Thoughts On Hill Climbing

A few weeks ago I ran the hill on Goose Rock (480’ gain in .4 miles) a few times near Deception Pass and I came up with an interesting way to think about hills. Many people struggle and fear the thought of running hills. On my last time up the hill, I came to a conclusion about running hills.

We all run hills and we all have that one hill that we strongly dislike. Why hate the hill? Hills are an integral part of trail running and running in general. I believe that the more you run one specific hill, like this one on Goose Rock, the more you do not think of the hill as a challenge. The hill becomes just another part of the course, trail or route. I have found that you can overcome the hill if you run the hill a few times. The other thing I noticed is that if you break the hill down into sections, it becomes more manageable. As you learn the hill, you begin to notice where the flatter and steeper sections are on the hill. I did this on Goose Rock and it made the hill seem easier. I do this to all the hills I run. The steeper sections of the hill you hike while the flat sections you run. When you think like this about a hill, it makes it seem like it is not just one large hill but many tiny hills that you can conquer individually. To me imagining many tinier hills is easier. As another example, I have done the same with Little Chinscraper (Double Black Diamond) on Chuckanut Mountain. I broke this seemingly endless hill (850' gain in .9 mi) down into three separate hills, making this grade conquerable as well.