Hill Repeats and other exciting news

Hill repeats on the infamous Valley Inn Road.  It's part of the Around the Bay route and the one (and last) hill that stops runners that aren't familiar with the area dead in their tracks on race day.  It comes at about 25-26K of a 30K race.  This is what I hear almost every year as we're coming down into the valley before we start our ascent on the other side:  "Nobody told me about THAT hill!"

Well, last night a bunch of friends and I got on that hill in the rain, fog and ice that is our weather at the moment and repeated that hill and the other side three times.  It is over 7K of lung-busting torture and we gripe the whole time we're doing it but then are giddy fools when we're done.  It's a tough workout but so worth it in the end.  Our mantra is that we only have to do it once on race day.

I tried to take a picture of the valley and the beautiful grounds surrounding it, but the fog and dim lighting made it impossible.  The area attracts a lot of photographers because it is a haven for birds, geese (who mostly get in our way), swans and many other species of wildlife.  The area belongs to the Royal Botanical Gardens and they do an amazing job at maintaining the area.

We'll be back at it again for the next three weeks.  We all just hope that the weather is better for next week and following.  If history is any indication, it will be the three coldest Tuesdays of our winter.

And the latest exciting news?  I just registered for the Toronto Good Life Marathon on May 5, 2013.

This is where I hope to qualify for Boston.  I started sweating after I hit submit.  Damn, it just got real!