the top, and back (by the way my estimate was spot on).

The picture is from the bottom of the hill.  You can't see the top, but it is .6 miles from the where I am standing.  That is right .6 miles! What was I thinking! It took me about 5 minutes to get to the top of this picture. And for the first time ever I had to miss a run (meaning I had to walk though a run segment).  I wondered if I was going to be able to actually finish the whole run. I realized this might have been a huge mistake.  However, I didn't miss another run.  I got to the top totally exhausted.  I couldn't remember why I thought this was a good idea! The first half of the loop at the top was hard, because I was so tired. But I got a second wind during the second half of the loop and I was ready to run by the time I started back down the hill.  I do love going down hill, so that was fun.

In the end my time was not good, 34min 20 sec for 2 miles.  I know some of you are thinking you could walk it faster than that. However, I think I might try to run it once a month with the goal of just being able to do it faster each time.