I'm in Atlanta on business, and when here, I always love to run in Piedmont Park. This evening I got bored running around the track, so I ran through the park to a favorite grassy hill for some repeats. The hill I chose, I did so for a few reasons. First, it's about 75 yards long and pretty steep. Second, there was a group of women doing some exercises nearby, so I had some company.
These women were taking part in a weight loss boot camp put on by a group called Yardie Fitness. Watching them work on that hill reminded me of episodes of the reality weight-loss hit show, The Biggest Loser. These gals were not obese like many of the contestants on the show, but they were all a bit overweight, and doing something about it. They were out there busting their butts on that hill -- running up, walking down backwards, jogging up carrying dumbells, returning to the bottom for pushups, situps and so on. I was motivated just running on the same hill with these gals. It's not everyday you see seemingly sedentary people doing hill sprints.
I was about to quit, and they noticed I was leaving, so they called out.
"Hey, don't go! We were trying to keep up with you, and we have 7 more to go!"
That's all I needed to hear. I trotted over to where they were, and introduced myself. Over the next 20 minutes I ran 7 more repeats with these gals, and had a lot of fun doing it.
Were they running hills to train for a 5k or ultramarathon? No.
Were they running hills to get faster at running hills? Not really.
They were running hills for one reason: To improve their fitness.
Tomorrow I hope to join Janice Anderson and the GUTS for a trail run. But I told the Yardie Fitness ladies I'd be back on that hill on Wednesday.
Find a good hill and give it a try sometime.
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